A little over a week ago, I sent to some friends a link to an article by George Wittmann entitled Profiling Putin
One of my friends responded,

What does all this mean to us? Is he our foe, or does he just want to manipulate us? Does he want to pay us back for Afghanistan? (Wouldn’t blame him, we were on the wrong side).

He sparked an extended reply, which I give below, slightly edited and expanded. For good or ill, Russia remains an important neighbor which we ignore or misunderstand to our misfortune. It is a cliché that “the generals are always preparing to fight the last war’, but the diplomats, too, are always trying to prevent the last war. And if our enemies are too often blinded by ideology, so are we, particularly by outdated and incompletely misunderstood ideologies. I’m not bold enough to claim to be a Russian expert – history teaches that is the sure predecessor to being proven wrong. But let me suggest a few facts and recent developments and try to answer my friend’s questions.

I think Putin is a nationalist; he wants to advance his country to the greatest extent possible. He wants it to become a great power again. I can understand and respect that; I am an American nationalist, and I wish our leaders had that sort of motivation for our country. Putin has turned his back on communism as both we and they understood it - communism failed and let down their country.
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It is not always possible to tell immediately which news story will vanish like the morning mist and which will prove to be the minor beginning of a major event. A squad of Redcoats shooting into an unruly crowd, a black woman involved in a minor disturbance on a bus, or any of a thousands of items now forgotten though seemingly important at the time.

On Tuesday, April 22, there was an incident in Edinboro, Pennsylvania that seemed minor at the time, but whose repercussions are beginning to spread.

A small anti-war demonstration was organized by the local college. Maybe less than two dozen protesters. A small counter-demonstration from Gathering of Eagles was also there, led by the family of Jason and Carrie Swartout.

In the words of her original e-mail

The AAR for Saturday’s Iran-mobile counter in Meadville will be delayed. Our video camera has been confiscated by the Edinboro PD. We had a counter protest today in Edinboro. It was an Iraq war protest put together by Richard McVay. He was not present but there were about 10 college students, a couple professors and a group of Hillary supporters. Anyways, Andrew went to the their protest site to videotape a couple odd displays they put up. They were beginning to get aggresive with Andrew simply because he was recording their protest. Jason and I went over to make sure he was ok. Long story short one girl attacked me which turned into 2 girls attacking me. Jason pulled one off of me and then he was attacked and held down by 4-5 people getting punched in the head. Meanwhile Andrew pulled the other girl off me and then she kicked me in the head with a great big boot. I called the cops and while we were waiting on them the girl that kicked me in the head went over to Andrew(14 years old) and punched him right in the face. My 12, 9, and 7 year olds were standing across the street witnessing the whole thing. Here’s the kicker. The cops watched the video at the scene and no arrests were made. One of the cops was very aggressive toward us. The girl later spit on Jason right in front of the cop and nothing was done about it. Amazing! Right now I have a huge headache and knots coming up all over my head. Jason has scratch marks on his face not to mention someone stomping on his glasses when they fell off. Andrew has a red cheek. So we’ll get a AAR for this event and Saturday’s maybe tomorrow night after we get our camera back.

During the week this story moved from email to the blogs, including A Soldier’s Perspective, Blackfive , This Ain’t Hell, and others
Now I learn that the Swartouts will be appearing on The O’Reilly Factor on April 29.

But this is not the only such incident. On April 24 Michelle Malkin reported an incident in which an 18 year old girl, confined to a wheelchair by MS was attacked and physically abused by an anti-Bush protestor while she tried to greet Laura Bush in New York City.

Since mid-March there have been the ongoing clashes in Berkeley, California in which Eagles demonstrating in favor of the USMC’s right to recruit have been attacked by “peaceniks”. In Berkeley, the Police proved partisan in favor of the anti-military demonstrators.

And there was the bombing of a New York City recruiting station in March.
One of the members of IVAW has posted threats against Michelle Malkin and threatened to bomb the Gathering of Eagles . And around the country there seems to be a new epidemic of defacing military memorials, particularly those to Viet Nam veterans.

This on-going pattern is a partial response to those who would accuse the Carrie and her family of having provoked the incident.

Another response is to remember that for at least fifty years the Left has attempted to make its protests annoying and irritating, attempting to provoke opponents to a reaction that can be used to embarrass them. Even had the Swartouts been provocative, the Leftoids should have known to remain calm and not attack. This is one of those rules which the local police should have enforced, one of those rules which keeps our current Cold Civil War from turning hot.

It is still too early to learn what will happen. Will the Edinboro police take some action? Or will this latest offense be quietly swept under the rug and forgotten till the time after the next time.

It seems to me that the radical left is becoming more malignant. They no longer have a monopoly on the public square, and must contend with opposing opinions. They do not like it and are lashing out. We Eagles, both EU and GOE, have made targets of ourselves. Good. We’re doing something right. And let’s hope the Edinboro brutality leads so some useful consequences against college hippies and the cops who love them.

-Rurik

All along the internet I have been reminded that today is Earth Day. Jonn over at This Ain’t Hell has a great link to a Wall Street Journal essay. Go visit a fellow blogger to get the link and help him grow.

But I an’t help remembering that today is also the 138th birthday of Vladimir Lenin, basher of the bourgeoisie and persecutor of the peasants. Is this puely an embarassing coincidence? As Mad Vlad, the bald bitch and bearded bastard would have said — not by chance.

So this may seem like Earth Day, but really, it is Watermelon Day! Green on the outside and Red on the inside.

I intend to mark the occasion with ostentatious non-observance. And tonight for diner I will eat green peas. And produce much methane for the greenhouse.

-Rurik

Saturday morning Rurik was on the air again. Y’know, being able to just talk instead of having to type and spell check is a real luxury. I can understand why the Libruls like to air their gums so much. This time I was on Veterans Radio and had the honor of sharing the program with Scott Swett, and our host Gary Lillie.
Thies was the official program:

Winter Soldier I & II
Why did warriors leave “home” to serve in the Vietnam War, but “came back” when their tour was over? Why didn’t they go “home?” Perhaps the main reason was the treatment they received from citizens who reviled our warriors, while praising those of other countries. What brought about that attitude? Did the protestors and our country hear the truth about our warriors? Join Gary Lillie as he hosts lively interviews on a very controversial subject. Did John Kerry receive funding from Jane Fonda to gather lies about our troops in Vietnam? The notarized statements he presented were entered into the Congressional Record. If they are lies, does that constitute perjury to congress? And just what is Jimmy Carter up to these days? Is he connected with Winter Soldier II? Why is his picture posted on one of their web sites?

You can hear the program here.

And by the way, you might want to take a little time anc check out some of their other archived previous programs. They all look pretty good, and some appear really important.
My thanks to Gary.

-Rurik

Some weeks ago I had a small notion. With the upcoming Winter Soldier II event I speculated that we should let THEM do their thing, and then WE would do a blow-by-blow rebuttal.

I figured the rebuttal that was lacking after WSI allowed myths and outright lies to become de-facto truths over the subsequent decades.

Live blogging the new event, along with various on-line efforts would allow us to collect the intel needed to address the new lies head on.

Then wiser heads prevailed and some decided to make the rebuttal precede, and/or run concurrently with, the event.

Along the way I admit some concern that those folks were allowing the IVAW to inoculate themselves, and that did happen, but the effect was positive.

I found myself tangled up in some local, personal, matters and could only watch from the sidelines as several fine folks just kept pouring cold water on each supposed hot spot. It was a wonder to behold. Denis, Rurik, John, TSO, and many others, left them only able to whimper.

The counter protest and rally were punctuation marks writ large.

So to all concerned, Well Done, and thanks for NOT listening to me!

Our Contributor ‘1st Cav’ sent these links along to our friend Bill over at OWD. Bill ran with them and added to it with his usual eloquence. 1st Cav asked me to crosspost here.

William “1stCav” Page for the links. I spent one of the least boring times of my life at the Kontum, Viet Nam airstrip in May and June of ‘72, unloading ammo from American C-130s and loading it onto ARVN trucks. 1stCav spent a longer period of time, including the entire period I was there, as part of a tank killing TOW team helping keep the North Vietnamese Army away from the airstrip and the city itself. William, I thank you for that as well.

• The Siege of Kontum - Part 1/3
• The Siege of Kontum - Part 2/3
• The Siege of Kontum - Part 3/3

I have to wonder after watching those if any of those Montagnards are some of the same ones I helped usher onto American C-130s at the airstrip. Amazing how many people you can crowd onto an airplane when they want to travel bad enough.

Today is not only the day General Petraeus speaks, but also the the day for Veterans On The Hill, the rally conducted by Veterans For Freedom in support of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let IVAW, congress, and everyone else watch as these 500 or so vets the right way to rally for the right, and by the right.

Our friend John of This Ain’t Hell was again in the thick of the action, as he was in March. This time surrounded by a much better class of veteran than we met at WS II. And thanks to the miracle of blogging we need not await the nightly news to have the event spun and censored for us by the LSM. You can see it now , with lots of action photos. Starring the legendary John Himself, the equally legendary Uncle Jimbo (though its hard to recognize him without the famous cap, and a supporting cast of thousands five hundred, plus miscellaneous politicians trying to gain center stage. I really regret I couldn’t return to DC for for this event. So thank you John for letting me be there vicariously. History is made today, and you are there.

-Rurik

-Rurik

The second panel of Friday morning devoted to The Crisis in Veterans’ Healthcare, chaired by Martin Smith. This panel could have been entitled “Let’s slap the VA a bit.” Or it could have been called “War, Our Chance For Castroite Healthcare”. Having worked within the VA system, I am more aware than most, of the problems within the VA medical system. But the IVAW critique is neither helpful nor intended to be. It is not even consistent. They denounce VA care as incompetent, and on occasion even as malicious, implying that the VA even desires harm for veterans. But then they turn around and demand that there be more VA care. Patients want more medication and none at all. In part it is emotionalism of idiots who know nothing about health care delivery and have faith in the power of exhortation. In part is cynical malice of those who see healthcare as a bottomless hole which can be manipulated for political purposes.

The idea is that if the government can be forced to assume total and complete responsibility for all healthcare needs of all veterans, the cost would be so enormous that the government would be unable simultaneously to fund the armed services, and might even be driven to financial collapse. Simultaneously, veterans, one of America’s most self-reliant and assertive populations would be tamed and reduced to a dependent status, increasingly hemmed in by professional demands for living approved lifestyles. The non-veteran majority would see the veterans receiving gold-plated free medical care and soon demand that they also receive the same free gold-plated care. With the eventual financial collapse and the need to impose healthy lifestyles, the government would need to introduce socialism and massive controls over individual lives. This is the ultimate goal of socialist theoreticians such as Alinsky and Gramschi. Veterans are just the most convenient place to start. There is another benefit. Attacking the VA in the name of Veterans Health is a convenient way to be anti-government while appearing to be “pro-veteran”.
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I think we may owe John Kerry a limited apology (though I’m damned if I will pay up) for ridiculing his remarks about sending the stupid to Iraq. I just found them. The fifteen individuals who testified about their combat experiences seem an amazingly dense lot. Almost all of them complained about the ROEs, but the complaints seem to vary – the ROEs were too restrictive or not restrictive enough, or both. They were too rigid, but also kept changing. You were supposed to keep the ROE card in possession at all times, but were not issued them. One fellow even complained that the ROE card presented to him was printed on an irregularly shaped card, rather than a neat rectangle. The complaint that the ROEs were changed as casualties mounted seems to me like a positive note rather than a negative. Did friendly casualties decrease when the ROEs were loosened?
A related complaint seems to have been that our troops too often did not know what they were shooting at, and fired randomly. Welcome to combat. No, its not intended to be fun, or pleasant. But keep in mind, bullets are cheaper than American ass – even yours. Budget and spend accordingly. The same principle applies to those who complain about unnecessary roughness toward Iraqis in general and prisoners specifically. Roughness intimidates and thus tends to keep both your self and eve Iraqi detainees alive. One of the panelists complained about treating roughly a number of Iraqis who were later found to be innocent and then released. Did anyone catch that important word and its significance? We released them. Might that not seem to support the notion that we release people? And that those we do not release maybe are held for a reason?
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