WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED This is the true memoir of one US Air Force navigator’s journey from the schoolhouses of Air Training Command to the nuclear alerts of the Cold War to combat in a 35-year-old anachronism called the B-52. It is a first-hand account of life during the last days of Strategic Air Command, the early days of Air Combat Command and the ensuing military drawdown of the 1990s. From peacetime training exercises across the globe to combat operations in Desert Storm, Jim Clonts takes the reader inside the cockpit where life and death are seconds apart. Often comical, sometimes heart-pounding, other times tragic, WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED takes you into the world of military aviation, a crucible where warriors learn the true nature of character, conscience and mortality.

Friends of Liberty VOL 34
by Jim Clonts, 2009

12/06/2009

Our New System of Justice

Recently US Navy seals captured the Iraqi terrorist intelligence agencies have identified as being responsible for the planning and execution of an ambush which killed four American civilian security company employees in 2004. The Americans' vehicle was ambushed by armed insurgents using machine guns and grenades. The four men were killed, their bodies stripped, burned and dragged through the city streets. Two of the men's bodies were then hung by the neck from a bridge for the international media to photograph (photos our media was more than happy to share with the public).

During his capture the terrorist received a bloody lip from one of the Seals. Now three of the Seals are being brought up on assault charges by our own military. Remember, under new Obama Administration rules, terrorist caught on the battlefield are accorded all the rights of a US citizen, including being read Miranda rights.

These brave men have dedicated their lives to the service and protection of their country and now their country is turning its back on them. These are the type of men who risk their own lives, going in harm's way, to find track down and capture an avowed killer. Think of the danger these men faced in the performance of their duties and now we choose to court martial them for abusing the enemy? We routinely expect men like this to face gunfire, improvised explosive devices and all the dangers of combat against an armed and deadly enemy and then we afford the enemy greater rights than our own soldiers?

This is only the most recent travesty of justice. Recently, Eric Holder, President Obama's Attorney General, has decided to bring Khaled Sheik Mohammad, the mastermind of 911, to a New York criminal court, the first time in American history an enemy combatant captured abroad has faced other than a military tribunal.

KSM himself has admitted to planning 911 and is proud of his part in the massacre. Holder says KSM will receive a fair trial and be convicted and executed. If you are trying to convince the world he will get a fair trial, why go on to say we will find him guilty and execute him? What they are setting up is a show trial where KSM will get to espouse his hate on a world-wide stage. Even if he is found guilty we are enabling his martyr-dom, exactly what he wants. Once KSM takes the stand he can say anything, claim any atrocity was committed against him and his fellow Muslim detainees. This will do more to recruit new terrorists than anything ever done at Abu Graib or Guantanamo---and these recruits will most likely live right here in the USA (ie Major Nidal Malik Hasan). In any event, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if KSM's "conviction" is not overturned on appeal for his not being Mirandized at the time of "arrest." Remember, by not being Mirandized none of his statements can be used against him, nor can we use any evidence obtained as a result of his statements. It's called poisonous fruits.

Finally, Holder has also decided to proceed with the investigation and potential prosecution of CIA officers who interrogated terrorists captured on the battlefield. This will destroy the Central Intelligence Agency and drive many good people from the agency as well as setting back recruitment twenty years. Who will risk their lives and career for a Government that is chomping at the bit to prosecute for civil rights violations against enemy combatants and known terrorists?

These policies are insane. We are showing the world we care more for those who wish us dead than those who defend our lives. Obama says he believe these actions will foster goodwill in the world, that by prosecuting these men we are showing the world our values. Perhaps he is right. We are showing our enemies we do not value American lives. We will willingly trade American lives for the image of liberal enlightenment. This is so incredibly dangerous in today's world. Iran, North Korea, Russia, China and others will watch our actions and, rather than respect our values, will hold us in contempt as weak. They will test this President and I'm afraid Obama will lead us like sheep to the slaughter to stay in favor with the world press.

Joe Biden actually predicted this late last year when he said Obama would be "tested" and "at the time it may not look like we are doing the right thing." I think what Biden meant was Americans are going to die and we won't retaliate. We'll take the punch and "hold on to our values." In Obama's world, retaliation is a sign of immaturity, something Bush would do. Obama is enlightened and by not acting in our interests, by not making those who perpetuate the attack pay for their actions, we will be perceived as strong. My fear is Obama is setting us up for just such an attack, when he can stare the world in the eye, cool, collected and unruffled and turn the other cheek. He will say we are honoring our values. His restraint will be praised. He may even win another Nobel Peace Prize. This time it will be paid for with American blood.

FYI: while writing this editorial my spell-check kept wanting to substitute Osama for Obama. Maybe computers know more than we think.

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