Posted by editor-at-large on 30 September 2008 at 12:28 am UTC
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV and other media — both bad guys (like Hezbollah) and good guys — are reporting a statement purportedly uttered by Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad during a recent interview for Hawadeth magazine, which clearly supports Dr. Walid Phares’ analysis (read for background here and here) that Syria may well-be prepping the international community – setting up some justification – for that country’s forthcoming cross-border military operations into Lebanon.
“North Lebanon became a real base for extremism and constitutes a danger for Syria,” Assad said in the interview, slated to be published Friday.
Phares discusses the comment further at Counterterrorism Blog.
Meanwhile, the Daily Star is reporting that parliamentarian Saad Hariri, leader of the Future Movement and son of the assassinated former prime minister Rafik Hariri, said:
“Some agencies were smuggling extremist fighters over the borders ‘in order to spread chaos and commit terrorist acts that target army officers and civilians.’
“He [Hariri] said last week’s deployment of Syrian troops all along Lebanon’s northern borders was carried out under the pretext of preventing smuggling, but was actually intended to frighten the Lebanese.
“Hariri questioned why similar deployments had not occurred on Syria’s borders with Israel and Iraq. The Syrian leadership was looking for any excuse to obstruct the normalization of relations with Lebanon, Hariri said, adding that the people of Lebanon would not accept Assad reassurances, because his actions contained an honest and direct threat to Lebanon’s sovereignty.
“Hariri also warned the international community not to accept any Syrian intervention in Lebanon under the guise of confronting extremists.”
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
PHARES: Bombings in Lebanon and Syria are part of a Master Campaign
Posted by editor-at-large on 29 September 2008 at 1:13 pm UTC
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
A car-bomb targeting Lebanese soldiers exploded in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, this morning. Five people were killed and scores wounded in today’s attack which was carried out less than two months after a similar attack in the same city, and two days following a powerful car-bomb attack in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The attacks – coinciding with the recent strengthening of Syrian Army forces on the northern Lebanese-Syrian border (and various unconfirmed reports of Syrian special operators who have perhaps been crossing into Lebanon since at least early September) – may well be a coordinated effort fitting into a broader plan for Lebanon on the part of the Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah axis.
Dr. Walid Phares, director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, tells us:
“What we are now witnessing is a rapid unfolding of the Syro-Iranian terror campaign aimed at achieving several interconnected goals.
“The explosions in Lebanon are aimed at intimidating the Lebanese Army, the public, the politicians; and pressure all to accept an increasing role for Hezbollah and Syria within the country’s security apparatus. It is interesting to see the back-and-forth between the terror attacks against the Army and the statements made by Hezbollah and pro-Syrian politicians calling for a defense strategy to ‘protect Lebanon’: As if the message is: ‘You will continue to be attacked until we are in charge of security.’
“On the other hand, security related incidents and bomb attacks inside Syria appear to be sending a parallel message. The regime is eager to call itself a ‘target of terrorism.’ Hence, the accusation is now leveled at so-called factions inside Lebanon, meaning the mostly Sunni anti-Syrian politicians. Which leads to Syria’s so-called legitimate action against an enemy based in Lebanon.
“If you look at the two tracks (the attacks and incidents in Lebanon and Syria) you’ll understand that it is all connected in a master campaign aimed at breaking Syria’s isolation on the one hand and then isolating the Lebanese anti-Syrian factions on the other. All of it is accompanied by a systematic media campaign out of Beirut which is heavily backed by Iranian petrodollars.”
Phares has just returned from a European tour where he briefed members of the European Parliament, counterterrorism officials at the European Union, and various international Defense officials.
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
PHARES: Syrian Mukhabarat Perhaps Responsible for Today’s Car-Bomb Attack
Posted by editor-at-large on 27 September 2008 at 4:26 pm UTC
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
A powerful car-bomb detonated this morning in the Syrian capital, killing at least 17 and wounding scores. Why, who, or what terrorist entity is responsible has since been the subject of much speculation. But Middle East terrorism expert Professor Walid Phares says one “very possible scenario is that the attack was executed by the Syrian Mukhabarat (intelligence service) or one of these agencies as a prelude to attack Sunni strongholds inside Lebanon.”
Speaking by phone from Paris – where he is currently briefing counterterrorism experts, Defense officials, and others at the French Military Academy – Phares says: “When you connect the dots between Syrian President [Bashar] Assad, who calls on Lebanon’s president to send troops to the heavily Sunni-populated areas of north Lebanon, to the massing of Syrian troops along the northern borders, and then to the statements made by Syrian officials on Arab TV – including this morning on al Jazeera – that factions within Lebanon could be behind the explosion, you cannot but see the big picture: The strategic target of the Syrian regime is to control the Sunni areas in northern Lebanon who are fiercely opposing the pro-Assad Alawite militias in Tripoli and the advance of Hezbollah’s special units across the northern Bekaa towards Akkar in northern Lebanon.”
So the question is, would Syrian Intelligence forces actually detonate an explosive device on Syrian soil as a means of enflaming a situation, framing Lebanon, and creating an excuse to launch attacks across Lebanon’s borders?
Experts know there is no question but that they would. And as Phares explains: “The Syrian regime is desperately attempting to establish a perception of itself within the international community that Syria is engaged in combating Al Qaeda and its ilk inside Lebanon. It is within this perception that Syria hopes to gain some legitimacy from the West in order that Damascus may extend its reach and influence back inside its neighbor. The best way for Syria to accomplish this is to project an image of its being a victim to ‘Sunni radical terror.’ If one or more explosions inside Syrian territory will do it, that shouldn’t be a problem for a regime which is trying to save its skin in an ongoing international investigation and indictment in the Rafik Hariri assassination case.”
However, Phares says he does not expect “a direct Syrian intervention across the border into Lebanon; not immediately. The classical Syrian modus operandi is to see the situation deteriorating fully before they offer so-called ‘help.’”
He adds, “Fact is, the Assad regime is waiting to see who will enter the White House before moving to the next step toward Lebanon. For now the Syrian Mukhabarat is scoring point-by-point trying to regain the status of the regime internationally. That is very important for them.”
We asked Phares for his opinion regarding recent analysis proffered by everyone from Western media to consulting groups and think tanks, many of which contend the incident may well-be the result of increasing tension between Hezbollah and Syria.
“Just the opposite,” he says. “Everything is coordinated between Tehran and Damascus. If it were otherwise, we would have witnessed different types of actions between the two camps and additional statements. Iran and Syria are solidly moving forward to score points against the U.S., Europe, Arab moderates and the UN. Those analysts who propose otherwise are being influenced by the sharp and well-funded Syro-Iranian propaganda and the power of the petrodollar.”
Dr. Phares directs the Future of Terrorism Project for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and is a visiting scholar at the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels. He is currently on a European tour.
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
Posted by editor-at-large on 27 September 2008 at 2:57 pm UTC
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
According to sources, at approximately 7:00 p.m. (Eastern), Hajjar was introduced “in a surprise move” to Salloukh at a reception for Lebanese Pres. Michel Sleiman hosted by the Lebanese ambassador at D.C.’s Omni Shoreham Hotel. (Sleiman was in town this week meeting with Pres. Bush and senior administration officials.)
When Salloukh extended his hand, Hajjar refused his; putting his hand in his pocket.
“I will not shake hands with people working for Hezbollah!” Hajjar said.
Salloukh responded, “You should leave here!”
Hajjar replied, “No! you should leave here! I’m an American citizen!”
There was a temporary hush in the immediate area of the reception room. Attendees were reportedly sitting their drinks on tables, anticipating some level of escalation. Both men walked away.
A few hours following the reception, I spoke briefly by phone with Hajjar who confirmed the incident.
“I also said to Salloukh, ‘Are you Lebanese or an Iranian? Choose!’” said Hajjar. “He was stunned, end of conversation. It’s amazing to think that these people believe they can ‘make nice’ at cocktail parties and maybe go to your kids’ weddings, and then the next day they are lobbing bombs or trying to assassinate you.”
Tom Harb, secretary general of the WCCR, later told me: “We must also recognize that many in the Lebanese-American community have been – and are – critical of the fact that a pro-Hezbollah minister accompanied the new president of Lebanon to Washington, D.C. But according to diplomatic protocol, Lebanon’s foreign minister must accompany the president. This means that Iran’s eyes follow President Sleiman wherever he goes. Sleiman should not have brought Salloukh with him to Washington.”
Today, Naharnet is reporting: “Washington has criticized Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh for allegedly leaking to the media details on the summit discussion between President George Bush and his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman [Sleiman] at the White House. [More here]”
In an international environment that is increasingly soft-soaping and lending legitimacy to butchers like Hezbollah and their allies – the fact that the likes of Salloukh would even be attending a cocktail party in the nation’s capital (one-month before the 25th anniversary of early Hezbollah’s bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut, and less than five months after Hezbollah’s murderous rampage in Lebanon) is beyond reason – I salute Hajjar.
But after all, I’m an old Marine rifleman.
[Photo — Confrontation between WCCR U.S. director John Hajjar (left, facing) and Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh (center right) caught on camera]
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
BATAL TO CONGRESS: “Syrian agents and special teams freely operate in Lebanon”
Posted by editor-at-large on 25 September 2008 at 1:05 am UTC
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Human rights activist Kamal el Batal briefed a U.S. Congressional panel, today, regarding Syria’s ongoing abuses against the Lebanese people in Lebanon and Syria.
Following are highlights of Batal’s address:
-
… Though some may believe that Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon following UN Security Council Resolution 1559 (which calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon and the disarmament of all militias), the reality is that Syria’s intelligence agents and special teams freely operate in Lebanon today. They facilitate, train, arm, control, and direct militias and their allies to serve the aims of the Syrian Regime.
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It is almost certain that the Syrian government masterminded and facilitated the majority of the assassinations in Lebanon …
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It is no coincidence that all armed groups today are allied to the Syrian regime.
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Hezbollah and the Iranian Pasdaran (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) are creating more groups and cells to destabilize Lebanon.
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Fatah el Islam for example is a Palestinian group fully trained by Hezbollah, armed by Hezbollah and financed by Hezbollah. Of course, all with the approval of Syria that opened the needed supply routes across its territories and into Lebanon.
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…weapons are not the only danger in Lebanon. It is neither Hezbollah’s rockets nor the allies of Syria who pose the greatest threat to Lebanon. I invite the U.S. Congress to examine the many schools and boy-scout groups run by Hezbollah with the blessing of Syria. These schools teach children, starting from the age of five-years-old, to hate, to wage war, and to commit themselves to martyrdom. Children are taught to hate America and its Democracy, the rule of law and human rights. We may think it is difficult to disarm Hezbollah and its allies, but let us examine how difficult it is going to be to reeducate an entire generation.
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The kidnapping, detention and torture of Lebanese people by Syria has created a new lucrative activity for Syria, as parents have been systematically blackmailed, often forced to sell their belongings just to pay for some news of their loved one. Sometimes they were – and are – granted visiting permits only to have their visit denied after the long and painful journey into Syria.
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As I have stated, we estimate the number of Lebanese detained in Syrian prisons to be a figure in the thousands. The only way to know for sure, and the only way to save the ones who are still alive and to bring back the remains of the ones thrown in mass graves is to pass a new UN Security Council resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, similar to UN Security Council Resolution 1564 passed on 18 September 2004 on Sudan.
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We hope that the United States and its democratic allies will help Lebanon’s civil society to free itself from the grip of Syrian Baathist and Iranian terror.
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… today, Syria’s and Iran’s proxy army in Lebanon, Hezbollah, is alive and well, and increasing in both political and strategic power. Iran’s influence in the Lebanese political process has never been greater, as has Syria’s. And various independent sources are reporting that Syrian artillery, tanks, helicopters, and between 8,000 and 10,000 special soldiers are massing on the Syrian side of the north Lebanese border – this does not include the recent reports of Syrian special operations teams on the ground in Lebanon, and the known Syrian intelligence operations which have continued since the Syrian Army officially withdrew in 2005.
Batal’s testimony before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus comes one day before Lebanese Pres. Michel Sleiman – currently in the U.S. – is scheduled to meet with Pres. Bush.
Sleiman – the pro-Syrian former commander-in-chief of Lebanon’s armed forces – recently returned from Syria. But made no strides toward resolving the issue of Lebanese prisoners in Syria: This, despite the multiple, desperate appeals (to Sleiman) by Lebanese political leaders, NGOs, and the mothers of the missing and imprisoned.
I’ve had personal interaction with the Lebanese president, and have written about him here and elsewhere.
Batal is co-founder and director of Beirut-based MIRSAD (Multi-Initiative on Rights: Search, Assist & Defend), and the director of Human Rights for the World Council of the Cedars Revolution.
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
Briefing on Syria’s Human Rights Abuses
Posted by editor-at-large on 24 September 2008 at 12:50 am UTC
A Lebanese delegation will brief the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus, tomorrow, regarding Syria’s ongoing abuses against the Lebanese people despite the fact that the Syrian Army ostensibly withdrew its forces from Lebanon in 2005.
According to Congress’s official invitation to the delegation (a copy of which we’ve obtained among other documentation), the briefing, entitled, “Syrian human rights policies in Syria and toward Lebanese,” will focus on the countless numbers of Lebanese people who have disappeared from their homeland since the Lebanese Civil War, only to turn up in Syrian prisons or rumored to have been killed at the hands of the Syrian regime.
The abuses continue, and involve not only the kidnapped and imprisoned Lebanese, but the extortion of their families just to keep their loved ones alive or to receive information about them.
The briefing is scheduled for tomorrow (Sept. 24), 2:00 pm, Rayburn House Office Building, and is open to the media and the public.
Additional information will follow the briefing.
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
UPDATE: Syrian Army Reportedly Massing on Syrian-Lebanese Border
Posted by editor-at-large on 22 September 2008 at 1:28 am UTC
Sources tonight are reporting that “Lebanese officials” monitoring the Lebanese-Syrian border (in the Akar region above Tripoli) today witnessed what was determined to be a “heavy” brigade-sized force being positioned on the Syrian side of the border.
Also tonight, Naharnet is reporting:
“Future Television said Syria was reinforcing its troops along its side of Lebanon’s northern borders.”
These reports follow several of our own reports – based on open sources and independent human intelligence sources – since September 7 that Syrian forces (including tanks, helicopters, and artillery pieces) have been observed massing on the northern border, and that Syrian special operations forces have crossed into Lebanon.
The Lebanese Army leadership has officially denied the reports of troops crossing into Lebanon, but sources are telling us the Army’s denials are a deliberate attempt to quash information.
Previous reports here and here.
UPDATE (Sept. 22, 8:30 am Eastern): The Lebanese Army has now confirmed that Syria has in fact “boosted troop numbers along the border,” and that “nearly 10,000 Syrian special forces have been deployed in the Abbudiya region along the border between Lebanon and Syria.”
Lebanese Army officials also report that the Army has asked Damacus why the massive uptick in military activities on the border, and the Syrians responded — and I paraphrase — to crackdown on smuggling and other criminal activity.
What? In other words Syria is saying (and the Lebanese Army is confirming) that tanks, artillery, helicopters, and 10,000 commandos (combined with recent reports and intelligence indicating some of those special operations forces had actually crossed into Lebanon) are simply measures taken to crackdown on crime?
UPDATE (Sept. 22, 9:30 am Eastern): Let’s add three other variables into the mix:
First, what better time for Syria to flex its military muscle than the period in which the U.S. and Europe are preoccupied with both the American presidential campaigns and last-and-this week’s upheaval in the U.S. and world financial markets.
Second, Syria and Russia have been cozying up together recently. Russia is sharing intelligence with Syria (which is in turn sharing that intelligence with Hezbollah and its allies). Additionally, Syria may be taking strategic-military cues from Russia, which recently invaded the former Soviet state of Georgia with virtual impunity.
Third, Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad is doing everything in his power to ensure the results of the spring 2009 parliamentary elections in Lebanon favor the pro-Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah axis (the March 8 terrorist crowd) as opposed to the pro-democracy majority (the March 14 movement).
Speaking to a delegation from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (some of Hezbollah’s buddies who also were running around shooting civilians and burning buildings during Hezbollah’s attacks in May), Assad predicted the axis would emerge victorious in 2009, and that their victory “would change the existing state of political affairs.”
Assad added, “The forces that have defeated Israel would defeat their foes in Lebanon.”
Our sources are telling us that Assad would have no qualms about invading north Lebanon — if he could get away with it — to ensure Syria’s political-hand achieves political dominance in Beirut. And he would do so under the pretext of controlling the Salafists (whom Assad has ironically been feeding for some time).
Confusing to say the least. But it is a dangerous series of dynamics that have been coming to pass — and we’ve been warning about for months — which the West must understand if we are to have any chance of regaining our rapidly eroding political leverage (and supporting our pro-democracy allies) in Lebanon.
As I’ve said many times, Lebanon is one of our most critical fronts in the war on terror. Yet our unwillingness to confront the terrorists and their state-sponsors operating in sovereign Lebanon is irreparably eroding that front.
UPDATE (Sept. 22, 12:20 pm Eastern): This would be laughable if it weren’t so serious:
According to Naharnet, Gen. Michel Aoun — leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (a Christian bloc oddly allied to Shiia Hezbollah) – stated today “deployment of Syrian troops in Syria is none of our business.”
Understand: what Aoun is saying is that the recent deployment by Syria of its combat troops on the Syrian side of the Lebanese-Syrian border is none of Lebanon’s business.
AND THIS MAN IS A GENERAL?
Actually, Aoun’s comments have less to do with his military competency, and more to do with his strategic-political allegiances.
UPDATE (Sept. 22, 3:00 pm Eastern): As we’ve reported, it seems highly unlikely that Syria would deploy combat forces — to include tanks, artillery, helicopters, and 10,000 special operations soldiers (commandos) — as a means of taking a bite out of crime.
And according to Deutsche Presse-Agentur:
“Military experts who requested anonymity doubted a country would deploy 8,000 or 10,000 troops just to stop smuggling on its borders.”
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
The Lebanese Army’s new Hezbollah Corps
Posted by editor-at-large on 16 September 2008 at 11:44 pm UTC
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
In a piece for Human Events in May, I wrote that the lights had gone out in Lebanon, but only temporarily. I was referring of course to the undeserved concessions granted Hezbollah as a means of reigning-in the Shiia terrorist organization, which had launched a series of bloody attacks against the Lebanese government and citizenry that same month.
The situation has devolved since then – the particulars of that devolution often slipping under the radar screen of international understanding – as the Lebanese government (an ally of the United States) continues to appease, kowtow to, and, yes, welcome into the fold perhaps the most dangerous terrorist army on earth.
Today Lebanese Pres. Michel Sleiman, the former commander-in-chief of the armed forces, kicked off his Conference on National Dialogue, which calls on conferees (primarily parliamentarians and party leaders, including Hezbollah and its allies) to adopt a new defense strategy “based on our armed forces and benefiting from the resistance capabilities.”
Resistance is the sugar-coated codeword for Hezbollah.
This statement and previous agreements since May reaffirm Hezbollah’s becoming inextricably wedded to the Lebanese Army. Make no mistake, Hezbollah – funded, operationally supported, and essentially commanded by both Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Syria – is being repackaged as a special corps of the Lebanese armed forces.
Yet we, the U.S., continue to fund and provide materiel support to the Lebanese armed forces and Interior Security Forces (national police).
Perhaps we need to rethink our support of the army, and refocus our efforts on Lebanon’s international pro-democracy movement and the pro-Western, free-Lebanon resistance organizations in Lebanon.
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
PHARES ON SYRIAN COMMANDO REPORTS
Posted by editor-at-large on 16 September 2008 at 12:56 am UTC
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Spoke this evening with Dr. Walid Phares, director of the Future of Terrorism Project for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, on the subject of the recent reports of Syrian commando (special operations) forces having crossed into north Lebanon, and the Lebanese Army’s dismissing the reports as “untrue.”
Phares, currently on a European tour, is in Brussels tonight where he has been briefing legislators and EU officials on the evolving situation in Lebanon and the broader Middle East.
According to Phares:
“Despite much wishful thinking on the part of the U.S. – and particularly Europe – that Damascus is moving toward a measure of good behavior; the Syrian regime is irreversibly committed to extending its regional dominance back into Lebanon [Syria officially withdrew in 2005, though Syrian intelligence operatives have remained in Lebanon, and Syria continues to provide operational support to Hezbollah]. It is not a question of choice: It is a question of Syrian regime doctrine. The Assad clan hasn’t been able to digest the fact that it was compelled to withdraw its forces from Lebanon in 2005. On the day he delivered the announcement of withdrawal, he activated his second army, his pro-Syrian militias and Hezbollah, which would commit to attacking the Cedars Revolution on every possible front.
“The reports of a possible penetration by Syrian commandos into northern Lebanon do not come as a surprise. Assad already has made public his interest in linking up with the Alawite militias north of Tripoli. Remember what he told Lebanon’s President Michel Sleiman, a couple of weeks ago. He asked Sleiman to redeploy Lebanese troops from the south to the north. And keep in mind that many units of the Army deployed in the south had already been infiltrated by Hezbollah.
“So Assad wants Lebanese Army units – led by officers friendly to the Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah axis – to be dispatched to the north, a strong anti-Syrian Sunni enclave. Additionally, he [Assad] wants to send-in his own ‘SS,’ in a move in which they would deploy with the Alawite militias in northern Lebanon.“Hence, the reports regarding Syrian commandos being sent across the Syrian-Lebanese border should not surprise observers.
“The bigger picture is that — while Hezbollah is taking control of the heights of Mount Lebanon from Jezzine to the Cedars — the Syrians are filling the void of the remaining sectors escaping their control; that is north of Tripoli.
“Look at it this way: while the theatrics surrounding the so-called dialogue are taking place in Beirut to keep international media busy with photo ops and empty statements, the real action is occurring on the ground. In short, Lebanon is being slowly reoccupied by the Syrian-Iranian axis. And to assume otherwise is sheer naiveté.”
Our previous report with updates may be seen here.
Additional information will follow.
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. online at uswriter.com.
Posted by editor-at-large on 14 September 2008 at 11:09 pm UTC
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
GIANTS OF MEN: That was to be my title until my friend, nationally syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, beat me to the punch with her title, Giants Among the Lilliputians.
Of course, I played up the bit with her about great minds thinking alike. But I’m not sure it was as much about great minds as it was the great obviousness of whom the guests of honor were at a reception hosted by Kathleen and her husband Woody Cleveland last Tuesday.
The soiree – a gathering of the regional gentry; a string ensemble; bagpipes; ladies escorted by Marines in dress blues, Navy midshipmen, and cadets from the local military academy; plenty of Southern delicacies; wine, whiskey, and what have you – was held at the Cleveland’s 182-year-old antebellum home in Camden, S.C. (just down the road from the site of British Maj. Gen. Sir Charles Cornwallis’ defeat of Continental Army Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates in 1780).
More than a party, it was a celebration of America’s greatest warriors – living and dead – our Medal of Honor (MoH) recipients.
Which brings me to the guests of honor: Four men – Army Col. Charles P. Murray Jr. (awarded the MoH for his actions in World War II as a 1st Lt.), Army Sgt. John F. Baker Jr. (awarded the MoH for his actions in Vietnam as a PFC), Marine Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston (awarded the MoH for his actions in Vietnam as a captain), and Navy SEAL Lt. Michael E. Thornton (awarded the MoH for his actions in Vietnam as a petty officer) – all of whom are recipients of our nation’s highest personal decoration for valor during armed combat. It is the award for which Gen. George S. Patton once proclaimed, “I’d give my immortal soul for that decoration.”
Currently there are 100 living recipients of the MoH (three recipients passed away over the summer): Most of the recipients are usually killed during the action for which their deeds warrant the medal. All recipients since the Battle of Mogadishu have been killed during their individual actions. South Carolina claims six of the living recipients, including the aforementioned four.
As I said in remarks at a Medal of Honor Society luncheon the day before Kathleen and Woody’s party:
“Heroes are those who go to the absolute extremes during moments of terror and the most challenging circumstances – risking life and limb, sometimes running up against the cores of their very souls – to do what’s right … and what no one else will do.
…
”Just because you have been in a combat situation – and many of us in here have been – does not mean you are necessarily heroic for simply having been in that situation. It’s what you do in that situation, individually – the risk, the sacrifice, the performance of an unimaginable task, the negotiation of an obstacle that to even the very best of soldiers would seem insurmountable. It’s doing the thing that would seem physically, mentally and emotionally impossible.”
That is precisely what these men have done. Yet they consider themselves to be ordinary men, and it’s not some public pretense of ordinariness. They truly believe it. And having known and served with men such as these in peace and in war, I’m increasingly coming to the conclusion that their ordinariness is one of the genetically-wired-into-them ingredients – among other things – that predisposes them to great feats of heroism in the first place.
Selfish men, bullies, and braggarts don’t perform well in battle. And those believing in their own extraordinariness rarely if ever accomplish feats worthy of the MoH.
Anyone who has ever known a MoH recipient would have to agree that he is a unique soul. The medal itself is impressive – including the knowledge of what it takes to become a recipient (The recipient will tell you, no one wins the medal) – but the man who wears it is beyond impressive: He is almost impossible to describe because he is a man whose actions have literally transcended heroics, and there is no philosophy or science to adequately explain it.
What we do know about these men is that no matter what kinds of lives they might have been leading before the actions (resulting in their awards); we see in the remainders of their lives, humility, graciousness, restraint, an unmatched sense of responsibility toward their fellow man, and always – I mean, always — putting others above themselves. They are committed to a life of service beyond the military, and this commitment to service has absolutely nothing to do with egocentrism, ambition, or any desire for personal recognition.
It’s simply who and what these men are.
In her column, Kathleen writes: “At a time when Americans bemoan the lack of positive role models, there are at least 103 real heroes living discreet lives in quiet neighborhoods across this nation. We have no paucity of role models. What we have is a failure to notice them.”
Brig. Gen. Eugene Rogers (S.C State Guard) – an attorney, former Marine, and the chairman of the 2010 Medal of Honor convention – agrees, and he is working hard to increase the public’s awareness.
“It is absolutely essential to the moral health and strength of this nation, especially in this time of war, that we increase the awareness of who these men are and why they – not some celebrity or sports star – are the true heroes of America,” Rogers tells me.
Under Rogers’ leadership, the 2010 Medal of Honor convention will be held in Charleston, S.C. The convention will be hosted by the Citadel and the S.C. State Guard.
(Donations in support of the convention may be made to the
South Carolina State Guard Foundation
Post Office Box 100200
Columbia, S.C. 29202)
— W. Thomas Smith Jr. – a former U.S. Marine rifle-squad leader and counterterrorism instructor – is a journalist, author, and military analyst whose work has appeared in the New York Post, USA TODAY, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, CBS News, and many others. has covered conflict in the Balkans, on the West Bank, in Iraq and Lebanon, and has provided analysis to the U.S. Defense Department. Visit him online at uswriter.com.
NOTE: The opinions expressed in these articles are solely those of the author, and do not represent the opinions of World Defense Review and its affiliates. WDR accepts no responsibility whatsoever for the accuracy or inaccuracy of the content of this or any other story published on this website. Copyright and all rights for this story (and all other stories by the author) are held by the author.
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