-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ARTICLE 02 – Ten Things I Do Not Know Or Understand ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Matthew Dodd The famous satirist Will Rogers once observed, "Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects." Many people do not like to admit ignorance, but it is tough to argue with Rogers' quote. From my experience as a military officer, the consensus is that folks who come across as "know-it-alls" are not trusted and not well respected. Today's military leaders would do themselves, and their seniors and subordinates, a great service if they took the time to reflect on the things they do not know or understand. To better facilitate discussion and reflection, let me share with you my current "Top 10" list of subjects on which I freely confess my ignorance: 10. How can American John Walker, who was captured with an AK-47 strapped across his shoulders as a trained Taliban fighter against U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, be considered as anything but a traitor to our nation? 9. Why are so many active and reserve component folks who love the military and who have dedicated their lives to serving their country so fearful of retribution for identifying institutional faults, failures, and falsehoods that they choose to remain silent? 8. Who originated the observation that the military services are known as the "Four Ds: the Dumb, the Devious, the Defiant, the Dedicated?" (I will leave it to you to figure out which service belongs to which "D"). 7. Why does most everyone complain about poor or no turnovers when starting new jobs, but hardly anybody takes the time or makes the effort to write accurate desktop procedures/turnover binders/continuity files, etc.? 6. How does the Pentagon Joint Staff expect to succeed in developing future warfighting concepts by designating lone O-6s to lead long-term, part-time, and ad hoc working groups to study and write those concepts? 5. How can some Joint Staff general/flag officers unabashedly say that they are willingly seeking only the 75 percent solution now, knowing full well that the issue will need to be worked again in the future (on someone else's watch) to get to the 100 percent solution? 4. Why do so many retired general/flag officers encourage active junior officers to exercise their moral courage by speaking out against legacy problems, programs, and policies that those same retired general/flag officers either endorsed, ignored, or failed to change when they were on active duty? 3. Why did it take the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to prompt a major mainstream newspaper (USA Today, “Misconduct Marks Guard Command: Lack of oversight by Pentagon, states let misbehavior flourish”) that captures what David Hackworth and his readers have been saying for years about widespread corruption in the National Guard? 2. Why is it that nobody seems to consider the idea of military and governmental seniors seeking and accepting feedback and constructive criticism from subordinates as a leadership development tool (promotion consideration)? 1. Why is it that our military leadership, which is doing a superb job in our global war on terrorism, is powerless to stop, or at least contain, the proliferation of “Power-Point Rangers?” I believe in the words of the enormously popular philosopher, “Anonymous,” who once said, "Admission of ignorance is the beginning of wisdom." Now that I have willingly admitted my ignorance, I am feeling more liberated than wise. I guess only time will tell. Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd is the pen name of an active-duty Marine Corps officer stationed at the Pentagon. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ARTICLE 03 – Scary Airport Security ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- As a Marine recruiter, I took a few new recruits to the Memphis Airport and saw something that scared me: Army National Guard soldiers on duty. Here’s the scary part. Army National Guardsmen generally receive less training than most warriors, but the young, under-trained Guardsmen I saw were carrying M-16s loaded with the standard NATO spec ammo which carries the ss109 bullet known as the penetrator (light armor-piercing) which will not only zip through one person but several. Moreover, they were carrying them at sling arms, where anyone with any type of sentry take-down training can get hold of the rifle. This was the wrong weapon, the wrong ammunition, and most likely insufficient training for that environment. I do know of Guardsmen who could handle that weapon in that environment, but they are very far and few between. --A Concerned Marine Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ARTICLE 04 – For the Record: Afghanistan Service Personnel Get Tax Break ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Editor’s Note: Two says after Col. David Hackworth called on the Bush administration to grant military service personnel in the Afghanistan war zone the traditional income tax break, the White House and Pentagon responded positively. Text of the Defense Department News Release, Dec. 14, 2001: COMBAT ZONE TAX BREAK ANNOUNCED Servicemembers in Afghanistan will receive significant tax breaks as a result of an executive order signed today by the president. The order is effective Sept. 19, the day troops first started deploying for Operation Enduring Freedom. The combat zone tax exclusion applies to service in Afghanistan and the airspace above it. Servicemembers directly supporting operations in Afghanistan from other locations are also eligible if they are receiving imminent danger pay or hostile fire pay. As a result of the order, enlisted servicemembers and warrant officers will pay no federal income tax on all basic pay and special pay. Officers will pay tax only on that portion of their pay that exceeds the highest enlisted pay plus the $150 imminent danger pay, a figure currently set at $5,043. Eligible servicemembers also receive an automatic extension to file their taxes. Since the order is retroactive to Sept. 19, eligible servicemembers can expect a refund of taxes already paid and future withholding to stop. Text of the President’s Afghanistan Combat Zone Executive Order: Executive Order Designation of Afghanistan and the Airspace Above as a Combat Zone Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 112 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 112), I designate, for purposes of that section, Afghanistan, including the airspace above, as an area in which Armed Forces of the United States are and have been engaged in combat. For purposes of this order, I designate September 19, 2001, as the date of the commencement of combatant activities in such zone. GEORGE W. BUSH THE WHITE HOUSE, December 12, 2001. Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ARTICLE 05 – Feedback: Readers React to Hackworth Columns ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Supports Tax-free Status I want to thank David Hackworth for his distinguished service to our nation and the cause of freedom worldwide. I am in full agreement with his article last week (“Silver Wings Upon Their Chests, Dec. 12), and would answer his final question concerning tax status [providing service personnel serving in Afghanistan] with a resounding yes! I would go further: They should be tax exempt. Without their expertise and dedication to duty, we would surely endure the exponentially more costly wrath of a protracted war – much of it being waged against us in our own country. That said, the proposal unquestionably cost-justified as well as being overwhelmingly morally sound. One good thing to come out of this fiery trial is a renewed respect for all our armed services and associated agencies that goes far beyond the patriotic pride which happily is rising once again in the breasts of our countrymen; far enough to ensure that no family of a service man or woman would ever again need to result to public assistance for sustenance. --A Concerned Citizen Marine Pride and Old Weapons I was watching the coverage of the Marines at Camp Rhino and noticed that their equipment was the exact same stuff that I was using [in the Marine Corps] back in 1989-93. I heard that they had gotten a new machine gun in place of the M-60E-3, but I didn't see it during the TV coverage. In my whole time in the Corps, I can't recall fielding one piece of new equipment. We, as Marines take a strange sense of pride about being successful with old equipment. It's that old spirit of being f**d all down the chain of command, but still determined to remain “Always Faithful.” We used to laugh about it, but as I watch other Marines in harm’s way, I am a little ticked off. The Marines’ gung-ho spirit is sometimes their own weakness. They pump up their Marines, but fail to tell that, in a way, they are being f**d by being sent out with outdated gear. If they are America's “911 FORCE,” they need to be equipped like it. At least they should be armed with the same stuff as the 101st or the 10th Mountain Divisions. I know Special Forces, the Rangers and the 82nd Airborne get top-of-the-line gear. --K.B. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
