For today’s rant I turn to that which I have written in the past to make my point pursuant to situations that exist today. On August 8, 2011 I wrote “We Shouldn’t Know About Them.” It follows below:
I’m saddened by the special-ops loss in the Chinook crash. I once again present my belief that the mountains they were shot down in should be turned into liquid glass. But beyond my unapologetic hawkishness, I have an opinion on the wall-to-wall talk about SEAL Team 6 being on board.
My opinion is this: We shouldn’t have known that. We should not know that ST6 exists. They should be phantoms who are rarely seen, and when they are it should be by the enemy as they gasp their last breath. Anonymity is the cloak that has served them well, but thanks to those who are without character, honor or patriotism – who live to seize upon the accomplishment of others – ST6 has been placed in the crosshairs of every discussion by those who seek to destroy us.
Fear of the myth made the world their home-court advantage. But like those who wear team athletic gear to look cool or seem like they’re part of a team, Obama, Biden and the media used ST6 heroism to score political points and ratings bumps. In the process, they’ve not just jeopardized these troops – but also their homes, their families and their bases. Obama used them in an attempt to validate himself as a man and leader. And, a complicit media with a vice president who epitomizes the failure of voters to exercise said right wisely, publicized to the world, the names of those SEALs responsible for taking out Osama bin Laden.
A bit of reality here. Do you remember Valerie Plame, the CIA “pretend to be?” Do you remember the shrill cries by liberals and media who wanted the head of everyone from Karl Rove to Scooter Libby to Richard Armitage for supposedly outing her as a wannabe CIA operative – when, in fact, she had been outed by her husband and herself long before?
But in the case of true heroes, Obama, the media and a clueless Joe Biden made it a point to bathe in the accomplishment of ST6. In so doing, they shined the light of exposure and information gathering on a special unit, whose strength was not just in their skill, but in the secret of their existence.
We had no business knowing they exist. Their glory should be in knowing that they serve silently, secretly, and lethally. They should carry out their tour of service in complete anonymity. There’s a reason spies don’t wear nametags – it’s because it endangers them. And the fact that we have heard a steady drone about the tragic loss of ST6 special ops in a helicopter crash, along with soldier photos, interviews with their families, etc., puts them all at risk.
The media aren’t blathering on about them because they care. They’re doing it for ratings. Obama used their heroism to elevate his nothingness. And Biden, in typical Biden fashion, made sure the world knew whatever he knew.
I salute those brave heroes, and I’m saddened by their loss. These are brave men. One doesn’t become a member of that team without being an extraordinary warrior. That said, with few exceptions, every member of our military is a hero. It’s just that the heroism of some in our military is best applauded by our not knowing who they are or what they do.
***
Obama reminds me of a friend I had growing up. He always wanted to be the one recognized as the center of attention. He always wanted to be the one who was recognized as the star of whatever it was we were involved in. He would never go out alone, and he would become sarcastic and brooding whenever anyone didn’t agree with him. Which pretty much meant he was always upset with me. Sounds like Obama doesn’t it?
I recall one day in particular. It was a Saturday morning and he had come over to show off the money he had gotten for his birthday. I can still see him standing in our kitchen telling me to look at all the money he had. It was his shining moment, thinking he had something I didn’t. But the point I want to make is what my mother did. As casually and eloquently as I’ve seen it done anytime since, she took the wind out of his sails, and ended his “look at me, I’m important.” She turned to us, as she was toweling her hands at the sink, and said: “Jasper (not his real name), how much money do you have?”
Every liter of air evaporated from the room in nano-seconds as the blood in Jasper’s face drained to his feet. You see, she addressed what I never considered: Jasper didn’t know how to count money. He had a handful of change, but he had no idea how much change he had.
Obama is like Jasper. He’s busy doing his toothy simian chest thumping, and trying to convince the electorate of his wartime savvy. He’s even enlisted the aid of Bill Clinton to help him drive the point home. Here is the truth, and the reason Obama’s having Clinton shill for him in the bin Laden take-down is a shameful disgrace. The following are excerpts from the book “Losing Bin Laden” written by my very good friend and colleague Richard Miniter:
Sudan was serious about taking action against bin Laden. . . His terrorist activities had isolated Sudan from the United States and much of the developed world. Sudan‘s internal politics were moving against the terror master, too. President Bashir was in the midst of a power struggle against Hassan al-Turabi, the Islamist leader. Bin Laden supported Turabi with cash and a potential armed cadre of Muslim militants. If Bashir could rid himself of bin Laden, he could simultaneously restart Sudan‘s relationship with the United States and vanquish his chief internal political rival.
Sudan‘s files on bin Laden and his network were extensive. Sudan had dossiers on all of bin Laden’s financial transactions, every fax he sent (the Mukhabarat had even bugged his fax machines), and every one of bin Laden’s terrorist associates and his dubious visitors. If Sudan‘s surveillance was as good as Erwa claimed, bin Laden’s entire global terrorist network would be laid bare. And the CIA would be able to track the movements of his foot soldiers and lieutenants across the Middle East.
Over the next few months and years, Sudan would repeatedly try to provide its voluminous intelligence files on bin Laden to the CIA, the FBI, and senior Clinton Administration officials — and would be repeatedly rebuffed through both formal and informal channels. This was one of the greatest intelligence failures of the Clinton years — the result of orders that came from the Clinton White House.
As the Clinton Administration was weighing whether to seize bin Laden or take the opportunity to obtain valuable intelligence on his global network, the CIA‘s own intelligence on bin Laden was shockingly poor.
Human intelligence on al-Qaeda was virtually nonexistent. Washington Times investigative reporter Bill Gertz uncovered a memo written only a few months after Sudan offered its intelligence on bin Laden. The July 1, 1996, CIA memo was marked “TOP SECRET UMBRA,” meaning only the case officers, analysts, and officials specifically cleared to read the documents marked “UMBRA” could have access to this sensitive document. The July 1996 memo reveals how ignorant America was about its emerging nemesis. “We have no unilateral sources close to bin Laden, nor any reliable way of intercepting his communications,” the report said. “We must rely on foreign intelligence services to confirm his movements and activities.”
This frank report reveals that as early as 1996 — five years before the September 11 attacks — the CIA and other senior policymakers knew about bin Laden-related intelligence failures. When it came to rectifying the cause of these failures, however, little was done.
***
Here is the hard truth. Clinton is singularly responsible for every American that has died because of bin Laden. Members of Seal Team 6 died because of Clinton. For Obama to now use Clinton to help make the case for him being some sort of “heroine” for giving the orders to take bin Laden down is beneath contempt. Add to that the ongoing accounts that Obama wasn’t even able to make the decision to take bin Laden down; many respected sources still assign the credit to Leon Panetta.
If Obama were a man and a leader he wouldn’t need to use the blood of others to paint himself as worthy of reelection. He and Clinton deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence, but they don’t deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with Seal Team 6. They should be mentioned together in a sentence that references them being impeached and indicted for crimes against America and her people.
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Mychal wrote: jim holmes: which is one of the reasons I argue the media should be limited in what they have access to…it was the media and politicians that lost vietnam and used afghanistan and iraq as tools…
AMEN Brother, Amen!!!
jim holmes: agreed…
Having: ceded the entirety of North Africa to his Muslim Brotherhood compatriots; performed his now famous ‘Dither Dance’ when Iranian patriots called for help in overthrowing a despotic regime; secured a pathway for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons; executed an Arms Treaty with the Russians that ensconced Russian Strategic superiority over America, and promises the Russians that he will have even more “flexibility” if re-elected; by a precipitous withdrawal, forfeited American sacrifices in Iraq, and positioned that country for an evolving dominance by Iran; in the process of forfeiting American sacrifices in Afghanistan, and positioning the Taliban for a return to control over that beleaguered Nation; a man, who never once has uttered the word ‘victory’ in the pursuit of his Foreign Policy objectives; pursued Domestic energy policies that admittedly “crucify” America’s Energy Sector, and ‘sets-in-stone’ our vulnerability to supply disruptions from a volatile Middle East; systematically decimating America’s Military Force Structure so as to fulfill his pledge to – “Reduce the U.S. Military to a level that would NOT be viewed as a threat by our Middle Eastern brethren.”; defaults on the opportunity to provide measured assistance to the Syrian Freedom Fighters so as to precipitate the downfall of that virulent anti-American regime; routinely assumes policies that undermine the security of our Israeli ally; ignores the growing influence of both Russia an China in our Southern neighborhood, to include the positioning of offensive weaponry in Venezuela; vociferously resisted the Bush policies that enabled the identification of the ‘Courier’ who was eventually tracked to Bin Laden’s location. -And now- in an attempt to obfuscate his pathetic performance on Foreign Policy matters, our Barney Fife of American Foreign Policy, rhetorically short-circuits the meticulous/laborious endeavors of America’s Intelligence Services that Obama had previously sought to systematically curtail, and the incredibly skilled and heroic activities of Seal Team Six, in an attempt to portray himself as the central focus and singular action-figure in the demise of Bin Laden.
How is it possible that the ‘formerly’ greatest Nation on the face of this earth could anoint such a pathetically weak, non-descript, self-promoting comedy of a man to such a position of authority as President Of The United States? Greg Neubeck
greg neubeck: your last paragraph is answered by people wanting anybody but someone associated w/ bush…it is my opinion that in rabid push to get anybody but obama people are about to make the same mistake again…
These two men have USED this Country to their personal benefit and ideology for their entire adult live, and it is shameful that the people who elected them are so blind as to their motivation, and don’t seem to have any idea of the harm they have brought on our society as a whole. Our culture (entirety) has deteriorated to scum, and they have the nerve to capitalize on the greatness of these men. They and their minions (voters) will only blame someone else when America FALLS. We are close to self-destruction, and the elite “talk” about the American President being “cool”. It never ceases to amaze me.
jane leasman: i repeat that had clinton taken bin laden when bashir of sudan offered to arrest him and turn him and his entire cabal w/ all of the information bashir had collected…no one would have died…there would have been no 9/11…hte blood that bin laden shed is on clinton’s hands…and obama is just a marxist-leninist w/ an angry harridan who thinks she has hit the mother lode at taxpayer expense…
I am neither a Republican or a Democrat. I am a Patriotic, American, Veteran! But wasn’t it good old Ollie North during the Iran Contra hearings that said, in 1986, he installed a home security system because he was scared of Bin Laden! And wasn’t Ollie and The Gipper being questioned because they were supplying Iran (HELLO IRAN, MAKING NUKES TO USE AGAINST US) with weapons to fight the same Bin Laden. And couldn’t this bee proof our gov and CIA knew of Bin Laden looking before Clinton, and maybe what pushed him to attack us on our soil at least twice(1993 WTC bombing). What about our US Army Special Forces training the Afghan rebels in the 1980′s when the were fighting the Russians? Are we not now fighting against those men and men they trained. Shouldn’t G.H.W. Bush done what it took his son to do, actually find and take out Hussein. I could go on, but do I need to?
What’s my point? Tell the whole story. Many people, political parties, and so called leaders are at fault. STOP ABUSING THE FACTS TO MAKE YOUR OPINIION LOOK BETTER.
While I agree that there is a need for opsec, Seal Team 6 is no secret. I read about the formation of Seal Team 6 in Richard Marcinko’s autobiography Rogue Warrior in 1992. It is despicable that any arm chair warrior/political hack would choose to garner political points based on the actions of America’s service members. While I strongly believe that the individual team members should be secret, Seal Team 6 is old news.
Joshua Knapp
USA
OIF I 2003
joshua knapp: I’ll tell you what the shame is…the shame is that you don’t grasp the danger obama and biden put these men and their families in…if you are such an informed reader…then you must have read that ST6 and their families expressed same…just as members of the military criticized the way the bravery of these men has been exploited…
Mychal, you are absolutely correct re: the media & WWI. I have read books about the events leading up to Nagasaki and Hiroshima in WWII. One item that struck me is that the Japanese leaders were receiving newspaper subscriptions at their offices in Japan during a time of war. The Japanese didn’t need great intel, when American Media was supplying it to them for the price of a subscription, albeit a week or two late.
jim holmes: which is one of the reasons I argue the media should be limited in what they have access to…it was the media and politicians that lost vietnam and used afghanistan and iraq as tools…
Everything you said here is true your rant is my rant . I feel this man hates America.
vinnie: i would have phrased your second paragraph differently…but I don’t disagree w/ you…
Shoot, shovel and shut up! The job needed to be done and was done. Bragging about it is not only stupid but also dangerous. The people who needed to receive the message that GW voiced following 9/11, received it. ‘nuf said.
[W3]
woody w woodward: I argue that those seals did not need to suffer injury and lost…they did because clinton failed in his responsibility to protect us…had he taken bin laden when bashir offered to arrest him and his cabal…then hand them all over complete w/ complete intelligence…it is a dishonor to every single person murdered, killed and injured by these terrorists to have clinton shilling for obama…
Thank you, Mychal. You have written the thoughts of many about the man who must use “his” political position to claim glory of a covert mission and, at the same time, give away Military secrets to the world and our enimies. Is nothing sacred any longer? When our Milirary is put in harm’s way by big mouths and little brains, it worries me. Military Operations Transparency is unacceptable. It gets our heroes (Military personnel) killed.
marilyn: the point that must be stressed is not one american would have died if clinton hadn’t failed in his responsibility to protect us…
Mychal, thanks for another excellent piece regarding one the most despicable aspects of the fraudulent desecration now residing in our White House. I have never called him by the official title he holds and never will. I think especially despicable for us “old warriors” who see his actions and obvious attempts to make himself appear to be a magnificent military commander and share in the heroism of the professional, dedicated warriors of our SOF or anyone else in military uniform as deeply insulting. He has NOT EARNED the right to be saluted or the privilege of returning a salute. I totally agree with John Holmes, especially his second paragraph. I clearly remember the same things and events John McClain so eloquently addresses, carter, clinton, etc., in his well thought out and expressed comments. This person who is currently using the name obama and all his criminal, traitorous cronies MUST GO if we are to survive as any kind of coherent nation where our descendants can live in the freedom that has been so dearly bought by the men and women in our armed forces, not by politicians sitting on their behinds safely at home or stomping around the world surrounded by huge security teams while trying to portray themselves as great leaders.
And if I haven’t said it before here I will say it now: I haven’t put any trust in the media since Viet Nam which, in my mind, seems to be the point they collectively stopped reporting things military in any semblance of an unbiased manner and in my opinion have done tremendous damage to our country and have done it on purpose.
wakinyan: had clinton taken bashir’s offer bin laden would have been stopped before he got started…and the media was misreporting the news during WWI…
Mychal, you call it a rant but I call it a breath of fresh air to finally see someone post in an open forum some of the same thoughts I have been having since the “slick willie” Clinton mis-administration. There is a very sound reason why the Special Forces are called SPECIAL … they do work beyond the norm and very often below radar that does not need to be broadcast to the world.
Being a vet myself I just have one thought to add … God Bless all our troops and protect them from politicians who care for their own aggrandizement with total disregard for our defenders.
rick: clinton and obama like to boast about the successes of those they do their all to malign…
Someone asks why obama/sotero/davis is allowed to speak about special ops, and I will enlighten. Most presidents use these types to do what their General Staff tell them are important tasks at the time.
Good presidents don’t allow politics to decide who will be raised to General, and don’t dramitically alter policy in the armed forces.
By his very demeanor, this communist operative caused many honorable members, both officer and enlisted, to leave immediately upon his election. His actions subsequently, and his demands since in office have provoked dissent in mostly officer ranks, as few enlisted have to deal with him, and he has driven out the best Generals, the best Colonels and shown the majors whether they wish to pursue a political career in the Service they are in, or retire.
By this natural action, obama/sotero/davis has no “well qualified” Generals left. There are no career officers who care more about honor than politics, because doing so buys a one way ticket out, and not with accolades.
Just as Major Eisenhower was promoted up to four star general in just over two years, and moved from a minor staff position, to general of European operations precisely because he was in political tune with FDR, he was able to take the command to hold the entire allied army outside Berlin for over a week so Berlin could be taken by the Communist Russians, so too, do these generals, none who have spent any real time in each rank, allow the politic to dominate all strategy and tactics of our current command structure.
What proper, qualified and skilled general could ever answer to this boy who refuses to even show his student i.d. to get into the dance? All the generals and the Sergeant’s Major went home, retired, and the children are in charge of the officer’s tent, and running the Joint Chief’s of Staff. Really.
John McClain
GySgt, USMC, ret.
Vanceboro, NC
john mcclain: if good presidents don’t allow politics to determine who gets elevated to general…it means we haven’t had a good a good president since maybe WWI…
As an active duty Marine at the time when all this intel was offered and rejected, I spent days going into rages over the idiocy of decisions, and then alternate days praying and hoping what was proffered would be accepted, only to be sent into a fugue in the next day or so.
We had no business going into Iraq in 90, if we were not going to do the job, but we didn’t. I could write three or four thousand words describing why Hussein felt he could invade Kuwait with impunity, and how our foreign policy practically gave him a green light.
We went to Iraq to collect the dangerous toys we spread around, and to stop what we fomented decades earlier, in supporting the independence of Kuwait, against Hussein, who we installed.
Our presidents do such things with conferences with “experts”, but they somehow fail to ever weigh in the thoughts of those whose lives are going to be put forward to do such things, and yes, as a Marine, I am appalled presidents are allowed to know such as seal teams and other special covert operatives exist. I believe one of the questions which should qualify or disqualify presidential contenders should be “if you knew who our special forces were, would you speak of them?”, Carter killed those who died in his aborted rescue attempt precisely because he did not have a clue about operational envelopes of Air Force Aircraft, and the fact Navy and Marine Helicopters have different equipment allowing them to operate in desert conditions, close to the ground.
That took place when I was a Lance Corporal. In all my years only Reagan was able to tell his staff officers what he wanted done, and able to keep his hands out of the operation. The transition from Reagan to Bush was obvious to those in service, we became tools of presidential attitude, once again.
No president in my lifetime has done more deliberate and morale destructive work than obama/sotero/davis, though, and I suspect his record will stand for many years to come. Our founders went to great lengths to keep the government out of the hands of the military, and assure us always a civilian commander, however they could never have imagined such a treason man being freely elected by such a foolish and unworthy population.
Our children grow up in the very real fear of the whole of society turning inside out and attacking them, while being kept ignorant of the very real and dangerous world outside which has been purposed to take us down for two centuries, and was intended to be done a century ago. We have been aware of this plan since its inception, it was announced by those intending to bring it to fruition, and they described how they would do it, and what we would act like, as they prepare our culture to fail, and we can look at ourselves and see within us, exactly what they described their work would accomplish, and yet we don’t even consider with realistic intent, this enemy now both within us and outside, we have opened our gates and invited the enemy in, and now we wonder what comes next.
Everytime I’ve made an enormous mess, it seems to take minutes to develop, and hours lapsing into days to clean it up. We say we pray for change, we plan to fix things, we want what our grandparents had, but we have to become those kind of people to have what they supported and kept, we cannot be “our kind of people”, and have what their kind made come to light by the actions, each and every day.
Right is out there, it can be ours now, we can turn this vexed and distorted remnant of our Nation upside down inside out, and restore the rule of law, but not without restoring that rule of law within ourselves, not without becoming responsible for our own deeds and misdeeds, and not without taking on the whole of self-responsibility back on our own shoulders, and then looking out and actually seeing just how small that little man with the funny ears really is, both in physically, and in his heart and dreams.
Those who haven’t fought for it, have no inkling of the price of freedom, what the cost in blood means, when it is your brother, one closer than brothers, that you staunch the flow, and pray he lives. All such should have the respect to know when to shut up and stay out of the conversation, completely. It is painful to even hear him speak of our armed forces, as he has done more damage to those honorable institutions than all the people, and all the days of two centuries couldn’t come close to, and he hasn’t an inkling what a brother is.
God Bless those who serve us today both in the light of day, surviving the “rules of engagement”, meant to save the face of politicians, at the cost of legs, torsos, and lives of those who serve under those rules, and may God Bless those who do service in the night, with anonymity particularly from the presidents and talkers, that they might do their work with safety they never know while politicians talk.
Thank you for making this a National issue, bringing it to the forefront, while we who have retired consider the extremes once gone through to keep a cross channel invasion secret, when the Germans knew we had to cross or let them keep it.
Semper Fidelis, may my lost brothers rest in peace at last.
John McClain
GySgt, USMC, ret.
Vanceboro, NC
john mcclain: you’re welcome my friend…
You’d think that as our Military’s Commander In Chief, he’d have a little restraint, but I suppose some things just cannot be learned, and since he served not one day in Military service, he can’t possibly understand discipline. I find it ironic that he wouldn’t show the world the photos of a dead Osama bin Laden, but is all too quick to offer up information about the AMERICAN men who took him out – thereby endangering them and their families. The truth is, neither should have been done. It should have been enough to tell the world, show as little proof as to satisfy the masses and get on with it. People are under the misconception that we have a right to know every single little thing regarding war and national security. We don’t. I remember when Geraldo Rivera was in Iraq, imbedded with a unit that had a very specific plan of attack. With my very eyes, I watched him draw their map of attack in the sand with his finger and explain the whole thing to the camera (the world). I found myself yelling at the tv (my soldier was over there at the time!) “You IDIOT!!” Of course, I wasn’t the only one – he was yanked and sent back to his desk job – but who cares? He could have gotten them all, including himself KILLED! What? Al Qaeda doesn’t have tv? Come ON! The fact of the matter is that we are not entitled to, nor should the media demand, information on covert operations, foreign/domestic, that involve our nation’s security! A group of us were having a discussion about this very thing the other night – your rant is timely and will hopefully provoke more people to start taking a serious look at what 4 more years with this loose cannon will look like.
snoopsister: loyalty to muslims and eager ignorance to jeopardize our troops…
Thank you, Mychal Massie, for these chilling reminders.
norma earls: you are welcome my friend…
Mychal, this is exactly what I was discussing with my sister last night – wow! You are so very right! We were talking about how ironic it is that Clinton is the one stumping for Nobama on this topic as Clinton should be known more widely as the one who let bin Laden get away. OMGosh, this world is insane!
I am perplexed as to why Nobama is allowed to talk about the Navy Seals. I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning them before. Why isn’t someone from the military standing up and saying something about this? Where are all the good moral men and women who are in power and can do something about this?
dlb: when you find those good and moral men and women you’re referencing let me know…
The little known monicker for SF is “The Quiet Professionals.” This is pretty much the mantra for Special Ops and rightly so. The less the world knows of these brave men, the better America can sleep at night. Why? Because those who are trying to harm our country don’t sleep well knowing these men are out there, hunting them, and in most cases will find them, perhaps while they sleep. God Bless all Special Operations.
duker: give obama another term and he’ll have all homosexual and all lesbian special forces…
I agree 100% I have been saying this for years! Its none of our business and especially the rest of the world! And Obama really needs to spend some time on the front line-not giving speeches but seeing what really goes on. He wont; maybe because he is a sympathizer with their cause or maybe because he isnt smart enough to appreciate what he has. Either way, I hope sincerely that our countrymen awaken from their apathy and get rid of this clown in November.
monica carna: it is disgrace for clinton to pretend to be a leader when he is singularly responsible for bin laden killing americans…
Deary Mychal: You are a wizard with your words. Every time I read what you say, I marvel at how you describe the story of what is going on. My heart leaps because you are a leader with intelligence and use it wisely in how you express yourself. I only wish more people would read your column. Then they too, like me, will have a lighter heart and hope for the future. God Bless you, Mychal.
May your light shine for many years to come – and I will happily fly toward it like a moth. Mimi McHale
mimi mchale: lol…thk you…you are kind…I hope I can continue to live you to your expectations…
Mychal, today’s rant has been one that I have been making for many years and several administrations. Since Vietnam, the media has felt it their right to embed into military combat units and write about all things security. Never mind the need to know and other (so-called) cliches. Their talk endangers our troops and operations and the security of America itself. You are 100% correct about ST6. The American public has a right to know we have Seals that does some pretty amazing stuff. The American public does not have the need to know the particulars about operations or tactics. Loose lips sink ships is more than just an old age motto … it is very much the truth.
My own rant – Obama has not earned the right to salute. He is a PoS, lying, dis-honorable, socialist, community organizer who happens to be the CIC through the fault of a decaying morality and rising socialism movement in America. He does not deserve to shine our Military’s boots. Every time he poses for a photo-op with a salute is a disgrace to America and our fighting forces everywhere. His salute is the same fakery as his claiming to have killed OBL. BS. Thanks Mychal for todays Rant, I feel better now.
jim holmes: actually the media has been lying and distorting since WWI…the ny times were actually nazi sympathizers…it’s just that in Vietnam we had cronkite et al in the living room each night and marxists protesting in the streets during the day…