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The Military Needs Maj. Stephen Coughlin
Washington Times ^ | 17 Jan 2008 | LT. COL. Lance Landeche, USMC

Posted on 01/17/2008 7:28:38 AM PST by PurpleMan

"...outside the Beltway and on the front lines of this struggle, his [Coughlin's]understanding of the relationship between Islamic law and Islamist jihad doctrine is invaluable."

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: coughlin; hesham; iraq; islam; islamistjihad; jihad; pentagon; theenemywithin
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More and more active-duty operators are coming forwrd to voice their opinions in opposition to Coughlin's sacking.
1 posted on 01/17/2008 7:28:39 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan

Good Grief!
HOW MANY different fronts to we have to fight on this here battle?
We all know about the MSM/BBCCBSNBCABCFOX sheeple.
Obviously, the CIA is part enemy, and now it looks like the Joint Chiefs, too!
Wake up, Jorge! It is now LONG PAST time for a purge.
A BIG purge.


2 posted on 01/17/2008 7:36:08 AM PST by Flintlock
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To: PurpleMan

Well said letter. I wonder if the author and others who hold similar views will face “consequences” from DOD top management. We can’t name the true enemy and Islam is a Religion of Peace and all that mantra.


3 posted on 01/17/2008 7:46:02 AM PST by Truth29
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To: PurpleMan
From what I can digest from the material I am reading and the various news reports this government is in trouble.

Why in the name of common sense would any U.S. government agency allow itself to be penetrated by folks who's main goal in life is to eventually wipe this country from the face of the earth.

Why has President Bush allowed these situations to fester like a scab over Gangrene.

Bush seems to have some kind of strong relationship with these Saudi’s who do not return his affection.

Just the other day the Saudi’s told our president to take a hike when he begged them to up their production thereby releasing some of the pressure on high oil prices.

Yes America is crawling on it’s knees to a Middle East country that is financing much of the terrorism that is trying to kill democracy.

We must educate ourselves of the ever creeping socialism, communism, fascism and Nazism hiding in many of our current candidates especially on the Democrat side and that should scare all of us.

I trust Fred Thompson to do the right thing for America.

4 posted on 01/17/2008 7:48:10 AM PST by OKIEDOC (Kalifornia, a red state wannabe. I don't take Ex Lax I just read the New York Times.)
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To: OKIEDOC; SJackson; Fred Nerks; Candor7; Beckwith; SunkenCiv; jan in Colorado; M. Espinola; ...

Mr. Coughlin’s thesis, written for the National Defense Intelligence College, “To Our Great Detriment: Ignoring What Extremists Say About Jihad” is quickly becoming a must-read among my peers.

Unfortunately, soon Mr. Coughlin will no longer be available to help us understand Islamic jihad, and we will again find ourselves at a severe disadvantage in this ideological struggle.


5 posted on 01/17/2008 8:10:32 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

I think that Coughlin will always be available. It’s whether he will influence.


6 posted on 01/17/2008 8:23:06 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan

Mr. Coughlin noted that the documents identified one of the Muslim Brotherhood front groups as the Islamic Society of North America, whose leaders were hosted by Mr. England in April at the Pentagon, raising concerns that the deputy defense secretary does not understand clearly the nature of the Islamist threat he is working against as the No. 2 official.

Mr. England has been a leading advocate of what critics in the Pentagon say is a misguided attempt to reach out to the wrong Muslims, regardless of their views, in an effort to counter Muslim extremism.

http://blog.americancongressfortruth.com/2007/12/28/pentagon-islam-%0D%0Aexpert-stephen-coughlin-under-assault-from-dod-islamists/


7 posted on 01/17/2008 8:48:17 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: PurpleMan

I will start on Chapter 4 today.
Were it not for Coughlin’s sacking, I would never have heard of him, his document, nor would I and many others be reading it. This may work for good when all is said and done.


8 posted on 01/17/2008 10:23:28 AM PST by Excellence (Bacon Bits Make Great Confetti)
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To: Excellence

“This may work for good when all is said and done.”

The law of unintended consequences.


9 posted on 01/17/2008 10:28:37 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: Excellence
Were it not for Coughlin’s sacking, I would never have heard of him, his document, nor would I and many others be reading it.

Thanks to the Internet you heard about it.

Ultimately the Socialists (dems ) will try to crush the Internet. - tom

10 posted on 01/17/2008 10:28:59 AM PST by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse the Bushies with the dumb Republicans - Capt. Tom)
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To: Capt. Tom

“Thanks to the Internet you heard about it.”

I thought it was the WashTimes? :^)


11 posted on 01/17/2008 10:30:36 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan
“Thanks to the Internet you heard about it.” I thought it was the WashTimes? :^)

Yeah , but the articles are published on the Internet. How many people actually subscribe to the written paper and would actually get the info from reading the paper.

The Internet also keeps the story going.

I read the 300 plus pages of Coughlin's presentation on the Internet.

I doubt if any paper would print it, as it took me several hours to read it. - Tom

12 posted on 01/17/2008 10:41:59 AM PST by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse the Bushies with the dumb Republicans - Capt. Tom)
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To: Capt. Tom

I know and agree. Lame attempt at...whatever.

However, as we’re celebrating Monica +10 years, it wasn’t broken on the web, but thru the MSM.


13 posted on 01/17/2008 10:45:09 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan
However, as we’re celebrating Monica +10 years, it wasn’t broken on the web, but thru the MSM.

News Busters-On the evening of Saturday January 17, 1998, the internet gossip merchant Matt Drudge posted a story that opened the most sensational scandal season in the history of the American presidency. He reported that Newsweek magazine had killed a story about President Clinton's sexual relationship with a former intern. The next day he had her name: Monica Lewinsky.

The mainstream media were slow to catch up, but by the following Tuesday they were reporting that Clinton was being investigated for encouraging others to lie to cover up the affair. For the next year the story dominated the headlines as Clinton was investigated, impeached and eventually found not guilty of high crimes and misdemeanours in a Senate trial.

14 posted on 01/17/2008 10:54:23 AM PST by Capt. Tom (Don't confuse the Bushies with the dumb Republicans - Capt. Tom)
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To: Capt. Tom

Point of clarification: “It” meaning Monica not Coughlin.


15 posted on 01/17/2008 10:59:16 AM PST by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan
The letter to the editor is in response to this letter to the editor from the 15th:[emphasis mine]

Differences of opinion

I would like to make several points in the ongoing discussion by Bill Gertz, Frank Gaffney and now Diana West concerning the recent decision to allow Stephen Coughlin's contract with the Joint Staff to expire ("Coughlin sacked," Inside the Ring, Jan. 4; "A Purple Heart in war of ideas?" Commentary, Jan. 8; "Foul play," Op-Ed, Friday).

In my experience, Hesham Islam, a retired Navy commander, who patriotically served this country in uniform for more than 20 years and continues to serve now as a GS-15 government employee, has been done a disservice by these writers.

Yes, Mr. Islam is a Muslim, and yes he has a view of the religion that does not necessarily coincide with Mr. Coughlin's, but those who suggest our Defense Department cannot hold different points of view do not understand how the system works.

The suggestion that the deputy secretary of defense, Gordon England, is somehow being duped in his efforts to reach out to the Islamic community is also unfair.

Mr. England is a true American patriot who left a lucrative career in industry to serve his country. He is more than capable of discerning who has the best interests of this country at heart, and that is why he has Mr. Islam as an assistant.

In fact, it appears that it is the difference of opinion between Mr. Coughlin and Mr. Islam that Mr. Gaffney, Mr. Gertz and Miss West appear to be upset with, and one would have to wonder if this folderol would have ensued if Mr. Islam had a different last name. Mr. Gertz and Miss West may want to further investigate what the American taxpayers were paying for Mr. Coughlin's product and who the good steward was that decided to terminate the bloated contract.

CAPT. GORDAN E. VAN HOOK

Navy

Captain Van Hook cannot refute Mr. Coughlin's assertions, and so relies on good old fashioned liberal guilt about the name, ethnic orientation, and religious affiliations of Mr. Coughlin's accuser.

16 posted on 01/17/2008 12:04:50 PM PST by Excellence (Bacon Bits Make Great Confetti)
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To: Capt. Tom

Specifically, were it not for Free Republic I would not have heard about it.


17 posted on 01/17/2008 12:06:52 PM PST by Excellence (Bacon Bits Make Great Confetti)
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To: PurpleMan

“This thesis cannot succeed, however, if the response is to outsource it to subject matter experts willing to volunteer their information under the sole condition that it be accepted both uncritically and unconditionally. This is not only true because such an approach fails to meet the professional standard, but also because it fails the
standard for the same reason that it will lead to defeat in the WOT.” pg. 232


18 posted on 01/17/2008 12:23:25 PM PST by Excellence (Bacon Bits Make Great Confetti)
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To: OKIEDOC
Bush seems to have some kind of strong relationship with these Saudi’s who do not return his affection.

Go read up on the Bush family, their relationships with the Saudis go back many many decades.
19 posted on 01/17/2008 12:44:31 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: Excellence

Too bad.

As a lieutenant, Gordan Van Hook served as the first chief engineer of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58), and received the Bronze Star with Combat V for his part in saving the ship in 1988. Van Hook later commanded a destroyer and then Destroyer Squadron 23, the “Little Beavers” of World War II fame.

http://www.navybook.com/nohigherhonor/speechvanhook.shtml

However, he now seems to be carrying the water for England as Executive Director, Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel.

http://www.leadershipprofiles.com/preview.asp?docid=745635&t=0


20 posted on 01/17/2008 12:50:38 PM PST by PurpleMan
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