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Ombudsman column: The Pentagon is trying to silence me
- timfsu 6mo agoDid not know this was a thing, kudos to her for speaking out!
- J0nL 6mo agoYou don't get that job without being the type of person who will only ever respond to coercion attempts with an equal amount of indigance. The sole reason for the position to exist is to act as a canary in a coalmine so to speak She even admits she was due to stand down at the end of the year, they could have just waited her out. Instead it seems her calling a spade a spade was just too intolerable for them to bare If that's all it takes to provoke the desired reaction from them it doesn't bode well at all. It's no wonder they were so easily led into a war with Iran on a leash
- lukan 6mo ago"they could have just waited her out. " Well, they need the troops willingness to do whatever Trump tells them now, not next year. So they want propaganda for the troops and stars now and Stripes should be the medium, not annoy the administration by providing the troops with uncomfortable truth or facts.
- pjc50 6mo agoDespite my other post I find it grimly amusing in a sort of Eastern European fatalist way that people expect the military to be anything other than a total propaganda-and-secrecy argument. You're the people who will kill who you're told to, guys.
- t-3 6mo ago"The troops" don't read that stuff any more than you or I do, at least none of those I've asked had. Maybe it's more popular among officers.
- lukan 6mo agoWell, I ain't even from the US, but I did sometimes stumble upon a stars and stripes article.
- system7rocks 6mo agoThis is deeply disturbing. The terrible, incoherent messaging and strategy around the Iran war (unapproved by Congress) is connected. This is an administration that is seeking less freedom, not more. What entity would sue on behalf of the ombudsman?
- deepsun 6mo agoIt cannot be "unapproved by Congress". A US president does not have authority to start a war, Congress has, according to Constitution. The president only serves as a Commander in Chief. So at any point Congress can stop any military action issuing an immediate ruling preventing the president doing anything. If our congressmen don't do that it means they approve it. It's our, USA, war, not Trump's war. Because we elected the congressmen.
- xnx 6mo ago> If our congressmen don't do that it means they approve it. These needs to be repeated everywhere until people understand it. Same situation with tariffs.
- voidfunc 6mo ago[flagged]
- DiabloD3 6mo agoUnfortunately, there seems to be no proof he actually won the popular vote. Trump has admitted openly that he won due to mass tampering with voting machines, and thanked Elon Musk for his help. Your analogy falls apart.
- ozlikethewizard 6mo agoCitation needed. You lot elected him before, seems likely you elected him again. Pretended he won by cheating instead of because your democracy is in dire need of a refit will do little but alloallow the next facists to win as well.
- niemandhier 6mo agoHistorically the codified office of the Ombudsman came to Sweden after the Swedish King had to search refuge in Turkey and observed a similar position there. I love that story, shows you that the world always was quite small and that what we perceive as progressive and backward countries is just a matter of time.
- gostsamo 6mo agoCan you give some more context? I looked into Wikipedia and the relevant text there is giving different vibe: > Charles XII was in exile in Turkey and needed a representative in Sweden to ensure that judges and civil servants acted in accordance with the laws and with their duties. If they did not do so, the Supreme Ombudsman had the right to prosecute them for negligence.
- Animats 6mo agoTrump also fired the Immigration Detention Ombudsman.[1] [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-detention-center-abuse-watchdog-office-closes-b2970785.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...
- jmward01 6mo agoWe are past the point in history where it was hard to tell who the bad guy was.
- vrganj 6mo agoWe're at the point of history where your grandchildren will ask you "Where were you when...?"
- ethagnawl 6mo agoThis and also, "Wait, so you didn't do anything when ... ?" It gives you a new found level of empathy or, at least, understanding for the people throughout history who "should have done something". We all (well, most of us) grew up thinking that if we were a workaday German (fill in the conflict) with Jewish neighbors that we'd have obviously hidden them in our attic or whatever. It turns out the reality of taking that class of action is actually a lot more fraught that your 4th grade self thought it was. Would you harbor a neighbor facing deportation to some far flung prison camp? You have to be willing to face the consequences of losing your home, job, liberty and life. If not, what would change the calculus enough for you to do so? If you know they're in your country legally? If they were pregnant? If the prison was rumored to be executing people?
- pjc50 6mo agoIt was notable that in Minneapolis enough people were doing this kind of thing that ICE were seriously impaired, and had to resort to escalation and shooting Americans in the street.
- 47282847 6mo ago„Wait, you really had access to fresh air and water, and you didn’t party all day to celebrate it while it lasted before all went to shit?“
- giraffe_lady 6mo ago> It turns out the reality of taking that class of action is actually a lot more fraught that your 4th grade self thought it was. It's funny my entire adult life has been me slowly realizing that no, it is not. It is easy to do what is right, it is easy to see what is right to do. Stop making excuses and do it.
- jimnotgym 6mo agoFavouriting this for the next time someone on here tells me we don't have free speech in Europe, only in the US
- linohh 6mo agoJD Vance has to save all of Europe because of checks notes lack of free speech. /s
- generic92034 6mo agoWell, he did a good job of freeing Hungary from Orban. So, cut him some slack. /s
- benterix 6mo agoParadoxically they are so stupid they thought they are actually helping Orban not realizing Europeans consider them idiots.
- lostlogin 6mo agoVance is far shrewder than many of the surrounding idiots. My guess is that he went because someone like Trump thought it a good idea, and kissing arse is Vance’s current strategy.
- kakacik 6mo agoWell its the only winning strategy currently, thats for sure. But good for us, more visits of these folks who have very negative image in rest of the world. Any corrupt entrenched a-hole would be nice, what about Fico in Slovakia? Orban's best buddy in mindset and methodologies. Next one is Babis in Czech republic. With that done, EU would be free from corrupt russian double agents, for now at least.
- 2ndorderthought 6mo agoHave you listened to that guy say anything about anything? He's about as shrewd as a turnip or any invertebrate
- pjc50 6mo ago> The House and Senate Armed Services committees have long had an interest in ensuring that unfiltered news went to the troops who are fighting for our country and deserved to read the truth, not propaganda. In the late 1980s Congress was alarmed at attempts of military personnel to “suppress unfavorable news” of the Iran-Contra affair and other issues. Congress mandated that Stars and Stripes be editorially independent and created the position of ombudsman in 1991 to monitor the situation and report to Congress at least once a year. Funny how the same situations of recent history keep resurfacing. Not only "Iran", but we should recall the details of Iran-Contra: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Contra_affair > further funding of the Contras by legislative appropriations was prohibited by Congress, but the Reagan administration continued funding them secretly using non-appropriated funds Oh look, it's presidential power contradicting Congress again! > "what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages." US attempts to deal with Iran, has incoherent strategy, gets rolled, lies about it. > Eleven convictions resulted, some of which were vacated on appeal. The rest of those indicted or convicted were all pardoned in the final days of the presidency of George H. W. Bush Misuse of the presidential pardon power, again, which enables the president to direct people to commit crimes in the sure knowledge that they will not be held accountable to the law or other branches of government (Americans call this "checks and balances" for some reason). One of those people was Oliver North, who turned his experience providing arms illegally to enemies of the United States into a long career at propaganda organizations the NRA and Fox news. And so here you are again.
- kakacik 6mo agoOne would expect that system would learn and change, and we wouldn't have trump fucking up half of global economy so beautifully on his morning whims just to get rich as a side business of being potus (or reverse, probably). Something tells me that after this dark period is over, there won't be many lessons learned and things changed for the better in the system. 'Great system' not being so great after all (which it isn't, there are much better and more democractic systems implemented all around the world). Republicans as usually will shield just about anybody including mass rapist and murderer just to not lose face, and democrats will just again have this inept look with 'we couldn't change a damn thing because XYZ but we asked nicely'.
- rob74 6mo ago> It took four months from the time I applied and went through a series of three interviews before I was selected from a field of 20 applicants and brought onboard. This is a critical time for the newspaper to be without an ombudsman who can fight against censorship and control. Something tells me the process of finding a replacement ombudsman will be much faster. Hegseth probably already has someone in mind...
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 6mo ago> Congress mandated that Stars and Stripes be editorially independent and created the position of ombudsman in 1991 to monitor the situation and report to Congress at least once a year. Congress, where are you?
- homeonthemtn 6mo agoIllegality without enforcement is just a suggestion, no matter how strongly worded. Something we are all coming to realize a little too late