It is becoming clearer by the day that a month after the Sept. 11 aircraft hijackings, a biological warfare attack is being launched against the United States by as-yet unknown terrorists. The discovery of anthrax in letters mailed to the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, NBC and ABC, following an initial exposure at American Media International in Florida, betrays a cunning and carefully organized intent - particularly with the discovery that the anthrax mailed to Daschle’s office has been found to be “weapons grade” material that could indeed kill hundreds if not thousands of people if released in a significant airborne plume.

Is this new phase of terrorism merely a crude and ineffective ploy, or the harbinger of even more serious danger to the nation? Nuclear physicist Robert Koontz, who has researched and tracked the al Qaeda terrorist network for several years, is warning that he has discovered evidence on the Internet that Osama bin Laden may be planning a much larger biological warfare campaign - using more than one form of germ agent - and is using “coded” illustrations to signal and direct additional sleeper agents purportedly already armed with biological weapons.

Dr. Koontz has posted the coded paintings and other evidence at the following website:

http://www.bringmenews.com/Messages/National_Security/Alerts/Alert_003.htm

Dr. Koontz revealed this disturbing information in an interview with DefenseWatch, on Tuesday after what he described as a frustrating inability to persuade federal law enforcement officials to take the information seriously. The interview transcript is reproduced in full below.

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SPECIAL REPORT: Interview with Dr. Robert Koontz

DefenseWatch: How did you first become aware of the “coded” art?

Let me begin by saying that I was following cyber-tracks of Ahmed Alghamdi, one of the lesser known terrorists aboard flight No. 175 that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

In doing this detective work, I came across Alghamdi’s name posted on a fan club that was started by a Bahraini pilot. So, I found the name Ahmed Alghamdi, I found an e-mail address for Alghamdi, and I found the names and web sites of numerous other people, many of whom had names of Middle Eastern origin. But that in itself was not surprising given that the web site is a fan club for a Middle Eastern singer.

Nevertheless, my initial (intuitive) reaction was that I might have come across an al Qaeda communications node, and I now know that to be at least partly true.

Having decided that I might have come across such a communications node, I began looking at the web sites of all those who had posted their URLs on the fan club web site. After carefully looking at a few of the posted web sites, I noted that a man by the name of Muzaffar Wandawi identified himself as an Iraqi living in Amsterdam. The fact that he stated that he is an Iraqi drew my immediate attention, for it is well known that there is possible Iraqi involvement in the terrorist attack of Sept. 11. But that was not taken to be anything more than circumstantial.

DefenseWatch: Please describe how you became suspicious that the images themselves might be the messages/instructions.

When examining this man’s art, I found it to be disturbing, but I did not at first think that it was suspicious - until I came upon the picture labeled "Downfall." In that picture, Wandawi clearly showed two towers burning, and there appeared to be a picture of the smoking Pentagon just to the right of that image. Then there was a man riding on what appeared to be an Arabian horse, and the man appeared to be dressed like a pilot, without his jacket on. The haircut of the rider of the horse was also in the manner of a pilot. The painting was dated 1988, which seemed to be rather early. But I have since concluded that the painting might have been done in 1998.

In all events, I grew very suspicious of what I saw, for it is essentially impossible for someone to create such a constellation of images of a terrorist event in the future - without having intimate knowledge of the attack plans. Then I set about filtering the data and came across an image of the White House that was buried under some mild clouding. Next, with the filtering, I could see that the burning tower actually represented a large building that was burning in almost exactly the way that the buildings burned at the World Trade Center. At this time I was convinced that the artist was an Iraqi intelligence agent or an agent of al Qaeda.

Later, I discovered more images that were clearly targeting information of a specific nature. I have not published those yet; an expert in this type of cryptography is working on the problem at this very time.

DefenseWatch: One of the illustrations shows Osama bin Laden next to a cartoon character from Sesame Street. What significance does that image have?

The Sesame Street character that has appeared in a huge poster with Osama bin Laden is significant in that it is yellow and has a mask-like quality. And one can be certain that it was not placed on that huge poster by accident, as some people have stupidly suggested. It is a signal.

Since it is my assertion that the al Qaeda group is using yellow as a symbol in association with biological weapons, which it has done elsewhere, I conclude that the yellow Sesame Street character in the poster represents a signal that relates to biological weapons. And, as one can clearly see, we are under a biological attack at this very moment. But it is my opinion that the biological attack that is happening now is "baby stuff."

DefenseWatch: What federal authorities or agencies have you attempted to contact to warn of the potential threat from the art? Please describe the reaction or lack of reaction to date. Do other private experts share your assessment or is there disagreement?

I have attempted to communicate to the FBI on two occasions, sending e-mail to four of their offices. There has been no reply, even though I am warning that al Qaeda is planning an apocalyptic germ warfare attack.

I am waiting to hear from other experts.

DefenseWatch: How widespread is public awareness of this?

I have principally limited this information to Col. David Hackworth and certain other trusted individuals. But I am beginning to release information to members of the news media, by virtue of the fact that I feel that the FBI is not going to take this seriously. It took them seven days to understand that we are under an anthrax attack. And about 8,000 FBI computers are more than eight years old. Not every FBI office can even surf the Web. They are in the Dark Ages.

Regarding the certainty of the information, I can say with 100 percent certainty that Muzaffar Wandawi had prior knowledge of the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, and I can say with 100 percent certainty that he is intimately involved with other planned acts of terrorism against the United States. These include a planned attack on one of the most vital communications centers that America has; an attack on the Main Building of the National Security Agency [at Fort Meade, Md.] - inside of which is situated a communications center that handles everything from presidential orders relating to use of nuclear weapons - to some CIA and State Department traffic. It appears that perhaps 12 private planes would attack the NSA main building when a certain signal is given. I know what that signal is, and I know what conditions of defense alert we will be in when the signal is given.

Let me conclude by saying that the evidence I have posted at my web site indicates that al Qaeda - in association with Iraqi intelligence - plans a biological attack that they hope will kill millions. I assume that this will occur with the use of exotic diseases, such as Ebola, but also smallpox and everything one could possibly find in a Russian bacteriological warfare laboratory. The information that I have indicates that the Russian mafia has sold these kind of bacteriological materials to bin Laden.

So, just as there was a group of 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, I assert that there is a group of maybe 20 germ warfare agents who will release the aforementioned types of diseases in the very near future, hoping to create epidemics that will kill millions. That is what the encrypted images at Wandawi’s web site suggest to me.

I urge that people go to the web page where I have placed this evidence and examine the materials for themselves. The URL is:

http://www.bringmenews.com/Messages/National_Security/Alerts/Alert_003.htm

People would also be well advised to visit my national security message board that now has about 350 important postings. You can get to the message board through the following URL:

http://www.BringMeNews.com/

Robert Koontz is an experimental nuclear physicist who earned his Ph.D. in 1980 at the University of Maryland. His specialties are experimental nuclear physics and high-energy physics, but he is also an expert in certain areas of electronics, computer systems, software development and matters relating to electronic intelligence gathering. Koontz has been a Staff Scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, a Professor of Physics at the University of South Dakota, and formerly was an instructor at the National Security Agency. He lives in Pennsylvania.

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Hack’s Target For The Week: It’s Time to Lock and Load

By David H. Hackworth

Shooting first and straight while on a battlefield or a security detail is a matter of life or death. That's why weapons training normally gets the highest priority in the U.S. military.

If you're slow on the draw, you're dead, and your side loses.

Just ask the Marine guard in Lebanon in 1983 who didn't shoot fast enough when a kamikaze driver rammed his terror truck through the gate. It took the leatherneck one full second to chamber a round, another second to flip his weapon off safety and fire. By that time, the truck had smacked into the Marine billet he was securing and exploded. The Rules of Engagement forbade this expert rifleman from being locked and loaded even though his unit was on high alert for just such an attack. And those two seconds he lost arming his weapon cost 241 American lives.

Lesson learned: An unloaded weapon is useless. A lesson we've unfortunately learned and relearned the hard way over and over again.

Recently, the Navy dedicated a memorial to the sailors who were aboard the USS Cole when it was savaged last year by a terrorist attack in the port of Aden. But even though the members of the security detail on the Cole were at their posts on high alert - in an extremely dangerous port where they'd already been warned that a terrorist attack was highly probable -not one of their weapons had a round in the chamber. The security detail gave the small craft that almost sank the Cole and killed 17 sailors a big, friendly America wave, and the terrorists waved back - just before they rammed their human torpedo into the ship. Again, the Rules of Engagement stated no weapons would have a round in the chamber.

Not having a magazine in a weapon, even for a crackerjack marksman, adds at least two more seconds before he or she can get off a round. Four seconds is more than enough time to drive a 10,000-gallon gas tanker into a nuclear reactor, a high school, a chemical plant or some other tempting target.

Yet today, at virtually every U.S. military installation around the globe - and now at most of our airports, which are secured by the Army National Guard - the guys and gals manning the security details at exterior gates and other critical or sensitive areas, including ammo dumps and armories, are as impotent as the Marines were in Lebanon or the sailors in Yemen. They don't have a round in the chamber, and in most cases, they don't even have a magazine in their weapons. Yet America is at war, and we know that thousands of fanatics are out there ready to strike.

When I was 15-year-old soldier in Italy right after World War II, I “walked my post in a military manner” with a loaded M-1 rifle. My sergeant, captain, colonel and general trusted me, along with thousands of other young soldiers, not to shoot myself or anyone else who didn't deserve shooting.

But somewhere along the way that trust disappeared. In today's military, a leader makes one mistake and he or she is toast. So the brass do the big CYA thing to ensure that they don't get burned. As a result, uniformed MBA-types have made micromanagement a General Order. In a military where a soldier gets busted for drunken driving and his captain is threatened with relief, imagine what an accidental rifle discharge would bring.

Last week in Germany, where some guards were ordered to tape their rifles' magazine wells for safety, four-star Gen. Montgomery C. Meigs actually charged his colonels with checking on the guards and reporting back to him. A job the corporal of the guard used to do when careers weren't at stake.

The other key factor in the mix is that the troops - less the Marine Corps and special units such as the Rangers - haven't been getting the training time they need on the firing range to be fully competent with their individual weapons. Even though there are millions of bucks for higher headquarters' simulation war-game playing for military planners and the brass, nowhere near enough money has been allocated for putting holes in targets.

Will it take another USS Cole disaster before we allow the troops to lock and load?

www.hackworth.com is the address of David Hackworth's home page. Sign in for the free weekly Defending America column at his Web site. Send mail to P.O. Box 11179, Greenwich, CT 06831.

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ARTICLE 1 - Homeland Defense: DefenseWatch Readers Respond

Editor’s Note: The response to our call for Homeland Defense recommendations was so overwhelming we could only post a small cross-section of responses last week. We are publishing another batch of these excellent, thought-provoking ideas today.

Recall Retirees and Involuntarily Separated

The government needs to start using those of us who were early retired and early released in the draw-downs of the 1990s. We've been trained in every conceivable field, know how to handle a weapon, and some of us still have security clearances. Many of us still want to serve (I'm one who has volunteered for re-call to active duty) Use us as auxiliary air marshals, local defense augmentees, police reserves, emergency government, etc. Many of us would gladly attend quarterly or semi-annual training and serve with little or no pay provided our civilian jobs could be safeguarded. --Alan Probst

The Citizens’ Responsibility

Homeland Defense would best be carried out by the people of our homeland. It's good that our law enforcement agencies are more prepared to respond to

terrorist attacks, but terrorists won't be taking on our law enforcement agencies

face-to-face. They will be targeting our citizens. What better way to

confront such surprise attacks than with a well prepared general militia? --Kelly Mortenson

Give FORCECOM the Mission

The Army's Forces Command was given the mission of defending CONUS. Give them adequate resources and make them accomplish the mission. --An American Defender

Beef Up Border Patrols

In regard to our sieve-like borders with Canada, I suggest a combination

ski/mountain bike patrol to keep watch over the vast forests. Heck, if the government would pay me enough to support my family and send my

daughter to college, I would move to upstate New Hampshire, New York, Vermont or Maine and volunteer to attempt to organize such a force. --Chris Coyne

Support the President

All of our citizens need to get back to daily life, while being vigilant and operating in a defensive posture. Be ready to ask questions, and report things that are not usual. We need to start acting and stop reacting to this life. We have the power to make a difference - in our neighborhoods, towns, counties, states and country. We are strong, and will win this war. We need to stand behind our president. We put that man where he is, it is now the time to show that he has our undying support. -- Judy K. Schmidt

Defense Contingency Tax

I propose a federal tax (2 percent) that would be taken out of the American workers (citizen or not) to pay for homeland defense. We should conduct a poll and see if the taxpayers would give up 2 percent of their pay to protect their country, their land, their families and their freedom. --Harley Smith

The Armed Citizen

Let's realize that we will never have enough guards to guard everything that needs guarding. We can't afford to pay them, and we can't afford to lose the productive capacity these individuals would have if they were working in the economy, rather than guarding. We also don't want to create a privileged class of guards, who by the nature of their job exist in great numbers at strategic points and are armed when the rest of the citizens are disarmed. The armed citizen, and/or citizen-soldier is the only answer America can afford, both in terms of dollar cost, and risks to our freedom.

-- David Bogart

Let FEMA Lead Defense

The creation of another bureaucracy in the name of national defense/security sounds like another boondoggle to me. Instead, just put homeland defense under the charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These are the people charged with coordinating state, federal and local agencies in natural disasters anyway, so why

throw in another useless government agency? --Kevin McLaughlin

Training All Citizens

As a concerned American who has been involved with the battle against terrorism for the last 18 years, I have thoughts on how businesses and homeowners can be trained to identify possible threats to our country on a business complex and neighborhood level. I have trained security forces in the “hospitality industry,” and our motto is, “If it doesn't look right, it's not.” We need to train everyone in this country on what to look for. We have neighborhood watch organizations set up now that look for crime etc. Those same organizations need to be trained to identify terrorist activities as well. --Jim Miller

Reestablish Citizen Posses

Bring Back Posses

Citizens need to assist law enforcement as in the old days. I recommend: First, concealed carry of firearms should be legalized in all states with reciprocity. Second, sheriffs and police chiefs should be allowed to organize “posses” or auxiliary groups with such authority as they deem necessary. This would require repeal of the many laws that prevent citizens from assuming law enforcement duties without several years of school, etc. Local law enforcement officials are close to the ground and know who could be trusted to assist them. These actions would result in rapid deployment of responsible citizens throughout the country without any additional cost. As the burden on law enforcement increases with domestic threats, citizens must be allowed to assume greater responsibility and authority for their families and communities. Both suggestions have been historically successful and beneficial. --Bill Dailey

Use National Guard for Civil Defense

The National Guard should do just that - guard the nation. Without deploying, Guard units can do hometown defense. Traditional combat arms training, to active Army standards is highly difficult, as the non-deployment (politics aside) of Guard brigades in Operation Desert Storm demonstrates. Guard units ought to be reorganized primarily as light infantry and military police for security-type missions; as Patriot batteries for hometown missile defense; as Medical and Transportation, for support missions; and as chemical/civil defense, for WMD reaction. We ought to create a new MOS career management field around civil defense tasks, and assign it wholly to the Guard. We ought to offer instructors, on call, to address students for a day or two on CD, and integrate it into community disaster planning. Under this plan, the active Armed Forces would handle force projection, while the Guard handled homeland defense, which is how the organized militia was intended to operate. -Staff Sgt. Lloyd A. Conway

Defense Is Everybody's Responsibility

Homeland Defense is everybody's responsibility. Evil wins when good people do nothing. Go about your daily business, but keep informed and be alert. Tell people in government to keep the pressure on. Tell them that you can help. Give them your ideas. Talk with your friends and neighbors. Give understanding, strength and support to the children. Tell them why we must fight evil and why we help those hurt by evil. Encourage them to give a dollar to Afghan children. --A Citizen

Arm and Outfit All Citizens

I suggest enlisting citizens to become armed defenders of infrastructure and public works in the vicinity of their residences or assigned areas. We also need gas masks, biosuits, and other bio/chem weapon protective items, antidotes and related training, for all of the citizens - not just the VIPS and politicians. --Forrest DeYoung

Require Background Checks

Before a person is granted an entrance visa to our country, a thorough background investigation should be conducted at the applicant’s expense to verify all the facts about the applicant. --L P Hebert

Use Civil Air Patrol

Augment the coastal, border, and rural airport surveillance efforts with the Civil Air Patrol. The manpower is already organized and trained for coordinated air and ground search techniques including a proven communications network. These volunteers bring the best value to the taxpayers' dollar. Senior members are usually retired military and all have gone through background checks before becoming C.A.P. members. The Civil Air Patrol has the largest fleet of Cessna single engine aircraft in the United States. The Civil Air Patrol is an asset that should not be overlooked. It has been ready for this type of work since 1941. --Mitch Sammons

Reinstate the Draft for All

We should reinstate the military draft, or implement a “domestic service” program, and require all men and women, upon reaching age 18 or high school graduation (whichever comes second) to serve two years of military training and/or service in various domestic defense and public service programs. This would be good for all - including rich kids and politicians' kids - to learn the true value of American citizenship and the price of freedom. --Larry L. Chaney

Let’s Start Kicking Some Butt

The Department of Defense is supposed to provide defense for the United States. Unfortunately, we have been going around defending other countries and telling other countries how to run their governments, and while doing this we have let our guard down. We don’t need a new cabinet office for homeland defense. But the DoD should retrain and recruit many new service members to fight terrorism. The United States has the most awesome military in the world. We should get out of the peacekeeping business, fire all the non-deployable single parents who use the military as an employment agency, and get back to the business of killing bad people and breaking things. No more mister nice guy -- let’s start kicking some butt! --Rick May

Use Neighborhood Watches

Don't leave out the countless Neighborhood Associations/Neighborhood Watches that have been established all over America. They use neighborhood residents who are sensitive to things that are strange or out of place. There are also organizations such as the American Legion, VFW and others with active and retired military members.

--Dennis Bailey

Revitalize Civil Defense

I suggest a revitalized Civil Defense Program. I would like to volunteer to work with your task force to put together proposals pertaining to Civil Defense. --Patrick O'Connell, Lt. Col. USA (Ret.)

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ARTICLE 2 - Sailors Getting Rich Battle Experience

By Robert G. Williscroft

“Beam me up, Scotty!”

Did you know that Captain Kirk never uttered these words? Not in any of the eighty original Star Trek episodes nor the seven movies. He never said it.

How many times have you heard a movie submarine captain say: “Fire one! Fire two”?

Did you know that real submarine skippers don't say this? The word is: “Shoot!”

That’s because calling out “Fire” refers to - you got it - fire somewhere aboard the sub. It would not be cool if the Fire Control Team were set up to shoot a torpedo or missile, just waiting for the skipper's word, when something goes wrong in the control room starting a fire, and someone shouts “Fire!” - and away goes the weapon.

So Fire Control Teams train and train and train. And then they train again. The words, the motions, every little detail becomes a practiced event in a sequence of practiced events.

I served both as a sonar technician and later as a weapons officer aboard two fleet ballistic missile submarines. I spent the better part of two years underwater. During this time, we had a lot of drills. As a sonar tech, my participation was a critical adjunct to the exercise. As weapons officer, I both participated in and was responsible for what happened. We would receive a Weapons System Readiness Test message over our low-frequency long-range radio system. The test could have originated from any one of several shore based or seagoing commanders, but our response was always the same: We would bring the sub to launch depth and run through every step of the sequence except the actual launch of the missile. We got this down to between twelve and thirteen minutes - by any measure, that's very good. But we never actually launched a missile in this scenario.

(The only time we actually launched a real missile was on a test range off the southern Florida coast. We underwent an approximate five-hour countdown. On a scale of one to ten, its relationship to an actual combat firing sequence was minus five. In fact, we had one of the Apollo Astronauts aboard who actually “pushed the button” to launch the missile. This was payback for his allowing a group of us in the VIP stands for the Apollo 14 moon launch.

Similarly, when we launched actual torpedoes, it was nothing like the real thing, even though we did this much more frequently. Despite our intense training, and despite our ability to ready a missile launch in just a few minutes, we had no idea how we would perform in actual combat. In the Cold War world this was not possible.

An additional nagging question nips at the heels of every submarine captain, who asks himself, “My missiles have been in their bays for several months or even years. Sure they have been checked out nearly daily, but will they really work when I launch them?”

In direct reaction to this question, missiles and other submarine munitions are regularly changed out for replacements that are “guaranteed” to work. Not that such a guarantee is enforceable, but a missile that underwent complete overhaul last month is much more likely to perform as advertised than one that has been in its launch tube for the last seven months. So typically, once or twice yearly, all of a submarine's torpedoes and Tomahawk Missiles are replaced (but not the intercontinental ballistic missiles).

This is where our current air war against Afghanistan provides a real - if inadvertent - boon for the Navy submarine crews serving in the region. This is a real live-fire opportunity for submarine crews, and it allows crews to “offload” their older Tomahawks without the difficult, dangerous work required to exchange weapons alongside a pier or submarine tender.

These launches require no tedious five-hour countdowns, no holds while somebody checks out this circuit or that switch. At the appropriate moment, the Officer of the-Deck announces “Battle Stations Missile” over the general announcing system, and shortly thereafter a Tomahawk missile shoots to the surface in a bubble of compressed air, extends its short wings and fires its engines

There are men on these boats who have spent their entire professional life gaining unmatched expertise in the esoteric skill of aiming and launching a missile from underwater, but who have never actually done it in a live-fire real-time combat situation - until now.

Thanks to Osama bin Laden and his Taliban cohorts, we are creating a cadre of combat-hardened submariners who have actually done it, and will be able to share this unique knowledge with tomorrow's underwater sailors. Nothing gives confidence to a young torpedoman or missile technician like the calm control of a weapons chief or weapons officer who has been there and done that.

Robert G. Williscroft is DefenseWatch Navy Editor

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ARTICLE 3 - Our Warrior Spirit Is Still Suppressed

By J. David Galland

A long-suppressed question that goes to the heart of the U.S. military has re-emerged in the four weeks since the terror attacks on Sept. 11: Can America’s military become a warrior society again?

As a career soldier, I obviously prefer the old Army, a society of warriors. At the time I entered active service, young men who were timid or cowards employed every conceivable trick to avoid the draft, from fleeing to Canada pleading for "under the table fixes" to obtain draft deferments to attend Oxford University or similar places.

The difference today is that people with this same mindset are often found in uniform, because they have been duped by slick recruiters who assured them that they would never see combat.

Over the years, I have seen my share of this sub-set in the ranks. When it looks like storm clouds are gathering ahead, some soldiers discover that the potential adversity of wartime military is not for them. There are basic paths they can take toward achieving their escape from service.

Female soldiers find that pregnancy, prior to deployment, is the most effective tactic for a quick return to civilian life. For the men, a common approach is to suddenly discover that they have been born again, which morphs them into conscientious objectors. The last option, available to all soldiers, is to simply go AWOL. (Note that in a military that is eternally vigilant against sexual harassment, going over the hill seems to be a less serious offense than expressing a healthy male interest in the opposite gender.)

The problem, of course, is that even soldiers are living products of American contemporary society. While the Army does do its best to eliminate the civilian mindset and rebuild each recruit in the model of a soldier, other social forces are pressing back. The young soldiers of today grew up in a period when the exclusive female students of Wellesley College in Massachusetts declared to the world that if a man merely looked at them, it constituted sexual harassment.

For the past eight years, our society seemed stuck in a climate of hedonism and selfishness on one hand (the Clinton administration) while the Army itself on the other hand was yielding to both outsiders (Rep.Patricia Schroeder) and some of its own leaders (Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy) who appeared determined to banish the warrior completely from the military culture.

Why should America care that people in the military, specifically the Army, are paralyzed with the fear of thinking or saying the wrong thing? The answer is quite simple: Free-thinking and rapid reaction warriors win battles.

Those who hesitate in combat, from tying their boots, to slapping in another magazine into their weapon, or to making a command decision under great stress, bring death, usually to their own soldiers. Stifling or restricting honest discourse and free thought is a dangerous path for amilitary leader to pursue. In these dangerous times, when American soldiers who may beheading for combat against terrorists and their state sponsors are required to refer to our adversaries in the Mideast as "persons of Middle Eastextraction" rather than a plethora of less than complimentary names and descriptions, don’t hold your breath for the rebirth of the Army.

I personally experienced a some of this last year in a military shopping facility in Germany from a junior Miss Manners in a Class A uniform. A young male soldier asked me about the combat patch on the right sleeve of my battle dress uniform. In response I told the soldier that I hadbeen in that particular unit while I was in Vietnam.

One question led to the next and he eventually queried me as to what I did in Vietnam. With a pregnant pause, I fired back at him, "I killed Gooks". Miss Manners, a 27-year-old captain, interrupted us to interject her admonishment. She informed me that she had quantified and classified my response as disgusting.

I realized then, and continue to believe today, that as long as political correctness like that permeates the military hierarchy, we cannot succeed in reinventing the warrior spirit that is essential to victory on the battlefield against terrorists.

J. David Galland, Deputy Editor of DefenseWatch, is a career U.S. Army senior Non-Commissioned Officer currently serving in Germany who has served in combat in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama and the Balkans.

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ARTICLE 4 - An Open Letter to the U.S. News Media

By Sgt. Charles Everly USAF

I would like to commend you on the fantastic job that you have done covering world events for the last thirty or forty years. You provide a service to the world that is important, especially to those who oppose us.

As someone who has worn the uniform of the U.S. military for most of my adult life, I would like to thank you for providing our adversaries with such trivial information as transport and combat capabilities, weapons capabilities and troop movements and placements. It makes it much easier for our adversaries to plan how to defeat or kill us.

I know that you will scream about your First Amendment right to publish the news, and you have that right. But I do not believe that our Founding Fathers intended that freedom be used to broadcast our plans and intentions to the world. In my opinion, that falls under yelling “Fire” in a crowded theater (which I believe the Supreme Court has ruled is not covered by the First Amendment). You have a vested interest in keeping the First Amendment free and secure, yet you pull the blocks out of the wall that protects that freedom. Just because it is news doesn’t mean it should be published.

I am curious as to when you became so anti-military. I know that in World War II, you kept quiet and cooperated for the good of the cause. The Korean War was virtually ignored, but then came Vietnam, the TV War. Every night, American families could sit down to footage of our fighters bombing villages and children crying. Sad images to be sure, but that is the only part of the story that you told. You forgot (or neglected) to tell about the Vietcong or North Vietnamese Army unit that had dug into the village, and ambushed our soldiers patrolling through the area.

And you did very well showing the atrocities we committed: My Lai, burning villages, and a host of others. But why didn’t you ever report on the village whose chief was disemboweled, his wife, who systematically had every bone on her body broken, or his children, sons disemboweled, daughters raped and killed, though the youngest was 4 or 5 years old? I’m sorry I forgot: Those actions were committed by the peace-loving people of the North Vietnamese Army or Viet Cong, not in just one place, but across the entirety of Vietnam. I guess that wasn’t newsworthy (plus it might have put the Communists in a bad light).

It also amazes me how you pick and choose the other atrocities we see. The crushing of protesters in Tiannamen Square was front page news, and you were crying for the lack of human rights in China. Yet, when the whole of South Vietnam was enslaved, there was barely a whimper. You screamed over apartheid in South Africa, but not a peep about the killing fields of Cambodia. When the specter of genocide reared its ugly head for the second time in a century in Europe, reports were everywhere. The same for Rwanda.

But an ongoing government policy, not based on tribes or religion, to erase the Montagnard people and their culture from the face of the planet in Vietnam gets no coverage. Not really surprising.

Even now, you would rather report on a GI raping a local female in Okinawa. Outraged, yes we should be, this is a heinous crime.

But why not try this for a story? A unit gives up its time off and goes to an orphanage. You know, they actually do some good, working on the buildings and grounds, have a barbeque for the kids, and maybe bring them some toys or clothes. Those are some of the best memories that I have of my time in the service. I know it’s a silly idea, smiling kids and our troops having a good time with them.

So here we are, in another war, and again you are publishing capabilities, troop movements and placements, and some of our plans and intentions, and I am sure if you had all of them, they would be right out there in the world press.

So on behalf of our terrorist opponents - al Queda, the Taliban and the other murderers throughout the world - a big thank you.

Sgt. Everly is the pen name of an Air Force noncommissioned officer currently deployed to Kuwait.

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ARTICLE 5 - FEEDBACK: Response to David Horowitz Article

By Duke L. Peters

I’m sorry DefenseWatch saw fit to include the Horowitz article (“An Open Letter to the Anti-War Demonstrators,” Oct. 10). It seems you're going down the same path as those [Washington Post columnist Richard] Cohen decries in his recent “No Time To Refight Vietnam” commentary.

The function of the First Amendment is to promote a full and robust exchange of views, so that the truth will out. This obviously applies to military and foreign policy as well as to more mundane issues as HMO or Social Security reform. Indeed, since the stakes are much greater, there is all the more reason to seriously debate military policies, not muffle dissent and insist Americans become vapid, red, white, and blue pom-pom wavers.

Contrary to Horowitz' article, the Vietnam experience reinforces the need for full debate.

Quite apart from the serious historical inaccuracy of Horowitz' claim that the Viet Cong were “defeated” in 1968 (that actually occurred during the winter of 1970-71, and in any event, the VC were simply supplanted by North Vietnam Army regulars who … were most definitely not defeated), is the point that he overlooks the role that dissent played in replacing a flawed commander (Gen. William Westmoreland) pursuing a hopeless, doomed strategy (attrition) with an effective commander (Gen. Creighton Abrams) with effective stategies (pacification and Vietnamization) that should have been pursued years earlier before public, media and congressional support soured on the war effort.

President Johnson’s decision to change commanders and deny Westmoreland’s request for an additional 206,000 troops was in large part due to the famous meeting with the “Wise Men” on March 26, 1968. They in turn, including Dean Acheson, are known to have reconsidered their formerly unqualified support for the war effort in material part on account of the dissenters in Congress, the media, and in the streets and campuses.

Had there been no antiwar movement, you may well have had continued political support and will for U.S. air support and a residual U.S. ground force after 1973, but you'd also continued to have Westmoreland in command with over 1,000,000 troops pursuing the same flawed strategy of attrition, perhaps leading to a dangerous Korean-style clash with a now nuclear armed China.

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ARTICLE 06 - Medal of Honor - GARY R. GORDON and RANDALL D. SHUGART

Editor’s Note: Every October we want to remind our readers of the sacrifice by those who fought in Somalia on Oct. 3, 1993. These two heroes demonstrated their loyalty to there fellow soldiers and paid the ultimate price. God Bless all of the Rangers and Special Forces troops who fought bravely that day.

GORDON, GARY I.

Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army.

Place and date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia.

Entered service at: -----

Born: Lincoln, Maine.

Citation: Master Sergeant Gordon, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Master Sergeant Gordon's sniper team provided precision fires from the lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires.

When Master Sergeant Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After his third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission.

When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master Sergeant Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon and his fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Master Sergeant Gordon immediately pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position.

Master Sergeant Gordon used his long-range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master Sergeant Gordon then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew's weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed for help. Master Sergeant Gordon continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew.

After his team member was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words, “Good luck.” Then, armed only with his pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life.

Master Sergeant Gordon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

SHUGHART, RANDALL D.

Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army.

Place and date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia.

Entered service at: -----

Born: Newville, Pennsylvania.

Citation: Sergeant First Class Shughart, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sergeant First Class Shughart provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires.

While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site.

Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position.

Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life.

Sergeant First Class Shughart's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

Editor’s Note: If you know of any MOH recipient who is hospitalized or has passed away recently, please email MOH Correspondent James H. Also, if you would like more info on MOH recipients and their stories, please email James H at bulldogleader@mindspring.com.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Article Submission Procedures/Subject Editors Sought

1. Try to keep articles to 750 words or less. SUBMIT IN MS WORD FORMAT, if
possible!

2. Submit your piece to one of the following editors:

Ed Offley, Editor

defensewatch@aol.com

J. David Galland, Deputy Editor

defensewatch02@hotmail.com

DefenseWatch is looking for volunteer subject editors willing to assist in screening and editing article submissions. We are looking for experts in the following areas: U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, Special Operations forces/counter-terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (NBC), Reserve and National Guard affairs, and veterans affairs. If interested in joining the DefenseWatch team, please contact Ed Offley at defensewatch@aol.com

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DEBUNKING TERRORIST RUMORS:

Because of the hundreds of unfounded allegations and unproven rumors that are circulating each day during the current crisis, we thought you would find the following website useful. The “Urban Legends Reference Page” at www.snopes.com is posting each allegation as it surfaces with a rebuttal or confirmation.

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HACK BOOK SALES

Hack's books, About Face, Hazardous Duty, The Price of Honor and The
Vietnam Primer can be found at www.hackworth.com. They make a great addition
to any library. Hack is offering them at a special SFTT price.

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