Tag: Grenada

Hundreds of Civilian Contractors Under Siege in Iraq…Obama Goes Golfing and Fundraising

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

ObamaclownsI’m so mad I could chew iron and spit out nails.

After reading this, you should be, too (if you’re not a Anti-American piece of trash).

…In 1974, the island nation of Grenada was granted independence from Britain. The new government, led by Sir Eric Gairy, slowly unto a dictatorship, which triggered a revolt.

When Gairy was in New York, speaking at the United Nations in March 1979, Maurice Bishop, a well-liked and educated leftist, led a bloodless coup to overthrow the Grenadan government.

Bishop championed a government to be based on the New JEWEL Movement (New Joint Endeaver for Welfare, Education, and Liberation), a rural activist association. JEWEL had merged with the Movement for Assemblies of the People (MAP), an organization whose sprung out of the Black Power movement. Bishop’s Marxist beliefs caused him to ally with Cuba, Russia, and other left-wing countries.

Bishop invited Cuban engineers to his island to build an international airport, “in order to enhance tourism”. That was seen by President Ronald Reagan as a threat to the United States because the airstrip could be used to build up an arms cache, and propel a military build-up in the Caribbean.

While this was going on, hard-line Marxist Bernard Coard, Bishop’s deputy prime minister and “friend”, decided that Bishop didn’t operate far enough to the left. On October 19, 1983, Coard, backed by his own military, seized power in a bloody coup, leading to the execution of Bishop and members of his inner circle.

That latest attempt to install a Marxist-Leninist government within the U.S. sphere of influence freaked out the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, causing them to ask the U.S., Barbados, and Jamaica to intervene.

At stake was not only a struggle of ideologies, but also a threat to about 1,000 medical students living on the island, many of whom were Americans.

On October 25, the president dispatched an invasion force, dubbed “Operation Urgent Fury,” to liberate the island and rescue the students.

Grenadan troops numbered about 1,200, with about 800 Cubans (mostly construction workers with handguns) and 60 advisors from the Soviet Union, North Korea, East Germany, Bulgaria, and Libya. That small contingent was soon confronted by a U.S.-led international force of about 7,300 men.

The operation was a success, with minimal U.S. casualties (19 killed, 106 injured), and was wrapped up in mid-December. Coard, his family, and close advisors were arrested. Coard was tried and sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. The remaining Cubans and other survivors were arrested; native Grenadans were released, and a pro-American government took power.

Fast forward to today where…

A U.S. contractor in Iraq told WND the Iraqi Air Force has begun evacuations from Balad Air Force Base, where 200 American contractors were trapped by the al-Qaida-inspired jihadists who have seized control of two cities and are now threatening Baghdad. 

A contractor with Sallyport Global, who asked not to be named, told WND through a Skype instant message that he was transported from Balad to Baghdad and was communicating from a C-130 preparing to take off to Dubai.

He said 300 in total have been evacuated from Balad, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, and another 100 are still awaiting airlift. He said the Iraqi Air Force is trying to evacuate everyone by midnight local time.

WND previously reported Friday that private contractors who have recently returned to the U.S. from Iraq said their former colleagues effectively had been abandoned by the U.S. military and were fighting for their lives against an army of jihadists surrounding the base who belong to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

The U.S. contractors were at Balad to help the Pentagon prepare the facilities for the delivery of the F-16 aircraft the Obama administration has agreed to provide the Iraqi government.

The surrounded Americans said they were under ISIS fire from small arms, AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades, or RPGs.

The contractors had been able to hold the base, but those on the scene reported it was only a matter of time before the ISIS terrorists succeeded in breaking through the perimeter. The sources confirmed the contractors were still under siege, despite an Associated Press report Thursday, citing U.S. officials, that three plane loads of Americans were being evacuated from Balad.

Some reports claim that the number of civilian contractors under siege, actually numbers 500.

Civilian Contracts have played a huge role in both the Iraqi War and its aftermath.

As the Christian Science Monitor reported in March of 2013,

By 2008, the US Department of Defense employed 155,826 private contractors in Iraq – and 152,275 troops. This degree of privatization is unprecedented in modern warfare.

One of the most important lessons of the Iraq war is that this military privatization is likely to continue in future conflicts. This could be a good thing, as contractors can enhance US military capacity. But any large-scale use of private military contractors also entails risks. Recent US experience with private security contractors, in particular, holds several critical lessons for the future.

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Of course, private contractors are not new to war zones. They supported all the major US conflicts of the late 20th century, including in Vietnam, the Balkans, and Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. But in these cases, they mainly provided logistical and base support.

Now, the US military has developed a growing dependence on private contractors – and for a wide range of functions traditionally handled by military personnel. The Army spent roughly $815 million ($163 million per year, or about $200 million per year in 2012 dollars) to employ contractors under its Logistics Civil Augmentation Program between 1992 and 1997. But between 2001 and 2010, that expenditure grew to nearly $5 billion per year. Of course, this latter cost coincides with US involvement in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.

A more pertinent question – and what truly sets the Iraq war apart – concerns the role of these private civilian contractors. Throughout the war, the majority (61 percent) of contracted jobs continued to be base-support functions. The next-largest group (18 percent) of Department of Defense contractors were security contractors. They provided security services, such as guarding installations, protecting convoys, or acting as bodyguards.

Moreover, this outsourcing trend continued in Afghanistan, where there were 94,413 contractors in 2010, compared with 91,600 US troops.

Our nation owes these brave men and women a great deal of gratitude.

So, where is the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama? Is he working to get our citizens our of this tumultuous Middle Eastern Nation, which he left to his “Muslim Brothers”?

Ummm…. NO.

With the situation in Iraq at critical mass and Baghdad on the verge of falling into the hands of the Islamic militant group known as ISIS, and the impending humanitarian crises unfolding on the southern border with Mexico, folks were simply astonished at what they were seeing.

Mark Knoller @markknoller
From ND, Pres Obama heads to CA for a long weekend that includes golf in Palm Springs, another commencement & Dem fundraiser on Saturday.
5:55 PM – 12 Jun 2014

You are not hallucinating. With American Citizens under siege during an invasion of Iraq by ISIS, a murderous Muslim Terrorist Group, the President of the United States is turning his back to them, to go golfing and fundraising.

Last Thursday, Georgetown Law professor, Foreign Policy magazine columnist and former Obama administration official Rosa Brooks summed up tthe Obama Administration’s responses to the situations in Syria, Russia and Iraq with one little Tweet:

US respnse 2 Syria,Russia,Iraq:
1)Huh?
2)We’re watching this closely
3)With concern.
4)Hey, stop-
5)We won’t tolerate that!
6)Mmm. Whatever.
8:04 PM – 12 Jun 2014

Can we impeach this Can we impeach this Anti-American, Muslim, Marxist B******d, yet?

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Syria Situation: Our Untrustworthy President

On By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

obamamyworkAs I was driving home yesterday, I was listening to “The Five”, on the Fox News Channel, Sirius XM 114.

Their resident Liberal Curmudgeon, Bob Beckel, started going off, as he has been all week, about the horrible lack of support for President Barack Hussein Obama’s plan to have a “limited engagement” against Syria’s President Assad, for allegedly killing his own citizens with chemical weapons.

What got my attention was that Beckel, obviously re-iterating the Liberal Memo of the day, that other presidents has gotten us involved in wars without Congressional approval. He, naturally, brought up Kosovo…and then, he brought up Grenada.

In October of 1983 the United States invaded the island of Grenada and overthrew the communist government in favor of a pro-Western one in a span of less than two months.

The murder of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop had triggered a breakdown in civil order that threatened the lives of American medical students who were living on the island. At the request of allied Caribbean nations, the US launched “Operation Urgent Fury,” sending the Marines to the north of the island and Army Rangers to the south.

Needless to say, our Brightest and Best kicked tail and took names taking the island by mid-December. An Interim Advisory Council was established and it governed Grenada until December 1984, when Herbert A. Blaize, the head of the New National Party, was made Prime Minister through parliamentary elections.

The United States President at the time was Ronald Wilson Reagan.

Beckel was wondering yesterday afternoon was the difference was between then and now.

There is a world of difference between Grenada and Syria.

First, Americans were in danger on the island of Grenada. The Syrians are killing each other.

Second, we tackled the “Grenada Situation” head on, sending the full force of our military assets on a mission to rescue our citizens.

Third, and most importantly, Americans, as a whole, trusted and supported President Ronald Reagan.

At this point, Obama has to wear a pork chop around his neck to get his two dogs to play with him.

Heck, even Pope Francis is calling ol’ Scooter out…

Pope Francis has written a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, host of the G-20 summit that President Obama is attending, urging world leaders to oppose a military intervention in Syria.

“To the leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution,” the Pope urged. “Rather, let there be a renewed commitment to seek, with courage and determination, a peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiation of the parties, unanimously supported by the international community.”

The move is the latest in a series of efforts by the Holy See to prevent military action in the already civil-war torn region. On Sunday, the Pope declared in his Angelus teaching that Saturday Sept. 7 would be an day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria. The prayer rally will take place in St. Peter’s Square from 7 p.m. to midnight, on the vigil of the birth of Mary, the Queen of Peace. “Let us ask Mary to help us to respond to violence, to conflict and to war, with the power of dialogue, reconciliation and love,” the Pope asked people around the world. “She is our mother: may she help us to find peace; all of us are her children!”

Next Pope Francis took his views on Syria to Twitter. On Monday he tweeted, “War never again! Never again war!” and “How much suffering, how much devastation, how much pain has the use of arms carried in its wake.” On Tuesday, he tweeted “We want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out!” and “With utmost firmness I condemn the use of chemical weapons.” Today his social media message was, “With all my strength, I ask each party in the conflict not to close themselves in solely on their own interests. #prayforpeace.”

Cardinal Dolan and leaders of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops followed the Pope’s lead and wrote to every member of Congress today urging them to vote against military intervention in Syria. Yesterday the USCCB also wrote to President Obama, reminding him that the Pope and Middle Eastern Bishops “have made it clear that a military attack will be counterproductive, will exacerbate an already deadly situation, and will have unintended negative consequences.” Dolan also asked Catholics to urge their representatives in Washington to vote against a military strike.

The Vatican, which almost always stops short of taking sides in international issues, historically holds to just war theory, which requires a military defense meet a set of strict qualifications, including that “the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain,” “all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective,” and ”the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.”

On Tuesday night, Obama is finally going to address the nation , concerning his desire to insert us into Syria’s Civil War, on behalf of al Qaeda. Of course, he will not refer to them as al Qaeda, he will call them “REbels” and “freedom Fighters”.

And, his pleas will fall of deaf ears.

You see, after 5 years of intentionally attempting to turn American into just another socialist nation, while happily entertaining members of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the People’s House, Americans on both sides of the aisle are smelling what Obama’s Shoveling.

And, it sure doesn’t smell “like Teen Spirit”.

We are not the only ones who are telling the Lightbringer to go jump…House Members are,too.

Two new whip counts of House members by ABC News and the liberal Firedoglake web site show a majority of House members firmly or leaning against intervention. The Washington Post’s more conservative count stands at 204 “no” votes, only 13 short of the majority needed to kill the president’s request.

When it comes to a succinct overview of this whole mess and Obama’s lack of judgement, II wholeheartedly agree with the indomitable Sarah Palin, who recently wrote,

President Obama wants America involved in Syria’s civil war pitting the antagonistic Assad regime against equally antagonistic Al Qaeda affiliated rebels. But he’s not quite sure which side is doing what, what the ultimate end game is, or even whose side we should be on. Haven’t we learned? WAGs don’t work in war. 

* We didn’t intervene when over 100,000 Syrians were tragically slaughtered by various means, but we’ll now intervene to avenge the tragic deaths of over 1,000 Syrians killed by chemical weapons, though according to the White House we’re not actually planning to take out the chemical weapons because doing so would require “too much of a commitment.”

* President Obama wants to do what, exactly? Punish evil acts in the form of a telegraphed air strike on Syria to serve as a deterrent? If our invasion of Iraq wasn’t enough of a deterrent to stop evil men from using chemical weapons on their own people, why do we think this will be? 

* The world sympathizes with the plight of civilians tragically caught in the crossfire of this internal conflict. But President Obama’s advertised war plan (which has given Assad enough of a heads-up that he’s reportedly already placing human shields at targeted sites) isn’t about protecting civilians, and it’s not been explained how lobbing U.S. missiles at Syria will help Syrian civilians. Do we really think our actions help either side or stop them from hurting more civilians?

* We have no clear mission in Syria. There’s no explanation of what vital American interests are at stake there today amidst yet another centuries-old internal struggle between violent radical Islamists and a murderous dictatorial regime, and we have no business getting involved anywhere without one. And where’s the legal consent of the people’s representatives? Our allies in Britain have already spoken. They just said no. The American people overwhelmingly agree, and the wisdom of the people must be heeded. 

* Our Nobel Peace Prize winning President needs to seek Congressional approval before taking us to war. It’s nonsense to argue that, “Well, Bush did it.” Bull. President Bush received support from both Congress and a coalition of our allies for “his wars,” ironically the same wars Obama says he vehemently opposed because of lack of proof of America’s vital interests being at stake. 

* Bottom line is that this is about President Obama saving political face because of his “red line” promise regarding chemical weapons.

As I said before, if we are dangerously uncertain of the outcome and are led into war by a Commander-in-chief who can’t recognize that this conflict is pitting Islamic extremists against an authoritarian regime with both sides shouting “Allah Akbar” at each other, then let Allah sort it out.

Mr. President…it all boils down to a matter of trust. And, the overwhelmingly majority of Americans simply do not trust you.

Until He Comes,

KJ