Author Archives: Barry Kelly

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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 | May 6, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 49

MODERN TERRORISM

THIS ANALYSIS OF MODERN TERRORISM WILL APPEAR IN MY FOURTH NOVEL, THE PREQUEL TO THE JACK BRANDON JUSTICE SERIES. I’M GIVING MY READERS A PREVIEW. I WROTE THIS SEVERAL YEARS AGO WHEN DRAFTING MY FIRST NOVEL, JUSTICE BEYOND LAW.

“The goal of terrorism is to create in the target state an atmosphere of chaos that will cause the state’s reaction to result in an even higher level of chaos. The target state will lose its internal cohesiveness and will gradually move toward vulnerability to either external military action or political attacks from within. Carefully managed terrorism could successfully destroy an enemy, an enemy that was previously thought to be invincible. It isn’t as most terrorists and their supporters think that the individual terrorist acts had to be sensational in order to be successful.

Banner used by the FBI since inception on Octo...

Banner used by the FBI since inception on October 10, 2001 as the main title for the web site pages of both the group of wanted terrorists, and also on the wanted poster of each terrorist fugitive. The three overlapping seals on the left are the seal of the U.S. Department of State (similar to the Great Seal of the United States), the seal of the U.S. Department of Justice, and the seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In fact, many isolated sensational terrorist operations ended up by making the target state’s resolve stronger and its internal security procedures more effective. Average citizens expect that important people and large landmark structures are the targets of terrorists from time to time. What is far more effective is to have people from all classes lose confidence in the ability of the government to protect their lives and property. The western media will act as the carrier of this political disease and focus on the failure of the security services to protect people from terrorists.

“In the past, terrorism has been limited to attacks against targets with high political impacts. After a time, the terrorist incident will disappear from the front page only to reappear if someone is caught and put on trial. It is too hard for terrorists to continually hit high-profile targets. The detailed planning and logistical effort required to hit high-impact targets cannot be sustained. If, however, the new terrorists concentrate on soft or unprotected targets, they can continue a drum beat of assassinations and sabotage.

“Then local governments are unable to cope and begin to break down. The media demands action. Citizens lose confidence and no longer trust the authorities to protect them, proving once again that the greatest freedom is freedom from fear. It is in the actions taken by states to protect themselves from terrorism that the real payoff for terrorism occurs. As states put into effect more and more protective measures, the very nature of democracies like the United States begin to change from a government that emphasized individual freedom and initiative to one that seeks to control and track its citizens with a growing security apparatus. A security apparatus that can easily, if unchecked, form the core of an emerging police state that will eventually enrage the populace.

“Small forces should not attack high-impact targets that by their very nature will be protected. The terrorist leader of today must count upon the media to frighten the nation much in the way media focus on a serial killer can paralyze a local area. Timing and selection of targets must be carefully managed to develop and maintain momentum.”

 

By the Author of the Jack Brandon Thriller Series                                     http://www.fasctsandfictions.com

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by | May 1, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 48

ENOUGH?

Whether Republican, Democrat, or Progressive, the facts don’t change. You are entitled to your interpretation of the facts but lets agree on the facts. In the bullet  list of what I believe are facts, I’ll try to keep my conservative views on the sidelines. Since the mainstream media does not cover most of the items in this list, many citizens will not be familiar with these facts.

FACTS:

* President Obama has appointed more czars than any other president. Maybe more than all others combined.

English: Barack Obama signing the Patient Prot...

English: Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

* President Obama’s administration has not followed the Constitutional requirement to forward a budget to Congress every year.

* President Obama’s landmark legislation (Obamacare) was passed without either the people or Congress given a  chance to read it.

*President Obama has bypassed Congressional rules and precedents to appoint officials without the advice and consent of the Senate.

* President Obama has spent trillions more than the government takes in.

* President  Obama has expanded the role and size of the executive departments and agencies.

* President Obama has used executive power to bypass Congressional authority.

* President Obama refused the Republican offer to give him the authority to select where the sequestration cuts would be made to lessen the impact on the people.

* President Obama has stonewalled Congressional rights to information in the case of the death of the American ambassador in the terrorist attack on Ben Ghazi and in the case of ‘fast and furious’ supplying guns to Mexico’s drug cartels. On the Ben Ghazi issue he refused to call it a terrorist attack for two weeks, insisting more facts were needed. The Justice Department arrested a filmmaker accused of inciting the attack on Ben Ghazi. The president vowed to bring the attackers to justice. So far, we have no evidence of the effort to apprehend them. Evidence is now surfacing that no attempt was made to rescue the embattled personnel at the consulate and annex.

* President Obama has supported the Arab position  in issues with Israel.

* President Obama refuses to use the term “War on Terror.”  The killing of several soldiers at Fort Hood by an Army major and follower of Islam shouting Islamic slogans is called “workplace violence.”

* The President and his Attorney General consistently opt to give Islamic terrorists the protection and rights usually reserved for U.S. citizens.

* The President’s redline was crossed by Assad in Syria weeks ago when he used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. No comment or action so far.

* The President’s repeated  attempts to engage the Iranian regime regarding their efforts to develop nuclear weapons have not worked.

* An open microphone caught the President whispering to President Medvedev of Russia to, “Tell  Putin he (Obama) would have more flexibility after the election.”

* Despite the President’s words, unemployment is worse.

* Under President Obama, welfare recipients have risen dramatically.

* The President campaigned on the promise Obamacare would bring down medical costs. They have increased instead.

* The President stated he would support “all of the above” in discussing his energy plans. He and his administration have constantly taken positions to destroy our fossil fuel production. The coal industry is shutting down. The Keystone Pipeline from Canada is still pending another EPA ‘study.’ Billions have been spent in supporting marginal energy producers that haven’t worked.

* Stimulus One did not provide private sector jobs. The President remains committed to the belief government spending is the key to economic development.

* Obama’s administration has issued more regulations impacting economic development than either Presidents Carter or Clinton.

* President Obama has not focused on job development in the private sector.

* President Obama has not  tried to find who leaked voluminous intelligence secrets to the press. All the leaks made the President look good.

I’m sure many Progressives can explain these facts in a favorable light. That is their right. At least some of the facts should concern even Progressives. Most of them should concern Democrats. Given a stronger Congress, President Obama would be flirting with impeachment proceedings.

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

Taking part in a Nov. 10, 2009, memorial servi...

Taking part in a Nov. 10, 2009, memorial service on Fort Hood, Texas, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama look at the photograph of one of the victims of the Nov. 5 shooting rampage that left 13 dead and 38 wounded. See more at http://www.army.mil (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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by | April 25, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 47

IT IS WHAT IT IS

We are a great nation and we have the best law enforcement, intelligence collection, military, and counter-terrorist capabilities in the world. Unfortunately, we have a tentative president, who, for reasons no one who knows or is willing to talk about, thinks American influence in the world is too strong and America with the rest of Western world has much to be ashamed about. Only by diminishing  our power through a socialist transformation can the world find equality and peace, he thinks.

The "black flag of jihad" as used by...

The “black flag of jihad” as used by various Islamic terrorist organizations (since the late 1990s) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The president and his administration don’t want to acknowledge that Islamic Jihad in all its forms is a danger to our way of life. Islam and Christianity have a history. And it is not a peaceful one. The Crusades,  the Muslim military sweep through North Africa, followed by the Muslim invasion of Western Europe, the fall of  Cordoba, the last Islamic center in Spain are all part of this history. The war continues today and it is an Islamic war against Christian nations. All the Arabs who were dancing in the streets of Islamic countries when the twin towers fell were not all members of an organized terrorist group or active Jihadists but all were Muslims. It is what it is. Muslims do not like us. Moderate Muslims may not be active Jihadists but they condone it and support it. Billions of Saudi dollars have supported radical Islamic Wahabism  schools throughout the world. Our president attended one.

He also attended a strident anti-American church for 20 years.  He comes by his disapproval of America’s past history naturally. He has a right to hold those beliefs. Unfortunately, the attitude of the president permeates through the entire administration. How else can you explain their

View of Mosque 2

View of Mosque 2 (Photo credit: TushyD)

efforts to cover up Jihadist actions like Ben Ghazi, the constant reluctance to use the word terrorism, or the term war on terror? This president who rushes to judgement at the drop of a hat on other issues, preaches the need to gather all the facts, wait until the investigation is complete, “there is no evidence a terrorist group was involved.” He often ends his preaching with “don’t blame an entire group of people.” Mr. President, Muslims have been involved in nearly all bombing terrorist acts for more than the last two decades. (Yes, I know about Oklahoma City.) Many, if not most, of the mosques in America and elsewhere preach a  form of Jihadism.  Directly or indirectly, Islamic mosques support radical Islamic fervor. What’s not to profile? Profiling is a  common-sense approach to law enforcement and protection of citizens.

Like it or not, we are in a war that has deep Islamic roots. It is what it is.

By the author of the Jack Brandon thriller series.       http://www.factsandfictions.com
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by | April 22, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 46

 

Gun Control Hartford CT

Gun Control Hartford CT (Photo credit: john bunce)

OBAMA WINS AGAIN

 

This is a perfect time to show you a concrete example of Obama’s strategy. He is the worst ever president but the best campaigner who has ever claimed the title of Commander-in-Chief. Look at the brilliance of his gun legislation. He supports a bipartisan Senate version of gun legislation. On the face of it, it looks like he was really trying work with the Republicans to prevent the terrible acts of the mentally ill with access to guns.

 

Small problem: None of his must-have restrictions would have prevented any of the recent shooting tragedies. The president knew that. He is not stupid. He trapped the Republicans and all 2nd Amendment protectors by giving them the choice of voting for gun restrictions or rejecting any erosion of the 2nd Amendment. Either way it plays into Obama’s hand as the Alinsky disciple to use as an issue in the 2014 battle for the majority in the House of Representatives. (The Progressive goal for gun legislation is simply to abolish the rights guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment.) Slave owners had guns. Slaves did not. In every society when freedom of the individual is absent, so are weapons in the hands of the populace absent. This is precisely why our founders included the right to bear arms as the Second Amendment.

 

Summer's End. Lexington Green, 11 September 20...

Summer’s End. Lexington Green, 11 September 2002. Photo taken in Minute Man National Historical Park. Sculpture : “Minuteman” by sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson (1863-1947), dedicated April 19, 1900. Erected 1899 : SIRIS (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Remember with Obama, the issue is never the issue. Issues are not to be solved, only used to gain and solidify power. When it comes to getting the message out, Republican leadership is still trying to solve legislative issues the president doesn’t care one whit about. He can take any or both sides of any issue and manipulate the internal elements of any issue at any time. He is eternally flexible except on the goal of transforming America into a socialist society ruled by a progressive elite. The Republican leadership still hasn’t understood the progressive game plan. I don’t think the current Republican leadership  in the Senate ever will. I have a few hopes new leadership in the House could when the existing inept leadership is thrown out.

 

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

 

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by | April 18, 2013 · 7:30 am

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 45

English: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber for...

English: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber for a single diving casualty (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BLESS EACH DAY

Usually I can’t wait to get to my iMac and dash off another blog pointing out the dangers of the Obama administration. Writing blogs helps me keep my balance and cool as Mr. Alinsky’s Chicago acolytes work to drag America down to their level.

Today as I stare at the monitor, I muse about  12 years ago when I was in a very different place. I was still recovering from prostate cancer in Florida. Both the prostate and the cancer were gone and  I was feeling good.  Looking in the mirror as I shaved, I noticed a lump on the side of my neck. I had seen it earlier but now  it was bigger. Big enough  to see my doctor. My wife’s father was a doctor and her mother a nurse so there is no room for procrastination  about medical issues in my family.

After brief examinations by two different doctors, the Jacksonville medical world said cancer. Terminal without treatment and possibly with. Head and neck cancer. Specifically, a 3 centimeter by 3 centimeter  by 2 centimeter tumor on the base of my tongue that had spread to the lymph nodes in my neck. The Jacksonville doctors offered no hope. My wife contacted the internist in Washington, D.C., who had saved us before. Three days later he had put together a dream team of leading specialists in chemotherapy, neck surgery, tooth removal and radiation. We were in our car headed to Washington with our Bouvier des Flandres and African Grey.

Radiation mask used in treatment of throat cancer

Radiation mask used in treatment of throat cancer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was told the odds of a cure were tiny but the radiologist had researched the latest protocols and pulled one off his printer several days later on my birthday. The others involved agreed it was my best and only shot.  I would have radiation daily for eight weeks (7,000 rads), along with simultaneous chem therapy one day each of those weeks.  First I had to have a biopsy, then before any treatment could begin six perfectly good teeth had to be removed, and because I would lose the ability to swallow shortly after the radiation treatments began, a gastric tube was implanted in May to come out in November.  After the radiation and chemo ended, there was a couple of weeks for a break, which we spent in Florida, and then I had a modified neck resection. There were tanks in front of the doctor’s office in Washington when I saw him on Sept. 12.  At the beginning of it all, the radiologist told me the treatment would be the hardest thing I  had ever experienced.  He was right although I didn’t believe him at the time.  No one mentioned that I would need 40 days of two-hour treatments in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber afterwards to restore the heavily damaged marrow in my jaw bone.

A wonderful couple who were our long-time friends gave us their guest cottage for as long as we needed — we were there for three months. Who else would have taken us all in?  The last five weeks we stayed with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

The treatment was very hard on me, my-never-give-up wife, and all those who loved us. At times I wanted to quit. My body weight kept going down and my muscles weakened. I had plenty of time to read but no focus to do so. TV helped pass the time. Programming didn’t matter. If I could never swallow again, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take more treatments, especially the radiation. The only way I managed the daily treatment was to recognize the beauty and glory of each day. I swore, if I lived through the cancer and the treatment, I would for the rest of my life be aware of the blessings each day brings.

For those of you fighting through cancer and the effects of the treatment, take it one day at a time. Set aside a period each day to pray and give thanks for what your days have brought you and promise yourself you will recognize the joy of each day. They are all good.

by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller series.

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