Colin Kaepernick - My Son Died for You

• Truth Serum Today: Be a Partner in our Free Speech Zone - Click
• All You Wanted to Know About the Truth Serum Blog - Click

Open letter to Colin Kaepernick from the mom of a Navy SEAL killed in action

Colin Kaepernick - my son died for you

Colin Kaepernick while you chose to sit in protest, my son chose to stand and serve this country and sacrifice his life for America, the country he so loved. He, and every other Veteran who has served, paid the price for the freedoms you and every American enjoy each and every day.

Marc Alan Lee was the first Navy SEAL to die in Iraq Aug 2, 2006 and the red stripe in our flag, the flag you chose to disrespect, represents his blood and every other Veteran who died defending this country that they cherished. Marc’s blood no longer pumps through his heart, nor will his blood be passed on to another generation.

He had pride in his country, not a perfect country, but his country. His last letter home was written with much wisdom and reflection and he addresses many of the concerns you have, he even mentions you.

“I have seen amazing things happen here however I have seen the sad part of war too. I have seen the morals of a man who cares nothing of human life…I have seen hate towards a nation’s people who has never committed a wrong, except being born of a third world, ill-educated and ignorant to western civilization.

It is not everybody who feels this way only a select few but it brings questions to mind. Is it okay for one to consider themselves superior to another race? Surprisingly we are not a stranger to this sort of attitude. Meaning that in our own country we discriminate against someone for what nationality they are, their education level, their social status.

We distinguish our role models as multimillion dollar sports heroes or talented actors and actress who complain about not getting millions of dollars more than they are currently getting paid………Our country is a great country, don’t get me wrong on this, otherwise none of us would be living there. My point of this is how can we come over here and help a less than fortunate country without holding contempt or hate towards them if we can’t do it in our country.”

When my son died I could have sat and had a pity party and felt sorry for myself. I could have sat and complained about the lack of support for our troops, and families of the fallen. Instead I chose to stand, and figuratively speaking put on Marc’s boots and pick up his weapon and stay in the fight for our troops and families of the fallen.

I was hurting and in the beginning stages of grief yet I saw a need and knew I could sit and complain or I could get up and make a difference. I started America’s Mighty Warriors to make a difference in response to Marc’s amazing last letter home. Through Marc’s letter and our foundation millions of lives have been changed and impacted.

Marc died for your freedom and your right to speak out. Stand up like a man and make a difference in the areas you want to change. Don’t sit and disrespect our flag that waves so proudly because of the great sacrifice of so many.

I was at that game Saturday evening, my first ever in Candlestick Park. Our bus was delayed and we got in to the stadium just after the National Anthem it’s probably a good thing I didn’t know about your disgraceful tantrum until the next day.

Your actions felt like a knife piercing my heart. The only reason I was at the game was to support friends of mine who were being honored that evening by bringing in the game ball. Kevin Winton and David Roth of Route for the Brave walked from the Atlantic to the Pacific to raise funds to build a House of Healing for families who have lost a loved one in combat.

They didn’t sit either. They stood and made a difference. There is a right way to use your freedoms and make a difference.

I think the last paragraph in Marc’s amazing final letter sums it up:

“The 4th has just come and gone and I received many emails thanking me for helping keep America great and free. I take no credit for the career path I have chosen; I can only give it to those of you who are reading this, because each one of you has contributed to me and who I am. However, what I do over here is only a small percent of what keeps our country great. I think the truth to our greatness is each other. Purity, morals and kindness, passed down to each generation through example. So to all my family and friends, do me a favor and pass on the kindness, the love, the precious gift of human life to each other so that when your children come into contact with a great conflict that we are now faced with here in Iraq, that they are people of humanity, of pure motives, of compassion.

This is our real part to keep America free! HAPPY 4th Love Ya, . . . Marc Lee

P.S. Half way through the deployment can’t wait to see all of your faces.”

Colin, my son defended you and your freedoms and you disgraced him and every other Veteran who fought for you! Marc chose to focus on the blessings we have in America and actively be part of the solution to change those he didn’t like.

You choose to focus on the negative and passively sit and do nothing to change it. You owe an apology to me, to every Veteran and patriot in America for your disgraceful attitude.

Colin you can read Marc’s entire letter at www.americasmightywarriors.org and then “Live your life worthy of their sacrifices!” . . . Debbie Lee
_________________________________________

We are compelled  to pay for this Free Speech Zone - - We would be pleased if you became one of our Free Speech Partners - - Just click the DONATE link below or contact the editor-in-chief [at] truthserumeditor@gmail.com

Do you trust the TSA?

From the art studios of A.F. (Tony) Branco at Comically Incorrect.com

Get Your Daily Dose of Humor and Reality from A.F. (Tony) Branco

• Editorial cartoonist
• Net Right Daily
• Legal Insurrection
• Liberty Alliance
• ConservativeDailyNews.com

_____________________________

Become a Truth Serum Partner Now

Leaving Afghanistan - Repeating Iraq

Leaving Afghanistan, Repeating Iraq from the Warning Signs of Alan Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

Read Caruba at Facts-not-Fantasy

You don’t have to be a soldier or diplomat to ask whether President Obama’s withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan on December 31 is a good idea or not.

Consider what happened when he withdrew our troops from Iraq in 2011. The answer to that is the Islamic State which filled the vacuum left behind.

On December 25, Obama addressed troops stationed at Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

He told them that their service had given Afghanistan a chance “to rebuild its own country” whatever that means. Having been invaded over and over again for centuries, one wonders what country Obama was referring to.

“We are safer,” said Obama, “It’s not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again.” This is an illusion. Obama cannot make such predictions anymore than the Afghans can. So far, when it comes to foreign policy, Obama has a nearly unbroken record of failure.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, Afghan civilian casualties are estimated to have been 10,000 while 2,200 U.S. troops have been killed. The war is estimated to have cost $1 trillion, plus another $100 billion for reconstruction.

Know the Warning Signs

We have been in Afghanistan for 13 years and are scheduled to completely leave the country at the end of 2016 when Obama leaves office. As 2014 comes to a close, the White House had planned to have 9,800 troops there.

Together with Iraq, we will have 15,000 troops where we have been fighting al Qaeda since 2001. In Iraq, the war on Islamic terrorism forced the U.S. to return to fight ISIS. There are about 6,000 other international troops aiding us.

Afghanistan is likely to be a repeat of what occurred in Iraq. The cruel truth of the world we share is that the United States must be the planet’s policeman, leading coalitions of others who join us, or the bad guys who threaten us all will take over.

From the Roman Empire to the British one, this role is a vital one.

Corruption is the Enemy

Afghanistan has a Taliban problem, but close observers identify its corruption as the main enemy of progress. You can fight an enemy you can see, but fighting an inbred cultural problem is a whole other problem.

In April, testifying before a Senate subcommittee, framing his opening remarks in the form of a letter to whoever would win the presidency in then forthcoming elections, retired Gen. John Allen, a former commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2013, said that corruption, not the Taliban is the greater threat.

“For too long we focused our attention on the Taliban as the existential threat to Afghanistan,” but compared to the scope and magnitude of corruption, “they are an annoyance.”

Gen. Allen is so highly regarded that he is the President’s “special envoy” to more than 60 nations and groups that have joined a coalition to defeat the Islamic State. From just one reconnaissance mission per month after our withdrawal from Iraq, the U.S. now flies 60 per day.

That’s what happens when you don’t maintain a force to defeat an enemy. Referring to the Islamic State Gen. Allen testified that “We’re not just fighting a force, you know, we’re fighting an idea.”

Gen. Allen’s view of the issue of corruption in Afghanistan was supported by John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction who addressed a gathering at the Middle East Institute in May, saying “corruption is more serious than the insurgency.”

Not only does it waste money, Sopko noted that it prevents helpful projects from being completed, robs the Afghan people of the resources they need, and makes them lose faith in their government.

Still hopeful for change, Afghans went to the polls in September and elected Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, a former finance minister as their new president to replace Hamid Karzai. He will share power with a former foreign minister, Abdullah Avbudullah. Typical of Mideast politics, Ghani is an ethnic Pashtun and Abdullah was backed by Tajiks.

When the then-Soviet Union decided to invade Afghanistan in 1979 following a Marxist coup, hundreds of Afghans left the country as refugees. By the time the Soviets withdrew in 1983, there were 3.2 million refugees, mostly in Pakistan. The invasion so weakened support within the Soviet Union that it collapsed in 1991.

When President Bush struck back at al Qaeda after 9/11 he successfully bombed them out of existence there, but decided to send troops as well. Bush’s goal was to deprive al Qaeda of a safe base, but also to establish a modern democratic government there as a model for the Islamic world.

He repeated this in Iraq when he invaded to remove its dictator, Saddam Hussain. A tribal culture, the Middle East has had difficulties emerging into the modern world.

Prior to Obama’s reassurances to the Marines, the White House announced the release of our more prisoners from Guantanamo. They were repatriated to Afghanistan. If he continues to empty out Guantanamo, the U.S. will not lack for enemies bent on revenge.

As for our troops, they have remained in Afghanistan and Iraq ever since 9/11. Obama may want to withdraw or at least reduce the number of troops, but recent history suggests that until ISIS and comparable forces are defeated, future U.S. Presidents will have to maintain our forces there for many years to come.

______________________________________________

Become a Truth Serum Partner Now

Democrats rejecting Gitmo shut-down

Obama's plan to shut down Guantanamo Bay detainee facility suffers major setback

Democrats in the House and Senate are Not Favoring the Guantanamo Shut Down 

President Obama’s plan to close the federal prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, hit a major snag Monday as lawmakers finalizing the annual defense policy bill rejected steps to shut down the facility.

The final defense bill will not have a provision giving the president the power to transfer terror suspects to the U.S. if Congress signs off on the plan, said Sen. Carl Levin.

"Our language ... [on Guantanamo] ... will not be in," Levin said.

Levin backed the authority for Obama to transfer the suspects and enthusiastically heralded it in May as the “path to close Guantanamo.”

The House and Senate are expected to vote and overwhelmingly approve the sweeping policy bill in the coming days, sending it to Obama.

The president has pushed to close the post-9/11 prison since his inauguration in January 2009. He has faced strong resistance from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress who don't want terror suspects housed in U.S. facilities and have warned of suspects returning to the fight when they are transferred to their home countries.

In the previous version of the defense bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee included the provision authorizing the transfer of terror suspects to the U.S. for “detention, trial and incarceration.”

The House version of the defense bill prohibited the transfer to U.S. soil, and Republican and Democratic lawmakers who have repeatedly and successfully fought White House efforts to move detainees prevailed in the final version of the defense bill.

Currently, the prison holds 142 men, including 73 already cleared for release.

Obama was approached by a store patron during his holiday shopping Saturday.

"Hope you can close Guantanamo," said the patron.

"We're working on it," Obama replied, then jokingly added to the nearby crowd of shoppers: "Any other issues?"

The U.S. has released a number of prisoners over the last few weeks.

Saudi national Muhammad al-Zahrani was allowed to return to his country Nov. 22 after five prisoners were released a few days prior.

The board cleared him for release in October, citing a number of factors, including his willingness to participate in the Saudi rehabilitation program.

Al-Zahrani was the 13th prisoner to leave Guantanamo Bay this year and the seventh in just the past couple of weeks. Officials have said more prisoners will be released in the coming weeks as part of a renewed effort to close the site. Seventy-three are already cleared for release.

This story was originally posted at FoxNews.

______________________________________________

Become a Truth Serum Partner Now

 

Terrorism: How soon they forget

Terrorism: How soon the forget from the art studios of A.F. (Tony) Branco and featured at American Energy Alliance

Get Your Daily Dose of Humor from A.F. (Tony) Branco

Check out some of the sights listed below that publish the A.F. (Tony) Branco Political Cartoon features.

• Editorial cartoonist
• Net Right Daily
• Legal Insurrection
• Liberty Alliance
• ConservativeDailyNews.com

_____________________________________________________________

Click Here - Become a Truth Serum Partner Now

Delivering an elevator punch to liberty

Obama delivers the elevator punch on liberty from the Political Cartoon Studious of A.T. (Tony) Branco

Get a Daily Dose of the Branco Political Cartoons at Comically Incorrect.con

Check out some of the sights listed below that publish the A.F. (Tony) Branco Political Cartoon features.

• Editorial cartoonist
• Net Right Daily
• Legal Insurrection
• Liberty Alliance
• ConservativeDailyNews.com

We Will Always Remember

Those 9|11 terror attack predictions

Those 9/11 Terror Attack Predictions from the files of Alan Caruba at Warning Signs

Know the Warning Signs

As we close in on the 13th anniversary of the infamous 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, the media is full of predictions about attacks that will occur.

A September 2nd Debka File, an Israeli news agency, reported “Credible information has reached Saudi, British and Australian agencies that two al Qaeda branches—ISIS in Iraq and Syria and AQAP at its base in Yemen—have wrapped up plans to roll out coordinated terrorist spectaculars around the 13th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

According to Debka File’s counterterrorism sources, they are preparing to strike simultaneously in the Middle East and a West European city. Next, they will go for U.S. targets in the Middle East and Europe.”

This report and other factors incline me to believe there will not be a major attack somewhere in the U.S. on what is now officially called “Patriot Day.” There could be a lone wolf attack along the lines of Major Hassan’s 2009 “workplace violence” at Fort Hood or the Boston Marathon bombing, but the threats being made by the Islamic State and other elements of al Qaeda, while intended to raise fears in America, are likely to be manifested in the Middle East. American outlets there will be on full alert for sure.

The Islamic State, while now wealthy, well equipped militarily, and attracting every lunatic Islamist and wannabe terrorist, is facing an increasingly united group of Middle East nations that have put old enemies like Iran and Saudi Arabia on the same page together. Iran has dispatched troops to Iraq to support the Kurds. When other Middle Eastern nations finally screw up enough courage to actually do something they will wage a war on ISIS in the interest of self-defense, a powerful motive.

As for al Qaeda’s war on America, it was declared in 1996 by the late, unlamented Osama bin Laden and, other than 9/11, it has done little to follow up on that dramatic sneak attack except for a few failed efforts. The U.S. responded by bombing the hell out of Afghanistan and our troops there have been attacking the Taliban ever since. Obama says he will pull them out in 2015. Given events in Iraq, that is a very bad idea.

Read Caruba's Warning Signs

The Department of Homeland Security has been on alert ever since it was created shortly after 9/11. This is not to say that the U.S. doesn’t need more on-the-ground intelligence penetration of al Qaeda and its affiliates. Indeed, DHS and other government agencies don’t know the whereabouts of several thousand foreign students who are supposed to be at our colleges and universities. They likely do not know who else among those with easy access to the nation is a potential terrorist.

So, yes, that could mean I am very wrong and that 9/11 would be a day for a whole series of attacks for much the same reason our consulate in Libya was attacked that day in 2012. The Benghazi cover-up has been falling apart ever since. The lie that it was caused by a video grows more absurd and obscene very day.

The Israelis have made a far greater and more successful effort than us to infiltrate their enemy’s organizations. Hamas was so rattled by the effectiveness of the Israeli bombing of sites where its rockets were stored and fired from, as well as the killing of a number of its leaders, that they made a public display of executing a number of people they accused of being Israeli spies, whether they were or not. The likelihood was that they were Gazans who had spoken out against Hamas.

After breaking a number of ceasefires, Hamas, running out of any support, accepted the most recent one and Israel thereafter announced the annexation of more West Bank territory for its settlements and, no doubt, for militarization to protect against further attacks. The Israelis know how to deal with their enemies, to prepare, and to take action rather than issue empty threats.

There have even been a number of small events by American Muslims speaking out against barbarity of the Islamic State and the threats leveled at the U.S. That is a hopeful sign, but it needs to increase in numbers and volume. The vast silence of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world is an offense to humanity.

The Arabs of the Middle East are forever making dramatic threats, but they have a record of doing little. When Saddam Hussein controlled Iraq, he waged a war against Iran that ended inconclusively and then invaded Kuwait and was defeated by a U.S. coalition. When he continued to make threats the U.S. invaded again and deposed him.

What followed was an effort in several Middle Eastern nations to rid themselves of their despots. This occurred in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Only Egypt, after a brief encounter with a Muslim Brotherhood government, rallied again with a military coup that led to the election of a new military leader. The Brotherhood has been banned! Libya is a failed state that has been taken over by Islamic militants. Tunisia has a new constitution as of January and numerous political parties. Its government is battling local militias.

Iraq is in near failure as it tries to unite its Shiite and Sunni factions in a functioning government. Much of the nation has been taken over by the Islamic State in the same fashion as northern Syria whose civil war has killed 190,000 and driven over a million out as refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and anywhere else they could flee. Who has put troops into Iraq to resist the Islamic State? The Iranians!

One threat the President of the United States does not appear to have taken seriously is an Iran with a nuclear weapon and the intercontinental missiles to deliver it. Both Israel and Saudi Arabia are far more aware of the danger this poses and in all likelihood Israel will conclude it must destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities and military installations.

The United States has lost virtually all the influence it once had in the Middle East, even if it came from the barrel of a gun. Our Secretary of State, John Kerry, is held in low regard by both the Israelis and Arabs. The President, Kerry, and Hillary Clinton keep insisting that “climate change” is the greatest threat to mankind.

If President Obama does not engage in the destruction—not “containment”—of the Islamic State, its oil wealth will enable it to become a major threat in the Middle East and beyond, including us. They have demonstrated no restraint on their use of violence and pose a threat comparable or even greater than the Nazi regime of the last century.

Will there be attack or attacks in the U.S. on 9/11?

We all wish we know the answer, but we don’t.