Posted on 10/09/2001 6:58:21 PM PDT by doug from upland
Larry Elder had on the air this afternoon the author of BLACKHAWK DOWN. He confirmed a confrontation which was told to me by Lt. Col. Tom McKenney (Ret).
It comes from the dreaded CLINTON CHRONICLES BOOK ---
Eventually, after Clinton had sat on the paper work for eight weeks, two of the slain soldiers, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. As usual in such cases, the medals were presented to the next of kin.
Following the May 23 presentation at the White House, the familiies of the two men were invited into the Oval Office for a private visit with Clinton. Inside the office, the father of Sergeant Shughart refused to shake Clinton's hand, then looked him in the face and calmly told him that he was responsible for his son's death, that it was for no purpose, that he was not fit to be President, and not fit to be Commander in Chief."
The author confirmed the above but was not familiar with this addition information from McKenney.
Clinton was visibly shocked, amazed, and momentarily speechless. It is revealing that he was surprised that the man should feel that way. Clinton really doesn't think the way most people do, seeming to lack a sense of personal responsibility. After a brief, awkward silence, Clinton caught his breath. Becoming angry, he turned to the mother of the dead hero and said, "What's he jumping on me for? I didn't kill the kid."
I think McKenney needs to get in touch with him so it can become a regular part of the radio interviews.
He would have so much grief from that. All his wrongdoing would keep him up nights and haunt his days.
Several square miles of surrounding territory could be wiped off the map.
A little more context here would help. I'm assuming the Black Hawk Down was in Somalia. Am I on the right track?
For the Sage from South Central.
Several square miles of surrounding territory could be wiped off the map.
Let me assure you, when a human dies of shame the brain does not explode it implodes. :)
When passing in hallways military personnel were not allowed to make eye contact with Hillary Clinton (as was the case also for all other staff...no one was permitted to look upon her magnificence).
Obviously, the person who DID have a conscience and took the full responsibility was Les Aspin, who did not live long after that episode. His heart literally was broken. At least he knew that he did wrong. Clinton is a sociopath. He DID kill those young men by his neglect. Not to mention 7,000 others on September 11.
I know, I know, you're completely right.
But I can dream can't I? I could not curse him with anything worse than a conscience! :)
From THE CLINTON CHRONICLES BOOK
On October 3, 1993, sent to capture a bandit chief and rescue the crew of a downed Black Hawk helicopter, our Rangers were ambushed and surrounded by a howling mob, which outnumbered them 100 to one and were better armed. Our soldiers suddenly found themselves not rescuing the helicopter crew and capturing the bandit, but fighting for their lives. Over a period of twelve hours of intense combat, the Rangers fought on with what they had. While they begged for tanks to support them in the battle and armored personnel carriers to evacuate their casualities, their men were being slaughtered.
There were no tanks; there were no armored personnel carriers to evacuate the wounded. One of those who died there, Corporal Jamie Smith, bled to death over a period of three hours. Had he been evacuated, his life could easily have been saved.
This tragedy, which ended in the death of eighteen of our best soldiers, the wounding of 76 more, and with the naked bodies of some of the dead being drgged around the streets for their families to see on television, was ocmpletely unnecessary. Even though the entire Somalia fiasco was ill-conceived and without clear purpose or end-point., this particular tragedy need never have occurred at all.
It was cheap politics that decimated our troops. An AC-130 support aircraft, with its devastating firepower, had been previously withdrawn labeled by civilian policy makers as "being too warlike." The small helicopter gunships which had been allowed to remain were not given full freedom to fire in support.
It was, unbelievably, denied. Would you care to know why?
When the Clinton Administration was planning for the raid, the need for armored vehicle support was pointed out. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said "no" to the use of armored vehicles. His rationale? "We don't want to escalate the situation."
Bill Clinton concurred, and there in the air-conditioned safety of the White House, the doom of those Rangers in the stifling, stinking, bloody heat of Mogadishu, was sealed.
--end--
Note: I had the opportunity to interview Capt. James Smith, Jamie's father a few years ago. The post, however, I cannot find to retrieve.
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