Forward Observation Post - Vermillion » 911

Save Lives and Walk Away

FOPVermillion — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:51:50 +0000

The word continues to leak out that General McChrystal will be asking for approximately 40,000 additional troops in Afghanistan to successfully complete the mission and make sure that it is no longer a haven for Al-quaida to try and kill us. At the same time, the White House continues to stall for time not wanting to address what they referred to as “the real war”. Due to frustration with the pace of support, friends of the general have leaked that he will resign if he does not get what he needs rather than be set up to fail (my words not his).

I am glad general McChrystal is sticking by his guns and demanding what he needs and I believe the mission in Afghanistan is the right one. We need to help make the region safer, kill those who would try to kill us, and build a better image of the US in the area. If we will not stand up for ourselves, who will?

However, based on the administrations current stance, please do us all a favor and PULL OUT THE TROOPS. I would willingly put my life on the line for our country and to take up the cause for freedom and lives will be lost in the cause. If the prize is worth it, we will make the sacrifice. I suspect that this is not the attitude of our current leadership and it is just a matter of time before they find a reason to pull the troops and come home. Well I don’t want to see a repeat of Somolia where we see dead American soldiers in the streets and then we pull up and go home. If you don’t have the spine or stomach to do what needs to be done and commit the blood and treasure required to win, pull out.

Do everyone a favor and be honest with yourself and us and get out and save countless lives.

- FOP Vermillion

Unsung Heros

FOPVermillion — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:25:34 +0000

I was surfing the net and I visited Michael Yon’s blog and greatly enjoyed the photo essay about the “Pedros“, which is a Para Rescue unit of PJs in Afghanistan. These guys are amazing and they receive very little attention. All they do is save lives. As far as jobs go that is pretty cool to me.

Please go to Micheal’s page to read the entire article.

- FOP Vermillion

Terror in the News

FOPVermillion — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:57:47 +0000

Al-Qaida is back in the news again. This time they are talking about causing problems in Germany. I don’t know much about German anti-terror policy so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they have not gone all weak and wobbly like we have here. Time will tell but with the elections coming on next week there is no time for them to change tactics now. They will live or die based on the decisions they have made to this point.

Locally, we are not in much better shape. With the recent arrest of the man in Denver, we are reminded again that Al-Quaida is still out there and wants us dead. They have not been convinced not to kill innocents because we have a new more tolerant President in office. I, for one,do not believe we were not attacked at home for the last eight years by accident. However, the tools and more importantly the mind set that made that happen is being changed and I see us as much less safe. It comes down to mindset of the leadership. Is this a battle (war) or is it about criminal behavior (law enforcement)? This is actually a very important starting point. In a battle, you are trying to destroy the enemy and you will us whatever tactics you can to win while preserving your assets within the “rules” you have accepted. Criminal activity is about punishment of the perpetrator AFTER the fact. Law enforcement cannot do anything until a crime has been committed. Hopefully the punishment is bad enough to discourage the next guy but the fundamental point is that if the goal was to kill/murder innocents in the one scenario you find and kill them first and in the other you lock up the bad guy and console the families who lost loved ones.

Count me in the battle camp.

- FOP Vermillion

Allahpundit Remembers 9/11

FOPVermillion — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:16:35 +0000

Last night on Twitter, I caught bits and pieces of tweets from Allahpundit that were clearly about 9/11 which made me think about the coming day. I had no idea the true nature of what I was seeing. Today, I read several accounts of the entire chain and I had to check it out. In the end, I found this compilation done by Andy Levy over at Hot Air’s Green Room, which reads like Twitter poetry. Not being in New York, I have always seen 9/11 from the loss of life and destruction angle. These Tweets from Allahpundit have put a face on what the people of New York went through on that tragic day for those who, like me, are ordinary people in an ordinary life. Being a cat owner, I was particularly touched by the effort he went through to save his cats who were still at home.

Thank you, Allahpundit.

- FOP Vermillion