American Impotence

Iranian forces seized two American boats and 10 sailors without a shot being fired,  why have a Code of Conduct.

1.     I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

2.     I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

3.     If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and to aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

4.     If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

5.     When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.

6.     I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

The President Got It Wrong (Again)

President Obama during his SOU mentioned "lessons learned" in Vietnam and Iraq, we did learn some lessons, but not the ones he covered in his speech.    What we learned was win the war, finish it, and stay engaged; good examples would be  Germany, Japan, and Korea where we finished and stayed (still there today).  How can he get it so wrong, his ideology drowns out his common sense and understanding of fighting a war.    We watched Vietnam fall when we pulled out and cut off aid, and Iraq is following when we did the same thing.  We can only hope that because of ISIS we may re-engage in Iraq and still have a chance to finish.   We must also apply the same strategy to Afghanistan; finish with a victory and stay engaged until the threat is over.