oped: I saw this one coming with Obamas repeal of DADT...the 'New Army'... 'Be all you can be Gay'...well damn, sure glad I served 1964-1968 when real men were 'All they can Be' #Normal not following LGBT leaders...scarry outcome here folks!
Cue the song 'One Tin Soldier Rides Away:
http://youtu.be/qswm7lHp7oY
by: Tim Smith
Yahoo asked military service members, veterans and others to react to Bradley Manning's acquittal on charges that he aided the enemy when he leaked classified government documents. Manning, a former U.S. Army soldier arrested in 2010, was found guilty of lesser charges on Tuesday. Here's one perspective.
COMMENTARY | One of the main lessons I took from my time in combat operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan is that the local population's opinions of how we conduct ourselves as a unit deployed to their country and as a nation back home have a direct effect on the average soldier on the ground.
What Bradley Manning did was irresponsible and done from the point of view of someone who has never had to engage the enemy, someone who has never had to walk a patrol where the average citizen can turn against you in an instant and attempt to take your life.
Manning presents himself as a "whistleblower" and as someone who stands for the free flow of information. While the free flow of information is a good thing, it has to be moderated in certain cases and when there are lives on the line is a perfect time to exercise that restraint.
A positive public opinion is something we strive to maintain in Iraq and Afghanistan as we struggle to win the hearts and minds of the people while fighting to end the tyranny of those that would oppress them. The people, as a whole, in those nations are not well-educated and are very easily swayed by propaganda taken out of context by those who would use any misstep we make to turn the local populations against us.
Manning gave the enemy nearly unlimited fodder for its propaganda campaigns by releasing more than 250,000 classified documents. The Taliban and other organizations openly at war with America have and will pick and choose small pieces of this information to wage a war of false information that can be even more persuasive in their recruiting efforts than any other tool they previously possessed.
The fact that Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy is truly a shame. He was entrusted with access to classified documents that directly relate to national security and more directly to the security of men and women who are overseas attempting to carry out an already dangerous mission of providing security to a populous that they are trying to win over at the same time.
His actions have without a doubt put our troops at more risk and that is the definition of aiding the enemy.
Tim Smith served five years of active duty in the U.S. Army's 82nd and 173rd Airborne units as an infantry soldier, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. He served three additional years in the reserves after leaving active duty.
Cue the song 'One Tin Soldier Rides Away:
http://youtu.be/qswm7lHp7oY
by: Tim Smith
Yahoo asked military service members, veterans and others to react to Bradley Manning's acquittal on charges that he aided the enemy when he leaked classified government documents. Manning, a former U.S. Army soldier arrested in 2010, was found guilty of lesser charges on Tuesday. Here's one perspective.
COMMENTARY | One of the main lessons I took from my time in combat operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan is that the local population's opinions of how we conduct ourselves as a unit deployed to their country and as a nation back home have a direct effect on the average soldier on the ground.
What Bradley Manning did was irresponsible and done from the point of view of someone who has never had to engage the enemy, someone who has never had to walk a patrol where the average citizen can turn against you in an instant and attempt to take your life.
Manning presents himself as a "whistleblower" and as someone who stands for the free flow of information. While the free flow of information is a good thing, it has to be moderated in certain cases and when there are lives on the line is a perfect time to exercise that restraint.
A positive public opinion is something we strive to maintain in Iraq and Afghanistan as we struggle to win the hearts and minds of the people while fighting to end the tyranny of those that would oppress them. The people, as a whole, in those nations are not well-educated and are very easily swayed by propaganda taken out of context by those who would use any misstep we make to turn the local populations against us.
Manning gave the enemy nearly unlimited fodder for its propaganda campaigns by releasing more than 250,000 classified documents. The Taliban and other organizations openly at war with America have and will pick and choose small pieces of this information to wage a war of false information that can be even more persuasive in their recruiting efforts than any other tool they previously possessed.
The fact that Manning was found not guilty of aiding the enemy is truly a shame. He was entrusted with access to classified documents that directly relate to national security and more directly to the security of men and women who are overseas attempting to carry out an already dangerous mission of providing security to a populous that they are trying to win over at the same time.
His actions have without a doubt put our troops at more risk and that is the definition of aiding the enemy.
Tim Smith served five years of active duty in the U.S. Army's 82nd and 173rd Airborne units as an infantry soldier, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. He served three additional years in the reserves after leaving active duty.
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