2010: The Year the Second Amendment Dies?
Increasingly, it is understood that social and economic development can only take off if people feel safe in their communities. This concept brings together issues of disarmament and development in an exciting new way. The 2009 Secretary-General’s report:
The United Nations system, regional and subregional organizations, national and local governments, and civil society organizations have mobilized to prevent and reduce armed violence through evidence-based interventions, but responses need to be scaled up. Armed violence prevention and reduction efforts must be carefully designed, targeted and monitored. Programming options include interventions related to conflict prevention and peacebuilding, to interventions targeting demand and risk factors at the individual, relationship and societal levels.
The report places particular emphasis on tackling the risks and effects of armed violence and underdevelopment. This includes implementing existing conventions and agreements associated with armed violence and development; improving the effectiveness of armed violence prevention and reduction policies through investment in the production, analysis and use of evidence; strengthening capacities to diagnose, articulate strategies and implement programmes; developing measurable goals, targets and indicators for armed violence prevention and reduction; building partnerships among the United Nations system and with regional organizations, national authorities and civil society to ensure coherent policy and programming; increasing resources for armed violence prevention and reduction; and fostering greater international action.
V. Observations and recommendations
63. Tackling armed violence successfully requires coordinated responses that draw on different areas of expertise. Many Governments, civil society actors and United Nations entities are starting to work together to address risk factors and the negative effects of armed violence on development, but the international response is still somewhat fragmented. In bringing together donors, Governments of affected States and civil society, as well as in uniting core competencies and developing good practices, the United Nations system is well-positioned to help catalyse more coherent, comprehensive, coordinated and integrated initiatives, and to encourage targeted armed violence prevention and reduction policies and programmes at the international, national and local levels.
64. In order to be successful, policy responses must involve meaningful and legitimate local ownership, and full partnerships between Governments and civil society. They must also be integrated into regional and subregional approaches.
65. In order to be effective in its role as a convenor and catalyst, the United Nations system, as well as national and local governments and civil society, will need to scale up support to affected States in designing and implementing armed violence prevention and response strategies. The following recommendations are proposed:
(a) Strengthen the implementation of existing global conventions and agreements. There is a range of existing agreements that can contribute to the prevention and reduction of armed violence. United Nations agencies should support national Governments to uphold, implement and strengthen existing global and regional norms and measures, including relevant international and regional treaties, conventions and other instruments that contribute to the reduction and prevention of all forms of armed violence. These include the Firearms Protocol; the Programme of Action; the universal conventions and protocols against terrorism; the three conventions on narcotic drugs; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the conventions on the rights of women and children; Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1820 (2008) on women, peace and security; and the 2005 World Summit Outcome document. There should also be a concerted effort to ensure that international norms and standards are reflected and implemented at the national and local levels through the adoption of national legislation and other domestic measures.
(b) Improve the effectiveness of armed violence prevention and reduction policies and programmes through investments in the production, analysis and use of evidence. Effective approaches to armed-violence prevention and reduction will require investments by national Governments and international organizations in high-quality data-gathering and analysis capacities. Comprehensive, reliable and timely information is critical for informed policymaking and programming, monitoring and evaluation, and the forecasting of future trends and needs. This will involve ongoing and baseline data collection and analysis, the regular transfer of knowledge and lessons learned and innovative approaches to bring evidence and analysis into the programming process. The most comprehensive picture of conflict, non-conflict and interpersonal armed violence is likely to be obtained from a combination of data drawn from the public health and criminal justice systems, combined with population-based surveys, civil society monitoring, as well as rich historical and cultural research. Routine monitoring and evaluation of armed violence prevention programmes will increase the range of evidence-based options to prevent armed violence available to national authorities, local authorities and civil society.
(c) Strengthen national and local capacities for armed violence prevention and reduction. States have the primary responsibility for preventing and reducing armed violence. Multilateral and bilateral agencies can support Governments of affected countries by strengthening national and local capacities to address armed violence, including capacities to collect reliable data on the scope and scale of armed violence and victimization, and on different risk and resilience factors. This could include the development of national armed violence prevention and reduction strategies, investments in national and local surveillance systems, establishment of effective criminal justice systems based upon the rule of law, including reinforcement of counter-terrorism and policing capacities, and support for programmes targeting specific risk factors and at-risk groups. International agencies and national Governments can also ensure that armed violence prevention and reduction practices are integrated into wider development strategies, such as United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, and other national and local plans. Local actors and in particular governments, community authorities (including local governments and community peace and security committees), research institutions and the media should be supported and strengthened in order to design, implement and measure the effectiveness of local strategies and interventions. Several United Nations stakeholders can be involved in these activities, including the three United Nations regional centres for peace and disarmament.
(d) Develop measurable goals, targets and indicators for armed-violence prevention and reduction. A growing body of evidence demonstrates how armed violence hinders the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and, more generally, social, economic, political and human development. Yet armed violence reduction efforts are seldom incorporated into strategies for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goal Review Process, starting in 2010, provides an opportunity to consider the reduction of armed violence as an important requisite to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, in particular through the development and endorsement of a set of goals, targets and indicators to achieve measurable reductions in armed violence and tangible improvements in human security. Developing measurable goals on armed violence towards 2015 will offer the opportunity to integrate security-related themes into the possible follow-up of the Millennium Development Goals (see S/2008/258).
First Committee of the UN General Assembly, 2009
Throughout October 2009, governments are attending the First Committee, which proposes and adopts resolutions on disarmament and international security. Their discussions include resolutions on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and small arms control. North American Members List is shown below. Contact information provided for your convenience.
| Canada | |
| Amnesty International – Canada 214 Montreal Road Ottawa Ontario K1L 1A4 CANADA Telephone: + 1 613 744 7667 Fax: + 1 613 746 2411 hhomes@amnesty.ca www.amnesty.ca |
Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee (CPCC) 1, Rue Nicholas Street, #1216 Ottawa Ontario K1N 7B7 CANADA Telephone: +1 613 241 3446 Fax: +1 613 241 4846 cpcc@web.ca www.peacebuild.ca |
| Coalition for Gun Control 3300 Boulevard Rosemont Bureau 211 Montreal Quebec HIX 1K2 CANADA Telephone: +1 514 725 2021 Fax: +1 514 725 5926 cgc_montreal@compuserve.com www.guncontrol.ca |
Group of 78 145 Spruce Street, Suite 206 Ottawa Ontario K1R 6P1 CANADA Telephone: +1 230 0860 Fax: +1 563 0017 group78@web.ca www.hri.ca/partners/g78 |
| One Sky PO Box 3352 Smithers BC V0J 2NO CANADA Telephone: +1 250 877 6030 Fax: +1 250 877 6040 nikki@onesky.ca www.onesky.ca |
Oxfam Canada 300 – 294 Albert Street Ottawa Ontario K1P 6E6 CANADA Telephone: +1 613 237 5236 Fax: +1 613 237 0524 elizabethb@ott.oxfam.ca www.oxfam.ca |
| Physicians for Global Survival (PGS) 208-145 Spruce Street Ottawa Ontario K1R 6P1 CANADA Telephone: +1 613 233 1982 Fax: +1 613 223 9028 pgs@web.ca www.pgs.ca |
Project Ploughshares 57 Erb Street West Waterloo Ontario N2L 6C2 CANADA Telephone: +1 519 888 6541 Fax: +1 519 888 0018 lgriffiths@ploughshares.ca eregehr@ploughshares.ca www.ploughshares.ca |
| Small Arms Firearms Education Research Network (SAFER-Net) 3300 Boulevard Rosemont Bureau 211 Montreal Quebec HIX 1K2 CANADA Telephone: +1 416 979 5000 ext. 6740 Fax: +1 416 979 5249 wcukier@ryerson.ca www.ryerson.ca/SAFER-Net |
South Asia Partnership – Canada (SAP Canada) 1 Nicholas Street Suite 200 Ottawa Ontario K1N 7B7 CANADA Telephone: +1 613 241 1333 Fax: +1 613 241 1129 sap@sapcanada.org ffaisel@sapcanada.org www.sapcanada.org |
| David Jackman (individual) 95 Main Street Apt. 206 Ottawa Ontario K1S 1B8 CANADA Telephone: +1 613 237 8762 djackman@cyberus.ca |
Peggy Mason (individual) 2077 Kinburn Side Road RR#2 Kinburn Ontario K2A 2H0 CANADA Telephone: +1 613 832 9322 peggymason@bellnet.ca |
| Alan Simons (individual) 1 Kenwood Avenue, Suite 2, Toronto Ontario Canada M6C 2R6 Tel. (416) 473.0354 Skype: alansimons alansimons@rogers.com |
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| United States |
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| Adopt-A-Minefield, UNA-USA 801 Second Avenue New York NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 212 907 1314 Fax: +1 212 682 9185 mburke@unausa.org www.landmines.org |
Amnesty International – USA – Military, Security and Police Transfers Working Group 202 East Riverside Street Williamston MI 48895 USA Telephone: +1 202 544 0200 Fax: +1 202 546 7142 swaltz@umich.edu www.amnestyusa.org/arms_trade |
| Arms Trade Resource Center 66 Fifth Avenue 9th Floor New York NY 10011 USA Telephone: +1 212 229 5808 Fax: +1 212 229 5579 berrigaf@newschool.edu www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms |
Coalition To Stop Gun Violence – USA (CSGV) 1023 15th Street NW Suite 600 Washington DC 20005 USA Telephone: +1 202 408 0061 Fax: +1 202 408 0062 mikebeard@csgv.org www.csgv.org |
| Crime Gun Solutions LLC (CGS) 2214 West Greenleaf Drive Frederick Maryland 21702 USA Telephone: +1 301 631 2950 Fax: +1 301 631 2950 JJVinceCGS@aol.com |
Derechos Human Rights 46 Estabrook Street San Leandro California 94577 USA Phone: +1 510 483 4005 Fax: +1 603 372 9710 marga@derechos.org www.derechos.org |
| Economists Allied for Arms Reduction (ECAAR) 330 East 38th Street New York NY 10016 USA Telephone: +1 212 490 6494 Fax: +1 212 490 6494 lucywebster@ecaar.org www.ecaar.org |
Firearm Injury Center – Medical College of Wisconsin Medical College of Wisconsin 8701 Watertown Plank Road Milwaukee WI 53226 USA Telephone: +1 414 456 7676, +1 414 456 7670 Fax: +1 414 456 6472 hargart@mcw.edu rlwjd@mcw.edu www.mcw.edu/fic |
| Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies Hampshire College 893 West Street Northampton MA 01002 USA Telephone: +1 413 559 5563 Fax: +1 413 559 5620 mklare@hampshire.edu www.hampshire.edu |
Franciscans International 211 East 43rd Street. Room 1100 New York NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 212 490 4624 Fax: +1 866 283 0134 fdeacon@franciscansinternational.org |
| Global Action to Prevent War GAPW c/o LCNP 211 East 43rd Street New York NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 212 818 1861 Fax: +1 212 818 1857 coordinator@globalactionpw.org www.globalactionpw.org |
HELP Network 2300 Children’s Plaza #88 Chicago IL 60614 USA Telephone: +1 773 880 3826 Fax: +1 773 880 6615 contact@helpnetwork.org www.helpnetwork.org |
| Human Rights Watch – Arms Division – USA 1630 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 500 Washington DC 20009 USA Telephone: +1 202 612 4321 Fax: +1 202 612 4333 arms@hrw.org www.hrw.org |
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) 727 Massachusetts Avenue. 2nd floor Cambridge MA 02139 USA Telephone: +1 617 868 5050 ext 203 Fax: +1 617 868 2560 mvalenti@ippnw.org www.ippnw.org |
| Join Together Boston University School of Public Health 1 Appleton Street Boston MA 02116 USA Telephone: +1 617 437 1500 Fax: +1 617 437 9394 info@jointogether.org www.jointogether.org |
Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV) Firearms Law Center 268 Bush Street, Suite 555 San Francisco CA 94104 USA Telephone: +1 415 433 2062 Fax: +1 415 433 3357 www.firearmslawcenter.org |
| Maha Vajra Films 2811 Iroquois Road Wihnette IL 60091 USA Phone: +1 847 736 1954 jamiemurrayiii@hotmail.com |
Million Mom March / Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence 1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100 Washington DC 20005 USA Telephone: +1 202 289 7319 Fax: +1 202 408 1851 stopgunvio@aol.com www.stategunlaws.org www.gunlawsuits.org www.millionmommarch.org |
| Monterey Institute of International Studies – Program on Security & Development (SAND) 460 Pierce Street Monterey CA 93940 USA Telephone: +1 831 647 4142 Fax: +1 831 647 4199 elaurance@miis.edu www.cns.miis.edu |
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence Telephone: +1 212-679-2345 Fax: +1 212-679-2484 nyagv@nyagv.org www.nyagv.org NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security |
| Oxfam America 1112 16th Street NW #600 Washington DC 20036 USA Telephone: +1 202 496 1304 Fax: +1 202 496 1190 jruthrauff@oxfamamerica.org www.oxfamamerica.org |
Oxfam International 355 Lexington Avenue, Third Floor New York NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 212 687 2091 Fax: +1 212 687 2092 nicola.reindorp@oxfaminternational.org www.oxfam.org |
| Program on Global Security & Disarmament 3140 Tydings Hall College Park MD 20742 USA Telephone: +1 301 405 4969 Fax: +1 301 405 8822 pgsd@gvpt.umd.edu merrigold@erols.com www.bsos.umd.edu/pgsd |
Quaker United Nations Office – New York (QUNO) 777 United Nations Plaza New York NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 212 682 2745, +1 212 682 8713 Fax: +1 212 983 0034 sclarke@afsc.org www.quno.org |
| Small Arms Working Group (SAWG) C/O CDI 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20036 USA Telephone: +1 202 797 5283 Fax: +1 202 462 4559 rstohl@cdi.org www.cdi.org |
Task Force for Child Survival & Development 750 Commerce Drive, Suite 400 Decatur Georgia 30030 USA Telephone: +1 404 687 5635 Fax: +1 404 371 1087 mrosenberg@taskforce.org www.taskforce.org |
| The Fund for Peace 1701 K Street NW, 11th Floor Washington DC 20006 USA Telephone: +1 202 223 7940 Fax: +1 202 223 7947 pbaker@fundforpeace.org www.fundforpeace.org |
Trauma Foundation San Francisco General Hospital San Francisco CA 94110 USA Telephone: +1 415 821 8209 Fax: +1 415 282 2563 www.traumaf.org/ |
| Veterans for Peace (VFP) 216 South Meramec Ave St. Louis MO 63105 |
Vivat International 211 East 43rd Street, Suite 706 New York NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 646 487 0003 Fax: +1 646 487 0004 maco@vivatinternational.org www.vivatinternational.org |
| Watchlist on Children & Armed Conflict C/o Women’s Commission for Refugee Women & Children 122 East 42nd Street, 12th Floor New York NY 101168 USA Telephone: +1 212 551 2743 Fax: +1 212 551 3180 www.watchlist.org www.womenscommission.org |
Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) 691 Massachusetts Avenue Arlington MA 02476 USA Telephone: +1 781 643 6740 Fax: +1 781 643 6740 info@wand.org www.wand.org |
| Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF) 777 UN Plaza, 6th Floor New York NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 212 682 1265 Fax: +1 212 286 8211 wilpfun@igc.org www.reachingcriticalwill.org www.peacewomen.org www.wilpf.int.ch |
World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) 777 United Nations Plaza, 9th Floor New York NY 10017 USA Telephone: +1 212 687 2163 Fax: +1 212 983 0566 info@wcrp.org www.wcrp.org |
| World Peace Foundation 79 John F. Kennedy Street Cambridge MA 02138 USA Telephone: +1 617 496 9812 Fax: +1 617 491 8588 world_peace@harvard.edu |
World Vision International (WV) 800 West Chestnut Avenue Monrovia CA 91741 USA Telephone: +1 626 301 7715 Fax: +1 626 301 7786 don_brandt@wvi.org www.wvi.org |
| Worldwatch Institute 25 Treasure Road Riverhead NY 11901 USA Telephone: +1 631 369 6896 Fax: +1 626 608 3189 mrenner@optonline.net www.worldwatch.org |
Loretta Bondi (individual) Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies 1717 Massachusetts Avenue NW, 5th Floor Washington DC 20036 USA Telephone: +1 202 663 5956 Fax: +1 202 663 5879 lbondi1@jhu.edu http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu/bondi.php |
| Barbara Frey (individual) 214 Social Sciences Building 267 Avenue 19 South Minneapolis Minnesota 55455 USA Telephone: +1 612 626 1879 Fax: +1 612 626 2242 freyx001@umn.edu http://hrp.cla.umn.edu |
Bill Godnick (individual) USA Telephone: +1 305 251 6813 w.h.godnick1@bradford.ac.uk wgodnick@aol.com wgodnick@international-alert.org |
| Matt Schroeder (individual) Arms Sales Monitoring Project Federation of American Scientists 1717 K Street NW Washington DC 20036 USA Telephone: +1 202 454 4693 Fax: +1 202 675 1010 mschroeder@fas.org www.fas.org/asmp |
Rachel Stohl (individual) 1779 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20036 USA Telephone: +1 202 797 5283 Fax: +1 202 462 4559 rstohl@cdi.org www.cdi.org |
| Daniel Webster (individual) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 624 North Broadway Baltimore MD 21205 USA Telephone: +1 410 614 3243 Fax: +1 410 614 9055 dwebster@jhsph.edu |
News for 09/06/2009- One Down, New Path to Martial Law, At War with CIA
After weeks of scathing revelations about our “Green Jobs Czar”, Van Jones, has resigned. Videos released, and quotes brought to light include illustrations that he helped found two radical communist organizations in the recent past, envisioned creating a path for released prisoners directly to green job recipients, retributions in the form of green job economic benefits to indian tribes and other societally oppressed groups, being one of the first to sign the 09/11 “truther” petition accussing the Bush white house of perpetrating the 09/11 attacks in order to facilitate support for war, and a whole host of other alarming behaviors. His statement said:
“On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me,” Jones, special adviser for green jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in a statement announcing his resignation just after midnight Saturday. “They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.”
I am not sure why, other than to save face, he would say these things are lies. They came from his own mouth- on video tape; from his own book- which he wrote and had published; and by his own signature. But, that is what life in the government is about these days, it seems. Do what you will and blame the one who finds out about it.
Keep fighting America! One down, so many more to go!
JOIN US FOR THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON http://www.912dc.org
Swine Flu: Path to Martial Law? from American Thinker
http://www.americanth…
..Remember President Obama’s Executive Order basing 80,000 active troops at home for the first time in the history of the peacetime military establishment to “help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack….”
Now connect that information to the recent announcement that the military has established regional deployment locations all across the United States to “assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall, according to Defense Department officials.”
Civil unrest and crowd control? Significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall? What do they know that we don’t? Swine flu has been made into a crisis in the minds of the public, even though swine flu, or H1N1, is the most non-lethal “killer” virus ever uncovered. As a cataclysmic event demanding military assistance, it ranks near zero. It is doubtful whether swine flu could even be classified as an “epidemic,” much less a “pandemic.”
Regular influenza, the common flu, kills 36,000 people every year. The 1918 flu pandemic killed an estimated 50-100 million people worldwide over a period of two years, approximately one-third the population of Europe at that time. Global swine flu deaths topped just 1,000 this year.
But President Obama is predicting death tolls of 90,000 and possible infection of up to half the US population. While every life matters, in statistical terms swine flu is a comparatively minor problem, which makes the hype by those in government and the military all the more suspicious.
The National Guard is even practicing mock takeovers of public schools in the event of an “H1N1 riot,” a description that elicits mixed responses. What kind of riot could arise out of a flu that has only killed 1,000 worldwide? Washington certainly seems to be looking for some rationale for enhanced domestic military involvement, whether credible or not. Martial law has essentially been on the table since President Obama took office, thanks to the Bush Administration’s dramatic revisions of the Posse Comitatus Act —which limited deployment of the US military at home—in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. With impeccable timing, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has gone before Congress asking for the unprecedented authority to base 400,000 soldiers in communities all across the United States.
A recent US Army War College Report even outlined the conditions under which martial law could be introduced, listing …unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters are all paths to disruptive domestic shock. [Emphasis added.]
The Army hasn’t missed a step, putting out ads for “Internment/Resettlement Specialists.” And, though most of the wild claims about “FEMA camps” have been appropriately and properly discredited, the fact remains that the Homeland Security Department has signed a $385 million contract with Halliburton subsidiary KBR Construction to build such facilities on an “as-needed” basis.
If you’re not already feeling nervous, revisit President Obama’s spine-chilling campaign pledge:
With the Serve America Act, this alarming proposition has become reality. The broad authority given to this force is staggering. Section 1505 gives the newly created National Civilian Community Corps the power to address national “needs” related to “natural and other disasters,” “infrastructure improvement,” “environmental stewardship and conservation,” “energy conservation,” and “urban and rural development.” The legislation reiterates that the corps will “combine the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service.” Nowhere have these two spheres ever been combined that tyranny has not resulted.
Even so, it sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Mass internment and quarantine of Americans? Martial law used illegally to quell opposition to government policies? After all, this is America, not some banana republic. But this is not the America of even 10 years ago. This is President Obama’s brave new America. Differences of opinion are criminalized, violating freedom of conscience in the deepest sense. Freedom of the press is assaulted with newspaper “bailouts” and diversity requirements imposed on local radio stations. Children face the possibility of weeklong, year-round education, effectively circumventing parents and making children wards of the state. Czars govern in the place of elected officials. Key private sector companies are now under the direct control of the President. The President has even proven willing to use healthcare reform to target the elderly, recasting human life in terms of the collective good. The White House has even urged fellow citizens to inform on opponents of Obama’s healthcare bill. In this environment, the prospect of martial law doesn’t sound that far-fetched.
But isn’t this unconstitutional? No matter. The Constitution means nothing to President Obama, who has repeatedly implied the need to “break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution….”
Thomas Jefferson had a different view:
Confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism…In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
But when the President considers the Constitution to be nothing more than an archaic suggestion, no travesty is unthinkable. And the unthinkable is only a manufactured flu pandemic away. I desperately hope I am wrong in connecting these dots, but in light of the President’s stated agenda, and his known track record on ethical issues, the possibility of abuses must be considered. After all, stranger things have happened.
CIA Counterterrorism Expert: Obama and Holder ‘At War’ with Agency
http://www.newsmax.co…
In the early days and weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, a small cadre of men (and a few women) with vast amounts of intelligence experience reported to the Langley, Va., headquarters of the CIA. These unsung heroes then were dispatched across the globe to run operations against the al-Qaida conspirators who leveled the World Trade Center and struck the nerve center of the U.S. military. The FBI, a domestic law enforcement agency, did not have the ability or skills needed to track down and strike the attackers overseas. The Pentagon, with F22s, nuclear aircraft carriers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and battalions of the best armor in the history of mankind, was like an elephant attacked by a mouse — mighty, but helpless in its mammoth rage. Our best hope was in the hands of the gray-bearded intelligence professionals who fanned out across the world. Supplementing the skeleton crew of staff officers left in the wake of President Clinton’s anti-intelligence scourging of the CIA, the volunteers went to the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, to the most remote and isolated outposts in the world. Sometimes they worked with friendly forces, and sometimes they worked alone. They focused like a laser beam on one thing: Stop the next attack.
Their mission: Seek and destroy the terrorist planners, facilitators, trainers, financiers, and their infrastructure wherever they were. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, CIA officers, both the contractors and the overextended staff officers, launched dozens of initiatives. The CIA Counterterrorism Center’s motto, “Deny, Disrupt, Destroy,” became the reason for our living. We left our families for months on end and sacrificed personal and professional lives to fight the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Google “Jihadists in Paradise,” for an unauthorized account of one of my contributions (I have been advised that I can neither confirm nor deny). As I did my part in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa, my family tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy at home. My son was in eighth grade in September 2001. I did not see him graduate the next summer. I was home less than six months for each of the first three of his high school years. Even with my nightly phone calls, his attitude and grades plummeted in my absence. He went from a happy, engaged, charming 13-year-old with straight A’s and a focus on the future to a sullen, uncommunicative, high school flunky. I put my successful and lucrative executive recruiting business on hold for eight years. Finally, after five years of constant travel, my family sacrifice account was overdrawn. Coming home was an option for me, and I took it. Others did not take that option, and they sacrificed the quality of their marriages, participation in their children’s and grandchildren’s lives, the profitability of their businesses, and more. Personal and professional issues festered and rotted while they fought to keep America safe and prevented further attacks on our homeland.
In contrast, where was Eric Holder? Before leaving President Clinton’s employ, he orchestrated the pardons of several Puerto Rican separatist terrorists. Then in 2003, as a partner in the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling, Holder’s client, Chiquita Brands, admitted paying to support terrorist death squads in Colombia and paid a $25 million fine. During the time my friends worked to disrupt and destroy terrorist networks threatening America, Holder’s firm represented — for free — 16 terrorist detainees at Guantanamo. Has he made any personal or professional sacrifices since his country was attacked in 2001? If he has, it is difficult to find them. When the special prosecutor comes calling, maybe someone from Covington & Burling can represent my colleagues for free, like they did for Lakhdar Boumedienne and 10 other terrorists in Gitmo.
The Holder/Obama Global War on the CIA (GWCIA) has only just begun, as it debuted with “grisly revelations” of revving drills, gunshots in the next cell, and threats against a terrorist’s children. The GWOT is not for the faint of heart, nor the queasy. No war ever has been. There may be slight improprieties stashed in the CIA’s closets, but the liberal-appeasing GWCIA is foolhardy and dangerous. Mike Spann, was the first to die in the GWOT. He won’t have to worry about the Holder/Obama GWCIA. But others in the agency are very worried. While we sacrificed to achieve incremental victories, Holder and Obama plotted and schemed — not against those “evil-mongers” who killed our countrymen, but against those of us hunting the terrorists. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. The odor is not from Langley, Mr. Holder. Kent Clizbe is a former member of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations. In 2001, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, he returned to the CIA to serve multiple counter-terrorism deployments. In 2005, he was awarded the Intelligence Community Seal Medallion for his anti-terrorism work.
Soldier For Liberty 