I am a former team member of Army Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha 585. I fought in Afghanistan, from the earliest days. I am currently a member of law enforcement. In other words, I am everything that the cliche says should make me a conservative. I am a progressive.
I have been working on a much longer version of this diary, about the un-Americanism of Fox News and the current conservative movement. I have wanted to go public with an opinion piece, but my boss says no -- my division (again, law enforcement) receives a fair amount of federal funding, and he fears that criticism might put us in the cross hairs of the Republicans (think about the meaning of that fear for a moment.)
And so, I will publish my longer piece here soon. But for now, my fury requires me to print this diary.
Fox News wants to kill our troops. They should be put on trial for treason.
Never did I imagine that the blind hyper-partisinism of the conservatives would so directly attack American troops. (They have done so more subtly: Imagine what it is like to be fighting under the Commander in Chief of the United States while legitimate politicians and news media are saying he is a Kenyan, and a Manchurian Candidate.)
In the past few days, in order to attack Obama, the traitors at Fox have been raging about the U.S. putting "boots on the ground" in Libya. Now, what that demonstrates to me is that none of these people have ever served in the military: boots on the ground means a full-scale ground war. But that is not what they are talking about.
Instead, they are criticizing and fear-mongering over their belief that a Special Forces detachment is in Libya. I have no specific knowledge of whether this is true. Such information, for the obvious reasons of protecting our troops, is classified. Fox is guessing. And they are inviting the Lbyans to hunt for members of Special Forces.
Since they have openly said -- and misrepresented -- the nature of this work, I will explain. Laser guided munitions are used for the purpose of minimizing civilian casualties. The version most frequently used is called the Paveway II, either a GVU-12 or GVU-16. Each is employed in different scenarios.
Now the thing about laser-guided munitions is that they require a laser. In other words, someone has to be up-front, right in the area of conflict, to use a laser pointer to guide the bomb. If no one "paints" the target, then the laser guidance function is pointless.
Again, I do not know if Special Forces troops are in Libya to provide laser guidance. If they are, the sole purpose is targeting, so that the specific location is struck. To argue or to speculate whether there are Special Forces troops doing this work is, at best, reckless and at worst, treason. If they are there, to argue that they are is to give the Libyans a direct place to hunt. I will not describe why that is so, but it is.
So, over the last few days, Fox has been saying "We think they're there! Boots on the ground! Fear the Kenyan!" (ok, the last part I made up.) They are doing it solely to lead an attack on Obama. If there are Special Forces troops in Libya, then Fox is saying: "Go find them Libya!! Kill! Kill!" Because even speculations (by a news source that would be seen as "credible" overseas" gives reason to hunt.
Here are the things that have been said over the last few days, courtesy of Media Matters. (Please note: Shaffer and Hunt should be arrested.)
O'REILLY: In the impact segment tonight, not much new to report out of Libya other than Gadhafi's ground forces continue to be hammered by NATO war planes. Some Americans fear there will be boots on the ground in Libya.
The Obama administration says that's not going to happen, but what is happening on the ground may surprise you. Joining us now from Washington Lt. Colonel Tony Shaffer, a former Army Intelligence Officer and from Boston Colonel David Hunt, Fox News military analyst.
So we hear special forces are already on the ground in Libya. True, Colonel Hunt?
COLONEL DAVID HUNT, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): Yes, absolutely. You've got British service been in there about three weeks ago and captured and released. The French GIGN have been in there and our special forces and our U.S. intelligence operatives and their assets.
We do not conduct operations like this, large scale air operations without people on the ground. They have been very successful, very good, not a lot of contact with the rebels because you don't know who to talk to.
But, yes, we have got Intel gathering, and rescue guys and special operations guys on the ground, have had them for about 12 days.
O'REILLY: Now, do you agree with that, Colonel Shaffer?
LT. COLONEL TONY SHAFFER, FORMER ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Yes, I have heard from my sources -- I got a call from one of my key sources on Monday and that's exactly what's going on. Let's be really clear here.
You have got to have these individuals doing what Dave just said, especially when you are talking about trying to protect and the stated goal here, Bill, is humanitarian support.
So you don't want to have weapons hitting the wrong targets. So, Dave is very good on the fact that we have special operations guys sitting there with laser designators. Bill, you saw -
O'REILLY: Well, tell me what a laser designator is?
SHAFFER: Well, laser designator is a thing you put on a target especially when you are talking about having close quarters between the adversary -
O'REILLY: So they actually from the air can see these laser designators? So we have guys saying here, you get these people?
SHAFFER: Right, right.
Here is where they ADMIT they are putting US troops at risk.
O'REILLY: Now, the Obama administration says flat out we don't have any boots on the ground there. We are not going to have them. Is that a lie, Colonel Hunt?
HUNT: Yes, it's disinformation. It's protecting guys whose assets on the ground. We don't talk about covert activity. Some the stuff I have been involved in both the Southeast Asia and the Balkans, you know, it's really protecting our guys.
O'REILLY: You were one of the guys on grounds in the Balkans, Colonel Hunt was, when we weren't supposed it have any guys on the ground, correct?
HUNT: Yes, and the reason it's not published want to protect the guys I was with. In this case, it was Seals and trying to do some Intel work -- without the bad guys knowing about it. It's the same issue here with Libya.
O'REILLY: All right, but you were there yourself doing this while the Clinton administration was saying we didn't have anybody there. You were there. I just want people to know that that you have hands on experience and you know what's going on.
Now, Colonel Shaffer, when you say that we have guys in there, you are talking Delta Force guys? Green Beret guys? Navy Seals? All of those people?
SHAFFER: I know what group I was told are in there and their primary duty, their primary job is to make -- we would call them Forward Air controllers, Combat Air controllers.
O'REILLY: OK, but they are attached to the military service. We assume CIA guys are in there. You have got to assume that they are in there. They are everywhere, but they are civilians. You are talking about a military guys in there?
SHAFFER: Right, and their job is to basically make sure that on the terminal phase, the terminal ballistic phase of a bomb going into target that it goes into the target we want.
O'REILLY: Doesn't blow up villagers that have nothing to do with it.
SHAFFER: The bottom line is we trust our guys more than anyone else.
O'REILLY: Of course, look, we have the best Intel people in the world. They are all over the place and -- but I want people to know what's going on in Libya. That's my job.
Within these statements is the information needed to find the troops. I won't explain what it is. And again, I will not speculate whether they are there.
Then on Fox & Friends, where they continue to use the "boots on the ground" fallacy.
BRIAN KILMEADE (co-host): Special ops are involved in 100 different operations at any point. And as -- you were on the show last night. You heard, they use the term painting the targets. They're on there, so when the jets come over, you have special ops on the ground actually saying, "Okay, hit here" -
STEVE DOOCY (co-host): The laser pointers --
KILMEADE: -- and the laser goes right there, and the bomb hits right there.
DOOCY: The other guy in the split screen is Lieutenant Colonel Tony Shaffer, in operations like this, we always have guys on the ground who do recon, and surveillance and stuff like that. But for the administration to say, don't worry, we're not going to have boots on the ground, that's not exactly honest. Is it? Because we already do have boots on the ground.
CARLSON: Well -- no. I don't think that's an issue. I think that you need to protect those people who are there. I think when it becomes an issue is if we actually have boots on the ground.
DOOCY: We have boots on the ground!
CARLSON: No, no, no, if we actually are there.
DOOCY: If we invade?
CARLSON: Yes. When you say boots on the ground --
DOOCY: We're not going to invade.
CARLSON: Ok, well, that's a totally different thing and most Americans would understand that we have secret, covert people there, and we don't want to blow their cover. But it's totally different when you're talking about what our long-term mission is there, and that remains unknown.
Later, Doocy the Traitor says:
DOOCY: Meanwhile, a stunning revelation -- sources say there are troops on the ground in Libya. Will this spell more trouble for President Obama in the court of public opinion?
He doesn't even TRY to disguise the reason for his treasonous behavior.
They're treason has enraged retired Special Forces members. I have been on phone calls and emailed all day long. And if anyone is killed as a result of Doocy, O'Reilly or any of these other traitors, I do not care what happens to my job. I will resign and go public, once our troops are safe.
And I will call for the arrest and trial of everyone one of these un-American b***tards.