I can see and understand some people’s comments on YouTube that the Soldiers (Pilots) were a bit blood thirsty, callous, and a little to casual with humor in killing the insurgents. I think their wrong! Frankly, I’d never hold it against anyone in taking enjoyment out of their job. You might find that callous as well. Tough. If your living this 24/7 I doubt you would spend a year without laughing and having a good time. This is war, the thing video games are based upon and billions of dollars are spent for enjoyment (video games, paintball, chess, D&D, movies, ect).

(Update: I’d like to add to the comments I made in the paragraph above in regard to the Pilots.  My Marine housemate likes to remind me from time to time, “No one ever said Marines are Saints or Angels; They are the exact opposite; they are some brutal mother_____ers!”  These men aren’t Saints, they are life-takers.  Don’t confuse them with some ambivalent pansy politically correct Soldier in a movie who is highly benevolent.  They are trained killers, and guess what; they have potty mouths to be coupled with their desire to eliminate threats.  As the Bradleys came under fire nothing they went into action and became angered when they couldn’t perform their job.  Soldiers feel intense emotions when they know their fellow Americans lives are on the line.

The one thing I can never remove from my head is the Spirit of the Bayonet.  During my training our drill sergeants made us repeat it over and over again.  I’ll repeat it for you; Drill Sergeant screams, “What is the Spirit of the Bayonet.” Answer. “To KILL. To KILL! To KILL without mercy. Make the grass grow green with blood. Huah!”  If you enter the world of a Soldier you have to put away your Disney channel mindset.

To further push this.  Here are some vulgar quotes from a Great Soldier George S. Patton,

“I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country.”

“Some goddamn fool once said that flanks have got to be secure. Since then son-of-a-bitches all over the globe have been guarding their flanks. I don’t agree with that. My flanks are something for the enemy to worry about, not me. Before he finds out where my flanks are, I’ll be cutting the bastard’s throat.”)

Once again, these pilots did their job. They probably even saved American lives that day.

Now that I think of it this reminds me of the Battle of Mogadishu. During the Battle of Mogadishu when the blackhawk went down and the horde of angry skinnies and enemy Soldiers were on their way, it was said that US Troops fired indiscriminately into the crowd on unarmed civilians. Once again law of war has to be explained to naive college idiots. If you are walking with and it would seem to be in cohorts with the enemy, no matter if armed or not during a battle; that makes you a valid target. Especially during the Battle of Mogadishu, you don’t need an AK-47 or RPG to smash in the head of a pilot laying on the ground. People can kill with their bare hands and feet.

Update:

Little Green Footballs says, “Quite a few people are calling this clear evidence of a war crime. I’m not so sure it is, because at least in the initial group of men, some of them were evidently armed. The shooting of the rescuers, however, is highly disturbing.”

While I claim to be an expert on the military, I don’t claim to be an expert on Law of War.  However, I’m going to open my keyboard to my thoughts anyway. Is the shooting of the rescuers really that disturbing? While at first I thought the same thing, they didn’t seem to pose any kind of threat and were acting in the manner of medics. But the bullet is, they aren’t identifying themselves as such. Here is a good example, in Saving Private Ryan Vin Diesels’ character gets shot by a sniper. His buddies try to save him, which is a reoccurring scene in war movies, and the sniper takes shots at them. If your trying to perform the actions of a medic, but are either armed or/and not displaying the red cross your thus an enemy combatant. While it didn’t appear they were carrying weapons in the video, they did have a van which we all know has to be considered in the hands of insurgents to be a possible vehicle borne IED. While this is a stretch, this is war. Tough.

Oh.  Also.  The US never ratified the 4th Geneva Convention and hopefully will never be part of the International Court.  So suck it!

Update 2:

While a little unrelated.  I’d like to add a thing about my military training.  I was always told you should never make all your shots, kill shots.  Sometimes it’s a good idea to wound your enemy so his friends feel obligated to rescue him.  Which means with one bullet you’ve now taken at least three people out of the fight.

Update 3:

Sorry, thinking like a cop again. In wartime you don’t need a reason to kill the enemy. Just seeing the enemy is good enough. They don’t have to pose a threat or be armed. That’s what we call an advantage! If you drop a bomb on a barracks full of Soldiers while they are sleeping, that’s a victory. The only way you cannot kill your enemy is when they are actively surrendering. When that van showed up and assisted the insurgents they made themselves a valid target. By assisting them they showed the Apache pilots whose side they were on and made themselves a target.

For those who comment saying it doesn’t look like an RPG or Ak47s. Bull! Your not in a combat zone, your not flying 120mph at 1,000 feet in the air worrying about possible RPGs, and if you wait any longer lives are on the line.

Other people are just ignoring that out of a crowd of 8 to 10 people only 2 were journalist. The others were Insurgents.

To the people that comment and say that these guys aren’t combatants because they aren’t seeking cover from the helicopter till after it shoots at them. Your an idiot! Watch the video again. Notice the time difference from the weapon firing to the time it hits the ground. The Apache was at least a mile away. The Insurgents probably had no clue the helicopter was in the area or if they did was observing them.

Update 4:

I’d just like to add that bloggers have the ability to see the google search you used that brought you to their site.  I have an enormous amount of hits from people searching “Collateral Murder pilots names.”  I know what that’s about and I just want to comment, that is completely screwed up and very unethical.  What are you going to do?  Find out who the pilots are and try to find their home address and send them a nasty letter, bomb, hate mail?  Leave the troops alone, they don’t need to go to war and have to come home and be dejected to trolls like you.

For those who don’t know, I was stationed at Guantanamo Bay.  Many times the families of military police officers stationed there would get death threats through phone calls and in the mail.  It’s abhorrent, unethical, and un-American to treat America’s uniformed services with such disrespect (besides criminal).

It’s really great that Steven could go entertain the Troops at Club Survivor (the dinky outdoor bar and club inside Camp America).  I remember seeing Toby Keith and other bands like Ballentine while I was there.

Cocktail; We used that terminology. My personal favorite was snicker attack, or being snickered; AKA Brown-log Attack! That’s when a detainee poops in his hand and throws it at a guard. They did however install a poop shield back in 2005 to prevent such things. However, the government as usual isn’t very effective at anything they do.

My only advice would be to Steven is to go back to Gitmo as a journalist (I’m pretty sure Pajamas Media can hook him up with that) and actually visit the detention facility.  If he went as a comedian I know for a fact they would have let him drive past Camp Delta; however he wouldn’t have had a tour of Camp Delta and or X-Ray.  All he has to do is go back with media credentials and he can get a first hand experience of the place instead of rely on his information from other sources.  Not that he’s wrong, but as someone who’s seen the entire place; it’s worth seeing first hand.

It’s also important to note that Camp Delta and X-Ray were completely built from the ground up.  Sometimes I cry at night thinking about how much money the government spent to build the place; only to have Obama close her down.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think they (They being the Dirty Stinking Detainee terrorists expletives) should be tried in court.  However, it should be the military tribunals that the Bush administration had intended.  While I was there the administration had continually tried to give them their day in court.  Except the stupid US Court of Appeals for the 9th circuit over and over again put a hold on the process.  In the case of the detainees getting their due process we can only blame San Francisco Elitists who think they should dictate to the military our right to try the detainees in a military court.  We found’em we should get to Fry’em.  Many have already plead guilty so I don’t know what’s the big deal.

The meanest thing on that island isn’t even the detainees, it’s those darn iguanas. Their mean suckas! They don’t give up either. The only difference between a detainee and an iguana is that if the detainee attacks you at least you can beat the crap out of him. The Cuban Iguana are protected by law as endangered species.

One thing Steven you forgot to mention about the health care of the detainees. If a detainee attacked a guard and both were injured in the process… the detainee would be treated first over the American Guard… It’s true, and it’s sad.

I however quickly learned that this wasn’t true.  In many cases, Soldiers are not even seeing their rifles for 6 months to 2 years at a time.

The federal government, especially the military has the biggest problem with trust.  The official explanation for Soldiers not being armed is that they are all living in the safest gated community in the United States.  However, on Army and Marine bases especially, the perpetrators are those already living on the inside.  I’m sorry but some of our service member’s are criminals who just haven’t been caught yet, and in some cases they have been caught (that’s what a MORAL WAIVER is for).  I hate to say this but the Air Force tends to have the ability to be picky about who they hire.

From a second amendment standpoint; “good” service members aren’t even safe in their own homes.  While gun ownership laws continue to get stricter, most Americans still have the right to bear arms in their own home.  They feel safe with a gun under the pillow.  Service member’s are not allowed to possess personal firearms.

While in government housing (which is mandatory for most) the possession of a firearm is a crime.  A service member can own a personal firearm but must put it in the base armory.  For example, when a Soldier wants to go hunting he/she has to sign out their OWN gun from the armory.

From a security forces perspective it even gets scarier.  A base with approximately 30,000 workers on it is going to have a police force of about 90 to 120 Department of Defense civilian police officers and military police combined.  Most bases work with three shifts, so that’s about 30 police officers protecting sometimes up to 40 to 80 square miles at one time.

Now while the off duty officers might be only 2 to 10 minutes away, they cannot respond.  Security forces (civilian and military alike) currently have to sign out their weapon at the beginning of each shift.  So if their was some kind of major attack on an installation; the police force would be quickly overwhelmed as their relief would have to first arm up before responding.

We have all given up the responsibility of protecting ourselves to police officers.  When a big scary person with a gun comes after you, what do you do?  Call the Police?  Why?  It’s simple, they have guns!  If this was anytime for the 1920s it was a simple solution, “Paw and Maw git yer gun!”  (unless of course they were already touting it.

Excerpt from this thing called the constitution:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Some people argue that the right to bear arms is referring to that of the military.  However, the use of the comma in the bill of rights is clearly used to show separate rights.  The comma is kind of used as saying this is a right, and oh by the way this is also a right and don’t confuse it with the previous this I states.  Like in the 1st amendment the freedom of speech is broken down with a comma showing that the freedom of the press, religion, and to peaceably assemble are all separate and equal rights. Plus, this little thing that states “The right of the people” I mean if the dudes that wrote the constitution meant it to be just the military they would have stopped at the word militia.  But, they were very smart and continued on with, that’s right adding in other people, like you and me!  The People!

Then their are those who say that to bear arms doesn’t include on your person.  A simple look at the word “bear” in the use of a verb reveals this in my trusty dictionary; “to hold up; support; to hold up under; be capable of; to hold or carry; to exhibit; to show; to have and use.”  Then my ever useful thesaurus says, “carry, convey, deliver, ferry, fetch, lug, move, pack, take, tote, transfer, transport.”  To just prove a point the antonym of bear is that of which gun laws provide, “refuse, take, throw away.”  Plus, the word Keep is usually a dead give away.

To boot at the end they added in this thing that says, “Shall not be infringed.”  By definition adding laws that govern the right to bear arms in itself is an infringement.

My point is that if you every watch a western, all the good guys aren’t calling cops to help them.  They all had guns!  You defended yourself!  While I believe we should have a well armed and powerful police force, I also believe that everyone has a responsibility to protect themselves.

If everyone is armed you will still see shootings, but you would never see one person kill 12 people and harm 30 others. You might get two people before the whole  crowd guns you down.

Currently their is a bill before congress H.R. 675 that would change the status of DOD police officers to Federal Police Officers.  They would be allowed to carry weapons at all times, make arrests and enforce laws.  They currently can subdue civilians but have to turn them over to local police.  Who in many cases just release them.  For an example, if a civilian brought a firearm onto a federal installation the DOD police would then arrest them, call the county police department, who would then show up and release the person because they didn’t break a state law.

While I think all citizens should be able to carry firearms on their person at all times without the government arresting them, I do think the DOD police should be able to enforce other laws.

When I use the term DOD police I’m referring to th Department of Army, Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force police.

To every problem lies a solution, if your willing to try.  In concerns to military housing, their is definitely an easy solution.  The United States Military is the only Federal Organization that forces employees to live inside government housing.  Minus, married couples and certain ranks of course.  If your single or below Staff Sergeant you have absolutely no recourse but what the military deems for you.

My solution is simple, pay everyone housing allowance and give everyone the choice to live or not to live in base housing.  It’s already a solution for some of those in the military, and it should apply to everyone.  If your married, by law the military has to give you, your own house to live in with your family, or you receive a housing allowance and can live off base.  Officers and senior NCOs also have this privilege.   However, single lower enlisted (which make up the majority) are forced to live in barracks.

By allowing lower enlisted the right of off base housing it opens up a free market solution to many problems.

1. If Soldiers aren’t living in barracks, then, we don’t have to build new barracks.  Saves the government loads of money in huge projects.

2. If Soldiers aren’t living in barracks, then, their is no issue of barracks being substandard or dangerous.

3. Right now, the US Government is a Slumlord.  The military isn’t a big enough voter base for radical change to take place; the status-quo will continue.

4. If Soldiers are living in their own houses or rentals then the government can get back to doing what they are supposed to be doing, enforcing health standards.  When it’s the government that’s breaking the standard it just leads to cover-up.

5. Hey remember that housing market crisis thing… Well if you put about 1 million troops into the housing market; It can only be a good thing, right?

Now, I don’t believe that the on base housing should be completely removed.  What should happen is everyone should be paid basic housing allowance and if someone chooses to live on base, then they should have to pay a rent fee just like the rest of us.  This should stimulate better on base housing; if the government wants some of it’s money back then they have to get people interested in living on base.

I was on a trip to Washington, DC recently and I visited several of my friends that are attending the Defense Information School (DINFOS) on Fort Meade.  I stayed the night inside of the Army enlisted barracks the night before I went to Washington.  I woke up feeling sick with a sore throat after one night stay.  Why is this you ask, or why should you even care?

Well it just so happens that the Army barracks (and maybe the Marine and Navy Barracks) are infested with black mold and it just so happens the government has known for two years now.

I did some further investigation.  What I found was a bit appalling.

Quick Information:  DINFOS is a Joint DOD School it has Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and Coasties.  Each service has their own barracks.  However, the Army makes up the majority of DINFOS students.

Black Mold symptoms from Wikipedia

Depending on the length of exposure and volume of spores inhaled or ingested, symptoms can manifest as chronic fatigue or headaches, fever, irritation to the eyes, mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and throat, sneezing, rashes, and chronic coughing. In severe cases of exposure or cases exacerbated by allergic reaction, symptoms can be extreme including nausea, vomiting, uncontrollable bowel movements, and bleeding in the lungs and nose.

It turns out that not long ago a new set of barracks that meets the Army living conditions standard were built.  The new barracks are really nice and designed in an apartment complex style with two rooms and a kitchen to every apartment.  The new complex was built because the old housing doesn’t meet new housing standards.  The Army has the oldest of the barracks so the new barracks were supposed to house enlisted Soldiers.  It makes sense, who ever has the oldest barracks gets the newest first.

Well, that’s not how it happened.  About 2 years ago they found black mold in the barracks.  So what did they do?  They put all of the Air Force enlisted in the new barracks. Just so happens the old Air Force building was newer than the old Army building.  So, put the Army guys in the Air Force building, right!? Nope! They condemned the old Air Force barracks, boarded up all the entrances and built a huge fence around the complex.   Hmmmm….

Doesn’t make a lot of sense till I spoke with someone that works for the commander’s staff.

The commander of the base figured that it would be easier to get more funds from congress for building more living complexes if the Air Force took the new building and then said, “We need more money for housing, the Army is living in substandard housing, and it’s infested with black mold.”  It would have been harder to get money had the Army lived in the new building and the other services lived in their complexes that aren’t as degraded.

Good intentions?  For the Soldiers at DINFOS, the good intentions of getting better barracks are making them sick and could also be causing them to lose their jobs.

How could mold cost someone their job?  DINFOS is for intelligent warriors.  DINFOS teaches courses in; Journalism, Broadcasting, Multimedia and Intelligence.  While all of those jobs require a clear mind, the broadcasting career relies heavily on the ability to speak.  Broadcasting for the military is TV Production and Radio.  Can you think of any radio or TV personality that’s going to take a chance of ruining their money making voice?

So that sore throat from the black mold could cause you to fail in announcing skills.  In the miltiary, failing any subject will either force you into a different career field or expel you from the military.  Several people I talked to said they were getting sick all the time and had to go to the hospital occasionally.

Two years ago when they found the black mold the military took two actions in concern to the infestation.  The first thing they did was remove the tiles.  The tiles were so full of black mold that the weight bowed them in the middle.  The second thing they did was paint over the mold.  I’m not an expert, but I don’t think painting over the mold is enough.

Two months ago, after a meeting between enlisted Soldiers and the Inspector General about computer access and the living conditions in the barracks; the old computer room was reopened.  It just so happened that when the cadre opened the room they found the ceiling tiles sunken from mold infestation.  It’s not clear if they just missed this room previously or if they cleaned it and then closed the room off allowing the mold to grow unchecked by routine cleaning.

Now here is some nasty cover up by the cadre.  The Army cadre were told that the buildings were going to be inspected by the health inspector.  So instead of allowing the truth to come out about the barracks.  They mustered the prior service and the all the fresh out-of-basic Soldiers to replace all of the tiles, and then clean and scrub the two Army barracks with bleach; the night before the inspector was to arrive.

Now you have to ask yourself; Should the government be allowed to dictate health care, when it can’t even take care of it’s own?  Just think of Walter Reed and rats running around.

Insult to Injury: The Airmen just don’t get the new barracks, they also get more money because the new barracks don’t meet Air Force standards.  Whoops!  Are the Army standards really that low they you have to pay Airmen to live in brand new barracks.

More Insult to Injury: The Army only pays more money for housing if your in a combat or danger zone.  Apparently, mold and substandard housing isn’t a danger.

Doubling Over in Insult to Injury: Well, it turns out that the new barracks, that the Air Force dudes are staying in; is full.  So instead of putting them in with the Army or other service.  They gave them their own hotels.  WAH!  I guess Uncle Sam loves my Air Force brother more than me, why not put some Army Dudes in the hotels and get them out of those condemn buildings?

Makes sense.  When I was stationed at Guantanamo Bay a new Air Force arrival showed up at our barracks and immedeatly complained.  The guy was like, “This doesn’t meet Air Force standards.”  Even though there was about 40 other Air Force enlisted staying in the same barracks.  They gave him his own hotel room on base.

Additional Problems I found: This is the other stuff I noticed around the barracks.  The air conditioning doesn’t work in all of the rooms (which they won’t fix because they want to condemn the building).  Even the rooms the air conditioning works in, the air conditioning fails to remove moisture from the air.  It’s just cold wet air.  Which causes the mold and also causes the carpets to peel.  You know those carpets that are built in little squares and are held down by glue, well all of the floors  have missing or destroyed carpet because the moisture causes the carpet to rise and peel.  Since the air isn’t dry, everything is wet.  Electronics start acting funny, clothes are always moldy, the carpets and wooden closets are always wet.

This was also not clear, either the barracks have already been condemned, but remain open.  Or, they are to be condemn once they get people out.