Allen West Is A Boss.

[Pax]

I dont really care to start any debate on the subject and I highly doubt Ill participate in one should it develop, just thought some of you guys might get a little "F&*k YEAH!" moment out of this:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/allen-west-marines-incident-shut-your-mouth-war-hell_616699.html

His ending line is definitely one for the books.

[cop1211]

Would LOVE to see him be the President someday.

[ThirdWatcher]

Would LOVE to see him be the President someday.

I wholeheartedly agree.

[Just a Jarhead]

I wholeheartedly agree.

Proud to say I worked on his campaign and helped get him elected. Great American Hero! We need more men like him. Unfortunately, he reminds me of American men of a bygone era...this is how most men used to be in this country. These are the kind of straight talking without fear of consequences, balls to the walls men and military Leaders that made America great! We need more of them. Particularly leaders.

[spr1]

I have been following him since seeing that first 7 minute or so YouTube vid.
I would love to see him continue in ever higher positions.
He must really piss off the socialists......

[Sensei]

Hopefully his next stop is Sec. Defense

[ThirdWatcher]

Proud to say I worked on his campaign and helped get him elected.

Thank you. Our country has always thrived under strong leaders.

[variablebinary]

I have to say, I am almost always impressed by what Allen West has to say.

And even his response to the Marines situation, he sounds like someone who has lead men in combat.

Also, playing "gotcha" with Allen West usually results in a verbal thrashing that liberals have a problem recovering from.

[RogerinTPA]

I like LTC West. It is a realistic opinion from a man who had lead troops in combat and who can sympathize, having gone through a similar event in his own career (Iraqi prisoner interrogation incident).

As far as the actual incident is concerned, maybe the Marines should have lit their asses on fire first, THEN pissed on them, so it would have looked more humanitarian.

[Just a Jarhead]

As far as the actual incident is concerned, maybe the Marines should have lit their asses on fire first, THEN pissed on them, so it would have looked more humanitarian.

I have fond admiration for creative thinking! American ingenuity. I Love it!

[Voodoo_Man]

He is correct.

[montanadave]

Unfortunately, while I agree with the general substance of West's remarks, it is his intemperate “As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell" remark which will make headlines.

To assert that only those who serve in combat should voice an opinion with respect to the actions of American military forces is patently absurd. The military forces of the United States represent this nation whenever and wherever they serve and carry the flag.

The Constitution assures civilian control of the military. With good reason.

The military draws its members from civilian society, is funded by tax dollars, and returns its members to that same civilian society when they have completed their service. As a career military officer who has now transitioned into a political figure, West reveals an unacceptable level of arrogance and condescension towards the very public he serves.

[glocktogo]

Unfortunately, while I agree with the general substance of West's remarks, it is his intemperate “As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell" remark which will make headlines.

To assert that only those who serve in combat should voice an opinion with respect to the actions of American military forces is patently absurd. The military forces of the United States represent this nation whenever and wherever they serve and carry the flag.

The Constitution assures civilian control of the military. With good reason.

The military draws its members from civilian society, is funded by tax dollars, and returns its members to that same civilian society when they have completed their service. As a career military officer who has now transitioned into a political figure, West reveals an unacceptable level of arrogance and condescension towards the very public he serves.

You don't have an accurate picture of the situation. Your emotional response precludes objectivity. Yes, everyone should be allowed to comment on the incident. However, some commentators have a more qualified opinion than others. When judging the quality of the comment, I'd have to place the quality of Col. West's comment far above that of Leon Panetta's, or the multitude of the hand wringer's comments. He has the experience and the quality of character to have his comment considered superior to those who lack these qualifications.

Anyone who deplores the Marine's acts, should in fact direct their derision towards the civilian authority you mention. It was their failed political actions that got us this war. It is their continued failures that are making this war approach the 10 year mark. Their willingness to sacrifice those soldiers and marines in their quest for global control of "hearts and minds", begets us these events. They are directly responsible. If Panetta wants to hold anyone accountable, he should first address his culpability and that of his boss. Only then should he work his way down the ladder. That's how true leadership works. Going on a witch hunt at the tip of the spear is a fruitless endeavor, for it is the hand that held the shaft that's truly responsible.

West's comments to the hand wringers are accurate. They may not be appreciated, but candor rarely is. Our politicos and wilting lily populace much prefers politically correct words these days. It's so much easier to pretend that problems aren't yours when candor is eliminated. :(


Hopefully his next stop is Sec. Defense

Word. I'd take him over Panetta any day of the week, and thrice on Sunday!

[Safetyhit]

While he says a lot of the right things, he shouldn't be defending the incident. The vast majority of combat veterans don't feel the need to piss on those they killed and have it taped for the amusement of others.

That said, good to see his mention of Gordon and Shughart. They aren't remembered nearly enough for what they did.

[SeriousStudent]

......

As far as the actual incident is concerned, maybe the Marines should have lit their asses on fire first, THEN pissed on them, so it would have looked more humanitarian.

This is why they made you an officer, Roger. The out of the box thinking. :D

And I will strongly second those would believe LTC West should hold positions of higher responsibility in our government. I made several contributions to his Congressional election campaign, and will continue to do so. Our Army lost a great future General officer when he resigned. And I am aware of his reasons for resigning his commission.

As a former Marine infantryman, I would have willingly followed LTC West into combat. I can think of no higher praise for any officer.

[montanadave]

I'll stipulate the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq reflects an incredible failure by our civilian leadership in formulating a coherent foreign policy and providing the military with a clearly defined mission.

However, the videotaping and posting to the internet of American soldiers pissing on enemy combatants is evidence of a breakdown of military discipline. That single thoughtless act has done uncalculable damage to America's reputation (think Abu Ghraib) and provided aid and comfort to the enemy.

Whether it's our elected leadership or enlisted service personnel "pissing away" (pun intended) a trillion dollars of our money, the American taxpayers have a right to get angry and demand accountability.

Being told, in essence, to STFU by an elected official is total bullshit.

[platoonDaddy]

For sure he is a great man, officer and leader of men.

I salute him!

[TXBob]

I'll stipulate the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq reflects an incredible failure by our civilian leadership in formulating a coherent foreign policy and providing the military with a clearly defined mission.

However, the videotaping and posting to the internet of American soldiers pissing on enemy combatants is evidence of a breakdown of military discipline. That single thoughtless act has done uncalculable damage to America's reputation (think Abu Ghraib) and provided aid and comfort to the enemy.

Whether it's our elected leadership or enlisted service personnel "pissing away" (pun intended) a trillion dollars of our money, the American taxpayers have a right to get angry and demand accountability.

Being told, in essence, to STFU by an elected official is total bullshit.
I must of missed that part of the article. Unless you were one of the armchair quarterbacks he refers to.

I miss the good ol days where the men were men and shook hands after the battle.

Of course that never really happened and the Pacific Theater of WW2 made this look like Sunday School. War does bad things to the head.

I'm not saying they were right, I'm just saying I understand. I'm all for appropriate punishment. But the more whaargarbl we do, the more it magnifies the problem. I'm sure USMC can handle this.

[ThirdWatcher]

When I heard of the Iraqi prisoner interrogation incident, I thought that LTC West is exactly the kind of leader I want my young soldiers to serve under. If the Army had more leaders like him, the Ft. Hood terrorist attack would never have occurred.

[SHIVAN]

Being told, in essence, to STFU by an elected official is total bullshit.

For all intents, and purposes, he was talking to the mainstream media, who generally dislike the military, and his peers who felt the need to voice their opinion from a position of authority.

[glocktogo]

I'll stipulate the situation in Afghanistan and Iraq reflects an incredible failure by our civilian leadership in formulating a coherent foreign policy and providing the military with a clearly defined mission.

However, the videotaping and posting to the internet of American soldiers pissing on enemy combatants is evidence of a breakdown of military discipline. That single thoughtless act has done uncalculable damage to America's reputation (think Abu Ghraib) and provided aid and comfort to the enemy.

Whether it's our elected leadership or enlisted service personnel "pissing away" (pun intended) a trillion dollars of our money, the American taxpayers have a right to get angry and demand accountability.

Being told, in essence, to STFU by an elected official is total bullshit.

Absolutely. Rather than look immediately to scapegoat the Marines, we should look at the underlying causes of this breakdown in discipline. If we want to be such a supersensitive nation, perhaps instead of immediately calling for a kangaroo court and subsequent punishment for these guys, we need to do a full PTSD assessment and get them some R&R instead?

Not every troop under fire and witnessing atrocities in a miserable shithole wants to desecrate enemy bodies, but not every troop should be expected to. Some are simply better at holding it in or repressing it. We always want to think of our troops as heroes (or even superheroes), but in reality, many are just very young and inexperienced men in a foreign and very hostile land.

As for Col. West's comments, he was speaking as a soldier, not a politician. If he'd been speaking as a politician, some mealy mouthed mush would've ensued.

[TXBob]

When I heard of the Iraqi prisoner interrogation incident, I thought that LTC West is exactly the kind of leader I want my young soldiers to serve under. If the Army had more leaders like him, the Ft. Hood terrorist attack would never have occurred.

Careful there---I'm not sure that follows. Yeah we may have caught the warning signs and headed him off. But a determined enemy will hit you no matter what. Just as this will be an excuse for Taliban anger. But they were mad with us already. If not this, than something else. We just need to take care of our house. I could give a flip what they think.

[CarlosDJackal]

Hoo-freaking-rah!! You gotta love a straight shooter.

[CarlosDJackal]

Absolutely. Rather than look immediately to scapegoat the Marines, we should look at the underlying causes of this breakdown in discipline...

This is no different than any "hi-jinks" that our troops do in peacetime or in war. Their actions is not necessarily a discipline problem with the troops. At least no more than a Soldier mooning the Battalion Commander (something that happened in my unit back in 1987) or Soldiers throwing water bottles full of urine at people on the street.

While this sounds like a huge issue; it really isn't as bad as it sounds if you take the fact that they were throwing the bottled piss at each other during convoy operations.

The stupid thing about all of this is these Marines had to do three seperate acts for this to be even found out. First, they had to actually piss on the bodies. Second is someone had to decide to videotape the act. And third is someone had to post the video for all to see.

Is there a discipline issue within out military? Depends on the individual units. Some of the most unethical and undisciplined assholes out there belong to the Executive and Legislative branches of our government; what do you think?

[GermanSynergy]

Much respect to LTC West. Good on him for being a straight shooter in an age of left wing bed wetters and hand wringers.

[HES]

Would LOVE to see him be the President someday.

Rand Paul / Allen West 2016?

[glocktogo]

This is no different than any "hi-jinks" that our troops do in peacetime or in war. Their actions is not necessarily a discipline problem with the troops. At least no more than a Soldier mooning the Battalion Commander (something that happened in my unit back in 1987) or Soldiers throwing water bottles full of urine at people on the street.

While this sounds like a huge issue; it really isn't as bad as it sounds if you take the fact that they were throwing the bottled piss at each other during convoy operations.

The stupid thing about all of this is these Marines had to do three separate acts for this to be even found out. First, they had to actually piss on the bodies. Second is someone had to decide to videotape the act. And third is someone had to post the video for all to see.

Is there a discipline issue within out military? Depends on the individual units. Some of the most unethical and undisciplined assholes out there belong to the Executive and Legislative branches of our government; what do you think?

Heh, heh, you're talking to a Marine that actually got kicked out of a foreign country and been in an Army CID lineup (for the record, I didn't start either fracas). Marines will always be Marines. That will never change! :)

As for unethical and undisciplined, you hit the nail on the head.

[Belmont31R]

My simple opinion is that while filming the act was dumb I can't stand the PC nature in which our sides acts are magnified X100 and "their" sides acts are swept under the carpet.



Islam, as expressed in most of the ME, is a terrible religion and the people who practice it are barbarians. Anyone who makes a big deal of this, and hasn't been raising cain over the hundreds of beheadings and gruesome murders that happen all the time in the ME is simply helping these stone age barbarians continued existence and seemingly free pass in western media while holding a microscope to Anglo militaries.

[SeriousStudent]

As a former Marine, I have been asked about this several times by curious co-workers and friends. My response is always the same:

"Do you know who LCpl Donald Hogan is?"

Baffled looks always ensue. He's a Marine who gave his life to save his fellow Marines. He discovered an IED, and shielded a friend from the blast with his own body. The SecNav is going to present the Navy Cross to his family tomorrow at Camp Pendleton.

http://www.marines.mil/Pages/PressReleasesItemDetails.aspx?ItemUrl=http://www.marines.mil/unit/hqmc/Pages/SecretaryoftheNavytoAwardtheNavyCrosstoFallenSanClementeMarine.aspx

Yeah, Operation Golden Flow gets the front page, but a selfless warrior barely rates any attention at all. :(

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Ive been thinking about this situation for awhile now, and just cant seem to understand why we as a nation should give a shit about this incident. You took a bunch of 18 year old guys, put them into USMC boot camp where they screamed "Kill", "Headshot", and various other war related things all day every day. Then you threw them into SOI where their instructors punsihed them everyday for not being a strong enough warrior. THEN, you put them into divison, where the very hint of weakness can get you destroyed. THEN, you sent them to WAR, got them shot at and blown up, and when they kill those trying to kill them and piss on their bodies, you blame them? Its a ****ing war, where 18year old dudes with guns kill hajis with guns. Shit happens, shit that civilians cant even begin to fathom. If Johnny GI had pissed on a dead German we wouldve all rejoiced. But now we've got our kids out there fighting a war, and when they act like 18 year olds we are ready to throw them to the wolves. Sorry, this story has me really worked up. Now we've got guys with combat experience, future squad/platoon leaders, that are at the very least going to be busted to Pvt and sent to the brig, at the very least. It pisses me off to say the least. Rant off.