The sounds stick with me the most. The throaty, crackling roar of F-15E Strike Eagles speeding off post-delivery. The sound of an A-10's 30mm rounds slapping the earth. The quiet background hum of an AC-130 high over the battlefield, almost forgotten until rounds start to fly in; when you are close enough to the enemy, you hear and see the ordinance hit its target, and then a few seconds later you hear the aircraft firing. The sounds were awe-inspiring. They electrified me; I knew that the most powerful air force the planet had ever seen was attacking on my behalf. Who could know that just two years later that same air force would be clearing a path for Al Qaeda to acquire enormous influence in a war in Libya? Imagine for one moment the reaction had someone predicted in October of 2008 that should Obama be elected president, he'd use our military on behalf of Islamists. They would have been ridiculed without quarter. Conservatives would have cringed; they last thing they...(Read Full Post)