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When he's not unjustly knocking the Air Force, Ralph Peters is one of the best, here (reg. req'd) taking on turmoil in Somalia and its potential price in East Africa.
Meanwhile, the remains of al Qaeda dream of building a new Afghanistan in Somalia. A terrorist organization our military smashed is being allowed to rebuild itself.There's a vital lesson here: In the War on Terror, you've got to finish what you start. America quitting Somalia after suffering less than two dozen dead in the course of a battle won was the biggest single boost the terrorists ever received. The Clinton surrender in Mogadishu pointed al Qaeda straight toward 9/11.
The broken-off operation in Fallujah in April 2004, guaranteed that we'd have to go back in a bigger, bloodier way. Now, 13 years after the radio call "Black Hawk down," we'd better schedule some updated satellite coverage of downtown Mogadishu.
Meanwhile, consider this: Somalia was a global sideshow. We walked away. Now it threatens to become a prime refuge for terrorists. And a much tougher nut to crack.
Imagine the price we'd pay if we quit Iraq.
Yup. Me too.
Steyn reduced this quote to its essence, as many others have, and it should be noted in full.
Exactly what happened that day remains unclear. Miguel Terrazas' father, Martin, said the Marines his son fought with told him that after the car bomb exploded the Marines took a defensive position around his son's battered vehicle. Insurgents immediately started shooting from nearby buildings, and the insurgents were using women and children as human shields, Martin said he was told.The Marines shot back because "it was going to be them or" the insurgents, Martin said of what his son's fellow Marines briefly described to him.
"It's very hard for me, I don't even listen to the news," Terrazas said of reports of the mass killings.
I haven't met any (correction*: NAVY) enlisted that were familiar with it yet (which is a real shame, since the more I learn, the more useful it seems) but perhaps there's some enlisted and officers from my brother services who've studied the OODA loops of John Boyd. Dan of TDAXP has a fairly definitive series of posts here , here , here and here.
(*Apologies for my earlier lack of clarity)
A Canadian counter-terrorism investigation that led to the arrests of 17 people accused of plotting bombings in Ontario is linked to probes in a half-dozen countries, the National Post has learned.Via FbLWell before police tactical teams began their sweeps around Toronto on Friday, at least 18 related arrests had already taken place in Canada, the United States, Britain, Bosnia, Denmark, Sweden, and Bangladesh.
Re: Army Lawyer's fine point.
When they hold attendance mandatory open "Captain's Mast"s (Navy NJP), I usually find ample agreement among my fellow squids that flogging should be brought back for certain offenses like stealing, drunk and disorderly of the violent sort and malingering. High standards are a part of it, but really I think it comes down to a realization that we're all in this together, and when somebody does something bad (like the above) or something heinous (like murder or rape), it really hurts all of us, both in the eyes of our peers and also in the public spotlight.
The fact that the elites in this country, especially in the media and Congress, don't seem to fathom that is just another sad example of the growing detachment they have from the military experience and its unique culture.
In court, Mr. Galati was accompanied by Aly Hindy, a Toronto imam and friend of the highly-controversial Khadr family, who have well-established connections to al-Qaeda.
This Washington Post story actually presents something of a useful timeline of events following the Haditha incident in November.
But the sub-headline "Official Version Is at Odds With Evidence" - and even more so the link on the online front page - "U.S. Account of Haditha Killings Belies Facts; Inconsistencies in official Marine version of the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians could potentially be most embarrassing and damaging event of the war - seem to be designed to confuse the issue.
Because the investigation is ongoing, they are referring to "official Marine statements" from November - which are now the subject of investigation. In fact those inconsistencies are the reason for the investigation. Since Time magazine scooped the Post and all other competitors on this story two months ago it would appear the Post is trying to grab a small bit of glory by pretending to be "breaking news" here.
Or simply trying to confuse the issue and imply the current investigation is inconsistent with facts.
By the way - "facts" in this instance apparently mean "what Time magazine reported".
The Post story concludes:
The Marine Corps still has not corrected its misleading Nov. 20 statement asserting that the Iraqi civilians were killed in a bomb blast. A Marine Corps spokesman didn't return calls on Friday asking why it had not.I believe that the Marine's initial statement was wrong, too, ("misleading" imlpies something altogether different, as the Post well knows) but it seems to me the Marines will have to wait for the conclusion of the investigation before making any such correction. For them, "getting in front of the story" John Murtha-style is not an option.
Since none of the Usual Brown/Black Shoed suspects seems interested, I guess it falls to Castle Argghhh!!! to note today is the anniversary of the beginning of the end for Japan - Midway.
Though I really think this piece of artwork is more apt.
Sinking Sun
Griffith Baily Coale #28
Oil on canvas, 1942
88-188-ABA Marine stands at parade rest on the bow of a PT boat as she moves slowly out to sea from Midway to give decent burial to Japanese fliers shot down on the islands during the battle. The red ball of the rising sun is prophetically repeated by the round disc and spreading rays of the sinking sun.>
Much ado about the coverup of the fact that the suspects in the Canadian terror plot were an Islamic terror group.
Cliff May notes:
In the 7th paragraph, readers are reassured that the suspects “represent the broad strata of our society … Some are students, some are employed, some are unemployed."That's a point worth noting. I'm sure they'll find absolutely no evidence connecting this Islamic terror group with any of the multitude of Islamic terror groups operating worldwide.Finally, in the 8th paragraph, an official mentions that those arrested "appear to have become adherents of a violent ideology inspired by Al Qaeda.” That official, however, “said that there was no evidence of links between the two groups.”
Update: Michelle Malikn has the names of the members of the diverse group of Canadian youths aged 19-43.
In light of Eddie's post on the life sentence for the murder of a Japanese woman, it seems worth noting that when allegations of crimes/abuse/atrocities/etc by military members come up, those in favor of the harshest punishments tend to be other military.
It's an interesting contrast to the notion that the military's FIRST response to any wrongdoing is to circle the wagons and protect our own. Spend 5 minutes in any JAG Criminal Law office and you'll find leniency isn't the most prominent feeling.
This comment to the original post deserves a post of its own.
Thanks for some (touche') bearing Dave T!
If we Brits are so useless how come we are in Iraq with you? Just because the BBC and a few papers run rubbish stories please don't tar the rest of the population with the same brush.We are in the process of getting rid of the most incompetent Government in our history so bear with us for a year or so and the mad liberal jobsworths who keep trying to justify their existence won't be around for much longer - they'll be jobless! Meanwhile we will continue to support (and lose soldiers) the coalition efforts.
In fact even places like Germany and France are slowly awakening to the dangers of radical Islam so it is NOT as bad as the New York Times etc like to paint it over here!
Mind you I'd rather not have us go into genocidial mode thank you very much! It might encourage us to come over and ask for the colonies back 8-)
You'll notice an Army Lawyer has joined us, along with Eddie, who posts from shipboard.
Those links are to their own blogs, bookmark, blogroll, visit early and often.
Along with Sgt Mom that makes a new Army, Navy, and Air Force blogger here this weekend - one of whom also has a daughter in the Marines.
I'm certain that given the level of decorum maintained here there will be no sudden outburst of ribald commentary regarding lawyers, men at sea, or Air Force girls, who everyone knows are the best looking of all branches of service.
Less than five months after he savagely beat a 56 year old woman to death and threw Japanese-US relations in Yokosuka into turmoil, US Navy Airman William Reese was sentenced to life in prison by a Japanese court this week. I'm grateful that the Navy fully cooperated with the Japanese government in order to keep this creep's crime from further harming the special relationship of the Pacific.
Worth noting is that since the new (some harsh, some sensible) liberty restrictions were enacted this winter, the number of liberty incidents (especially alcohol-related) are substantially down. I know the 0100 curfew (regardless of rank) hurts folks like me a lot, but in the end if it helps minimize the stupidity, its worth it.
Let's give credit to all Parties involved. In the extended section, a post on this topic I did in early May. And yes, stateside funding will run dry before we run short of ammo in Iraq, but determining the order of merit for various projects will be a very "interesting" process, resulting in much frustration.
As for me, German beer. Haven't found a bad one yet.
The PR team and Blackfive will be featuring a good friend of ours as "Someone You Should Know."
A very special thank you to Matt for recognizing our buddy Ryan, who died on the field of honor two years ago Monday. Charlie and I greatly appreciate it.
Listen live here, and be sure to let WRKO know what a great job the Pundit Review guys do by clicking their feedback link.
As the commenter on Greyhawk's post pointed out, you can get to the Navy Safety Center "Friday Funnies" archive through this page, but you have to be coming from a .mil computer. I discussed the humor that the Summary of Mishaps can generate last year at my place; my description of what I think is the best Funny ever is in the extended entry:
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