Category Archives: Terrorism

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 135

OBAMA’S FOREIGN  POLICY

We all know our president does not like the tedious nature of foreign entanglements but by education and experience he is not prepared for working on the world stage. Maybe that’s why he is so eager to turn to the United Nations to handle problems our previous presidents, with one exception, understood and handled in house.

beforeitsnews.com

beforeitsnews.com

President Obama’s intellectual mentor, Mr. Saul Alinsky, wrote a brilliant guide for progressives (socialists and far left liberals) to gain power. Unfortunately, Mr. Alinsky never had any experience running a government. So even after the president is well on his way to seizing power, he is not equipped to use it to solve America’s foreign and domestic problems. He continues to use all issues as a means to destroy his opposition, the Republican Party. And that is Obama’s weakness. He doesn’t know how to use or keep power. Unfortunately for the nation, the Republican Party is not worth the title of the opposition party.

The president has not been helped by his two secretaries of state. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are also clueless when it comes to solving intricate foreign policy issues. I have long been a student of foreign affairs. It is very hard to point to anything those two hapless secretaries of state have accomplished except to compete for leaving the heaviest jet engine carbon trail of any previous and hopefully future secretary of state. Their responses to any foreign affairs issue facing the president have been limited to causing chaos and confusion. The world is in worse shape than any time since WWII. Korea and Vietnam were not nearly the threat to world stability as current Russia, China, Iran, the Islamic Caliphate or the current conflict between Hamas and Israel.

The last troubled area is worth some more discussion. John Kerry, who I believe cannot be underrated, is proving again he can make any bad situation worse. Imagine the hypocrisy of bringing a truce agreement to Israel that was based on his consultations with leaders in Turkey and Qatar who are open suppliers and political supporters of Hamas, a recognized terrorist state. Any secretary of state with an ounce of common sense would have stopped in Egypt for advice. Egypt holds the overland gateway to Gaza and has a direct interest in stability on its borders since the Muslim Brotherhood is no longer in power in Egypt.

It is possible that Secretary Kerry was acting on the instructions of the president, who seems to be very pro-Muslim and, by his speeches and actions, clearly anti-Israel. If Kerry was acting on the president’s orders, it is clear that creating chaos and weakening the influence of America in the world still needs more attention from our president. In the least, it further exposes the ineptitude of our foreign policy secretary. There used to be a time when secretaries would refuse foreign policy approaches they did not feel were ethically or pragmatically acceptable.

Complicated? Hard to believe? Can’t be true? Read my new book, “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?which is free on Kindle for a limited time.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Alinsky, Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Israel, Obama, Politics, Progressives, Terrorism

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 118

NEGOTIATOR-IN-CHIEF

The president has reached a new low in his role as our commander-in-chief. Maybe no one told him that even if he has the authority to make prisoner of war exchanges, the position of the United States government has been for several decades that we do not negotiate with terrorists. The terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay are not POWs. They are terrorists without the process afforded by the legalities associated with the holding and treatment of POWs. By negotiating with terrorists you encourage them to seize more hostages because you have raised the value of hostages. Exchanging one U.S. serviceman or woman for five top value Taliban commanders puts every American in Afghanistan at greater risk.

President Obama, photo by the New York Daily News.

President Obama, photo by the New York Daily News.

The president’s motive for this exchange are not straightforward. The political spin is so fast the truth is blurred. Timing is nearly everything. He needed to change the debate from the failure of the U.S. government to take care of its veterans. He had nowhere to run. So spin out a tale of ending the war and rescue an American soldier captured on the field of battle defending America’s interests. Spin within spin. He also wants to close Guantanamo Bay by releasing all the prisoners into the custody of nations like Qatar. Even he surely can’t believe Qatar will keep an eye on prisoners released to its jurisdiction and prevent them from killing or planning to kill more Americans.

An additional motive is that president cares more about world opinion  than he does of America’s opinion. No joke! Even our lukewarm friends in Europe would vote to close Guantanamo Bay in a heartbeat.

The reality is that the rescued army soldier is no hero. At best, he is a deserter. At worst, a collaborator. He wasn’t captured on the battlefield. He just walked away from his unit, leaving his weapon and body armor behind. How to set all this right? Call on Susan Rice. She doesn’t mind being called on to fall on her sword again. She is good at it. Surely she can’t believe what she said on all the  Sunday TV shows. Unlike Benghazi, the truth here is not hidden. Just ask the soldiers who served with him or read the record.

But surely, you may say, the president knew he would be criticized by the Republicans. Yes, but he doesn’t care in the least about their criticism. He didn’t expect the followers of Harry Reid to chime in. The voters he doesn’t care about. He’s done running for office. It’s a good thing because I believe he could be elected again and so does he.

President Obama counts on the ignorance and disinterest of most of America’s voters to the nuts and bolts of the political process. A few good speeches, a manufactured story about improvement in the economy, ending wars, raising the minimum wage, the war on women, health care, and a super get out the vote ground effort with a 95 percent black vote, and a growing Hispanic vote could put the progressives in the Oval Office again. Hilary Clinton is counting on the same factors.

 

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

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS 115

NOT JUST STORIES

I’m getting ready to publish my first non fiction book, “INSIGHTS — THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA” Is This What We Fought For?” The message in this book is clear. The transformation of America is happening now and most of our population doesn’t understand what is happening or what to do about it.

This book will make the process clear for anyone who reads it. Although my four action novels are mainly tales from a storyteller, they also contained a messages that help readers understand the law and order process and how terrorists and intelligence operatives go about their missions. This increased awareness will help readers recognize dangerous situations before they happen.

My first novel, Justice Beyond law, shows how a renegade KGB officer uses an abandoned network of KGB agents infiltrated into America years ago.

"Justice Beyond Law"

“Justice Beyond Law”

The method Yuri, the renegade KGB officer, uses to turn his network into a profit-making enterprise and to manage his diverse network with agents of different skills is more than plausible. The methods he uses 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 then the law and order process allow.

The second novel, Justice Without Mercy, shows the process an extremist muslim group like al Qaeda might use to set up a series of

Justice without Mercy

Justice without Mercy

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 cover copyShades 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

Barry Kelly's fourth novel

Barry Kelly’s fourth novel

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 1970’s 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 and will want to find out the message in my first non-fiction novel. Thanks for reading.

 

 

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Filed under Action thrillers, Barry Kelly, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Russia, Spy novels, Terrorism

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS-80

MORE OF THE SAME

Seal of the United States Department of State.

Seal of the United States Department of State. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s bad now. Can it get worse? It sure can. Just elect another Progressive Socialist Democrat to the White House. We had our experiment with their kind of change. It isn’t good. Let’s elect a real moderate Democrat or a true Conservative in 2016. And let’s pay attention to the primary process. No more nominating candidates without a resume or with an incredibly incompetent record. Remember, having won elections in the past is does not qualify anyone to stand for the presidency. Winning elections means you can raise money and are good at messaging, not much else.

I wonder how a candidate such as our disgraced former Secretary of State can even think about running for president. Benghazi and the cover up should be enough to disqualify anyone with a sense of honor and pride. Standing with the families of the murdered Americans at Ben Ghazi during the arrival of their remains at Andrews Air Force Base, our Secretary of State was recorded telling them a distasteful video was the cause and the maker of the video would be punished. Days before the dead heroes arrived at Andrews, the President, his Secretary of State and many other key officials knew it was an attack by al Qaeda affiliated terrorists who were responsible. That single incident is the most shameful thing I have ever witnessed in my years of serving in and following the U.S. Government. As shameful was the non- action of the timid Defense people who left Americans to die without even trying to rescue them. In the past, officials like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs would resign rather than follow the political directions of the amateurs in the White House that resulted in leaving Americans behind without trying to save them. The morale of active duty soldiers and veterans can’t stand more tentative political maneuvers on the part of their leaders. It is an American tradition that we don’t leave people behind.

We  also must not forget the The Secretary of State’s failed reset with Russia, the support for Assad in Syria as a reformer, and the abandoning of the Eastern European nations who were willing to let us establish a much-needed ballistic missile radar system to protect against Iranian missiles. How can the Democratic Party nominate anyone with such a shameful resume? Only if they continue to be under the control of the Progressives. We need to get back to a two-party system where one of them is not the Progressive Party in disguise.

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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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Filed under Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions, Terrorism