Author Archives: Barry Kelly

About Barry Kelly

Author of "Justice Beyond Law," "Justice Without Mercy," "Shades of Justice," "Justice Without Mercy," and "Run to Freedom," as well as two ,"nonfiction books ,"INSIGHTS-The Transforming of America," and "INSIGHTS-Stepping Stones to Tyranny. He also is the author of the blog "8 Decades of Insights." Barry Kelly is no stranger to the world of espionage, counter-terrorism, weapons, deep cover, and the inner workings of the governmental security apparatus. His immersion in the Cold War began with enlistment in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. Following his discharge, he earned a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree from Duke. His career in the CIA included deep cover operations and overseas experience, primarily in South and Southeast Asia. He has been awarded the Certificate of Merit with Distinction, the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal and the Intelligence Officer of the Year Award. After retiring from the CIA, Kelly served as a special assistant to President Reagan. He holds a first dan black belt in hap-ki-do. Visit www.factsandfictions.com or find the author on Facebook.

by Barry Kelly | January 5, 2015 · 1:02 pm

INSIGHTS 182 — WATCH THE SPIN DOCTORS

Every administration has had its “spin doctors” who massage every bit of news to make the president look good. If this administration’s spin doctors would work with wool rather than information, we would have something positive to show for the effort besides lies, which don’t have much lasting value.

First let’s look at the economy. Al Sharpton has joined the ranks of the economic spin doctors with his recent praise for the president’s efforts to build the now booming economy. Most of the numbers released by the administration are questionable or judiciously have excluded facts they don’t like. That is the way of spin doctors. Millions of people have dropped out of the work force (those actively looking for employment) because they have given up looking for a job. These people are not counted in the unemployment percentage number. The population of people coming of age to work, not including illegals, has continued to grow faster than job creation.

Wages have not keep pace even with a low rate of inflation which also excludes the increasing cost of many items that routinely are part of the cost of living. Wages increase when there is a competition among employers for workers. Without an increasing demand for workers, wages will remain depressed. Many Americans with jobs today are working far below their skill levels. Just check with college graduates over the last six years. Instead of one career job with good wages, many Americans are working two or three part-time jobs. How does that show up in figures that measure the economy?

The last argument progressives turn to is the growth of the stock market and the wealth it has brought to the economy. This is more spin. The stock market and the general economy where Americans mostly get their income are not closely linked. Only those wealthy enough to participate in the stock market have done well. Wall Street has benefited by the 80-plus billion dollars per month the Federal Reserve has pumped into the financial world. It is only now starting to taper off this incredible example of Keynesian economics whose primary tenet is that a nation can spend enough to enrich the general economy or increase the output of goods and services. This financial ideology has never worked to get a nation out of debt or increase its Gross National Product (GNP). High taxes, government deficit financing, and over regulation all depress economic activity.

Are things better for most Americans right now? Yes! But Obama and his administration had nothing to do with the improvement. Thank Saudi Arabia, which increased its pumping of oil to glut the market and force down the price of energy, mostly clearly seen at the gas pump. The Saudis have not increased their pumping and marketing of their oil to help us. They are doing this for their own national interests. A motivation this administration doesn’t seem to understand. The Saudi increased production to punish their competition that has sharply increased the world’s supply of oil and depressed the price of a barrel of oil far under the former OPEC price. The Russians, the Iranians, ISIS, and the United States are the culprits in the eyes of the Saudis. By bankrupting or punishing these over producers they hope to insure their long-term dominant share of revenue from the sale of oil on the world market. The Saudi strategy is working. The Russians, Iranians, and ISIS are suffering as well as some oil-producing companies in America.

The bargain price of fossil fuel energy is what is improving the American economy. That and the promise of a Republican-controlled Congress that might produce tax reform, the Keystone Pipeline, a cut in government size and spending, and a commonsense approach to the over-regulation of the current administration. Live in hope.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/mystery novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $6.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

1 Comment

Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics

Tagged as administration, government, Obama, politics, spin doctors

by Barry Kelly | December 27, 2014 · 7:37 am

INSIGHTS 181 — WHAT’S WRONG WITH AMERICA?

All of us can find things that need improvement. But there is nothing fundamentally wrong with America that cannot be corrected by breaking the hold progressivism has on segments of our nation.

Progressivism, as an ideology, has no place in America. The very word itself was used by Mr. Saul Alinsky, a communist community organized in Chicago who wrote the book, “Rules for Radicals,” used by President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and many other left-wing university professors and very left-wing politicians. Alinsky chose the name progressive because he realized the terms socialism and communism were deeply unpopular in America.

Adherents of this ideology believe no matter what problems are facing the nation, do not try to solve them. Instead, use the issue they present to attack your opponents. Since the issue is never the issue in progressive ideology you may say anything and take any action that in the end helps secure political power. In other terms, this end, seizing power, always justifies the means. Seizing power means establishing a one-party political system run by a progressive elite.

For the first time in American history we have a president who talks and acts as if he truly wants to destroy America, past, present, and future, in order to establish a far better place for all citizens. He has said many times he intends to transform America. Believe him. He means it. I cannot think of any other reason for what he says and does what he does.

Remember, this president packed up a bust of Winston Churchill and sent it back to Great Britain during his first few days in office. Anything Churchill stood for, President Obama and his progressives are against. Not only was Churchill a British hero, many Americans from the WWII and Cold War eras also saw Churchill as a hero of the free world. That single act should have told us how deeply this president hates the Western world and its colonial past, real and imagined.

The progressives truly hate the history of America and our role as the super power. I don’t care what problem area you select, you will not find our president working to solve the problem for the good of the nation and its citizens. Take energy, the economy, the free market system, the role of the entrepreneur, anti-terrorism actions, dealings with Islamic radicalism, the Armed Forces (force levels and equipment), relations with Israel, Iran, Russia, Cuba, and our allies, and race relations in America.

We are not a racist nation. Yet President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Mayor De Blasio of New York and the black racism champions whose positions depend on throwing the race card in all directions, say we are. What kind of a White House would have Rev. Al Sharpton as their primary advisor on race issues in America? ( I write fiction but that is too far out even for a fictional story.) I don’t see how the president can be working toward national unity with the statements that come from him, Al Sharpton, Eric Holder and Mayor De Blasio. The only answer is that the president is following his ideology and using the race issue to cause chaos and anarchy in America to further the establishment of a one-party progressive government.

The progressives are masters of misdirection to control the message and the media agenda. Otherwise, why focus the nation’s attention on closing Guantanamo Bay’s detention facility for hard core terrorists or recognizing Cuba at this time? The creation of chaos on the national level by using race-based politics may be necessary before the American people might accept one-party rule. Not you, not the country, only the progressive transformation plans are benefiting from the Obama administration.

3 Comments

Filed under Alinsky, Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Progressives, Terrorism

Tagged as issues, Obama, Progressives, socialism

by Barry Kelly | December 22, 2014 · 7:45 am

INSIGHTS 180 — BEHIND THE WHITE HOUSE DOOR

Somewhere along the road, most power players recognize that controlling the agenda is more than half the battle. Controlling the agenda requires aggressive messaging that can capture the news media’s and the nation’s attention. Obama has this.

The Republicans, including the tea parties, do not. They let President Obama control the discussion. The president understands the use of issues to attack the opposition. He is very good at waving a different red flag anytime he wants to change the subject or make himself the center of attention.

He has the Republicans falling all over themselves to be on the front lines to debate, criticize, or attack his administrative memorandums on immigration. The correct response would be to ignore the president and put forth a real immigration bill with as much bi-partisan support as possible in a measured response. President Obama does not want to see a bipartisan immigration bill. He does not care about a solution for the nation. He only wants to use the issue of immigration to attack his opposition.

Obama also does not want real discussion, debate, or action on regulation of industry, tax code, energy production and export, or foreign policy featuring Iran, Israel, Russia, China, or ISIS. A Republican Congress with some bi-partisian support may solve these problems, but Obama doesn’t want those items on the agenda. He can control neither the outcome nor the messaging in these areas.

Before the immigration issue fades, he deals from the bottom and flashes the Cuban card. Why now? Because he again wants to redirect attention to another issue he can use to attack the opposition. He doesn’t care about helping the Cuban people or increasing American influence in the Caribbean. He just wants to control the agenda and he is doing that very very well.

The next grab at controlling the news may be the closure of Guantanamo Bay. Just this weekend he sent four Afghans back to their home country from Gitmo.

The Republican congressional leadership will leap into the Obama net ready for war on the wrong battlefield at the wrong time. Let’s focus on the economy, a new tax code, limits on regulation, reduction in the size and scope of the government bureaucracy, strengthening the military, securing the border, and then a real immigration policy, piecemeal Obamacare to oblivion, and burying cap and trade (climate change).

INSIGHTS 179 — THE BRANDON NOVELS

Although my four action novels are mainly tales from a storyteller, they also contain messages that help readers understand the law and order process and how terrorists and intelligence operatives go about their missions. This increased insight will help readers understand the limits of the Obama/Holder fixation on using the civil court and law and order to combat Islamic terrorism.

My first novel, Justice Beyond law, shows how a renegade KGB officer uses an abandoned network of KGB agents infiltrated into America years ago to turn his network into a profit-making enterprise and to manage his diverse network with agents of different skills. The methods he uses are more than plausible and strain the traditional law-and-order approach to terrorism. The traditional approach involves the collection of evidence that will stand up in a court system bound to provide the protections of our Constitution and the rules of due process to all residents, legal or illegal. The collection period is followed by an indictment, the issue of warrants, an arrest and finally a trial. An immense effort over a long period but a very important element of our individual rights. The heroes of this novel believe when dealing with terrorists who are in the country illegally, sometimes the safety of our people requires faster action than the law and order process allows.

The second novel, Justice Without Mercy, shows the process an extremist Muslim group, like al-Qaeda, might use to set up a series of terrorist acts in America to weaken the resolve of the people and lessen their trust in government to protect them. The plot in this novel is more probable than most people believe. Traditional law and order process is not capable of dealing with the fast-moving action of terrorism in the homeland. The law and order process pushed by the Obama administration, particularly by the attorney general, is more political than an effective counter-terrorist approach. There is a war brought by Islamic jihadists against us. It needs to be fought with a similar approach. Foreign jihadists don’t qualify for the protections of our constitution.

Shades of Justice deals with human trafficking that can be a profit-making business both for terrorist organizations and criminals. Readers of this novel will see how simple it is to set up a human trafficking business in nearly any large city. They will also come away with an understanding of how the traffickers operate their business from the spotting and selection of targets, to the capture, movement, holding, and marketing of the victims. The ‘good guys and gals’ in this novel understand and attack all aspects of the human-trafficking process. As you read this, note the challenge human trafficking poses to traditional law and order forces.

My latest novel, Run to Freedom, is the prequel to the Jack Brandon adventure series. In this story I rely heavily upon my knowledge of the old USSR and its KGB intelligence apparatus. The story starts in 1920 in Siberia, with a little-known excursion of American troops just as WWI was wrapping up. In this novel the readers will travel from Russia, to Poland, to Canada and several cities in America as Peter Brandon, Jack’s father, tries to escape the KGB in America. The forces the KGB deploys in America to capture or kill Peter are entirely within the capabilities of Russian intelligence in 1970s America, as are the methods Peter uses to escape the dragnet.

All stories have some truth to them; within fiction lies reality. I hope you are able to read and understand, and take to heart, the messages in my fiction novels. Thanks for reading.

1 Comment

Filed under Intelligence & Politics

by Barry Kelly | December 12, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 178 — INTERROGATION, THE REAL STORY

Enhanced interrogation! Torture! A rogue CIA! Illegal activities!

No matter what newspapers you read, what TV channels you listen to, or what comes to you online, these terms have been flooding the media market. The case for enhanced interrogation is a strong one unless you fear the power of the United States more than you fear Islamic terrorists who have a known track record of killing Americans. Other than the progressives of President Obama’s party, most Americans disagree with Obama’s approach to defending them from terrorism.

This blog is addressed to mainstream Americans who believe in the rule of law, the Constitution, and are proud of our history.

First, a few general observations about interrogation and the line between enhanced interrogation and torture. You can talk to those people who have been interrogated in the CIA’s program. They are alive and well either at Guantanamo or some place where they have been transferred. They are still alive and not crippled physically or mentally deranged. Many have gone back to the battlefield to try and kill more Americans and our allied supporters.

The deaths from enhanced interrogations are reported as one. On the other hand there is the drone program where the terrorists targeted are all dead, along with any friends, family or bystanders who happened to be nearby and all the intelligence they had died with them. At least one terrorist of those killed by a drone strike was an American citizen. I generally support the drone program but don’t understand the American left’s hatred of the CIA program while they accept reports of drone strikes with their morning coffee.

Very few people know anything about interrogation techniques. I do. A skilled interrogator will be successful. He or she will get the subject of interrogation to give up useful information. A skillful use of rewards and punishment (not torture) and a deep knowledge of the subject area gets results. Torture of the Inquisitio Dianne_Feinstein,_official_Senate_photo_2 n type or that used by our enemies in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam was so severe that the subjects would tell their captors anything just to stop the pain. The experience of being tortured does not make you an expert on interrogation, only on being a courageous survivor.

Now the politics of the Democratic senators’ report on terror. That is the right title for the report. Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence did not contribute to nor agree with the report’s content. It is strictly a left-wing progressive report to attack the CIA. Why was the report released now years after the program ended? Simple: After the Republicans assume control of the Senate, Senator Feinstein will lose her chairmanship position and will not be able to carry on her vendetta against the CIA by publishing a remarkably unprofessional report similar to those self-serving reports we have seen come out from our enemies. No one actually a part of or associated with the Enhanced Interrogation program was interviewed or allowed to contribute to the report.

The CIA deserves a nation’s gratitude for keeping our homeland safe.