GEN Stanley McChrystal’s Retirement Remarks

23 July 2010, Fort McNair, Washington D.C.














This is frustrating. I spent a career waiting to give a retirement speech and lie about what a great soldier I was. Then people show up who were actually there. It proves what Doug Brown taught me long ago; nothing ruins a good war story like an eyewitness.

To show you how bad it is, I can't even tell you I was the best player in my little league because the kid who was the best player is here tonight. In case you're looking around, he's not a kid anymore.

But to those here tonight who feel the need to contradict my memories with the truth, remember I was there too. I have stories on all of you, photos on many, and I know a Rolling Stone reporter. (Laughter.) (Applause.)

Look, this has the potential to be an awkward or even a sad occasion. With my resignation, I left a mission I feel strongly about. I ended a career I loved that began over 38 years ago. And I left unfulfilled commitments I made to many comrades in the fight, commitments I hold sacred.

My service did not end as I would have wished, and there are misperceptions about the loyalty and service of some dedicated professionals that will likely take some time but I believe will be corrected.

Still, Annie and I aren't approaching the future with sadness but with hope and iPhones. And my feelings for more than 34 years I spent as an Army officer are a combination of surprise that any experience could have been as rich and fulfilling as mine was and gratitude for the comrades and friends we were blessed with.

That's what I feel. And if I fail to communicate that effectively tonight, I'll simply remind you that Secretary Gates once told me I was a modern Patton of strategic communications. (Laughter.) Fair point.

So if we laugh tonight, it doesn't mean all these years have not been important to me. It means the opposite; that every day and every friend were gifts I treasure and I need to celebrate.

But first, I need to address two questions that we've been asked often lately. The first is: What are you going to do? Actually, Annie is the one who's asking me that. I'm thinking I'd be a good fashion consultant and spokesman for Gucci -- (laughter) -- but they haven't called.

The other question is always asked a bit tentatively. How are you and Annie doing? We did spend some years apart, but we're doing well. And I am carrying some of what I learned into retirement.

First, Annie and I are reconnecting. And now, we're up on Skype with each other. Of course, we never did that all the years I was 10,000 miles away, but now we can connect by video link when we're 15 feet apart. And I think she really likes that. (Laughter.)

I was so enthused I tried using Skype for a daily family VTC -- (laughter) -- where I could get updates and pass out guidance, but there's some resistance to flatter and faster in the McChrystal household. The same is true for the tactical directive I issued soon after my return. It's reasonable guidance: One meal a day, early-morning PT, the basics of a good family life. (Laughter.)

But I've gotten a few night letters, and Annie's stocking up on ammonium nitrate fertilizer -- (laughter) -- which is strange since our new yard is smaller than this podium. Although the insurgency is relatively small -- one woman -- she's uninterested in reintegration. (Laughter.) I assess the situation as serious and, in many ways, deteriorating. (Laughter.)

Mr. Secretary, look at her. I'm thinking at least 40,000 troops. (Laughter.) (Applause.)

Let me thank everyone for being here. This turnout is truly humbling. Here tonight are my wife and son, my four brothers, two nephews, mentors, comrades from countless phases of my career, and some special guests whose service and sacrifice are impossible to describe with words.
But because this crowd is pretty big, for good order and discipline, I've divided you all into four groups. Please remember your group number. (Laughter.)

Group 1 are all the people who accepted responsibility for making this ceremony work from the planners to the soldiers on the field. My apologies for all the time you spend in the heat. You're special people. And in my mind, you also represent soldiers all over the world. You have my sincere appreciation.

The second group -- (applause). The second group is distinguished servants of all nations who have taken time from your often-crushing schedules to be here. And thanks for your years of support and friendship. I got you out of the office early on Friday.

Group 3 are warriors of all ranks, and that includes many who don't wear a uniform but defend our nation with whom I have shared aircraft, VTCs, remote outposts, frustrations, triumphs, laughs and a common cause for many years. You are not all here. Some of you are deployed and in the fight. Others rest across river in Arlington. Most of the credit I've received actually belongs to you. It has been your comradeship that I have considered the greatest honor of my career.

Finally, Group 4 is all those who've heard we're having two kegs of beer in the backyard after my ceremony. This group includes a number of my classmates from West Point, old friends, most of the warriors from Group 3, and some others who defy accurate description. Anyone already carrying a plastic cup might be considered the vanguard of Group 4. (Laughter.) Everyone here today is invited to join.
To Secretary Gates, I want to express my personal thanks, certainly, for your generous remarks but more for your wisdom and leadership which I experienced firsthand in each of my last three jobs. Your contribution to the nation and to the force is nothing short of historic.

Similarly, I want to thank the many leaders, civilian and military, of our nation beginning with President Obama for whom and with whom I was honored to serve. Whether elected, appointed or commissioned, the common denominator of selfless service has been inspiring.
As COM ISAF, I was provided a unique opportunity to serve alongside the professionals of 46 nations under the leadership of NATO. We were stronger for the diversity of our force, and I'm better for the experience.
My thanks, also, to the leadership and people of Afghanistan for their partnership, hospitality and friendship. For those who are tempted to simplify their view of Afghanistan and focus on the challenges ahead, I counter with my belief that Afghans have courage, strength and resiliency that will prove equal to the task.
My career included some amazing moments and memories, but it is the people I'll remember. It was always about the people. It was about the soldiers who are well-trained but, at the end of the day, act out of faith in their leaders and each other; about the young sergeants who emerge from the ranks with strength, discipline, commitment and courage.

As I grew older, the soldiers and sergeants of my youth grew older as well. They became the old sergeants, long-service professionals whose wisdom and incredible sense of responsibility for the mission and for our soldiers is extraordinary.

And the sergeants major -- they were a national treasure. They mold and maintain the force and leaders like me. They have been my comrade, confidante, constructive critic, mentor and best friend.

A little more than a year ago on a single e-mail, Command Sergeant Major Mike Hall came out of retirement, leaving a job, his son and his amazing wife Brenda to join me in Afghanistan. To Mike, I could never express my thanks. To Brenda, I know after all these years, I owe you. I also love you.

To true professionals like Sergeants Major Rudy Valentine, Jody Nacy, Steve Cuffie, CW Thompson, Chris Craven, Jeff Mellinger and Chris Farris, your presence here today is proof that, when something is truly important, like this ceremony, you're on hand to make sure I don't screw it up.

I've been blessed with the presence of old friends throughout my career, friendships that began long ago at West Point, Forts Benning, Bragg, Lewis or countless other locations and shared years of Army life, moving vans, kids, laughs, disappointments, and each other's successes which grew into bonds that became critical on the battlefield.

I treasure a note I received during a particularly tough time in Afghanistan in 2007 from fellow commander, Dave Rodriguez, that quoted Sherman's confidence that, if he ever needed support, he knew his friend Grant would come to his aid if alive. Serving with people who say and mean such words is extraordinary.
I served with many. Many of you are here tonight. And not all the heroes are comrades are in uniform. In the back of a darkened helicopter over Kunar, Afghanistan, in 2004, a comrade in blue jeans whose friendship I cherish to this day passed me a note. Scribbled on a page torn from a pocket notebook, the note said, "I don't know the Ranger Creed, but you can count on me to always be there." He lived up to his promise many times over.

To have shared so much with and been so dependent on people of such courage, physical and moral, integrity and selflessness taught me to believe.

Annie's here tonight. No doubt she walked the 50 feet from our front door in cute little Italian shoes of which we have an extensive collection. (Laughter.)

In Afghanistan, I once considered using Annie's shoe purchases as an argument to get Italy to send additional forces. (Laughter.) But truth be known, I have no control over that part of the McChrystal economy. (Laughter.)

But she's here like she's always been there when it mattered. Always gorgeous. For three and a half years, she was my girlfriend then fiancée and, for over 33 years, she's been my wife.

For many years, I've joked, sometimes publicly, about her lousy cooking, terrifying closets, demolition derby driving and addiction to M&M candy, which is all true. But as we conclude a career together, it's important for you to know she was there.

She was there when my father commissioned me a second lieutenant of infantry and was waiting some months later when I emerged from Ranger School. Together, we moved all we owned in my used Chevrolet Vega to our first apartment at Fort Bragg. The move, with our first days in our $180-a-month apartment, was the only honeymoon I was able to give her, a fact she has mentioned a few times since.

Annie always knew what to do. She was gracious when she answered the door at midnight in her nightgown to fight Sergeant Emo Holtz, a huge mortarman, carrying a grocery bag of cheap liquor for a platoon party I'd hastily coordinated that evening and not told Annie about following a Friday night jump. I got home not long after to find Annie making food for assembling paratroopers. Intuitively, Annie knew what was right and quietly did it.

With 9/11, she saw us off to war and patiently supported the families of our fallen with stoic grace. As the years passed and the fight grew ever more difficult and deadly, Annie's quiet courage gave me strength I would never otherwise have found.

It's an axiom in the Army that soldiers write the checks but families pay the bills. And war increases both the accuracy of that statement and the cost families pay.

In a novel based on history, Steven Pressfield captured poignantly just how important families were and, I believe, are today. Facing an invading Persian army under King Xerxes, a coalition of Greek states sent a small force to buy time by defending the pass at Thermopylae and were led by 300 special, selected Spartans. The mission was desperate and death for the 300 certain.

Before he left to lead them, the Spartan king, Leonidas, explained to one of the Spartan wives how he had selected the 300 from an entire army famed for its professionalism, courage and dedication to duty.

"I chose them not for their valor, lady, but for that of their women. Greece stands now upon her most perilous hour. If she saves herself, it will not be at the gates. Death alone awaits us and our allies there but later in battles yet to come by land and sea."

"Then Greece, if the gods will it, will preserve herself. Do you understand this, lady? Well, now, listen, when the battle is over, when the 300 have gone to death, then all Greece will look to the Spartans to see how they bear it. But who, lady, will the Spartans look to? To you. To you and the other wives and mothers, sisters and daughters of the fallen."

"If they behold your hearts riven and broken with grief, they too will break and Greece will break with them. But if you bear up, dry eyed, not alone enduring your loss but seizing it with contempt for its agony and embracing it as the honor that it is in truth, then Sparta will stand and all Greece will stand behind her.

"Why have I nominated you, lady, to bear up beneath this most terrible of trials, you and your sisters of the 300? Because you can."

To all who wear no uniform but give so much, sacrifice so willingly and serve as such an example to our nation and each other, my thanks.
As I leave the Army, to those with responsibility to carry on, I'd say, service in this business is tough and often dangerous. It extracts a price for participation, and that price can be high.

It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal or professional costs of loss by limiting how much you commit, how much of belief and trust in people, and how deeply you care. Caution and cynicism are safe, but soldiers don't want to follow cautious cynics. They follow leaders who believe enough to risk failure or disappointment for a worthy cause.

If I had it to do over again, I'd do some things in my career differently but not many. I believed in people, and I still believe in them. I trusted and I still trust. I cared and I still care. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. To the young leaders of today and tomorrow, it's a great life. Thank you. (Applause.)

Fort Carson's 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) community is getting larger

Over recent months, the Army's 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) has quietly begun assembling a new operational battalion -- which, when complete, will consist of about 300 mission-ready Green Berets.

The move is part of the first major Special Forces expansion in 20 years, which began in 2008 to address the growing need for Green Berets and their small-team tactics against insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq.

All five Green Beret groups were tapped to receive a fourth battalion, the Army Special Operations Command said when it announced the expansion. That's an occupational necessity for a unit that deploys in small teams for classified operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although the post has been generally low-key about its fresh arrivals, the new battalion is hardly a state secret. "Other groups have stood up a fourth battalion, this is our turn and there will be others," said 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Osterholzer.

The 5th Special Forces Group (Abn) at Fort Campbell , KY. , got the first additions in August 2008.

The 3rd Special Forces Group (Abn) at Fort Bragg , N.C. , stood up a new battalion last summer.

The 10th SFG (A) plans to publicly announce the new battalion at an Aug. 19 news conference at Fort Carson.

The new Soldiers will bring Fort Carson 's contingent of Green Berets to three operational battalions. A fourth operational battalion under 10th Special Forces Group (Abn) is based in Stuttgart , Germany .

Lt. Col. Osterholzer said the new battalion is about 70 percent complete. "We've taken a blend of experienced (Special Forces) Soldiers from other organizations and balanced them in with new Soldiers straight out of the qualification course," he said.

Lt. Col. Osterholzer said training began "a good number of months ago," with cold-weather mountain warfare drills and urban combat exercises.

To accommodate the new arrivals, Fort Carson will in all likelihood need to add a barracks in the 10th SFG (A) area, Col. Robert McLaughlin, the garrison commander, said in a recent interview.

Until then, the unit will have to improvise by filling rooms left vacant by Soldiers who are deployed, he said. "We're able to shuffle so that our population can be billeted," McLaughlin said.

From an economic standpoint, the new arrivals are good news for the rest of the Pikes Peak Region, said Brian Binn, president of military affairs for The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. "If you add any number of Soldiers, then you add to the economic base," he said.

Terrill Confident Over Grand Jury

Terrill Confident Over Grand Jury

Grand Jury convened today but he's not been subpoenaed.

By Jerry Bohnen
Monday, August 16, 2010

A multi-county grand jury convened Monday in Oklahoma City but State Representative Randy Terrill and other legislators were not called in the Oklahoma County district attorney's probe of their actions to create a state job for one legislator.

Terrill assumed it meant he was no longer a target of David Prater's investigation but also charged Prater would not admit he was wrong in carrying out the probe over the past few months.

"He's so far out on a limb that he's backed himself into a corner," said Terrill in an interview with KTOK News. He sounded confident he and other legislators would not be summoned to testify before a grand jury, noting he had not been subpoenaed and the current grand jury was scheduled to disband in a month.

"I don't know whether he's a target of an investigation or not," explained Terrill's attorney, Stephen Jones. "But there's no basis to indict him or continue the investigation by the grand jury."

Jones contends the Oklahoma constitution is clear that the questions surrounding efforts by Terrill and others in the legislature to create the $80,000 a year job for State Senator Debbe Leftwich 'are the province of the House'.

Does it mean the D-A has dropped his investigation? Scott Rowland, first Assistant District Attorney wouldn't comment when asked about it today.

"He (Terrill) hasn't been subpoenaed for the August grand jury or any grand jury, so any opinion I would have would be speculative," said Jones. "He was subpoenaed for the grand jury in July but it was withdrawn by Prater and no new subpoena has been issued or served, so you can draw your own conclusions from that."

Hoo-AH: National Airborne Day honors past, present paratroopers

I did not see any Presidential Proclamations
which are usually issued before the event,
and there’s nothing in today Federal Register.

On August 16, 1940, "The United States Army Infantry Board Airborne Test Platoon", performed the first official U.S. Army parachute jump and on August 16, 1942 the 82nd Infantry Division was the first airborne division designated and was renamed the 82nd Airborne Division.

Since then U.S. Airborne troops have played a vital role in World War II, Panama, Grenada, Desert Storm, Haiti, Somalia, the Balkans, and the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

This year's event commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Army Parachute Test Platoon's first official jump and the 10th anniversary of the Special Operations Museum in downtown Fayetteville.

Lt. Gen. Dick Seitz, a World War II veteran who fought in the Battle of the Bulge in 1945 and earned a Silver Star, was the event's guest speaker.

In 1967, Seitz commanded the 82nd Airborne Division where he deployed troops to quell riots in Detroit and Washington, D.C. Within 36 hours of notification, he deployed the 3rd Brigade to Vietnam following the Tet Offensive.

Seitz's last assignment before retiring in 1975 was as the commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg. He spoke Saturday of the service and sacrifice made by members of the military.

In his remarks, Seitz revisited the origin of today's Army paratrooper. The first jump from an aircraft in flight by members of the test platoon of Airborne infantry was made from a Douglas B-18 over Lawson Field at Fort Benning, Ga., on Aug. 16, 1940.

"Those members of the test platoon were the cream of our Army," Seitz said. "They set the standards. They laid the groundwork for the spirit, for the professionalism we have in our Army."

“Although the environment has changed, our soldiers are still the dedicated soldiers they have always been,” Seitz said.

Other special guests included Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, the commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps; and Gen. James J. Lindsay, a former commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps.

"Airborne soldiers are a different breed of soldier," Helmick said. "When they take on a task, they go all the way."

In June, the original Iron Mike - the 2,500-pound statue of an 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper - was moved from storage on Fort Bragg and placed at the entrance to the Airborne museum.

On Saturday, Iron Mike's plaque was unveiled. It read:

"In honor of Airborne troopers whose courage, dedication, and traditions make them the world's finest fighting soldiers."

On August 14, 2002 President George W. Bush issued a proclamation to recognize August 16th as “National Airborne Day.”

In his proclamation President Bush states:

“During World War II, Airborne tactics were critical to the success of important missions, including the D-Day invasion at Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, the invasion of Southern France, and many others.

In Korea and Vietnam, Airborne soldiers played a critical combat role, as well as in later conflicts and peacekeeping operations, including Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Haiti, Somalia, and the Balkans.

Most recently, Airborne forces were vital to liberating the people of Afghanistan from the repressive and violent Taliban regime; and these soldiers con-tinue to serve proudly around the world in the global coalition against terrorism.

Airborne combat continues to be driven by the bravery and daring spirit of sky soldiers. Often called into action with little notice, these forces have earned an enduring reputation for dedication, excellence, and honor. As we face the challenges of a new era, I encourage all people to recognize the contributions of these courageous soldiers to our Nation and the world.”

Annual drill set to exercise U.S., S. Korean military leaders

Background: South Korea To Launch Theater Command by '09

U.S. and South Korean military leaders will train for the next few weeks to defend the South not with missiles, artillery or air power, but with keyboard strokes.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercise begins Monday on the Korean peninsula. The largely computer-based exercise will run through Aug. 26 and involve the leadership of virtually all U.S. military units in South Korea, along with South Korean troops and 3,000 American servicemembers brought into the country for the training.

“The focus will be on training service members while exercising senior leaders’ decision-making capabilities,” according to a U.S. Forces Korea news release.

Like the Exercise Key Resolve held every spring, Ulchi Freedom Guardian will be designed to prepare forces to respond “to any potential provocations.”

The United Nations Command alerted North Korean military officials about this month’s exercise at a meeting at the Demilitarized Zone in July.
Military officials said the annual exercise is not connected to the ongoing friction between North and South related to the March 26 sinking of the South Korean patrol ship Cheonan that killed 46 South Korean sailors. The North has denied any involvement in the sinking. However, an international team of investigators led by the South determined that a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine was to blame.

South Korea and the U.S. have since taken a number of economic, symbolic and military steps to punish the North for its alleged actions.

Last month, the U.S. and South Korea staged the Invincible Spirit exercise in the Sea of Japan — which Koreans refer to as the East Sea — a four-day event that involved 20 ships, 200 aircraft and 8,000 servicemembers. The two militaries are scheduled to participate in a similar drill in the Yellow Sea sometime in the weeks ahead.

Last week, North Korea fired artillery rounds near the disputed maritime border between the two Koreas in response to five days of naval drills the South staged in the Yellow Sea, known as the West Sea to Koreans.

Until the sinking of the Cheonan, Ulchi Freedom Guardian was to be the first joint exercise led by a South Korean general — a critical benchmark as the South prepared to assume wartime command of its troops starting in 2012. Questions raised in the wake of the sinking prompted the two countries to postpone the transfer date to December 2015.

In the meantime, the top U.S. general in South Korea will maintain operational control of all forces in the country in the event of war, and USFK commander Gen. Walter Sharp – the man now in that position – will lead the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise.

Nutty Korea joins Social Media fever to step up propaganda offensive

Nutty North Korea, one of the world's most reclusive nations, is now twittering.

Less than one month after the communist state started broadcasting propaganda clips on YouTube, North Korea opened an account on Thursday with Twitter Inc., the U.S. provider of a highly popular microblogging service.

The opening, announced Saturday on North Korea's official Web site Uriminzokkiri, comes as Pyongyang steps up its propaganda offensive to deny allegations that its Navy torpedoed a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors.

The North's twitter account, which opened under the name @uriminzok, or "our nation" in Korean, contained nine messages as of Sunday morning. Most of them had links to statements or interviews that denounce South Korea and the United States.

Twitter allows users to send texts up to 140 characters long, known as "tweets." Subscribers, or "followers," can choose to receive feeds via mobile phones or personal computers. 225 people were following @uriminzok as of Sunday morning.

Last month, North Korea registered an account with YouTube, uploading clips that praise its leader Kim Jong-il and defend itself against accusations that it attacked the Cheonan warship.

Background: Nutty North Korea silent on fate of South Korean fishing boat crew

Observers have taken note of North Korea's expanded use of the Internet for its propaganda offensive. In June, a North Korean woman believed to be an agent uploaded a clip praising the communist country on YouTube, drawing media attention here and abroad.

North Korea is also believed to be operating a unit dedicated to hacking foreign websites, including those of the United States and South Korea. Early this year, South Korea set up a cyber defense command to deal with such threats from the North.

The Unreported War - Cyber War

Nutty North Korea silent on fate of South Korean fishing boat crew

Background: South Korea Says Nutty North Seizes Fishing Boat


Nutty North Korea remains silent on the fate of a South Korean fishing boat and its crew members.

The boat with four South Korean and three Chinese crewmen was detained on last Sunday.

The South Korean government has urged Pyongyang to release them as soon as possible.

And it looks like tension will continue to remain high on the Korean peninsula as South Korea and the US are planning to hold military exercises next month.

Verbal threats from North Korea were an almost daily occurrence in the last few weeks.

It Is Pyongyang's way of showing unhappiness with South Korea for conducting military exercises on its own and also jointly with the US.

Background: North Korea vows 'physical response' to US exercise

And like before, many thought they would simply be that - threats - but no action.

But this time - the North Koreans proved them wrong.

Pyongyang seized a South Korean fishing boat off the peninsula's east coast - with four South Korean and three Chinese crewmen on board.

The communist state remains silent despite messages from the South calling for their quick release.

Instead, it fired more than 100 rounds of artillery shells from a base on its southwest coast near the inter-Korean sea border.

Most of the shells landed on the North Korean side and a few also fell on the southern side.

Background: Nutty North Korea fires artillery near inter-Korean maritime border

Baek Seung Joo, a researcher at Korea Institute for Defence Analysis said: "The reason North Korea fired the shells is because it wanted to test our military and see how we'll react. The fact that North Korea didn't attack our military vessels and fishing boats in that area shows that North Korea's military is also very worried about the consequences."

Experts said the tense situation on the Korean peninsula could drag on.

"With tension high now and North Korea even firing artillery rounds, it's possible this incident will become a long-term issue, and it could make things difficult for inter-Korean ties," Kim Yong Hyun, professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University.

This is especially so since South Korea and the US are planning more military exercises in September in the Yellow Sea.

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington is expected to take part in the drills despite opposition from North Korea and China.

The US and South Korea jointly held massive military exercises last month in a show of force after North Korea sunk a South Korean military vessel in March which killed 46 sailors.

Do You Remember the Green Beret Trading Cards, Part 2

Democratic Primary House District 68 has a winner

Background: House 68 election challenge hearing delayed; judge sets new date

A challenge to the House District 68 Democratic primary was withdrawn on Tuesday, leaving intact the four-vote victory of 28-year-old Tulsan Seth Watkins.

"After meeting with Seth Watkins this morning, my decision to end my challenge is based on the needs of Sand Springs and west Tulsa," Troy Zickefoose said in a statement issued through his attorney. "To work hard and come up four votes short is not easy, but the choice of endorsing Seth Watkins is an easy one."

Watkins could not be reached for comment, but according to the statement he has asked Zickefoose to chair his campaign.

Zickefoose, a 48-year-old Sand Springs insurance agent and former steel worker, had challenged the eligibility of 35 voters in the July 27 primary. His attorney, Laurie Phillips, said she was confident more than enough of those ballots could have been disqualified to force a new election.

But, she said, the new election was likely to come too near the Nov. 2 general election for the winner to campaign effectively against Republican nominee Glen Mulready.

Zickefoose said Watkins is "a fellow who knows what it means to work for a living. I will work with Seth and encourage all my friends and neighbors to support Seth's campaign. We need folks like Seth to throw the money changers out of the Capitol."

Zickefoose repeated earlier claims that Mulready, an insurance broker and consultant, is a lobbyist for the insurance industry.

Mulready is not registered as a lobbyist with the Oklahoma State Ethics Commission and said he has never worked as one. He said he is active in a professional association that has lobbied the Legislature.

House District 68 is currently represented by Republican House Speaker Chris Benge, who is term-limited. The district includes Tulsa and Sand Springs west and south of the Arkansas River.

Nutty North Korea fires artillery near inter-Korean maritime border

Nutty North Korea fired about 110 rounds of artillery Monday near its disputed sea border with South Korea, the South's military said, amid high tension over the deadly sinking of the South Korean Corvette Cheonan blamed on North Korea.

The firing came shortly after South Korea ended five-day naval drills off the west coast that the North called a rehearsal for an invasion, vowing to retaliate.

About 10 shells landed near the South Korean border island of Byeongryeong, followed by an additional 100 rounds falling near another border island, Yeonpyeong, said a spokesman of the Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul

A North Korea’s shore battery reportedly opened fire around 1730 local time (0830 GMT).

Personnel on South Korean Navy ships and Marines based on the islands saw columns of sea water spouting up after the shells struck.

The waters around the two islands were the site of three recent naval skirmishes between the Koreas — in 1999, 2002 and last November. In March, an explosion struck the Cheonan, a 1,200-ton South Korean Navy Corvette, in those waters, and the ship went down, killing 46 sailors. Strains in the North-South relationship deepened when international investigators fixed blame on the North.

And on Sunday, North Korean authorities seized four South Korean and three Chinese fishermen aboard a 41-ton South Korean fishing boat, the Daeseung for an alleged violation of the North's exclusive economic zone. South Korea has demanded the North quickly release them but the North has not responded.

Background: South Korea Says Nutty North Seizes Fishing Boat

Background: North Korea vows 'physical response' to US exercise

South Korea considered the firing to be part of a military drill by North Korea but still bolstered its military readiness against further provocation, the officer said. The South also warned Pyongyang over the firing by naval radio.

All the artillery shells harmlessly landed into the North's waters and caused no damage to the South, a South Korean Joint Chief of Staff officer said.

"This was their way of saying 'We'll respond to military drills with military drills,'" said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at Seoul's University of North Korean studies.

Yang said the firing is also aimed at highlighting the instability of the Korean peninsula to apply pressure on the United States to start talks on the signing of a peace treaty to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. The conflict ended with an armistice, thus leaving the peninsula technically at state of war.

Do You Remember the Green Beret Trading Cards?

Thought I would occassionally post a couple of the old Green Beret trading cards to bring back memories from some of you old timers.

South Korea Says Nutty North Seizes Fishing Boat

Officials in Seoul say North Korea has seized a South Korean fishing boat, the Daeseung that was operating in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) off the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula.

Authorities in the boat's home South Korean port of Pohang said the Daeseung had stopped sending signals after a fishing trip in the Sea of Japan, known in Korea as the East Sea, on Saturday.

South Korea's coast guard said in a statement Sunday that Pyongyang is investigating the fishing vessel for possibly operating in North Korea's exclusive economic zone. The coast guard said it was not clear where the Daeseung was operating when it was seized.

Reports say the Daeseung is being towed to the Northern port of Songjin.

Tension remains high between the Koreas amid a naval exercise carried out by the South in the Yellow Sea.

The South also recently carried out massive naval exercises with US forces in the Sea of Japan.

Background: North Korea vows 'physical response' to US exercise

The latest exercises, in the Yellow Sea, are the South's biggest-ever anti-submarine drills, with some 4,500 personnel taking part near the disputed maritime border.

Thousands of soldiers and sailors are engaging in the drills in waters near where a South Korean naval vessel, the Cheonan, was sunk by an explosion in March.

The South blames the sinking on North Korea, which responded furiously to the exercise near the disputed maritime border. The North's official Korean Central News Agency quoted a government agency (the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland) last week as threatening to use "offensive means beyond imagination" if the South ignites a war.

South Korea has promised an "immediate counter-attack" in case of any provocation from the North.

About 30 warships and submarines, 50 aircraft and 4,500 personnel are involved in the exercise, which runs through Monday.

The drills were scheduled in response to the Cheonan sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. A five-nation investigation concluded that the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo fired from a submarine. Pyongyang denies any involvement and has demanded to inspect the evidence.

House 68 election challenge hearing delayed; judge sets new date

For background see - Hearing set for today in House 68 voting problem

A legal challenge to the results in the House District 68 Democratic primary was continued to Aug. 12 by Tulsa County District Judge William Kellough on Wednesday.

Because of scheduling conflicts, the hearing will be before Presiding District Judge Tom Thornbrugh.

Sand Springs insurance agent Troy Zickefoose, who lost the July 27 election by four votes to Tulsan Seth Watkins, is seeking a new election.

A recount Tuesday reaffirmed the four-vote margin.

An amended petition filed Wednesday by Zickefoose's attorney, Laurie Phillips, contests the eligibility of 35 primary-election voters who the petition says do not live at the addresses listed on voter registration rolls.

Phillips said she has not had time to subpoena more than a handful of the voters in question. Three appeared at Wednesday's hearing but did not testify.

For the courts to declare a new election, Zickefoose will have to show that sufficient ineligible ballots were cast to have potentially changed the election's outcome.

To be eligible, voters generally must live in the same district but not necessarily the same precinct as the one in which they're registered.

Election Board officials said a new election, if ordered, could not be held until Nov. 2, the date of the general election.

That would mean that a second special election would be needed later to pit the Democratic primary winner against Republican nominee Glen Mulready.

But Phillips said Gov. Brad Henry could call for a new primary in September or October.

District 68 includes Tulsa and Sand Springs west and south of the Arkansas River.

Chinese missile could shift Pacific power balance

Nothing projects U.S. global air and sea power more vividly than supercarriers. That can reach deep into even landlocked trouble zones, America's virtually invincible carrier fleet has long enforced its dominance of the high seas.

China may soon put an end to that.

U.S. naval planners are scrambling to deal with what analysts say is a game-changing weapon being developed by China — an unprecedented carrier-killing missile called the Dong Feng 21D that could be launched from land with enough accuracy to penetrate the defenses of even the most advanced moving aircraft carrier at a distance of more than 3,000 km (1,900 mi).

Analysts say final testing of the missile could come as soon as the end of this year, though questions remain about how fast China will be able to perfect its accuracy to the level needed to threaten a moving carrier at sea.

The weapon, a version of which was displayed last year in a Chinese military parade, could revolutionize China's role in the Pacific balance of power, seriously weakening Washington's ability to intervene in any potential conflict over Taiwan or North Korea.

It could also deny U.S. ships safe access to international waters near China's 11,200-mile (18,000-kilometer) -long coastline. While a nuclear bomb could theoretically sink a carrier, assuming its user was willing to raise the stakes to that levels, the conventionally armed Dong Feng 21D's uniqueness is in its ability to hit a powerfully defended moving target with pin-point precision.

Funded by annual double-digit increases in the defense budget for almost every year of the past two decades, the Chinese navy has become Asia's largest and has expanded beyond its traditional mission of retaking Taiwan to push its sphere of influence deeper into the Pacific and protect vital maritime trade routes.

"The Navy has long had to fear carrier-killing capabilities," said Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the nonpartisan, Washington-based Center for a New American Security.

"The emerging Chinese antiship missile capability, and in particular the DF 21D, represents the first post-Cold War capability that is both potentially capable of stopping our naval power projection and deliberately designed for that purpose."

Background - Chinese Military Seeks to Extend Its Naval Power

Backgroung - Beijing learning about soft power

Background - China Mech

Background - U.S. Says Settling South China Sea Disputes ‘Pivotal’

Setting the stage for a possible conflict, Beijing has grown increasingly vocal in its demands for the U.S. to stay away from the wide swaths of ocean — covering much of the Yellow, East and South China seas — where it claims exclusivity.

It strongly opposed plans to hold U.S.-South Korean war games in the Yellow Sea off the northeastern Chinese coast, saying the participation of the USS George Washington supercarrier, with its 1,092-foot (333-meter) flight deck and 6,250 personnel, would be a provocation because it put Beijing within striking range of U.S. F-18 warplanes.

Background - China Deploys Bomber Coverage Of Korea And Taiwan From Shandong Peninsula

The carrier instead took part in maneuvers held farther away in the Sea of Japan.

U.S. officials deny Chinese pressure kept it away, and say they will not be told by Beijing where they can operate. "We reserve the right to exercise in international waters anywhere in the world,"

Rear Adm. Daniel Cloyd, who headed the U.S. side of the exercises, said aboard the carrier during the maneuvers, which ended last week. But the new missile could undermine that policy.

"China can reach out and hit the U.S. well before the U.S. can get close enough to the mainland to hit back," said Toshi Yoshihara, an associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College. He said U.S. ships have only twice been that vulnerable — against Japan in World War II and against Soviet bombers in the Cold War.

Carrier-killing missiles "could have an enduring psychological effect on U.S. policymakers, It underscores more broadly that the U.S. Navy no longer rules the waves as it has since the end of World War II. The stark reality is that sea control cannot be taken for granted anymore."

Yoshihara said the weapon is causing considerable consternation in Washington, though — with attention focused on land wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — its implications haven't been widely discussed in public. Analysts note that while much has been made of China's efforts to ready a carrier fleet of its own, it would likely take decades to catch U.S. carrier crews' level of expertise, training and experience.

But Beijing does not need to match the U.S. carrier for carrier. The Dong Feng 21D, smarter, and vastly cheaper, could successfully attack a U.S. carrier, or at least deter it from getting too close.

Background - China Building A Pair of Aircraft Carrier

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned of the threat in a speech last September at the Air Force Association Convention...

"When considering the military-modernization programs of countries like China, we should be concerned less with their potential ability to challenge the U.S. symmetrically — fighter to fighter or ship to ship — and more with their ability to disrupt our freedom of movement and narrow our strategic options."

Gates said China's investments in cyber and anti-satellite warfare, anti-air and anti-ship weaponry, along with ballistic missiles, "could threaten America's primary way to project power" through its forward air bases and carrier strike groups.

Background - Congress warned of Chinese cyber, space threats

Background - Cyberattack Gets Worse

Background - China’s Cyber-Militia

The Pentagon has been worried for years about China getting an anti-ship ballistic missile. The Pentagon considers such a missile an "anti-access," weapon, meaning that it could deny others access to certain areas.

The Air Force's top surveillance and intelligence officer, Lt. Gen. David Deptula, told reporters this week that China's effort to increase anti-access capability is part of a worrisome trend.

He did not single out the DF 21D, but said: "While we might not fight the Chinese, we may end up in situations where we'll certainly be opposing the equipment that they build and sell around the world."

Questions remain over when — and if — China will perfect the technology; hitting a moving carrier is no mean feat, requiring state-of-the-art guidance systems, and some experts believe it will take China a decade or so to field a reliable threat. Others, however, say final tests of the missile could come in the next year or two.

Former Navy commander James Kraska, a professor of international law and sea power at the U.S. Naval War College, recently wrote a controversial article in the magazine Orbis outlining a hypothetical scenario set just five years from now in which a Deng Feng 21D missile with a penetrator warhead sinks the USS George Washington.

That would usher in a "new epoch of international order in which Beijing emerges to displace the United States." While China's Defense Ministry never comments on new weapons before they become operational, the DF 21D — which would travel at 10 times the speed of sound and carry conventional payloads.

A pseudonymous article posted on Xinhuanet, website of China's official news agency, imagines the U.S. dispatching the George Washington to aid Taiwan against a Chinese attack.

The Chinese would respond with three salvos of DF 21D, the first of which would pierce the hull, start fires and shut down flight operations, the article says. The second would knock out its engines and be accompanied by air attacks. The third wave, the article says, would "send the George Washington to the bottom of the ocean."

(Dong-Feng) DF-21D (CSS-5 Mod-4(NATO))
Anti-ship ballistic missile
Dong-Feng means "East Wind"

Originally developed for strategic purposes, the DF-21's later variants were designed for both nuclear and conventional missions. As well as a nuclear warhead of around 300kt, it is thought that high explosive, submunition and chemical warheads are also available.

The latest DF-21D was said to be the world's first and only anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM). The DF-21 has also been developed into space launcher and anti-satellite/anti-missile weapon carrier.

The US Department of Defense has stated that China is developing a conventionally-armed high hypersonic land-based anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) based on the DF-21, with a range of up to 3,000 km (1,900 mi).

This would be the world's first and only ASBM and the world's first weapons system capable of targeting a moving aircraft carrier strike group from long-range, land-based mobile launchers.

These would combine manoeuvrable reentry vehicles (MaRVs) with some kind of terminal guidance system. Such a missile may have been tested in 2005-6, and the launch of the Jianbing-5/YaoGan-1 and Jianbing-6/YaoGan-2 satellites would give the Chinese targeting information from SAR and visual imaging respectively.

The upgrades would greatly enhance China's ability to conduct sea-denial operations to prevent US carriers from intervention in the Taiwan Strait.

China has recently launched a series of satellites to support its ASBM efforts

Yaogan-VII electro-optical satellite - 9 December 2009

Yaogan-VIII synthetic aperture radar satellite - 14 December 2009

Yaogan-IX Naval Ocean Surveillance System (NOSS) constellation (3 satellites in formation) - 5 March 2010.

CAIR Oklahoma's Board Chair charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering in connection with fraudulent mortgages

Michael Aziz Gipson, CAIR Oklahoma's Board Chair up until just a week ago, was in court to plead not guilty to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering in connection with fraudulent mortgages.

CAIR Oklahoma quickly removed Gipson's name from their website, and appointed someone else to that position, Dr. Amir Khaliq, is a professor at OU's College of Public Health.

July 29, 2010
Defendants plead not guilty in real estate scheme
Case involves 2 homes in Edmond

Mark Schlachtenhaufen
The Edmond Sun

OKLAHOMA CITY — Three defendants, including an Edmond man, indicted in an alleged scheme involving local real estate pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday.

Derrick Reuben Smith, 46, of Edmond, Michael Aziz Gipson, 60, of Oklahoma City, and Trina Tahir, 54, of Oklahoma City, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bana Roberts and all pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering in connection with fraudulent mortgages.

A $5,000 unsecured bond was set for each defendant, and the case is currently scheduled to be on the Sept. 13 trial docket of U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti.

In short, the defendants are charged with allegedly inducing lenders to fund mortgages based on inflated real estate prices and misrepresenting the distribution of excessive loan proceeds to Smith as commissions and bonuses paid to Tahir.

According to the indictment, Smith allegedly recruited two individuals to buy two new homes in Edmond in mid-2006 and early 2007 for $425,000 and $435,000, respectively.

The builder of both homes agreed that Tahir’s real estate brokerage, T&T Realty, would receive large commissions and bonuses totaling $51,950 and $77,950, respectively.

The indictment alleges that after the closings, Tahir caused T&T Realty to write checks to Gipson, an agent at T&T Realty, for $27,059.86 and $58,000, respectively.

Gipson then allegedly bought cashier’s checks in those same amounts payable to “MP Services,” a business that Smith operated. Smith allegedly paid $20,000 to the person who served as the buyer of the first house and used the rest of the money for his own purposes, according to court records.

The indictment also charges Gipson and Tahir with fraudulently misrepresenting the source of funds used as a down payment on a house that Gipson bought in Midwest City and charges Tahir with fraudulently disguising the payment of $9,295.52 to a buyer of a house in Oklahoma City as a real estate bonus.

The four wire fraud counts are based on interstate wires from lenders to fund the purchases of the four properties.

In addition to the conspiracy count and the four wire-fraud counts, the indictment includes nine counts of money laundering. In each of these, one of the defendants is charged with engaging in a financial transaction designed to conceal and disguise the nature, source and ownership of the proceeds of the mortgages, according to court records.

The indictments stem from an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office.

Hearing set for today in House 68 voting problem

Troy Zickefoose (Dem), of Sand Springs, claims eight voters were not qualified to vote in last week's primary. He said seven don't live at the address listed on voting information and one address is a vacant lot.

A court hearing is set for today (Aug 4, 2010) in Tulsa County to hear the voting irregularity allegations in the Tulsa area House District 68 Democratic primary. Troy Zickefoose, who lost by four votes in the race, claims one voter who is shown to have cast a ballot is deceased.

If a judge decides to uphold the House election results, state Election Board members will certify the results next week.

The judge can throw out the results and order a special election if it's determined enough invalid votes were cast to alter last week's results. The special election would be scheduled after the Nov. 2 general election because state law does not allow elections to be held in September or October

A manual recounts Tuesday of Tulsa County and Creek County precincts resulted in Zickefoose and Seth Watkins, of Tulsa, each picking up one vote, leaving Watkins with a four-vote victory, 863-859.

Glen Mulready, of Tulsa, won last week's House District 68 Republican primary election. The incumbent, House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, could not seek re-election because of term limits.