Then There's Maude

I am very glad to have in my cabinet
such able statesmen as you have proved yourself to be.
And I shall be pleased to avail myself
of your counsel and advice.  
But I can never consent to being dictated to. 
I am the President 
and I shall be responsible for my administration
--U.S. President John Tyler
__________________

Re. the words of President Tyler and the desk plaque of Harry Truman: if only President Obama were a "buck-stops-here" kinda guy. Alas.

Let us begin with an oft-forgotten precept in 2014: America is a nation governed by laws, and we oppose the concept of cruel and unusual punishment. This is foundational. But then there's Gitmo (Hearing Offers Rare Peek at Guantanamo.)

Why can't President Obama, as Commander in Chief, order the military to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center -- the shining promise of his early administration?

Can the President not use one of his exalted Executive Orders to do it? If Obama can EO the minimum wage, then surely he can EO the closure of Gitmo. He could grant Presidential pardons, and send the prisoners home. Mea culpa.

What have 60 prisoners done that the rebels in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria have not done? Why are the prisoners at Gitmo evil, wicked, mean and nasty, but the jihadists supporting revolt in the region treated to the munificence of U.S. tax dollars? In Syria there are jihadists from about 55 nations whom it is U.S. policy to support.

We the people deserved to witness fair and open trails for the terrorist events of 9-11-01, but have not. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), the one inmate who very publicly fits the bill for being tried, has inexplicably never been before a court. 

If a prisoner has been charged with a war crime, then he should be tried in court. If found guilty, then execute him. What does it mean that some inmates are being considered for a war crimes trial before a military commission? After 12 years the U.S. has not moved to try these inmates; it's time to piss, or get off the pot. Gitmo is a stain which has done nothing to make the U.S. safer, or to counter the al Qaeda threat.

America should admit that it has poisoned the well, and even if these inmates were complicit, it is too late for a fair trial. We committed torture and did not obey our legal protocols.

Just as a review for the Rangers in the class:

If a man is al Qaeda and captured on the battlefield then he is a prisoner of war -- UNLESS he can be proven to have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity. Generally, terrorists do not fight on the battlefield and even if they did, they are not a threat to the U.S., which is the tag affixed to the Gitmo detainees. (If an al Qaeda is captured on the battlefield this generally means that the person is a military member of the organization and not a classic terrorist threat.)

Military threats are far threats and hence, of minimal concern to our citizens at home.

Here is an idea: send the Gitmo detainees to the Syrian rebels and call it a day.

Boobytraps ≠ a Win

I am sure there are people that have
a bigger understanding of the war than us little guys.
But at my level. it seems so stupid.
--Pfc. Dillon Guillory, 
Babysitting Afghanistan 
___________________

Today Britain recognized the newly united Syrian opposition as the “sole legitimate representative” of the Syrian people and promised it new assistance in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. (Britain now joins France, and a more moderate European Union.) 

The desperation of Bashar's regime was evident to Ranger in an earlier news story on Syria's recourse to a "modern dirty trick": "salting ammunition supplies of antigovernment fighters with ordnance that explodes inside rebels’ weapons, often wounding and sometimes killing the fighters while destroying many of their hard-found arms." Booby trapping is an act of desperation, as the results are so minimal.

The article also noted "some booby-trapped ammunition may also have entered Syria from Iraq, where during the most recent war the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency secretly passed doctored ammunition to insurgent groups, several American veterans and officials said." (Syrians Place Booby-Trapped Ammunition in Rebels Guns).

Ranger's unit, MACVSOG ("Studies and Observations Group") also planted doctored ammo and munitions in 1970's RVN.  Since SOG used AK-47's, the solution to keep from shooting contaminated ammo was to secure commercial ammo for the AK from LAPUA in Finland (at the time, the only source of commercial ammo.)

Lesson: U.S. troops should never use anything but U.S.-issued firearms and ammunition.

To give the reader some additional inside-the-(cartridge)beltway knowledge:

This article overstates the explosive power of the rigged rifle cartridge.  Ranger doubts the cartridges can be booby-trapped to blow up in a lethal manner.  The rounds will blow a rifle, take out an eye, and maybe take out a shooter now and again, but this would be the exception, not the rule

Placing squib loads in ammo would perform the same function.  The squib load would push a projectile down the barrel to lodge in place.  If the shooter fails to clear the weapon, the next round will blow the bolt -- an easy, cheap and lethal alternative.  Similarly, booby-trapping mortar and RPG rounds would be instantly lethal.  The mortar rounds would eliminate the entire crew and sympathetically set off the rounds near the gun.

The ultimate FB defriending.