GOE Leader’s Report On Counter-Protest Week In D.C.

My friend Larry Bailey wrote the below after-action report on his organization’s week in Washington, D.C. The Gathering Of Eagles and other patriotic organizations countered the failed culmination to the Left’s so-called “Iraq summer” meant to undermine America’s support for success in Iraq. Bailey, a retired Navy Captain, former Commanding Officer of the Naval Special Warfare Center, where SEALs undergo training, demonstrates why no one can beat a SEAL. You'll also note that no one can beat a man with a hearty sense of humor. Here’s the after-action report:

Gathering of Eagles (GOE), a 501(c)(4) organization, was formed earlier this year to counter the influence of leftist organizations trying to force the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. It has just completed a major effort to meet and combat A.N.S.W.E.R., the principal anti-Iraq War group, both in the streets of Washington and on Capitol Hill.

GOE first conducted “Task Force Eagle,” a combined press conference/congressional visit, on Monday, 9/10, which perfectly coincided with General Petraeus’ testimony before Congress. The press conference was attended by CNN, NBC, the Washington Post, and others, and the resulting coverage was eminently fair (for a change).

From that event, the thirty or so Eagle participants spread out to visit congressional and senatorial offices in an effort to encourage troop-supporting officials, and some 86 offices were visited. GOE personnel had extremely productive meetings with Senators Lieberman and McConnell in their offices, where both men expressed their appreciation for what GOE continues to do to support the troops and their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Friday, 9/14, Eagles assembled on Georgia Avenue outside the entrance to Walter Reed Army Hospital, where they vociferously supported the wounded troops and hounded the handful of bedraggled Code Pink demonstrators standing in the next block.

GOE III, the third Eagles assembly in Washington this year, was held on the morning of 9/15 on the National Mall, where an enthusiastic crowd heard patriotic music and a dozen inspirational speakers before dispersing to their pre-planned “haranguing positions” along three blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue, where they waited patiently for the much-delayed A.N.S.W.E.R. march to Capitol Hill for its much-heralded die-in.

Its 10,000 or so marchers were preceded by a hardy band of GOE heralds warning onlookers that they were about to observe leftist marchers trying to undermine the morale of American troops in combat. These Eagles were successful in mocking the protestors all the way to the foot of Capitol Hill, and the marchers did not appreciate their company.

The Eagles on the sidewalks on both sides of the march taunted the leftists without mercy, and there were several near-punch-ups along the route. A Blue Star mother, pushed by a belligerent leftist female, punched out that unlucky individual! (Names are withheld to protect the guilty.)

To state that GOE interfered with A.N.S.W.E.R.’s attempt to influence the Iraq War debate would be to grossly understate the case. Along with sister organizations like Move America Forward, Protest Warrior, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Familes United, and others, GOE hounded Cindy Sheehan and her minions every step of the way, much to the latter’s displeasure.

The much-ballyhooed A.N.S.W.E.R. “die-in” turned out to be laughable, as GOE aided the Capitol Police in forcing the “dying” from their intended “graveyard” to a paved area well away from their selected site.

On Saturday night, a group of Eagle activists led by National Director Chris Hill paid a visit to Code Pink’s DC headquarters, where Chris literally knocked on the door and confronted Medea Benjamin, the hard-core communist co-founder of that group of harridans. To say that Chris gave better than he took is highly accurate, although quotes would be inappropriate in this medium. Suffice it to say that Miss Medea is unlikely to send a Christmas card to Chris!

Having learned that Code Pink, an A.N.S.W.E.R. constituent and radical-left organization, was going to picket NBC’s DC headquarters to protest Senator John McCain’s appearance on “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning, 9/16, thirty or so Eagles and Protest Warriors assembled on Nebraska Avenue outside NBC to neutralize their efforts.

Doubtless because Code Pink learned of the pro-troop opposition, they did not show, so the latter spent a great couple of hours waving flags and showing GOE and “support-the-troops” signs to passersby. Not a single thumbs-down or negative signal was observed by participants; contrarily, many drivers waved, rendered thumbs-up signals, and leaned on their horns in support of the Eagles.

Senator McCain, who was debating Senator Kerry on the Iraq War inside the studio, emerged and warmly greeted and complimented the Eagles on what they were doing. Some ten minutes later John Kerry’s SUV came up the NBC driveway and stopped at the entrance to Nebraska Avenue. Not expecting to see Kerry, an Eagle suddenly realized that Kerry was literally one foot away from him, whereupon he did what many red-blooded Americans would do, given the same opportunity: he fired “The Bird” at the not-so-good senator!

Kerry’s vehicle turned left on Nebraska and was about thirty yards down the street when he noticed several GOE ladies innocently waving flags and showing their signs on the curb. Kerry did what any America-hating leftist senator would do--he raised his middle finger in their direction! His action was a repeat performance of his response to a group of anti-Kerry activists (and current Eagles) in Florida in 2006. He is a master of the digital put-down.

Given that Eagles’ work is never done, some fifteen of them launched a recruiter-protection mission on Monday, 9/16, when A.N.S.W.E.R. announced that they were going to do something that would get them arrested at the DC Recruiting District Headquarters on L Street downtown. Led by a couple of Iraq Veterans against the War, the leftists failed to get through GOE’s lines, which were behind a formidable police presence. They finally gave up and went away, leaving GOE’s forces in control of the field. Deborah King-Lile, Florida GOE Coordinator, led the effort with determination and force.

A perfect ten days of pro-America activism was climaxed on Tuesday, 9/17, when a number of Eagles joined Vets for Freedom, Families United, Blue Star Mothers, Gold Star parents, and others for breakfast on the South Lawn of the White House. President Bush spent at least two hours mingling with the crowd and having his photo taken with hundreds of individuals.

Jim Diehl, Eagle extraordinaire from Belize, Central America, greeted the president with a handshake, a GOE patch, and a GOE challenge coin fabricated from a 1923 US silver dollar. Mr. Bush told Jim that he knew of GOE and really appreciated what they were doing.

Gathering of Eagles finished the campaign with a declaration of victory, as A.N.S.W.E.R. was vigorously opposed in a most public manner. GOE will be back in DC or anywhere else any time Cindy Sheehan shows her face.

Take a look at GOE: http://gatheringofeagles.org. Get involved!