Rep. King hammers Obama after first al Qaeda trial in civil court

Congressman Peter King (R - N.Y.) has called the Obama administration's decision to try terrorists in US civilian courts instead of military tribunals at Guantánamo Bay (GTMO) "absolute insanity."

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Some US troops in Afghanistan may patrol with no rounds chambered in weapons

Update, May 21, 2010: Herschel Smith, writing at Captain's Quarters, describes an official communication about this policy. Smith received the communication after writing commentary about the policy described in our article.

Update, May 24, 2010: The US Report stands by this story. Some blogs appear to view the situation regarding patrols as harmless. We do not. Some of those same critical blogs even note decisions about weapons protocol are made at the "lowest tactical level." Apparently that is where the claim in our story began--at the lowest tactical level. When blogs and media cite our work, we would appreciate accuracy on the claims and charges. Furthermore the blog offering a crit of our story cites the wrong source for the official communication we mention above. That official communication went to The Captain's Journal, not to Black Five.

Original story:

Scenic photo of one of Afghanistan's beautiful places, the Bamyan lakes region of Bamyan Province, Afghanistan. [Photo CIA World Fact Book.]By Chris Carter

Commanders have reportedly ordered a U.S. military unit in Afghanistan to patrol in a manner that could handicap them.

Some soldiers are being ordered to conduct patrols without a round chambered in their weapons, The US Report has learned from an anonymous source at a forward operating base in Afghanistan.  Our source was unsure if the order came from his unit or if it affected other units.

On war correspondent Michael Yon's Facebook page, commenters stated that this is a common practice in Iraq, while others said that it is occurring in Afghanistan as well. According to military protocol, “Amber” status requires weapons to have a loaded magazine, but the safety on and no round chambered.

"The idea that any combat unit would conduct any operation, including patrolling and even manning a security post -- in which direct action may-or-may not take place -- and not having weapons loaded, borders on being criminally negligent in my opinion," says Lt. Col. W. Thomas Smith Jr., a recognized expert on terrorism and military/national defense issues. "This is nothing more than infusing politically correct restrictions into already overly restrictive rules of engagement. And this PC nonsense is going to get people killed."

According to Smith, "American soldiers are highly skilled in the use of 'loaded' weapons, and so should be trusted to operate with 'loaded' weapons. If someone overseeing decisions on ROE thinks not, then ratchet up training. But don't put a man on the street and force him to go through multiple prompts when a gunfight breaks out. Remember, the situation can go from quiet to kinetic in half the time it takes to breathe."

In an ambush situation, just how long does it take to engage a target when your weapon isn't already loaded?

“Too long,” states Sandy Daniel, military veteran and Deputy Director of the Victory Institute. “The first couple of seconds in an ambush are critical, and when that block of time is used to load a weapon instead of firing, you are losing the time you need to stay alive. Patrolling without a chambered round is suicide.”

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Big media and AP deserve a ‘POOlitzer’ for covering terrorism, Iraq

By Kay B. Day

Jacksonville's daily paper carries many wire service stories.I’ve begun to track Associated Press stories with interest, since learning of the wire service’s disclosure about outsourcing newsgathering to nonprofit organizations I consider part of the Leftosphere. We should create a committee to hand out ‘POOlitzers’ for some of these stories carried in thousands of daily newspapers whose editors’ dictionaries apparently omit the word ‘bias.’

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Political elitists are clueless about terrorism and big government

By Kay B. Day

Right about now New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg should be doing some soul searching about his bigotry and thanking God the alleged naturalized citizen’s alarm clock malfunctioned or, depending on whose account you believe, wasn’t set properly. Before the failed bomb was attributed to a Pakistani turned US citizen, Bloomberg implied that someone who didn’t like the healthcare bill might have set the bomb in Times Square.

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Government must drop partisan politics on national security

By Chris Carter

Cover of the government report about Ft. Hood. Finding 2.2 is one of several that should alarm even the most complacent Americans: “Background checks on personnel entering the DoD workforce or gaining access to installations may be incomplete, too limited in scope, or not conducted at all.”In an opinion piece for a major newspaper, a White House official lashed out at critics of the Obama administration's ability to defend against terrorism. John Brennan, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, wrote in a USA Today op-ed on Tuesday, "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda."

Does Brennan truly think criticizing government's self-admitted "shortcomings" and "systemic failures" constitutes serving the goals of al Qaeda? And with the spate of al Qaeda attacks on our homeland, our concerns are anything but "unfounded fear-mongering."

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Charges against SEALs from ‘outside Naval Special Warfare community’

Christine Koch, a member of the Facebook group supporting the Navy SEALs who captured Ahmed Hashim Abed, added this graphic to the page in memoriam to US Army Cpl. Steven R. Koch, 82nd Airborne Division, 1-508 PIR 4th Combat Brigade Team. Cpl. Koch was killed in action March 3, 2008, in Sabari, Afghanistan.The Facebook group Support the Navy SEALs Who Captured Ahmed Hashim Abed has grown to more than 111,000 members from a general public angry about charges against 3 SEALs and the detention of a suspected terrorist. The Facebook group page is a clearinghouse for information about the cases of SEALs Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe, Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas and Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe. Recently a letter was posted in an effort to clear up hearsay about the case. The letter came from Jack Lynch, President of the UDT-SEAL Association. Lynch said, “The charges or accusations against our Navy SEALs were not made from within our SEAL community. They came from outside our Naval Special Warfare community.”

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