 By Michael Reagan November 18, 2003
Last June the FBI arrested a 20 year-old college student who was plotting to bomb Coast Guard and National Guard bases in Washington state. According to NewsMax.com, Paul Douglas Revak tried to get another student to help him bomb the Coast Guard station in Bellingham, Washington. He was also accused of talking about obtaining or making C-4 explosives and bombing other military installations including Whidbey Island Naval Air Station near Oak Harbor and the Washington Air National Guard and Army National Guard stations near Bellingham International Airport. Court papers revealed that Revak described himself as an "anarchist" and gave another student a "manifesto" declaring war against the government. For this grievous offense which could have killed large numbers of U.S. servicemen and women, Revak could have been sentenced to life in prison, but soft hearted old Uncle Sam made a deal with him which his lawyer says will allow this punk kid to be out of the slammer by Christmas, even though the lesser charge he copped to could have kept him behind bars for 10 years. Contrast that to the treatment now being accorded to a genuine American hero, Lt. Col. Allen B. West who now faces serious punishment and the end of his distinguished military career in the United States Army for saving the lives of his men. According to military expert Col. David Hackworth, West is being prosecuted for violating the rules of interrogation by firing two pistol shots, not at a traitorous Iraqi police officer, but in the man's immediate vicinity. Prior to this, the police officer, believed to have been involved in a plot to kill West and his men had stonewalled questioners. According to columnist Geoff Metcalf, "Col. West was with the 4th Infantry occupying areas around Tikrit (Saddam's hometown) a real bad neighborhood infested with bad guys intent on killing him and his troops. An informant reported that there was an assassination plot against West. The informant told the soldiers that one person involved in the planned attack was a local policeman who West had picked up. When his men were unable to get him to talk West recalled "I asked for soldiers to accompany me and told them we had to gather information and that it could get ugly," West told Metcalf in an e-mail. In his email West also said, "I did use my 9 mm weapon to threaten him and fired it twice. Once I fired into the weapons clearing barreland the next time I did it while having his head close to the barrel. I fired away from him. I stood in between the firing and his person." It worked. The policeman revealed the details of the plot. Wrote the highly decorated Col. Hackworth: "In my outfit, West would have gotten a pat on the back and been told to press on. But even though the double-crossing turncoat spilled his guts - enabling West's unit to ambush the ambushers - West is looking at serious slammer-time if found guilty by court-martial. "From what I've discovered, this street-smart leader used the right tactics and techniques, while his commander, Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, played Political Correctness - a popular sport with our star-wearers and a major reason why the guerrillas are scoring so successfully in Iraq." Think about it. In the last few days an Italian base in Iraq was bombed by terrorists, American soldiers are being killed every day, and we desperately need intelligence about terrorist plans and activities. But when a brave American officer does what he has to do to uncover a terrorist attack plan without harming anyone but the tender sensibilities of an Iraqi thug, he is threatened with prison and the end of his career in the Army. What kind of a message does that send to those trying to dig out intelligence that will save lives? And what kind of a message does it send to our officers when a would-be domestic terrorist such as Paul Revak gets slapped on the wrist for plotting to blow up American military installations and possibly killing a lot of service men and women and at the same time a heroic Army officer is threatened with prison for doing what in the end was his job - safeguarding his men?  mereagan@hotmail.com Mike's column is distributed to subscribers for publication by: Cagle Cartoons, Inc.
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