Israel In Lebanon

This could get ugly quick.

U.S. government has a response I agree with in response to the kidnapping of two Israeli Druze on the Lebanese border.

The United States condemns in the strongest terms this unprovoked act of terrorism, which was timed to exacerbate already high tensions in the region and sow further violence. We also hold Syria and Iran, which have provided long-standing support for Hezbollah, responsible for today's violence. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the Israeli soldiers," reads a statement released by the White House press secretary.

"Hezbollah's actions are not in the interest of the Lebanese people, whose welfare should not be held hostage to the interests of the Syrian and Iranian regimes. We reiterate the international community's insistence that all parties in the region fulfill their obligations under U.N. Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1680, and cease all support for Hezbollah," the statement continues.

The War with Iran: "Oil Weapon" Strait of Hormuz closure threat

Once again, somebody associated with Iran invokes the "oil weapon" of closing the Strait of Hormuz, as noted here. The best line in the piece? Try this:

...it seems that Iran has actually enough power to block the Strait of Hormuz by sinking several big ships in the main channels of the traffic (although most of the traffic separation lines are in the side of the Strait which are technically, i.e. according to the international law of Seas, part of Oman's Territorial waters.

Is that a war drum beating in the background? Or is it just me?

The Challenge of Our Time

Instapundit and Jimbo at Blackfive linked to The Belmont Club's transcript of a speech delivered by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) July 11, 2006.

Here's an excerpt from Khalilzad's speech:

Whatever anyone may have thought about the decision to topple Saddam - whether one supported it or not - succeeding in Iraq is now essential to the future of the region and the world. Most of the world's security problems emanate from the region stretching from Morocco to Pakistan. Shaping its future is the defining challenge of our time. What happens in Iraq will be decisive in determining how this region evolves. Therefore, the struggle for the future of Iraq is vital to the future of the world.

More excerpts, and commentary, back at home, or better yet, go read the whole speech.

RE: US Reverses Policy

The New York Times slanders the US military, again, in an outrageous editorial, with which it likewise slanders an “administration that tossed aside the Geneva rules years ago.”

I’m in the military that the Times Editors so thoroughly despise and disparage at every opportunity, and I can tell them this: No military on the face of this earth more thoroughly complies with both the letter and spirit of the Geneva Conventions, than the US Military.

The Times suggests that the Bush Administration can’t be trusted with abiding by the Geneva Conventions:

The administration has professed its allegiance to the humane treatment of prisoners and to the rule of law before. But repairing the constitutional balance of powers and America’s profoundly damaged global image demand more than lip service.

As proof, they have spent the better part of the last 5 years pointing to one incident or another of supposed violation. All conducted by individuals, reported by superiors (NCOs and officers), investigated by the military, and punished as appropriate. All under a microscope of dedicated propaganda and partisan point-taking by bitter political opponents of the President, and their media enablers such as the Times.

The latest statement by Department of Defense (DoD) officials states that “prisoner policies already generally complied with the Geneva Conventions” because they always have. Soldiers take the Geneva Conventions and similar standards in the Laws of War quite seriously, and orders or directives to violate those standards would create a loud groundswell of rebuke and public insubordination within the military.

There have been some discussions, debate, and reasonable steps taken to expand tools and techniques of interrogation as they apply to a class of enemy combatants that are neither prisoners of war, nor definable by current Convention articles, much less recognizable as signatories or adherents of international treaty.

Outside of some judge advocate corps (JAG) purists who argue on fine points of military legalese, no serious observer questions the difficulties and contradictions in affording criminal or military justice protections to possible terrorists detained in a battle space, not abiding by rules or conventions. The thought of affording these detainees with what may be highly classified evidence against them, information they can use to thwart interdiction efforts against their fellow Hirabah.

Global terrorism is a grave and evil threat to our way of life, to civilization itself all over the world, as recently evidence by the horrible bombings in Mumbai (Bombay).

If anything, the US Military is a peerless exemplar of how to fight such a threat with honor, humanity, civility, and professionalism against a determined enemy that evidences none of those things. The very few exceptions prove the rule.

Not that the Times is paying attention. They’re too busy carrying water for the Hirabah public relations and propaganda effort.

(Cross-posted at Dadmanly)

The Big Red One Comes Home

Casing the Colors:

WÜRZBURG, Germany — After spending most of its storied history in Europe after World War II, the 1st Infantry Division is going home.

The legacy and lasting effects of those years were remembered during a departure ceremony for the division headquarters Thursday at Leighton Barracks.
<...>
The division has been headquartered in Würzburg for the past 10 years, and was also based here right after World War II. Since 1917, when it became the Army’s first division, The Big Red One has played a part in major European conflicts and beyond.

Division soldiers helped turn the tide during World War I, when the French army had been decimated, and the allies were asunder. They spearheaded the World War II assaults in North Africa, Sicily and on the beaches of France on D-Day. Members of the 1st ID fought in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War and embarked on peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. Finally, the division deployed to Iraq during the current conflict.

The 1st Infantry Division will return to Fort Riley with a ceremony, a Division change of command, and other events scheduled for July 31 and Aug. 1.

Re: US Reverses Policy On Military Detainee Protection--Nothing Happens

In case anyone wants to read the actual memo... it's HERE

Reiterating what Army Lawyer noted so well, the acquaintance that forwarded the link said the following:

The first paragraph of the memo merely repeats the finding of the Supreme Court’s Hamdan decision that Geneva Convention Common Article Three applies to the conflict with al Qaeda, and that the Department’s military commission orders were inconsistent with Common Article Three. The memo then repeats the Department’s understanding that all its existing Department orders, policies, and directives, aside from the military commission procedures, “comply with the standards of Common Article 3.”

Then, the memo directs all recipients of the memo to ensure that all DoD personnel adhere to the standard of treating detainees humanely, and to review all relevant policy directives, regulations, policies, and practices “to ensure that they comply with the standards of Common Article Three.” Contrary to the media reports, there is no order in this memo that the Department reverse its policy and now apply Common Article Three to all detainees. There is no order that detainees will now be treated any differently than they have in the past. This memo is not a change in policy because it already is the policy of the United States to treat detainees humanely and “in a manner consistent with the principles of Geneva.”

This policy comes from no less an authority than the President himself. Memo from President to Vice President, et al. regarding Humane Treatment of Al Qaeda and Taliban Detainees ¶ 3 (Feb. 7, 2002). In fact, the Department memo specifically recalls the President’s policy promulgation. As the DOD memo notes, if DOD personnel were to comply with all existing policies, orders, and directives, including directives related to intelligence interrogation, detainee debriefings, and tactical questioning, then their actions would comply with the standards of Common Article 3 because such policy direction already complies with Common Article 3.

I'll note that ¶ 5 of the 2002 memo directs such humane treatment... The President's 2002 memo is HERE

The Tao of Modern War

Okay, Homer I am not, but yes... Buck Sargent is now on record as having written a P-O-E-M.

(My apologies to Russ Vaughn for butchering his AO)

The times they have ‘a change-ed since our granddads were lauded, Their excellence, their fiber, their cause never doubted. Did they know what it was to be disparaged by journalists, Protesters, college kids, Red-diaper activists?

Bygone is the era of the Stars and Stripes raised,
Our flag flown in triumph along V-day parades.
‘Twas a rite placed in stasis lest talking head cases,
Deplored our galling lack of cross-cultural graces.

Whomever says a week of guard duty is boring and completely unproductive is only correct on the first point.