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Jeff Emanuel served in the U.S. Air Force from 1999-2004 as a Tactical Air Controller, working with conventional and special operations units as a communication expert and air strike controller. His assignments included a year in Korea and combat duty in Iraq, where he was a member of a special operations task force.
He later returned to Iraq as an embedded reporter, working on the front lines in Baghdad, Salman Pak, Samarra, Tal Afar, and elsewhere, with units from the 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions, the 82nd Airborne Division, 10th Special Forces Group, and others. His reporting from the front, which was published in several prestigious newspapers and magazines, included the exclusive cover story of the November 2007 issue of The American Spectator, and earned him the honor of being compared to legendary World War II reporter Ernie Pyle by talk radio icon Paul Harvey.
After leaving the military, Jeff earned a degree in Classics at the University of Georgia while serving as a leadership fellow with the Center for International Trade and Security and competing as a member of the Triathlon and Water Polo teams. He is currently a graduate student of Anthropology and Archaeology at Harvard, with a research focus on nautical archaeology and the biblical world. He also holds a degree in Information Systems Technology.
While at UGA, Jeff was recognized for citizenship and scholarship, including being named the “Pillar of the Community” in 2005. He has also received Rotary Club awards for local and international community service, including establishing an English program for Korean orphans and being trained to represent children in Juvenile Court in abuse and custody cases.
Jeff has been a contributor to CBS News, The American Spectator, and Human Events, and has written for USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and others. He has also been a health care policy fellow and publication editor, a Director of RedState.com (the “right-leaning weblog most-read on Capitol Hill”), and a featured guest on The O’Reilly Factor, the Laura Ingraham Show, and more. A member of the “New Media Revolution,” Jeff has also been President of a New Media consulting firm, and currently works at the cutting edge of the digital communication space.
Obama Campaign Declares the GOP ‘Obsessed,’ then Goes on to Rant Obsessively about the Koch Bros
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 24th at 04:45 PM |
In an epic self-awareness fail, the Obama campaign sent an email this afternoon from campaign manager Jim Messina which bore the subject line “They’re Obsessed,” and which mentioned the left’s current bogeymen, the Koch Brothers, in the first line and in five of the email’s eight total sentences. Here’s the full email: Jeff – In just about 24 hours, Mitt Romney is headed to a | Read More »
Act of Valor: A Review and Commentary
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 24th at 01:30 PM |
Act of Valor 4 stars (out of 5) Directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh 111 minutes THERE IS NO question that Act of Valor is a unique film, for many reasons. The most prominent among these is inarguably the combination of active duty Navy SEALs in starring roles, and the extent to which the film’s advertising and promotion have focused on that role – factors | Read More »
‘Powerful Peace’: A Navy SEAL’s Personal Lessons About Humanity, Conflict Resolution, and the Cost of War
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 22nd at 12:01 AM |
SINCE THE RODNEY King riots of 1992, “Can’t we all just get along?” has been a common (and commonly misquoted) refrain in America, both among serious persons and those seeking to inject levity into tense situations. In a forthcoming book, though, retired Navy SEAL J. Robert DuBois responds to that question with a plan of action that he hopes people at home and around the | Read More »
No ‘Lone Wolf’: FBI Sting Nabs Would-be Capitol Suicide Bomber who Thought he was Working with al Qaeda
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 19th at 02:00 PM |
On Friday, Feb. 17, a long-term FBI sting operation culminated in the arrest of a would-be terrorist while he was en route to the U.S. Capitol to carry out a suicide bombing. Amine el Khalifi, a 29-year-old Muslim from Morocco who entered the U.S. with his parents on a trip to Disney World 1999 and illegally overstayed his tourist visa by over a decade, had | Read More »
The Degüello: The Story of One Special Forces A-Team and the Mission of a Lifetime
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 18th at 06:23 PM |
JUST WEEKS AFTER the attacks of September 11, 2001, a small number of elite special operators were inserted into northern Afghanistan. The Degüello, by Special Forces veteran Scott Zastrow, tells the story of the first unit to deploy: ODA 555, or ‘Triple Nickel,’ an A-Team from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky’s 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). Accompanied by an Air Force combat controller, the ten-man team infiltrated | Read More »
Alleged Would-Be Suicide Bomber Arrested in Washington, DC
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 17th at 01:20 PM |
All information is preliminary, but media are reporting that a would-be suicide bomber was arrested on his way to the U.S. Capitol today. According to Politico: A Moroccan man suspected of plotting a suicide attack at the Capitol was arrested Friday near the building, according to the U.S. Capitol Police and media reports. “This arrest was the culmination of a lengthy and extensive operation during | Read More »
U.S. Officials: Al Qaeda in Iraq Behind Deadly Bombings in Damascus and Aleppo, Syria
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 10th at 10:26 PM |
U.S. officials have reportedly confirmed that deadly bombings in the Syrian cities of Damascus (in December and January) and Aleppo (Friday) were the work of al Qaeda in Iraq, whose members were acting with authorization from al Qaeda central head and Osama bin Laden successor Ayman al-Zawahiri. According to McClatchy: The Iraqi branch of al Qaida, seeking to exploit the bloody turmoil in Syria to | Read More »
Harry Reid: Republicans are Personally Poisoning the American People
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 10th at 09:00 AM |
In yet another installment of the “New Tone Rules Only Apply to Republicans” series, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took to the floor of the Senate on Wednesday to accuse “Republicans” of using the payroll tax cut bill to extort the Democrat majority for the right to personally poison the American people. Yes, you heard that right: the Senate Majority Leader took a page | Read More »
Rethinking the Calls for Intervention in Syria
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 10th at 06:00 AM |
My RedState colleague and good friend Victoria Coates recently wrote a post calling for a humanitarian intervention in Syria on behalf of the opposition and civilians who are being killed daily by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. She writes: “In dealing with Libya and Syria, consistency need not be the hobgoblin of little minds but can rather be the hallmark of a consistent and coordinated foreign policy. | Read More »
The State Department Staff at the Baghdad Embassy is Embarrassing Itself
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 8th at 09:23 PM |
A Tuesday New York Times article called “U.S. Planning to Slash Iraq Embassy Staff by as Much as Half” purported to describe the plight of U.S. State Department employees in Iraq, whose diplomatic efforts are being rebuffed by a host nation and government that has little use for them. According to the Times, the 16,000 employees (including 2,000 diplomats) at “the $750 million embassy building, the | Read More »
Karen Handel resigns from the Komen Foundation
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 7th at 11:10 AM |
Former Georgia Secretary of State and friend of RedState Karen Handel has resigned from the Komen foundation in the wake of the left-wing outcry over the future of the organization’s funding of Planned Parenthood. According to LifeNews, “Komen initially decided in December to revise its grant-making process to funds grants to agencies that provide direct health services for women — which would eliminate Planned Parenthood since | Read More »
‘Act of Valor’: Exploitative, Opportunistic, or Just Good Clean Fun?
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 6th at 07:20 PM |
I’ve been engaged in a twitter discussion with some good friends and acquaintances (and, being that it’s twitter, with some folks I don’t know from Adam) about the upcoming film Act of Valor. The film, for those who were comatose during the Super Bowl ad blitz, is a Navy recruiting video on major steroids that features several active duty SEALs and Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen | Read More »
Speaking of Sacrificing One’s Credibility at the Altar of the Romney Campaign (Updated)
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 2nd at 01:55 PM |
…here are a couple gems from two of the campaign’s most fervent, credibility-contorting cheerleaders, the “detestable harpy“** and Jennifer Rubin. As noted earlier today, the harpy decided to go Full Romney in her column yesterday. Called “THREE CHEERS FOR ROMNEYCARE!,” the harpy declared Romney’s signature – and most problematic – legislative achievement to have been a victory for the constitution and for conservatism. As if | Read More »
‘Three Cheers for Romneycare’
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 2nd at 11:00 AM |
Jennifer Rubin, the Washington Post‘s resident Romney campaign mouthpiece, has been joined by another conservative pundit in the “I left my dignity at the altar of Mitt Romney” club. This time, as you may have heard, the offender is Ann Coulter, whose support for the former Massachusetts governor (and lack of publicity to date leading up to her CPAC appearance next week) has led her to | Read More »
Mitt Romney’s ‘Very Poor’ Choice of Words
By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary) | February 1st at 11:30 AM |
Fresh off a dominant win in the Florida presidential primary, Mitt Romney managed to unload a clip of .45 ammunition in both feet on national television this morning. In an interview with Soledad O’Brien, Romney said the following (emphasis added): Mitt Romney: “I’m not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned | Read More »