Robert DuBois discusses Powerful Peace

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“Such an outcome would be bad for our nation’s security. As each of us has  testified on Capitol Hill in past years, America’s ability to protect itself and  advance its global interests often depends as much on its ‘softer’ power as it  does on our nation’s armed forces. For example, though Latin American countries  were themselves primarily responsible for their progress, the headway many of  them made in stabilizing their countries in recent years has been a big plus for  American security, too — and American aid had a role in that progress. That is  part of why we have supported a budget deal that would repeal  sequestration and achieve most further deficit reduction through savings in  entitlement spending with similar increases in revenue generation. Implicit in  our approach was the thinking that lawmakers should avoid the temptation to gut  foreign aid just because it generally lacks a strong constituency in the United  States.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/david-petraeus-defense-diplomacy-soft-power-90781.html#ixzz2Sk0xqddc

Webcast: www.veteransradio.net

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Syria

There isn’t much else to say.  The name says it all.
Conflict, Hizballah, Al Qaida, rebels, Assad,
intervention, military action, quagmire, Iran….
Who or what are we supporting if any of these issues.

 Veterans Radio will focus on the civil war in Syria with guest host
J. Robert DuBois, retired SEAL and author of Powerful Peace.
Don’t miss it.

 While on the air, got a question for our guest,
call us at 877-573-7825.

The panel were very diverse and accomplished, as well. That helped as we explored the future of special operations forces.

Here’s a photo of the crew from my perspective:

(From near to far)
–Derek Leebaert, Author of “To Dare and to Conquer: Special Operations and the Destiny of Nations from Achilles to Al Qaeda”
–LtColonel Anthony Shaffer, DIA, Army, Director of External Communications, Center for Advanced Defense Studies
–Michael Ostrolenk, co-founder of the American Conservative Defense Alliance, and event facilitator
–Jed Babbin, Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense
–Peter O’Brien, U.S. Naval Intelligence (Ret.)
–Herb London, President of the London Center
and
–Eli Gold, Vice-President of the London Center and event coordinator.
And here’s a more relaxed pic of me with friends Peter, Tony and Michael. Among the highest designations one can receive in the traditional SEAL community is that of “A Good Mug”…these gents qualify.

11

Resilience

Thank You, Mr. bin Laden

While I was still in uniform, I once had what’s called a “bad landing.” That’s what happens when a SEAL gets into an airplane just fine and jumps out of it just fine, but then experiences a less-than-optimal reunion with the planet. The spinal surgery and other consequences of this event offer an excellent segue to discuss the in-validity of the use of terror.

You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces—
my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope.
These graces have carried me through difficult times and
they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined.
Elizabeth Edwards

With close friend and Teammate Shaun Keilen in the weeks before 9/11/01. In this photo you can just make out the scar below the shadow on my throat that will be explained, below.

Achilles died.

We’ll get back to that in a moment.

As a result of the above parachuting mishap, a surgeon sliced into my throat and shoved my trachea, esophagus and artery out of the way in order to gouge out a damaged disc from my spine. Earlier in the same operation, he had carved bone out of my hip and fashioned a replacement, which he now fit into my spine. He capped this all off by screwing a titanium plate into the vertebrae above and below the replacement, then zipped up my throat.

When the entire production was finally healed, it turned out to be exactly as the surgeon had promised: the neck was not only good as new, but stronger than before. With those two vertebrae fused into one, there is a negligible reduction of flexibility, but a generally reinforced structure. In other words, I could endure the same fall better now, thanks to this invasive and gruesome process, than with my original neck.

Achilles died.

Again, we’ll get back to that in a moment.

Osama bin Laden was no Superman. His image may have become more familiar than those of some legitimate world leaders. No matter. He was a living myth, blown up by the real affection of a handful of admirers and an unreal mystique for millions, awed by the attacks accomplished at his instigation.

OBL must have sometimes gotten diarrhea. He must have had uncomfortable and embarrassing gassy moments, and he must have sometimes gotten a little booger on the outside of his nostril. How do I know this? Because he was human. When I teach students to “think like the terrorist” I urge them to first put the adversary into perspective. To esteem him unrealistically is to self-inflict intimidation. It is to give weight and energy to his cause, to the detriment of our own. They’re only guys, guys.

Bin Laden and AQ acted as a malevolent surgeon on the spine of the free world. With 9/11 they sliced into a global throat in hopes of finding the jugular to kill the patient.

They failed.

Before I “broke my neck a little bit,” my neck was natural and average. After the surgery I was sore for some months of healing. In the end, my spine was technically (but not noticeably) less flexible. It was also greatly reinforced, better able to survive trauma similar to what had caused the original damage.

After the “operation” of 9/11, the patient (the world) was sore for a few months of healing. The patient was understandably anxious about the future and the prognosis for recovery. To the unacknowledged disappointment of the surviving 9/11 attack supporters and their McQaeda franchises worldwide, however, the end result is the same as my own surgery. These attacks did not kill the patient. The operation steeled a spine. Our world is stronger, and better prepared, to meet malevolent actors in the future.

Achilles is remembered as a great Greek warrior who was invulnerable except for a one small spot on his heel. During the news footage filmed as the attacks occurred, we can still hear one commentator’s inaccurate remark spoken in the heat of that desperate moment: terrorists had “found the Achilles’ heel of America.” This was an inaccurate analogy.

Achilles died.

America and our world, however, are stronger than ever before.

Thank you, Mr. bin Laden.

9:30-10:00 AM Eastern

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Veterans Radio Presents

Powerful Peace

Give us a call, Saturday morning during the broadcast. 877-573-7825

“J. Robert DuBois is a security advisor who was once labeled a “smart power authority” while assisting U.S., British and Iraqi forces in Baghdad. A multilingual Navy SEAL with experience in more than thirty nations, he retired in 2006…then headed back into Iraq and Afghanistan to support commanders facing complex threat situations. In Powerful Peace, J. Robert DuBois takes on a crucial, unprecedented mission for a U.S. Navy SEAL: the relentless pursuit of interpersonal and international peacemaking. With gut wrenching candor and surprising moments of comedy, he narrates a personal journey through decades of conflict, its often-absurd origins, its ever-present innocent victims, and its potential solutions.” 

All Gave Some. Some Gave All. Always Remember www.VeteransRadio.net

I’ve been around the world a few times, and I’ve seen almost all of America, but I have never seen a U.S. city with such widespread decay. There are many nice homes over the several miles I’ve explored, but most of those conscientious property owners are besieged by collapsing or burned shells on all sides. It feels as though the recession, the international shift of the auto industry, and despicable corruption by leadership all hurtled in to crash together in a perfect storm over this society.

I eagerly anticipate the day Detroit recovers from today’s painful reality. In the meantime, I am also encouraged by the many good men and women who refuse to back down from ensuring the safety and education of their youth. Every neighborhood has similar ventures, and it was a delight to meet today’s little mob of kids who are the hope for our future. I showed them some photos from my life and SEAL career, and they swarmed ever closer to my iPad…especially for an image of one of Saddam’s many gold-plated toilets!