In 2006, I deployed to Fallujah, Iraq. My company lived in a bombed-out, defunct train station that served as a casualty collection point for both major 2004 Fallujahan battles. Fallujah was home to Al Qaeda in Iraq (AIQ) leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi. For a time, Zarqawi’s name was even bigger than Osama bin Laden. Zarqawi became notorious for gruesome propaganda videos showing him beheading American Nicholas Berg and British national Ken Bigley. On June 6, 2006, my unit received intelligence on the location of Mr. Bigley’s decapitated body. An insurgent involved in Mr. Bigley death was arrested and faced execution. He provided the rough location of Mr. Bigley’s remains in exchange for a life sentence. Recovering Mr. Bigley’s body was a top priority for the British government who faced tough questions at home over Britain’s continuing involvement in the Iraqi quagmire. I, along with a few other Marines and British soldiers, were sent to the area to locate Mr. Bigley’s body. We did locate a body, but DNA tests would determine it was not Mr. Bigley.

Why did I tell this story? One day later, Al Zarqawi was killed during an airstrike in the Iraqi town of Baqubah. This was a huge moral victory for U.S. troops and celebrations rang out across the free world. One day later, Zarqawi’s swollen, bloodied face was plastered in Stars and Stripes and thousands of other media outlets. Even with the photographs, rumors persisted in the Arab world whether the photograph really was Zarqawi. In the city of Fallujah, the bastion of the Iraqi insurgency, Zarqawi’s death was not welcome news.

Mere hours after searching for Zarqawi’s decapitated victims, I was risking my life distributing his death photograph in the streets. The powers-at-be believed that if we distributed fliers showing Zarqawi’s corpse, the locals would realize the tide was turning against the insurgency and we would win their support. The fliers also included a message written in Arabic detailing the account of Zarqawi’s death. The decision to release Zarqawi’s photograph was not wise and demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of Arab culture. We witnessed an immediate backlash of attacks after the flyer distribution. In Arab cities, many walls (particularly near mosques) are plastered with posters of the dead in their coffins. This is how Muslims honor their dead – particularly martyrs. Passerbys can pay their respect to those in the photograph. Children can see that if they die a martyr, they too, can have their picture plastered on mosque walls. To release bin Laden’s photograph would only inflame passions and make him out to be a martyr. Years from now, when bin Laden’s name is a mere footnote in history books as a mass murderer, our troops are home and safe, and insurgents cannot use the picture as a cause, then we can release these photos. Until that day, President Obama has made the right decision to keep the photograph from worldwide dissemination.

It should now be perfectly clear that Pakistan is no ally in our pursuit of terrorists. I actually posted an article in 2008 – Pakistan Fiend or Foe – that bears re-reading. That is not a misprint, I meant fiend not friend.

“From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”
~President George W. Bush
Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People

September 20, 2001

Any thought process that even remotely suggests that Pakistan is a friend or ally should be quickly quashed. If I hear any more claims that they are even remotely
loyal or faithful partners of America I may have to issue my own fatwah condemning this rhetorical nonsense. Furthermore, given our country’s present economical situation the amount of financial aid that our government gives to Pakistan is obscene and should offend each and every American. There should no longer be any question that money handed over to this country is obviously being used to aid and abet our enemies. Not so you say – convince me otherwise.

Obama’s one mistake may have been a missed opportunity by having bin Laden killed. With the presidential campaign coming into full swing a live Osama bin Laden would have been a great campaign prop. Obama could occasionally rattle his cage and bin Laden would spew out some hateful message to the world and we would all be reminded that he is safely locked away. Then there would be the long drawn out pathetic circus trial that would bring out a myriad of once obscure characters vying for the inevitable spotlight. I must admit that the President made the right choice in having this pathetic excuse for a human being exterminated and resting as bottom-feed.

So it’s time to celebrate the demise of this monster. It’s not a pretty picture or pleasant thought when one tries to envision some guy scrubbing down Osama’s nasty ass before placing him in a burial shroud. Hopefully he got a five star belly flop when his wretched carcass hit the water during the burial at sea.

**WAIT** **Hold The Presses** **NEWS FLASH**

Guantanamo Bay military prison is still open.

And in a reversal this past Monday, Barack Obama signed an executive order that will formally establish a system of indefinite detention at the Guantanamo military prison for detainees. Is this a sign of poor judgement or maybe poor leadership? He did in fact have the majority of Congress on his side. So what happened?

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), a faithful civil liberties supporter was disappointed with the decision and called Guantanamo “a blot on our national honor.” Only in your mind Congressman.

Republican Rep. Peter King (NY), who happens to chair the House homeland security committee actually praised Obama’s move as “clearly another step in the right direction.”

“I commend the Obama Administration for issuing this Executive Order. The bottom line is that it affirms the Bush Administration policy that our government has the right to detain dangerous terrorists until the cessation of hostilities.”
~Rep. Peter King (R-NY)

The Obama reversal gives legitimacy to the George Bush decision of establishing this holding facility for the scourge of the earth that is hell-bent on killing all infidels. Much to the chagrin of the liberal left it vindicates the Gitmo policy of the former President.

The administration remains committed to closing the prison, whatever that means. Shouldn’t they also have the same committment to close every prison in the United States. That would be nice, as soon as all prisoners serve out their time and no one ever commits another crime.

As the terrorists become more “ingenious” with their methods of explosive techniques one has to contemplate what will be next. Will there be an IED concealed in the rectum? If so, how do we remedy that, mandatory cavity searches? It gives a whole new meaning to flying the friendly skies? Seems our enemies are always one step ahead of us with uncanny, twisted attempts at disguising their handy work. We then must bend and sway to their whim.

In a politically correct attempt at appeasing the few all must be subjected to intense scrutiny. Shoes off, scanning, groping the young, old, all ethnicities except of course if you are a Muslim woman who wears the hijab, the head and neck covering garment. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has issued a travel notice to Muslim airline passengers, warning them that new regulations from the Transportation Security Administration violate certain religious rules. Women wearing the hajib should be limited to searching the head and shoulders only.

Israel has no problems. Every passenger is interviewed prior to boarding a flight. It must be working, there has not been a breach of security in 8 years. This procedure would be politically incorrect in the United States, therefore we will continue with the scanning and groping.

With today’s available technology airport officials are now able to scan passengers with low dose radiology thus exposing the naked body and revealing any potential contraband as well as the physical attributes of the individual. Refuse the scan and you will be unceremoniously groped. Refuse the grope and your vacation trip ends there without a single shot fired or bomb exploding.

The bottom line: Muslim extremists have already won.

A mosque built in the vicinity of ground zero will be a stick stuck in the eye of New Yorkers and America. It will be a large festering wound that refuses to heal. A symbol to our enemies that will be used over and over again so they can remind us of their victory while at the same time holding our psyche hostage.

In a display of patronizing support of the Muslim world Mayor Bloomberg felt it necessary to offer a condescending, arrogant diatribe scolding those people of New York that oppose the building of a mosque at this particular site. While the mayor may be legally correct at some level of decency he is wrong.

New York Governor David Paterson has weighed in offering state help if the developers of this mosque agree to move the proposed mosque farther away from the site of the September 11th attacks. Unlike Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Paterson recognizes the angst it would cause many New Yorkers if a mosque were to be built at the currently proposed site.

Adding further insult to injury the State Department announced that the administration is sponsoring a trip for Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the muslim leader behind the mosque project, to visit the Middle East in order to promote religious tolerance. This is not the first time the American taxpayer has paid for one of these “good-will” trips. The bottom line – it does not appear to be working.

To even suggest that a mosque be built in a place of carnage created by muslim extremists shows a severe lack of compassion for the many that lost so much. This continued pandering to the muslim world is growing weary on the American conscience.

Terrorist Attorney Scott Fenstermaker was interviewed by Bill O’Reilly last night. It was a preview of things to come. This weasel did more ducking and dodging than an NFL quarterback when it came to answering O’Reilly’s questions. Fenstermaker is the attorney that gives lawyers a bad name.

I would predict that this is only a small sampling of what America will be subjected to during this trial of five suspects implicated in planning and abetting the attacks on September 11, 2001. It will be America that is put on trial and systematically run through the wringer and stomped into the ground as these sub-human “defendents” explain how they were compelled to help plan and murder almost 3000 innocent people.

Furthermore it is exactly what Barack Obama has been waiting for, a chance to put the previous administration on trial.

The fact is the 3,100 Americans who were killed on 9/11 were killed before there was a Guantanamo. The recruits who were going into Iraq were going into Iraq long before Guantanamo was, was a serious factor. The people fighting today in Pakistan are fighting Pakistanis. The people–the Taliban who’s fighting in Afghanistan, they’re not running around using Guantanamo. They’re running around using the existence of America. One of the terrorists in Guantanamo recently threw his television down and broke it because he had a picture of a woman with bare arms. I think we are kidding ourselves about who these terrorists are and we’re kidding ourselves about the power of this. Guantanamo matters because in America and Europe the left has decided the matter. So let’s build a brand-new facility. Tell me how it will be different from Guantanamo and tell me how many weeks it would take before it became the new symbol that was attacked because you’re still going to be holding people in prison, they’re still going to be isolated.
~Newt Gingrich on “Meet the Press”

The alternative to incarcerating enemy combatants would be to exterminate them on the battlefield. If holding them anywhere is such a focal point then let’s not hold them at all. Would this be a more palatable option for the people that are opposed to Guantanamo Bay? Where is the evidence that the United States is less safe because of the existence of Gitmo?

“Guantanamo is not the only reason that inspires terrorism around the world against the United States. But let’s be honest about it, since 9/11 we have seen al-Qaeda become a global franchise. And their recruitment tool, the one that they’re using repeatedly, is the detention techniques used by the United States at specifically Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.”
~Senator Dick Durbin on “Meet the Press”

Recruitment tool Senator? Where’s your evidence? Did our troops confiscate a recruiting poster that indicated this? Now there is talk of moving detainees from the tropical island base of Guantanamo Bay to a United States federal super-max prison. Tropical paradise to super-max lockdown. Wouldn’t this further infuriate Muslim extremists?

It would appear that there is no satisfying solution to this problem.

That being the case then why not just keep Gitmo open for business?

Apparently the President found it necessary to explain himself to the very people that he has now put in immediate jeopardy with the release of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memos. Since when in the course of American history has a U.S. President released top secret documents during a time of war that would only be advantageous to its enemies? These were top secret documents! There is a reason why they were top secret. Knowledge gained from these documents could put American citizens at risk.

During his meeting at CIA Headquarters Obama said, “Don’t be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we’ve made some mistakes.” Now there’s a point that can be agreed upon with the most recent mistake being the release of these OLC memos. You cannot unring the bell and releasing these memos was one mistake that cannot be corrected. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden once said waterboarding led to valuable intelligence from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. What more needs to be deduced from positive results?

And now the President’s national intelligence director has weighed in stating, “High-value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country,”

The mantra that keeps being repeated after the release of these memos is, “much of this information was already public.” Maybe, but it was only speculation. Now that it is public information, what’s next? Will covert operations be exposed just to satisfy a liberal-voting special interest group?

For a President that campaigned on moving forward with a focus on the future he now seems intent on dredging up and living in the past with the focus now being an uncertain future.