Read This to Stay on Course = Forwarded by El Zorro

 

FEATURED: The Strange Case of Bowe Bergdhal

Posted on 01 Jun 2014 @ 14:16 by Brent P.

Translator

By: Brent Parrish

At first blush it would appear a very wonderful thing has occurred. The only American POW in Afghanistan, Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal, was freed from captivity and released to elements of the U.S. Special Forces yesterday at an unspecified location in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

Via the White House, dated May 31, 2014:

Today the American people are pleased that we will be able to welcome home Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, held captive for nearly five years.  On behalf of the American people, I was honored to call his parents to express our joy that they can expect his safe return, mindful of their courage and sacrifice throughout this ordeal.  Today we also remember the many troops held captive and whom remain missing or unaccounted for in America’s past wars.  Sergeant Bergdahl’s recovery is a reminder of America’s unwavering commitment to leave no man or woman in uniform behind on the battlefield.  And as we find relief in Bowe’s recovery, our thoughts and prayers are with those other Americans  whose release we continue to pursue.

Bergdhal has been held captive since 2009 by the Taliban—specifically, the al-Haqqani network.

The release of Bergdhal is not without its share of controversy, though. The Obama  Administration negotiated with terrorists in order to secure Bergdhal’s release. Five extremely dangerous terrorists were released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdhal. Technically, Qatar acted as the intermediary between U.S. negotiators and the Taliban terrorist representatives.  But, in the end, the U.S. bartered with terrorists.

Steve Hayes of National Review tweeted that one of the “Taliban Five” to be released,  Khairullah Said Wali Khairkhwa, was a key intermediary between the Taliban and Iran following 9/11.

Robert Bergdhal, father of Bowe Bergdhal, posted on Twitter that he was “working to free all Guantanamo prisoners,” but has since deleted the tweet.

The Twitter timeline of Bergdhal’s father is a bit strange, and reflects a very anti-American sentiment. Robert Bergdahl spoke to his son in Pashto, the dialect of the Taliban, upon his release, saying, “In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.”

What I find especially chilling about Robert Bergdhal’s choice of using this particular phrase from the Koran—in perfect Pashto dialect, mind you—is that it is repeated over and over again in many violent videos of Islamic terrorist factions who have a penchant for filming and recording their crimes against humanity.

Bergdhal’s father reportedly learned the Pashto language in order to communicate with his son’s captors (alternatively spelled Pushto, also known historically as Afghani).

In 2010 the Taliban claimed Bowe Bergdahl had converted to Islam.

The president mentioned that Bowe Bergdhal had missed birthdays and holidays with family and friends. But there was no mention by the president of the birthdays and holidays that would be missed by family and friends of those who died looking for Bergdhal.

Parents of one U.S. officer killed hunting for Sgt. Bergdhal was given the official story their son died hunting for a Taliban commander.

Via Daily Mail:

The furious parents of an officer who they claim was killed while searching for freed Taliban prisoner Bowe Bergdahl today said that they have been lied to as part of a ‘cover up just like Benghazi’.

The mother and father of Second Lieutenant Darryn Andrews are angry that they have been told different stories about how their son died.

First his commanders said that their son was blown up while hunting a Taliban commander – but only now that Bergdahl has been freed after five years in captivity are they learning the truth.

Lt Andrews’ parents told MailOnline that their own son branded Bergdahl a ‘deserter’ before he was killed.

[...]

Lt Andrews was one of six men who died while apparently searching for Bergdahl, who is said to have voluntarily left his post in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009.

The mother of Bowe Berdahl, Jani Bergdahl, said something during a press conference that ran on CNN Live in Boise, Idaho, that stood out to me. She said that “Bowe comes from a very strong tribe.“

 

The use of the word “tribe” stood out to me because I have seen this particular word used by the Obama Administration on numerous occasions. For example, the Obama White House  has been sponsoring the Tribal Nations Conference for the past five years.

Via WhiteHouse.gov:

The White House Tribal National Conference – the fifth of the Obama Administration – is an opportunity to connect tribal leaders across the country directly with President Obama and his Administration as we work together toward tribal self-determination and self-governance. In his remarks, the President said, “That’s what we’re called to do – to keep strong the covenant between us – for this and future generations.” 

Which tribe is Jani Bergdahl specifically referring to? Which tribe in Hailey, Idaho, is Bowe from? The “world tribe”? Anyway, I just find the choice of words interesting, especially considering Robert Bergdhal has compared past Native American wars between the U.S. government to the Taliban—tribal warriors.

Credits: Weasel Zippers

The major controversy surrounding Bergdhal are the circumstances of his disappearance from his unit. He was not captured during a chaotic ambush scenario, or an attack on his post, but simply “disappeared.”

Which brings up a very serious potential charge: was Bergdhal a deserter?

And worse yet, is he a traitor?

Did he supply the Taliban with information on how to better fight against coalition forces?

The New York Times provides some interesting details on Bergdhal, my emphasis:

Among the questions military officials are likely to have for Sergeant Bergdahl when he is ready to talk are the circumstances of his capture on June 30, 2009, when he was separated from his unit in Paktika Province. Many in the military say he chose to wander off his base.

But a senior Defense Department official indicated that the Army most likely would not be punishing the sergeant for any violations of rules. “Whatever he may have done, I think he’s more than paid for it,” the official said. “Five years is a long time.”

On one hand, the NY Times’ report seems to provide some corroboration with what others at the base in Paktia had observed of Bergshal’s behavior prior to his disappearance.

On the other hand, it is troubling to read a senior Defense Department official state, that regardless of any violations or gross dereliction of duty that might have been committed by Sgt. Bergdhal, no punishment was likely, considering the length of time he was incarcerated by the Haqqani network (a militant outfit allied with the Taliban with ties to al-Qaeda).

The U.K.’s Telegraph reported that Bergdhal appeared in a video one month later after his  abduction by the Haqqani network and relayed the following:

“I was captured outside of the base camp. I was behind a patrol, lagging behind the patrol and I was captured,” Bergdahl said in the video, later growing distraught when discussing his family.

There are some reports circulating—allegedly from soldiers who served with Bergdhal during his time in Afghanistan—that Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal was exhibiting some rather peculiar behavior prior to his disappearance.

Via Twitter

Another soldier who claims to have served with the 1-501 Parachute Infantry Regiment of 4th Brigade 25th Infantry Division and Bergdhal in Paktia province, Afghanistan, recently posted an account on Twitter (follow: @CodyFNfootball) of Bergdhal’s questionable behavior that corroborates almost point for point with the timeline of events mentioned by “Dan Witmer” (see above).

The entire timeline is posted in two parts at SooperMexican.com. I have also taken screencaps in case the embedded tweets are deleted from the Twitterverse (read more here).

The Twitter timeline of @CodyFNfootball alleges on June 30, 2009, at his base in Paktia Province, roll call was called at 0600 and all reported 100%, except for 3rd Squad … Bergdahl’s squad. He posits that Bergdhal slipped out around 0300-0430 local time. And he believes Bergdhal picked that particular night because it had the lowest moon lumens.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was asked by a reporter if Bergdhal had deserted his post, but he declined to answer the charge directly at this time:

Hagel also denies the charge they negotiated with terrorists.

Via RCP:

HAGEL: First of all, we didn’t negotiate with terrorists. As I said and explained before, Sergeant Bergdahl is a prisoner of war. That’s a normal process in getting your prisoners back, that’s first. Second, we are dealing with terrorism and hostage taking all the time everywhere. I think America’s record is pretty clear on going after terrorists, especially those who take hostages, and I don’t think what we did in getting our prisoner of war released in any way would somehow encourage terrorists to take our American service men prisoner or hostage.

Well, unless holding talks with the Taliban is something different than negotiations (cooperation, perhaps?), then, yes, they are negotiating with terrorists. The Taliban are terrorists. Period. End of story. Case closed.

According to one AP report from 2012, Bergdhal had sent emails to his parents stating he was “ashamed of being an American” and was considering deserting.

Via CBS News:

(AP) WASHINGTON – Emails an American soldier reportedly sent to his parents before he was captured by the Taliban three years ago suggest he was disillusioned and considering deserting.

Bowe Bergdahl told his parents he was “ashamed to even be American” and was disgusted with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and with the Army, according to emails quoted in Rolling Stone magazine.

Bergdahl, a 26-year-old Army sergeant from Hailey, Idaho, was taken prisoner on June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan.

The military has never detailed circumstances of his disappearance or capture, and he is not classified as a deserter. He was initially listed as “duty status unknown” and is now considered “missing-captured.” He is the only U.S. prisoner of war from the Afghanistan conflict, and U.S. officials say they are actively trying to free him.

The White House declined comment on the emails or Bergdahl’s possible motivation for leaving his base in eastern Afghanistan in 2009.

As to the deal worked out by the Obama Administration to exchange the five Guantanamo prisoners, two Republican congressman are charging the president violated the law by not notifying Congress of the secret deal to swap the Gitmo detainees for Bergdhal’s release until the exchange was already taking place.

Via Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Republican lawmakers on Saturday accused President Barack Obama of breaking the law by approving the release of five Afghan detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for a U.S. soldier believed held by Islamist insurgents for five years.

The White House agreed that actions were taken in spite of legal requirements and cited “unique and exigent circumstances” as justification.

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 28, of Hailey, Idaho, was handed over to U.S. special operations forces by the Taliban. In return, five Afghans who were held at a U.S. detention facility in Cuba were released to the custody of the government of Qatar, which served as a go-between in negotiations for the trade.

Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon of California and Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma said in a statement that Obama is required by law to notify Congress 30 days before any terrorists are transferred from the U.S. facility. They said Obama also is required to explain how the threat posed by such terrorists has been substantially mitigated.

McKeon is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Inhofe is the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
 

     Having had family who served in Paktia Province in Afghanistan, I was well aware of the al-Haqqani network. They are known for their particular brand of ruthlessness, and appear to be better organized and more adept at complex attacks than most Taliban factions. It’s hard for me to imagine any American, especially U.S. military personnel, not being tortured and executed almost immediately by this vicious group of soulless savages—which leaves me scratching my head as to why Bergdhal’s captors kept him alive and in reasonably good health.

     I want to say that I do care deeply about the sacrifice and suffering of our veterans and their families, who sacrifice so much, particularly combat troops and their families, and all the multiple deployments our military has been ordered to undertake …  by an increasingly morally bankrupt civilian leadership (a.k.a. federal government, et al.).

     We haven’t heard the last of this story. There are just too many questions that remain unanswered, both from Bergdhal and the Obama Administration.

      My hope, in regard to Sgt. Bergdhal, is we can clear up any appearance of duplicity, this would include the Obama Administration as well. It would be a real shame if such traitorous acts were in fact true … a real shame, indeed. Particularly considering the unimaginable suffering and sacrifice of all those who have faithfully served in the U.S. Military and fulfilled their oath honorably …  even unto death.

God bless our military.

And God bless America.

UPDATE (June 2, 2014):

The Associated Press is reporting a Pentagon investigation in 2010 concluded Sgt. Bowe Bergdhal abandoned his post:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon investigation concluded in 2010 that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl walked away from his unit, and after an initial flurry of searching the military decided not to exert extraordinary efforts to rescue him, according to a former senior defense official who was involved in the matter.

[...]

… Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel declined to comment on earlier reports that the sergeant had walked away from his unit, disillusioned with the war. Such matters “will be dealt with later,” Hagel said.

But the former Pentagon official said it was “incontrovertible” that he walked away from his unit.

The military investigation was broader than a criminal inquiry, this official said, and it didn’t formally accuse Bergdahl of desertion. In interviews, members of his unit portrayed him as a naive, “delusional” person who thought he could help the Afghan people by leaving his army post, the official said.

Furthermore, the inconsistencies of the official story with the 2010 Pentagon investigation, and the testimony of soldiers in his unit, is raising more and more serious and troubling questions, both for Bergdhal and the administration.

Via Charlie Spiering:

“Not only has this nebulous non-story been put out for years but you know these soldiers of 4th Brigade 25th Infantry Division were threatened with legal repercussions if they spoke about Bergdahl. Everybody officially mandated silencing of what we saw has been so frustrating,” Bethea explained on BBC World Service Radio today.

Bethea served in Sgt. Bergdahl’s unit, and was an infantry officer in the U.S. Army from 2007 to 2014

CNN’s Jake Tapper also reported that many of Bergdahl’s fellow troops signed nondisclosure agreements agreeing to never share any information about Bergdahl’s disappearance and the efforts to recapture him.

 

The Demise of Grandeur, American Exceptionalism on Life-support

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     There are are few things to celebrate, perhaps, when the uber-liberal females in the uber-liberal Obsolete Press have recently begun to question (Sir Edmund) Hillary in such a way so as to elicit the viperous and vituperous reaction from HRH (Sir Edmund) Hillary.   Her responses to questions as easy as, ".....yesterday you said that marriage can only be between a man and a woman, and to-day you say that homosexuals can have a marriage identical to the common traditions....." have been sparking with dagger-like glaring looks of rank hatred.   One can see (Sir Edmund) Hillary's eyes turn blood-red as her image fades to nothing in the mirrors about and around her, just before she spits out a sarcastic and condescending answer.   Thankfully, it has been seen by others in the Obsolete Press, and apparently agents in the White House, hoping to ride another marxist into the Presidential Palace, have agreed that the slippery, intellectually dull, aging hag is probably not going to last 'til the finish line.  It might be the repetitive concussions, the groping around in the dark, looking for the gin and/or vodka bottle and the orange juice, or those long, lonely night-time walks while rubbing her hands together incessantly mumbling about some "spot" she see upon them.

 

     The hard-core commies in the only vibrant wing of the Democrat Party really, really like Pocahontas, god-daughter of Big Chief Great Whopper of the Mendacisippi Tribe of the Mendasichusetts Nation.

    They are tired of a "never-quite-was" whose greatest tribute at the nomination speech will be..."....and in closing, remember that they never could convict her in spite of all the evidence.   And,  just think of the number of miles she flew when she was Secretary of Whateveritwas and Global Climate Alternatives for Women - Conferences XXXXVI through CCLXIV, each time gaining a trophy for frequent attendance at opening ceremonies.   Just imagine." 

 

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     But as we look around to-day it is somber and sobering the idea that a person so small as to close the White House to tours, and blame the Secret Service, just to make the point about how bad and mean Republicans are...when it would have been easier to leave it open, can now just as easily throw away Victories of two wars, thereby dashing the value of those who died, were wounded, or lost time from their lives in a successful mission, squandered by a person who  is driven by hatred the finest and most noble nation in the History of Mankind.

     That nation, by the way, was never explained to him by his mother, and less by his biological father, nor by his maternal grandparents, because they also hated America, and would continue to hate America until it could become the same cesspool of dullness and materialism found throughout the socialist world.    Ah! Barry, can you remember the lie about how the insurance company cut your mother off from cancer treatment because she had a pre-existing condition....to think that you would lie on your mother's grave.  To think that there was at least one other American President whose word was worth even less than his rotted soul.

      Can anyone imagine a jackass so depraved and brazen as to postulate that the reason Spain was prospering while America was in the "Bush Great Recession" was because Spain had converted to total renewable energy.  Did he think that selling that lie to the dumbed-down, increasingly welfare dependent class of people would help America?   Or did he know that by fueling the fire of untrue facts he could hasten and complete the task of destroying the shining city on the hill?

      Of course, Spain's unemployment rate at the time of those pronouncements was 21% and it has not really changed much since.  And of course, electricity per K/H costs about 4 times as much as in the United States.

People wait to enter an unemployment registry office in

 Madrid, Spain, on Thursday. Photograph: Andres Kudacki/AP

 

The International Monetary Fund may have sighted some green

shoots of recovery in Spain – but the country's unemployment

rate has risen above 26%, according to official figures.

Data published on Thursday by Spain's statistics office show a

further 198,900 jobs were lost in 2013. The total number of

unemployed is now 5.9 million.

Although unemployment fell by 65,000 over the course of

last year, the percentage has risen because the working age

population has fallen by 267,900, through retirement or

migration. About 260,000 people left Spain in 2013,

around 40,000 of them Spanish nationals,

the rest departing foreign migrants.

_________________________________________________

 

This is somewhat misleading, because China
 and India have heavily subsidised rates
and horrid pollution rates.  They also have
 dependability and quality problems that are
somewhat laughable.   They build one coal fired
 plant to come on line every week
 in Red China, but, six break down and have
 to be scrapped every month.  Therefore,
as they say, "Soon all electricity will be free.
The only problem is, there will soon be no
electricity"

More than anything, however, we would like for the OROGs to notice that in spite of everything being perfect in Spain because Spain went green and gave everyone a government job, Spanish Electricity is really, really expensive, and unemployment is incomprehensibly high.  Too much dole, too much government participation in everything, too much  complacency as the government "gives" everything to everyone....for free.  And as the Spanish young people say, "Everybody is happy.  We have what we want, because we have never thought beyond these basic things.  And then we look around and we can't even afford the things that are free!   Now, Everybody is not so very happy."

 

El Gringo Viejo

 

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Food for thought

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Sent by our Sentinels from Extreme Central Texas

 

 

 

 

 

You all will hear from me in a few days.

El Gringo Viejo



We are heading South

________________________________________________

 

   We go to-morrow.   The Quinta has seen almost 40 inches of rain since I was there 6 weeks ago.   We have had a series of delays in our return, not the least of which was the boss deciding to fall of her bicycle (a 1972 Raleigh, with a 3 - speed and a Brooks saddle-seat...really neat-o) that we bought back in the day.   She does well by it, but about two weeks ago, the curb jumped out in front of her and broke a significant bone in her shoulder.

 

     In any regard, Alvaro probably has caught every flea on the dog, having worked straight through without complaint.  But, he certainly has better things to do by this point.   I should be there before noon to-morrow and thereby relieve him of his exile.

 

     This entire Fast and Furious, Immigration wave, Iraq and Afghani collapse, IRS silliness, Benghazi debacle, and the POW burlesque of a sell-out of reality by the release of 5 really dreadful animals for the sake of a mentally and morally challenged deserter.   Saints preserve us!

 

     The border mess is a real mess.  All of this has happened by design.   Control the press, control the methods of prosecutorial process, a mass of ignorant electors, and voila', we have a despotic, third-world socialist mess like Cuba.

And people ask why we want Texas to withdraw?   Would you like to have Nancy Pelosi in charge of things again?

    To-morrow we go into a State that has essentially been militarised, and pretty much been entered into a declared state of martial law, with four military districts dividing Tamaulipas into groupings with several score thousand of very advanced troops, almost all with combat experience, and forensic experience, and counter-insurgency experience.....along with training by very select Mexican officers and non-coms along with Israeli, Brit, and American military analysts and direct training personnel.   These that are in Tamaulipas at this moment could take on the entire Cuban military and reduce it to shreds in three weeks.
    This new deployment backs up previous success, AND THE MILITARY HAS DETERMINED THAT NO ADVANCE WILL BE LOST BY ARMY WITHDRAWALS OR LACK OF ATTENTIVENESS TO THE NEEDS OF THE CITIZENRY TO REASONABLE PUBLIC SAFETY AND DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY.   Obama should watch and be shamed.

El Gringo Viejo.
__________________________________________________


What Can a Sane Person Say?

__________________________________________________________________

     Truly.   What can a sane person say?  Emasculated leadership among the Republicans.  Total degenerate, obsessive, slavish adherence to a madman, whose stated objective is to fundamentally transform America.   Only those of us on the Right asked, "Fundamentally change from what to what?"

    The remainder of the population, a small sliver, knew that it meant we were on a Bolshevik / National Socialist / Peronista ever-descending, circular stairway into a place called Alice in Wonderland meets the Snake Pit in Hell.

     We must always measure the words of insane narcissists, because they are driven to not only lie to us, but to trick us.  They are blithely unaware that some 35% of the population can see through the construct of their lies very easily.  They think that because 20% of the fawning, wealthy, pro-socialist, pro-abortion women in America give them money and attend their functions that they, the Barrys and the Hillarys, are gods.  They are confident that the 30% who are sub-literate, me-oriented, and incapable of critical thinking will always be "tricking-fodder",
 

    The little people are clods, and the astute Barrys and Hillarys are gods.  The job of the gods is to subordinate the little people, hob-nob with the rich people, and to try to kill off all the other gods.  Failing the killing off, one can name them to important positions in the Court of Gods, such a Secretary of State and Ego Maintenance.

     We were unaware that when Barry Soetoro said that al Qaeda was on the run that he really knew what we knew.   By on the run, we knew that al Qaeda was running amok through Asia Minor and the Muslim world killing people and taking over territory so as to solidify its massive new caliphate. "On the Run" meant "taking over Baghdad", and Tripoli, and Damascus, and Cairo, and Jerusalem, and Kabul.....Riyadh....Peoria.....

 

     Everything the Manchurian Accomplice has done in the Middle East has been for the direct advantage and assistance of the Muslim Brotherhood. There is even the school of thought that Barry even got rid the deranged, washed up old syphilitic fool Osama bin Laden so that he could not muddle up the al Qaeda management stream with useless pronouncements and aimless threats.  Capturing bin Laden?  That is relatively hard.    But killing him?   A bit easier.

    Besides, Barry might even have thought  that bin Laden would not do well in humid places like Guantanamo.
______________________________________________

     So, now Immigration Reform, according to Barry Soetoro means flooding the frontiers of Rome with Vandals and Huns.   It does not mean enforcing already fairly adequate immigration laws and procedures  presently in place.   It does not mean, during these days, the enforcement of the integrity of the nation's frontiers and Air Terminals, Rail terminals and frontier crossings, and maritime ports.
     For Obama it means Dreamers and Beemers  for anchorbabymommies.  It means flushing an entire group of Latinate people who are colonial and/or adapted for several generations to the American Way.   The  presently well-adapted are flushed down the toilet and the Administration purposefully permits the  overrunning the nation with people who are arriving because the word has trickled down to Tegucigalpa that the Obama is making the Gringos pay illegal aliens to eat.

     The equivilating of the people from the pre-1970 era with what has come since the last Amnesty that was not an amnesty is all but criminal.  To fall into the trap of lumping all such people under the same lump-word of "Hispanic" and thinking that there is a political appeal that will capture all "Hispanics" is offensive, ludicrous, and maddening.   The Republican leadership and the Crony  Capitalist Consortium receive the aluminium plated Solyndra  - Government and Fiat Motor Trophy for corruption, stupidity, and arrogance. 

     What in the hell, pray tell, is radical about us rightwing crazies saying, "If we take in 10 dollars into the treasury, we must spend no more than 9.90 dollars."  Why do the "reasonable and moderate" Republicans think they are so wise when we have a deficit of 18,000,000,000,000 USD by being reasonable and giving in at every turn?   The people are boiling furious, and have long since tired of being regarded as radical because we are normal. 
     There is no money to feed 300 pound third graders.   There is no money left to pay for stairstep AFDC.  We know the Grocery and Food people need the programmes, but certainly they could learn to string beads or something with their hands besides pick the pockets of the public.  It is a form of corporate, socialist, political incestuous bestiality.
      Either we face that fact that there are no Hispanic issues, or African - American Issues or any issues concerning governed and governors or the nation balkanises.   There should only be the compliance with the obligation to keep the records, maintain the tranquility, and provide for the common defence. 

_________________________________________________

     We are having a bit of a problem because the better three/quarters fell and managed to sustain a pretty severe minor fracture pertaining to her right shoulder.   The last couple of days since coming back from Central Texas have been interesting, at best.   The doctors said no driving and continuous arm sling for three weeks or so. The boss is a real horse and a workaholic, and of course, her mother is dependent upon her for a great deal of her daily routine. But, we also complicate the matters by having to take leave to our place in Mexico on Sunday.  So, the boss is going to have to swim with one arm.

    We shall be gone for couple of weeks or so.  The OROGs will have to save the nation.  Please be aware, that when our friend on FOX News shows that the cartels are going to be having a field day because the American Border Patrol is busy babysitting the horde of juveniles coming across....it is not quite true.
     There is a very heavy military presence now in Tamaulipas.  Three times that with which we began the year.   These are what have to described as crack units, many of them trained by Israeli, British, and American officers and specialists and highly qualified Mexican officers and non-coms.
      The cartels at this moment are chasing their tails in many respects, and the military is tripling down on corruption, extortion, and the like.....very, very vigorously.  If anything the rush of the young "refugees" to make it over in time for Amnesty was even more facilitated because there was a feeling that Tamaulipas is safer for "migrants" to move through on the way to the Promised Land (The USA).   The vast majority of this last batch of Illegal Aliens that landed in the McAllen sector over the last few weeks made their own way across the river, with no "coyotes" helping or having to be paid off. 

We'll do more to-morrow.   Right now, lamentably....we are beat.
El Gringo Viejo
________________________________________________

Somewhat skillful, but too predictable to be anything but evil children playing "Reality"

     The mess going on along the Texas frontier with Mexico has been being reported and commented upon for several months.  The hordes of illegal aliens and especially illegal, unescorted minors and single women bringing children in the single digit age grouping (0 - 9) up to plop down on our door-step was cold-bloodedly calculated by the Obama regime some time back.

     They were thinking that they could "racism"  the "long path to citizenship for illegals" until the Americanists would finally just throw in the towel and sign the bill of sale just to get rid of the salesman.   But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum.

      People would not sell their cherished citizenship so cheaply.  As  two-tiered citizens, Texian and American, my wife and I understand these issues in three dimensions.   Barry and his marxist ghouls have no fealty to anything beyond a deranged cleaving unto an Hellish compulsion to organise societies so that the betters can control and order around the lessers.

     They will literally move populations, if possible, to accomplish their  goals.  Please understand that El Gringo Viejo has tried to speak to this horrid inundation of pitiable humanity that is besieging the zona franca Texana.  We are watching people in numbers exceeding the refugee rush during the Revolucion de 1910 - 1917 period, when  6% of Mexico killed itself and 9% of Mexico abandoned its country, entering mainly Texas as a safe haven.  That was because we are all racists and discriminators against other ethnic groups, right?

      My grandmother and grandfather to a lesser extent did considerable work among those folks, as did thousands of others in order to alleviate a problem with which they had no responsibility or culpability.  My great-grandfather also was involved in these activities....along with hundreds of geezers of the period in this area who had had successful businesses and positive social relations in Mexico.

     In many ways, what we are seeing here is worse.  The Cartel violence never once achieved the level of the lawlessness and violence of the War in 1910 - 1917....never.   And the population, 120 million as opposed to 16 million. Completely different in terms of mass.  Classes?  Mexico had a middle class of about 25% whereas now it is about 75%.

    But!  It is not unto us to pay for the iniquity of people who do not plan for the future, who cannot govern themselves, who do not fight back, who do not sacrifice to destroy the devils who destroy their country.  These people, almost all in their entirety, have invested their hopes in governments that promised to give them something for nothing....free schools, free medical, free housing, free food, free burials, free vacations, free happiness.  Mexico detached from this madness at the very last possible second, as the new Century began, in order to have any chance of finally, or ever, becoming a true place instead of a Chamber of Cheshire Illusions and Magic.

     Let us study the parallels.   Jimmy Carter essentially removed the Shah of Iran so that the people of Persia could have self-government and happiness.  Fast forward, within a few months the bloody, severely mentally defective, perhaps both retarded and insane, mullahs and ayatollahs had all of Iran under the yoke of a peculiar alliance of pro-Communist atheist radicals and arch-fundamentalist religious nuts who, in any civilised area, would have been taken out and shot for their transgressions against humanity.

     We remember the pinkos and anti-American elements, a la Viet Nam, declaring that Pahlavi was a scumbag because he had 3,000 political prisoners....that his security service "tortured".   Since that time over 500,000 heretics, homosexuals, Christians, Israeli Jew and Moslem "spies" , wanton women, etc. have been slaughtered upon a false altar of a hijacked Abrahamic  Religion.   Thanks, Jimmy.

     And not to be outdone, Jimmy Earl who cares so much about democracy and good and nice and I'll never lie to you....lied every step of the way.  Oddly Pahlavi and his family were given a villa in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico by the socialist President of Mexico, Jose Lopez Portillo....interesting aside.   But, in the meantime Geraldo Rivera and Jimmy Earl decided that Anastacio Samoza of Nicaraqua had to go.  He was not democratic.  He was part of the ruling elite and oligarchy and he had an automobile dealership in a place where only people who could afford to buy automobiles could afford to buy automobiles.  He was also an arrogant crook, and he was a conservative landowner.   Of course, that he was a member of the "Liberal Party" and the "Conservative Party" complained about Anastacio's incautious catering to the peasantry....he would have to go.  And so the CIA and the Chappaqua and Hamptons crowd got rid of Anastacio.   He was assassinated later in New York City by an Ortega/Castro goon.  Chalk up another great foreign policy victory for the feely-friendly liberal kumbaya crowd.'

    Jimmy Earl ushered in the era of the Ortegas, two arch-communist, pro-Soviet "agents of democratic change" who produced those pleasant scenes of an old geezer Jew being forced to walk around naked in downtown Managua, Nicaragua with only a sign....sometimes say "JEW",  other times saying "Palestine for the Palestinians", and then at times "Espie Yanqui!"   The old Jew died a few months later, never having been allowed to leave the country until he divulged "where he had hidden it all".  His main crime was simply to have been a Jew who would attend to travelling Jews who had need of ritual or counsel.  It is also difficult to forget the Congressional Democrat Leadership writer their "Dear Commandante" letter to Daniel Ortega, apologising to the "Nicaraguan people" for the excesses of the radical and dangerous Ronald Reagan administration.

 What if they gave a revolution and
nobody came?  Sub-Comandante
 Marcos of the Ejercito Zapatista de
 Liberacion Nacional as his cause
 and reality faded in Chiapas.  His
star has faded but the stench never
truly goes away.  

   Now, the leftists and their mountain "guerrillas" are in place, they control the governments of Honduras, Guatemala, and especially Nicaragua.  There is a left-network alive and well, working through the liberation-theology cobweb of the Jesuit and Mary Knoll communists disguised as monks, priests, nuns, and Catholic tertiaries.   There are also seculars from the old guerrilla days back in the 1990s and those from the Frente Armada de la Revolucion Colombiana (FARC) and the old Sandinista network.  There is a bit of the silly assembly of alcoholics and stoners and commies associated with the Frente Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (FZLN) in Mexico's southernmost State of Chiapas.

     This all leads to the point of establishing that there is a perpetually ready supply-line of messaging, long before emails and cellular communication, for Stalinists, Castroites, Maoists, Trotskyites and so forth.   It is said that Stalin was laughing about the murder of Trotsky in Mexico City before the President of Mexico knew about it....and that was in 1940.
________________________________________________


    We have established the fact that there is certainly a "gossip cloud" that reaches easily into Central America.   This issue is, most certainly, a Central American thing...not Mexican...but Central American.   El Gringo Viejo has listened to AM radio from Guatemala and Honduras wherein the Trece Puntos (thirteen points) were discussed about how to "trick" the system legally.   The people heard over and over for the past 12 months, in every bar, restaurant, beauty parlour, family gathering, churchyard, etc. about how to take or send children with little or no documentation to go and petition the United States government for "refugee status".  The person who first enunciated the "Trece Puntos" albeit in English was a disgusting poseur with the name of Barry Soetoro.


     The next campaign is going to be, "Look what the Republicans have caused with their incalcitrance concerning 'immigration reform'".   And, there will be a hue and cry for "something to be done".  And then there will be those "reasonable Republicans" who will trundle down to propose 18 months of adjustment or adaptation and resettlement expenses and finding a "safety net" of benefits due to the fact that the children....blah, blah, blah.  NO! NO! NO! No one comes in without first using the un-broken immigration system we already have and that was not effectively enforced, especially during the past 5 years.  No Amnesty!  No 'back of the line', No public assistance for non-citizens! No more Anchorbabies!!!!   Being born on Texas soil does not qualify a person as a Texas or an American.  PUH - Leeeze. 


     We must be willing to stand up and say !!!NO!!!    Barrack Hussein Onyango Obama Soetoro can pay for the Central  American parents and children and the rest of the whole mess, including their repatriation to-morrow, if not sooner.  He can pay for it with the remainder of his campaign fund and the money raised for his "library" and "I ain't no ways tired Museum anti-Mohammed Video Pool Hall".   He can raise the money for the whole damned trick.  It is the same Alinsky-Bolshevik propaganda manoeuvre that would sic the IRS on political enemies and then cover-up, along with flood Mexico with automatic weapons directly to the hands of the Cartel thugs hoping for civilian and constabulary deaths to result, preferably among Americans.  Obama has, by the way, mentioned that he is interested in the Australian method of private firearm confiscation.  That is the thing that cost Crocodile Dundee his life.


    There will be more in-depth commentary on this and the overall conspiracy to implement "fundamental transformation" of America.  Continue to hold down the front.  
El Gringo Viejo   

Our newest addition grows up and blossoms - Texas Wins.

This is our Grand-Niece at three years of age.  She has blossomed under the tutelage, care, and eveloping affection of older brothers, a father who is well-centred and dedicated and a mother who must, apparently, never tire. She is something of a saint, martyr, and good-for-all things person.

My wife and daughter are very similar.  The setting is somewhere in extreme Central Texas.   We felt that all OROGs should be kept up to date about.

All of our children and grandchildren, nephews, nieces, and grand-nephews/nieces are each so intelligent and accomplished and alive....with un-apologetic joie de vivre that it actually makes life a pleasant stop on the way between stations.

El Gringo Viejo

  

A Blast from the Past - Along with relevant commentary

  This is simply a reminder article coming from the last time there was a difficulty concerning another of our veterans trying to go into Mexico without actually finding out  true facts instead of listening to Uncle Joe and the guy down at the bar who went to boys' town 20 years ago.
    As in the case below - cited, the information being put out by media sources, including FOX News is not being presented in an entirely factual way.  There is considerable evidence that can leave the certain impression to any reasonable person that the story being  told by FOX News depends in large part on the willingness of the audience to believe the worst about the other people.
    It presumes the absolute innocence of a person because he is 'one of ours", and the absolute guilt of the "other guys" because they are them.  One must move carefully in these matters.
    Recently, in the Tijuana case, it has become clear that our guy decided to take on people in a holding tank.  That is not a good idea.  Holding tanks hold the worst of the worst.  He resisted efforts to be moved into a better place, essentially in the infirmary.   He wound up there anyway and then tried to go back to "settle the score" with swine and human debris.  Why?   It also allows blowhards to bloviate to the point that they make fools of themselves concerning the topic.   Please remember, O'Reilly had nothing to do with the release of the boy at Matamoros.  He had nothing to do with the release of various people who made similar errors and had little or no problem solving whatever problem they had while in Mexico.   These are people about whom no one ever heard because procedures were followed that alleviated almost all or all of the problems.
     Allow me to suggest, for instance, that the Marine presently in a preferred accommodation in the prison outside of Tecate, Baja California was restrained because he had tried to cut his neck with a light-bulb that he had broken.  Who made up that story?  Our Marine on live radio with his mom on the line, and I believe Glen Beck.   Our Marine has dismissed two legal teams that are highly recommended and at times work on a pro bono basis for incidental foreigners.  We follow these cases and at times have intervened on a pro bono basis ourselves.   It is incumbent for me to urge to all OROGs that cases like this sometimes do not neatly fit into the box of "dirty stinking greasers  mistreating nice American boy".   My job is to keep the OROG from walking into a door in the dark of the night.    One might note that even O'Rielly and Beck have backed off a bit on the story.   It is much deeper than it appears. 

    ________________________________________________

This is an article from last Winter, concerning another military retiree who was intent on driving from Texas to Costa Rica through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and finally to Costa Rica.   Our return in those days just before Christmas led us to begin our writings about our stay, and then about things that had been happening during my absence from Tierra Santa Americana:

Last week of Advent - 2013

     The cats helped a bit with the cold episodes.   They are adept at waiting for El Gringo Viejo to nod off on his slightly undersised recliner during the Houston Texans game, knowing that heat travels upward and is to be dedicated to the comfort of felines.   They, as I, have long ago determined that even if the temperature is comfortable, there should be no waste of warmth during the Winter.   As we are situated quite close to the Tropic of Cancer, the period near the Solstice on the Calendar tends to be very cool during the nighttime hours.  We were out about a month (we haven't counted up the days) and almost every night was in the 40s...ending up with Thursday's early morning reading being 35 degrees F.

     The last blast from the north came in just before and brought winds of 50 - 60 miles per hour sustained, and gusts up to 80 during the first moments of passage.   It is pleasant to report that throughout the area of our part of rural Mexico, there was not one power outage.  Excellent when it is considered that the sustained winds endured for a period of over 18 hours.

     We call attention to the fact that our little place is very rustic.   Some new readers might not want to dig through our 600 previous postings to read about the "mud hut", or to visit  our webpage (linked on this page), but even with the cold nights and slightly coolish days, the temperature inside stayed a constant 72 degress....a tribute to the really old fashioned adobe and plaster approach to forming the lobster shell of a house.

     It is also of note that the "situation" has improved to the point that people are actually speaking confidently that a reasonable semblance of the old imperfect order has seemed to return.   On our return yesterday, the highways were super over-saturated.   Extremely heavy traffic accompanied this traveller for the entirety of the 239 mile route that was followed this time.  Traffic coming, and going.  Busses heading south must have numbered 200 common carriers of the 1st class and deluxe variety.   Thousands of motorcars, 90 percent of which were families returning from buying expeditions in the Commerce Cathedrals (shopping malls) in McAllen and other places in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.   Another number were those Mexicans who live in the United States legally and make the Christmas trek in SUVs and station waggons, with and without trailers, loaded up like some kind of adjunct delivery service for Santa Claus.

     This whole phenomena is a result of the perceived improvement in the  security situation.   While the chance of being involved, in actuarial terms, in some kind of crossfire or other related event was always very low in real terms, it is now perceptually, truly, obviously, and undeniably very, very diminished.   There is the apparent perception and understanding as well that the new administration is not going to move in the direction of "adapting to a reasonable alternative"(benign neglect of the cartels).   We are hopeful that what is essentially an imperfect victory will not be squandered by yielding to the notion that  sociological rot will not finally overtake an entire huge nation if left unchecked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN IRRITATION:

     It disappoints, as always, when FOX News decides to join into and reinforce the popular perception created by the leftist press about the situation in Mexico.   The whole picture is not that much different than here in the United States.   In many ways, quite frankly, things are better South of the Border.   So when O'Reilly, or the voices on The Five, and others on FOX News were admonishing that Mexican prisons are Hell Holes where the cartels run the show, and that especially Americans are targeted by the criminal and general population of Mexico, and that everything is corrupt.....it brings to mind motes and beams and eyes, kettles, pots, and black.   While O'Reilly, for instance, was warning that if "President Nieto" did not release Corporal Hammer, that Mr. O'Reilly would "take care of Mexico's tourism industry".   Mr. O'Reilly is such an expert on matters Mexican, that he is unaware that it is President Pen~a....not Nieto.   The paternal surname immediately follows the given name(s).

     The Hammer case was already essentially resolved.   The Mexican Secretary of the Navy had declared the issue to have been warrantless and that no crime had been committed because the person involved had voluntarily revealed the shotgun in question and requested permitting for said instrument.  The telephone calls received by the family were from prisoners and/or their family members who commonly attempt to extort money from family members of other prisoners, especially the newly arrived.   American prison gangs do the same thing.

     The fear held by this observer was that what ground had been covered might possibly have to be re-ploughed because Mexican arrogance is similar to American arrogance.   If they are pushed, they tend to push back, sometimes to their own detriment.  O'Reilly fell into this category in a way.

      Many things about this case that were commonly known in Mexico were not reported.   The most vigorous operator in this matter had been the the Tamaulipas State Chamber of Commerce.   The final attorney in Mexico City had served well.   The usually useless Human Rights Commission (totally pinko) served well.   Various State and local elected officials had also been pointing out behind the scenes that the Secretary of the Navy's position was totally accurate.  The federal customs and immigration official had overreacted to some personal affront, and "behaved stupidly" in the words of a great American leader.   It was all but unreported that  Corporal Hammer's friend was not detained during this same incident.   And, while even Laura Ingraham had to pile on, please be assured that of the 1,000 Americans behind bars presently in Mexico, somewhere between 950 to 1,000 are not the type of person with whom you would like your teenaged daughter to be spending time.  As well, of the 140 Americans killed in Mexico during the last year, O'Reilly and Laura and the rest of the choir seem to leave out that 130 or so were very, very probably involved in the drug trafficking business.   Here, there is something usually stated about fleas, dogs, and lieing down with, etc.

     It is my judgement that the greatest weight of the blame....at least 9o% of the fault in this issue....lies with the Mexican customs officer.   All he would have had to have done, at worst, is to have ordered the individual back to the American side.    There is some blame to be spread onto the American border agents who apparently told the boy that there would be no problems, just to declare the gun and get the permits.   The permits have to be obtained before going in.

      And while all this is going on, there is a 340,000 tonne elephant sitting there on the FOX News set, minding its own business.   "Don't go to Mexico, it's dangerous and corrupt, and they are always doing things all the time to everybody...especially Americans", they say.  While we have Benghazi unresolved....Fast and Furious left unresolved....20 dead children in Newtown, Connecticut....overwhelming corruption at all levels in the United States Government....Solyndra ignored....expropriation of General Motors and Chrysler....and some jackass from Chicago talking about reasonable new firearms legislation, like, you know, Chicago....where "One a Day" would be a substantial improvement.   Thank the Lord that Chicago has stringent firearms control.  That solved all the problems.

     Please allow us to include that during El Gringo Viejo's professional and business life, he conducted, permitted, licensed, escorted, guided, scouted, and otherwise attended to the issues of hunting game birds in Mexico involving hundreds upon hundreds of hunters, and thousands of shotguns, scores of thousands of importations of rounds of ammunition.   Never had one man detained.

Thanks for the opportunity to unload, perhaps inform to a level of greater understanding, and swim upstream.   These might be the last days for contrarians and other sorts of folks who have knowledge and opinion that is true but not part of the common understanding.

El Gringo Viejo

     (We urge that the OROG consider that nothing has been said or heard from the boy who was released from Matamoros detention.  One might ask why and think about it for a bit.  11 June 2014 EGV)