KIFARU’S PATRICK SMITH’S MODERN “LONG HUNTER” TRADITION

A “Long Hunter” was an eighteenth century explorer and hunter who made expeditions into the American frontier wilderness for as much as six months at a time.”

 

KINDRED SPIRITS OF SORTS

SOF publisher, Robert K. Brown and Patrick Smith, Kifaru International owner, are kindred spirits. Sort of, that is, except that the rather silent Patrick plays the lone hunter out in the woods, and the rather boisterous RKB would not enjoy himself without an army of former Special Forces, hunters and other just as rowdy sofers whose stories get better and wilder, whether it be hunting or chasing wars. And of course, for the SOF wild bunch, the number one piece of gear is a camera.

 

But the two are true mountain men and look forward to meeting up in the Colorado mountains and the SOF office in the concrete jungle. Patrick creates hunting gear, and RKB loves testing it out.

 

A BIT OF MADNESS TO A CITY DWELLER

I asked Patrick, who never ceases to amaze me with his solo treks into the wild (he hunts elk by himself, walking back five or six miles into the dark timber, pops an elk, and then packs it out in four more trips!), what motivates his what I consider a bit of madness. He trudges over mountainous terrain and slogs through brutal weather. Good sport that he is, he gave me a bit of his philosophy that he has developed over the years.

 

LIVING OFF THE LAND

“Competence through experience, and through having the best gear and knowing how to use it. THAT is the essence of my success in wandering alone all over, “living off the land.” The wandering is the primal urge; the mindfulness to create the gear to make that happen very, very well (based on tons of experience) is the “details.”

 

“RAMBLES”

“So, I spend a whole bunch of time in isolated places. Carrying a backpack of one sort or another. From the North Slope of the Brooks Range, Alaska, to Northern Labrador, Canada, to the desert southwest to… but you get the idea. I call these jaunts “Rambles.” I’ll walk a mountain range sometimes, or go point to point across some big basin. And I try not to use trails–just don’t like ‘em, frankly.

 

“I’ve been what you might call a live-off-the-land wanderer since I was 13 years old. I Founded Mountainsmith, the backpack company, and owned it for about 15 years. I’m in the field about 150 nights a year, virtually all with a means of collecting my supper from the land. I was a reader from a very early age, and was enthralled by the self-sufficient explorations of men like Daniel Boone—the so-called Long Hunters. Men who lived in the wilderness and provided for themselves with their rifles. On foot. There weren’t any 4-wheelers in those days. I’m still perfecting those arts. And I can assure you that hunting on your own two feet is still the most successful way to do it.

 

THE CHASE

“I also taught wilderness survival for about 10 years. But we hunters aren’t among the effete classes–what Jeff Cooper terms the rabbit people. On the contrary, we know the roots of life, the gene-deep realities that death accompanies, defines, life; that the natural world, the real world, countenances killing to live; that the chase is essential to living fully, connectedly, to all that we are, and to where we came from. So, never quit because of age. Do whatever it takes to stay afield.”

 

There you have it. Check out kifaru.net and Patrick’s essays on hunting, packing, and the philosophy of a modern day mountain man.

KIFARU’S RHINO-TOUGH MILITARY GEAR

“TRAVEL LIGHT, FREEZE AT NIGHT”

Any soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who ever did Ranger school, Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), Basic Underwater Demolition School (BUDS), or Recon, or has any light infantry background, knows these words.

 

We’ve wrapped up in poncho liners and garbage bags and huddled with Ranger buddies in subfreezing temps rather than pack overweight government-issue sleeping bags. Remain overnight (RON) doesn’t necessarily mean you get to sleep, and better to have room in the ruck for extra beans and bullets. Things are better now. Patrick Smith of Kifaru International makes ultra light gear that will keep you warmer than you ever thought possible. Military operators, search and rescue (SAR) personnel, backcountry law enforcement officers, high country hunters, and bush pilots flying in cold climates should take a hard look at Smith’s Kifaru line.

 

More than just another lightweight sleeping bag, the Modular Over Bag (MOB) sleeping bag system and related components will also take the place of the overweight parka you are probably packing, at roughly the weight of a field jacket liner.

 

NOT YUPPIE RECREATIONAL GEAR

“Kifaru” is Swahili for Rhinoceros, and this gear honors its namesake. Why name modern high-tech field kit after this ancient heavyweight bruiser? Patrick Smith believes in lightweight gear, but not so light as to compromise survival. No fat but plenty of muscle. It’s hard to think of anything much tougher than the African rhino, and the Kifaru gear—while incredibly light—is also far tougher than any recreational cold weather equipment. As Patrick puts it, “These are not recreational bags. They’re for LIVING in, for the duration, no matter the circumstances.”

 

I first met Patrick Smith in the late 1980s, while evaluating cold weather equipment for mountain Special Forces teams. Patrick invited me for a weekend backpack hunting trip in the Colorado high country. We dined on marmot and pica stew—Patrick got a nice marmot with a custom Thomas Center .22 Win Mag carbine and I got real lucky and hit a pica with a scoped M1A. Probably killed it with stone chips from the boulder it was sitting on, or there would have been zero to eat.

 

SPECIAL FORCES TEAMS SCORE

Patrick questioned me at length as to our mission needs and quickly produced gear for us that performed well, at a reasonable price. But his ‘day job’ was designing for the civilian backpacking and mountaineering market, so there were limits to what he could do for the military user, with far different needs. That changed when Patrick sold his company Mountainsmith and was free to produce no-compromise equipment for those of us who are out there “for the duration.” Thus was Kifaru born.

 

THE KIFARU WOOBIE GENERATION 2:

Jump ahead about 20 years to January 2009. Robert K. Brown asked me to evaluate the Kifaru gear, knowing that I live outside—tent or snow shelter—most of the winter, at right around 10,000 feet. It gets cold. We hit 20 below zero (–30 Celsius) a couple of times that winter.

 

By February it gets warmer, maybe 10 below at coldest. Patrick

felt I would be OK with his lightest system, the 40-degree MOB. It might not work for everyone, but as Patrick put it, I’m a lot like him—pretty used to the high, cold country.

 

Plus the 40 degree MOB is wider than a standard mummy bag, so you can get into it with your winter clothes on and even boots and body armor. This is very important for a military operator. I told him I would prefer to go light, and he agreed, suggesting a Woobie to wrap up in just in case. It was a good choice.

 

I’ve packed a GI poncho liner with me for going on 30 years. It’s now honorably retired. I’m packing a Woobie G2, a 21st century poncho liner. It’s light, warm, and multifunctional, like the Vietnam-era original, the Woobie G2 will tie into your issue poncho’s grommets, giving you a waterproof blanket. It weighs 1.5 pounds, a little less than a GI poncho liner, and is easily twice as warm. The color is OD on one side and a low-key sage green on the other.

 

LISTEN UP, MILITARY

I hope those in power to make it happen see that a Woobie is issued to every troop in Afghanistan before this winter. It could save lives. Teamed with a GI poncho, the Woobie is all the sleeping gear one should need for spring and summer in most of the continental USA (CONUS) and southern Eurasia, high elevations exempted. Kifaru even makes a double Woobie, the Doobie. I want to be the fly on the wall the first time some troop tells his first sergeant he is taking a Doobie to the field.

 

“PUP WOOBIE”

Dogs get cold too. If you’re a K9 operator, check out the Woobie, a go-anywhere item that fits in your bug-out bag or even a battle-dress uniform (BDU) cargo pocket. Patrick sent an extra Woobie for my dog, a 2-year-old German Shepherd training with me for wilderness SAR work. It came with a “Pup Woobie” tag attached. She approved. “Woof!”

 

Both MOB and Woobie are insulated with Climashield Combat (CSCombat), a US-manufactured continuous-filament synthetic insulation with excellent stability, high thermal efficiency and water resistance. Developed in 2005, this is a leading edge product designed for military use.

 

Manufactured as a continuous blanket of material, sheets of CSCombat are cut to the shape needed to insulate the final Kifaru product. Thus the insulation will not clump or shift and its natural stretch prevent tearing inside the garment, unlike lesser materials. No quilting or complex baffles are needed to contain the insulation. CS-Combat will take repeated compression without degrading.

 

Speaking of compressibility, Kifaru products have built-in compression sacks in the form of reversible pockets, so you do not have the weight and hassle of a lot of stuff sacks. Or worries about losing them. Nice.

 

MOB’S MODULAR DESIGN IN DETAIL

The MOB is constructed in three zip-together sections—each connection baffled to prevent heat loss—the MOB functions in multiple roles. Zip the top section off in mild weather, utilizing the lower two sections as a torso-length footsack.

 

By itself, the upper section is a warm and windproof anorak, with a deep chest zip for easy on–off, useful chest pocket and outstanding hood. In fact, the Kifaru hood, tailored to cover your nose, is the best hood by far I have ever experienced on any winter garment. This is based on the PackLock Parka, part of the Kifaru 24/7 line of clothing. It serves as a full-length insulated cagoule (windbreaker), the classic mountaineering garment. There is plenty of room to tuck up your feet and close the bottom drawstring for an emergency bivouac sack.

 

The MOB upper’s sleeves are especially useful for the military operator: like the classic Wehrmacht sniper bag, you shoot a lot more accurately if you are not shivering. Add a ghillie suit or overwhites and you are set for cold weather target interdiction. You arms and hands can be free to shoot, to adjust a camp stove, make coffee or whatever, and still be warm.

 

The Kifaru shell fabric RhinoSkin is proprietary ultra-light, highly tear-resistant rip-stop material Patrick has adapted to military use. RhinoSkin outperforms anything I have ever experienced: absolutely windproof, and while Patrick does not claim it to be as waterproof as material like GoreTex or similar polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) material, it is highly water repellant.

 

RhinoSkin seems a lot more confortable than the crinkly, fragile PTFE to me. That said, I did not test it in rain—it does not rain a lot in Colorado in February. It is not designed as rain gear and one would probably want specialized rain protection in a wet-cold environment.

 

I did not do a lot of bushwhacking, but the RhinoSkin seemed rugged enough to me, especially given the weight, bearing in mind that anything can be ripped if you try hard enough.

 

Keep in mind the CS-Combat insulation will keep you warm even if it gets damp, so I do not feel the shell material needs to be completely waterproof.

 

THE TEST

Dog and I slept in a marginal 3-season tent most of February, at 10,000-feet elevations in the central Rockies. This included three nights bivouacking in snow shelters (one night just in a snow trench) near Tennessee Pass, close to Camp Hale, Colorado. This site is best known as the training area of the 10th Mountain Division during WW II, prior to deployment to Italy and Riva Ridge.

 

Less well known is Camp Hale’s use by CIA and Special Forces operators to train Tibetan guerrillas in the early 1960s—the cold weather and high altitude approximated conditions back home. All in all it’s an ideal place to test the MOB and Woobie (MOB for me, Woobie for Dog).

 

The lowest temperatures in the area of operations during this period were right around zero F (–18 Celsius) up to about 20 above (roughly –6 Celsius). I slept just fine in the 40-degree MOB, with a Woobie on colder nights. I wore a wool Austrian Army sweater along with Kifaru 24/7 parka and pants most nights, along with long johns and Kifaru Combat insulated booties with overboots. There is plenty of room in MOB for winter clothes. My feet get cold thanks to frostbite years ago, so the insulated boots were a huge help, along with the German Shepherd sleeping beside me. Dog wrapped up in the “pup Woobie” and slept just fine.

 

So the MOB did have some help, but keep in mind this is a sleeping system—and also a high-mobility clothing system—that only claims comfortable sleep to 40 F. I was sleeping in far colder temps. I did get cold the one night in the snow trench near Tennessee Pass, but not until the wee hours. I woke up about 0400 that morning and decided to get up and make coffee. It was a good time to start moving anyway, beginning morning nautical twilight (BMNT), just before dawn.

 

Not tested but worth mentioning are several other Kifaru products. Patrick Smith has updated his original lightweight tipi design (I first slept in one of these on that hunting trip ~25 years ago) with 21st century materials, simply called the Kifaru Tipi. These sleep from four to twelve depending on size. He also offers the ultralight 1-man ParaHootch, made of paraglider material, and a ParaTipi of the same material which will sleep two easily, three or four tight.

 

BOTTOM LINE

There are not a lot of bells and whistles in the protective, lightweight MOB, which is fine by me—simplicity is good. There is not a lot for Murphy to make go wrong here. The zippers are way over-engineered, workmanship and sewing are bulletproof, quality all the way. Materials are all first rate.

COMMAND GUIDANCE

A lot of gun owners would argue that the 2nd Amendment was put in the Constitution despite the fact that guns are dangerous, but that’s not quite accurate. The 2nd Amendment was put in the Constitution because guns are dangerous things.

 

If guns weren’t dangerous things, if all that happened when you pulled the trigger was that a flag popped out with the word “Bang” on it, no one would care whether you owned a gun or not – not even the hand-wringing, neurotic scolds in the anti-gun movement.

 

It is precisely because a gun can wound or kill – and gives its owner a way of defending him or herself against criminals or physically stronger bullies, or of opposing an oppressive government, or of defending a just one – that the right to keep and bear arms is in the Constitution.

 

Guns are dangerous things. But the qualities that make guns dangerous are the same ones that empower people and make them free. And make no mistake: If you have a way of protecting yourself from the wolf at the door, or from the knock on the door at midnight, you are a lot freer than if you don’t.

 

It’s the same with most of the other rights protected by the Constitution. The Bill of Rights is not just a laundry list of fundamental human rights and civil liberties; it is also a compilation of some of the most dangerous concepts and activities known to man.

 

Take the First Amendment protections of speech and the press, for example. Words cause actions. That’s why we speak them. If people weren’t moved by words, if nothing ever happened when we spoke or wrote, no one would bother to shut up speakers or shut down newspapers.

 

Words not only cause actions, they cause violent actions. Indeed, most violent acts, be they in the home, in a bar, or on the battlefield, are preceded by violent words. If violence is the issue, the case for regulating speech and publications is at least as compelling as the case for regulating guns.

 

The kindergarten assertion that “sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” is demonstrable rubbish. If you don’t think so, ride along with the cops sent to break up a domestic disturbance or a bar fight on a Saturday night.

 

Words are dangerous things. But like guns, the qualities that make words dangerous also empower people – both those people who speak them and those people who hear them – and make them free. So, like the right to keep and bear arms, the rights to speak your mind and publish your thoughts are protected by the Constitution – not despite the fact that words can hurt and maim and kill, but because of it.

 

The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. Judging by the body count alone, religion is probably the single most dangerous construct of the human mind. The victims of the massacres, assassinations, executions, murders, and mutilations that have been perpetrated in the name of organized religion number in the tens of millions. (The Thirty Years War alone killed more than 10 million.) And the violence continues into the present – as evidenced by a large hole on the lower west side of Manhattan.

 

But prayer changes things (albeit how is open to debate). And while religion has killed tens of millions, it has also civilized and humanized hundreds of millions. But most of all, those that believe that religion gives meaning and purpose to human existence feel empowered and free in ways that only religion can bestow.

 

Religion is as dangerous as it is liberating, and the founders of the American Republic knew it. That’s why the Constitution protects the right to practice it and the right to reject it. Then there’s the right of assembly. If you want to know why it’s dangerous, review the recent video from Tehran. If you want to know why it’s empowering and liberating, review a video of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

 

The point here is that fundamental rights are inherently dangerous and inherently subject to abuse because they are inherently liberating and empowering. And that is why there is a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. If rights weren’t dangerous, there would be no need to secure them in the fundamental law of the land.

 

There is nothing anomalous about the 2nd Amendment in this regard. The only thing that sets it apart is that it’s the noisy Amendment. It was inspired by a shot heard around the world.

 

Reprinted courtesy of Boulder Weekly

FLAK

WHILE THE WORLD MOURNED MICHAEL JACKSON

While the world mourned Michael Jackson, the following servicemen—American, British and Canadian—were killed or died from wounds sustained while defending the civilized world against terrorism. It is unlikely that they will receive a farewell as lavish as was the all-day CNN (and every other channel, news—business and otherwise) media event of 7 July, 2009.

 

So, let us not forget them.

 

Sgt. Timothy A. David

Sgt. 1st Class Edward C. Kramer

Sgt. Roger L. Adams Jr.

Sgt. Juan C. Baldeosingh

Spc. Robert L. Bittiker

Pfc. Justin A. Casillas

Pfc. Aaron E. Fairbairn

Petty Officer Second Class Tony

Michael Randolph

Lance Cpl. Charles S. Sharp

Sgt. Terry J. Lynch

1st Lt. Brian N. Bradshaw

Spc. Joshua L. Hazlewood

Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe of the 1st Bn, Welsh Guards

Trooper Joshua Hammond of the Royal Tank Regiment

Corporal Nick Bulger of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry

Master-Corporal Paul Audet of the Royal Canadian Air Force

Corporal Martin Joanette of the Royal 22ieme Regiment

Master-Corporal Charles-Phillipe Michaud, the Royal 22ieme Regiment

 

Joe Fernandez

 

These fallen heroes truly deserved much more than the media has given them. It is sad that a pop star – even one as successful as Michael Jackson – is mourned more than these heroes. – Ed.

 

OOPS!

The Somali pirates are at it again! As we know, they like to target supertankers and the occasional merchant ship (such as the Maersk Alabama of recent misfortune).And we also know they like to make their moves just before or right after dawn.

 

Recently they were out doing what they do and they were tracking a nice fat merchant ship… easy pickings! Imagine their shock when the “merchant ship” they were slobbering over turned out to be a Federal German Navy frigate and the ship returned their gunfire with a vengeance. The hunter quickly became the hunted as the frigate turned after them (calling in a few friends that happened to be in the area).A couple of USMC Cobras joined in the chase but lost them (in some fog or haze).

 

They did not get away ... they were stopped a couple of hours later by a Greek navy ship… The pirates gotta bone up on that ship recognition…

 

Steve

 

Certainly a lot of civilian mariners are fortunate that these pirates sure picked the wrong ship! However, we have to wonder why they weren’t blown out of  the water by the German ship in the first place, which would have obviated the need for such a chase. – Ed.

 

WE GOOFED

Please be advised that the following corrections need to be made regarding the August 2009 Edition of Soldier

of Fortune magazine. In reference to the article “An Ottoman Castle and a Syrian Sniper“ on page 42 of the August 2009 edition, are several mistakes regarding T.A.G. CEO Chris Osman.

 

Below the byline of the article, within the bolded first sentence, Mr. Osman’s name is misspelled as “Author Chris Osmand...” Additionally, the article describes Mr. Osman as a former Marine and US Navy SEAL with multiple

tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. The correction is, Mr. Osman served several combat tours in Somalia and

Afghanistan. Chris appreciated the article, and is an avid Soldier of Fortune reader and subscriber. Thank you and please feel free to contact T.A.G. for anything in the future.

 

Amanda Lehrer

Personal Assistant to Chris Osman

T.A.G.

 

We goofed on that. Thanks for setting us straight. – Ed.

 

DEAD ON TARGET!

I read your “At the Front: Dangerous Tactics” discussion in the August 2009 issue of SOF, and could not agree more with R.E. Thornton’s letter. I would like to add that a criminal wants to live to enjoy the fruits of his (or her) ill-gotten gains. After all, not all are subject to seizure (a discussion for another time). A shoot-out with the police greatly increases the likelihood of them being killed.

 

For those who disagree, suppose we had used those police SWAT tactics against the Germans and Japanese in World War II? God help us! While a few Germans would have surrendered in that situation (1 or 2 men giving up to clearly superior numbers is not always dishonorable), the vast majority would have fought, and fought as hard as possible. Most were not die-hard National Socialists, but, rather patriotic men defending their country.

 

As for the Japanese—well, we know how they fought; and can guess how they would have reacted to these tactics. This was an excellent forum!

 

Thanks SOF!

Joseph

 

GUN OWNERSHIP TRADITION

This letter was originally sent to the Georgia Sport Shooting Association.

 

I suppose that the general membership is unaware that I have been deployed to Afghanistan with the 48th Brigade of the Georgia Army National Guard. My battalion, 1st of the 121st Infantry, has been tasked to “mentor” the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan National Police (ANP) in Ghazni Provence. I have been assigned to work in a joint operations center where ANA, ANP, internal security forces, the Polish Army and U.S. forces work together to defeat the Taliban terrorist network in eastern Afghanistan. (As Operation Enduring Freedom is a NATO endeavor, the Polish Army is in tactical control of the Ghazni sector.)

 

My specific job involves mentoring ANA and ANP staff officers on the mechanics of running a tactical operations center. For example, last Wednesday I trained an Afghan Police lieutenant colonel on how to fill out one of our military “spot report” formats. In the future, I will give a similar class to his radio operators. Now, I do not speak Pashtu. Some would suggest that I’m barely fluent in English! But, I digress…

 

The point is, we couldn’t do our job here without the help of local nationals who want the mission in Afghanistan to be a success. One of my interpreters is fluent in Dari and Pashtu (the two primary languages of Afghanistan), as well as having an excellent command of English. Among his accomplishments, he has a degree in chemistry. His name is Ehsan Ghullam. During some “down time” the other day, Ehsan told me about his family and the tribal region where

his father was born. The Ghullam family inhabits an area that encompasses the Pakistan – Afghan border.

 

He told me that his name, Ehsan, means “son favored by Allah.” As he told me the story of how he was named, I learned of a custom in this region, that I think readers of the SPORT SHOTS will appreciate. When a male child is born in this part of the country, it is an occasion for rejoicing, feasting and a “naming ceremony.” The entire extended family, which may include as many as a hundred people, will come. The family gathers and a feast is prepared. It is the proud father’s duty to bring the child for the family to see. The boy is about to be given his name. But first, the grandfather has a “duty” to perform. On the day that the child was born, the grandfather went out to buy a new rifle. Now, with the family gathered, he formally presents the rifle to his new grandson. Then the child is given his name. So, in the mountainous region of east Afghanistan, even before he has a name, a man owns a rifle. There are many things about Mideast culture that I do not care much for. But this is a custom that I feel right at home with!

 

R. E. Thornton

 

This is a tradition we could get behind as well. – Ed.

BULLETIN BOARD

MEET THE ADVANCED TACTICAL LASER

Taliban insurgents may soon have to worry about a for-real death ray from the skies! Popular Science reports that the United States Air Force has installed a prototype Advanced Tactical Laser on a C-130, which will be carrying out test flights later this year. This system can reach out and touch bad guys up to five miles away from 10,000 feet. And it won’t just take out small stuff – it can disable tanks! Hopefully, this new weapon will be fielded soon!

 

NRA OPPOSES SOTOMAYOR

As we go to press, Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court is going through the Senate confirmation process. However, enough information has emerged for the NRA to come out in opposition to her nomination.

 

In a statement by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and NRA–ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox, the organization said, “Judge Sotomayor seems to believe that the Second Amendment is limited only to the residents of federal enclaves such as Washington, D.C., and does not protect all Americans living in every corner of this nation.”

 

By the time you read this, the Senate will probably have voted, but go to www.senate.gov to find out who your Senators are how they voted on this nominee.

 

THE OHIO CROSS

While many readers are familiar with Department of Defense decorations, not many may know that the states have decorations for their National Guard personnel, too. One such decoration is the Ohio Cross, which was established in 1995 as an award for members of Ohio’s National Guard who distinguish themselves by gallantry and selfless service at the risk of their lives. The most recent recipient is Spc. Ryan H. Kilgour, who was awarded the medal for saving a woman from a burning car while he was en route to a golf tournament. WELL DONE, SPECIALIST KILGOUR!!!

 

$16 MILLION FOR PELOSI’S “PET” MICE

Among the many pork projects in the stimulus bill was $16 million inserted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to improve habitat for the harvest mouse. To put this pork-barrel project in perspective, consider that an HH-60 Pave Hawk, often used for casualty evacuation in Afghanistan, costs $15.8 million – so Pelosi’s pet project could buy the

troops at the front another Pave Hawk. And they say that the Department of Defense has to give up programs. How about Congress stops the pork-barrel spending instead?

 

NEW GRENADE LAUNCHER ENTERING SERVICE

The troops at Fort Bragg are bringing a new grenade launcher into service. The M320 fires the same grenade as the M203 under-barrel grenade launcher presently in service. However, the M320 also can use a detachable buttstock, and it is more accurate than the M203.

 

GATHERING OF MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announced that 59 of the 96 living Medal of Honor recipients will be attending the 2009 convention, which will be held from 15–19 September in Chicago. For more information, go to http://cmoh2009chicago.org.

TERRORISM SITREP

UNITED STATES CIA SCANDAL! Cheney and Spooks plotted killing al-Qaeda bigwigs. INVESTIGATE, DEMOCRATS DEMAND, although the strategy never took off. COVER for Pelosi’s unproven allegations of CIA lying? BAGGED HIM! DEA drag FARC bigwig here to stand trial after Colombia extradites him.

 

UNITED KINGDOM WAR IN AFGHANISTAN opposition intensifies as British casualties mount. Gordon Brown’s Labor government defends charges of helicopter and ground vehicle shortages resulting from defense budget cuts when Brown was Chancellor of Exchequer.

 

HONDURAS ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR after the military overthrew Chavez’ buddy Zelaya, who was trying unilaterally to amend the constitution and grab power indefinitely.

 

INDONESIA JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH STRIKES AGAIN, blowing up two hotels, and then bombing a car at a fish market, killing at least 10 and injuring over 50.

 

AUSTRALIA CHICOMS ARREST AUSSIE EXECS for “spying.” Australian iron ore mining conglomerate Rio Tinto refused offer of buyout and other deals in China. Is this precedent for foreign execs?

 

BURMA EXTEND BAN ON BURMESE PRODUCTS urges a U.S. industry group. Ulterior motives for cutting competition? If so, other U.S. industries should seek protection. SUU KYI still jailed after UN Secretary General visit fails.

 

INDIA NO CLAMP DOWN ON TERRORISTS, no peace talks. Lone terrorist survivor of Mumbai massacre that killed 166 was a Pakistani. Even if perp’s confession was coerced, plenty of facts point to plot having been hatched in both countries. MANHUNT FOR MAOIST THUGS who attacked police convoy, snatching 13 and killing 26, including police chief, heats up.

 

PAKISTAN COURT TOSSES SHARIF CONVICTION for hijacking, allowing former big time crook PM to rerun for office. REFUGEES RETURN to Swat Valley after Pakistani offensive against Taliban. MULTIPLE PREDATOR STRIKES target bad guys.

 

THAILAND PARDON THAKSIN, demand supporters of the deposed PM.

 

SOMALIA PIRATES STRIKE AGAIN! Indian dhow seized, then used to attack oil tanker. TWO FRENCH TROOPS captured while undercover. SEVEN CIVILIANS BEHEADED by al-Shabab. ASSASSINATION OF POLICE CHIEF, TWO OFFICIALS, 25 others by car bomb. CHOPPING OFF ARMS AND LEGS of four teens convicted of stealing stayed after international outrage.

 

RUSSIA GOOD GUYS OR ASSASSINS, COURAGE OR COWARDICE? Private yachts with machine guns, rocket and grenade launchers offer pirate-hunting cruises for rich, bored Russians. A few bucks more, the adrenalin seekers, guarded by special operation forces vets, get AK-47 assault rifle for a mere total $6620 a day. PIRATE HUNTERS bait targets on Somali coast and cut loose, Wirtschaftsblatt reports. (RKB debunks the report) JOURNALIST ASSASSINATIONS CONTINUE. Natalia Estemirova found at Chechen border with two shots to the head.

 

ETHIOPIA OIL WAR. OGADEN NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT THREATENS to blow up oil rigs.

 

COLOMBIA TWELVE YEARS IN THE POKEY for building or using semi-submersible boats that smuggle up to $200 million drug stashes. “COFFIN SUBS” take four greedy maniac traffickers willing to risk their lives, sink the ship and jump if spotted.

 

HOLLAND SADAAM MUSTARD GAS SOURCE in the 1980s, Dutchman Frans van Anraat sentenced to 16 years in the slammer.

 

BELGIUM DÉJÀ VU—European Commission, U.S. plan Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) security agreement. CLONING OF THE ECSC? Post WWII, European Continental powers established the European Coal and Steel Community to control Germany’s war making resources. Europe has not been at war since.

 

ISRAEL IRAN, YOU ARE HISTORY if you launch a nuclear attack, threaten Israelis, hands on the nuclear buttons. Beware, Israel does not make idle threats.

 

IRAQ U.S. FORCES WITHDRAW, SECTARIAN BOMBINGS escalate as future looks grim.

 

AFGHANISTAN OPERATION KHANJAR launched in Helmand Province by 4,000 Marines, 650 Afghanis. DEATH TOLL RISES, CHOPPER CRASH kills seven, 16 die in helicopter support mission, eight Brits killed in 24 hours, six contractors killed in helo crash in fighting lawless tribal drug lords, F-15 fighter crash kills two.

 

UGANDA FUGITIVE SUDANESE LEADER BASHIR’s visit quashed for fear of arresting after ICC

warrant was issued.

 

SUDAN OPPOSITION ALLIANCE declares government unconstitutional. ICC SEEKS BASHIR INDICTMENT

for genocide.

 

LIBYA DICTATOR QADDAFI, African Union (AU) Chairman, failed to ramrod his agenda through AU Summit when Africans rejected the strongman’s procedural shenanigans.

 

ALGERIA REVENGE ON CHICOMS!! China warns citizens of threats by African Islamic supporters angered by crackdown on Uighur Moslem brothers in China.

 

ZIMBABWE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS as tensions between MDC and ZANU-PF mount. OIL SHORTAGES result when state-owned oil company takes control.

 

ITALY ASYLUM SEEKERS RETURNED to Libya after being intercepted by Italian Navy.

 

NORTH KOREA DEAR LEADER DYING? DON’T BE STUPID, Secretary of Defense Gates tells North Korea regarding continued missile tests as U.S. squeezes funding for the defense budget.

 

ERITREA ON THE UN SANCTION LIST for supporting Somali insurgents.

 

IRAN AZERBAIJANI PRISONERS TORTURED. Association for Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP) has forwarded the shocking list of atrocities to SOF.

 

CHINA CRACKDOWN ON ISLAMIC UIGHURS kills 200, injures 1000. CHICOMS fear near-majority Uighurs in resource-rich Xinjiang province will break away.

 

GREECE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICE gets new chief after 35 years—the judge who presided over the most terrorist cases. High alert announced since December 2008, when terror attacks spiked.

 

NIGERIA TARGET TRANS-SAHARAN PIPELINE, orders Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta. Attacks on oil workers and pipelines kill five.

 

MEXICO DRUG WAR RAGES, BARBARIC mafiosos brutally torture 12 military officials to death.

 

VENEZUELA I’LL INVADE HONDURAS to restore Zelaya to power, blowhard dictator Chavez threatens. THIRD-LARGEST BANK nationalized by money-grubbing dictator.

 

MAURITANIA COUP LEADER AZIZ claims he “won” election a year after he led the military overthrow of the properly elected government. Opposition calls election “charade.”

 

SOUTH AFRICA GET LOST, Inkatha Freedom Party tells President Zuma in response to merger offer with ruling party ANC.

 

GHANA SHUT DOWN GUN INDUSTRY, crime-fighting leaders tell blacksmiths in the land of 75,000 homegrown guns. Shut down crime, don’t blame us, we simply make a living, blacksmiths fire back.

 

OMAN BIG BUST ON “HASH HIGHWAY.” U.S. /U.K coalition naval forces net biggest seizure this year—10 tons of narcotics headed to fund terrorists.

COMMON SENSE

It took the Obama administration eight days to figure out whether Iranians being gunned down for protesting a fraudulent election and demanding basic civil liberties deserved to be acknowledged by the president of the United States. It took the O-Team less than eight hours to side with Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega over the ouster of Manuel Zelaya in Honduras.

 

As we now have come to expect, Mr. Obama got it wrong again, but this time, nobody noticed. The U.S. news media, preoccupied with the sudden demise of Michael Jackson, ignored the event in Central America. For those who care about things more important than the passing of a "pop music legend," here's the rest of the story:

 

Manuel Zelaya, a wealthy rancher and agribusiness executive and a self-described "poor farmer," won a four-year term as Honduran president in November 2005, with 49.8 percent of the vote. Article 374 of the Honduran Constitution bars the nation's chief executive from serving consecutive terms. Apparently, one term wasn't enough for Zelaya, a protégé of Venezuela's strongman, Hugo Chavez, and Nicaragua's phobic anti-American leader, Daniel Ortega.

 

Late last year, as the Honduran economy tanked and unemployment grew to nearly 28 percent, Zelaya forced Elvin Santos, the country's elected vice president, to resign and began holding conversations with Chavez and Ortega on how to hold on to power. In lengthy Chavez-like populist speeches, he denounced the U.S. and wealthy landowners and linked himself with leftists in the Honduran labor movement. On March 23, he issued an executive decree directing a national referendum on a Venezuela-style constituent assembly to rewrite the country's constitution in time for presidential and legislative elections in November. The Obama–Clinton State Department was mute about all of this.

 

Unfortunately for Zelaya's aspirations, the Honduran Constitution requires that amendments be passed by a two-thirds vote of the country's unicameral Congress during two consecutive sessions. By late May, the Honduran Congress, the Honduran Supreme Court, the commissioner for human rights, and the Honduran electoral tribunal all had overwhelmingly declared the referendum unconstitutional. Zelaya ignored the people's representatives, had ballots printed in Venezuela, and announced that the vote would take place June 28. Again, the O-Team was silent.

 

In keeping with the rule of law, Honduran Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi took the case to court. The Honduran Supreme Court ruled the referendum to be illegal and ordered the ballots to be confiscated. Late on June 23, Zelaya countermanded the court order and directed the army to distribute the ballots. Gen. Romeo Vasquez, the chief of staff of the Honduran military, sought legal opinions and decided not to distribute them.

 

The following day, Zelaya accepted the resignation of the minister of defense, Edmundo Orellana, and fired Vasquez. The Honduran Supreme Court unanimously ruled the Vasquez firing illegal and reinstated him June 25. That prompted Zelaya and a group of supporters to seize the ballots and issue another executive decree, which directed government officials to set up 15,000 polling stations at schools and community buildings across the country. In response to a request from Attorney General Rubi, the

Honduran Congress—controlled by Zelaya's own Liberal Party—opened an investigation into the president's mental stability and fitness to govern. Zelaya replied with a two-hour broadcast harangue, in which he claimed: "Congress cannot investigate me, much less remove me or stage a technical coup against me, because I am honest. I'm a free president, and nobody scares me."

 

On Sunday, just hours before the referendum was to begin, the Honduran army, acting on a warrant issued by the Honduran Supreme Court, arrested Zelaya and sent him, in his pajamas, into exile in Costa Rica. The Honduran Congress affirmed Zelaya's departure and, in accord with the constitution, named Roberto Micheletti, who had been president of the Congress, as interim president of the country.

 

It has been downhill from there. Chavez, Ortega, Castro and Bolivia's Evo Morales immediately condemned the "coup" and demanded that Zelaya be restored to power. Chavez went so far as to threaten military action. When asked about these events Sunday, the O-Team punted the issue to the Organization of American States, calling for "all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter." Now there's a powerful statement of support for a constitutional process and the institutions of democracy. Meanwhile, the Clinton State Department is said to be looking at cutting off aid to the impoverished country.

 

The O-Team doesn't seem to grasp that simply holding an election does not guarantee a democracy. Adolf Hitler was elected. Hugo Chavez was elected. The Castro brothers were "elected." When potentates decide that the rule of law does not matter, that constitutional restrictions on power can be overcome by executive fiat, the people inevitably suffer. It's a point to remember as we celebrate our own nation's 233rd Independence Day.

 

Oliver North is the host of "War Stories" on Fox News Channel, the founder and honorary chairman of Freedom Alliance, and the author of American Heroes. To find out more about Oliver North and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

 

COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.