Update (17 August 2008, 6:00 pm, mt): According to a source on board, Daniel Ortega has apparently refused the Bush administration's offer to come aboard the USS Kearsarge. This is not the first time he has rebuffed the administration. During the USS Comfort's mission in Summer 2007, the Nicaraguan President refused a similar offer.

(Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua): Despite all his anti-American rhetoric, expressing solidarity with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez, and his support for Marxist terrorists FARC (Revolutionary Forces of Colombia), the US Navy is reportedly inviting Daniel Ortega aboard the USS Kearsarge on Tuesday, August 19, a LHD-3 vessel stationed off the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua for the Naval Humanitarian mission, Operation Continuing Promise. The reason for the visit hasn't been dislosed, but Ortega has already denounced the U.S. mission, and to no surprise, the Cuban Prensa Latina Newspaper is already playing propaganda mill for the Sandinista (1):

President Ortega's denunciation was made on Monday during the 28th anniversary of the Nicaraguan Naval Force when the USS Kearsarge multipurpose wasp-class amphibious assault warship arrived at the country.

Nicaraguan sources told Prensa Latina that if Washington wants to send medical missions to Nicaragua they should use hospital ships instead of a 225 meter-long ship of the 4th Fleet.

It is not the first time this ship is moved to Latin American countries under the same pretext. It is qualified as a Light Helo Deck 3 with light attack and rescue helicopters' landing strip.

As a blogging embed on this mission, I can attest to the fact that Mr. Ortega and the Nicaraguan government are spewing a heap of propaganda (2). Thursday and Friday, I saw a spectacular display of humanitarianism in the Mosquito Coast town of Puerto Cabezas, as hundreds lined up for free medical care provided by the United States Armed Forces. At the temporarily improvised hospital, Juan Comenius High School, the U.S. Navy, along with the Air Force, Marines, and a coalition of foreign military medical personnel, were providing an abundance of medical care; from treating children for round worm, providing eye-care for the elderly, to supplying much needed pharmaceutical materials to a people largely neglected by their own health care system. This past week, the U.S. Armed Forces filled an immense void, treating over two hundred patients, and distributing thousands of medical prescriptions to poor Nicaraguans.

On Thursday, I spoke with patient and a veteran of the Nicaraguan Civil Wars, who was especially grateful for American relief:"I'm happy to see our people getting help." The tearful veteran explained. "I'm proud of you guys; I mean that from the bottom of my heart." The veteran was also accompanied by his cousin who received treatment at Juan Conemius High School: "My cousin had calcium build up in her eyes." He explained. "For twenty years she tried to get treated, she came here, it took one day. That's America! (3)"

In a document given to a KGB agent in 1979, the Ortega government made its beginning pronouncements against America, calling "American imperialism" the "rabid enemy of all people's who are struggling to achieve their definitive liberation (4). But throughout the 1980's, Mr. Ortega was hardly out to achieve definitive liberation for his people. Through a policy of land confiscation, he displaced the country's significant Indian population (forcing peasants into 145 settlements), killing and imprisoning over 15,000 people. The Sandinistas also became notorious for their corporal punishment and incessant brutality of political prisoners. In a three year period, Ortega executed 8,000 political dissidents, and subjected many of his over 20,000 prisoners to the most sordid forms of torture. The veteran I was speaking to was one such victim (5). After showing me the bullet holes on his stomach, shoulder, and arm, he took off his shoes, and described his experiences when he was imprisoned by the Sandinistas. "They pulled teeth out one by one." He explained. "They broke my feet with pliers." "I don't like to say I hate people." "I fought against communism because I care about my people (3)."

Ortega still hasn't relinquished his deference towards authoritarianism and brutality. As recently as 2007, he awarded the odious Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad two state medals, and through out the 1990's to today, he continues to be a state sponsor of terror.  According to terrorism expert, Douglas Farah, Ortega's Nicaragua can offer the FARC a suitable pipeline for illicit activity through Central America, just as he granted passports to supporters of Omar Abdul Rahman before the "blind sheikh" orchestrated the first World Trade Center Attack in 1993 (6).

Despite being democratically elected (a minority portion of 38 percent), Ortega is attempting to rig upcoming provincial elections in regions where his popularity is waning. According to Marcela Sanchez of the Washington Post, Ortega has revoked the party status of the two main opposing parties, the MRS (The Sandinista Renewal Movement) and the Conservative Party, and has delayed provincial elections from November to January claiming that the region needs to recover from the devastation of Hurricaine Felix to restore proper conditions for the electoral process (7).  It's no small wonder Ortega is buying time, as a February CID-Gallup poll showed his popular support at 21 percent, while 43 percent believe he is doing a bad job (8).

While the armed forces are effectively showing compassion to Nicaraguans, it's puzzling that the Bush Administration would grant legitimacy to the increasingly unpopular Sandino acolyte. While it doesn't hurt "to make friends" in the region as articulated by the USS Keararge's Commodore Frank Ponds (2), it's certainly counter-intuitive to triangulate with the leadership of a third world nation championed by belligerence, brutality, and well  beyond the bounds of ideological uniformity. Especially when it appears that Ortega may well be on his way out.


References:
1. "U.S. War Ship off Nicaragua." Prensa Latina. 13 August 2008.
2. Constantine, Jonathan. "Soft Power of the Caribbean." Red County. 13 August 2008.
3. Constantine, Jonathan. "Interview with Mosquito Contra." 14 August 2008.
4. P. 121, Andrew, Christopher and Mitrokhin, Vasili. The World Was Going Our Way, The KGB and the Battle for the Third World. New York: Basic Books 2005.
5. Glazov, Jamie. "The Black Book of the Sandinistas." Front Page Magazine. 21 November 2006.
6. Farah, Douglas. "Ortega Steps into the Breach with the FARC."Counterterrorismblog.com. 23 July. 2008.
7. Sanchez, Marcela. "Nicargua's Eroding Democracy." Washington Post. 19 June 2008.
8. "Approval Rating for Nicaragua's Ortega 21 Percent in Poll." Associated Press. 27 February 2008.


Photo Credits:
Daniel_Ortega.JPG. "Daniel Ortega is President Again." Vivir Latino. 6 November 2006.


Related:
Constantine, Jonathan. "Soft Power of the Caribbean." Red County. 13 August 2008.

(USS Kearsarge, Caribbean Sea): It was 18:00 on Friday, August 8 at the Coast Guard Air Station in Opa Locka, Florida, a suburban outskirt just outside Miami. Just recovering from a painful red-eye flight from Lima at my oceanfront hotel in South Beach, I was hardly ready to charge those sky chopping SH-60 birds that were about to airlift us how to a sailing LHD in pursuit of the Mosquito Coast. But on with the neck choking flight vest and the ear deafening helmets, I along with a Navy air crew and a globe-trotting NGO worker jumped into those "toilets" at three o'clock. That's at least what our receiver Marine Gunnery Seargant Basso called them, as the old choppers do leak condensation on their passengers in flight. In his experiences flying, Basso recounted his time on the sister CH-53s, the largest helicopter in the U.S. military. Though those steal air frames won't "expire" till "they're put to sleep in Arizona" according to one of the female crew members aboard, they aren't pleasing to the Navy whites. They aren't pleasing to the air weary either. If you find banking in commercial aircraft gut-wrenching, try fierce sixty degree turns in descent to your desired destination. But these guys know what they're doing. The helicopter fell in line with the USS Kearsarge, the large vessel that had previously hit the shores of Bangladesh in 2006 for a relief mission.

The Kearsarge's Mission in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua is the first of its kind, at least according to Commodore Frank Ponds, the well-built African American commander of the ship. Ponds distinguished this upcoming mission from earlier excursions such as Bangladesh because of the latter's responsiveness to a natural disaster. The commander also cited the 2006 Quadrennial Report (1) from the Department of Defense as projecting a new element for "unity  of effort" in U.S. defense policy, ostensibly "making friends" in the region. When I pressed the commander on larger strategic motives with regard to regional belligerence he stayed mum, dismissing the Navy's role as "non-political (2)."  

But the United States' distribution of economic aid is certainly nothing new, nor is the military's relationship with geopolitics inextricable. For his part, General David Petreaus's leadership in the remarkable counter-insurgency in Iraq is grounded in the American tradition of the renaissance military man; one that can be as multi-faceted as a fighter, medic, humanitarian worker, and political mediator. This is evident as early as in Army Brigadier General Leonard Wood's term as military governor of Cuba following the Spanish American War. After the Spanish surrender of Cuba in 1899, the Harvard Medical School graduate "earned a notable reputation there as an administrator, establishing modern educational, judicial, and police systems and overseeing great advances in sanitation (3)," as well as bringing the outbreak of yellow fever under control (4). Cuba, as a result, was effectively leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of Latin America in terms of development.  Though this mission is certainly not about the United States exerting direct application of the Monroe Doctrine and commanding power over the impoverished nation, there does emanate an element of "soft power" which one of the free-lance reporters on board persuaded Ponds to admit. More specifically, Ponds does see humanitarian assistance "as a core element of maritime strategy," and emphasized the collective goal for "Nicaragua to increase its own capacity" as he does "expect to see improvements" before the Kearsarge disembarks to its next port. Ponds also did admit that the mission to Nicaragua is about "strategic communication" and that he hopes to "win hearts and minds" not through the blind hopefulness of positive coverage, but when his crew makes contact and provides essential medical care for patients in Puerto Cabezas (1).

To much surprise, patients and their supporting family members are to be airlifted to the ship for surgeries, while less invasive surgeries will be done on site. According to a medic on board, HMC Casey Jacobs, on a previous mission to Guatemala, the Navy filled 1,300 prescriptions, and will likely treat patients for lingering conditions that would otherwise persist because of lack of medical care at home. The Kearsarge appears to be built better for such missions. According to one medic, the triage shop on the lower deck dwarfs even larger carriers with four operating rooms and six ward beds as the more nimble ships carry marines who are accordingly airlifted from battle zones.

As apart of the Quadrennial 2006, also aboard the ship are several Canadians, two Brazilians, and two Dutchmen serving as medical augmentees. They were invited to learn the U.S. practice of tropical medicine. Interestingly enough, in my conversations with one of the Brazilian surgeons (with the little Portuguese I know, "Tudo Bem?"), Lt. Ricardo Guimaraes, I found that three years ago, the U.S. Navy approached the Lula government for a larger contingent of Brazilian sailors to participate in soft power missions, but were subsequently turned down as Brazil apparently has no need to conduct such types of missions. Ricardo told me the Brazilians are committed to a policy of neutrality because of their "marriage of inconvenience" with Hugo Chavez's Venezuela and Evo Morales's Bolivia, to whom they are respectfully the recipients of petroleum and natural gas. Ostensibly, Lt. Ricardo and his comrade nephrologist Lt. Cmdr. Tomaz Carmo were tokens in a counter proposal: help the United States provide medical care in return for technology transfer to remedy maladies in Brazil. Just as yellow fever, malaria, and dengue are prevalent on the Mosquito Coast, so are they prevalent through the jungles of Amazonia and the streets of Rio de Janeiro (where dengue has infected 100,000 residents according to Guimaraes).



But Lt. Ricardo wasn't without optimism for future Luso-American relations. Describing his country's relationship with Chavez and Morales as "a marriage of inconvenience," he foresees greater contingencies and joint operations between our two nations.  After all, Ricardo explained that the U.S. military is conducting training exercises off the coast of the South American country in preparation for operations in Iraq. Lt. Cmdr. Tomaz, for his part, was more exuberant than the reserved Lt. Ricardo, emphasizing to me that of the two conventional schools of medicine in the world, "American and European," they always choose American (5).

The Kearsage's mission is also being supplemented by Marine and Air Force personnel, who have seemingly found a new respect for the Navy's work. Accordingly, sailors often get beleaguered with the unfair reputation as "soft." Though some personnel eagerly await stories from the war zone, life on a ship is truly "a calling" as Robert Kaplan describes (6). With long tours away from home (this mission is four months); some personnel have spent the majority of their Navy life underway.  Whether it's operating radar machines, assisting in the dangerous procedure of flight ops, or powering the ship in the excruciating heat of engineering, it's tempting to take at face value the façade of casual hallway briefings and mess gatherings in the wardroom. The work is rigorous, tiresome, and there is always a call to duty at any time during the day and night.




A petty officer I spoke with disagreed. As an old hand, he emphasized "that he has seen at all." During his tenure in the Navy he described the cultural change as radical and hyper innovative: "they took Tradition out of the Navy's motto. It used to be Honor, Courage, and Tradition, and then it became Honor, Courage, and Commitment." He described the heavy reliance on technological power and the authorization of women to board ships in 1994 as poignant factors in assuaging to the culture. "They wanted to create a kinder, gentler Navy," the petty officer explained. "If the computers ever went down, we (old hands) would be the only ones able to save this ship (7)." As a prime example, gone are the ancient maritime days of celestial navigation, and in is a new era of GPS monitoring.



Though this new generation of technocrats has become increasingly independent, unlike in Marine and Army life, there is still the traditional segregation in rank structure on a mission due to the size and convenience of Navy vessels. While the Navy maintains distant quarters and fraternize in separate mess halls, the Army and Marines in all ranks "eat, sleep, sh**, and die together (7)."    



Conversely, the Navy's systematic culture of rank segregation doesn't displace an inherent culture of pride and camaraderie, as there is a noble respect for enlisted expertise on the ship. I saw this pride first hand in my conversation with the beachmaster, CWO3 (Chief Warrant Officer 3) Richard Barr. Warrant Officer Barr's responsibility is to lead the security and delivery of cargo, medical supplies, and personnel for the mission.



With the requirement of piloting aircraft and vessels reserved for officers, Barr underlined an important detail about amphibious operations: that the single LCU (Landing Craft Unit) and two LCM 8s (Landing Craft Mechanicals) aboard are to be fully manned my enlisted men (8).

At about 16:00 on August 11, 2008, the USS Kearsarge dropped anchor in Puerto Cabezas. With Nicaraguan fishing boats creeping towards the ship from the dim-lit shore line, the Navy sent out patrol boats and gunners to stroll the cat walk. The next morning, they hit the shores of the Mosquito Coast. Stay tuned.

References:

1. 2006 Quadrennial Report. Department of Defense. 2006
2. Press Conference Commodore Frank Ponds. 9 August 2008.
3. "Leonard Wood." Encyclopedia Brittanica 2006.
4. "Leonard Wood." Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2006.
5. Interview with Brazilian Medical Officers Lt. Ricardo Guimaraes and Lt. Cmdr. Tomaz Carpo.
6. Kaplan, Robert D. Hog Pilots Blue Water Grunts. The American Military in Air, at Sea, and on the Ground. New York: Random House, 2007.
7. Interview with Anonymous Petty Officer. 9 August 2008.
8. Interview with CWO3 Richard Barr. 11. August 2008.

Photo Credits:
All Photos By Jonathan Constantine

Related:
Constantine, Jonathan. "EXCLUSIVE: Sandinista Daniel Ortega to Board U.S. Navy Vessel." Red County. 16 August 2008.

Last month, Jonathan Constantine, editor of the hugely popular Red County Campus Watch, graduated from the University of California, Irvine. His coverage of the radical activities of the Muslim Student Union and his thorough documention of the Administration's complacency in dealing with those activities has received considerable recognition. Jonathon is truly a gifted writer, thinker, and observer of the issues impacting the political arena.

Moving forward, Jonathan will continue to observe and offer commentary on radical activity at university campuses. In addition, Jonathan will expand his writings and his editorial expertise to Red County's newest blog, Shock & Awe.

While Jonathan's vision for Shock & Awe will be outlined in detail in a subsequent post, at minimum you can expect topics of terrorism, jihadism, foreign policy, international affairs, and global conflict. If his past work is any indication, expect it to be powerful, original, insightful.

Jonathan is currently serving as an embed observer on a United States Navy vessel in South America. His first posts are likely to be published from a variety of undisclosed locations.

Congratulations to Jonathan. We look forward to hearing from you.