Thomas Wictor

Tonight’s post is an explanation of what and why. I’ve been struggling with this decision for two years. It was eating me alive. I’ve been unable to answer e-mails or get my life back in order. It was a kind of agonizing paralysis.

Explanation of what

After my father Edward died on February 23, 2013, I spent a year researching him. It was a very difficult job, since he’d covered his tracks almost perfectly. My father was not the person he pretended to be. “Edward Wictor” was an invention that he used as a cover story.

There was a baby named Edward Joseph Anthony Wictor, born on June 14, 1928.

However, that baby was not the person who died on February 23, 2013.

The man who I knew as my father turned out to be a complete stranger who lived separately from his family, even though we shared houses. I had to discover who he was because I was obsessed with trying to find the explanation for the tremendous and unrelenting damage he did to everybody he knew.

Therefore I obtained his military records and went from there. His DD 214 provided clues that I eventually used to piece together his story. After Edward died, we learned that he’d known about his cancer for five years. He did nothing about it because deep down he didn’t want to live.

But he spent three years shredding and burning documents. There’s no evidence of anything. What I figured out is based on his behavior, his habits, what he let slip while drunk, and the dates of the photos he forgot to destroy.

When my research was complete, I wrote a book about my father, titled The Uncharted Man. Today I decided to never publish it. Instead, I gave the manuscript to my lawyer. In the event of my death from anything other than natural causes, my lawyer can do what she thinks is appropriate. The manuscript has copies of the photos and documents that Edward forgot to burn. Places, people, and dates are identified in Edward’s handwriting. His DD 214 is also included.

Explanation of why

Today I realized that publishing a book about my father wouldn’t change anything. The past is as dead as Edward. All that would happen is that my siblings would be greatly upset, because only my brother Tim knows who Edward really was.

Another issue is that every mental patient on the face of the earth would seek me out. I’d become the target of deeply sick people. That happened after I began defending Israel. Then the attacks suddenly stopped, and I received a cryptic message from an Israeli rabbi, who told me that I’m safe.

Jew-haters thought that the memorial to my father on my Website means that I was close to him, so they sent me messages like this.

That’s from an alcoholic, Irish, Muslim-convert, child-molesting psychiatrist. His mind is so mediocre that he thought a memorial connotes only one emotion.

But the Jew-haters avoid me now. And since I began defending Saudi Arabia, I’ve gotten reassuring messages from men who don’t identify themselves. Nobody has threatened me for debunking lies about the Saudis; my anonymous messengers tell me that I’m respected because I don’t denigrate Islam. I’m also told that I’m correct: The Islamic Reformation is underway.

We in the west want announcements made over loudspeakers. Or this.

Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, October 31, 1517. That was the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Such a gesture won’t work in Islam. They have to do things their way. Non-Muslims need to butt out.

Actions as explanation

Westerners have done a terrible job of trying to solve the problems in the Middle East. It’s not our fault; we simply don’t understand the culture. Middle Easterners were unable to solve the problems because they lacked the necessary firepower.

Now they have it.

The Yemeni port city of Mukalla, controlled by al-Qaeda militants for a year, has been recaptured by Yemeni and Saudi-led coalition forces.

Residents and local officials said about 2,000 Yemeni and Emirati troops had advanced into Mukalla on Sunday, swiftly taking control of its seaport, oil terminal and airport, and setting up checkpoints.

Mukalla, which is home to as many as 500,000 people, was AQAP’s stronghold in Yemen and some 1,000 militants were based there.

In less than a day, a city of half a million was liberated from the most dangerous terrorists in the world. All it took was 2000 men.

This has infuriated those who love terrorists.

The Coalition said that it killed 800 al-Qaeda in the operation.

Iona Craig, a journalist who was in Mukalla last month and who said she regularly communicates with residents there, described the coalition’s claim as “ridiculous”.

“There weren’t even 800 fighters left there,” she told Al Jazeera by phone from the UK. “There was no fighting inside the city because al-Qaeda had already left.”

Craig said the only clashes she had heard of were on roads coming into Mukalla, and that air strikes on Saturday had mainly targeted places repeatedly bombed before.

Why would al-Qaeda voluntarily leave its Yemen headquarters without putting up a fight? In urban combat, the defenders have all the advantages. Ask the IDF how hard it is to fight death-obsessed terrorists who use giant explosives, booby traps, and human shields.

Iona Craig said that this bus was destroyed by a Saudi air strike.

It has no holes in it from fragments, there’s no glass on the ground from the broken windows, and there’s no trace of the burned rubber tires. Whatever happened to it, the Saudi-led Coalition wasn’t responsible.

Ms. Craig is a stenographer for terrorists. Since she has no knowledge of military matters, her reporting is worthless. By her own admission, all she does is repeat hearsay.

Defending the Saudis and their allies against liars like Iona Craig helped me decide to never publish The Uncharted Man.

Explanation for investigating

For years, I couldn’t understand this: Here’s my father, photographed on Roguran, the Marshall Islands, in March of 1950.

Does that look like the same man to you?

Well, I finally figured out that it is…and it isn’t.

My goal was to tell my story. However, the Saudis convinced me that seeing the big picture is more important. As I fretted about my problems, the bravest, most skilled, and selfless men who ever lived were in the process of liberating everybody in the Middle East. For many different reasons, their stories will never be told.

My father spent so much time and energy hiding who he was and what he did that I wanted to tell the world. As revenge.

Mohammed bin Salman persuaded me to follow his example: Always anticipate the ramifications of your actions, make the best possible choices that you can, be clear headed, and don’t think only of yourself.

Edward, I hereby release both of us. Thank the Saudis.