RONALD REAGAN'S WISDOM ON THE MIDDLE EAST: LEAVE!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851715/posts

Ronald Reagan's wisdom on the Middle East: LEAVE!
OC Register ^ | July 21, 2006 | John Seiler

Posted on 06/17/2007 1:22:37 PM EDT by OrthodoxPresbyterian

Ronald Reagan is America's most beloved president of recent years. We remember how he restored prosperity while ending the Cold War without getting us all nuked....

It's worth looking back on Reagan's policy on involving U.S. troops in the quarrels and hatreds of the Middle East. In 1983, he committed U.S. Marines to Lebanon. On Oct. 23, a terrorist truck bomb blew up the troops' barracks, killing 220 Marines and 21 other troops.

At first, Reagan insisted that he wouldn't cave in to the terrorist threat. Then he realized the best policy was to pull out the troops. Here's how he explained it in his autobiography:

Perhaps we didn't appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle. Perhaps the idea of a suicide car bomber committing mass murder to gain instant entry to Paradise was so foreign to our own values and consciousness that it did not create in us the concern for the marines' safety that it should have.

In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believed the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 marines would be alive today.

Reagan's sensible policy -- "neutral position and neutrality" -- should be followed today.... And troops now in Iraq should be brought home immediately. Almost 2,600 have been killed in Iraq, 10 times the number killed in Lebanon when Reagan decided to leave.

(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.ocregister.com ...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851715/posts

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Report: Ron Paul Meet-Up...

ACTIVISM REPORT – first Central Oklahoma Ron Paul Meet-Up: Fire Mountain, June 16, 2007

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851665/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851665/posts

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Iwakuni SgtMaj - Affair w/Officer's Wife - CM, BRig, etc.

SERGEANT MAJOR AT IWAKUNI MCAS GETS
OFF EASY AFTER SEVEN-MONTH AFFAIR WITH
FIELD-GRADE OFFICER'S WIFE - COURT-MARTIAL
GIVES E-9 THIRTY DAYS IN THE BRIG, LOSS OF
ONE STRIPE IF FADRIQUE TARAZON ACCEPTS
RETIREMENT AFTER 27 YEARS SERVICE
WOULD A LANCE CORPORAL OR EVEN A
GUNNY HAVE GOTTEN SUCH A SWEET DEAL?

PLEASE CLICK-HERE!!!!!

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Ever Wonder About Your Google “Web History”???

Ever Wonder About Your Google “Web History”???

CIA Seed Money Helped Launch Google…?
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/061206seedmoney.htm

CIA Google Search…
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=gmail&q=cia%20google

YOUR Google Web History???
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=54067&topic=10472

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GyG Update: “Ever Wonder About YOUR Google ‘Web History”‘
No score for this post June 13 2007, 2:50 PM

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Friends:
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Yesterday, after I posted the above, I decided to delete, if I could, my “Web History” from my Google page. After much ado, I found the prescribed way of doing so. I had no idea just how much precise tracking of me they had done.

The below email from google/gmail advising of my
“gmail lockdown” is just a coincidence I am sure,
and is likely unrelated to my post and deleting of my “Web History” yesterday.

http://tinyurl.com/2y5fsv
http://tinyurl.com/2y5fsv

In any case, The GyG Mailbag will revert to my
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Ever Wonder About Your Google "Web History"???

*************************************

Ever Wonder About Your Google "Web History"???

CIA Seed Money Helped Launch Google...?
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/061206seedmoney.htm

CIA Google Search...
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=gmail&q=cia%20google

YOUR Google Web History???
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?answer=54067&topic=10472

-G
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GyG Update: "Ever Wonder About YOUR Google 'Web History"'
No score for this post June 13 2007, 2:50 PM

************************************
Friends:
Please be advised....

Yesterday, after I posted the above, I decided to delete, if I could, my "Web History" from my Google page. After much ado, I found the prescribed way of doing so. I had no idea just how much precise tracking of me they had done.

The below email from google/gmail advising of my
"gmail lockdown" is just a coincidence I am sure,
and is likely unrelated to my post and deleting of my "Web History" yesterday.

http://tinyurl.com/2y5fsv
http://tinyurl.com/2y5fsv

In any case, The GyG Mailbag will revert to my
mailing via another email service, etc., until/if this is cleared up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gmail by Google

Account Lockdown: Unusual Activity
Detected

This account has been locked down due to unusual
account activity. It may take up to 24 hours for
you to regain access.

Unusual account activity includes, but is not
limited to:

1. Receiving, deleting, or downloading large
amounts of mail via POP in a short period of
time.
2. Sending a large number of undeliverable
messages (messages that bounce back).
3. Using file-sharing or file-storage
software, browser extensions, or third party
software that automatically logs in to your
account.
4. Leaving multiple instances of your Gmail
account open.
5. Browser-related issues. Please note that if
you find your browser continually reloading while
attempting to access your Inbox, it's probably
a
browser issue, and it may be necessary to clear
your browser's cache and cookies.

If you feel that you have been using your Gmail
account according to the Gmail Terms of Use, you
can troubleshoot your problem by clicking here.

©2005 Google - Gmail Home - Privacy
Policy
-
Program Policies - Terms of Use - Google Home
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RESTORE THE REPUBLIC!
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: GunnyG
Date: Jun 13, 2007 6:08 AM
Subject: [Furl] GunnyG 's Headlines for June 13, 2007
To: gun-@gmail.com

Daily Furl Headlines for June 13, 2007
From GunnyG - http://www.furl.net/members/gunnyg

Bush Sides With Mexican Killers Against U.S.
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 13 at 1:37 AM


NewsMax: McCain: Enemy of the POWs
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 13 at 1:32 AM


McCain: Enemy of the POWs
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 13 at 1:27 AM


IS MANDATORY VOLUNTEERISM, UNCOMPENSATED LABOR?
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 13 at 12:28 AM


Ever Wonder About Your Google Web History???
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 13 at 12:10 AM


The Real Reason for Bush's Invasion of Iraq is a National Security
Secret
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 11:55 PM


DRIP on 'em all
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 11:48 PM


The Last Days of Europe show how immigration is at the root of
Europe's current problems.
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 8:54 PM


Big Brother targets smokers after smoking ban
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 3:01 PM



Man Faces 7 Year Sentence Under "Wiretapping Law" For Filming
Police
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 2:55 PM


NOW! WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH IMMIGRATION
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 2:46 PM


The Essence of Liberty, Part 85
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 1:43 PM


The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 1:31 PM


Lieutenant Colonel Mark Smith, United States Marine Corps
Reserves...
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 1:25 PM


Marine blames seniors in Haditha probe
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 1:06 PM


Exclusive: Amnesty Anathema
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 12:51 PM


Exclusive: Time to Annex Mexico!
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 12:46 PM


OUTFLANKING THE KAKISTOCRACY PART 1 of 3
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 12:41 PM


GOVERNMENT'S ILLUSIONAL BORDER SECURITY
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 12:36 PM


ILLEGALS/NAU: A HOT SUMMER COMING
Rated 5 in topic General
From network54.com on June 12 at 12:25 PM


Today's Toons...
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From network54.com on June 12 at 12:15 PM




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"The Original Gunny G!"
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RESTORE THE REPUBLIC!
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BACKROOM ATTACK SINKS GEN PACE

BACKROOM ATTACK SINKS GEN PACE

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1848075/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1848075/posts

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************************************
Gunny G's GLOBE and ANCHOR
~Sites*Forums*Blogs~
R.W. "Dick" Gaines
GnySgt USMC (Ret.)
1952--(Plt #437, PISC)--'72
"The Original Gunny G!"
***************************
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~~~~~~~~~~~~
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RESTORE THE REPUBLIC!
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Sites & Forums For... The Thinking Marine!

GyG's Globe and Anchor! --Sites & Forums
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GyG's Old Salt Marines Tavern ~Interactive~
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THIS AIN'T YER GRANDPAP'S AMERICA ANYMORE!
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Israel's Attack on the USS Liberty, Revisited

**************************************Saturday 9 June 2007
Israel's Attack on the USS Liberty, Revisited
by Jeffery St.Clair

Source: www.counterpunch.org
http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair06082007.html

In early June of 1967, at the onset of the Six Day War, the Pentagon sent the USS Liberty from Spain into international waters off the coast of Gaza to monitor the progress of Israel's attack on the Arab states. The Liberty was a lightly armed surveillance ship.

Only hours after the Liberty arrived it was spotted by the Israeli military. The IDF sent out reconnaissance planes to identify the ship. They made eight trips over a period of three hours. The Liberty was flying a large US flag and was easily recognizable as an American vessel.

A few hours later more planes came. These were Israeli Mirage III fighters, armed with rockets and machine guns. As off-duty officers sunbathed on the deck, the fighters opened fire on the defenseless ship with rockets and machine guns.

A few minutes later a second wave of planes streaked overhead, French-built Mystere jets, which not only pelted the ship with gunfire but also with napalm bomblets, coating the deck with the flaming jelly. By now, the Liberty was on fire and dozens were wounded and killed, excluding several of the ship's top officers.

The Liberty's radio team tried to issue a distress call, but discovered the frequencies had been jammed by the Israeli planes with what one communications specialist called "a buzzsaw sound". Finally, an open channel was found and the Liberty got out a message to the USS America, the Sixth Fleet's large aircraft carrier, that it was under attack

Two F-4s left the carrier to come to the Liberty's aid. Apparently, the jets were armed only with nuclear weapons. When word reached the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara became irate and ordered the jets to return. "Tell the Sixth Fleet to get those aircraft back immediately," he barked. McNamara's injunction was reiterated in saltier terms by Admiral David L. McDonald, the chief of Naval Operations: "You get those ****ing airplanes back on deck, and you get them back down." The planes turned around. And the attack on the Liberty continued.

After the Israeli fighter jets had emptied their arsenal of rockets, three Israeli attack boats approached the Liberty. Two torpedoes were launched at the crippled ship, one tore a 40-foot wide hole in the hull, flooding the lower compartments, and killing more than a dozen American sailors.

As the Liberty listed in the choppy seas, its deck aflame, crew members dropped life rafts into the water and prepared to scuttle the ship. Given the number of wounded, this was going to be a dangerous operation. But it soon proved impossible, as the Israeli attack boats strafed the rafts with machine gun fire. No body was going to get out alive that way.

After more than two hours of unremitting assault, the Israelis finally halted their attack. One of the torpedo boats approached the Liberty. An officer asked in English over a bullhorn: "Do you need any help?"

The wounded commander of the Liberty, Lt. William McGonagle, instructed the quartermaster to respond emphatically: "**** you."

The Israeli boat turned and left.

A Soviet destroyer responded before the US Navy, even though a US submarine, on a covert mission, was apparently in the area and had monitored the attack. The Soviet ship reached the Liberty six hours before the USS Davis. The captain of the Soviet ship offered his aid, but the Liberty's commanding officer refused.

Finally, 16 hours after the attack two US destroyers reached the Liberty. By that time, 34 US sailors were dead and 174 injured, many seriously. As the wounded were being evacuated, an officer with the Office of Naval Intelligence instructed the men not to talk to the press about their ordeal.

The following morning Israel launched a surprise invasion of Syria, breaching the new cease-fire agreement and seizing control of the Golan Heights.

Within three weeks, the Navy put out a 700-page report, exonerating the Israelis, claiming the attack had been accidental and that the Israelis had pulled back as soon as they realized their mistake. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara suggested the whole affair should be forgotten. "These errors do occur," McNamara concluded.
***

In Assault on the Liberty, a first-hand account by James Ennes Jr., McNamara's version of events is proven to be as big a sham as his concurrent lies about Vietnam. Ennes's book created a media storm when it was first published by Random House in 1980, including (predictably) charges that Ennes was a liar and an anti-Semite. Still, the book sold more than 40,000 copies, but was eventually allowed to go out of print. Now Ennes has published an updated version, which incorporates much new evidence that the Israeli attack was deliberate and that the US government went to extraordinary lengths to disguise the truth.

It's a story of Israel aggression, Pentagon incompetence, official lies, and a cover-up that persists to this day. The book gains much of its power from the immediacy of Ennes's first-hand account of the attack and the lies that followed.

Now, 35 years later, Ennes warns that the bloodbath on board the Liberty and its aftermath should serve as a tragic cautionary tale about the continuing ties between the US government and the government of Israel.

The Attack on the Liberty is the kind of book that makes your blood seethe. Ennes skillfully documents the life of the average sailor on one of the more peculiar vessels in the US Navy, with an attention for detail that reminds one of Dana or O'Brien. After all, the year was 1967 and most of the men on the Liberty were certainly glad to be on a non-combat ship in the middle of the Mediterranean, rather than in the Gulf of Tonkin or Mekong Delta.

But this isn't Two Years Before the Mast. In fact, Ennes's tour on the Liberty last only a few short weeks. He had scarcely settled into a routine before his new ship was shattered before his eyes.

Ennes joined the Liberty in May of 1967, as an Electronics Material Officer. Serving on a "spook ship", as the Liberty was known to Navy wives, was supposed to be a sure path to career enhancement. The Liberty's normal routine was to ply the African coast, tuning in its eavesdropping equipment on the electronic traffic in the region.

The Liberty had barely reached Africa when it received a flash message from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to sail from the Ivory Coast to the Mediterranean, where it was to re-deploy off the coast of the Sinai to monitor the Israeli attack on Egypt and the allied Arab nations.

As the war intensified, the Liberty sent a request to the fleet headquarters requesting an escort. Requesrt denied, by Admiral William Martin. The Liberty moved alone to a position in international waters about 13 miles from the shore at El Arish, then under furious siege by the IDF.

On June 6, the Joint Chiefs sent Admiral McCain, father of the senator from Arizona, an urgent message instructing him to move the Liberty out of the war zone to a position at least 100 miles off the Gaza Coast. McCain never forwarded the message to the ship.

A little after seven in the morning on June 8, Ennes entered the bridge of the Liberty to take the morning watch. Ennes was told that an hour earlier a "flying boxcar" (later identified as a twin-engine Nord 2501 Noratlas) had flown over the ship at a low level.

Ennes says he noticed that the ship's American flag had become stained with soot and ordered a new flag run up the mast. The morning was clear and calm, with a light breeze.

At 9 am, Ennes spotted another reconnaissance plane, which circled the Liberty. An hour later two Israeli fighter jets buzzed the ship. Over the next four hours, Israeli planes flew over the Liberty five more times.

When the first fighter jet struck, a little before two in the afternoon, Ennes was scanning the skies from the starboard side of the bridge, binoculars in his hands. A rocket hit the ship just below where Ennes was standing, the fragments shredded the men closest to him.

After the explosion, Ennes noticed that he was the only man left standing. But he also had been hit by more than 20 shards of shrapnel and the force of the blast had shattered his left leg. As he crawled into the pilothouse, a second fighter jet streaked above them and unleashed its payload on the hobbled Liberty.

At that point, Ennes says the crew of the Liberty had no idea who was attacking them or why. For a few moments, they suspected it might be the Soviets, after an officer mistakenly identified the fighters as MIG-15s. They knew that the Egyptian air force already had been decimated by the Israelis. The idea that the Israelis might be attacking them didn't occur to them until one of the crew spotted a Star of David on the wing of one of the French-built Mystere jets.

Ennes was finally taken below deck to a makeshift dressing station, with other wounded men. It was hardly a safe harbor. As Ennes worried that his fractured leg might slice through his femoral artery leaving him to bleed to death, the Liberty was pummeled by rockets, machine-gun fire and an Italian-made torpedo packed with 1,000-pounds of explosive.

After the attack ended, Ennes was approached by his friend Pat O'Malley, a junior officer, who had just sent a list of killed and wounded to the Bureau of Naval Personnel. He got an immediate message back. "They said, 'Wounded in what action? Killed in what action?'," O'Malley told Ennes. "They said it wasn't an 'action,' it was an accident. I'd like for them to come out here and see the difference between an action and an accident. Stupid bastards."

The cover-up had begun.
***

The Pentagon lied to the public about the attack on the Liberty from the very beginning. In a decision personally approved by the loathsome McNamara, the Pentagon denied to the press that the Liberty was an intelligence ship, referring to it instead as a Technical Research ship, as if it were little more than a military version of Jacques Cousteau's Calypso.

The military press corps on the USS America, where most of the wounded sailors had been taken, were placed under extreme restrictions. All of the stories filed from the carrier were first routed through the Pentagon for security clearance, objectionable material was removed with barely a bleat of protest from the reporters or their publications.

Predictably, Israel's first response was to blame the victim, a tactic that has served them so well in the Palestinian situation. First, the IDF alleged that it had asked the State Department and the Pentagon to identify any US ships in the area and was told that there were none. Then the Israeli government charged that the Liberty failed to fly its flag and didn't respond to calls for it to identify itself. The Israelis contended that they assumed the Liberty was an Egyptian supply ship called El Quseir which, even though it was a rusting transport ship then docked in Alexandria, the IDF claimed was suspected of shelling Israeli troops from the sea. Under these circumstances, the Israelis said they were justified in opening fire on the Liberty. The Israelis said that they halted the attack almost immediately, when they realized their mistake.

"The Liberty contributed decisively toward its identification as an enemy ship," the IDF report concluded. This was entirely false, since the Israelis had identified the Liberty at least six hours prior to the attack on the ship.

Even though the Pentagon knew better, it gave credence to the Israeli account by saying that perhaps the Liberty's flag had lain limp on the flagpole in a windless sea. The Pentagon also suggested that the attack might have lasted less than 20 minutes.

After the initial battery of misinformation, the Pentagon imposed a news blackout on the Liberty disaster until after the completion of a Court of Inquiry investigation.

The inquiry was headed by Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd. Kidd didn't have a free hand. He'd been instructed by Vice-Admiral McCain to limit the damage to the Pentagon and to protect the reputation of Israel.

Kidd interviewed the crew on June 14 and 15. The questioning was extremely circumscribed. According to Ennes, the investigators "asked nothing that might be embarrassing to Israel and testimony that tended to embarrass Israel was covered with a 'Top Secret' label, if it was accepted at all."

Ennes notes that even testimony by the Liberty's communications officers about the jamming of the ship's radios was classified as "Top Secret". The reason? It proved that Israel knew it was attacking an American ship. "Here was strong evidence that the attack was planned in advance and that our ship's identity was known to the attackers (for it its practically impossible to jam the radio of a stranger), but this information was hushed up and no conclusions were drawn from it," Ennes writes.

Similarly, the Court of Inquiry deep-sixed testimony and affidavits regarding the flag. Ennes, remember, had ordered a crisp new one deployed early on the morning of the attack. The investigators buried intercepts of conversations between IDF pilots identifying the ship as flying an American flag.

It also refused to accept evidence about the IDF's use of napalm during the attacks and choose not to hear testimony regarding the duration of the attacks and the fact that the US Navy failed to send planes to defend the ship.

"No one came to help us," said Dr. Richard F. Kiepfer, the Liberty's physician. "We were promised help, but no help came. The Russians arrived before our own ships did. We asked for an escort before we ever came to the war zone and we were turned down."

None of this made its way into the 700-page Court of Inquiry report, which was completed within a couple of weeks and sent to Admiral McCain in London for review.

McCain approved the report over the objections of Captain Merlin Staring, the Navy legal officer assigned to the inquiry, who found the report to be flawed, incomplete and contrary to the evidence.

Staring sent a letter to the Judge Advocate General of the Navy disavowing the report. The JAG seemed to take Staring's objections to heart. He prepared a summary for the Chief of Naval Operations that almost completely ignored the Kidd/McCain report. Instead, it concluded:

"that the Liberty was easily recognizable as an American naval vessel; that its flag was fully deployed and flying in a moderate breeze; that Israeli planes made at least eight reconnaissance flights at close range; the ship came under a prolonged attack from Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats."

This succinct and largely accurate report was stamped Top Secret by Navy brass and stayed locked up for many years. But it was seen by many in the Pentagon and some in the Oval Office. But there was enough grumbling about the way the Liberty incident had been handled that LBJ summoned that old Washington fixer Clark Clifford to do damage control. It didn't take Clifford long to come up with the official line: the Israelis simply had made a tragic mistake.

It turns out that Admiral Kidd and Captain Ward Boston, the two investigating officers who prepared the original report for Admiral McCain, both believed that the Israeli attack was intentional and sustained. In other words, the IDF knew that they were striking an American spy ship and they wanted to sink it and kill as many sailors as possible. Why then did the Navy investigators produce a sham report that concluded it was an accident?

Twenty-five years later we've finally found out. In June of 2002, Captain Boston told the Navy Times: "Officers follow orders."

It gets worse. There's plenty of evidence that US intelligence agencies learned on June 7 that Israel intended to attack the Liberty on the following day and that the strike had been personally ordered by Moshe Dayan.

As the attacks were going on, conversations between Israeli pilots were overheard by US Air Force officers in an EC121 surveillance plane overhead. The spy plane was spotted by Israeli jets, which were given orders to shoot it down. The American plane narrowly avoided the IDF missiles.

Initial reports on the incident prepared by the CIA, Office of Naval Intelligence and the National Security Agency all reached similar conclusions.

A particularly damning report compiled by a CIA informant suggests that Israeli Defense minister Moshe Dayan personally ordered the attack and wanted it to proceed until the Liberty was sunk and all on board killed. A heavily redacted version of the report was released in 1977. It reads in part:

"[The source] said that Dayan personally ordered the attack on the ship and that one of his generals adamantly opposed the action and said, 'This is pure murder.' One of the admirals who was present also disapproved of the action, and it was he who ordered it stopped and not Dayan."

This amazing document generated little attention from the press and Dayan was never publicly questioned about his role in the attack.

The analyses by the intelligence agencies are collected in a 1967 investigation by the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations. Two and half decades later that report remains classified. Why? A former committee staffer said: "So as not to embarrass Israel."

More proof has recently come to light from the Israeli side. A few years after Attack on the Liberty was originally published, Ennes got a call from Evan Toni, an Israeli pilot. Toni told Ennes that he had just read his book and wanted to tell him his story. Toni said that he was the pilot in the first Israeli Mirage fighter to reach the Liberty. He immediately recognized the ship to be a US Navy vessel. He radioed Israeli air command with this information and asked for instructions. Toni said he was ordered to "attack". He refused and flew back to the air base at Ashdod. When he arrived he was summarily arrested for disobeying orders.
***

How tightly does the Israeli lobby control the Hill? For the first time in history, an attack on an America ship was not subjected to a public investigation by Congress. In 1980, Adlai Stevenson and Barry Goldwater planned to open a senate hearing into the Liberty affair. Then Jimmy Carter intervened by brokering a deal with Menachem Begin, where Israel agreed to pony up $6 million to pay for damages to the ship. A State Department press release announcing the payment said, "The book is now closed on the USS Liberty."

It certainly was the last chapter for Adlai Stevenson. He ran for governor of Illinois the following year, where his less than perfect record on Israel, and his unsettling questions about the Liberty affair, became an issue in the campaign. Big money flowed into the coffers of his Republican opponent, Big Jim Thompson, and Stevenson went down to a narrow defeat.

But the book wasn't closed for the sailors either, of course. After a Newsweek story exposed the gist of what really happened on that day in the Mediterranean, an enraged Admiral McCain placed all the sailors under a gag order. When one sailor told an officer that he was having problems living with the cover-up, he was told: "Forget about it, that's an order."

The Navy went to bizarre lengths to keep the crew of the Liberty from telling what they knew. When gag orders didn't work, they threatened sanctions. Ennes tells of the confinement and interrogation of two Liberty sailors that sounds like something straight from the CIA's MK-Ultra program.

"In an incredible abuse of authority, military officers held two young Liberty sailors against their will in a locked and heavily guarded psychiatric ward of the base hospital," Ennes writes. "For days these men were drugged and questioned about their recollections of the attack by a 'therapist' who admitted to being untrained in either psychiatry or psychology. At one point, they avoided electroshock only by bolting from the room and demanding to see the commanding officer."

Since coming home, the veterans who have tried to tell of their ordeal have been harassed relentlessly. They've been branded as drunks, bigots, liars and frauds. Often, it turns out, these slurs have been leaked by the Pentagon. And, oh yeah, they've also been painted as anti-Semites.

In a recent column, Charley Reese describes just how mean-spirited and petty this campaign became. "When a small town in Wisconsin decided to name its library in honor of the USS Liberty crewmen, a campaign claiming it was anti-Semitic was launched," writes Reese. "And when the town went ahead, the U.S. government ordered no Navy personnel to attend, and sent no messages. This little library was the first, and at the time the only, memorial to the men who died on the Liberty."
***

So why then did the Israelis attack the Liberty?

A few days before the Six Days War, Israel's Foreign Minister Abba Eban visited Washington to inform LBJ about the forthcoming invasion. Johnson cautioned Eban that the US could not support such an attack.

It's possible, then, that the IDF assumed that the Liberty was spying on the Israeli war plans. Possible, but not likely. Despite the official denials, as Andrew and Leslie Cockburn demonstrate in Dangerous Liaison, at the time of the Six Days War the US and Israel had developed a warm covert relationship. So closely were the two sides working that US intelligence aid certainly helped secure Israel's swift victory. In fact, it's possible that the Liberty had been sent to the region to spy for the IDF.

A somewhat more likely scenario holds that Moshe Dayan wanted to keep the lid on Israel's plan to breach the new cease-fire and invade into Syria to seize the Golan.

It has also been suggested that Dayan ordered the attack on the Liberty with the intent of pinning the blame on the Egyptians and thus swinging public and political opinion in the United States solidly behind the Israelis. Of course, for this plan to work, the Liberty had to be destroyed and its crew killed.

There's another factor. The Liberty was positioned just off the coast from the town of El Arish. In fact, Ennes and others had used the town's mosque tower to fix the location of the ship along the otherwise featureless desert shoreline. The IDF had seized El Arish and had used the airport there as a prisoner of war camp. On the very day the Liberty was attacked, the IDF was in the process of executing as many as 1,000 Palestinian and Egyptian POWs, a war crime that they surely wanted to conceal from prying eyes. According to Gabriel Bron, now an Israeli reporter, who witnessed part of the massacre as a soldier: "The Egyptian prisoners of war were ordered to dig pits and then army police shot them to death."

The bigger question is why the US government would participate so enthusiastically in the cover-up of a war crime against its own sailors. Well, the Pentagon has never been slow to hide its own incompetence. And there's plenty of that in the Liberty affair: bungled communications, refusal to provide an escort, situating the defenseless Liberty too close to a raging battle, the inability to intervene in the attack and the inexcusably long time it took to reach the battered ship and its wounded.

That's par for the course. But something else was going on that would only come to light later. Through most of the 1960s, the US congress had imposed a ban on the sale of arms to both Israel and Jordan. But at the time of the Liberty attack, the Pentagon (and its allies in the White House and on the Hill) was seeking to have this proscription overturned. The top brass certainly knew that any evidence of a deliberate attack on a US Navy ship by the IDF would scuttle their plans. So they hushed it up.

In January 1968, the arms embargo on Israel was lifted and the sale of American weapons began to flow. By 1971, Israel was buying $600 million of American-made weapons a year. Two years later the purchases topped $3 billion. Almost overnight, Israel had become the largest buyer of US-made arms and aircraft.

Perversely, then, the IDF's strike on the Liberty served to weld the US and Israel together, in a kind of political and military embrace. Now, every time the IDF attacks defenseless villages in Gaza and the West Bank with F-16s and Apache helicopters, the Palestinians quite rightly see the bloody assaults as a joint operation, with the Pentagon as a hidden partner.

Thus, does the legacy of Liberty live on, one raid after another.

This is essay appears in The Politics of Anti-Semitism edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair.

Source: www.counterpunch.org
http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair06082007.html

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Amnesty? Check With The Folks In Columbus, NM...

***************************************
By Joe Griffith

In Pursuit of

Pancho Villa 1916-1917

http://www.hsgng.org/pages/pancho.htm

Doroteo Arango, alias Francisco "Pancho" Villa, was born in 1877 (1879 according to some sources) in San Juan del Rio, State of Durango, Mexico. During his lifetime, he was a ruthless killer (killing his first man at age sixteen), a notorious bandit (including cattle rustling and bank robbery), a revolutionary (a general commanding a division in the resistance against the 1913-14 Victoriano Huerta dictatorship), and despite his bloodthirsty nature, an enduring hero to the poor people of Mexico. In their minds, Villa was afraid of no one, not the Mexican government or the gringos from the United States. He was their one true friend and avenger for decades of Yankee oppression.1

In late 1915 Pancho Villa had counted on American support to obtain the presidency of Mexico. Instead the U.S. Government recognized the new government of Venustiano Carranza. An irate Villa swore revenge against the United States.and began by murdering Americans in hopes of provoking President Woodrow Wilson's intervention into Mexico. Villa believed that American interevention would discredit the Carranza government with the people of Mexico and reaffirm his own popularity.

Villa and his "pistoleros" launched raids along the U.S.- Mexico boundary to frighten the Americans living in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona border towns. Concerned for the safety of Americans, President Wilson ordered the War Department to begin deploying troops to Texas and New Mexico. In April, 1915, Brigadier General John J. Pershing and his 8th Infantry Brigade were sent to Fort Bliss, Texas with the mission of guarding the U.S.- Mexico border from Arizona to a bleak outpost in the Sierra Blanca mountains ninety miles southeast of El Paso.

While the presence of American troops served to deter Villa on the north of the Rio Grande, the murder of U.S. citizens in Mexico continued. One of the most heinous atrocities occurred January 11, 1916, when Villa's bandits stopped a train at Santa Ysabel (See Map 1). The bandits removed a group of 17 Texas business men (mining engineers) invited by the Mexican government to reopen the Cusihuiriachic mines below Chihuahua City and executed them in cold blood. However, one of those shot feined death and rolled down the side of the embankment and, crawling away into a patch of brown mesquite bushes, escaped. The train moved on, leaving the corpses at the mercy of the slayers, who stripped and mutilated them. After the escapee arrived back at Chihuahua City, a special train sped to Santa Ysabel to reclaim the bodies. When the people of El Paso heard of the massacre, they went wild with anger. El Paso was immediately placed under martial law to prevent irate Texans from crossing into Mexico at Juarez to wreak vengeance on innocent Mexicans.2

Despite outrage in the United States and Washington over the Santa Ysabel massacre, President Wilson refused to intervene and send troops into Mexico. Two months later, Villa decided to strike again. This time he would invade the United States. At 2:30 a.m., on the morning of March 9, 1916, he and 500 "Villistas" attacked the 13th U.S. Cavalry at Camp Furlong near Columbus, New Mexico (Map 1). Despite prior knowledge that Villa and his men were pillaging, raping, and murdering their way toward the border, the cavalry was caught completely by surprise. One reason for the cavalry's sluggishness was because some of the troops had been drinking, but perhaps more importantly, all of the troops' rifles were chained and locked in gun racks. Still, the cavalry managed to get organized and fought off the "Villistas" killing many of them in the process. During their retreat, however, the "Villistas" stopped at Columbus, New Mexico for a looting and window-shooting spree that left several U.S. civilians dead. For three hours, bullets struck houses and shouts of "Viva Villa! Viva Mexico! Muerte a los Americanos!" (death to americans) were heard in the streets. The town was set afire, though Villa's men realized nothing beyond a few dollars and perhaps some merchandise from the burntout stores. The terror continued until about 7 a.m., and when Villa finally rode off, the smoke-filled streets of Columbus were littered with the dead and wounded. Fourteen American soldiers and ten civilians were killed in the raid.3

Although Villa's losses from from his American incursion were high, he had achieved his aim of arousing the United States. Now, he and his men headed due south from Palomas seeking the safety of the mountains of the Sierra Madre. However, the 13th U.S. Cavalry was now in hot pursuit. Colonel Frank Tompkins had managed to gather 32 cavalrymen and was nipping at the heels of the fleeing Mexicans. His troops sighted Villa's rear guard and killed over thirty men and horses. Colonel Tompkins kept up the chase for eight hours and killed a number of stragglers as well as more of Villa's rear guard. Lacking supplies, Tompkins and his cavalrymen were forced to return to Camp Furlong. On their way back, they counted 75 to 100 "Villistas" killed during their hastily organized pursuit.4

pancho1.JPG

The populace of Columbus was in a state of hysteria. The American cavalry troops collected the bodies of the "Villistas" that had been shot in the streets and on the outskirts of town and piled them on funeral pyres and cremated them. For a day or more the fires smoldered and the odor of burning flesh permeated the air. Columbus lay virtually demolished, so completely burned and pillaged that it never recovered its former vitality.5

To prevent repetitions of the Columbus outrage, President Wilson called out 15,000 militia and stationed them along the U.S. - Mexico border (Map 1). Wilson also informed President Carranza that he intended to send a military expedition into northern Mexico to capture Pancho Villa, and Carranza reluctantly agreed. President Wilson then appointed Brigadier General John J. Pershing to lead 4,800 troops (mostly cavalry), supported by aircraft and motorized military vehicles (the first time either were used in U.S. warfare) on a punitive expedition into Mexico to capture Villa.

However, there was a catch to Pershing's mission orders from Wilson that would be decisive in the end. Pershing was to pursue and punish Villa, but not to upset the Carranza government by firing on any of his troops. The futility of Wilson's orders was plain even before the expedition began, when the local Carranzista commander at nearby Palomas threatened to attack the Americans. Pershing was only able to stave off an incident by hiring the man as a guide for his troops. Carranza would take advantage of Wilson's restrictions to make life miserable for the Punitive Expedition throughout their mission.


General Pershing
General John Pershing


Pancho Villa on horseback

Doroteo Arango "PanchoVilla"
In 1916, the Signal Corps Aviation Service only had a few crude aircraft. The 1st Aero Squadron which was assigned to support Pershing was equipped with six Curtiss JN-2 "Jennies" which had a reputation of being unstable deathtraps. In addition, the airservice was handicapped by inexperienced pilots. Pershing was barely a month into the expedition when he lost all six of his aircraft. Two crashed within the first week of the expedition.

Pershing's expedition also provided an opportunity for one of the Army more headstrong members. . . George S. Patton, then a young lieutenant. Fearing he would be left behind on mundane border patrol with his unit, Patton pleaded with Pershing to take him along as a replacement for one of his two aides that was absent when the expedition was ordered into Mexico. Pershing agreed at the last moment and took him. The thirty year old Patton was convinced that he would now be able to fulfill his destiny as a great warrior.6

Villa had a nine days headstart before Pershing's Expedition crossed into Mexico (Map 1) at noon on March 15, 1916. By that time, Villa and his men were well hidden in the mountains. To cover the uncharted terrain, Pershing divided his force into East and West columns and proceeded methodically into the unfamiliar Mexican interior.7

Basically, the two American columns of the expedition got nowhere in their pursuit of Villa. Northern Mexico was a vast wasteland with few towns and dominated by the barren and rugged Sierra Madre Mountains with peaks averaging ten to twelve thousand feet and honeycombed with deep canyons providing excellent hiding places for Villa and his men. The few roads were little more than dirt trails, dusty in dry weather and muddy quagmires in the rain. Villa's men were on their home ground while Pershing was moving into unfamiliar and largely unmapped territory depending on Mexican guides whose loyalty was always questionable.

Pershing's soldiers, mostly raw recruits, encountered every imaginable mishap during their eleven months in Mexico. President Carranza had promised assistance, but when, for example, Pershing's men were on the verge of capturing Villa, the "Carranzistas" attacked them. Another time, Pershing's Indian scouts misinformed him about the location of Villa's lair. On other occasions, the scouts brought in blood-filled boots and bullet-riddled shirts as "proof" that he had been killed.8

Columbus, New Mexico after the raid
Columbus, New Mexico after Villa's raid.

Pershing's East column fanned out from Columbus (Map 1) through cactus and desert, pueblos and small settlements, Ascension and Corralitos. The West column meandered about among hills and plains to Culbertson's Ranch (Map 1), one hundred miles west of El Paso, near the New Mexico - Arizona - Mexico border, and the Ojitos to the south. After some months, both columns converged at Casas Grandes only to split again a little later, with one heading south for Pearson, Cumbre, and Madera, and the other marching southeastwardly for Guerrero, Agua caliente, Ojos Azules, and Carrizal.

At Colonia Dublan (Map 2), Pershing established his permanent command post where he began to plan how he would snare Villa. Everywhere U.S. Troops went, men, women, and children cheerfully provided them with misinformation about his (Villa's) whereabouts.9

As in past American invasions (e.g., the Mexican War of 1846-1848), the Pershing Expedition was a financial "boon" to Mexico. The American soldiers' wants were catered to and satisfied everywhere they went. Prices skyrocketed. If they so desired, soldiers could submerge themselves in Mexican beer. Cantinas were open all night. In many restaurants soldiers devoured "deer" meat that once ran in the streets barking. Life was hard only when the Americans marched or rode along the dirt roads and were eating their dry ration crackers and looking for water. Dublan was transformed into an enormous military encampment complete with a railhead where tons of supplies were unloaded by a thousand civilian workers. The soldiers and civilians worked by day and brawled by night in the saloons and bordellos that had sprung up in the once sleepy town.10

pancho.JPG

Villa's men mingled with the populace at will by simply removing the cartridge belts they normally strapped across their chests. They even mixed with the Americans and attended Western "cowboy" movies with Pershing's officers.11

In May, 1916, Lieutenant Patton saw combat for the first time. Based on information about the location of Julio Cardenas, one of Villa's most trusted subordinates and commander of his personal bodyguard; Patton, accompanied by ten soldiers from the 6th Infantry Regiment, and two civilian guides traveling in three Dodge open top touring automobiles, conducted a surprise raid on a ranch house at San Miguelito (Map 2) near Rubio. During the ensuing fire-fight, Patton and his men killed three men. One was identified as Cardenas. The other two dead Mexicans were an unnamed Villista captain and a private. Patton's men tied the bodies to the hoods of the cars, while Patton put Cardenas' silver-studded saddle and sword into his vehicle. The spectacle of the three cars with the bodies tied on the hoods caused a great commotion along the road, but Patton and his party sped through the countryside to their headquarters at Dublan without incident.

At around 4 p.m., Patton arrived at Dublan with the three bloody corpses strapped across the blistering-hot hoods of the automobiles. War correspondents crowded around to get a first hand account of his adventure. The stories they filed made Patton a national hero for several weeks. His photograph appeared in newspapers around the United States. Pershing was pleased that someone had enlivened the hunt for Villa and actually taken out a key member of his band. He even permitted Patton to keep Cardenas' sword and silver saddle as trophies of his first fight.12

In June, Pershing was informed that Villa could be taken at the small village of Carrizal, northwest of his command center at Dublan. (Map 2). When the Pershing's troops assaulted the village on June 21, they quickly realized they had been hoodwinked for they found themselves fighting "Carranzistas," not Villistas. Scores of "Carranzitas" were killed or wounded. Villa was reported to have watched with much delight � from a safe distance � as his two enemies battled each other in total confusion.13

The unfortunate American attack on Mexican government troops became known as the "Carrizal Affair" and created a such a rowe that war with Mexico seemed possible. The situation led President Wilson to call 75,000 National Guardsmen into Federal service to help police the U.S. - Mexico border (Map 2). In fact, hostilities with Mexico probably would have erupted then and there, but for the bitter war raging in Europe. Wilson, anxious not to become involved in Mexico at a time when relations with Germany were deteriorating, agreed to submit Mexican complaints arising out of the punitive expedition to a joint commission for settlement. Some time later the commission ruled that, among other things, that the debacle at Carrizal was the fault of the American unit commander.

For the remainder of 1916, the intensity of the hunt for Villa waned and replaced by the tedious routine of life in a temporary bivouac. Boredom spawned drunken shoot-outs between troops and local Mexicans. In an attempt to keep his men busy, Pershing initiated a tough new training program that included cavalry maneuvers. It was clear by this time, however, that given President Wilson's restrictive orders and the growing intransigence of the Carranza regime that the Pershing led Mexican incursion was doomed to failure.14

Meanwhile, back in the United States, National Guard units were being called out to secure the U.S. - Mexico border. Units of the Georgia National Guard were mobilized at Camp Harris, Macon, Georgia during July, 1916 and sent to Camp Cotton, Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas in October (See chart).

Company H, 3rd Separate Infantry Battalion and 2nd Company, Coast Artillery were mustered into Federal service on August 10 and September 26 respectively, but remained at home station and were not sent to Texas.15

The aggregate strength of the Georgia units that were sent to Camp Cotton, Texas was 3,892. The units were mobilized on June 18, 1916 and mustered into Federal service, most between July 2-31 and one as late as September 26. After some mobilization training at Camp Harris, they departed for duty on the U.S. - Mexico border.16

An example of the service of one of the Georgia National Guard units deployed to the border is revealed in the reports of the 2nd Squadron Cavalry. The unit departed Camp Harris at Macon, Georgia on October 25, 1916 and arrived at Fort Bliss, Texas (Map 2) on November 1, 1916. At Fort Bliss, they underwent a month of mounted training until Then, the squadron left on December 1, 1916 for field duty at Fabens , Texas (Map 2) with three officers and 70 men, 79 horses, 2 transport wagons, and eight mules. The group marched 32 miles to Fabens finally reaching there at 1:40 p.m. on December 2, 1916. They performed border patrol with the 1st Kentucky Infantry and from December 16 on with the 2nd Kentucky Infantry. The squadron left Fort Bliss, Texas at 1a.m. on March 22, 1917 with three officers and 77 men, two wagons and full equipment. They arrived at home station, Atlanta, Georgia at 1p.m., March 27, 1917. The distance traveled was 1,700 miles.17

In January, 1917, the ill-fated attempt to capture Pancho Villa ended with the recall of the Punitive Expedition from Mexico. On January 27, the first of 10,690 men and 9,307 horses embarked for Columbus. It took over a week to assemble the full expeditionary force back at Fort Bliss, where, on February 7, 1917, with General Pershing at the head, they marched into El Paso to the acclaim of cheering crowds. That officially ended Pershing's campaign. The expedition had gone as far south as Parral, but Pershing had not captured Pancho Villa. Therefore, the expedition was only notable as the last U.S. Cavalry expedition in U.S. military history. Although Villa had once been nicked in the knee cap by a Carranzistas bullet, he was now completely mended and feeling well. However, many of his best men had either died or deserted him. But, with the gringos gone, he was now free to continue his struggle with his arch foe Venustiano Carranza.18

Unabashed by his failure to capture Villa, General Pershing claimed the expedition was successful as a learning experience. However, in the minds of Mexicans, Pancho Villa was the clear winner. He had emerged triumphant from battle with the United States led by the great General Pershing. No doubt, in the eyes of the Mexican people, Pershing's withdrawal from Mexico added to Villa's myth of invincibility.

But, a few years later, on Friday, July 20, 1923, Villa's luck ran out. Accompanied by his entourage of Dorades ("Golden Ones"), which was what he called his bodyguards, Pancho Villa frequently made trips to Parral (Map 2) for banking and other errands. This day, Villa had picked up a consignment of gold with which to pay his Canutillo ranch staff and was driving through the city in his black 1919 Dodge roadster when a group of seven riflemen fired 150 shots in just two minutes into his car. In the fusillade of shots, 16 bullets lodged in his body and four more in his head. Villa was reported to have killed one of the assassins before he died. Truly, Pancho Villa had lived by the gun and died by the gun.19

It was never determined who ordered the killing. However, the assassins were given light prison terms leading to general speculation that someone in the Mexican government must have given the order simply because Villa had become an embarrassment to post-revolutionary Mexico.20

But even in death, Pancho Villa was not at rest and still stirred controversy. Three years after he was buried in the Cemeterio Municipal at Parral, it was alleged that an ex-Villista officer, Captain Emil L. Holmdahl, had opened the tomb and removed Villa's head to sell to an eccentric Chicago millionaire who collected the skulls of historic figures. Despite the rumors of a headless Villa, his sons prevented examination of the remains to see if the head was still attached. Three years later, the Federal government ordered Villa's body, reported to be headless, moved to Mexico City to be interred in the Tomb of Illustrious Men.21
Units Mobilized from Georgia

1st Infantry Regiment
Field Staff and Band
Detachment
Companies A thru M
Hospital Corps

2nd Infantry Regiment
Field Staff and Band
Detachment
Companies A thru M
Sanitary Detachment

5th Infantry Regiment
Field Staff and Band
Detachment
Companies A thru M
Sanitary Department



2nd Squadron Cavalry
Field and Staff Corps
Detachment
Troops B, F, K, L
Hospital Detachment

Troop A, 1st Squadron Cavalry

1st Battalion, Field Artillery
Field and Staff
Batteries A, B, C
Hospital Company
Field Hospital, Company #1
Company A, Engineers



However, local residents of Parral insist to this day that their mayor had Villa's body shifted in the graveyard a meter or so to the right of the marked grave and replaced with another body to prevent any more of Villa's remains from being taken. It was the headless decoy body, they insist, that was later taken to Mexico City. Whether Villa's body is still in the ground at Parral or not, his tall, stately tombstone remains in place and people still come to place flowers on the grave. So, even in death, Pancho Villa remains elusive.22

On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. Pershing received orders to organize a division with himself in command and to take the formation to France as the first American unit to fight alongside the Allies. He submitted a list of officers whom he wanted on his staff and included Lieutenant Patton's name. However, several days later, Pershing was appointed the commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force, which included all troops to be sent to France.23

Therefore, with a small headquarters party, Pershing went overseas at once as a symbol of reassurance and promise to the war-weary Allies, who had fought immense battles of attrition for the past three years. Although the Americans entrance into the war was a great psychological boost to them, the United States was unprepared to join in the massive clash of arms on the Western Front. Positioning units along the Mexican border and pursuing Villa had been a small start toward mobilization, but now the U. S. Army had to raise, equip, and train a much larger force. The War Department planned to ship Pershing 2,000,000 partially trained troops. He was tasked to bring them to combat readiness over there.24

As for the Georgia units that had gone to the Mexican Border, some were retained in Federal Service; others returned to Georgia. Nevertheless, on July 3, 1917, the entire National Guard of the United States was mobilized for World War I. In August, 1917, the Georgia National Guard units were reorganized with most of the units being assigned to the 31st Infantry Division with the exception of the Coast Artillery units which were assigned to Savannah Coastal Defense. However, there was one special new battalion to be organized from Georgia.25

Requests from National Guard officers and Governors for early acceptance of their state units to go to war against Germany poured into the War Department. The clamor became so general and so insistent that the Secretary of War conceived the idea of forming a composite Division to include troops from every State in the Union. That was the origin of the famous 42d (Rainbow) Division, which was later to distinguish itself in many important engagements of World War I. In August, 1917, companies B, C, and F of the 2nd Georgia Infantry were reorganized as the 151st Machine Gun Battalion and assigned to the 42d Division. When the 42d Infantry Division arrived in France in November, 1917, there were National Guard units from 26 States and from the District of Columbia in its ranks. Almost a year later, on September 16, 1918, the 31st Infantry Division consisting of National Guard units from Georgia, Alabama, and Florida departed for France and joined the American Expeditionary Force on October 3 1918.26

As for the legend or myth of Poncho Villa today, conservative Mexicans may insist he was nothing more than a self-serving bloodthirsty bandit. However, to most Mexicans his memory has been embellished through songs and stories and he is now generally remembered as a Mexican "Robinhood" figure. Of all the Mexican revolutionary leaders, he is probably the best known and remembered for his victories in the constitutionalist revolution and for being the only foreign military leader to have "successfully" invaded continental U.S. territory.

As for Americans, the massive mobilization of U.S. forces in 1916 and the pursuit of Pancho Villa in Mexico are scarcely noted in our history books and thus, not read about in school. However, it is important to Georgians because it was the first mobilization and deployment of Nation Guard Units for Federal service and an end to the old militia system of recruiting volunteer units of rank amateurs for Federal service as it was done for the Mexican War of 1846-1848. It was also the forerunner of the total force policy so important to our defense preparedness today. If alive today, Pancho Villa would probably claim credit for teaching General Pershing and the gringos from the north how to organize for a fight.

http://www.hsgng.org/pages/pancho.htm

Notes


1. Haldeen Braddy. Cock of the Walk, Qui-qui-ri-qui!: The Legend of Pancho Villa, (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1955), 8.

2. Ibid, 128.

3. Ibid, 129-132.

4. Ibid., 133.

5. Ibid.

6. Martin Blumenson. Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885-1945, (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1985), 79-82.

7. Braddy, 136.

8. Ibid., 138.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid., 139.

11. Ibid., 142.

12. Blumenson, 83-87.

13. Braddy, 145.

14. Gene Gurney. A Pictorial History of The United States Army in War and Peace, from Colonial Times to Vietnam, (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1966), 313-314.

15. M. N. Thisted. National Guard and organized Reserve Units Mobilized in 1916 for Mexican Border Duties, (National Historian, Mexican Border Veterans, Condensed Fact Sheet), 1-3.

16. Ibid., 3.

17. Record of Instruction and Events. Georgia 2nd Squadron Cavalry (Historical Society of the Georgia National Guard, 1995), 1-9.

18. Joe Cummings. Northern Mexico Handbook, (Chico, CA: Moon Publications, Inc., 1994), 237.

19. Ibid., 265.

20. Ibid., 266.

21 Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Blumenson, 93-94.

24. Ibid, 94.

25. Thisted, 2.

26. Ibid., 1-2.

Joe Griffith is retired from the U.S. Army and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Historical Society of the Georgia National Guard. He is a frequent contributor to the Journal and serves on the Society's "History Book Committee."


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The Lesser of Two Evils Rarely Is

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The Lesser of Two Evils Rarely Is

by Gary North

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north536.html
by Gary North

In December, 1976, I was a staff member for Congressman Ron Paul. In November, he had lost his campaign for re-election by fewer than 300 votes out of over 180,000. My days as a Congressional staffer were numbered – thankfully.

The Democrats in that month elected Tip O'Neill the Speaker of the House. O'Neill was unopposed. A battle raged over who would be second in command: House Majority Leader.

There were four candidates. The front-runner was Phil Burton of San Francisco, probably the most far left Congressman in the House, with the possible exception of his brother, John. Then there was Richard Bolling, a Constitutional law expert with a lot of enemies. Jim Wright of Ft. Worth was third. In fourth place was John McFall, who was plagued by a scandal.

The rules were clear: the bottom man was eliminated in each round of voting. First, McFall was eliminated; then Bolling, but just barely. It came down to Burton vs. Wright. Wright won, 148 to 147.

Wright was perceived as a moderate, but his success in pushing liberal legislation, first as Majority Leader and later as Speaker of the House, was the stuff of legend. He went along to get along, to cite another Texas Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn. He knew how to work the legislative system. He was to the House what Lyndon Johnson had been to the Senate.

When one vote determines the outcome of an election, anyone who voted can claim to be the deciding factor. One such claimant was Congressman Larry McDonald. He was the most conservative Democrat in the House in 1976. Arguably, he was the most conservative House Democrat in the twentieth century. He was a member of the John Birch Society, and had he not disappeared, along with the never-located Korean Airlines Flight 007, in 1983, he would have become the head of the JBS.

At the initial meeting of the Council for National Policy in early 1981, he and I discussed old times and new times. He made an observation that has stuck with me ever since.

The worst vote of my career was my vote for Jim Wright for Majority Leader in 1976. I thought Burton was a Communist. But if he had won, House Democrats would not have gone along with him on a lot of disastrous bills that Jim Wright pushed through.

McDonald had made a choice. He looked at the voting record of two politicians and decided that one of them was the lesser of two evils. In terms of their voting records, this assessment was correct, but in terms of their respective abilities to get bills passed and signed into law by the newly elected President, Jimmy Carter, it was incorrect. McDonald recognized this too late.

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

In 2008, Americans will go to the polls, hold their noses with one hand and with their other hand either punch holes in cards or tap computer screens. They will vote for the lesser of two evils. This unhappy condition is the outcome of decades of campaign reform laws passed by incumbent politicians who wrote the reform laws so that they could remain incumbent, which they generally did. This is the politics of political action committees, huge bankrolls for media ad purchases, and spinmeisters.

Only a terminally naïve voter expects to see much good come out of a Presidential election. He hopes only that the worst outcome will not result.

Hope springs eternal. That's the problem with hope. It keeps springing because it rarely comes true.

The lesser of two evils, because he or she is not widely perceived as being consistently evil, can gain cooperation from the uncommitted middle. Meanwhile, he or she receives reduced opposition from the ideological hard core on the other side of the issues.

GRIM PRECEDENTS

In 1968, millions of Republicans voted for Richard Nixon. They voted for him overwhelmingly in 1972, the year after he had unilaterally severed the dollar from gold. He had run back-to-back deficits of $25 billion – a huge annual deficit in that era. It is unlikely that the ineffective gas bag Hubert Humphrey would have had the courage to destroy the last traces of the international gold standard. Yet Humphrey almost won in 1968. Republican die-hards had kept this from happening.

In the summer of 1972, Richard Whalen's book, Catch the Falling Flag: A Republican's Challenge to His Party, documented the story of the takeover of the Administration by Rockefeller operatives. Whalen had been a speechwriter for Nixon during the 1968 campaign. He knew firsthand what had occurred. Republicans paid no attention to his book in November. "Nixon is ours." They re-elected him in November.

Nixon's Attorney General, John Mitchell, took control over the Nixon Administration early. He had managed his 1968 campaign. He led the massacre of the campaign's conservative staffers even before Nixon was inaugurated, as Whalen's book revealed. He once made this observation: "Watch what we do, not what we say." They did, and he went to jail, but only because the tapes let the prosecution hear what they said.

Mitchell was closely associated with Nelson Rockefeller. Shortly after his inauguration in 1969, Nixon told of a meeting he had with Rockefeller:

I remember in that respect a conversation I had with the Governor, at which your new Attorney General was present, shortly after I had won the nomination of the Republican Party in Miami Beach and the Governor came in to congratulate me. Mr. Mitchell was there. I started to introduce the two and Governor Rockefeller very graciously said, "I know John Mitchell. You know, he is my lawyer. Or, I should say, he was my lawyer."

Yet anti-Rockefeller Republicans overwhelming re-elected Nixon in 1972, preferring him to liberal George McGovern, an ineffectual politician if there ever was one, as his former Vice Presidential running mate, Thomas Eagleton, had learned earlier in the year. Nixon was perceived as the lesser of two evils.

A replay of this scenario took place with George H. W. Bush in 1992. The ineffective Democratic dork from Massachusetts would have had no power to do much of anything. But Republicans voted for Bush. Bush's White House was run by James Baker, just as Reagan's had been whenever Reagan wasn't paying attention, which was most of the time. Republicans did not notice or else did not care if they did notice.

If Al Gore had been elected in 2000, we would not have the Iraq war today. We would have had an insufferable bore in the White House, but not the Patriot Act.

CONCLUSION

There is a lesson here: voting for the lesser of two evils generally produces greater evil. The victor is generally a "go along to get along" sort of fellow. He gets along famously with the power brokers who make most of the policy decisions, either Council on Foreign Relations Team A or Council on Foreign Relations Team B.

Decade after decade, generation after generation, die-hard party voters fail to learn this lesson. Larry McDonald learned it. He learned it too late.

No one has to vote for the lesser of two evils. It is sufficient that voters show up to vote against local bond issues. "None of the above" works just fine for everything else. "Don't tap that screen!"

June 8, 2007

Gary North [send him mail] is the author of Mises on Money. Visit http://www.garynorth.com. He is also the author of a free 19-volume series, An Economic Commentary on the Bible.

Copyright © 2007 LewRockwell.com

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THIS PLATFORM ELECTS NEXT PRESIDENT

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THIS PLATFORM ELECTS NEXT PRESIDENT

By Frosty Wooldridge
June 7, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
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"THE 2008 CANDIDATE FOR U.S. PRESIDENT WHO ADVOCATES THESE SIMPLE STEPS WILL BE ELECTED-GUARANTEED"
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http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty265.htm

The 2008 candidate for U.S. President who advocates these simple steps will be elected—guaranteed.

U.S. citizens hunger for a competent, decent, honest and trustworthy president. They want a president who represents America—not corporations, not war, not globalism, not the North American Union, not Mexico and not lawlessness. Of all candidates from liberal to conservative to libertarian—if one of them stands on these campaign promises—he or she will become the next president of the United States.

Preamble: "If our president stuck to the Constitution as written, we would now enjoy:

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Balanced and reasonable enforcement of each and every law on the books
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Strong emphasis upon "states' rights," – all states working elbow-to-elbow with federal enforcement and justice officers to enforce all laws equally
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No federal meddling in our schools
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No Federal Reserve
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No U.S. membership in the UN
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No citizenship for children of illegal aliens
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No 'free' education and no 'free' medical- and social-services for illegal aliens
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No gun control
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No foreign aid
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No welfare for big corporations, or the "poor"
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No American troops "permanently" in 100 foreign countries
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No NAFTA, GATT, or "fast-track"
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No arrogant federal judges usurping states rights and/or writing laws
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No attacks on private property rights
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No income tax. Instead, a consumption tax

We can and must get rid of most of the cabinet departments, most of the agencies, and most of the budget. The government would then again be small, frugal, and limited." -- Congressman Ron Paul (1998)

Any candidate for President of the U.S. who promises these benefits will win the election and move into the White House:

1. Stop all imperialism by the U.S. This includes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran. Rebuild the U.S. military to a force-level of two million first-class troops, to defend our beloved nation lands, when needed.

On occasion, when necessary, use "joint-quick-strike" teams on 7-day forays to restore balance when a dictator goes astray.

2. Read and heed the recent South Carolina University study, where more than 4,000 illegal aliens were carefully polled; 62 percent of these people made it very clear that they do NOT desire or intend to become citizens of the U.S.

3. Investigate and prosecute all employer criminals who break laws to employ illegal aliens, and watch as their peers "get legal" in short order. As the jobs are restored to U.S. citizen voters, the ethical illegal aliens will voluntarily repatriate.

4. Stop unfair, discriminatory practice of providing substantial and costly assistance to 20-30 million, while refusing the render the same medical and social care to U.S. citizens. Eliminate mandatory "free" education and "free" emergency medical care for illegal aliens. Invoice nations for all short-term services provided to their nationals, with costs deducted from their current "foreign aid," dollar-for-dollar.

Prosecute bureaucrats (including those in NFP-NGO 501.c.3 groups) who misuse U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund optional services to illegal aliens.

5. Form mutual-aid pacts with the thousands of NFP-NGO 501.c.3 and church agencies to increase our self-sustaining "foreign-aid" to the underprivileged by 400 percent — whereby your government tax dollars provides less than 25 percent of the budget — rendering that physical assistance only in their sovereign nations, and not sovereign U.S. soil.

6. Issue an Executive Order to properly interpret the 14th Amendment, U.S. Constitution—ending the unsound practice of giving U.S. citizenship to children of illegal aliens who are born on U.S. soil.

7. Direct a 10-year moratorium on all immigration. The United States cannot tolerate nor does it want an added 100 million people by 2040. The USA is already stretched to the limits of resources, environment and infrastructure. It's time to take a collective breath. After the moratorium, a maximum of 100,000 immigrants only if they maintain a stable population. If not, the moratorium may be extended.

8. Temporarily assign the U.S. Marines to enforce our southern border, alone.

Only the military can deal with the heavily-armed drug-merchants and other rebels now operating on our border—sneaking in under cover of the hordes of illegal aliens.

9. Immediately assign the experienced and savvy U.S. Navy SeaBees to quickly (24 months) build a first-class, attractive, cost-effective physical southern border security-fence .

Equipped with a suitable set of parallel physical security-fences, with a paved roadway between for use by "rapid-deployment forces," the U.S. can patrol the border effectively with 75 percent fewer guards.

DHS is a mess. Put an accomplished, decorated, recently retired, "can-do" CIA or FBI manager in charge of CONUS and border security. Stand down the DHS; replace it with the new Department of Border and Interior 50-State Security (DBIS). The USCIS, FEMA, and Border Patrol are a travesty.

10. Appoint a strong, retired U.S. Marine Corps General officer to be our first-ever "Immigration Czar." a cabinet-level position.

Tell that person to author our first ever "Immigration Strategic Plan" within nine months.

We must "grow our own" workers, and incentivize mechanization. This is not business as usual.

We must immediately quadruple the throughput rate at our colleges, universities and technical schools. No more free-rides for foreign students. As part of this strategic effort, we must also incentivize our young adults to join the U.S. military, to learn.

11. Importing Chinese engineers & nurses and Spanish-speaking slave laborers at the last minute is outrageous— reflecting poorly upon our terrible strategic planning. We decimate our lower- middle-class and many other labor groups. No more.

12. Fingerprint (or iris-scan) every person who repatriates and/or is involved with the ICE or Immigration Court in any way.

For those 10 percent of the aliens who are seasoned criminals (according to the DOJ-FBI), prosecute and punish -- to the fullest extent of the existing laws. At the same time, the practice of granting bail-bond and plea-bargains to foreign-nationals who are here lacking legal presence is malfeasance, and must be strictly forbidden. These folks are obvious 'flight-risks.' Deportation is not punishment.

Punish first, then deport; felony-deportation, with prejudice.

Hundreds of rapidly deployed "temporary" tent-city prisons, located very near our southern border, are appropriate and necessary.

Relocate all illegal aliens from local-city, county, state, and federal prisons to the expanded temporary tent-city border incarceration facilities— to make room in local jails-prisons for the hundreds of thousands of scofflaws; employers and absconders.

The majority of the ethical, high-integrity illegal aliens will voluntarily repatriate and take their nest egg back to their "home-nation."

Stop bleeding jobs out of the USA through insourcing, outsourcing and offshoring which creates a $700 billion trade deficit annually while it destroys the middle class.

Make English our national language in order for all citizens to communicate, resolve and come to solutions for our national good. Rescind E.O. 13166 that forces us to be subservient to foreign languages at our cost and against our English language.

Endeavor to pour all research into finding an alternative energy source to oil. It's time to run cars, boats and planes on photo-voltaic transfer to electricity. Or, invent anything that stops polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse gases.

"2007 Comprehensive Reform" is a Trojan-horse, orchestrated by Teddy Kennedy, the same guy who orchestrated the 1986 IRCA legislation, Simpson-Mazzoli-Reagan, which gave us three times more amnesty-recipient illegal aliens than promised— with help from his 'friends,' and authored AGAIN in 2007 by immigration attorneys and members of La Raza— while keeping groups such as the American Legion out of the author's room.

The United States must take care of its own people, its own air, water and land. It must move toward a sustainable society.

What you can do for a better future for your country:

A republican form of government is not a spectator sport. It means you must jump in, roll up you sleeves and take personal and collective action. Of course, you could let a dictator take over and do everything for you, but that path would give you Cuba, China, North Korea and other unsavory examples.

To stop Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid from giving an amnesty, take action. Call for a full 10 year moratorium.

CALL NANCY PELOSI
Washington, DC - (202) 225-4965
San Francisco, CA - (415) 556-4862

EMAIL NANCY PELOSI
sf.nancy@mail.house.gov
EMAIL FORM FOR NANCY PELOSI www.house.gov/pelosi/contact/contact.html

Senator Harry Reid
202-224-3121 in Washington DC
775-686-5750 in Reno, NV
www.reid.senate.gov

George Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
comments@whitehouse.gov
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard for live listener: 202 456 1414
Fax: 202-456-2461

We must 'sour the milk.' Bring out your points in the call:

1, America cannot support another 100 million people added to our country in 34 years, i.e., water crisis, resource depletion, air pollution, gridlock, loss of quality of life, etc.
2, America cannot support lawbreakers being given citizenship.
3, America must maintain our English language.
4, America wants only legal immigrants who play by the rules and speak English.
5, America's working poor deserve a chance at jobs taken by illegals
6, America already has too many people and I support a 10 year moratorium on all immigration.
7, Americans must maintain our schools for our children.
8, We can no longer tolerate 350,000 birthright citizens (anchor babies) annually that subtract from our own citizens.
9, Attrition through enforcement by stopping their ability to wire money home, obtain rental housing and jobs.
10, An amnesty failed in 1986, and it will only be worse today. We're being displaced out of our jobs and out of our own country. Call with relentless and never-give-up passion.


To stop illegal aliens in your community, you may follow the course of action by Mayor Louis Barletta of Hazelton, PA. He offers a bomb proof ordinance that takes business licenses away from those who hire illegals. He legally halts landlords from renting to illegals. Without work and without housing, illegals cannot stay in your community. Check out his web site for instructions: SmallTownDefenders.com

Visit D.A. King at the www.thedustininmansociety.org to see how Georgia created the best laws to stop illegals at the state level.

Please check out William Gheen at www.alipac.us. He's a mover and shaker. He will direct you to specific actions that make you more powerful and impactful.

To stop this invasion locally and nationally: join www.numbersusa.com for free and you can join www.fairus.org and www.thesocialcontract.com

Wooldridge presents a 45 minute program to colleges, high schools, civic clubs, church groups and political clubs across America titled: "COMING POPULATION CRISIS IN AMERICA: WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT." Go to his website for further information on booking the program. www.frostywooldridge.com

Would you like to support the PRR? Send donations to: 21st Century Paul Revere Ride at POB 207, Louisville, CO 80027. www.21stCenturyPaulRevereRide.us; www.carryingcapacity.org; www.numbersusa.com; www.thewakeupamericafoundation.com. Also, check out www.alipac.us at 1 866 329 3999; www.theamericanresistance.com; www.ccir.net; www.theByteShow.com; www.projectusa.org; www.borderguardians.org; www.immigrationwatchcanada.com; www.mothersagainstillegalaliens.org; www.unitedpatriotsofamerica.com; www.unitedstates.fm; www.worldfreedomtour.info; My book: "IMMIGRATION'S UNARMED INVASION: DEADLY CONSEQUENCES" Call: 1 888 280 7715. www.TiANews.com – www.victimsofillegalaliens.org; www.pacinlaw.org; USBorderAlert.com; SanDiegoBorderAlert.com; www.LaurieRothShow.com

© 2007 Frosty Wooldridge - All Rights Reserved





Frosty's new book "Immigration's Unarmed Invasion"





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Frosty Wooldridge possesses a unique view of the world, cultures and families in that he has bicycled around the globe 100,000 miles, on six continents and six times across the United States in the past 30 years. His published books include: "HANDBOOK FOR TOURING BICYCLISTS" ; "STRIKE THREE! TAKE YOUR BASE"; "IMMIGRATION'S UNARMED INVASION: DEADLY CONSEQUENCES"; "MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE TO ALASKA: INTO THE WIND—A TEEN NOVEL"; "BICYCLING AROUND THE WORLD: TIRE TRACKS FOR YOUR IMAGINATION"; "AN EXTREME ENCOUNTER: ANTARCTIA." His next book: "TILTING THE STATUE OF LIBERTY INTO A SWAMP." He lives in Denver, Colorado.

His latest book. 'IMMIGRATION'S UNARMED INVASION—DEADLY CONSEQUENCES.'

Website: www.FrostyWooldridge.com

E:Mail: frostyw@juno.com

http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty265.htm
http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldridge/frosty265.htm




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