Heavily armed 'Oath Keepers' inject disquieting element in Ferguson
By the way, Infowars denies they're protecting one of theirs.
Heavily armed 'Oath Keepers' inject disquieting element in Ferguson
By the way, Infowars denies they're protecting one of theirs.
13 comments:
I've been an OK member for over a year. LTC, US Army (ret), OIF vet, 7 years in the intel community doing SOF support and counter-terrorism. I admire OK's stated principles, but they are blundering again and again with tactical/operational decisions, and info operations - from a strategic standpoint - and are now a sinking ship. This last operation was a strategic blunder of immense proportions. They will not recover . . . four middle-aged white guys "heavily-armed with assault rifles and bullet proof vests" sent into a black anger zone by OK, to protect Alex Jones?!? This is amateur-hour naivete. Talk about handing TPTB all the ammo they need to utterly decimate your brand in the court of public opinion. There's courage, and then there's brash idiocy. This op was the latter. I do not want to be anywhere near the vortex when this ship slips below the surface. For me, this was the last straw. I cancelled my ongoing contributions and my OK membership as of today . . . Maybe I'll shift the funds to SSI.
Anyone look closely at that photo ran by AP? ONE of the 3 men in the pic, the one with his back to the camera wearing the black plate carrier.....*appeared* to be other than "white". I'd guess Hispanic or *gasp* Black. Hard to tell from the pic (see below)
http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBlEqjp.img?h=486&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=387&y=228
....but makes one wonder if other protesters or attendees to the protest are wearing plate carriers.
"To protect Infowars reporters" is the way lame-stream media spun it. CBS retracted that article. The OK people that were there offered to walk with the Infowars reporters (Jones not among them) while going through Ferguson. Missouri being an "open carry" state, anyone can bear long guns and shotguns in the open. Southern Poverty Law Center is getting it's licks in on OK through the media (as usual), all the while failing to tell local blacks that they too can be armed to protect their own businesses.
I know tactical guys aren't usually trained to think this way, but that's one of the reasons that not every one in uniform is in a tactical job. It ain't rocket surgery to know that OPFOR would latch on to an all white unit being deployed into a black area. Given the number of African Americans who have served in the LEO and military, surely Oath Keepers could have found a few black faces to put on this operation?
An if not, why not? Why feed into the SPLC's meme that Oath Keepers are the equivalent of the KKK with camo instead of sheets?
Things are bad enough without the good guys stepping on their private parts in public. Oath Keepers need to get some media liaison and image building people on board. Yesterday would be good.
Anon, 5:06, if you were a LTC, you're the kind of officer that makes my ears bleed when I hear you talk. I'm a former SFC, Vietnam era, and I am no stranger to officers rationalizing both their lack of principles, and their reasons for condemning every one who has any, and a backbone. I'm sure OK will miss your membership, and funds, NOT. Here's a clue, lickspittle. When a person actually HAS principles, they're required to demonstrate it every once in a while, with action. And that means it may be dangerous to do so, as well as unpopular and difficult. GET IT? Opera non Verba. Deeds, not words. Whatever your experience and professionalism, remember, officer, that you were always backed by the might of the entire US Armed Forces. OK is backed by nothing but themselves and the amount of intestinal fortitude they have. You see, they actually BELIEVE what it is they swore an oath to, unlike you, who runs and withdraws at the first sighting of trouble, or controversy. It takes a M-A-N to do what is right, even when the whole thing looks dicey. So go put on your dress blues, and go look in the mirror, and know what a piss ant feels like, when he discovers he's all talk with lots of backup, when the rubber meets the road. Personally, you disgust me.
What He Said!!!
Hate to pick on Anon 5:06, but I have a question. You state the following: "LTC, US Army (ret), OIF vet, 7 years in the intel community doing SOF support and counter-terrorism."
Sounds to me like that skill set -- assuming your credibility here -- could really be useful to OK. God knows they have all the heart and desire to stand in the gap, but there's no outfit that can't use good intel, support, and counter-terrorism skills. Again, assuming your skill set remains reasonably current. You don't necessarily have to get out on the line, but you could be helpful to those who are. Sean has a good point. If you believe what you've posted, pulling up your pants and staying home really doesn't cut it.
Sean, I understand your bitterness and reluctance to listen re officers doing the "wah-wah-wha-wah-wa" bit. Yes, I finished my service as a LTC, but I started as a Private. Served enlisted through E-5, both active and ARNG, and chose to serve as a commissioned officer because I wanted to do better than the officers under whom I had served. I might have made it further than LTC, except that I refused to go political, and made many enemies because I stood unflinchingly for my troops and what was right on behalf of the People who paid my wages. I make my comments on OK - not because I have no backbone - but because sometimes people who make their tactical decisions based on backbone, just get mowed-down. Backbone and all. OK are not playing smart, and they will lose because of that. I'll keep my Oath, but I'll have to do it solo. I'm sorry that your experience with officers was so bad that you would assume that I'm spineless and as$-kissing just because I got a commission. Anything I ever accomplished was on the backs of the folks who worked for me. SSGs and SFCs had/have the most demanding jobs in the Army. My comments about the wisdom of OK's tactical decisions have nothing to do with disrespect for the people who served with me. However, if your yardstick for decision-making is backbone, then my order to you would be "charge that hill, machine guns be damned!" Meanwhile, I'll try to help folks with less backbone actually WIN.
Sean, BTW . . . if I ever did give an order like "charge that hill, MGs be damned", I knew that I HAD to be in that charge with my men, which may explain why I tried/try so hard to figure out whether a particular action is likely to result in success. Many of the enlisted folks who served with me contact me on a regular basis to check-in and share opinions. I know this: if you asked them, not a single one would say that my top weakness as a leader was lack of backbone. I had weaknesses as a leader, but fear was not one of them. You know what DISGUSTS me??? People who can't listen to a rational argument on its merits, because they have raging prejudices that immediately close their minds. Sound familiar, there, SFC?
Well, since SSI won't post my responses, I guess my post-OK-blunder support will have to go elsewhere.
There are those who act, and those who complain about the people taking action. When the latter depart, it is all for the better. They don't leave a gap on the front line to fill, and the comms are clearer.
Anonymous the Plinker said...""
You mean the int guys who can't figure out that isis/al qaduh, etc etc are cia cutouts, funded, armed, and controlled by dc? And that the mobros are in the 0bama regime? Those well trained and needed int guys?
http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/03/u-s-general-muslim-brotherhood-infiltrated-pentagon-high-security-clearance-positions/
http://www.globalresearch.ca/america-created-al-qaeda-and-the-isis-terror-group/5402881
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/04/26/want-to-know-just-how-close-the-muslim-brotherhood-is-to-the-obama-admin/
Anon:(LTC etc. glad to hear you were in the NG at one point, and an enlisted man. That means at some point in you life your balls were still attached.) All I hear from you is a lot of palaver about assessments and strategies, and I still don't see no action, nor any proclivities for doing same. Bottom line, hoss, is that, like wow, man, lots of things sound familiar to me. Like that straw man about charging a hill with machine guns there. Didn't see much automatic grazing fire in Ferguson, did you? Did you read about how black people came up and thanked OK for showing up, that arrests were way down when they did, and that OK on site encouraged people to arm themselves, and show up that way as a method of discouraging the police from running roughshod over them, their rights, and their community? Didn't get the memo? You can run your face all you want about the crap you talked about, the facts remain: They showed up, did some good, walked the walk, DID THEIR JOB, suffered no casualties, and your response is that some one, some where, might be offended (I'm sure all the leftists and anti-gun people felt that way, and does that give YOU any ideas?) And your evaluation is: Oh, m'gosh, that might be dangerous, some ones feeewings will get butt hurt, I'm pulling my support, and I'm going to play some where else because this might get real and have actual consequences. That about say it? Paint it anyway you want, sports fan, bottom line is, that yellow stripe down your pants started somewhere, and all you've shown is your ability to haul ass if things begin to look dicey. Don't get lofty with me, bub, and if you want to do something about it, you know where you can find me. I'm crippled and old, so it'll be a fair fight.
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