The Front Page Cover
2016 The truth will set you free
Featuring:
Rules of Engagement for
the 21st Century Battlefield
Allen West
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OPINION IN BRIEF
Vijay Jayaraj: "[T]here is no ethical basis in a naturalistic framework to limit the growth of human population. The naturalist and the atheist invoke theistic moral values (specifically from the Judeo-Christian worldview) to hold humans responsible for the supposed depletion of the environment. The Christian perspective, on the other hand, calls for a responsible stewardship of earth by humans, based on the Biblical mandate. The Christian worldview promotes human life — to develop and promote activities that will address the livelihood of humans, the flourishment of human life and the utilization of the resources to aid in the same. It also lays the ethical principles for stewarding the creation — thus discouraging abuse of the environment and the creatures therein. Indoctrination in education is a cancer that kills the inquisitive and renders the intellect paralyzed. It's unfortunate that the scientific methodology is being dominated by political entities. There will never be a conflict between science and my faith. But the perpetrators who have twisted the scientific system to their gains will always be a challenge to my moral values regarding truth, integrity, justice, equality and desire to have an educational environment that is free from indoctrination."
-The Patriot Post
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WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE
Detroit is known as the car manufacturing hub of America, but Motor City made a big contribution to maritime vessels too, including the world’s first floating zip code. J.W. Wescott Co., established in 1847 by Detroit native John Ward Wescott, is a maritime reporting agency for ships coming in and out of the Great Lakes to inform ports when they were arriving, since their plans could change at a moments’ notice. Wescott invented the system to prevent ports from getting congested with last minute arrivals. Wescott described the early system: “A rope and bucket would be thrown over the sides of the visiting ship and he would place messages in the bucket, which was quickly hoisted back up—thus the phrase, ‘mail in the pail.’ Over the years, the business grew and services expanded. In 1948, J.W. Westcott became an official U.S. Postal Service mail boat, eventually earning the world’s first floating postal ZIP code—48222.” -Fox News
Detroit is known as the car manufacturing hub of America, but Motor City made a big contribution to maritime vessels too, including the world’s first floating zip code. J.W. Wescott Co., established in 1847 by Detroit native John Ward Wescott, is a maritime reporting agency for ships coming in and out of the Great Lakes to inform ports when they were arriving, since their plans could change at a moments’ notice. Wescott invented the system to prevent ports from getting congested with last minute arrivals. Wescott described the early system: “A rope and bucket would be thrown over the sides of the visiting ship and he would place messages in the bucket, which was quickly hoisted back up—thus the phrase, ‘mail in the pail.’ Over the years, the business grew and services expanded. In 1948, J.W. Westcott became an official U.S. Postal Service mail boat, eventually earning the world’s first floating postal ZIP code—48222.” -Fox News
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DEBATE TO-DO LIST: GOP’S BULL MOOSE MOMENT DETROIT – The Motor City had lots to celebrate in 1912. Henry Ford’s miraculous assembly line was just hitting its stride, the Dime Bank building had just opened at its jaw-dropping height of 23 stories, and Tiger Stadium was almost ready to host its first game.
But across the nation, the buzz was about politics and what would have seemed unthinkable just four years prior. The populist, progressive wing of the Republican Party and its charismatic, tough-talking leader Teddy Roosevelt was getting ready to bolt from the increasingly conservative and hidebound, traditional GOP President William Howard Taft. You know where this is going…
It’s not exaggeration to say that 104 years later, Republicans are careening toward a similar crackup. But this time the roles are reversed. The populist progressive is taking over the party and the conservatives and traditionalists are the ones talking about leaving.
Who could’ve imagined just a year ago that 2012 GOP nominee,Mitt Romney, a party stalwart if ever there was one, would be on stage denouncing the Republican frontrunner and calling for a joint strike to block his ascension. Romney’s call for a coordinated, three-candidate effort to block the Rough Rider of 2016, Donald slump-Trump, has no equal in modern political history. -Fox News
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John Kasich NEVER Balanced The
Federal Budget..NEVER!
Jeff Dunetz
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Democratic Frontrunner Threatened by
Criminal Investigation
Alice Greene
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Will Hilly's path to the White House be blocked with iron bars?
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{punchingbagpost.com} ~ Hilly Clinton came out on top this week, winning 7 of the 11 states that participated in Super Tuesday. Her success, however, is clouded by rumors of potential indictment in regards to her email scandal... Both the State and Justice Departments have opened probes into Hilly’s use of a secret unsecure email server and the FBI has reportedly assigned 150 agents to investigate criminal activity. The case against Hilly “looks very strong,” says Andrew McCarthy. Many have drawn a parallel between Clinton's case and that of David Petraeus. The retired general plead guilty last year when he was accused of sharing classified documents with his mistress. "I was a critic of the Petraeus prosecution because I thought he got a slap on the wrist," says McCarthy. "When Congress enacted these laws, the idea was to give the maximum amount of protection the criminal law could give to national defense secrets." http://punchingbagpost.com/democratic-frontrunner-threatened-by-criminal-investigation.
If the Kurds Go Broke, It’s Lights Out for nObama’s
War on the Islamic State
John Hannah
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Conservatives worry about future in
GOP led by slump-Trump
DAVID M. DRUCKER
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Conservatives recognize that the ground is shifting and a political realignment
could be at hand, and are trying to figure out how to
maintain control of the Republican Party
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{washingtonexaminer.com} ~ Is the Republican Party on the verge of sidelining its ideological roots by nominating Donald slump-Trump as it's presidential candidate?... That's what conservative activists and intellectuals were pondering this week as they gathered for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington. CPAC, as its known, has served as the bulwark of the conservative movement since the Reagan era, keeping the Republican Party ideologically grounded and forcing GOP candidates for office to at least pay lip service the ideas of limited government, fiscal responsibility and a strong national defense. Mike Turner, 68, a conservative activist from La Plata, Md., who is supporting Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for the GOP nomination and attended CPAC on Thursday, said he fears that a Republican Party led by slump-Trump will not be a vehicle for conservative governance that can be depended upon to at least try and counter the liberalism of the Democrats. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/conservatives-worry-about-future-in-gop/article/2584926.
slump-Trump is a con man, and you're
his latest mark
TIMOTHY P. CARNEY
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Dear Millennials, the Dems are Screwing You
Dan Bongino
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Gotham Embraces Insanity
Matthew Hennessey
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The slump-Donald Turns Into a Pumpkin
Matthew Continetti
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Iran Accuses U.S. of Breaching Nuke Deal
Adam Kredo
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Hilly Paid Herself $250,000 From Campaign Funds
Joe Schoffstall
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Rules of Engagement for
the 21st Century Battlefield
Allen West
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As battlefield technology and communications technology improved, the military battlefield expanded, and that meant a broader scope of what a “battlefield” encompassed. So as time moved forward, the battlefield was not just far away fields where armies came together; it meant involving civilian populations. As armies grew in size and scope, it became more necessary to depend upon local populations for food resourcing.
As battlefield technology and communications technology improved, the military battlefield expanded, and that meant a broader scope of what a “battlefield” encompassed. So as time moved forward, the battlefield was not just far away fields where armies came together; it meant involving civilian populations. As armies grew in size and scope, it became more necessary to depend upon local populations for food resourcing.
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One thing that remained necessary and important was the states declared war against each other and fielded uniformed militaries that were identifiable on the battlefield. But consider what began here in America with the French and Indian War when there were two adversaries, but each employed non-state entities in support of their uniformed forces. The history of our vaunted US Army Rangers came from a company-sized force from the provincial colony of New Hampshire called into service of the British Army led by Colonel Robert Rogers, Roger’s Rangers. This guerrilla force operated in support of a uniformed state military, the British Army, against its enemies and won fame in the campaign against the Abenanki Indian tribe – who had been waging a frontier war against civilian populations supporting the British.
One thing that remained necessary and important was the states declared war against each other and fielded uniformed militaries that were identifiable on the battlefield. But consider what began here in America with the French and Indian War when there were two adversaries, but each employed non-state entities in support of their uniformed forces. The history of our vaunted US Army Rangers came from a company-sized force from the provincial colony of New Hampshire called into service of the British Army led by Colonel Robert Rogers, Roger’s Rangers. This guerrilla force operated in support of a uniformed state military, the British Army, against its enemies and won fame in the campaign against the Abenanki Indian tribe – who had been waging a frontier war against civilian populations supporting the British.
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In our own Revolutionary War, militias such as that of Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” in South Carolina again featured a group supporting a uniformed Army in its prosecution of warfare.
In our own Revolutionary War, militias such as that of Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” in South Carolina again featured a group supporting a uniformed Army in its prosecution of warfare.
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In order to try and police the battlefield and reduce the impact of such non-uniformed belligerents, it was often a practice that those captured on the battlefield as such were summarily tried and executed. The purpose was to try and protect civilian populations.
In order to try and police the battlefield and reduce the impact of such non-uniformed belligerents, it was often a practice that those captured on the battlefield as such were summarily tried and executed. The purpose was to try and protect civilian populations.
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But with the advent of “total war,” where civilian populations were in support of the war making machine, industry rules of engagement changed. Industry and means by which the materiel support to warfare were deemed part of “centers of gravity” were now targets. We remember the bombing of the Ploesti oilfields in Romania. Such as it was for factories that produced weapons components and the train systems that transported troops and materiel. And yes, there were spies and acts of espionage to gather intelligence and sabotage key infrastructure – and again, those captured not in uniform aiding and abetting efforts were summarily executed. It was brutal, but in essence it was the unfortunate consequence of civilians entering the expanded battlefield.
But with the advent of “total war,” where civilian populations were in support of the war making machine, industry rules of engagement changed. Industry and means by which the materiel support to warfare were deemed part of “centers of gravity” were now targets. We remember the bombing of the Ploesti oilfields in Romania. Such as it was for factories that produced weapons components and the train systems that transported troops and materiel. And yes, there were spies and acts of espionage to gather intelligence and sabotage key infrastructure – and again, those captured not in uniform aiding and abetting efforts were summarily executed. It was brutal, but in essence it was the unfortunate consequence of civilians entering the expanded battlefield.
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Fast forward to Vietnam, where a main belligerent on the battlefield was the Viet Cong, who infiltrated the civilian population and used adjoining nation-states as a base of operations to train, equip, provide provisions, and stage their attacks. They were a non-state actor in support of a state actor, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The ROE during that war was very convoluted, and in many ways enabled the enemy to find sanctuary due to the desire not to inflict civilian casualties.
Fast forward to Vietnam, where a main belligerent on the battlefield was the Viet Cong, who infiltrated the civilian population and used adjoining nation-states as a base of operations to train, equip, provide provisions, and stage their attacks. They were a non-state actor in support of a state actor, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The ROE during that war was very convoluted, and in many ways enabled the enemy to find sanctuary due to the desire not to inflict civilian casualties.
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And so we find ourselves much in a similar position today in the war against Islamic Jihadism. War on terror is a horrible misnomer. One cannot fight against a tactic, which is what terrorism is. It is a means, a method used by an undefined enemy. On the new battlefield of the 21st century, we must have ROE that is not developed at the highest levels but at the battlefield levels to enable success. When the enemy knows that we have a political concern with “collateral damage,” they will use that reticence to their utmost advantage.
And so we find ourselves much in a similar position today in the war against Islamic Jihadism. War on terror is a horrible misnomer. One cannot fight against a tactic, which is what terrorism is. It is a means, a method used by an undefined enemy. On the new battlefield of the 21st century, we must have ROE that is not developed at the highest levels but at the battlefield levels to enable success. When the enemy knows that we have a political concern with “collateral damage,” they will use that reticence to their utmost advantage.
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As a Battalion Commander in Iraq, I can recall the insurgent enemy using mosques and burial grounds as assembly points, as well as ammunition and equipment staging points. They knew what our restricted target list was. We insidiously advertised it. The enemy knows that our troops are told to not fire until fired upon, and it has come to the point where Islamic jihadist enemies can simply drop their weapons and walk away, knowing they will not to be engaged by our forces.
As a Battalion Commander in Iraq, I can recall the insurgent enemy using mosques and burial grounds as assembly points, as well as ammunition and equipment staging points. They knew what our restricted target list was. We insidiously advertised it. The enemy knows that our troops are told to not fire until fired upon, and it has come to the point where Islamic jihadist enemies can simply drop their weapons and walk away, knowing they will not to be engaged by our forces.
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We must also employ weapon systems on the battlefield with the proper ROE that enable us to gain and maintain contact with the enemy, and not allow them to reposition into civilian populations, which increases the chances for civilian casualties. Let me provide you with an example from my years in Afghanistan.
We must also employ weapon systems on the battlefield with the proper ROE that enable us to gain and maintain contact with the enemy, and not allow them to reposition into civilian populations, which increases the chances for civilian casualties. Let me provide you with an example from my years in Afghanistan.
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When an American element becomes involved in a TIC (troops in contact), it is imperative that they have the support of all resources that can destroy that enemy in place. The ground element must be able to keep the enemy engaged and maintain “eyes on target.” If the enemy is firing upon you from a location, that location is a target. What happens all too often is that far back at some headquarters, any request for additional fire support must go through ROE protocols, where a series of inane questions are asked of the ground element – something the enemy knows very well. Time is of the essence in a firefight.
When an American element becomes involved in a TIC (troops in contact), it is imperative that they have the support of all resources that can destroy that enemy in place. The ground element must be able to keep the enemy engaged and maintain “eyes on target.” If the enemy is firing upon you from a location, that location is a target. What happens all too often is that far back at some headquarters, any request for additional fire support must go through ROE protocols, where a series of inane questions are asked of the ground element – something the enemy knows very well. Time is of the essence in a firefight.
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We need weapon systems platforms that are in support of the ground element; that can deliver close support to them. We need mortars, artillery, and aerial close-air support assets that allow the ground element to keep an enemy pinned down for the ultimate kill, with additional assets. And let me be very clear: an F-15, F-16, and F/A-18 are not exactly fixed wing close air support assets. The best tools for that mission are attack helicopters or A-10 Warthogs. Why? Because the ground element can direct them right in on the enemy while still maintaining their direct fire, and reducing the issue of collateral damage.
We need weapon systems platforms that are in support of the ground element; that can deliver close support to them. We need mortars, artillery, and aerial close-air support assets that allow the ground element to keep an enemy pinned down for the ultimate kill, with additional assets. And let me be very clear: an F-15, F-16, and F/A-18 are not exactly fixed wing close air support assets. The best tools for that mission are attack helicopters or A-10 Warthogs. Why? Because the ground element can direct them right in on the enemy while still maintaining their direct fire, and reducing the issue of collateral damage.
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What happens on the modern battlefield is that the enemy knows our TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures). When our ground element disengages, meaning they stop firing, they are repositioning to not be in the circular error probable of bombs that will be dropped. So the enemy repositions as well, and normally deeper into civilian areas, and we raise the probability of collateral damage.
What happens on the modern battlefield is that the enemy knows our TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures). When our ground element disengages, meaning they stop firing, they are repositioning to not be in the circular error probable of bombs that will be dropped. So the enemy repositions as well, and normally deeper into civilian areas, and we raise the probability of collateral damage.
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If we are to be successful on this battlefield, let’s allow the leaders on the ground - not lawyers - to develop common sense ROE. We can ill afford to allow the enemy any advantage and initiative to kill our men and women we have deployed into harm’s way. This is a critical issue that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees should be examining. This is why we at the National Center for Policy Analysis are addressing this policy issue. To learn more, visit our “Provide for the Common Defense, Now!” petition.
If we are to be successful on this battlefield, let’s allow the leaders on the ground - not lawyers - to develop common sense ROE. We can ill afford to allow the enemy any advantage and initiative to kill our men and women we have deployed into harm’s way. This is a critical issue that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees should be examining. This is why we at the National Center for Policy Analysis are addressing this policy issue. To learn more, visit our “Provide for the Common Defense, Now!” petition.
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