Allen West for Congress Press Releases
New at Barnes and Noble: A Missing Link in Leadership: The Trial of LTC Allen West
Aug 11th, 2008
In 2003, LTC Allen West sacrificed his Army career for the lives of his men. As battalion commander for the Army's 4th Infantry Division at Taji, Iraq, in the face of a recent ambush and with news of another one planned, he frightened an Iraqi police officer into divulging the details when he fired his pistol alongside the Iraqi's head. The information was given, those identified were arrested and turned over to Iraqi authorities, and there were no further attacks on Col. West or his men.
Months later, the Army decided to charge Col. West with aggravated assault, and an Article 32 hearing--the equivalent of a grand jury--was held. He was not court-martialed, but paid a $5000 fine for an administrative infraction, and retired with full benefits.
Now a new book, A Missing Link in Leadership: The Trial of LTC Allen West, tells the story as the backdrop of a larger analysis of what defines a leader. Author Dr. Richard Berry presents a thought-provoking depiction of current leadership theories as myths because of the effort to exclude or conceal the meaning and value of emotion. The book documents what the effects of leadership can be when the power of the human spirit is allowed to flourish at individual and group organizational levels.
Allen West said after his trial that ''there are rules and regulations, and there's protecting your soldiers. I just felt I'd never have to write a letter of condolence home to a 'rule and regulation.'
Allen West exemplifies the kind of leadership Dr. Berry describes, whose human spirit saved the lives of his men. Every military parent everywhere prays that their child's commander will do the same.
For further information, please contact Dr. Rich Berry, Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, at 808-232-5767 or at rberry1@gmail.com.
Response to Call to Divert Oil from Strategic Reserves
Jul 9th, 2008
For immediate release
(Ft. Lauderdale)-Our strategic oil reserves are maintained for use during an impending emergency. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call to divert resources from those reserves shows that she lacks the vision to see beyond a knee-jerk, band-aid response to today’s high oil prices that will only weaken us in the event of a real emergency.
And now Congressman Ron Klein, who campaigned on a slogan that he would “lead, not follow,” has once again followed Speaker Pelosi’s ridiculous plan and signed onto this pathetic display of ineptitude. No wonder Congress’s approval rating is at 9%.
Speaker Pelosi does seem to understand the basics of supply and demand. She fails to recognize however that because of the newly-expanding economies of China and India, this increased demand is a long-term situation that requires a long-term solution. Our current situation is not a “shortfall.”
America is richly blessed with a full spectrum of diverse energy resources and we must use them all. If we do, we will not only lower our prices at the pump. We will also be able, for the very first time, to develop an honest foreign policy that is not held hostage to our need for someone else’s oil.
Leaders lead from the front. Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Klein are not leaders. Leaders do not rely on such irrational and meaningless bullying as “Use it or Lose It.” They find solutions that make us stronger, not weaker.
It’s time for new leadership in Congress.
In your service,
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B West (US Army, Ret)
