USS John Rodgers/BAM Cúitlahuac

For those of you interested in following this series of fortuitous events, we are at the Mexican Navy base at Lazaro Cardenas, and we have met our Pretty Woman.

Ain't she sweet? First picture of the Rodgers from dockside this century...

At this point....

.... I think Mama Sheehan qualifies as a stalker.

Updated OIF Rotations

July 2006 Announcement

1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas
4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas
Regimental Combat Team 2, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Regimental Combat Team 6, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Georgia has been placed in a prepare-to-deploy status for possible deployment later this year.
extend the deployment of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team operating in Iraq for up to 120 additional days

I don't think Claudia Rosett is going to win any UN prizes anytime soon

However, Claudia Rosett should earn an award for her complete and utter dissassembling of the UN's pathetic leadership right here. Hammer time on Kofi, Jan "Stingy" Egeland, and others of the self-important set that has overseen scandal after scandal (as in Oil for Food - the reportage of the corruption of which should have earned Ms. Rosett every journalism award) and other instances of corruption (Congo rape and UN pederasts) and, yet, presume to pass judgment on others.

Read it.

Why We Fight (#99)

Two excellent reads, over at Winds of Change:
Donald Sensing on ground fighting in Lebanon
A Link from Michael Totten, with full coverage at his site.

Totten is a singularly insightful commentator into the Middle East, and a brave and dedicated journalist as well. He was an early observer and advocate for the Lebanese Spring, the emergence of nascent democracy even as Syrian occupiers were hounded out. He is greatly dismayed by current events, and had refrained from public comment other than a few bleak and angry comments about Israel and the tragedy this represents for the Lebanese people.

They have grown dear to Totten, and I think he needed the distance and space of time that a prescheduled commitment gave him, to refrain from blogging at his site. He breaks that silence with this very pessimistic piece, an assessment as accurate as it is dark:

Disarming Hezbollah through persuasion and consensus was not possible in the first year of Lebanon’s independence. Disarming Hezbollah by force wasn’t possible either. The Lebanese people have been called irresponsible and cowardly by some of their friends in America for refusing to resume the civil war. Unlike Hezbollah, though, most Lebanese know better than to start unwinnable wars. This is wisdom, not cowardice, and it's sadly rare in the Arab world now. They are being punished entirely too much for what they have done and for what they can't do.

Israel and Lebanon (especially Lebanon) will continue to burn as long as Hezbollah exists as a terror miltia freed from the leash of the state. The punishment for taking on Hezbollah is war. The punishment for not taking on Hezbollah is war. Lebanese were doomed to suffer war no matter what. Their liberal democratic project could not withstand the threat from within and the assaults from the east, and it could not stave off another assault from the south. War, as it turned out, was inevitable even if the actual shape of it wasn’t. Peace was not in the cards for Lebanon. Its democracy turned out to be neither a strength nor a weakness. It was irrelevant.

First things first, after all. If the strongman and the gunman and the executioner are allowed “free” reign, no other freedoms have any real meaning. This is the poverty of options that Michael so laments for the Lebanese.

In the end, the very principles of Democracy and Freedom remain irrelevant in the face of terrorist violence and brutal aggression. That is why we fight. (Reason #99)

(Cross-posted at Dadmanly)

A Grave for Terrorism

Real Clear Politics published a translated text of Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s remarks before Congress Wednesday, July 26th.

The speech is terrific, as several have said, as good as or even better than US Presidential speeches, and far beyond anything the war’s opponents have been able to muster. He knows who the enemy is, and knows that same enemy attacked America on 9/11, and Iraq since its liberation from the brutality of Saddam Hussein.

PM Maliki sounds like a man of deep religious convictions, and stands as proof that one can be a committed Muslim and still honor and desire freedom and democratic principles. He and his fellow free Iraqis risk their very lives on that premise.

Read the whole thing. Excerpts and more commentary over at Dadmanly.

Sino scenario south of Sidon

Along the same lines as Lex below (great, or at least satisfactory Navy minds think alike) The China Option for Lebanon is being discussed a lot here and there. You know things are bad when people, including myself, who should know better, start to think about it. Executive Summary: Bad idea.

Re: Rules

The official DoD directive governing active duty participation in political activities can be found here. Note that these restrictions explicitly do not apply to retired, guard, or reserves, except when they are recalled to active duty.

Note also that this instruction was updated in 2004, and clarifies some issues that were previously considered "gray area," such as displaying of partisan bumper stickers on POVs (allowed), and calling in to radio or TV talk shows to advocate for or against a partisan candidate or cause (prohibited).

Of specific interest is Enclosure 3, which gives examples of permissible and prohibited activities:

EXAMPLES AND ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

E3.1. PURPOSE

This enclosure provides examples of permissible and prohibited political activities and other requirements for implementing this Directive.

E3.2. EXAMPLES OF PERMISSIBLE POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

A member on active duty may:

E3.2.1. Register, vote, and express a personal opinion on political candidates and issues, but not as a representative of the Armed Forces.

E3.2.2. Promote and encourage other military members to exercise their voting franchise, if such promotion does not constitute an attempt to influence or interfere with the outcome of an election.

E3.2.3. Join a political club and attend its meetings when not in uniform. See Directive 1334.1 (reference (f)).

E3.2.4. Serve as an election official, if such service is not as a representative of a partisan political party, does not interfere with military duties, is performed when not in uniform, and has the prior approval of the Secretary concerned or the Secretary's designee.

E3.2.5. Sign a petition for specific legislative action or a petition to place a candidate's name on an official election ballot, if the signing does not obligate the member to engage in partisan political activity and is done as a private citizen and not as a representative of the Armed Forces.

E3.2.6. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper expressing the member's personal views on public issues or political candidates, if such action is not part of an organized letter-writing campaign or a solicitation of votes for or against a political party or partisan political cause or candidate.

E3.2.7. Make monetary contributions to a political organization, party, or committee favoring a particular candidate or slate of candidates, subject to the limitations under 2 U.S.C. 441a, 18 U.S.C. 607 (references (g) and (h)), and other applicable law.

E3.2.8. Display a political sticker on the member's private vehicle.

E3.2.9. Attend partisan and nonpartisan political meetings or rallies as a spectator when not in uniform.

Rules Set for Political Participation

I think Army Lawyer covered this a while back... and this says AF... I assume it's standard across the services??

The November 2006 elections are fast approaching. Political activity rules are listed in Air Force Instruction 51-902. Violators of this instruction can be punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Examples of prohibited activities listed in the instruction include attending a political event in uniform, using official authority to interfere with an election and affect its course or outcome, and using contemptuous words against officials in public office. Military members are allowed to attend political events in civilian clothes but only as a spectator. Speaking publicly at these events is not allowed in or out of uniform. Contact your local legal office for more information about the instruction.

Military.com has an Election Center that has some very good links to Candidate Blogs, Veterans running for office, absentee ballot rules, etc.

Re: Pepto

Turns out that New York Congressman Owens gave the tickets to Medea "what's the definition of sedition again?" Benjamin.

(h/t Carl)

Who will keep the peace?

How about China?

(W)ho has a large enough force, just sort of sitting around, not doing anything? Well…

The Peoples’ Republic of China does. They’ve been spending a lot of money modernizing recently, haven’t really had the chance to practice any of their military doctrine since getting thumped by the PAVN back in 1979 - I don’t count crushing unarmed protesters under tank treads. Furthermore, they’re looking to be taken seriously as players on the world stage, a station worthy of their huge population and growing economic status. Even better, as charter members of the non-aligned movement, they haven’t ever been on anyone’s side but their own and so no one could accuse them of playing favorites. Sure, they’ve taken some heat for repressing their Islamic Uighur minority, but I doubt that many in the Hezbollah rank and file can pronounce Uighur, far less find their “Autonomous Region” on a map, and in any case, a bit of alien culture even-handedness combined with a keep-all-sides-guessing reputation for gloves-off brutality might be just the ticket.

If it all works out for the best, China emerges with a burnished reputation as a serious and mature player on the world stage, and the rest of us will owe her one. Things go quickly south, and who knows, maybe those cross-straits saber-rattlers get a wake up call. Me, I’d like to get a look at their running, shooting and passing game. For reasons of my own.

Read the rest?