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| Link | Quote | Stars | Tags | Author |
| f01b096 | Nearly everyone had a father or uncles who had fought in World War II or Korea, or both, and many had grandfathers who had fought in World War I. War was stitched deep in the idea of manhood. | Mark Bowden | ||
| ba76989 | In April 1967, Johnson had dispatched General Creighton Abrams to Vietnam as Westy's deputy. Abrams, a famous tank commander in World War II, had more combat experience than any other officer in the upper ranks of the US military, and some saw his appointment as a hint that LBJ was not entirely satisfied with Westy's progress. | Mark Bowden | ||
| c8abf9f | Osama bin Laden's ideas were neither new nor compelling outside his relatively small circle of followers. They belonged to an ugly cul-de-sac of history, an era where witches and heretics were burned in town squares. They were adolescent ideas, in that they remained willfully ignorant of all that had come before. There are many who choose to believe that certain ancient texts are literally the word of one God or the other, but not many who .. | Mark Bowden | ||
| 2e3c3ce | remember the two signatures of modern war: (1) You never win, exactly; you claim victory. (2) Perception is paramount. | Mark Bowden | ||
| a28128d | The upbeat DHS report was some kind of high-water mark for government gall--a tough record to beat. After sitting back and watching the Cabal do all the work, and nearly succeed, Uncle Sam finally found a role for himself: proclaim victory and then stick a flag in it! | Mark Bowden | ||
| 964ac1c | McRaven's thesis, which would become part of the curriculum at the Naval Postgraduate School, set out the core concept of special ops: that a small, well-trained force can deliver a decisive blow against a much larger, well-defended one. He defined such a mission as one "conducted by forces specially trained, equipped, and supported for a specific target whose destruction, elimination, or rescue (in the case of hostages), is a political or .. | Mark Bowden | ||
| 69111c0 | The Battle of Mogadishu on October 3, 1993, was part of Operation Restore Hope. We remember it now as "Black Hawk Down" from the novel (and subsequent film) of that name by an on-the-scene journalist, Mark Bowden. Army Rangers paid a heavy price for not looking "too intimidating" or "like invaders," valiantly fighting while stripped of the equipment they requested. Had the administration not ignorantly meddled with events, the 160 Special F.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| d59d89b | because I was there--in the spotlight, in the crosshairs--I realize better than most Americans that we have pretty much forgotten what an amateur-night, three-ring circus the Clinton White House was. But I haven't forgotten. I remember Monica, sure. But I remember Hillary, too: the shortcuts she took, the methods she employed, the yelling, the screaming, her disdain for "the little people," -- | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| f0165b2 | a lot of people have now forgotten what a Clinton White House was like. Millennials were too young to watch it firsthand. Their parents had to make them leave the room. Their parents had to make them leave the room. Think about that. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 46d5153 | On Sunday, evening, May 2, 2015, in Garland, Texas, an active-shooter incident didn't end in a massacre. It ended when an armed police officer took the fight to the enemy, literally pushing toward them and killing the duo before they could massacre innocents in a crowded event center. Forget politics. Forget before and after. When the attack is initiated there is no negotiation, no thinking--only fighting, pushing, and close killing. The ev.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| fcc8762 | And here's what everyone missed: Benghazi shattered military and federal law enforcement morale. We all wondered, Will they come for us if we're attacked? Will they stand by us? Does "no man left behind" mean a damned thing? Will they even tell the truth after I'm gone?" | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 064b7f1 | Two decades ago the late New York Times columnist William Safire wrote: "Americans of all political persuasions are coming to the sad realization that our first lady--a woman of undoubted talents who was a role model for many in her generation--is a congenital liar." | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 615a79e | On 9/11 we vowed "Never forget." But we always somehow do. And because I was there--in the spotlight, in the crosshairs--I realize better than most Americans that we have pretty much forgotten what an amateur-night, three-ring circus the Clinton White House was. But I haven't forgotten. I remember Monica, sure. But I remember Hillary, too: the shortcuts she took, the methods she employed, the yelling, the screaming, her disdain for "the lit.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| d052207 | So my time really isn't done. I'll lay down my sword and now I've picked up my pen because I was there with the Clintons. I could not keep silent then, and I can't keep silent now. You and I have to do our jobs and take the heat when we mess up. If I so much as accidentally use my government credit card on a personal purchase, I immediately take the hit. Why do we expect any less from our leadership? From Clinton Inc.? | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 3ada8a0 | I repeat: To duplicate classified material without permission or to send it over an unsecured channel is completely illegal. That's why every government agency employs burn bags, safes, and special folders for anything marked Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. People have lost their careers and gone to jail for far less. Yet Hillary Clinton transmitted classified material by the figurative ton. No one else can operate like that in govern.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 95a1e32 | Discussing Clinton's behavior (however, tangentially) during my deposition made 1600 Pennsylvania seemed more like a late-night red-light district than a national institution. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| d6206ea | Technically it was FLOTUS's job to extend the invitations, but the idea that Mrs. Clinton would take responsibility for someone under her command? Laughable. I surely never saw it. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| abaf860 | I testified that the incident had traveled up the chain of command to the sergeant and the watch commander. I informed them that even in discussing the incident among ourselves within UD, we remained circumspect. An attorney asked why. The real answer, which I also couldn't say, was to save ourselves from being dragged through the mud like this. The less you knew, the safer you were. Not to mention, we simply feared the Clintons. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 47071ac | Not long after my video deposition, I was talking to a Secret Service colleague who worked the West Wing Lobby. He had just resumed his shift after returning from his own testimony. The president had just visited him. That was extremely suspicious--my associate was spooked. "He just came out and came straight up to me like--like he was looking for me. Yeah, and he asked how I was by name. We chatted--like small talk--like normal. And then h.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 5f937e3 | Monday afternoon, August 17, 1998, while still at the White House, President Bill Clinton became the first president to appear before a grand jury and testify regarding his own actions. It was videotaped just the way ours was, but he also appeared "live" (though remotely) to that grand jury via closed-circuit TV. Now he was cornered and finally had to pay the piper--or at least tell some portion of the truth. We all held our breath. That ni.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 2641919 | In typical Billary fashion, they claimed they hadn't created the problem. The media had, the Republicans, the lawyers--anyone but them. He was sorry, he said. I couldn't stand it anymore. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 842c2c4 | I told them that we officers recognized we had made a mistake even discussing it, but I had put the snare on myself. We had discussed the story because we were tired, wound up, overworked, and frustrated at the corruption and the bullshit. We hated hanging tight and wading through the new culture that consumed the White House. We knew not to talk about that stuff, because it could implicate us in a legal fray. I was compelled to tell the tr.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 2dea3ea | It was all because of Monica. No, it was all because of Bill and Mrs. Clinton and the way they governed. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| f9de454 | Amateurs train until they get it right; professionals train until they get it wrong. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 789985d | He never apologized to us. He never apologized for putting us in that position. He lied out of both ends of his mouth, blaming the Secret Service while saying he wanted to be forthcoming but couldn't--two lies in one! He and his staff created the Protective Function Privilege. He was the one who did the deed, committed the misconduct. He was the one who lied. Not only did he never apologize for costing the taxpayers, the Justice Department,.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 509a93b | Byrne," I said. Cops answer phones like cops even when they're home. "They f--d us, Gary! They f--ed us!" "Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Who f--ed us? What are--?" "I can't believe it! I can't believe it! Are you watching? They f--ed us, Gary! They released the g-ddamn tapes! Our depositions are playing on the damn television. We're all over the g-ddamn news! They're showing our faces!" She kept repeating" | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 1490dec | A Justice Department lawyer soon explained to me that his department technically hadn't lied. Nobody technically lies in this game, it seems. The department didn't release the tapes to the public, but it knew damn well that it was going to release all its evidence to Congress, and once Congress got its own hands on the evidence, it would release as much or as little of it as it pleased. Congress released our tapes and more than three thousa.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 08851cb | Nothing was more embarrassing for this nation than the release of the president's grand jury testimony. Starr's investigators asked him to corroborate--or contradict--the sworn, often protected-by-immunity testimony of Monica, presidential staff members, Secret Service agents, and UD officers like myself. But his lies--and his earlier actions--trapped him in a painful, steel-strong web. Not even his elaborate legal weaseling could free him... | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 3324ed8 | Eleanor Mondale and Monica Lewinsky could not satiate the president's horndog sexual desires. There were many others. I saw plenty of awkward run-ins and drama with other officers and staff. President Clinton had difficulty managing where he saw his many mistresses, whether it was at the White House or on the road. It baffled the Uniformed Division as to how he could manage all these women without any of them realizing there were so many ot.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 3c18518 | Staffers entered through the Old Executive Office Building (the Eisenhower Building), and it was a magnet for various and sundry weirdos. A polite, well-dressed, and impeccably groomed guy got in line. No problem. Secret Service checked his bag. A-okay. He chitchatted with the officers. All was normal. Yet the staffer was sockless on one foot. For some reason, he handed an officer the missing sock. "Oh, and I guess I give you this," he said.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 58c5052 | As I listened to his cunning, scripted message, I became even angrier. He never apologized to us. He never apologized for putting us in that position. He lied out of both ends of his mouth, blaming the Secret Service while saying he wanted to be forthcoming but couldn't--two lies in one! He and his staff created the Protective Function Privilege. He was the one who did the deed, committed the misconduct. He was the one who lied. Not only di.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| f999788 | Just last year, Mrs. Clinton claimed that as secretary of state she didn't carry a work phone. It was too cumbersome and inconvenient for her to carry two phones. She didn't have room for them. Then we learned she carried an iPhone and BlackBerry, neither government issued nor encrypted. Then we learned she carried an iPad and an iPad mini. But she claimed she didn't do email. Then we learned she had email--on a private server. But then she.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| d7c315e | Let's say it straight out: Hillary Clinton lied about the reason for the Benghazi attack. She lied about it to the nation as a whole and she lied right to the faces of the grieving family members of those who died there--and then lied about her lying. And she keeps telling Americans one huge, disgusting lie after another. As I wrap up writing this book, Hillary has claimed that we "didn't lose a single person" in Libya. Really? Try telling .. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 42114cf | She thought she was being tough--in command--but the issue commanded her. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 11f00f1 | Never look for birds of this year in the nests of the last. | Birds | ||
| 8e04be8 | I dreamed of becoming an elite White House Secret Service officer, a member of its Uniformed Division. Nothing more--and certainly nothing less. My dream came true. I stood guard, a pistol at my hip, outside the Oval Office, the last barrier before anyone saw Bill Clinton. The last barrier before Monica Lewinsky saw Bill Clinton. Yes, I'm that Secret Service officer. I saw Monica, and I saw a lot more. I saw Hillary, too. I witnessed her ob.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| b641082 | We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 8161d1c | Character in leadership comes down to two questions: Would you trade places with anyone under your command? Do you hold yourself to the same level of accountability as those for whom you bear responsibility? | leadership | Gary J. Byrne | |
| 499e8e9 | Were his misdeeds sufficient reason to strip him from office? He'd perjured himself, ruined his own reputation, tarnished the presidency, and damaged if not destroyed the careers, reputations, and lives of a great many people, from myself to Monica to many of his staff. And for what? | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| c694523 | The Clintons directed others to lie for them, never in writing (as far as I knew), but I had seen lying firsthand. Their culture of corruption had pushed me out of my post and eventually from the White House. I feared it would push me from the Service as well. Many in the Service just said, "I don't remember," "I'm not sure," "I don't recall," or "I can neither confirm nor deny," or they obstructed justice by constantly standing by privileg.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 106f251 | On Monday afternoon, August 17, 1998, while still at the White House, President Bill Clinton became the first president to appear before a grand jury and testify regarding his own actions. It was videotaped just the way ours was, but he also appeared "live" (though remotely) to that grand jury via closed-circuit TV. Now he was cornered and finally had to pay the piper--or at least tell some portion of the truth. We all held our breath. That.. | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| f3eed0e | He said emphatically and fervently, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." It was his word against ours with a titillated world watching. Only because of Linda Tripp, Monica Lewinsky's infamous blue dress, and Ken Starr could the truth set us all free." | Gary J. Byrne | ||
| 88a1b8b | Superficially, Edit and Pray seems like "working with care," a very professional thing to do. The "care" that you take is right there at the forefront, and you expend extra care when the changes are very invasive because much more can go wrong. But safety isn't solely a function of care." | Michael C. Feathers | ||
| dd43875 | People still think the Lewinsky affair was one political party making a big deal over a little extra pie on the side; it wasn't. What Starr proved was that the president had engaged in inappropriate sexually related workplace conduct with an intern/employee, as he had with other women. Some women, such as Juanita Broaddrick, even alleged he had assaulted them. He had zero integrity in this area, and that made everything he did suspect and u.. | Gary J. Byrne |