Jackson Blasts Obama for Betraying CIA Operatives
By Shaun Kenney | Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 | PoliticsBishop E.W. Jackson is taking on the Obama Administration in grand, direct style. From the release:
“The Obama Administration has left our brave men and women of the Central Intelligence Agency out to dry. After using them to advance his goal of killing Osama Bin Laden, he has abandoned them to an out-of-control Justice Department. Obama’s Attorney General is bent on politicizing legitimate policy differences over enhanced interrogation techniques, the same techniques that have provided a treasure trove of intelligence on Al-Queda and their operations.
Just last week, CIA Director Leon Panetta admitted that the use of these interrogation techniques directly lead to the actionable intelligence needed for the successful raid that killed Bin Laden. But rather than pat them on the back, Obama wants to prosecute these same CIA employees who worked tirelessly to keep America safe and were told by their own lawyers that their interrogation methods were completely legal?
It is shameful that the President is conducting a witchhunt on our intelligence apparatus while at the same time praising them for securing his greatest foreign policy achievement.
It is shameful that the CIA has to spend more time looking over their shoulders out of fear of unwarranted prosecution instead of looking ahead at finding and defeating our terrorist enemies.
It is shameful that our CIA operatives are being abandoned while we are fighting the War on Terror.
We need people in Washington that will not cave in to the tyranny of political correctness when it comes to our national security. The Obama Justice Department is out-of-touch and out-of-control, and I am running for the United States Senate to stop this liberal Agenda and bring some sanity back to our nation’s capital.”
Yo. That is some heavy heat right there.
Just in case you don’t know who Bishop E.W. Jackson is… he’s not just your average fellow:
E. W. Jackson has dedicated his life to God and country. Raised in a foster home, he learned the importance of hard work, living within your means and Christian values. After serving in the United States Marine Corps, Jackson studied and graduated from Harvard Law School and successfully practiced small business law for close to fifteen years. Jackson represented countless businesses and American entrepreneurs, fighting for job creators and their property rights. Jackson left the practice of law when he was called to serve his community through ministry. A strong believer in American exceptionalism, Jackson believes in hard work serving others, and integrity are the key ingredients to success in America. He is running for the United States Senate to stop the Obama Agenda and to bring a new era of leadership to Washington.
I was extremely impressed with his speech at the Fluvanna GOP Breakfast this weekend. Foster family? Harvard graduate? Marine? Christian? Lawyer? It’s like Allen West… only with 5x more awesome added!
I have to say, it’s a refreshing change to see a U.S. Senate candidate take on the Obama Administration directly, and without slamming another challenger in turn. Great move — watch this campaign, folks.
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About the author
Shaun Kenney is the Chairman of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, former Communications Director for the Republican Party of Virginia, and an active blogger since 2002. Shaun lives in Thomas Jefferson's backyard with his wife, six children, and a modest attempt at a farm in Kents Store, Virginia.
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28 Responses to "Jackson Blasts Obama for Betraying CIA Operatives"
I interviewed him today. Very impressive guy, very poised, very polished. Seems rational. And yet, he thinks he’s going to take the GOP Senate nomination away from George Allen. Can’t really see that happening. But, he’s a Bishop, I guess people in his business believe in miracles more than I do.
Like I said, very impressive fellow… folks like that make their own luck.
If y’all missed my podcast with him, you need to hear him for yourself. He’s one to watch.
Shaun,
I have a pimple on my butt that is 5x more awesome than Allen West.
That’s fucked up, HisRoc.
Sigh . . . no one has legitimate discussions anymore because everyone only argues against straw men. There is a difference between harsh interrogation and torture. If anyone went beyond their guidance or authority into gratuitous cruelty or needless sadism they should be punished – REGARDLESS of where you draw the line between torture and harsh interrogation.
Obviously no one within the four corners of the (to my mind flawed) DoJ memoranda on what’s allowed will be prosecuted. The important conversation to have is about where that line is, not these sorts of silly attacks and accusations.
Evan –
You can’t decry “straw men” in one breath, then set one up and knock it down in turn. Like, the police come and lock you up for illogic or something…
JR,
Allen West was relieved of battalion command and ordered to stand trial at a General Court-Martial for ordering his soldiers to beat an Iraqi policeman whom they suspected had information concerning a planned attack on LTC West. When the beating did not produce the desired results, he took the policeman outside, drew his 9mm sidearm, and twice conducted a mock execution, firing his weapon along side of the man’s head after telling him he was going to shot him in the back of the head.
The subsequent criminal investigation determined that the Iraqi policeman had no actionable information. (Duh. If you put a 9mm to the back of my head, I could probably make up a pretty good story real quick.) West, on the other hand, was charged with violating several articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the laws of land warfare.
West quickly contrived a defense that he was not acting out of his own interest but acting to avert attacks on his soldiers. He also insisted that he had instructed his soldiers not to do what he was about to do. (The old do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do leadership principle.)
Enter influential members of Congress led by Senator John Warner. They petitioned the DoD not to court-martial West and in an egregious act of unlawful command influence, West’s division commander was forced to withdraw the charges and offer West non-judicial punishment and retirement in his present grade. Under public law, a commissioned officer can only retire at the last grade in which he “served honorably,” Major in the case of Lieutenant Colonel West.
Subsequently, the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal broke and the very same members of Congress said, “Allen who?” and demanded that the DoD court-martial the guilty prison guards. Several enlisted and NCO personnel have been convicted of far lesser offenses than Allen West admitted to in his Article 15 hearing and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. They are sitting in the US Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, KS, and Allen West is sitting in Congress.
You tell me, JR, what is fucked up.
I don’t see the straw man I created there.
I noted that the DoJ investigation is into people going beyond their legal authority and being overly harsh – ie: torture even under the rules in place under the Bush administration. Investigating whether or not that went down isn’t unreasonable, in fact it’s required by almost anyone’s idea of a moral society. I might have misattributed the motivation for tortur to sadism instead of misplaced zeal, but that’s hardly a straw man sufficient to invalidate my argument.
The real straw man is all this “[Obama] has left our brave men and women of the Central Intelligence Agency out to dry” nonsense being spouted above.
@HisRoc –
I did not know any of that about Allen West. Wow.
[...] don’t see it happening. First of all, I just read this piece over at Bearing Drift, and came away impressed with Bishop Jackson. I have yet to meet him, but how can you not take [...]
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=185704
@HisRoc, Do we need to revisit this discussion?
Here’s a true leader:
http://tv.breitbart.com/lt-col-allen-west-wears-controversy-over-iraq-interrogation-as-badge-of-honor
I met a lot of officer’s throughout my career, some were useful idiot’s who pushed papers and managed assets. Other’s were true leader’s who led and made sacrifices for their troops.
Which one were you? I would serve with that pimple anyday. It’s worth a hell of a lot more than the ass it’s attached too.
JJ,
I am sorry that you have bought into Allen West’s despicable narrative that “he was only doing it for the troops.” He was guilty of abusing a detainee to protect his own ass. And you are the ass if you believe his self-aggrandizing story of “sacrifice.”
You are probably not old enough to remember 1LT Rusty Calley. He murdered 110 innocent civilians at a place called My Lai and was lionized in the popular press at the time as a scapegoat. The only difference between Calley and West is that Calley wasn’t smart enough to run for Congress.
If I believe in self-aggrandizing stories, I’d be a Democrat. I’ve been around long enough to know BS.
As for the sausage making, they roughed up an Iraqi who possibly had info about an attack. After roughing him up, ambushes declined if not ceased and there were two arrests. He took responsibility of his troop’s actions and plea bargained his charges. I don’t need any more information. I can even take your version, even with the jealous name calling.
The real story is how the Congress turned tail when tough decisions needed to be made. It totally demonstrates why our country is in the condition it’s in. And why Obama’s running around championing the Navy Seals killing Osama and Eric Holder has CIA agents on trial.
Myself, I believe that the CIA Agents should not be on trial and these corrupt politicians should quit using Allen West and our military as political pawns. It’s all political bullcrap.
JJ,
And just how do we know that ambushes declined after West ordered the detainee “roughed up?” Oh, that’s right. We have Allen West’s word for it. And West didn’t plea-bargain diddly squat. He leveraged political pressure which resulted in unlawful command influence to beat the rap. West is as big of a fraud as your (most likely) biggest hero, Oliver North.
Jealous? What do I have to be jealous of West over? I never got relieved of my command and threatened with a court-martial. No, I’m just sick and tired of these mediocre officers who can get the job done without taking shortcuts that violate the law and their sacred oath of commission. And I’m sick and tired of the chicken hawk conservatives who have never served a day in uniform lionizing them and giving them political support.
who can’t get the job done
I’ve been around enough to know how the military works.
I’m a retired 20-year SNCO. So, I was where the rubber met the road. While your pencil pushing ass was making those so-called ethical decisions via Powerpoint, I had to execute those stupid decisions.
You don’t know how many times I had to deviate from orders because some officer didn’t know what hell he was doing. Or babysit one of your officer kids just out of college. So, don’t give me this BS of how ethical you are while never having to fit a square peg through a round hole.
I’m rather curious what this “sacred oath of commission” is? That’s rather interesting. As I earned my troops’ loyalty through hard work and dedication as demonstrated by Allen West. He or I didn’t need any SACRED oath.
Oh, and I retired with an Honorable Discharge also and no threat of a court martial.
The real question in all of this is JJs: “why is Obama running around championing the Navy Seals killing Osama while Eric Holder has CIA agents on trial.” Hypocritical to say the least.
Our own soldiers go through terrorists training in case they are interrogated. They have been water boarded, (not one of them killed or seriously injured), they have been pepper sprayed, (that didn’t kill them either). These water boarding techniques were used on THREE detainees only and may have saved countless lives. We may never know what plans they found in OBL’s lair that will now be thwarted.
“I’ve been where you are now and I know just how you feel. It’s entirely natural that there should beat in the breast of every one of you a hope and desire that some day you can use the skill you have acquired here.
Suppress it! You don’t know the horrible aspects of war. I’ve been through two wars and I know. I’ve seen cities and homes in ashes. I’ve seen thousands of men lying on the ground, their dead faces looking up at the skies. I tell you, WAR IS HELL!”
William Tecumseh Sherman
19 June 1879
Wow. A whole 20 years of showing up for work and hating officers. I’m not impressed.
HR: While not impressed with his rhetoric or reasoning skills, as another former enlisted puke, I can’t argue with his hatred of officers
Not sure we need to take it to the point of lionizing criminals, however.
I’m a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer. I didn’t hate all the officer’s I served under, but I noticed that the best of those I ser
I’m a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer. I didn’t hate all the officer’s I served under, but I noticed that the best of them had some previous enlisted experience.
But I always served in operational commands and I will admit there is a need for eggheads the further we get back to the rear.
Steve,
Just between you and me, there were many officers I hated, too.
Actually, I was defending an officer.
@Steve,
Where did I loose you? Fraternization and sodomy are against the UCMJ too, are you telling me that you didn’t break those laws? Heck, you probably violated those laws in one night.
@LittleDavid,
Agree with your opinion on officers, I did not hate “all” officers. There were some who were tough to work with because they were managing by Powerpoint. I’m sure you’re familiar with what I’m talking about. In the Air Force, they were plentiful.
Thanks to both of you for your service…even HR.
Where did I lose you?
JJ,
Thank you, I think. And thanks for your service as well.
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