Saturday, November 7, 2015

Beau Bergdahl vs. Aaron Allmon: The Obamafied Military

Now we know why President Obama has worked so hard to retreat from world leadership. We know why he has been glowing with pride for having snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory if Iraq. We know why he  thrills to the thought that, whatever ISIS is doing, whatever mischief Putin is causing, whatever geopolitical alignment is in the making, he has not been sending American soldiers into war.

Barack Obama has found a higher purpose, a greater cause for the American military: he has made it into the front line of the war for gender equality, and most especially of the war against rape culture. So zealous is Obama for advocating against rape culture that his soldiers see sexual assault even where it does not exist.

How’s that for zealotry?

Take the case of famed deserter Beau Bergdahl. For having walked away from his unit in Afghanistan and having perhaps collaborated with the Taliban, Bergdahl was treated like a major military asset by Barack Obama.

Obama traded five senior Taliban commanders for Bergdahl. He convened the deserter’s family in the White House Rose Garden to announce the victorious negotiation.

It could only mean that for Obama, a deserter has as much value as enemy commanders? r Obama sees a hero, a military role model in someone who is ashamed of his country and who refuses to fight. Let’s keep in mind that George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower would have had Bergdahl shot on the spot.

Bergdahl was indicted for desertion and will be tried at a lenient special court martial. The Obama military will not recommend that he serve any time in prison. They do not want to hurt his feelings. One would expect that officers would object. One would expect that some would resign. So far, to my knowledge, none have stepped forth.

In the meantime consider the case of Aaron Allmon, an Air Force photographer who is accused—hold your breath—of inappropriate touching and making unwanted remarks to four women. The horror of it all. Beyond the fact that Allmon suffers from PTSD, the Obama military is trying him in a felony court and has wanted to put Allmon in jail for 130 years.

The Daily Mail has the story:

An Air Force war photographer who is accused of making passes at four women faces harsher punishment than alleged deserter Bowe Bergdahl.

Aaron Allmon's alleged unwanted sexual contact includes three kisses, touching women six times and a string of inappropriate comments, but not rape or sexual assault.

Prosecutors want Allmon jailed for 130 years, for him to lose all his retirement benefits and be dishonorably discharged from the military.

Suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism and chronic back pain from a particularly hard helicopter landing, the Washington Times reported that Allmon, 39, was sent to Minot Air Base in 2012.

He was stationed at the North Dakota base after tours of Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Allmon's legal team, family and friends say he was targeted by the women out of 'vindictiveness' and that he is being punished harshly because of a crackdown on sexual assault by the military.

He will face trial on Monday in a felony court whereas Bowe Bergdahl, accused of deserting his post in Afghanistan before being captured and eventually released by the Taliban, will be tried at a far more lenient special court martial

Do you want to know what Allmon did to deserve such extreme punishment? Brace yourself. I am going to report the details. Consider yourself as having received a trigger warning. It’s clearly NSFW:

Many of the charges Allmon faces are 'he said, she said' offences, including allegations of inappropriate kissing and touching.

One of these came during a conversation between him and a servicewoman about tattoos as they sat on a bench at the base's gym.

After the woman told Allmon that she had a rose petal tattoo on her thigh, he allegedly moved up her shorts to see it. He is also accused of touching her back later in the session. 

Another woman claimed he touched her hips while she was positioning herself in a Humvee to take photographs, and again when she was a model in one of his photo shoots.

Of the four women, three are military and one is civilian.

The civilian, who worked in the public affairs office, said Allmon kissed her on the forehead, touched her shoulders and made sexual comments.

Can you imagine the horror: he touched a woman’s hip. He put his hands on a woman’s shoulders. He made erotically suggestive remarks. OMFG

In the meantime the presiding judge reduced the charges so that Allmon will only… that is ONLY be facing 15 years in jail.

Allmon’s sister, Lisa Roper has suggested that the women joined together in a cabal—or is it a coven?—to punish and destroy a man.

The Daily Mail continues:

Ms Roper said: 'I cannot fathom how this got to the level this got to.

'I want you to understand how women can destroy a man. It was out and out vindictiveness set up to destroy a man who didn’t do what they wanted. A group of young women who are brand new in the military and because they didn’t get their way they set out to destroy a man of 19 years in the Air Force.'

She has spent an estimated $200,000 on legal counsel for her brother, including the help of Jeffrey Addicott, a former Army judge advocate and law professor.

He said: 'Because of the hypersensitivity associated with real sexual assault cases, the Air Force in particular has overreacted against Aaron in a manner that is absolutely an injustice but is also degrading the esprit de corps of unit cohesion all across the military. 

'Even assuming all the charges are true, which they are not, this conduct as charged would warrant nonjudicial punishment, not the highest level of action at a general court-martial where Aaron could lose all his retirement benefits and go to jail.'

Think about it. A deserter is treated like a conquering hero. Because he was ashamed of his country and refused to fight for it. A nineteen year veteran is potentially destroyed because of some inappropriate touching and erotic banter.

Which war is Obama really fighting? Who is his enemy? Who are his allies? If many people in this country are enraged, it’s no surprise.

If that does not register, think of this. While ISIS takes over more and more of the Middle East, Obama has surrendered to Iran and is fighting the good fight against ... climate change.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post. We must stop considering what Obama says and instead examine his choices. Only then will we be clear. The rest (speeches, press conferences, radio addresses...) is a fog that prevents us from seeing the shore. -$$$

Sam L. said...

Sending someone to Minot (Why not Minot? Freezin's the reason! And, -41 keeps out the riff-raff.) is often considered punishment all by itself. I've also heard it said, "Everything you've heard about Minot is true, but it's not that bad."