Saturday, September 29, 2012

A Clash of Cultures


Most of us might be surprised at the vast number of sub-cultures within our own culture. Some would consider the point so off-handedly that, even if these subcultures exist, all that is necessary is to be aware of them, nothing more. We certainly do not need another genre for which we must be politically correct. Already the current lists have made it to the far edges of ad-nauseum. Why belabor yet another category that seeks to be recognized, romanticized, eulogized, and deified?

This, however, is a culture that has been with us since the beginning of our great country, indeed throughout the history of civilization. Yet, the American version of this culture is one that does not seek recognition. Most of the time, this culture prefers to be unnoticed. A simple tip of the hat in recognition of their sacrifice is enough because there is little our supra-culture can do. Perhaps the only way to benefit this culture is to keep the virtue of our American culture at its very best.

Regrettably, I have been as little mindful of this sub-culture as most others, at least until recently. Recent events have driven home to me their existence. It was not in some grandiose presentation that I was pricked at my conscience, nor was it at some hall of heritage that I was alerted to their presence. It was, of all things, a small sign in the parking lot of a grocery store. I had never seen such a sign before and unless any American has a chance to go shopping at a PX or BX (post or base exchange) on a military installation, you will probably never see one yourself. A small metal sign that drove home to me the hundreds of years of sacrifice, grief, pain and pride, (yes, pride) that the sign represents.

The sign simply read: “Reserved Parking Gold Star Families” and reading it I was struck with such a sense of astonishment. I was astounded that I had never given so much as a passing thought to the thousands of families that carry on in day to day life, after the ceremonies, after the condolences, after the cards and visits have stopped. The ‘Gold Star’ families, those who have lost someone in combat, keep on with life, with shopping at the PX, with bills and car repairs and every day with a hole in their heart where a loved one, a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine lives now as a memory.

Praise God for Gold Star Families and may we be reminded of them every day. When we are, may we ask God to bless them as they carry on, living a life Reserved for Gold Star Families. 

(For more information about the history behind the Gold Star, follow the link to Gold Star Mothers)

Our family proudly displays a ‘Blue Star’ emblem in our front window and a similar decal on my wife’s car. Praise God that it is now a Blue Star and if God should ordain that it ever be Gold, may we honor the work of these proud families with our own.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

THE BEAT – Will Never Be The Same


             


Wanis al-Sharef, eastern Libya’s deputy interior minister told reporters following the deadly attack on the U.S. Embassy there which coincided with a military style raid on a ‘safe house’ utilized by the American government that the militants used civilians protesting an anti-Islam film as cover for their action.[i] It is most likely that what agitation there may have been because of the flap over the movie and its depiction of Mohammad was much more orchestrated than it was an incendiary reaction. Quasi-professional rabble rousers aided the militarily trained rebels to score a hit against the U.S.

Locally, the hue and cry of protectionism and isolationism has been raised. Many are decrying why we should send aid of any kind to nations that openly attack our people and rebuke our way of life. The hypocrisy of despising capitalism and then taking the financial and other types of aid that capitalism has made possible is getting a bit too hard to swallow. There is much anger in the midst of both sides of the chasm that is widening between protestant, Catholic, and even non-religious folks and those of the Muslim faith.

What does this mean for the police officer on the beat? Not only are the neighborhoods and cities under their watch integrated with persons of all races, creeds, faiths and genealogies, the department within which the officers work are a microcosm of that same environment (or it should be). So in what way can these officers work together, even as they may have to enter a hostile neighborhood? It is especially difficult if that neighborhood is seething with the issue of distrust between two people, families or groups that mirror the make-up of the pair of officers standing in the middle.

The Iran hostage crisis 1981
A generation before mine said that when the English invaded, America lost its innocence and a downward spiral began that took with it America’s youth, spiritual foundations and our character. The reference was not to Concord and Lexington, nor was it along the shores of Lake Erie with Commodore Perry standing strong. It took place on a sound stage in front of a “live studio audience.” The ‘captain’ on deck was the one and only, Ed Sullivan and the British attack forces were made up of four young men named Paul, Ringo, John and George. Perhaps something was lost but it wasn’t innocence. The loss of innocence for my generation came in Southeast Asia and later in a Marine Barracks in Beirut and then for 444 days in the U.S. Embassy in Iran. A similar loss came for the next generation at the Pentagon, in a field in Pennsylvania and at the Twin Towers in NYC. Does every generation have to face their own crucible that rips innocence from them?

The society which then is left smoldering and with a distant kind of gurgling sound coming from its waning life, must find a way to keep going. Very often the people take their cue from the cop on the beat. They cannot receive that cue or trace their example from a political leader, though some have been great inspiration, such as the Gipper. But, politicians  are too far removed from the neighborhoods where society really exists. That sometimes grizzled old cop, who has seen more than he could ever recount, is teamed up with the often starry-eyed ‘do gooder’ fresh from the academy setting out to save the world. Together they hash out what will work to keep their neighborhood, their beat, from coming apart at the seams. By the time they get it re-stitched a bit, the starry-eyed rookie is a little less so and the old grizzly bear of a cop has a renewed sense of purpose, hope and even amazement at the way people really can get along if you keep it simple.

That dynamic duo will never fix the crises in the Middle East, though over coffee with other cops they’ll debate it until the Sinai Peninsula is ready to slide off into the ocean. They can’t reign in government or establish defense protocol… but their own little corner of the world will make it through another day.
It is true that once innocence is lost a beat can never be the same. Sometimes, just sometimes, it can be better.

Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Director Security Consulting Investigations, LLC

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

SCI to OFFER ARBITRATION – INTERVENTION SERVICES FOR ABDUCTED CHILDREN

PARENTALLY ABDUCTED CHILDREN – FAMILY MEDIATION SERVICES

Dr. Ross L. Riggs
SECURITY CONSULTING INVESTIGATIONS, LLC
www.security-consulting.us             www.globalsecurityconsulting.us
 330-956-9561        director@security-consulting.us        fax: 330-875-0009
CERTIFIED COUNSELOR for CHILDREN in TRAUMA

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION of CHRISTIAN COUNSELORS
True North Ministries
With law enforcement experience of over three decades – SCI has been in licensed since 2006 as a Class ‘A’ Private Investigations company in the State of Ohio with international experience in security consulting dating back to 2002. Security Consulting Investigations, LLC is offering its experience, education and staff to provide mediation services between parents of abducted children. SCI will also provide first hand observation reports of abducted children upon their being located to reassure family and friends as to the child’s health and welfare.
FOR REFERENCES: Contact James Allen at: jamall586@aol.com


Friday, August 24, 2012

Unsung Heroes: The Other Silent Service

A vague report about a possible attack somewhere in a remote part a country most folks cannot find on a map may be the only word from the other silent service. For most of its WWII years and beyond, the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet was known as the silent service for their ability to seemingly glide right past enemy defenses and deliver tactical units or observers behind enemy lines. There always seems to be, in the movies at least, a sub somewhere within responding distance to help out a stranded James Bond, agent 007 of the MI-5. Perhaps there-in lay the link between the submarine service and the clandestine world of field agents, operatives and, our imagination’s favorite, spies. 

There is neither glamor nor glitz, as the Ian Fleming portrayals make us believe (or at least hope for). The work of an undercover operative whether it is in a local police department sorting out the drug dealers from the thieves or in the clandestine section of the CIA in some exotic part of the world, such as a back alley, near the dumpster, just past the sanitation station in Tabriz has little need of spare tuxedos with two-way radio cuff links. The most seductive beauty that has passed information to the agent in the last six months is a too soon aged crack addict who has recently contracted head-lice. This is the stuff of which Hollywood blockbusters are made!

Throughout the Iraq wars and continuing in Afghanistan, Iran has aided and abetted our enemies with weapons, training, and personnel and is responsible for the deaths of far too many Americans. But there is an amazing side to this story and that is the taking it back to them and sticking it in their face that our CIA, under General D.H. Petraeus, is accomplishing. Without fanfare and even in the midst of leaks from the Administration that border on treason, the CIA and other U.S. military groups continue to function effectively. Actions, reported to have occurred, include cyber-attacks which sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program and the virus Stuxnet; which according to sources, set Tehran’s nuclear hopes back two years. Sabotage and unclaimed explosions in different parts of the country contiguous to the nuclear research, 17 top Iranian military officials killed, destroyed gas and oil facilities and a plant that makes a special kind of steel used in the centrifuges all have come under special scrutiny by the U.S. and her allies.  I have no direct knowledge as to what group, groups, nation or nations orchestrated this on-going special warfare. One Israeli general is quoted as responding, when asked about the source of these complex operations and the damage that has been inflicted, that sometimes there are “things that happen unnaturally.”[i]

We want the silent services to be permitted to remain silent, and wouldn’t now shed light on it except that the light has already been turned on and it is the nay-sayers, the detractors that control the light switch; so it is time some positive light shows through. I, for one, am very thankful for everything that General Petraeus has meant for this country. We are a better people because of him and those he has commanded and now commands. We are a safer people because of him and the men he commanded and now commands. Our gratitude and prayers go with him and with those persons carrying out whatever directives they have received.


[i] Dowd, Alan W. “Shadow War” The American Legion Magazine, July 2012.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

SECURITY UPDATE: Middle East


The following is for information purposes only to aid in decision making and situational analysis.



(Note: certain providers request we do not utilize their information. LIGNET is a primary source of the following clips of intelligence information and is for internal use only by ABWE CEEMED and is not to be re-printed without permission.)

Iranian Ships Using False Flags to Evade UN and U.S. Sanctions
Although some progress is being made to stop Iranian ships from transporting WMDs, a new U.S. report details the cat-and-mouse game that Tehran is playing to evade sanctions. Iran is doing this not just through deception, but by exploiting the weakness of UN resolutions, as LIGNET explains.

Syrian Chemical Weapons Admission Could Be Turning Point
The Syrian government’s statement yesterday that it has stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons but will only use them in the face of “external aggression” was most likely made in response to the sudden surge in rebel attacks that appear to be loosening President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power. The announcement could lead the international community to reconsider its approach to the crisis in Syria given the possibility that the Assad regime could use these weapons on its own people if sufficiently threatened.

Iran: Fears Over Nuclear Program Grow After U.S. Arrests
Last week’s stunning U.S. indictments over a plot to export U.S. technology for Iran’s nuclear program and new threats to close the Strait of Hormuz suggest that stepped-up efforts to find a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear program have failed to reduce the possibility of a military conflict. The size of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile – which could be converted into nuclear weapons fuel – will continue to grow, along with the near-term chances of an Israeli airstrike.

Syria: Conflicting Accounts of Alleged Massacre Hurt All Sides
The UN and the United States roundly condemned a massacre of Syrian civilians by the Syrian army in the town of Tremseh on July 12, but new reports suggest the attack may have been a battle between the Syrian army and armed rebel forces. The death toll also may be lower than previously reported. If these new reports are accurate, it would be another instance of the difficulty of determining the facts on the ground in what now appears to be a Syrian civil war

Iran Won’t be Cowed by New U.S. Bunker Buster Bomb
U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley’s July 25 disclosure that the long-delayed 30,000-pound GBU-57B bunker-buster bomb known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) could be used in action immediately if needed is probably an attempt by the Obama administration to signal to Iran that U.S. military action is on the table in the event that diplomacy and economic sanctions fail to convince Tehran to give up its nuclear program.

Netanyahu Says Israel Still Considering Iran Attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s still debating with government advisers whether to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

The premier spoke in an interview with Channel 2 television as Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was flying from Cairo to Israel to meet him, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other officials tomorrow.

“I haven’t decided yet whether to attack,” Netanyahu said. “However, I see the commitment of this regime of ayatollahs to develop nuclear bombs that are meant to destroy us and I won’t let that happen.”

Netanyahu said media reports that a decision on Iran has been made are wrong and irresponsible. While describing the process as one that involves conferring with a wide range of advisers, the prime minister noted that Israel’s 1981 air raid on Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor was carried out over the objections of the Mossad and military-intelligence agencies.

In Cairo, Panetta told reporters he’ll discuss the Iranian nuclear threat with Israel’s leaders and a “number of options” on how to respond. Iran says its uranium enrichment program will be used only for peaceful purposes.

In Syria’s Turmoil, Al-Qaeda Sees Opportunity
Believed by many to have entered a period of decline, al-Qaeda has reemerged with a series of dramatic bombings in Iraq and probably Syria, putting the region on notice that it cannot be ignored. The latest violence, which killed more than 100 Iraqi civilians, is part of a new strategy to link the insurgency in Iraq with the Sunni jihad against the Assad regime in Syria, a plan that is creating a new regional security threat, as LIGNET explains.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta yesterday that time is running out for the international community to neutralize the Iranian nuclear threat. Yes, economic sanctions are seriously harming Iran’s economy — driving up prices, creating scarcity of certain products, etc — but Netanyahu is making clear that he doesn’t see the sanctions actually having any effect on change Tehran’s feverish bid to build nuclear weapons. ”However forceful our statements, they have not convinced Iran that we are serious about stopping them,” Netanyahu told reporters. “Right now the Iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear programme.” What’s more, Netanyahu said, sanctions have “yet to move its nuclear programme even a millimetre backwards.” Joel Rosenberg

[Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Security Consulting Investigations, LLC   www.security-consulting.us
GLOBAL SECURITY CONSULTING  GSC21  www.globalsecurityconsulting.us]

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A Churchillian Premonition


  
Dateline: Pre-war Britain 1936
                “Two things, I confess, have staggered me, after a long Parliamentary experience, in these Debates. The first has been the dangers that have so swiftly come upon us in a few years, and have been transforming our position and the whole outlook of the world. Secondly, I have been staggered by the failure of the House of Commons to react effectively against these dangers. That, I am bound to say, I never expected. I would never have believed that we should have been allowed to go on getting into this plight, month by month and year by year, and that even the Government’s own confessions of error would have produced no concentration of Parliamentary opinion and force capable of lifting our efforts to the level of emergency.”[i]
If one can imagine standing on a rooftop on the outskirts of London after the Battle of Britain during the summer and fall of 1940, it may be possible to envision the devastation left by German Luftwaffe. It would take a much closer view to see the real devastation left in the lives of thousands of Britons. How did the politicians who failed to act in 1935, 36, 37, 38, and 39 console themselves when they looked at the carnage they could have, perhaps, prevented? Let us trust that it was more than a ‘shift the blame game.’ If politicians in the United States cannot learn from Mr. Churchill’s remarks in 1935, perhaps they can find the key to self-consolation used by latter British Parliamentarians who heeded not his warnings then; for the day, now, when Iran unleashes its nuclear wrath on civilian Israel or perhaps, the United States.

Air Observer over London
A distasteful medicine, no doubt; but Americans must not be too quick to prescribe such a tonic to their Congressmen if they are not ready to indulge in a spoonful of the nasty elixir themselves.  Every person who does not raise the alarm nor prevail upon their elected representatives to do so must share in the blame of what shall come. It is no longer a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the madman of Iran will get his destructive tool completed and will seek with the greatest of evil desires to annihilate Israel and, in turn, the Great Satan of America.  When the attack comes, Americans will rise up and proclaim, “Something must be done!” I would say, ‘Sit down; you have already done less than enough.’

I applaud with great enthusiasm those who have raised the banner of alarm and have declared the urgency of these days. I overwhelmingly support our military men and women.
Look back to the world in 1936 when Winston Churchill understood the nature of the time. Here is a brief timeline provided by Holocaust Encyclopedia[ii]:

September 18, 1931
Japan invades Manchuria.

October 2, 1935–May 1936
Fascist Italy invades, conquers, and annexes Ethiopia.

October 25–November 1, 1936
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of cooperation on October 25; on November 1, the Rome-Berlin Axis is announced.

November 25, 1936
Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement.
Only two ‘shooting wars’ had erupted briefly; one in Manchuria the other in Ethiopia. Fast forward to 2012 and compare it to the timeline NPR provides of the “Arab Spring”[iii]

December 2010 January 2011
Tunisian President toppled after violent demonstrations.
Dissent begins in Egypt (January 2011)

February 2011
Mass protests in Yemen – President promised to step down at the end of his term
Mubarak steps down as Egyptian President
Violence in Bahrain quelled by military intervention from Saudi Arabia
Libya ignites in violence

March 2011
Libya rebels in control –
Syrians rise up against violent Assad regime – Assad begins program of mass murder against civilian dissidents and innocents
NATO and US authorize airstrikes in Libya in attempt to force Gadhafi out

June 2011
Yemeni President Saleh is badly injured in explosion at presidential compound – leaves the country

August 2011
Mubarak on trial
Rebels in Libya enter Tripoli

October 2011
Gadhafi killed
Tunisian elections – Islamic party Ennahda wins

November 2011
Bahrain report shows government tortured dissidents
Muslim Brotherhood – extreme Islamic party takes lead in Egyptian elections

December 2011
5000 Syrians believed murdered by Assad regime since ‘Spring’ began.

June 2012
Mohamed Morsy, of the Egyptian Brotherhood declared the next president of Egypt after receiving 51% of the vote.[iv]

21,435 Syrians believed murdered by Assad regime since ‘Spring’ began.[v]

Currently, Russia is providing tanks and military helicopters to Assad in Syria for “self-defense” according to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.[vi]  Henry Kissinger (Secretary of State under Richard Nixon) described the Syrian civil war as an unfortunate event, a human catastrophe. Russia and Iran have ensconced themselves in the Syrian Civil War backing Assad and leveraging Hamas and the Palestinians to increase their strangle hold on the region, particularly isolating Israel.

Thomas Donnelly writes,
 “Obama has insisted that the ‘tide of war’ in the Middle East is ‘receding.’ It’s not just that American troops have been withdrawn from Iraq, are being more rapidly withdrawn from Afghanistan, or were not employed on the ground in Libya. It’s the President’s belief that they need not – should not – be used again. This is an unrealistic belief.”[vii](Emphasis added)

June 23, 2012 Syrian forces shot down a Turkish jet that was in international air space and some NATO countries are meeting at the request of Turkey to prepare a response to the unprovoked attack. Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi declared the attack to be “unacceptable” and announced that Italy would be part of the NATO meeting with Turkey.[viii]

Twenty-three Hamas rockets were fired into Israel just yesterday (June 23, 2012) bringing the total since Monday to 150 not including the armed incursions and the fire fights between IDF and Hamas forces.

The Russian proffered ‘talks’ for nuclear weapon pull-back with Iran have had no success and Tehran remains recalcitrant about their desire to ‘wipe Israel off the map’ as well as attack and destroy ‘the big Satan’ the United States.

What will it take? A Blitzkrieg across Poland and the opening of camps like Chelmno (Kulmhof) and Auschwitz? A public commitment to “the Final Solution”? (No, wait, we have that already!) Another 9/11?

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.“[ix] 
Oh, but to find in our leaders both in Washington, the states and in each home and family good leaders. There are some. They must associate or they will, as Edmund Burke warns, ‘fall one by one.’ Who will hear Mr. Churchill’s admonition? Who will answer the call? My prayer is that when the events of history record this time, I will be known to have taken my stand together with other good citizens and drawn that line against which evil must not be allowed to cross.

 [Dr. Ross L. Riggs Global Security Consulting a subsidiary of Security Consulting Investigations, LLC www.homelandsecuritynet.com/HSN/   www.globalsecurityconsulting.us]


[i] Churchill, Winston remarks to the House of Commons, November 1936 as recorded by William Kristol and Jamie Fly in “No Iranian Nukes” The Weekly Standard June 25, 2012
[ii] http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007306
[iii] http://www.npr.org/2012/01/02/144489844/timeline-the-major-events-of-the-arab-spring
[iv] Jerusalem Post on-line June 26, 2012 jpost.com/headlines
[v] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War_%282011%E2%80%93present%29
[vi] Donnelly, Thomas “Obama Fiddles” The Weekly Standard June 25, 2012
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] Jerusalem Post on-line June 26, 2012 jpost.com/headlines
[ix] Burke, Edmond Thoughts on the Cause of the Current Discontents (1770)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

    
Defending one’s own home and one’s own family is a principle that leaders, military tacticians, contingency planners and soldiers have understood for millennia. Confronted with an indefensible city wall, an enemy taking up offensive positions on the hills not far from the broken gates, Nehemiah assigned men to work refortifying the walls immediately in front of their own homes first. Jerusalem in the sixth century B.C. was under the command of a wise leader. Hundreds of years later, Jesus taught a corollary. The hireling takes off when trouble comes, but the owners of the sheep stay to fight and protect what is theirs. Mercenaries find it much more palatable to concede today in hope of a better tomorrow than stand firm no matter the end. 

Those who guard their own know that without victory today, there may be no hope for tomorrow.
Americans enjoy the fruits of wisdom of our forefathers who understood the need for a strong national defense. A strong presence with a global reach protects our homeland keeping those who want to strike us leery of that awesome power. Our nation’s planners knew, however, that there were other risks that required a local presence with an equal ability, known today as the National Guard; augmenting the federal military. As well trained yet, ‘locally owned and operated’ and available to each state’s governor.

But, they did not stop there. Wise leaders in the Constitutional Convention of the 18th century, even before the formal establishment of the divisions of the armed services; enumerated ten amendments to the new Constitution to assure its ratification. Of course, these  amendments are the Bill of Rights. Second only to the right of free speech was, and is, the right of states to have a “well regulated militia” and for each citizen the right to “keep and bear arms.”

Two quick points of logic are necessary here. First, there is a clear distinction by the common reading that there are two groups, or entities, here whose rights are affirmed. One is each state of the union; the second is each individual citizen. The former has the right to keep a militia. The latter has two inter-dependent rights described.They are two specific and individual rights. The first is “To keep… arms.” It is the right of ownership.

It doesn’t say ‘keep registered’ or ‘keep and register…’ it reads “keep.” The second right within this Amendment for the citizen reads, “bear arms.” The clear and common reading in 1787 and today did not mean that the owner of arms had the limited right of carrying it around his property only, or in some cities today, only allowed to carry it inside his home. To bear it simply meant, and means, to carry it wherever one chooses to go. This was clearly understood then as both open and  concealed carry. There was no distinction.

A caveat is necessary. The old adage, my right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins is in play here.  A citizen, who owns private property, has the right to regulate if, when, and how another may carry a firearm onto it.

Any U.S. citizen who attempts to undermine or weaken the security of this country by depriving citizens of their Constitutional rights, in this case without a legally ratified new amendment, but rather by malfeasance and color of law should be charged with treason. This is particularly true of those who would conspire with our enemies to promulgate such an act as in the U.N. Small Arms Treaty.

To permit the open meeting of co-conspirators within the boundaries of the U.S., particularly within blocks of 9-11 Ground Zero, is a slap in the face of all Americans. At what point will we cordially invite the U.N. and every other group or individual here in the country who can only denigrate the nation and seek to find ways to hurt and disrespect it to go elsewhere? It is ludicrous for the American taxpayer to host the U(nfriendly) N(ations) at a cost of $20 million annually, over $2 billion for the new office, 22% of the entire annual budget and the costs keep adding up…[i]  The Small Arms Treaty should be the final straw. That building would make a nice Holocaust museum and a Hebrew University campus for international studies as well as an American University center for Constitutional law.

 “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and cause me to tremble for safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in High Places will follow, and the Money Power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the People, until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic destroyed.”[ii]
[Dr. Ross L. Riggs ~ Security Consulting Investigations & Global Security Consulting

[i] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,553720,00.html
[ii] Lincoln, Abraham, letter to Col. William F. Elkins, Nov. 21, 1864