Tag Archives: LTC Allen West

Allen West “Terrorism is relentless and demands constant vigilance” Audio Interview #Newsmax

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by Newsmax

By Jim Meyers and Kathleen Walter for Newsmax

Former Congressman and Army officer Allen West tells Newsmax that the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday show once again that terrorism is “relentless” and demands constant vigilance.

The Florida Republican also warns that every American is in a “combat zone” due to the threat of terrorists, who seek to create as much death and destruction as possible.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO INTERVIEW WITH ALLEN WEST
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West rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and served in Iraq and Afghanistan before his retirement in 2004. He was a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Tea Party caucus but lost his House seat in redistricted Florida in 2012. West is now director of Next Generation programming at PJ Media.
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV on Tuesday, West discusses the tragedy that unfolded in Boston.

“First of all I want to send out heartfelt condolences to those who have lost a loved one, those who are wounded – multiple amputees – as well as some of the South Florida running community that were there in Boston.

“One of the things we have to understand is this idea of terrorism is something that is relentless, it’s very determined, it’s very diligent, and we have to continue to keep the pressure on. Remember we have to be right every time and they only have to be right one time, and we saw that occur.

“It is very troubling that again we have this happen, but we were very successful, maybe even lucky, that the Times Square bombing did not occur, we had the underwear bomber that was on the aircraft that was landing in Detroit, we had the gentleman who wanted to take an attack against President Bush down in Texas.”

Senior White House officials say they consider this an act of terrorism. But President Barack Obama, speaking from the White House on Monday, pointedly avoided using the words “terror” or “terrorism.”

“It is significant,” West observes. “I hate to say it but in a lot of people’s minds we still have not resolved the issue of Benghazi and many of us are concerned about that. A lot of the words that we heard from the president yesterday kind of mirrored what we heard about Benghazi, and we have not gotten to the bottom of it, we have not brought anyone to justice. We lost an ambassador, two former Navy SEALs and a state department worker, and we know it’s a terrorist attack.

“Words do matter and I can’t understand why the president did not call this a terrorist attack because that’s what everyone has called it, especially when we look at the issue of improvised explosive devices and the fact that they were from the waist down so you had the horrific effect of losing limbs, but also the fact that you had multiple explosions. This is kind of like a kill zone that was designed there toward that finish line at the Boston Marathon.”

Mideast and terrorism expert Walid Phares told Newsmax on Monday that there’s a 50/50 chance the Boston bombings are the work of foreign terrorists, perhaps al-Qaida. West was asked if the bombings appear to be an act of jihad or domestic terrorism.

“We don’t know. We have to get to the bottom of it and I’m sure a bomb always leaves a signature and we have some of the top bomb experts and forensic experts in the world and they’ll be able to piece it together,” he responds.

“But when you look at what we call in the military the TTP, the tactic technique procedures, yes it does look like the type of event and improvised explosive device that you would see in the combat zone in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“But we also have to understand that IEDs are used down in Mexico and we know that we have a Hezbollah influence down there and an Iranian influence in South America. We need to wait and make sure we get the right type of evidence.”

As for the motive of whoever was responsible, West declares: “The motive is very clear — to instill terrorism. The motive was to create as much death and destruction and maiming of American citizens.

“This was a very intricately planned event and the fact that it was in hour four of the marathon means you have security that is relaxing a little bit, you have more of the family-oriented runners that are coming in, so the perpetrators knew exactly what they were doing.”

Asked if we can expect similar attacks in the future, West tells Newsmax: “The element of surprise is lost and that’s the thing that a terrorist wants to create. I don’t believe that they will want to try to follow that with another type of attack because you already have people at a heightened state of security and awareness.

CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THE ARTICLE CLICK HERE: NEWSMAX

Allen West : The Lessons of History – National Review Online

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by Allen West via National Review Online

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
— George Santayana

We should study history not just to memorize dates and places but to analyze trends. I see our country once again following a particular disturbing trend at a critical time when we should be more prudent.

Now, I will be one of the first to say that we can find savings of taxpayer dollars in the Department of Defense budget. Before I was sworn in as a member of Congress, I stated on Meet the Press in the waning months of 2010 that we could find fraud, waste, and abuse in that budget.

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I backed up that assertion in April 2011 when my first piece of legislation, which identified and eliminated funding for several wasteful programs in the DOD budget, made it to the House floor. It passed 393–0, and the savings to the American taxpayer was $35 million per year.

However, what I see occurring now is not judicious cost-cutting but the degradation of our military capability. We are once again forgetting that the preeminent responsibility of the federal government is to “provide for the common defense.” Some people have confused this with providing welfare and guaranteeing happiness on the notion of limitless rights.

Since World War I, we as a nation have viewed any end of major combat operations as an opportunity to achieve fiscal responsibility through cutting the military budget. When World War II ended, we ramped down, and then we had to ramp back up for the Korean War. After the Vietnam War and the Cold War, we once again gutted our military capability.

I was commissioned as a second lieutenant on July 31, 1982, and the following year, after graduating from the University of Tennessee, I went on active duty. I witnessed the transformation of the U.S. military in my early years: Humvees, Bradleys, Abrams tanks, Apache attack helicopters, Blackhawk transport helicopters, and Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) artillery, the A-10 close-air support platform — all this new technology and equipment was instrumental in my first combat tour, Operation Desert Shield/Storm.

We were highly trained and ready for action thanks to our soldiers’ preparation at places like the National Training Center in the California desert. But after the victory came the reduction in forces, and defense cuts became the source of funds for government spending on other programs, such as midnight basketball.

In those days, we did not have enough small-arms ammunition for rifle qualification. We had to carefully budget our annual allocation of artillery rounds, so we did more dry-fire operations. The shortage of spare parts and tools made maintenance operations very intense. But the one thing we could not control was that the world was growing yet more dangerous. The enemy pays attention to our weakness, and they have a vote.

CONTINUE READING BY CLICKING HERE: NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE

 

 

Allen West Honorary Member: The Official Blue Knights | Watch the Video

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OBK AW 2013

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

The Official Blue Knights® International 2013 Recruitment Film

by: Phil Lister

Published on Apr 5, 2013

Blue Knights® Intl. Recruitment Video – representing Blue Knights® from all around the world, in over 600 chapters, 27 different countries and 20,400 members. There are no strangers among the Blue Knights®, just friends we haven’t met. For further information on joining The Blue Knights®, visit:
http://www.blueknights.org/membership…

This film was shot and edited by Phil Lister and his company of Epic Media Studios.
http://www.epicmediastudios.com

Allen West Foundation “To Inspire and engage the Next Generation of guardians” Join Allen West today

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ABOUT THE FOUNDATION

The primary objective of the Allen West Foundation is to educate and inspire the next generation of conservative leaders among the minority and veteran communities.

ABOUT ALLEN WEST

Allen West first took an oath to support and defend our Constitution as a young Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. During his 22 years of service, he was distinguished by numerous commendations and honors for valor, achieving the rank of Lt. Colonel.

In 2010, Colonel West once again reaffirmed that oath when he became the first black Republican from Florida to serve in the United States House of Representatives since Reconstruction.

The Foundation bearing his name was established to encourage others to follow a similar path of commitment to our nation and its constitutional principles.

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CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ALLEN WEST FOUNDATION

Mark Levin: Allen West, director of Next Generation TV, calls to discuss the Iraq war – 10 years later

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Allen West, director of Next Generation TV, calls to discuss the Iraq war – 10 years later.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO OF THE SHOW MARCH 21, 2013

Discussion with Allen West begins at the 93:00 mark of this broadcast

Allen West on the “Charm Offensive” by the political chameleon, President Obama

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by Allen West via Facebook

It is 11am Sunday morning and I am sitting in the Providence, RI airport. Had a great evening last night addressing a packed room at the Quidnesset CC for the North Kingstown GOP Town Committee Lincoln Dinner. I spoke on The Party of Lincoln using the recent movie to highlight the Republican battle against the Democrats, from physical bondage of individual freedom then to now battling for economic freedom from the bondage of taxation, litigation, and freedom from regulation, which enslaves individual industrialism and entrepreneurship.

As I sit here reading my news update, I just laugh at this supposed “charm offensive” by the ultimate political chameleon, President Obama. Word to America and my GOP colleagues, don’t take a bite of the apple being offered – dinners, lunch, smiling, it’s just the ole Kansas City shuffle. In the end, the lizard is still a lizard, regardless of the changing colors.

Shout out to the Tennessee Vols men’s b-ball team for defeating Mizzou, and K-State for being co-champs of the Big 12. Wish they could have beaten Okla St.

Allen West via Next Generation TV – Weekly Wrap Up “‘That Dawg Don’t Hunt’ In America”

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NGTV Weekly Update
‘That Dawg Don’t Hunt’ In America” - A Southern saying that echoes through the news

Down South we have this little saying to articulate in our simple vernacular that something does not make sense. Let me give you a few examples:

See, to schedule a soccer game on the third Saturday in October in Neyland Stadium, well, that dawg don’t hunt. For a fella to wear a Speedo on a bass boat on Lake Eufala, well, that dawg don’t hunt. To try and run a drag race at Churchill Downs, well, that dawg don’t hunt.For a woman to wear a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes on the back of a Harley on her way to a biker bar, well, that dawg don’t hunt. Or for some kids to be sitting in a Southern Baptist church and start complaining that they’re ready to go home, well, that dawg certainly don’t hunt.This past week as I thought about the news, I just mused, well, that dawg don’t hunt.Consider the Obama administration announcing, or pronouncing, that there would be no more White House tours because of forced “budget cuts.”

The last time I checked, we live in a constitutional republic with a representative democracy to elect our officials. In a republic, the people are served and, as President Abraham Lincoln stated at Gettysburg, “the government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

That means the White House belongs to the American people, not the person who at any given time, by way of election, has the privilege to live there with our consent. The White House and the Capitol are not Versailles, and this is not a monarchy.

So when in the same week we find out Americans are giving $250 million to President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt, well, that dawg don’t hunt! Those are hard-earned taxpayer dollars, and doggone, why the heck are we sending money to a terrorist organization while telling Americans their house is closed due to “budget cuts.”

Freedom of sedition is not a right
Or how about Louis Farrakhan recently urging Chicago gangs to protect an Islamic state in America? Yes, Farrakhan said he was sent by Allah to end Western civilization. At the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion, he implored all African Americans to “contribute to a united treasury and create a separate nation that would be protected by Chicago gangs.”Or how about Mustafa Carroll, executive local CAIR director, speaking at Muslim Capitol Day in Austin Texas. “If we are practicing Muslims,” he said, “we are above the law of the land.”In America, we believe in freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but we have one Country and one Constitution. Advocating against either is not a freedom but rather sedition, and frankly, that dawg don’t hunt.
Justifiable outrage over Benghazi and drones
My former House colleague Frank Wolf of Virginia contacted me about another issue this week. He has sent letters of inquiry about the 30 survivors from the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and he has sources telling him about seven severely wounded Americans who had been recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.We reported that story on “Next Generation Today.” Some people, like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will say, “What difference does it make?” It makes a lot of difference ma’am. We don’t leave our men and women behind, and we certainly do not hide our wounded like lepers.And by the way Mrs. Clinton, when you traipse out in a few years wanting to be president, well, that dawg don’t hunt. We will not forget what happened on your watch: When the call from Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi came at 2 a.m., you did not answer and four Americans died on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.I was equally outraged to watch U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, while testifying before the Senate, refuse to respond simply to questions about the constitutionality of our government using drones against American citizens on American soil. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and other concerned senators took a principled stand against such drone attacks by engaging in an old-fashioned filibuster this week, which is a powerful way of saying, well, that dawg don’t hunt.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE WEEKLY WRAP UP – NEXT GENERATION TV