Happy Thanksgiving

Just ran across this at Blackfive.net (haven't been there or updated my milblog in a looooong time).
I thoroughly enjoyed this post and wanted to share it with you all.
Happy Thanksgiving

Posted By Laughing_Wolf
Given that I may be offline for a few days, I wanted to take this chance to say, and to wish to you and yours a, Happy Thanksgiving.

There is much to be thankful for in my life, and in the world. For all that is bad, there is so much more good. Jenny and I have a roof over our head, a warm place to lay those heads, good friends, a huge number of people we know and enjoy, and we live in a country that is probably the most free -- and in my not so humble opinion -- the best in the world. Perfect, no. Best, yes.

We've just had a major regime change without violence or permanent consequences for the loser. Think on that a few minutes, and reflect on how rare that is in the world. Think on the freedoms we enjoy, and, yes, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and the blood of patriots. For now, I simply give thanks for the freedoms we have, and that we have people who are vigilant and who are willing to pay the price for us all.

Think of the blessings and bounty we have Thanksgiving Day, and give thanks. There will be time enough later to naysay and worry about the future. For the day, live in the present and give thanks for all that is good and right in our lives.

May you and yours enjoy the bounty and blessings of the day, and have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving.
LW

Link:
Happy Thanksgiving
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/11/happy-thanksgiv.html

Marines Prosecuted in Civilian Court

Browsing Foxnews this morning I came across this article about a Marine (Jose Luis Nazario Jr.) being tried in civilian court for a war crime. Sgt. Gibby has a real issue with this. This can not continue. Most civilians have no idea what it is like in a war zone situation. We have an entire department in the military to prosecute this type of thing. If this is allowed, it will explode into many other cases being thrown into civilian court for political purposes; not to prosecute this in civilian court, but to further political gain.

As it was stated in the parent story:

"This boils down to one thing in my mind: Are we going to allow civilian juries to Monday-morning-quarterback military decisions?" said Nazario's attorney, Kevin McDermott.

This is the history of the law:

The Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act law was written in 2000 and amended in 2004 primarily to prosecute civilian contractors who commit crimes while working for the U.S. overseas. One of the authors contends prosecuting former military personnel was "not the motivation."

Nazario is the first military service member who has completed his duty to be brought to trial under a law that allows the government to prosecute defense contractors, military dependents and those no longer in the military who commit crimes outside the United States.

I understand amending laws if we need to bridge a gap, but put the war crimes trials where they belong which is back into Military courts.
Check out the Full story here.

*****Update, there is a much more detailed account of what happened with this case at WSJ.com. *****

*****Update 2, Yet another update about the acquittal of Jose Nazario from the WSJ:
WSJ

Ex-Marine Acquitted of Manslaughter Charges
By Nicholas Casey

A former Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqis was acquitted Thursday of voluntary manslaughter charges in a closely watched test of recent law that broadened the powers of federal courts.
Jose Luis Nazario, 28 years old, had been charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, a law passed in 2000 that extended the jurisdiction of federal courts ...

More About the Military and Drinking

I came across this article about troops being prone to drink, and I thought, "Oh great, here we go." I am tired of hearing about people in the military drinking more than their civilian counterparts. My totally unfounded belief is that this excessive drinking is attributed more to the mindset of those that served in the military being more geared towards taking risks.
But wait there is a twist.
I actually read through the story and was surprised that it was based on a study of National Guard and Reserve troops only, and that those NG and Reserve troops that had been deployed had a 60 percent higher occurrence of developing binge drinking problems than their counterparts who had not been deployed.
Well now, that sounds like good info to know. I am glad that someone is doing these studies so we can get these troops help.
I do, however get a bit frustrated at seeing only these negative stories about military service, and it's effects, in the news. The studies need to be done to help those that need mental counseling to reconcile the issues they have, no doubt about it. However, when was the last time we picked up a paper and saw an article about how the military turned someone's life around. You have to look at special news sources for these kinds of stories, (i.e. Stars and Stripes, Milblogs).
I realize that have been guilty of this a bit as well. After my last couple of posts, I got an e-mail from former squid Mario asking if I could post a more upbeat article or two. He was right, and trust me I have been looking, but they are hard to find. I will try to get a couple of more "positive" articles up with the others when I come across them. Don't be shy in sending me some that you come across. Until then, read the article mentioned above. Semper Fi

George Carlin

One of my favorite people of all time died yesterday. George Carlin was called a "comedian", but he was more of a philosopher using comedy to make people re-evaluate their thought processes and outlook on society. If you spend 15 minutes today on the internet, make sure it is over at you tube watching some George Carlin clips. One of my favorites is his outlook on
saving the planet.

Man Beats 2 Year Old Son to Death and Bystanders Don't Intervene

I cannot explain my feelings on this issue any better than Uncle Jimbo does over at Blackfive.net in his post, so I will just add this link for you to follow. WTF is right!
Wolves, Sheep & ?

Haditha Marine prepares to sue Murtha over smear

I just saw an article that makes me very happy over at World Net Daily. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani , who was recently acquitted of charges against him for the Haditha incident (Haditha Massacre to some) might be suing John Murtha for the statements he made about the Marines involved. Good for him! For those of you that have forgotten our beloved Congressman's statements let me refresh your memory:

(During) a May 17, 2006, news conference by Murtha. The congressman announced he had been told by the highest levels of the Marine Corps there was no firefight and Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

None of the cases against these accused Marines had even stared yet, and here is Murtha, a former Marine himself, throwing them under the bus. Of course this was during election time, and as stated in the WND story by Brian Rooney, Chessani's lawyer, "He was vying for a leadership position, and if he had to throw some Marines under the bus to do so, that was the cost of power for him."

Murtha had no business saying what he did before the investigations started and deserves to be sued for libel and defamation.

Another point to note is what Rooney said about the reporting of this story.

He noted the New York Times featured the case on the front page when it was being compared by war critics to the infamous My Lai massacre in Vietnam. But now, with evidence the Haditha accusations were a smear, the story has been relegated to the back pages.

There are several media outlets who headlined the originalstory, and are now side-noting the acquittals.

I will close this with another of Rooney's statements:

He hopes soon politicians will weigh in on the case in support of Chessani and the others.

"I would think all politicians, especially politicians that have military records, should say something about this case," he said.

"In a horrible and very complex environment, when you have an enemy that's using women and children as shields, you should always give the benefit of the doubt to the Marine or soldier," said Rooney. "You should never bring him back and put him in front of a court martial."

Absolutely correct. We have to support our service members, especially in a volunteer military. They signed up to help, at least let the investigations and trials take place before throwing them under the bus.

Write your politicians who are prior service members and urge them to speak out.

Marine's Narrow Escape From Death

Dramatic photos show a Marine's narrow escape from death Sunday while facing insurgent gunfire in Afghanistan. Go check em out here. All I can say is WOW!