On Aug 27 the New York Times covered Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen’s recent essay to military personnel.

“‘To put it simply, we need to worry a lot less about how to communicate our actions and much more about what our actions communicate,’ Admiral Mullen wrote in the critique, an essay to be published Friday by Joint Force Quarterly, an official military journal.”

The Times article also emphasized Adm. Mullen’s views on the effectiveness of current efforts: “American messages to counter extremist information campaigns ‘lack credibility, because we haven’t invested enough in building trust and relationships, and we haven’t always delivered on promises,’ he wrote.”  Adm. Mullen’s words go a long way, acknowledging and reminding military and policymakers that the old adage, “Actions speak louder than words” is true.

Mark’s recent article on Veterans Today highlights the need for intelligent diplomacy as the forefront of our foreign policy.  Also includes a report on recent events: the great support expressed at the legal defense fund reception hosted by Ed Meese and others in Washington, DC and the time Mark spent in Minneapolis, MN presenting his message in several venues.  Show support for Mark and ADM by commenting on the article page!

“Peaceful Efforts in the Middle East”

Mark was glad to recently meet Amy Branham through a mutual friend.  Through a few initial discussions and after reading A Deadly Misunderstanding, she published this review on her blog, Amy’s Head:

“This book took me on an emotional journey that I really had to struggle with. After reading the first chapter or two of this book, I did not want to go any further. It wasn’t because I objected to what the author was learning and sharing in his story. It was because of where he came from that made me feel very vehemently opposed to hearing what he had to say. Here was an evangelical Christian Republican Congressman who had been known in Washington D.C. as one of the biggest Jesus freaks ever to walk the halls of Congress! One who, under normal circumstances and, much more so today, wouldn’t give me, one of those left-wing liberals, the time of day!”  Read more…

EDIT: Mark was appointed with Amy to the Veteran’s Today website editorial board, focusing on politics and Middle East affairs.  Veteran’s Today “aspires to unite the U.S. Veterans Community by providing an empowering place whereby it can gather, commune, and lift up one another in the service of each other.”