Name that Plane

Attention crew dogs:

The office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pressing the Bush administration for routine access to military aircraft for domestic flights, such as trips back to her San Francisco district, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The sources, who include those in Congress and in the administration, said the Democrat is seeking regular military flights not only for herself and her staff, but also for relatives and for other members of the California delegation. A knowledgeable source called the request "carte blanche for an aircraft any time."

"They are pressing the point of her succession and that the [Department of Defense] needs to play ball with the speaker's needs," one source said. The request originally went to the Pentagon, which then asked the White House to weigh in.

Not sure if "family members" includes millionaire hubby Paul, who prefers a low profile:

For more than 20 years, Paul Pelosi has been able to stay in the shadows, even as the millions he has made as a successful San Francisco financier and businessman have helped fuel the political career of his wife, Nancy.

"I've made a conscious effort to not be involved or give the appearance of being involved in her political career," he told The Chronicle in 2004. "People should realize that she's the one."
<...>
But the couple's net worth, most of it linked to Paul Pelosi's investments, has made the legislator the ninth-richest person in the 435-member House.

The family money, along with the many business and social connections Paul Pelosi has brought to their 43-year marriage, gave Nancy Pelosi the financial independence she needed to spend long hours doing unpaid Democratic Party business in the 1970s and 1980s. Since she was elected to Congress in 1987, it has also added a degree of comfort to her life in Washington, where she has a $1 million-plus residence and a lifestyle that doesn't depend on the $212,100 annual salary she will receive as speaker.

"Having a Town Car pick you up is way better than Yellow Cab," said Joe Cotchett, a Burlingame attorney and Democratic fundraiser who is a longtime friend of the Pelosis.

But an LJ35, compliments of the American taxpayer, would be totally sweet.

Of course, the plane will need a name. My first thought is "FWABird 1", but it's not that catchy. Any suggestions?

All done!

No area is safe for terrorists

FALLUJAH, Iraq (Jan. 22, 2007) - The Marines of C Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, searched open fields and farmland for weapons caches under the cover of darkness with the help of C Company, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, attached to 1/24 for Operation Three Swords Jan. 22.

Marines were dropped off and Operation Three Swords was underway. They moved from house to house securing the area and watching the backs of their fellow Marines moving through the neighborhood.

Glenn Beck on the war protest in DC

BECK: You know, I read something earlier this weekend that really disturbed me. It was this anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. A protester reportedly spit on an Iraq war veteran. This is a guy who risked his life. He lost a limb in the name of his country.

Let me be clear. Have we learned nothing from Vietnam? You know, before the Iraq war started, I organized a tour around the country called "The Rally for America". Liberal media marked it as a war rally. It wasn`t. It was a rally for our troops. It was a time for us to get together and promise each other something.

Tens of thousands of people came (READ MORE HERE)

Re: The Shining Path

Greyhawk's got comments about an established, celebrated reporter on the Washington Post website saying all sorts of not-nice things about us military types.

The New York Times's ombudsman publicly slams one of his organization's reporters for the thoughtcrime of thinking American victory is possible.

Worth a comparison.

Also worth thinking about, the Kilcullen article you linked before, the Small Wars Journal article on counterinsurgency:

Modern counterinsurgency may be 100% political--comprehensive media coverage making even the most straightforward combat action a "political warfare" engagement.

Re: The Shining Path

Via Blackfive, the aptly titled "Early Warning" in the Washington Post.

I'm sure the soldiers were expressing a majority opinion common amongst the ranks - that's why it is news - and I'm also sure no one in the military leadership or the administration put the soldiers up to expressing their views, nor steered NBC reporter Richard Engel to the story.

I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people.

Ironically Arkin begins his piece by noting the same video that began yesterday's discussion, then proceeds to illustrate every point I made - which certainly saves me the time a response would take.

Good News?

From the ChicagoTribune

BAGHDAD -- Radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has ordered his militia not to confront U.S. forces and has endorsed negotiations aimed at easing the deployment of American troops in his strongholds, according to Sadrist and other Shiite officials.

Ahead of a planned surge of 21,500 U.S. troops intended to secure Baghdad, Sadr has instructed his al-Mahdi Army, recently described by the Pentagon as the biggest single threat to a stable Iraq, to keep a low profile and stay off the streets, Sadr officials say.

A deal with the supporters of the fiercely anti-American cleric would temper U.S. military commanders' concern that any attempt to secure Baghdad will inevitably lead to a showdown with Iraq's biggest private army. In 2004, the U.S. military fought bloody battles with the Mahdi Army in Najaf and in Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite enclave in Baghdad, and has since steered clear of direct confrontations with the militia.

The Sadrist movement has given its blessing to an initiative led by one of two mayors of Sadr City to negotiate terms under which U.S. forces will be able to deploy freely there.

If the negotiations succeed, U.S. forces will be welcome in Sadr City, the Mahdi Army stronghold that has witnessed two previous battles between U.S. troops and the Shiite militia, said Rahim al-Daraji, the mayor of the southern half of Sadr City. Al-Daraji said he has been authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Mahdi Army and other Shiite factions.

"It will mean any U.S. soldier will be as welcome in Sadr City as any Iraqi citizen," said al-Daraji, who said he is politically independent. "He will be able to walk safely in Sadr City, sit in any restaurant he likes, and he can help in reconstructing the city."

Related story, translated from Iraqi accounts by Haider Ajina, here.

Slate editor: Troops weren't spit on following Vietnam, they DID the spitting!

Jack Shafer, editor of the Slate online magazine: Newsweek repeats the myth of the gobbed-upon Vietnam vet.

In researching the book, Lembcke found no news accounts or even claims from the late 1960s or early 1970s of vets getting spat at. He did, however, uncover[] ample news stories about anti-war protesters receiving the saliva shower from anti-anti-war types.

So these poor misunderstood youths were simply expressing their displeasure with certain aspects of our national government. Nay, they were being the patriotic champions of democracy that the Founders long envisioned this country to be populated with, and the thanks they get is to be spit on by those dirty dirty anti-hippies!

Thankfully it's a myth, else some Washington Post reporters might end up turning that myth into a reality.