Question of the Day(Only Dumb Question is the One Not Asked)

13th Sustainment Command - Expeditionary took over for 3rd Corp Support Command this week.

If I google around for 3rd COSCOM , I find a DOD transcript where the Commander of 3rd COSCOM commands "around 20,000 Soldiers".

If I google around for 13 Sustainment Command - Expeditionary, I find a Wikipedia Entry that puts the number of Soldiers in 13 SC(E) at around 6,000 Soldiers.

Do I need to add in the 25 ID Sustainment Brigade and the 1st Cav Sustainment Brigade and whatever the Marine Equivalent of a Sustainment Brigade is to come to the 3rd COSCOM "around 20,000 Soldiers"?

Free Taliban, Free AQ, and Late Questions

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is in town under the cloud created by his wholesale release of al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners as part of the deal made with the same crew in North Waziristan. An 'administration official' said, "We know they are releasing some individuals. The $64,000 question is: Who are they?"

When Pakistan's president arrives here on Friday, he will be grilled about his decision this month to release more than 1,000 prisoners, some of whom are suspected to be high-value Al Qaeda operatives.

Well, it's actually way more than 1,000. A knowledgable and reliable source is convinced that the original 2,500 figure is accurate. And they were released ahead of the news, not after, and are now lost to the ether. When the news originally broke, the reporting was 'released' in the past tense. Suddenly it's future tense? Hmmmm...

The problem for the White House is that America does not know which prisoners were released as part of a ceasefire agreement the Pakistani military signed with tribal leaders in the border province of Waziristan. Pakistani officials have yet to share the names with their American counterparts, according to an intelligence official and an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

I am not quite sure what to make of that, such a long time after the AQ/Taliban attackers and beheaders were released (Danny Pearl's murderers were among those released). I never heard anyone disputing the original 2,500 report a week ago.

So why now a 1,000 figure? And claims of not knowing who was released?

Is appeasing an in-town Musharraf or just playing nice on the short list of possibilities? Appeasing may be a strong word...but it sure is frustrating.

Another Book Review

Another review of The Blog of War, this one up at The American Prospect.

7th Air Force Commander Issues Ultimatum

Lt. General Trexler the 7th Air Force Commander has issued an ultimatum to the Korean government over the lack of a bombing range in Korea:

The U.S. Air Force stationed in Korea has threatened to withdraw if the dispute over a shooting range for U.S. jets isn't resolved in one month.

Speaking at the Gyeonggi provincial government office Thursday, Air Force commander Lieutenant General Gary Trexler said the U.S. might have to deploy its forces outside the Korean Peninsula.

The deadline for the ultimatum is October 20th, which is the date when the bilateral Security Consultative Meeting opens.

More Template News

Here’s the template so familiar to the New York Times, that their editors and reporters feel compelled to use it for every story about the military.

Strains are Severe!
But not so bad just yet.
We may have to take drastic action immediately!
But maybe not so drastic, and maybe we can wait a year or two, and do something about it in a couple of years.

The latest example of NYT mal-journalism was this scare-mongering report about ongoing considerations of additional National Guard activations to meet Active Duty military commitments.

Let’s walk through the template, shall we?

Projects and Propaganda

At the risk of giving too much attention to the people behind this film, supporters of our Military need to beware of a just-released propaganda piece, Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers. Produced by Brave New Films, the film is directed by Robert Greenwald, who in a similar vein produced a propaganda hit piece against Walmart, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed and Uncovered.

This film was brought to my attention by what I assume is one of the film’s publicists. A cursory review of the film’s website aroused immediate suspicion, further confirmed by postings on the site’s blog. These posts referenced all manner of coordinated events with Democratic Congress people, and are heavily laden with partisan invective about how the Republicans need to be “exposed,” and other evidence of proactive attempts to tie the film to Democratic Party talking points. (Culture of corruption, all about oil, Halliburton, real support for the troops, etc.)

Having deployed to Iraq, I am amazed and perhaps somewhat concerned over the breadth and depth of outsourcing in the Military. But I know that many factors played into this three decade old process, not how chummy President Bush or Vice President Cheney are with major military services contracting companies.

These corporations and companies that provide services for the US Military, or for that matter, implement projects for the Iraqi Government, are among the largest and most professional service organizations in the world. They employ many ex-military, they have been engaged to perform services the US Government has decided over time to outsource, and they are not war profiteers in any sense intended by the participants or political and financial backers of this propaganda.

Callimachus at Winds of Change recently reported some moving, first hand testimony
from his friend Kat, a Contractor who providing project auditing and oversight of development and reconstruction projects in Iraq. Kat expressed extreme frustration with media non-reporting of reconstruction efforts, and the failure of mainstream media (MSM) perceiving any newsworthiness of the tremendous amount of effort and good work being done, against high risks and extreme circumstances.

More commentary oevr at Dadmanly.

Christening LCS-1

The first of the Littoral Combat Ships, Freedom, is about to be christened by Medal of Honor winner Paul Ray Smith's wife, as set out here.

And one of the potential weapons systems for the LCS, the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System, is discussed.

News of Afghanistan

My usual Friday aggregation here.

"Gentlemen, please go look at the News."

Re: Conditional Service

Lex has a well argued post. As a man who tends to fat without extraordinary effort, I have often wondered where the folks are who should be using the exact same arguments supporting, for example, that number of linguists thrown out of the military for failing the choke-n-rope.

There's more to the issue, of course, and Lex is not touching on that on purpose as he explains it. But the transparent nature of some of these stunts is pretty entertaining.

Say It Ain't So!!

Cafe Ground Zero is scheduled to be torn down.

Now the Russians will have to target their nukes at a different Arlington eating establishment.

I recommend Hardees.