Monthly Archives: June 2013

by | June 25, 2013 · 8:36 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 59

Taj Mahal, Agra, India. Deutsch: Taj Mahal im ...

INDIA

India presents many views. Some see a nation of diverse people born out of the crucible of colonialism. To others, India is the largest democracy in the world and the greatest friend America has, a natural barrier to the dominance of Islam in South Asia. Scholars and poets see a civilization rich in history, culture and architecture. A true melding of East and West with an educated and skilled populace. Waves of invaders have clashed across its northern borders. The most recent one was China seeking to expand southward in the 1960s. I was in New Delhi when the Indian Army fought the invasion to a border stalemate in the mountain passes.

I had just finished my master’s degree in South Asian Studies at Duke University and was fortunate to win a grant to study in India. Although I attended The Indian School of International Studies at Sapru House on Barakumba Road in New Delhi. I did not enroll in any program of studies. My program was to see India, the people and the land. My master’s thesis was entitled, The Congress Party, Linguistic Policies, and Indian Unity. (Through the decades it has gathered the dust of neglect.)

We, my wife and two-year-old son, spent a few weeks in the Jan Path Hotel before renting a small bungalow in Defence Colony in New Delhi. The next two years were happily spent traveling around Northern India from Jaipur to Lucknow, to the Taj Mahal, Dharmsala, and Srinagar. With the exception of Srinagar, the trips were all made in our Hindustani, the car that wouldn’t give up. Though I didn’t know it at the time I was picking up the knowledge and experience to write novels. Fifty years later, my first novel, Justice Beyond Law, was published. Much of this book features action in New Delhi and Kathmandu.  I think some of the best scenes were describing a boat trip up the Narayani River to the Trisuli River and the overland trek up the Trisuli to Kathmandu. During a long drive down the Grand Trunk Road on the trip from Raxaul Bazaar to New Delhi, the musing of my female heroine about her feelings as the night and aura of previous travelers of the Grand Trunk wafted around the car … (Oops almost too much.  I don’t want to spoil the story.)  There is an allure and beauty to India that you will never find in China.

by the author of the Jack Brandon novels                               http://www.factsandfictions.com

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by | June 20, 2013 · 7:40 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 58

SCHOLAR SPY

My family and friends have told me I should have been a teacher. The family is well represented by teachers. Mother, brother, sister-in-law, nieces, and nephews are teaching or have taught. I’ve enjoyed teaching but different arts; martial arts, lifeguarding, surveillance and counter-surveillance, clandestine communications, physical security and agent handling were my specialties. My knowledge of the craft of espionage, covert action, paramilitary operations, and counter-terrorism comes from my CIA career and two years in the late 1980s as a Special Assistant to President Reagan. I was his National Security Staff officer serving as point on all intelligence, counter-terrorism, and narcotics areas. I learned from the best. I’m a much better spy than I would’ve been a scholar.

These opportunities have given me a foundation to write fictional stories that expose no secrets but give my readers a peek at what the planning, preparation, and execution of clandestine operations requires. Beyond looking at maps, satellite images, and checking some facts, I do no research. Interview no one. What you read comes from my experience in the Cold War and an active imagination. Each Jack Brandon novel is a tutorial in espionage, terrorism or crime. Justice Beyond Law is about KGB infiltrating long-term spies into America, especially in the Cold War era. Cover stories, communications, financing, and the constant need to be ready to start over with a new identity are all part of this novel.

In Justice Without Mercy the same attention to detailed planning and execution is given to al Qaeda terrorist attacks on soft targets in America. The plot is complicated by the tensions between law enforcement officials and intelligence organizations. I have used a serial killer to call attention to the two different missions.

Shades of Justice focuses on the world of human trafficking. Fighting crime and terrorism require similar disciplines and the experience to make the right decision at the right time. Here, Jack Brandon and his team build their mission around saving victims rather than the slow careful gathering of evidence to make a case that will hold up in court. They believe the law and order pendulum has swung too far to protect the accused at the expense of the victims. The law and order approach will never defeat terrorism but it is a necessary element of our democracy. It just needs some readjustment to shift more toward the lives and rights of victims. In the meantime the Brandon team and the great dog, Shadow, will keep trying to keep the wolves at bay. At last I have been able to combine the worlds of the spy and the scholar.

By the author of the Jack Brandon novels                                     http://www.factsandfictions.com

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by | June 17, 2013 · 8:19 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 57

OVERSIGHT?

Our Constitution, most state constitutions, judicial procedures and corporation bylaws, all contain checks and balances.  All aspects of our republic purposely contain a system of checks and balances. The premise behind the need for such restraints is that people can be corrupt and power breeds corruption. Corruption in government and unchecked power can and will destroy individual liberty. It doesn’t matter which political party is in power, the motivation to use the full and unchecked power of government for ideological supremacy is always there. Our system of checks and balances relies on another principle for its effectiveness. The protector of viability of checks and balances  is Congressional and Judicial  oversight and an aggressive questioning press, which is the third, very important leg of oversight.

079 Capitol Hill United States Congress 1993

079 Capitol Hill United States Congress 1993 (Photo credit: David Holt London)

In our federal government structure, the Congress and the Courts provide the arms of oversight of the Executive. It is the Executive branch of our government whose management of the nation’s business contains the power to encroach on individual freedom in the name of security or in  misguided attempts to destroy opposition to changing or transforming the American nation. Up until the last ten years the check and balance process has worked well  with effective oversight.

In the 1980s and ’90s, the Executive often struggled to maintain its position of prominence in running the affairs of government. At times it seemed to those of us working in the Executive branch that Congress believed oversight meant management. Congressional staff members and reporters made their bones by ferreting out real and imagined overreaches and inefficiencies of the Executive. There was a constant stream of officers from various agencies marching up to testify in front of various committees. One Director of the CIA often commented, “That while CIA is an executive agency under the command of the President, CIA works equally for the Congress.” (This is not an exact quote but it is very close and was accurate at the time.)

The power and effectiveness of the oversight process has been steadily degraded. Four things are primarily responsible for the weakening of the oversight process.

First: The Executive Branch of Government has grown much larger, starting with President George W. Bush and continued by President Obama. The Congressional and Judicial Branches have not kept up.

Secondly: The media has become politically one-sided and ignores covering events that might be critical of President Obama. In doing so they have abrogated their historical position as a key element of the oversight process.

Thirdly: Only the Executive Branch has keep up with the technology necessary to improve the management and control of their branch of government.

Lastly: No one in the Legislative or Judicial Branches anticipated that a political party would so openly and ruthlessly use the power of the executive to destroy political opposition groups. There is scarcely a piece of the executive that has not stepped over traditional lines to seize and expand political power. A few examples of the most egregious are the IRS, EPA, the State Department, the Justice Department, ranking military officers, DEA, Immigrations, HHS, Department of Labor and others that will emerge if oversight regains its footing. How can we expect Congress to oversee the collection and use of information on U.S. Citizens if it cannot even provide oversight of  the the IRS, one of the most bureaucratic  and pervasive of all agencies?  This is not over. Watch the Congressional hearing.

By the author of the Jack Brandon novels.         http://www.factsandfictions.com

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by | June 13, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 56

English: The western front of the United State...

English: The western front of the United States Capitol.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

WHAT’S TO BE DONE?

I’ve been asked to write a blog recommending action to stop the Progressive program of the Obama Administration from further eroding our freedoms. We are closer to a one-party political system than most Americans realize. Obama is using the weight and power of the Federal Government to destroy his opposition — meaning anyone who disagrees with him. The main opposition, the Republican Party, is presently ill-equipped to stop the President’s progressive program. The Republican leadership is entrenched in practicing politics as usual. Most of them have been in office too long. The Republicans need new blood to think outside of the box.

We must push hard to support Libertarians, Tea Party candidates, and others who campaign on the promise to reduce the size of government and to defend the Constitution. Support from the former followers of Obama are welcome. We are all Americans and it is in the strength of our faith and belief in the sacrifices of those who went before us that we will find the will and the power to make the sacrifices necessary to turn back the onslaught of elitist progressive ideology that today threatens the very life of our nation.

Step 1: Support Libertarians, Tea Party candidates, and others who think like we do. Give generously of your time and money to these candidates. Write to them. Tell them you are supporting them because you believe in limited government and the Constitution. Tell your friends about your beliefs and seek support for your candidates. Be willing to put a sign in your yard and a bumper sticker on your car. Become a candidate yourself or at least a party worker.

Step 2: You cannot advise your friends and support the “right” candidate if you don’t educate yourself. Watch a couple of different news channels, read the local and national papers. Go online to investigate issues. Hold discussions in your home with like-minded friends and associates.

Step 3: Treat those who have different beliefs with respect. They, too, are Americans who may have made more sacrifices than you have.

Step 4: Separate the facts from political hype and debate the facts, not your opponents’ opinions or beliefs.

Step 5: Strive to find common ground with your fellow citizens. Even a small one is starting point. Example don’t argue over Obamacare. Instead agree that our health care system needs improvement. But there is a better response to fixing the current system than Obamacare. Talk about what needs improvement from your perspective.

Step 6: Most importantly of all, don’t sit around and whine. Get involved. Whiners were not at Bunker Hill, the Alamo, Gettysburg, the Yalu River, Guadalcanal, Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge, the I Drang Valley, Khandar, Ramadi and scores of other places, and certainly not in your house. Keep the House and take the Senate in 2014. Support the Congress in all the scandal investigations. 

Step 7:  Never give up.

By the author of the Jack Brandon thriller series.            www.factsandfictions.com

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by | June 10, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 55-ADVISOR

 

 

WHAT DO THEY WANT?

The Advisor had done some research in the history of Russia’s struggle to compete with British seapower and later the United States. The Czars as well as Mr. Putin, who believes he is a Czar, understand the need for the Russian fleet to have a warm water port. Without an all weather port the Russians cannot extend their power much beyond their own borders. The Advisor thought, it is precisely this kind of knowledge the President does not have. Nothing in his background prepared him to understand the real world which is that nations act in their own interest. If you don’t understand this central reality, your foreign policy is composed of reactions to events you really don’t understand. Like or not his mission required him to educate as well as advise President Obama.

The Advisor knew the President seldom took his advice but he was enough of a scholar to listen thoughtfully and enough of an ideologue to follow his collectivist doctrine. The President would be down here within the next hour. I’ll him if he will allow me to present my research. Right on schedule the ancient steel clad door opened and the President strode it. “Good evening Mr. President. The coffee is ready. Take what ever seat you want. I did some research this week and, if you will permit, I will give you the bottom lines.”

“Well, I thought your advice was just the result of your eight decades of life. I’m intrigued that you include research. So go ahead.”

“Thank you. Why are the Russians so hard to work with in the disaster we call Syria? Russia has no common border with Syria.  Syria has no supply of oil or minerals. They have no exports Russia wants or needs. Yet Russia is sending game-changing weapons to Syria and, if their past behavior is any guide, they have or will also send technicians and weapons specialists to Syria. Putin knows there is no one to stop him. Certainly not any Arab or Persian State. Israel can’t without our help. The Euro powers are too focused on themselves to risk capital and blood for anyone else. I have no special insight to U.S. Russian policy but I do remember you whispering to President Medvedev before Putin took the presidency again, asking him to tell Putin you would have more flexibility after the election. Putin is a Czar. He only understands strength. Your secret message to Medvedev told Putin you were in a weak position. In Syria he believes you will not oppose Russia’s historical push to have a warm water port.

“Without a warm water port their fleet is frozen in, bottled up in the Black Sea or cruising far beyond their supply base for many months of each year. Again there is no proof I know of but the Soviet push into Afghanistan in the 1980s was another step in their bumbling efforts dating back to the Czars to gain a corridor to warm water. Syria has dangled a warm water port in the Mediterranean called Tartous.  The Russians have already done significant development projects in this port. They really don’t much care who rules Syria as long as Tartous is firmly in Russian control. The Russians will do whatever is necessary to ensure they do not lose control of this port. They have never been so close in recent history to the  control of a warm water port. A Syrian regime friendly to the United States that would exercise real control over Tartous is not acceptable. Putin, today, has no respect for America. He only understands strength and has no use for words that are mere rhetoric.

“There is more at stake in Syria than the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad from Syria. I don’t think your Administration understands the historical power that motivates Putin to capture an all weather port. That single feat will mark him  as the greatest of all Russia’s Czars. A warm water port at no cost in blood or treasure. A remarkable achievement.”

“You’re telling me Russia’s end game in Syria is for a seaport?”

“Yes. Of course, they don’t mind throwing all Western powers out of the Middle East.”

“No one on my team will believe your analysis.”

“Try some military scholars. They will tell you the same thing.” The Advisor said, as the President was getting up to leave, “Mr. President maybe you need some different people on your team.”

By the author of the Jack Brandon Thriller Series                    www.factsandfictions.com

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