U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#71

Post by arkades » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:22 PM UTC

cosmodisk wrote: post #66

blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

Because they are fed up with making pennies. It's the case in pretty much every country,only in the US they tend to have a little bit more so called opportunities because of mass obsession about anything military related. In my own country the guys from special forces take unpaid holidays and go abroad for some lucrative private contracts because the government pays peanuts.

I can't make any claim to expertise, as I've only known a handful of these folks in the US, but from what I've heard, they don't make pennies. They just make a lot less than what private industry is willing to pay for mercenaries.

There is, in fairness, a difference.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#72

Post by djdjrjfbfjd » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:22 PM UTC

blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

I worked with seals on a few projects, back when Blackwater was a thing and also more recently, and I wonder what kind of job offers these guys are getting after they leave the military. Or, frighteningly, while they’re still in it. The number and variety of corporate and private mercenary forces is much higher than most people would suspect. The size of Special Operations Command in the active duty US military is also much, much, much larger than most Americans realize.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#73

Post by psychometry » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:23 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #56

psychometry wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure all you need are high-level State Department contacts, not necessarily "a very particular set of skills", so to speak.

> all you need are high-level State Department contacts That's a terrible strategy for getting out of the clutch's of a foreign country's law enforcement. Let alone an ally's.

Why? Who do you think negotiates things like prisoner exchanges?

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#74

Post by kindatrue » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:24 PM UTC

braythwayt wrote: post #64

pnw_hazor wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Japanese criminal justice system is not up to first world standards. "The litany of violations that commonly take place while the detainee is in daiyou kangoku would befit places such as China, Turkey, or the Israeli occupied West Bank. Detainees are subject to extremely long (e.g. over twelve hours) questioning sessions, designed to wear them down. Sleep deprivation is common, as is the deprivation of adequate f…

Hello, have you met the US Criminal Justice System? No, not that one. I mean the system used for the poor and/or coloured and/or from a "shithole country." The one that cages children and has decided that prisoners do not need soap or disinfectant in the middle of a deadly pandemic. The one that shoots first and asks questions later. The one that systemically plants evidence. The one that takes performs "parallel con…

For the future, you may want to cite this link: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/thirty-two...

It's not about Jeffrey Epstein, but 32 interesting deaths in US prisons. The one about guards burning a man to death with hot water was... unique.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#75

Post by pmoriarty » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:24 PM UTC

blantonl wrote: post #63

It's been extremely disturbing to see how much the culture of special operations military has changed in the past 20 years. Previously, Navy Seal and Green Berets operated in silent, keeping the sausage making of military special operations quiet and secret, just doing their duty. Now, it seems like every Navy SEAL now publically writes a book, sponsors a coffee line, or slaps their name, likeness and story all over…

" It's made a complete mockery of what has always been a silent service and honorable job"

Killing people and enabling the mass murder machine that is the military is not and has never been honorable.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#76

Post by RHSeeger » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:24 PM UTC

chkaloon wrote: post #28

joncrane wrote: post #2

Oof, I clicked and remembered WSJ is paywalled...what's the trick to get around that again?

They have cheap trial periods that you can actually stop and start repeatedly. Of course, if you're a regular reader you should pay for it, but then they should also prevent re-using the trial period over and over. So maybe they don't care.

It could be that they don't want to make it _too_ difficult for the people that are trying to do the right thing. Like companies that put simple copy protection on their games, but nothing complicated that hurts the end user (like always online junk). Doing just enough to keep the honest people honest is generally considered to be a reasonable compromise.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#77

Post by maallooc » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:26 PM UTC

braythwayt wrote: post #64

pnw_hazor wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Japanese criminal justice system is not up to first world standards. "The litany of violations that commonly take place while the detainee is in daiyou kangoku would befit places such as China, Turkey, or the Israeli occupied West Bank. Detainees are subject to extremely long (e.g. over twelve hours) questioning sessions, designed to wear them down. Sleep deprivation is common, as is the deprivation of adequate f…

Hello, have you met the US Criminal Justice System? No, not that one. I mean the system used for the poor and/or coloured and/or from a "shithole country." The one that cages children and has decided that prisoners do not need soap or disinfectant in the middle of a deadly pandemic. The one that shoots first and asks questions later. The one that systemically plants evidence. The one that takes performs "parallel con…

I've lived in Japan and a country that has Japan-like criminal justice system. The US criminal justice system way better than Japan's one. In Japan, both the judges' and prosecutions' powers are too strong.

Not like in the US where you actually have to convince a grand jury to prosecute and petite jury to convict, in Japan a single prosecutor can determine whether to prosecute or not and a single judge can decide whether your guilty or not. No judicial democracy, pretty much like the witch hunt in medieval times. Because lawyers are filled with elitism and vainglory, prosecution's arguments are almost always considered true. This becomes a problem if the case is a political one, just like in this case.

Yes, you can whine about US justice system being shitty but at least it is democratic and fair if done by law. Japan's one isn't.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#78

Post by bilbo0s » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:26 PM UTC

piker wrote: post #62

kthxbye123 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, in this case, it involved hiring mercenaries, arranging an elaborate heist involving traditional Lebanese musicians and bribing airport workers in at least three different countries. I think the ability to improvise is crucial.

Presumably this means "hiring one specialist in this area".

For all we know, she might be a "specialist in this area".

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#79

Post by krustyburger » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:28 PM UTC

redstripe wrote: post #20

Is leaving a country really that hard if you have a little money? Seems like something you should be able to do without the assistance of green berets unless you're in a movie. A country like Japan must have: 1. Dozens of private jets leaving it's airspace daily. 2. Hundreds of fishing boats leaving it territorial waters daily.

He was under house arrest and his residence was being actively surveilled so it was quite a feat just to get him to the airport. As I recall, one of the factors that made the whole thing possible was that the authorities had allowed him to retain one of his three passports. That mistake proved very costly.

Re: U.S. arrests former Green Beret, son, in connection with Ghosn escape from Japan

#80

Post by marcinzm » Wed, May 20, 2020, 4:28 PM UTC

braythwayt wrote: post #64

pnw_hazor wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Japanese criminal justice system is not up to first world standards. "The litany of violations that commonly take place while the detainee is in daiyou kangoku would befit places such as China, Turkey, or the Israeli occupied West Bank. Detainees are subject to extremely long (e.g. over twelve hours) questioning sessions, designed to wear them down. Sleep deprivation is common, as is the deprivation of adequate f…

Hello, have you met the US Criminal Justice System? No, not that one. I mean the system used for the poor and/or coloured and/or from a "shithole country." The one that cages children and has decided that prisoners do not need soap or disinfectant in the middle of a deadly pandemic. The one that shoots first and asks questions later. The one that systemically plants evidence. The one that takes performs "parallel con…

>I have difficulty accepting that the US is up to first-world standards, whatever they may be.

This wasn't a thread about the US justice system, the only person making it so and making claims about what it is/it isn't is you. Just because something is shitty doesn't excuse other things for being shitty as well.