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| Gen. Martin Dempsey opted to phone Florida pastor | |
| 2012-09-14 | |
| The military's top uniformed leader decided on his own to phone an extremist Florida pastor linked to an inflammatory anti-Islamic online video, the Pentagon said Thursday -- no one else asked him to do so. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey called Florida pastor Terry Jones on Wednesday to ask him to withdraw his support for the video that some reports have linked with anti-American unrest in the Muslim world, a spokesman said. Military leaders aren't supposed to do that.
I appreciate the concern but you don't fix that by intimidating American citizens into giving up their First Amendment rights. Our military is supposed to defend itself. If our military is in a position where they can't do that, get them the hell out of that position. Muslim protestors have reportedly cited the video as one reason for this week's attacks against American diplomatic missions, including embassies in Yemen and Cairo and the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday. The other reason was that they just wanted to kill Americans... When asked at a press briefing about whose decision it was to call Jones, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little added: "Gen. Dempsey was willing to call pastor Jones. The kinds of words and actions that pastor Jones has spread have incited violence and have led to deaths, including in Afghanistan and including American service members. I think that's why he called. It was a brief conversation and pastor Jones was non-committal." Jones first gained national attention when he threatened to burn Korans on Sept. 11., 2010. After Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus condemned the threat and said it would put American service members at risk, Jones called off the burning. Gates phoned him to appeal personally. Still, Jones wound up burning a Koran after all earlier this year. Clinton gave a statement Thursday at the State Department in which she emphasized that the American government had no connection with the online video and that it rejects insults against any religion. It also apparently is willing to sacrifice the rights of American citizens... Also in the briefing, Little declined to go into detail about press reports that commanders had ordered two Navy warships to the Libyan coast after Tuesday's attack on the consulate. "On the issue of assets being moved toward Libya, I'll be very clear: We do have ships in the Mediterranean," he said. "We have had ships in the Mediterranean for some time. None of our naval vessels in that region have been assigned any specific mission with respect to Libya. Our assets in the region are prepared to respond to any contingency. That's what the U.S. military does. But again, they haven't been assigned a specific mission." | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #18 Uh-huh. Fascinating. Tell me more. WHY did he decide "on his own" to beclown the entire US Military? |
| Posted by: mojo 2012-09-14 16:57 |
| #17 Sept 11 seems to juicy a date to skip. They would have been smart to hit right after the election to ensure the US had cooled before Romney took office and it could be used to undercut Romney. And if Obama won you undercut him and force him to grovel even more. |
| Posted by: Rjschwarz 2012-09-14 15:52 |
| #16 UTx evacuated after "al Qaeda" bomb threat. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-09-14 11:40 |
| #15 What was the motive? 1. North African Tehran 1979. 2. Islamists appear as strong horse to seize control in power vacuum resulting from Arab Spring. 3. Divert attention from area of primary activity. What I don't get is why do this to Baraq ibn Baraq right before the election. Do they think this will help their best friend? Divining motivation is tricky and perhaps impossible. The question is when they do something like this, how do we react? They should be able to learn that their actions have consequences and if they don't they can suffer the Darwin effect. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-09-14 11:35 |
| #14 I'm not prepared to go there NS. I will just say there are pieces that appear to be fitting together that point to a targeted hit or hostage taking situation. What was the motive? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-09-14 11:25 |
| #13 Not sure I unerstand, B. What was Stevens' lifestyle? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-09-14 11:19 |
| #12 As I dig into this, let us suppose for the sake of arguement that General Dempsey's anxiety regarding this alleged movie had something to do with it's lifestyle content. Was Ambassador Stevens targeted for a similar reason ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-09-14 10:41 |
| #11 If the amateur filmmaker gets killed, Romney needs to point out that Obama spent valuable government resources locating him for jihadi assassins. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-09-14 10:36 |
| #10 Clinton gave a statement Thursday at the State Department in which she emphasized that the American government had no connection with the online video and that it rejects insults against any religion. Please don't kill the masters. Kill the serfs. And for your convenience, we've even identified the guy to the press and provided a general location. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-09-14 10:33 |
| #9 What Demsey did seems highly unusual. Maybe he should stick to singing. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2012-09-14 10:27 |
| #8 I agree NS. After lunch today would be fine with me. I've personally heard enuf from this fellow. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-09-14 10:20 |
| #7 Dempsey doesn't understand the place of the military in America and the dangerous precedent he has set by interfering in civilian political activities. He is a disgrace and should resign for the good of the service. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-09-14 10:15 |
| #6 SECDEF Panetta decided not to task any of the dozens of his civilian handmaidens to make the call... but rather asked the senior uniformed officer to make it ? Bullshit! Very poorly scripted cover for action. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-09-14 09:16 |
| #5 "Clinton gave a statement Thursday at the State Department in which she emphasized that the American government had no connection with the online video -there, that should've been the end of it. Quit qualifying statements to appease these clowns you only look stupid Madame Secretary. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2012-09-14 08:59 |
| #4 "He called of his own initiative over concern that the violence incited by the film would pose risks to U.S. service members around the world," re: Secretary Panetta directed the call and we had to come up with an excuse that is so absolutely lame given all the administration's actions which daily/hourly endanger service members around the the world. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-09-14 08:59 |
| #3 In other news: Pentagon office sneezing and car parking totally out of control. General Dempsey orders the errection of new Slugging tents, medics, and mandetory flu shots along I-95 corridor. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-09-14 05:14 |
| #2 "Clinton gave a statement Thursday at the State Department in which she emphasized that the American government had no connection with the online video and that it rejects insults against any religion." Calling Holy Scripture 'trash' and ordering it burned apparently doesn't count as an insult. |
| Posted by: Shusing Sninemble9519 2012-09-14 02:06 |
| #1 I don't want to be complicit in phoning Florida pastors. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-09-14 00:50 |