Tag Archives: cia

Sherman says…

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ShermanIf you want to get a read on my opinion about enhanced interrogation versus torture, I can only refer you to the Epistle of St. William to the Atlantians, in which he states in part:

“War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out… I will ever conduct war with a view to perfect and early success… When peace does come, you may call on me for anything. Then will I share with you the last cracker, and watch with you to shield your homes and families against danger from every quarter.”

– Major General William T. Sherman in his letter to the Mayor and City Council of Atlanta, dated September 11, 1864

Sherman knew a little something about getting the job done without getting too squeamish along the path to victory.

Jeffreytharp.com vs. Mike Hayden…

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According to former Director of the CIA and NSA, because I’m an advocate for electronic privacy, I should think of myself as part of a collective of “nihilists, anarchists, activists, Lulzsec, Anonymous twentysomethings who haven’t talked to the opposite sex in five or six years.”

I usually try to keep this place about halfway family friendly, but the only response I can come up with is: Fuck You, Mike Hayden. I swore an oath awfully close to the one you swore as a Air Force officer. We both swore to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Check that again. Foreign and domestic.

This republic has endured two centuries of revolution, invasion, civil war, trench warfare, sneak attacks, and terrorism. Our foundations are too strong to be brought down so easily from the enemies at the gate. If it is to falter, fail, or fall it will be from the domestic advocates who are willing to cut down every protection guaranteed by our Constitution to prove their point or press their agenda. Once that happens, I don’t know what the hell we’re bothering to fight for anyway.

General behavior…

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I’m legitimately sorry to see General Petraeus’ departure from the CIA. Whether he’s falling on his sword in a fit of honor, or whether his resignation is cover for something more sinister, remains to be seen. All I know beyond what the media has reported so far is that the United States has lost a tireless servant of the Republic and probably the best example in his generation of what it means to be a warrior scholar. Whatever sins he may or may not have committed in his personal life, we’re all the poorer for his now being on the outside looking in… and for the sake of the country I desperately hope that his resignation is simply a man of honor trying to make amends in the only way he knows how and not the tip of some other, darker iceberg.