Drug Wars

April 8, 2013

Darrell Castle talks about the alarming rise in prescriptions for anti-psychotic drugs given to active duty combat soldiers.

Drug Wars


The General and The Ambassador

November 12, 2012

Darrell Castle talks about the connections between David Petraeus, Paula Broadwell, Jill Kelley, Christopher Stevens, Hillary Clinton and Benghazi.

The General and The Ambassador


The US Military’s Worst Enemy

August 20, 2012

Darrell Castle talks about the record number of suicides in the military.

The US Military’s Worst Enemy


Memorial Day

May 28, 2012

Darrell Castle talks about war and honoring the dead and wounded.

Memorial Day


The Strange Case of Benjamin Colton Barnes

January 9, 2012

Darrell Castle talks about Congress and the effects of war.

The Strange Case of Benjamin Colton Barnes


On Behalf of a Grateful Nation

November 11, 2011

Darrell Castle discusses Veterans Day – 11/11/11.

On Behalf of a Grateful Nation


Semper Fidelis

November 9, 2011

Darrell Castle wishes a Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps.

Semper Fidelis


Suicide by War

January 5, 2011

“Several Warnings, Then a Soldier’s Lonely Death”

So read the headline in last Sunday’s New York Times. The story involves the death of one soldier, apparently by his own hand, after he had served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and after he had twice attempted suicide before being sent back to Afghanistan.

Why would the army send a soldier back into combat and its extreme stress who had twice attempted to take his own life? While in Afghanistan the young man apparently was deemed such a threat to himself that his personal combat weapon was taken from him. Why would the Army keep a soldier in combat who could not be entrusted with a weapon? Why would the army leave a soldier who could not be entrusted with a weapon as the roommate of a soldier who was fully armed?

His father would like answers to these questions, but no one in the U.S. Army seems to have the answers. I’m sure the Army regrets his death and appreciates his service since they buried him at Arlington with full honors.

What is the answer? Why is the suicide rate among the armed forces increasing at such an alarming rate? The military is trying to find the answer in special counseling sessions, rehab centers for when veterans return home, drug therapy for the depressed, and now a suicide prevention task force, but nothing seems to be working. I don’t have the answer either, but I do have some ideas.

Perhaps war itself is the problem. War is a destroyer of people and of nations. Maybe we should start thinking of our long wars in the Middle East as both personal suicide for those who serve and national suicide for the nation.

The USG has designated 43 areas of the world as combat zones. That is the highest number of combat zones since WWII. We can conclude then, that after all these years of fighting, we have more areas to fight in than any time since WWII. That is a very depressing statistic for me, but I can only imagine how depressing it must be for those who have to bear the burden.

The USG has become very good at creating enemies faster than the US military can kill them. I was told once by a marketing expert that everyone has 250 people who would go to his wedding or funeral. Perhaps each person killed by the USG around the world has 250 friends who are now enemies.

In that same front page section of the Times was a full page ad that read: “War Is Over If you Want It, Love and Peace from John and Yoko.” Regardless of what you may think of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the ad is exactly right. Our leaders are able to commit the nation to endless, senseless war that destroys the lives of people like the soldier mentioned earlier because we let them do it.

They will not tell us why they do it, only that it is “necessary.” That’s what the Commander in Chief gives us as an answer – “it’s necessary.” It’s time that we start demanding real answers from our leaders as to why our children have been committed to fighting a war that has gone on for 10 years with no end in sight. The Commander in Chief will not give us a definition of victory or even state that victory is something we are seeking. He only states that “it’s necessary.”

The leaders of the USG are responsible for this mass homicide, but there is another party that shares equal responsibility. We the people are now complicit in the crimes of our leaders. We still have some ability to influence policy through the electoral process, but instead of demanding an end to the madness, we send out an order for more of it. We the people share in the blood guilt of our leaders. I pray that we will rise up and put a stop to it. If we don’t may God forgive us.

- Darrell Castle


The President and the Constitution

June 14, 2010

By Kermit Steck

On June 6, 1944, President Roosevelt led Americans in prayer for our military as they, along with the other Allied powers, assaulted the beaches at Normandy to restore freedom, liberty and God-given rights to those who had them taken away.

2,500 Americans lost their lives that day – freedom is not free.  Many more were ready to die for their belief in what was right.

I often think of those heroes and their sacrifices.  Not just theirs but all of those throughout America’s history.  Not just the ones that died, but their families that lived on after their deaths – they too paid a high price of not having their loved ones.  Freedom is not free.

This kind of praying, sacrifice, and honor continues to this day being played out with each generation of Americans.  I think of who we are as Americans.  The leaders and citizen soldiers and their families, willing to do what is right regardless of the cost.  They do this not just for themselves but for others they don’t even know and for future generations.

Because of the examples, living and dead, of ordinary people called to do extraordinary deeds, I decided to run for Congress.  Two common denominators that cross generations against all enemies, foreign and domestic.  30 years ago I took that same oath to defend the Constitution  against enemies, foreign and domestic – first as an enlisted man and than later as a commissioned Army Officer after completing Officer Candidate School.

I spent 11 years on active duty serving my country, the Constitution and God.  On May 23rd, 2010, Retired Marine Corps General Richardson Neal stated in an address at the National Conference of Military Officers Association of America in Ft. Meyers, FL., the oath is a timeless oath.  I agree completely and whole heartedly.

I believe all Americans, not just a few, should be taught these values, our real history and our Constitution.  The one man who ought to exemplify the spirit of what has made America great and who lives out the oath to protect and defend the Constitution more than any other should be the President of the United States.

On D-Day, then President Roosevelt lead the nation in a live radio four-minute prayer for God’s protection and blessings on our endeavors.  President George Washington, as the Commander of the American army, daily prayed for God’s providential hand to be on us as we fought for our freedom.

Given such awesome examples of what President Dwight D. Eisenhower called Americanism, I ask that the current president do what they did: lead by example.

They took the oath to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States.  But sad to report, he is a domestic enemy of the U.S. Constitution, our history, our honor, our sacrifice, our prayers and everything most Americans hold dear.

At this point I’m not sure if he is a domestic enemy or a foreign one.  He won’t even abide by the Constitution, let alone defend it.  Where’s his birth certificate and school records?

I address this part not only to readers but to the President as well:

Be the president, Mr. President.  Defend the U.S. Constitution, follow it, or resign.  If you are not willing to answer the question forthrightly about whether you are qualified to be the president then resign.  Where are your birth certificate and school records?  If you have no honor, then shame and the thought of dishonor ought to bring out the truth.

I believe the American people deserve the truth and answers to legitimate questions.  If not for honor’s sake then for truth’s sake, give us the proof we desire and deserve.  If the information is not provided then resignation or impeachment is in order for not just the president but for all those involved in perpetuating such an act.  At lease one army officer refused to follow a president that refuses to uphold the Constitution, and he is being court-martialed for his stand.  God bless LTC Terry Lakin.

When a president arrogantly refuses to produce records of any kind,  keeps them from being released, and millions of dollars are spent to prevent their release, we have a problem.. As the leader of America you have a duty, responsibility and sworn obligation to its citizens to be open and honest about a key question.  Are you really an American born citizen?

If you went to apply for a job, or get a driver’s license or enroll in school you would be required to show your birth certificate.  What’s the big deal?  Just like showing the social security card you would be required to provide for being hired, opening a bank account or entering the Armed Forces of the USA.

Because the President won’t, then maybe impeachment needs to be pursued.  Ask your Congressman or Senator about it.  Ask the candidates running for those offices about it.  Some say it’s not important.  I say it is extremely important.  It is the principles of honor, integrity, truth and ethics that matter.

I for one will not let the matter go until it is answered. Will you? Too many have died or tried to live a life of prayer, sacrifice and honor to brush this aside. And as a side note should I suddenly become a so-called domestic terrorist threat, meet with an untimely death or be investigated for who knows what, so be it.  Don’t be surprised.  It will not change the facts and questions that need to be answered.  May God bless America and may God show the truth of this matter.

– Kermit Steck

Northeast TN Chairman


Bush Confesses to Crimes Against Humanity: “I’d Do It Again”

June 4, 2010

In a recent speech to the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, Michigan, former President George W. Bush confessed to ordering the torture of a suspect in the 9/11 attacks.

“Yeah, we water-boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,” Bush said of the man to whom The Grand Rapids Press referred as the terrorist who master-minded the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Bush went on to say that the event shaped his presidency and convinced him that the nation was in a war against terror.

To contradict Mr. Bush, his Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neil said in the book The Price of Loyalty that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were planned from the first National Security Council meeting after the inauguration, obviously months before 9/11.

Ron Suskind, a Wall Street Journal reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote The Price of Liberty, a book about Mr. O’Neil’s time with the Bush administration.

If Mr. O’Neil is telling the truth, then Mr. Bush committed crimes against humanity by using the 9/11 attacks as a pretext for the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

During these invasions and subsequent occupations, millions of people have been killed, wounded and left homeless. The infrastructure of both countries has been destroyed, and they have been contaminated by depleted uranium weapons. Tens of thousand of young Americans have been killed and wounded, both physically and psychologically.

Mr. Bush seems especially proud of his invasion of Iraq, a country that he must have known had nothing to do with 9/11 and had not harmed the United States in any way. Neither country presented even the most remote threat to the United States.

I quote from The Grand Rapids Press: “ ’Getting rid of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do and the world is a better place without him,’ Bush said.”

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, according to CIA admission, was water-boarded a total of 181 times. That’s 181 individual instances of torture before he supposedly “confessed.” I trust that we all understand that a confession obtained by torture is not a confession but a succumbing to unbearable persecution.

I have to give it to the Sheikh though, he’s pretty tough. I’m not sure I could hold on through 181 water-boarding sessions. I doubt if Mr. Bush could, either. I’ll wager that with a bucket of water and a couple of minutes a professional torturer – excuse me I mean interrogator – could make Mr. Bush confess to the 9/11 attacks.

But the invasions resulted in far more torture than Khalid Mohammed experienced. For example, the prisoners held at Abu Ghraib experienced torture, rape, sodomy, and homicide. These acts were committed by American units and US government agencies. I further point out that many of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib were children, but the rest of that story is so vile, wicked, and disgusting that it is not appropriate for these pages.

So there you have it: A former President of the United States of America is proud of his authorizing torture and of his invasions of sovereign nations resulting in millions of deaths.

What does all this mean for us?

It means that we, the American people, are complicit in this man’s war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It means that the President is now above the law and totally unaccountable for anything.

His right to reign is similar to King John’s claim to rule by divine right. In fact, Mr. Bush clothes his actions in the Christian faith and uses it as absolution for what he did. I quote again from The Grand Rapids Press, “Bush underlined the role religion played in his life in the White House, saying prayer gave him strength to go forward. ‘I prayed a lot. I really did. I prayed before every major speech. I prayed before debates. It was a very important experience.’ “

So God told him to do it. He must know a God quite different from the one I know.

What does it feel like to wait in the night for your torturers to come? I don’t know, but Khalid Sheikh Mohammed does, and so do the children of Abu Ghraib.

- Darrell Castle


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