Much to my pleasure and surprise, I received a response from Senator John Cornyn after emailing him with my concerns about the upcoming (we THINK it has not started yet) military exercise known as Operation JADE HELM. I was pleased that the Senator did in fact respond to me. I was displeased that his response was pretty much word for word that of Congressman Conaway's. The response in a nutshell was the usual rehash of the military's press release about JADE HELM. The usual lines are that 1) this operation is necessary to train our service men and women how to fight in the diverse terrains they will encounter "overseas;" 2) "unconventional units" will attempt to operate in cities while remaining "undetected" by the local population; 3) no civilians will be endangered by the exercise, and people will most likely not be effected at all, other than noticing more "military traffic" at night.
I emailed Senator Cornyn again after receiving his response yesterday. I sincerely thanked him for taking the time to respond to me, but I also told him that his response mirrored nearly word for word that of Congressman Conaway. I then requested that Senator Cornyn respond to two specific issues. I further asked that he respond to these issues only after reviewing the military's press releases, and only in his own words, not that of rehashed military press releases. The first issue I asked the Senator to respond to specifically was the idea that our military needed to conduct JADE HELM off military bases because the "diverse terrain" offered by the seven (now more) states participating in JADE HELM would simulate terrain that military forces might find "overseas." The reason this is an issue for me is that the military is in control of millions of acres of land across the United States, in many different climates, offering many different terrains. So that reasoning is null.
But the military is also training in United States cities. THAT is the center of my issue with JADE HELM. If the military is training its forces for overseas missions, as they stated concerning the diverse terrain requirement above, how will operating "undetected" in US cities prepare our forces for operating undetected in foreign cities "overseas." The answer is that it will not. The only way our soldiers can operate undetected in foreign cities is by concealing their nationality in any way possible, and OPERATING MAINLY LATE AT NIGHT. Our soldiers can certainly practice that ON THEIR various military bases.
The second issue to which I wanted Senator Cornyn to respond concerned the safety of both American civilians and American soldiers when operations are being carried out in cities and towns without the local population knowing an exercise of some type is taking place. According, again, to the military's press releases, "unconventional warfare units" will be assigned certain missions as part of JADE HELM. These missions include locating and extracting both "high value targets" (terrorists AND persons who refuse to give up weapons when asked to do so) and local leaders. Again, since the operations call for undetected execution, does this mean that unconventional units will "extract" unsuspecting targets? The soldiers will be armed but will have only blank ammunition. They will be expected to confront the "targets" mentioned above as well as to escape AFTER obtaining their targets. What will the soldiers do to capture and control their targets? How will they escape after they complete their missions, especially if they are "detected" by citizens or the police? Does any of this sound like it is "safe" for anyone inadvertently caught up on one of the exercises? What if soldiers with blank bullets in their weapons become caught up in their mission and point those weapons at police officers, or worse, armed civilians with no police training or "shoot/don't shoot" judgment? The potential for shootings or other injuries is astronomical.
If the unconventional units are truly operating undetected, that means they cannot notify local police of their specific operations, nor could they inform the civilian population. The military stated in its releases that if these units were detected, they would use whatever means needed to escape. The word "means" was defined to include burglary, auto theft, theft of property including medical supplies and guns, and sabotage. These actions were described by the military as "petty crimes" but last time I checked they were felonies, in most cases. Also, since the military wants to operate "undetected," will they inform the "targets" that they are indeed targets, or will they simply kidnap them and attempt to flee undetected?
You can see that I am not asking paranoid, hysterical, or "kooky" questions, but valid ones to which we as free citizens deserve answers BEFORE this exercise begins. I support our military quite strongly, and I want our soldiers to have the best training possible. Nonetheless, I cannot support JADE HELM if for no other reasons than these two: 1) that Operation JADE HELM is a military exercise taking place in our cities and towns, and our countryside, when the military has millions of acres and hundreds of facilities at its disposal in which JADE HELM could be carried out; 2) that Operation JADE HELM endangers American lives by its very execution. Since the exercise could not meet all its objectives if specific information concerning separate missions were supplied to the appropriate local authorities or the population in general, it is highly possible that people living or working in areas where JADE HELM exercises are being carried out will at best be suddenly caught up in confusion and chaos, and at worst, could actually be captured and held by military units for the duration of the specific exercise, or (am I stretching a little here, I am not sure) possibly for the total duration of JADE HELM.
I have addressed my concerns with both of my senators and my congressman. I urge anyone who reads this blog to do the same. Not using voices of hysteria, but the calm voice of reason. I will tell you something else. People around the world are now aware that JADE HELM is set to take place this coming July, and they cannot believe that the American people are sitting idly by, meek as lambs, while this is going on. I have listened to and read articles by persons residing outside the United States who cannot believe the level of apathy to which our nation has settled.
JADE HELM is probably not the end of the world, as many are screaming, but it is the beginning of the end of civilian control of the military. I believe that JADE HELM is only the first operation of its kind, but the very fact that it is being tolerated means that it is not the LAST operation of this kind, and you can be sure that it will not be the largest of its kind we will see. To prevent this, I hope again, that all who see this, and who agree with me, will begin writing their congressmen and senators, demanding this these military operations stop, and that further operations be carried out on military bases. I urge you not to approach your leaders with hysterical claims that martial law is coming, that the UN is coming to take over America, but simply talk to them in calm voices, demanding that your elected officials represent you and protect you by halting these exercises and confining military training to the bases and facilities that you and I (and our predecessors) have bought with our hard-earned taxes.
God bless all of you, and,
God Bless America
I emailed Senator Cornyn again after receiving his response yesterday. I sincerely thanked him for taking the time to respond to me, but I also told him that his response mirrored nearly word for word that of Congressman Conaway. I then requested that Senator Cornyn respond to two specific issues. I further asked that he respond to these issues only after reviewing the military's press releases, and only in his own words, not that of rehashed military press releases. The first issue I asked the Senator to respond to specifically was the idea that our military needed to conduct JADE HELM off military bases because the "diverse terrain" offered by the seven (now more) states participating in JADE HELM would simulate terrain that military forces might find "overseas." The reason this is an issue for me is that the military is in control of millions of acres of land across the United States, in many different climates, offering many different terrains. So that reasoning is null.
But the military is also training in United States cities. THAT is the center of my issue with JADE HELM. If the military is training its forces for overseas missions, as they stated concerning the diverse terrain requirement above, how will operating "undetected" in US cities prepare our forces for operating undetected in foreign cities "overseas." The answer is that it will not. The only way our soldiers can operate undetected in foreign cities is by concealing their nationality in any way possible, and OPERATING MAINLY LATE AT NIGHT. Our soldiers can certainly practice that ON THEIR various military bases.
The second issue to which I wanted Senator Cornyn to respond concerned the safety of both American civilians and American soldiers when operations are being carried out in cities and towns without the local population knowing an exercise of some type is taking place. According, again, to the military's press releases, "unconventional warfare units" will be assigned certain missions as part of JADE HELM. These missions include locating and extracting both "high value targets" (terrorists AND persons who refuse to give up weapons when asked to do so) and local leaders. Again, since the operations call for undetected execution, does this mean that unconventional units will "extract" unsuspecting targets? The soldiers will be armed but will have only blank ammunition. They will be expected to confront the "targets" mentioned above as well as to escape AFTER obtaining their targets. What will the soldiers do to capture and control their targets? How will they escape after they complete their missions, especially if they are "detected" by citizens or the police? Does any of this sound like it is "safe" for anyone inadvertently caught up on one of the exercises? What if soldiers with blank bullets in their weapons become caught up in their mission and point those weapons at police officers, or worse, armed civilians with no police training or "shoot/don't shoot" judgment? The potential for shootings or other injuries is astronomical.
If the unconventional units are truly operating undetected, that means they cannot notify local police of their specific operations, nor could they inform the civilian population. The military stated in its releases that if these units were detected, they would use whatever means needed to escape. The word "means" was defined to include burglary, auto theft, theft of property including medical supplies and guns, and sabotage. These actions were described by the military as "petty crimes" but last time I checked they were felonies, in most cases. Also, since the military wants to operate "undetected," will they inform the "targets" that they are indeed targets, or will they simply kidnap them and attempt to flee undetected?
You can see that I am not asking paranoid, hysterical, or "kooky" questions, but valid ones to which we as free citizens deserve answers BEFORE this exercise begins. I support our military quite strongly, and I want our soldiers to have the best training possible. Nonetheless, I cannot support JADE HELM if for no other reasons than these two: 1) that Operation JADE HELM is a military exercise taking place in our cities and towns, and our countryside, when the military has millions of acres and hundreds of facilities at its disposal in which JADE HELM could be carried out; 2) that Operation JADE HELM endangers American lives by its very execution. Since the exercise could not meet all its objectives if specific information concerning separate missions were supplied to the appropriate local authorities or the population in general, it is highly possible that people living or working in areas where JADE HELM exercises are being carried out will at best be suddenly caught up in confusion and chaos, and at worst, could actually be captured and held by military units for the duration of the specific exercise, or (am I stretching a little here, I am not sure) possibly for the total duration of JADE HELM.
I have addressed my concerns with both of my senators and my congressman. I urge anyone who reads this blog to do the same. Not using voices of hysteria, but the calm voice of reason. I will tell you something else. People around the world are now aware that JADE HELM is set to take place this coming July, and they cannot believe that the American people are sitting idly by, meek as lambs, while this is going on. I have listened to and read articles by persons residing outside the United States who cannot believe the level of apathy to which our nation has settled.
JADE HELM is probably not the end of the world, as many are screaming, but it is the beginning of the end of civilian control of the military. I believe that JADE HELM is only the first operation of its kind, but the very fact that it is being tolerated means that it is not the LAST operation of this kind, and you can be sure that it will not be the largest of its kind we will see. To prevent this, I hope again, that all who see this, and who agree with me, will begin writing their congressmen and senators, demanding this these military operations stop, and that further operations be carried out on military bases. I urge you not to approach your leaders with hysterical claims that martial law is coming, that the UN is coming to take over America, but simply talk to them in calm voices, demanding that your elected officials represent you and protect you by halting these exercises and confining military training to the bases and facilities that you and I (and our predecessors) have bought with our hard-earned taxes.
God bless all of you, and,
God Bless America
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