Identification of Friend or Foe?
Andrew P. O’Meara, Jr., Col., USA (Ret.)
In time of war, few tasks are more important than the identification of friend or foe. Failure results in dire consequences, fratricide in which friendly units fire on other friendly units, and soldiers die because of incompetent leadership. The colors of the uniforms we wear, the challenge and password, and the mission of the unit are intended to prevent fratricide. Even so, given the fog of war, units collide in battle with often deadly consequences. While a trainee at the Ranger School, I had my first experience with identification of units colling in the night at the Florida Ranger Camp. It was on a patrol in terrain like that in the Everglades. The mission of the patrol took it through what was considered impassable terrain by locals, an extensive swamp covered with scrub oak and dense brush. The patrol numbered around twenty-five rangers. As the last man in the Patrol Number Seven, I was responsible for rear security. It was two o’clock in the morning, total darkness, overcast, and we are up to our ass in ice cold swamp water. I am focused on the man directly ahead to maintain distance, while avoiding a break in the patrol. No one has slept or eaten in two days and light rain is falling. As rear security, I am alert for sounds of any movement to the rear. Suddenly I hear the unmistakable sounds of movement. I remained calm hoping the movement would go away. When it became clear that contact was imminent, I shouted: “Halt! Who goes there?” A voice replied “Friend.” I challenged with the secret challenge, “Omaha.” The voice replied “Chevrolet.” They were friendlies. “Who are you?” I called out. The reply was: “Ranger Patrol Seven.” “Who are you?” Was the response. I called back, “Ranger Patrol Seven.” Our Patrol Leader had led the Patrol into the rear of his own patrol. We were going in circles. As the realization sank in that we were lost and going nowhere is a dismal swamp, spirits fell. Our navigator couldn’t find his ass with both hands. We feared we were never going to emerge from an impassible swamp. The lane grader instructor relieved the patrol leader and called for another Ranger to come forward to take over as patrol leader. The good news was the challenge and password had worked perfectly. Friendly troops identified other friendly troops without incident. The bad news was we were totally lost in the rain, in the black of night, in a miserable swamp, and up to our ass in ice cold water. It was not a fun night to be a member of Ranger Patrol Seven. What’s the point? The point is we have a problem with the ID of friend or foe in the US Congress. Supposed friendlies are attacking fellow friendlies. It is a problem that has been festering a long time on Capitol Hill. Members of Congress we know a swamp creatures are in the habit of taking bribes from Big Pharma, High Tech Firms, the Chinese Communist Party, and anyone else with deep pockets. They no longer consider the will of the people. If anything, they despise the people who elected them to congress. Their former Speaker, who ran interference and protected the crooks, has been fired by the House of Representatives. Incensed by the gall of a fellow Republican, who would challenge corruption that has long been accepted as the regular order of business, the crooks in Congress have declared war on their fellow Congressman who called for the removal of the wayward Speaker of the House. Let me get this straight. Crooks protected by a crooked Speaker of the House, object to the removal of the crooked Speaker. Were not John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and Nancy Pelosi also crooks protecting fellow crooks who were ignoring the will of the American people? Yes. So, what’s the big deal? If it worked for Boehner, Ryan, and Pelosi, why do we unload on the unfortunate Kevin McCarthy? Because what he was doing was illegal. It was in violation of his sworn oath of office. It denied the people their sovereign right to govern through their elected representatives; hereby, trashing representative government, the Republic, and our former shining City on a Hill. The fact that Boehner, Ryan, and Pelosi were crooks in no way justifies criminal conduct on the part of Speaker McCarthy. This is Kevin McCarthy, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who permitted crooked members of Congress to destroy representative government, and with it the Republic. What’s the point? The point is the crooks who screwed We the People want to destroy the member of the House who challenged their criminal conduct. They are calling for his removal from Congress. If anyone should be impeached and removed from the House, it is those crooks who went into business for themselves, accepted bribes from Communist China, and destroyed the Peoples’ House of Representatives, and with it the Republic. We have an identification of friend or foe problem in which enemies of the people are determined to destroy the hero, who returned the House of Representatives to the purpose intended by the Founders. We can’t allow that to happen. Crooks should be punished, not allowed to run rough shod over the will of the people, the Constitution, and the Republic. Let us close ranks and save the man who brought down the crooked Speaker of the House, Representative Matt Gaetz. What he has done has restored justice long denied to the people of the United States.
Show less
Comments