"This is a War for All the Marbles"

A good read.

Korean Government Warns USFK Commander Over "Undiplomatic" Remarks

Here is another sign that USFK Commander General Bell has been doing his job exceedingly well, he has officially pissed off the Korean Foreign Ministry:

South Korea expressed concern over "undiplomatic" remarks made by the top U.S. military officer here regarding possible delays in the relocation of U.S. military bases, a Foreign Ministry official said yesterday. Earlier this month, Gen. Burwell Bell, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said he would "fight" any further delay of the planned base movement. "The comment (made by Gen. Bell) could produce unnecessary misunderstandings, so we delivered an indirect message asking him to be cautious about making comments," the ministry official said on condition of anonymity. The ministry expressed its concern regarding the matter to U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Stephens while she was visiting Seoul last weekend, the official said. But it was not an official warning per se, he added.

You can read General Bell's prior comments here.

Why do I say General Bell is doing his job well you may ask?

Fresh Argument Needed...

...submit your best ideas to the DNC:

WASHINGTON — James Baker, the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, on Tuesday endorsed President Bush's troop surge in Iraq, urging the Senate to "give it a chance."

"The president's plan ought to be given a chance," Baker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Just give it a chance."

Baker, a former secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush, said it was wrong for the Senate to confirm Army Gen. David Petreaus to lead the new Iraq mission at the same time it was moving to pass non-binding resolutions opposing the deployment of at least 21,500 U.S. forces to improve security in Baghdad and Al Anbar Province. Some of those forces have already been deployed.
<...>
Baker's endorsement could well alter the political dynamic dealing with Senate debate on the president's new Iraq plan. Many critics have cited the ISG, which in November published 79 recommendations for getting the United States of Iraq successfully, as the basis for opposing the troop surge. References to the ISG's military and diplomatic recommendations are cited in both leading resolutions opposing the new Iraq plan.

Who knew she was such a strong supporter of the surge?

Treason

In response to outraged New York Times readers, Philip Taubman, the paper's Washington bureau chief, has admonished a correspondent for "stepping over a line" and uttering comments that Taubman declared "were an aberration" - "poorly worded", "his comments on the show went too far.”

T'was the paper’s chief military correspondent, Michael Gordon, who drew his editor's fire. His crime?

The Shining Path

Some scattered links from Instapundit that really deserve a compilation, and a closer look. (By the way, this in no way implies Glenn Reynolds shares these opinions/observations - the trendspotting here is all mine.)

One - the NBC video:

Good stuff - you should hear guys like these off-camera.

But here's a gem from the comments section on the youtube page for the video:

You're forgetting that the military has lowered its standards to keep recruitment up. The Army now accepts Neo-nazis and psychiatric patients fresh out of the ward as recruits. This is the result of "people who don't trust their leaders anymore" deciding the military is a bad choice.

Back to that in a moment. First, link two - from the NY Times:

There were a few tense moments, however, including an encounter involving Joshua Sparling, 25, who was on crutches and who said he was a corporal with the 82nd Airborne Division and lost his right leg below the knee in Ramadi, Iraq. Mr. Sparling spoke at a smaller rally held earlier in the day at the United States Navy Memorial, and voiced his support for the administration’s policies in Iraq.

Later, as antiwar protesters passed where he and his group were standing, words were exchanged and one of the antiwar protestors spit at the ground near Mr. Sparling; he spit back.

Capitol police made the antiwar protestors walk farther away from the counterprotesters.

“These are not Americans as far as I’m concerned,” Mr. Sparling said.

Sad that the Times reporter didn't have time to confirm that Sparling was indeed an Iraq vet, not just a guy who "said he was". And he is recovering from wounds he recieved "over there". Here are two pictures (linked to sources) from the day of the protests.

In the counter-protest:

...and signing an autograph:

Link three includes an email from an Instapundit reader who had wandered through the protest crowds - the whole thing is well worth a read (and appeared in an update that you too may have missed) but here's a quick clip:

I saw three groups of counter protesters. One in front of the National Art Gallery, one just north of the Capitol, and a small group of young Marines standing with a life-size cutout of President Bush. The Marines were taking quite a beating from the crowd, and were definitely keeping their cool quite well.

The conclusion is one I draw from more than just these three isolated incidents. I hate to see this, but we're witnessing the ongoing evolution of a trend I spotted almost a year go

...most low ranking military members currently serving joined after the invasion of Iraq, virtually all people serving at this time have either enlisted or re-enlisted in a military at war. One obvious conclusion from this that I didn't put in writing is that this eliminates the "anti-war" crowd's treasured canard that the troops are victims who thought they were signing up for a college financial aid program and were shocked to be handed a weapon and taught how to shoot.

The death of this claim necessitates a new attack - a predictable evolution of the old. To put it in simplest and honest terms it goes like this: the folks that are joining now are lowlifes...

Believing that makes it much easier to spit at wounded GIs. The "support the troops - not the war" line can only work for so long. Yes, organized attempts to perpetuate the GI as victim myth (and thus "supportable" for some) are ongoing - but their "success" is nowhere near what was hoped. And yes, deceptive attempts to portray the GIs themselves as admitting they've been handed their asses in Iraq are also ongoing. But eventualy people will notice that when you've got to "fly Iraq veterans to the home states of Republican senators" in order to lend credibility to your protest it might indicate a shortage thereof.

But there must be a reason for that, and it must be that these are lowlifes and Nazis! And the spitting begins.

Is this behavior pervasive in America? Of course not. It is becomming more common - for reasons I state above, and will become more so with time. And there are well meaning people out there who have convinced themselves the troops in Iraq simply lack the benefit of deep knowledge the average American has gained of the situation from headlines and soundbites, and that these poor troops need to be brought out of there for their own good. But eventually these folks (perhaps aided by accurate reports like NBC's above) might realize the absurdity of that position. And while those who really do give a damn about the troops might actually come to support us (beyond the bumper-sticker level) as a result of that epiphany, those whose motives are purely political will find themselves forced to follow the path to the dark side illustrated above.

A path that seems increasingly well travelled.

Update: A travel agent speaks.

All done!

Marines Order Probe into Haditha Leak

Investigating and hopefully punishing leaks of sensitive materials is the intelligence and security version of the "broken windows" theory of crime reduction. If you don't sweat the small things, neither will those inclined to leak.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- The Marine Corps said Monday that it has ordered a probe into how a government report on the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha was leaked to the news media.

Leaks are kind of like Illinois Nazis, I hate em both.

Nothing is quick about Counter Insurgency

Lt Col P interviews fellow milblogger Kurt Wheeler on Al-Anbar:

...you can't measure our success by the number of attacks received because our increased activity, "taking the fight to the enemy," has as much to do with the level of violence as does enemy will/actions. We could reduce attacks on our forces by staying on the FOBs, but that's not how you win a COIN fight. Many commanders are describing the insurgents as fighting desperately to hold onto areas and neighborhoods that they once controlled without question.

A Marine who went to Harvard? I think my head might explode.

Max Boot "versus" Victor Davis Hanson

Contentions, the blog for Commentary Magazine, is having a "week-long discussion of the state of the Iraq war and its regional and global implications." Boot is a bit more pessimistic than Hanson, but here are some excerpts from the opening exchange.

From Hanson's first post:

So where does that leave us? In a race of sorts. On the one side, the Democrats realize that anger over the perceived stasis in Iraq has brought them the Congress and possibly the White House in 2008. On the other side, the administration’s personnel changes, the surge, and a belated public-relations counteroffensive have bought six months to a year (at most) to secure and quiet Baghdad. Democratic critics claimed that they wanted more troops, Rumsfeld’s resignation, and mavericks like General Petraeus in charge—thinking, probably, that President Bush would probably never accede. Now that he has, it will take a few weeks for the Democrats to re-triangulate and refashion credible new opposition to their own earlier demands. (And they must tread carefully while doing it: if the surge works as planned, the Democrats will end up looking foolish on the eve of the 2008 election.)

From Boot's first post:

There hasn’t been a whole lot to cheer since the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon and the elections in Iraq in 2005. In fact both achievements have been undermined in the past year by relentless violence on the part of anti-democratic militias—Hizballah in Lebanon and various Sunni and Shiite factions in Iraq. Lebanon is on the verge of a civil war (as is the Palestinian Authority) and Iraq is already in the early stages of its own civil war.

I am especially crestfallen to see how the situation in Iraq has deteriorated over the past few years. According to the UN, over 34,000 Iraqi civilians died violently last year, more than 36,000 were injured, and more than 470,000 were displaced from their homes. It is scant comfort to say that the violence is confined to four or five provinces out of eighteen. Even if that were true (and recent fighting in Karbala and Najaf undermines the claim), it would be like saying of 9/11, “What’s the big deal? Only two American cities were struck. Hundreds of others remained safe.”

Worth checking out.

And Yet More RE: Major Combat

The anxiously hyperventilating title of 'Battle suggests new sectarian divides in Iraq' (CS Monitor) is mildly amusing. For the ink spent trying to justify the headline, there are some good bits of information in there. I'm not a dedicated 'Iraq Hand' and there are many far more knowledgable on the various groups, sects and clans than I, but I know enough to do some legwork and listen. So, then, the skinny:

It's not sectarian violence, much to the dismay of every reporter who has written of the Najaf...thing. Murphy calls it "cultish" in the article. Quite generous of him, I guess. Look, it's a cult. Think of Abu Qamar al-Yamani and Jund al-Sama (Army of Heaven) as Jim Jones, David Koresh and Hal Lindsay in a mosque and you'll get the picture. As wrong as he is on so many things, Juan Cole actually makes an important point that Murphy failed to drive home enough to paint an appropriate picture.

"In Shiite Islam there is this very strong millenarian trend, similar to Christian movements that think Christ is about to return,'' says Juan Cole, a professor of Middle East history at the University of Michigan. "So just like some millenarian evangelicals think that the pope is the antichrist, they would see the ayatollahs as ... usurpers of his rightful role."

And that is central to what this whole....thing...was about. But then the wheels come off Cole's wagon.

Update your style books...

Mr President,

By the way, in the speech, you spoke about the Democrats. You said, you congratulated the Democrat majority. And I notice your prepared text said Democratic majority. I surely think that you know that for the Democrats, they think when you say Democrat, it's like fingernails on the blackboard. They don't like it. They like you to say Democratic.

Re: Comic Relief

Man, do I need a training program to get you guys up to speed on this whole innernets movie phenomenon?

If you want folks to follow your links, you gotta give a sample of what awaits (especially during the MilBlogs Movie Festival...)

More Re: Major Combat

No official word from US sources yet:

MR. WILLIAMS: All right, Mr. President, the reports that 300 militants were killed, an American helicopter shot down yesterday in Najaf – that's one of the deadliest battles of the war, what can you tell us?

PRESIDENT BUSH: You know, Juan, I haven't been briefed by the Pentagon yet. One of the things I've learned is not to react to first reports off the battlefield.

You'd think it might be hard to turn victory into defeat, but where there's a will there's a way:

The incident is a reminder of the swirling agendas now at play in Iraq and the turbulent political waters US troops are wading into as more soldiers arrive and President Bush has vowed to stand by Shiite Islamist Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Center for the Intrepid Opens! Hooray!!

I have a soft part in my heart for Fisher House.. having been a guest at the Landstuhl Fisher House for a few days. However, the Fisher Family began and supports a number of Foundations that support our military and our veterans and their families... And not just in name, but in intent and their ability to get things done. There, of course, is the Fisher House Foundation. And then there is the Intrepid Foundation which supports a number of noteworthy causes: the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which provides financial support for the families of United States military personnel who have been lost in the line of duty, and Fleet Week, a celebration honoring the men and women of our nation's military.

Recognizing the need for a state-of-the-art facility for the rehabilitation of disabled veterans -- not just resulting from the Iraq and Afganistan campaigns but for all veterans with a need -- the Intrepid Foundation set out to get that facility designed, funded and built. THEY DID IT!!!

The best part?? This facility was built with money donated by the American people. 600,000 people built this facility for American Heroes.

Read more at Some Soldier's Mom

and HERE and HERE

Don't forget to DONATE... there is still lots to be done!

Comic relief....

After watching Sen. Clinton and the Speaker of the House: I think we could all use some comic relief.

I got this idea from Bubblehead. Miss having Midwatch? Want to remember what it was like at sea? Never been to sea? About halfway through Episode 4 of "Hey Shipwreck" - you have the Sailor to English translator that will make this Monday go a lot easier.

RE: Re: Oh Boy...

Nancy is sad.

Three days in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan have made House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even more certain of her view that moving troops out of Iraq is the best way to bring stability to the region, she told The Chronicle on Sunday.

Speaking from Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, Pelosi said the nation owes its troops a better policy than the one now being pursued by President Bush, and emphasized the importance of reconstructing the war-torn region.

****

"Sadly, there was nothing that we saw there that would say that the plan we have been proposing should be changed,'' Pelosi said of her visit.

But Nancy supports our troops. She traveled all the way to Iraq to make that known.

Pelosi said the prime mission of the trip was to offer support for the troops, whom she said were quite interested in meeting with the delegation.

"Our purpose was to salute our troops and commend them for their patriotism, their sacrifice, and the sacrifice of their families.''

Yeah, yeah, yeah....

On Things Non Binding (A Hypothetical)

There is a fundamental contradiction in all this non-binding resolution talk. It kind of looks like this:

First, the "this is a vitally important vote!" position:

"This is a tough business. But is it any tougher, us having to take a tough vote, express ourselves and have the courage to step up on what we're asking our young men and women to do?" (link)

Versus the "Hey, we're just talkin'" position:

"It is not the American people or the U.S. Congress that is emboldening the enemy. It is the failed policy of this president" (source)

And now, a hypothetical:

Suppose the Senate passed a resolution, non-binding of course, stating that it was the collective opinion of the Senate that the War was fought under false pretenses, that our military is there illegally, and incidents like Hamdania , Abu Ghraib, and Haditha were not isolated crimes but rather indicative of the military operation in Iraq writ large as a whole (naturally the fault of Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney). As a result, all members of the military currently in Iraq are probably guilty of some type of war crime (reminiscent of "Jenjis Khan").

Now, this resolution wouldn't have any binding effect. There'd be no change in current policy; no decrease in funding; and no promise or threat of pending legal action against these "war criminals." But might such a resolution (remember, non-binding, gotta keep throwing that in there), have SOME effect on (1) how those deployed perceive the level support they receive at home; and (2) how those opposing us might feel about their prospects?

Just maybe?

MilBlog Conference

The blog site is up and running.

Hope to see you in May.

Re: Major Combat?

The number is now 300.

Something has happened, a battle did take place. But my first take on this is that the numbers are as believable as Jamil Hussein (6 Iraqis burned to death in the street) or the Association of Muslim Scholars (184 mosques destroyed.) But I admit I could be wrong. Unnamed ministry spokesman have been proven wrong before, but thus far the media is covering this without question.

CENTCOM or MNF-I should be able to make a statement today. It will be interesting to see what follows. If it plays out like the Hussein/Association stories did, "roaring silence" is the answer. Somehow I don't expect that.

Sadrists, Islamic Party ink deal to maintain security

Story here.

A photo essay...

...on the protests and counter-protests in D.C. this past weekend.

Among the counter-protesters, Pfc Joshua Sparling.

Since We've Seem To Have Caught the Hollywood Bug...

This flick has promise.

Of course I'll admit I'm biased. I'm a sucker for Vietnam films that manage to avoid the "military ruined my life" narrative.

Setting up listening posts

This submarine helped revived a type of ship that U.S. Navy really hadn't used in 100 years. And lead to "grams" and bases in places like Adak, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Guam and more. And boring, but very important duty.

And a spy helped devalue it for military purposes.

Details here.

With Eyes So Blind

I'd shout this from the rooftops but where are them what have ears to hear?

I Can't hear you...

Just posted a new version of that vacation video - didn't realize how low the volume was the first time as I used headphones when setting it up.

Live and learn. (At least, some of us do.)

Major Combat?

Is this accurate?

U.S.-backed Iraqi troops on Sunday attacked insurgents allegedly plotting to kill pilgrims at a major Shiite Muslim religious festival, and Iraqi officials estimated some 250 militants died in the daylong battle near Najaf.

(For the record, in case I'm not clear here, this isn't very likely.)

Update: Hmmmm...

A plot to kill Grand Ayatollah Sistani triggered the intense fighting when Iraqi security forces intervened to stop the plot. Iraqi officials estimated that 600 gunmen were involved in the battle that it now says is 90 percent complete.

Coming Soon to a theater near you

Well, probably not a theater.

Representative John Conyers attended yesterday's [fill-in-the-blank] rally. To continue Greyhawk's weekend at the movies theme, looks like a new film is in the works.

Jane Fonda returned to the peace movement, calling upon Americans not to forget the lessons of Vietnam. I had a chance to speak to Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, who have also used their celebrity as movie stars to bring the media focus to the growing anti-war movement.

PDA, Code Pink and the Institute of Policy Studies all made significant contributions to the events today.

But perhaps the most powerful voices heard today were those from military families, grieving for lost loved ones. Their personal stories cut at your heart like nothing else.

I spoke with some filmmakers doing a piece for the Huffington Post today so I am hoping that you may get to hear directly from some of these military families on the pages here later.

Popcorn, anyone?

Melvin Laird on Iraq

via Appleton Pot

The brewing fight in Congress over continued funding of the war in Iraq will not be the country's first. It's an ominous reminder of 1975, when Congress cut off funding for the Vietnam War three years after our combat troops had left.

With the assistance we promised South Vietnam in the 1972 Paris Accords — U.S. equipment, replacement parts and ammunition — it had won every major battle since we left. But Congress lost the will to keep our promise and killed the appropriation. The result was a bloodbath.

Re: Oh Boy....

(Updated: Now with EXTRA VOLUME!!!)

MilBlogs weekend at the movies continues with a vacation video from Nancy P & Co.

Update: At about the :55 second point in the video, a quick clip shows Ms Pelosi addressing the troops in Iraq: "...let's talk about the intelligence that got us into war... that'll be interesting to start with..." Whatever she said before or after that line is not on the video.

It's a very tricky situation for a GI in combat to engage a politician on this topic, but given that the Speaker began the discussion I believe this might be an appropriate and safe response:

"I'm not concerned about that. Whether they were there or not, I salute the president for the goal of removing weapons of mass destruction."

You can even credit the original source. It's Nancy Pelosi.

News of Afghanistan

"The infidel Major John is tired, and he is a day late - but he still has the News, curse him!"

Gates on Iran in Iraq

Battle for Haifa Street

More from the Pentagon Channel - a look at this week's action in Baghdad:

Organizing

“The face of antiwar is not what it was in the ’70s,”
- antiwar activist quoted in the following story.

Contrast

If you want an excellent example of how a newspaper can shape the news, read Mohammed's account of the televised parliamentary debate in Iraq, then try the New York Times report of the same.

The difference? One is straightforward news, a presentation of facts, and the other is an opinion piece masked as news. In defense of the Times effort, it does relieve the reader of the burden of thinking for themselves.

Gates

Via the Pentagon Channel, Secretary of Defense Gates on the potential impact of congressional resolutions opposing military operations in Iraq.

The reason for the setting? Secretary Gates wants a less formal environment than the briefing room to address the media.

Something to remember when you hear someone say Bush "ignored the Iraq Study Group": Gates was a member.

The Military Channel is seeking your videos.

We're happy to help publicize.

One word, though, boys and girls.

OPSEC. Don't give away buy the farm just to be on TV.

The Military Channel is seeking personal videos from members of the U.S. Military to let soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines tell their story directly to viewers. Real-life moments captured on film by service members will be broadcast on the Military Channel as part of a new on-air programming initiative. Servicemen and women anywhere in the world who brought a camcorder with them on a recent deployment, or those who currently have a camera with them on the frontlines, can submit their videos directly to the Military Channel.

Additional information is available from a recent DOD release:
http://www.defenselink.mil/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=2762

As well as a recent piece that aired on the Pentagon Channel:
http://www.media-file.net/discovery/militarychannel/

Personal videos can be submitted online at www.mywardiary.com, or mailed to the address below. Or email mywardiary@discovery.com for more information.

Mailing Address

MILITARY VIDEOS
Discovery Productions
8045 Kennett Street
Silver Spring , MD 20910

The Military Channel is owned and operated by Discovery Communications, Inc. More information about Discovery and its businesses can be found at www.discovery.com.

Yank the Funding

Sorry to hog all the space here today, but what a busy news day this is turning out to be.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has scheduled a hearing next Tuesday in his Judiciary Committee subcommittee to explore whether Congress has the authority to cut off funding for the U.S. military campaign in Iraq. The move comes as Congress prepares to vote on a congressional resolution opposing President Bush's escalation of the war.

Feingold, a fierce war critic, will force Democrats to consider an option many consider politically suicidal: denying funds to the military and U.S. soldiers to force a quicker end to the war. Democratic leaders have privately called on members to restrain from cutting off funding and focus on congressional resolutions condemning the Bush policy. The resolutions are nonbinding and therefore symbolic.

Yep. Very easy to hold symbolic votes then run to the cameras and proclaim your support of the troops. But...putting ones true beliefs to the test, in public and on the record, without nuance.... Well, a much harder thing for most politicians to do.

"Congress holds the power of the purse and if the president continues to advance his failed Iraq policy, we have the responsibility to use that power to safely redeploy our troops from Iraq," Feingold said in a statement released by his office on Thursday. "I will soon be introducing legislation to use the power of the purse to end what is clearly one of the greatest mistakes in the history of the nation's foreign policy."

Let's have this debate. I'm all for it.

Oh, Boy....

I feel for the troops who will be spending some time with their latest guest.

Grotesque.

Update: Lookie, lookie. Now I feel even sorrier for the troops.

A U.S. embassy official said Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the House, had arrived in Iraq at the head of a six-member congressional delegation for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. officials but did not plan any public appearances.

The delegation includes John Murtha, a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, who has also been vocal in his criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the war.

I hope he stays away from the Marines....

Let's Suppose He's Right

But for all the wrong reasons.

Sen. Charles Schumer, architect of the new Democratic Senate majority, argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, the 2008 elections will not center on Iraq.

"I think Iraq will not be as strong an issue in the 2008 elections," said the senior senator from New York, as he enters his second straight cycle as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "I think the surge will fail and the president will have no choice but to begin removing troops."

What happens if the so-called "surge" works and undeniable progress is documented and all the political naysayers are left with egg on their faces. In that case, of course the elections will not center on Iraq, now will they?

Some Important Links

Since its creation, Military.com has proven itself as an excellent clearinghouse for soldier support and related resources. That they’re also a good friend to MILBLOGS and MILBLOGGERS and military families, earns them special praise.

They tipped me off to two services that I wanted to highlight for MILBLOGGERS and their readership, if they haven’t already seen them.

From a Military.com mailing:

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Website Launched
Barbara Romberg, a psychologist with a private practice in Washington, D.C., has created a single website to link licensed counselors with U.S. troops affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from serving Afghanistan and Iraq. More

Program Serves Wounded Warriors
The Army's Wounded Warrior Program, dubbed AW2, is designed for soldiers severely wounded in the war on terror. AW2 provides information and assistance to aid soldiers and their families through the recovery process and beyond. More

Not that the military or VA sometimes doesn’t contribute to soldier reluctance; many of the guys in treatment talk about the difficulties they encounter, such as when they get classified as 100% disabled. For soldiers still seeking a meaningful return to civilian life – or even to remain in service for that matter – such classifications and the limitations they impose can be frustrating. In any case, having a clearinghouse of resources that soldiers can access on their own has got to be a helpful addition to the panoply of services available.

The AW2 Program sounds like another excellent program. Many of us are familiar with Project Valour-IT and scores of other Soldiers Angels networked services, many of which specifically support wounded veterans and their families. AW2 provides another level of support for these who have sacrificed much in service to their nation.

And again, thanks to military.com for bringing these fine services to wider attention.

(Cross-posted at Dadmanly)

Where I Worry

In thinking about the Long War I know that all the different kinds of Islamists work together: Thai, Indonesian, American, Chechnyan, et cetera. The Shiite fighters also work with the Al-Qaeda types when they see it fit to not kill each other instead. Hezballah's information ops success in Lebanon is teaching lessons to both sides.

Subsunk at Blackfive, and Mohammed Fadhil at Iraq The Model, think things are quiet. This could be a good thing. I worry about information operations in progress...or Grozny.

A couple quick Ones

The Washington Post

Troops Battle Insurgents In Central Baghdad

With attack helicopters circling overhead, U.S. and Iraqi forces waged an intense battle Wednesday to clear armed men from high-rise buildings in a strategic Baghdad neighborhood that had been the scene of a similar day of combat two weeks ago.

The fighting along Haifa Street, a Sunni-dominated area on the west bank of the Tigris River, began before dawn and lasted well into the day, with insurgents firing down from tall buildings, U.S. military officials said.

"We have intelligence information that the terrorist group is back and trying to take some other places," said Ali Dabbagh, a spokesman for the prime minister. "It's a very strategic and important location. It's in the middle of Baghdad; it has a view of all of Baghdad."
<...>
Explosions could be heard coming from the area and thick black smoke rose above the high-rises that line the street. The military said it seized a cache of weapons, including numerous rocket-propelled grenades and antitank rounds, during the raid.

More than 30 "terrorists" were arrested during the operation and roughly 25 were killed, Dabbagh said Wednesday night. A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, said he was aware of seven arrests and did not know whether anyone had died.

The New York Times:

Iraqi Official Offers Terms From Militia To Avoid Fight

An Iraqi official authorized to speak on behalf of field commanders for the country’s most powerful militia has approached Western military officials and laid out a plan to avoid armed confrontation, senior Iraqi and American officials said this week.

The official is Rahim al-Daraji, the elected mayor of the Sadr City district, the vast grid in the northeast corner of the capital that is the stronghold of the militia, the Mahdi Army. Mr. Daraji has met twice in the past two weeks with Lt. Gen. Graeme Lamb, a British officer who is the deputy commanding general in Iraq, said a senior Iraqi official in the office of the prime minister.

During the meetings, which took place on Jan. 17 and, most recently, on Monday, Mr. Daraji laid out a proposal from what he said were all the major political and militia groups in Sadr City, the senior Iraqi official said. The groups were eager to head off a major American military offensive in the district, home to two million Shiites, as the Americans begin a sweeping new effort to retake the streets of Baghdad.

Sen. Webb: my Eisenhower trumps your Eisenhower

Did ya'll catch Sen. Webb's Eisenhower quote during his response to the SOTU?

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

We have yet to complete the job, he so well advanced at such great cost; for victory in war is barren until a secure peace has been established. Young men who have not yet done their share must now come forward to help bear the burden. May the memory of what the fighting man accomplished inspire in us a high resolve to see the job through.

Franco Harris... a Great Football Player...

...and a gracious human being. Franco Harris - yer a good man.

Lots to Discuss...

...at the 2007 MilBlog Conference.

We're getting close to making some announcements, see here for the latest.

Re: Hitchens, Steyn

TruePunk over at InstaPunk takes off on themes set out in the Hitchens piece plus a Benny Morris look at the next holocaust and looks for accomplices here.

It should be read in its entirety, but a small sample:

These are the "liberal" candidates for everlasting guilt when the next holocaust occurs:

-- All you "supporters of our troops" who root for the insurgents because American deaths will embarrass Bush and all you "supporters of Israel's right to exist" who root for Hizbollah because Israeli deaths will embarrass Bush; you are both treasonous to your home and treacherous to your friends. There is no lower place in the human condition, whatever your religion, faith, or philosophy. The suffering you deserve will come.

Congressional military families

An article (very incomplete) in McPaper yesterday had me doing a little digging about who in Congress actually has a family member serving in the military. You wouldn't know it by the WaPo and NYT, but Senator Web isn't the only one. I think I figured out why the Marines do so well when it comes to Congressional issues. Look at the breakout: Total count 10 USMC, 7 Army, 3 Navy (+ 2 at Annapolis). 0 Air Force. 0 Coast Guard.

More details below the fold.

Poll Me

A look at results from that Military Times poll.

Some results from other topics below the fold. Lesbians and feminists will be particularly disappointed.

Iran and North Korea Collaborate on Nuclear Weapons

The last two members of the Axis of Evil are at it again:

North Korea is helping Iran to prepare an underground nuclear test similar to the one Pyongyang carried out last year. Under the terms of a new understanding between the two countries, the North Koreans have agreed to share all the data and information they received from their successful test last October with Teheran's nuclear scientists. North Korea provoked an international outcry when it successfully fired a bomb at a secret underground location and Western intelligence officials are convinced that Iran is working on its own weapons programme.

A senior European defence official told The Daily Telegraph that North Korea had invited a team of Iranian nuclear scientists to study the results of last October's underground test to assist Teheran's preparations to conduct its own — possibly by the end of this year. There were unconfirmed reports at the time of the Korean firing that an Iranian team was present. Iranian military advisers regularly visit North Korea to participate in missile tests.

Now the long-standing military co-operation between the countries has been extended to nuclear issues.

Some how I don't see the UN, Europeans, or the Democrats doing anything to stop the obvious violations by Iran of the UN sanctions placed on North Korea last year because of their ballistic missile and nuclear weapon tests. Could it be that the Iranians are trying to speed up their nuclear weapons program because they feel a US or Israeli attack is imminent?

You don't deploy an extra carrier group and PATRIOT missiles to the Middle East to fight an insurgency.

Hitchens on Steyn

The Corner tipped us off to a most valuable confluence of thoughtful analysis and serious attention to the threat of Islamist terrorism, over at City Journal. For there, Christopher Hitchens reviews what he (or the editors at City Journal) characterizes as a welcome wake-up call, in Mark Steyn’s America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It.

I’ve just finished Steyn’s scrappy call to arms. I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone with a serious concern about militant Islamic theology, Islamic inspired terrorism, and the global propaganda networks that spread hate and violence to a world-wide audience.

Hitchens, though appreciative of Steyn’s cultural analysis and equally alarmed about the threat in general, faults Steyn for what he sees as an inadequate comprehension of divisions and “conflicts of interest” within the Muslim community, as well as overly simplistic (perhaps jingoistic?) prescriptions for what we ought to do about it, once we acknowledge the danger.

I am a big fan of both these writers, and account them both among the most important voices among those who see the threat for what it is, and advocate an aggressive Western response to that threat. That doesn’t mean they don’t have their differences.

(More of Hitchens review of Steyn's great book over at Dadmanly.)

Get Some

WaPo:

ABC newsman Chris Cuomo narrowly escaped harm in Iraq yesterday when a roadside explosion crippled the armored Humvee he was riding in but the shrapnel failed to fully penetrate the vehicle.

"I got very, very lucky," Cuomo, 36, said in a telephone interview from Baghdad. He praised "the greatness of the soldiers" involved, saying: "I know if I had been there with any other group of individuals, I would not be able to have this conversation."
<...>
Cuomo, the news anchor of "Good Morning America" and the son of former New York governor Mario Cuomo, was embedded with a U.S. military police unit in Baghdad when his convoy of four Humvees responded to a report of a burning Iraqi police car. On the side of the road, the unit noticed some bodies, which turned out to be booby-trapped with an improvised bomb. The device exploded with massive force.

"It rocked the entire vehicle, blew out the tires on two of the vehicles, destroyed much of the glass, rocked the vehicles in a very, very big way," Cuomo said on "Good Morning America." "A piece of shrapnel was barely stopped by this armored door. It came within fractions of an inch of going through the entire vehicle."

The unit came under heavy small-arms fire, and Cuomo was trapped inside his disabled Humvee. He said another military unit arrived and provided cover while his and another crippled vehicle were towed to safety. No soldiers were wounded in the incident.

A hubcap-size piece of shrapnel broke the glass of one of the Humvees, creating a five-inch indentation in the armor, Cuomo said. He said his vehicle had less armored plating and that the situation could have been "catastrophic" if it had been hit by shrapnel of that size.

What impressed him most, Cuomo said, was the way the gunner, still spitting glass from a shattered window, sprang into action without complaint.

By the way, this is the enemy: On the side of the road, the unit noticed some bodies, which turned out to be booby-trapped with an improvised bomb.

This is us: the gunner, still spitting glass from a shattered window, sprang into action without complaint.

Just a chat between moms.

In advance of the President's State of the Union Address, I was invited to be a guest for a 7-9 minute segment on a show called "Top Priority" (a show on "women's issues") on ABC's News Now... According to the show's producer, I was being invited to discuss one of the biggest issues facing our nation -- Iraq -- as the President prepared for his State of the Union Address. They said they were looking forward to hearing about my experiences as the mother of a soldier and how I felt about the situation in Iraq. Just a chat between moms. So I agree to the interview... after all I write a blog about what it's like to be a mom of a soldier.... After the first question and response from the other mother...

I'm thinking, Great. I have Hillary or Nancy in the other chair! Close. Turns out it was Barbara Boxer’s friend, Anne Roesler (thanks MaryAnn for the heads up!) not to mention Nancy Pelosi’s darling. While there was a small legend that appeared and quickly disappeared under Ms. Roesler’s picture, turns out that Anne Roesler is no ordinary, average “military mom”, but a practiced anti-war speaker and writer -- AND HAS BEEN SINCE BEFORE THE WAR ACTUALLY BEGAN. And -- as it turns out -- not just any anti‑war speaker, but a member of Military Families Speak Out, a contributor at MichaelMoore.com… a friend of Ms Sheehan… and she’s also a spokesperson for United for Peace & Justice. She’s even been honored as a “social activist” by the Communist Party.

oh yes.. there's more... with links... the whole thing over at Some Soldier's Mom

Re: What would you say to this sending a message thing if you could say what you thought...

...and by the way, shut up, because who the hell asked you?

Hadn't caught this detail before:

When questioned directly, Petraeus said he would not be able to do his job as commander of MNFI without the additional 21,000 troops President Bush has pledged to Iraq.

But apparently the troop number question is no longer a military issue.

The Blackhawk Casualties.

From a senior personnel perspective, this was the greatest single kill event the jihadis have managed since 9/11. While no death is better or worse than the others, the Army Aviation community took a big hit on January 20th.

No. 081-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 24, 2007 Media Contact: (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public/Industry(703) 428-0711

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of 12 soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 20, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter they were in crashed.

Killed were:

Col. Brian D. Allgood, 46, of Oklahoma, who was assigned to the 30th Medical Brigade, European Regional Medical Command, Heidelberg, Germany.

Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker, 37, of Midlothian, Va., who was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, Virginia Army National Guard, Sandston, Va.

Sgt. 1st Class John G. Brown, 43, of Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.

Lt. Col. David C. Canegata, 50, of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, who was assigned to the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard, 46, of Polk City, Iowa, who was assigned to Joint Forces Headquarters, Iowa Army National Guard, Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa.

Command Sgt. Maj. Roger W. Haller, 49, of Davidsonville, Md., who was assigned to the 70th Regiment, Regional Training Institute - Maryland, Maryland Army National Guard, Reisterstown, Md.

Col. Paul M. Kelly, 45, of Stafford, Va., who was assigned to the Joint Force Headquarters of the Virginia Army National Guard in Blackstone, Va.

Staff Sgt. Floyd E. Lake, 43, of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, who was assigned to the Virgin Islands Army National Guard, Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Cpl. Victor M. Langarica, 29, of Decatur, Ga., who was assigned to the 86th Signal Battalion, Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

Capt. Sean E. Lyerly, 31, of Pflugerville, Texas., who was assigned to the Texas Army National Guard's 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, 36th Infantry Division, Austin, Texas.

Maj. Michael V. Taylor, 40, of North Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.

1st Sgt. William T. Warren, 48, of North Little Rock, Ark., who was assigned to the Arkansas Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Aviation Regiment (Air Assault), 77th Aviation Brigade, Camp Robinson, Ark.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

Why Would You Say This??

In discussing his "no" vote on the non-binding "no surge" resolution of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Republican Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he didn't support the resolution because he didn't believe it would affect administration policy. Instead, he said next time he talks to Tennessee soldiers he will tell them, "I oppose what you are doing but I thank you for your service."

and if Bob ever does say it, I sure hope no one is carrying... or at least they're not locked and loaded. Nothing like supporting your troops, eh, Bob?

Update: Yes I see that they have chaged the quote in the story (do you think it really was misquoted or someone asked them to change it? ok, how cynical can I get on press coverage? I think the sentiment remains the same.)

Sending a Message

A "Non-Binding" one.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has passed a resolution condemning the president's plan for more troops in Iraq.

The vote on the Democratic resolution, which says the troop buildup “is not in the national interest,” was 12-to-9.

Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel was the only Republican to support the nonbinding resolution.

President Hagel?

Like Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Chuck Hagel is rising amid a more glamorous and well-known crowd, and, like Lincoln, Hagel is setting himself apart in substantive and visionary ways, for Hagel’s political motives lie in his heart, not in his ego.

Hagel speaks of issues with a candor and clarity his contemporaries cannot match. His appearances on TV news programs are devoid of the sycophancy reliably on display from John McCain, Hillary Clinton and the other usual political suspects who overpopulate those shows. Hagel’s eyes are steely serious when he speaks of Iraq, of the need to return to Republican core principals, of energy independence, and of myriad other issues long neglected by Washington.

Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, has deeply rooted common sense, inherent courage and the proper measure of humility.

[snip]

History can marry a man and a moment like nothing else. That moment has arrived for Chuck Hagel, the emerging leader, the emerging president.

And how about this? Wiill the "maverick" become an "Independent?"

Iraqi Quality Control

Feel free to hum along with my latest:

The Iraqi army as a whole is probably never going to be mistaken for The Unit, but they are for the most part capable and willing to carry out what is asked of them. It's encouraging to see them finally transition to uparmored Humvees from underarmoured Toyotas; (less so when you factor in that the enemy has since mastered converting our H1s into CO2).

You see, our dilemma from day one has been with quality control: the coalition fixation with increasing the quantity of the indigenous Iraqi forces without much regard to their quality. They have been rushed into production since 2004 in a nod to our own domestic politics to an extent that fast forwarded to 2007 we now find ourselves faced with a devastatingly huge and potential Dell-like power supply recall of a shamefully defective detective force. This was never as evident in the northern provinces, but in the capital city (the linchpin on which all our efforts hinge) it was as painfully explicit as amateur porn on HDTV.

Find the rest waiting for you here.

A short equation

How to succeed at a Warfighter EX. See here.

Man, am I tired.

Strategic Corporal? How about Strategic JAGs and the Rise of "Lawfare?"

We've all heard the term "strategic corporal," that breed of soldier/marine that is able to process the larger picture and make the correct moral decision with the quick discipline and confidence in its rightness that he can make the correct tactical decision. Chester has a good example of such a corporal.

The September 2006 issue of The Army Lawyer (the real Army Lawyer, I'm just a pretender to the throne) has an interesting article by COL Kelly Wheaton titled: Strategic Lawyering: Realizing the Potential of Military Lawyers at the Strategic Level (PDF). An excerpt:

Beat Me

General Patraeus will be confirmed by the Senate soon.
Probably by close to a unanimous vote.
He has said he needs more troops to secure Baghdad.
Various Senators, who will vote for General Patraeus as the "Man to Accomplish the Mission", will then vote to deny the man the tools he has told them he needs.

Then we wonder why after decades of trying to find solutions to the problems if the Middle East we are standing at square one. In the insanity called Washington, the "Man with the plan" is denied the tools to do the job, while the "Man with no plan" gets all the tools he needs to accomplish nothing.

Sijan

The Lance P. Sijan Air Force Leadership Award annually recognizes U.S. Air Force Airmen who demonstrate outstanding leadership abilities. The four recipients for 2006 have just been announced.

Wanted to take a moment and highlight one:

Master Sgt. David John is the winner for the Senior Enlisted Category. The Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, sergeant was responsible for more than 800 convoys during his deployment in support of OIF. His expert leadership resulted in the convoys traveling more than 450,000 miles across Iraq without a single casualty or injury.

That task would be impossible in the Iraq you read about in the papers - draw your own conclusions. As for me, I wonder what kind of insurance break that would get you Stateside.

On a related note, below the fold you'll find a brief bio of Lance P. Sijan. If you've never heard of him, I highly reccommend this.

Re: Read Ahead 2

Democratic Response at Drudge

With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.
...
As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. “When comes the end?” asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

Anybody see irony in Sen. Webb invoking our "exit" from the Korean War since we're still there 50 years later?

Additionally, had Webb's logic been followed then, we never would have stood up to North Korea and South Korea would have been far less...ummm...existing.

Read Ahead

From the White House:

On the war on terror:

“For all of us in this room, there is no higher responsibility than to protect the people of this country from danger…[T]o win the war on terror we must take the fight to the enemy. From the start, America and our allies have protected our people by staying on the offense. The enemy knows that the days of comfortable sanctuary, easy movement, steady financing, and free flowing communications are long over. For the terrorists, life since Nine-Eleven has never been the same.”

“[O]ur military commanders and I have carefully weighed the options. We discussed every possible approach. In the end, I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance of success. Many in this chamber understand that America must not fail in Iraq – because you understand that the consequences of failure would be grievous and far reaching.”

“The war on terror we fight today is a generational struggle that will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to others. That is why it is important to work together so our Nation can see this great effort through.”

“Both parties and both branches should work in close consultation. And this is why I propose to establish a special advisory council on the war on terror, made up of leaders in Congress from both political parties. We will share ideas for how to position America to meet every challenge that confronts us. And we will show our enemies abroad that we are united in the goal of victory.”

Re: this just in

If you watch the video on the original story you'll see that Fox really hammered on that "sleeping on the ground" issue, even bringing in an expert on how horrible it is.

More importantly, they acknowledge that the business owner has said he terminated the employee that sent the response - something that should be noted in blog coverage too.

Sunni Sheik Standing Up In Ramadi, Too

More from embedded Tony Perry of the Los Angeles Times...

RAMADI, IRAQ — At 35, he is younger than many sheiks. And his Sunni Arab tribe is not one of the largest in Al Anbar province. But Sheik Sattar Bazeaa Fatikhan projects the aura of power and seriousness that comes to a man who has taken a stand.

After Sunni insurgents killed his father and four of his brothers last year, Fatikhan declared war against the insurgency.

He convened a summit of about a dozen prominent sheiks. From that meeting came a document called "The Awakening," in which Fatikhan persuaded all but one sheik to join him in opposition to the insurgency.

This just in from Sergeant Hess.

As I suspected, Sergeant Hess is inundated with offers to help. I sent him an email and asked him if he needed any help.

Here's his response:

Fox got fax wrong but the company did say what fox said. I was looking for flooring for a conference room and not for soldiers to sleep on. If you don't mind creating a draft email that says thank you for you support and everything is under control that would be great. I'm trying to email about 100 people in regards to what fox said but every time I get 5 out 3 come, fox is going to do a followup hopefully to make things straight. Thank you.

As you can see, the good Sergeant is not only busy fighting a war, he's now busy fighting his email, and all the good-hearted people who want to help.

Those of you who sent emails or left comments offering assistance - Sergeant Hess says, well, why paraphrase?

thank you for you support and everything is under control

Sergeant Hess is also a Sergeant at war, so I will cease forwarding him your offers of assistance - unless he needs something else and asks me to.

Let's let the young man do his job, eh!

But all y'all been really good about this - and I appreciate it, too.

If by chance, you have *no idea* what this post is about - start here.

A Tale of Two Testimonies

Washington Post: Petraeus Confident in New Iraq Strategy

New York Times: General Calls Iraq Situation ‘Dire’

(Senate Armed Svcs Cmte Page here)

UPDATE: Welcome Instapundit readers! Feel free to take a look at the rest of Milblogs or my own site for more high-quality drivel.

ISF Standing Up in Ramadi

via MNF-I

AR RAMADI, Iraq – The 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division officially took charge of independent operations in west Ramadi during a ceremony at Camp Ali Jan. 22.

This is the third battalion in the 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division to assume authority over another area in the city during the past five months, signifying the continued progress of the brigade.

Two whom you should meet.

While the official release of the names of the casualties of the downed helicopter hasn't hit my email, we know the notifications have been made.

Castle Argghhh! was hard-hit in the crash of that aircraft - I'll let co-blogger Bill, who has some new ghosts on his shoulders, pick up the tale. -John of Argghhh!

About two months before we left Bosnia, our Task Force XO decided to play with his new CD burner and give everyone in TF Pegasus a memento; a disk recapping what we'd seen and done (and why) and including at least one picture of everyone in the unit -- planners, pilots, mechanics, our infantry squad, Bosnian interpreters, the schoolkids we'd scrounged pens 'n' paper 'n' such for -- everyone. He left before I got my copy, but he e-mailed me the whole thing a month later -- three megs at a time.

Took forever to download all 93 megs and even longer to reassemble it. I poked through it a couple of times last year just to keep the name-face links intact.

Somehow, I didn't really consider I might be pulling up pix from it for another reason entirely...

BAGHDAD — At least 19 U.S. troops were killed in a helicopter crash and insurgent attacks across Iraq on Saturday in the deadliest day for the American military here in nearly two years. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The day's deadliest episode was the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter northeast of Baghdad on Saturday afternoon, killing all 12 U.S. soldiers aboard. The military initially had said 13 were killed but revised it to 12 early today. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * U.S. military officials said the cause of Saturday's crash had yet to be determined, but Iraqi sources said it was shot down. A witness said he saw ground fire bring down the aircraft, and an insurgent group claimed responsibility for the attack in an Internet posting that could not be authenticated.

Aviation is the Two-Degrees-of-Separation Branch of the Army -- I no longer know most of the folks in it, but I know those who do. And at 3pm Baghdad time on Saturday, 21 January 2007, there were two fewer of them...

I'd like you to meet COL Paul M. Kelly, 29th Aviation Brigade, Virginia Army National Guard.

COL Kelly was our TF commander. There were five of us Viet Vet Warrant dinosaurs living in a cluster of SEAhuts somebody in IFOR had christened "Raziac Ranch" -- COL Kelly started calling it "Jurassic Ranch"...and it stuck. To show our appreciation, we made him an honorary CW2 and he griped that he'd spent enough time sitting around drinking coffee to qualify for CW3.

He was the only field grade commander I'd seen since 1972 who spent as much time checking on the troops' welfare as he did in his office. And he had the good sense not to be a squad leader while he was doing it...

I'd also like you to meet SSG Darryl D. Booker, 29th Aviation Brigade, Virginia Army National Guard.

Sergeant Booker was my Flight Ops / Tac Ops NCOIC and the only Minister I know who could cite the Old Testament to prove that Rap Music was one of the Ten Plagues visited upon the Egyptians. He kept the TOCettes in line, made sure nobody got less time off than the two of us did and we took turns watching the bottled water on our desks freeze solid after nightfall.

We lost touch after he took leave to visit his daughter -- I heard she'd gotten married and made him a grandpa, which was the one thing he really, really wanted out of life...

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

If I smell green tobacco when I'm on the path to Fiddler's Green, I'll know somebody's saved me a seat...

Cross-posted at the Castle.

ATTN Military Hardware Geeks.

Over at the Castle, co-blogger Bill has been doing some pro bono work at the New Jersey Militia Museum.

Where he found this:

You should come over and read that post - and then, after you've tried your hand at it - you should check out the answer to Bill's "Whatziss" - and see his new one.

And, in keeping with "Someone you should know" posts, here's a variation on that theme: Meet Elmer Lindsey.

TRICARE news.

Raising TRICARE fees - it's baaaaack! As we knew it would be. For what it's worth - though I don't care for more than doubling it overnight, essentially, the fact that the fee structure hasn't changed in 10 years is rather unrealistic. As I said before - I think lumping *all* officer retirees in one group is unfair to the company grade retirees. If *I* were "SecDef for a Day" I would make some breaks in the officer ranks, as we did the enlisted. Company Grade/WO1-CW2 - same cost as the senior enlisted (most of those guys retired pay is roughly equivalent to the Senior Enlisted retired pay band), Field Grade/CW3-CW5 - the current proposed cost, and Flag Officer - whatever, but more than the Field Grades are paying. That seems fair to me.

A Helpful Hint

If, to disclose information to a reporter, you have stay anonymous, don't do it!

General May See Early Success in Iraq

Like every active-duty officer and Pentagon official interviewed for this article, he asked not to be identified by name, noting the sensitivity of the situation as Petraeus awaits confirmation.

Even when such quotes are positive, they're never helpful. Because the next time Tom Ricks wants a quote, this time a negative one, oh, he's coming back to you, jerkoff.

If you dont back us, feel free to get in front of us.

If there has ever been a time when your support is crucial for the success for your troops it is now. Through different outcomes and events in theater, your troops are taking action that will make a difference in the near future. If you have been on the fence or have wavered, you had better cinch up and get on the team for the win. Support your troops!

Geopolitical Diary: Al-Sadr's Calculus

Some 25 U.S. troops in Iraq were killed in a single day this weekend,
making it the third bloodiest since the war began. Also, Muqtada al-Sadr
announced he was ending his boycott of parliament and that he was
therefore rejoining the political process. There is not a direct
connection between these two events, but there is a connection
nevertheless.

Applauding The Los Angeles Times

...for Times staff writer Tony Perry's account of Husaybah today in the Wild West of Anbar...

Taming Iraq's 'wild west' - Los Angeles Times

"Business is good," Ahmed Ratib, the town cobbler, said as he nailed new heels on a pair of shoes. "Not like in the past."

Two years ago, the same streets were fraught with roadside bombs and snipers, and sellers and buyers stayed away. The area was considered too dangerous even for a quick tour by a U.S. general in his armored Humvee.

The Qaim region was routinely described, including in The Times, as an out-of-control "wild west" where the Marines were fighting with only limited success to control the smuggling of insurgent fighters and weapons from Syria.

Today, Marines walk the downtown beat, chatting with residents, fielding their complaints, encouraging them to contact the Iraqi police if they suspect insurgent activity.

In a country studded with areas where the U.S. has either failed or made only limited progress toward stabilization, Husaybah and the surrounding Qaim region stand out as a success, officials said.

North Korean Super Notes Made by the CIA

So claims the German newspaper the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Here is an english language translation of the article. This is the headline paragraph of the article:

“America's accusations against North Korea are on very shaky ground ... A rumor has circulated for years among representatives of the security printing industry and counterfeiting investigators that it is the American CIA that prints the Supernotes at a secret printing facility.”

Yes foks an unsubstantiated rumor that cannot be proven in anyway means that American sanctions on North Korea due to it's counterfeiting of US currency is on "shaky ground". How can an editor at a major German newspaper agree to print something like this? I heard a rumor that Elvis was living with space aliens does that mean the German media will print that as front page news as well?

Commandant orders: "every Marine in the fight"

You have to give credit to the Commandant of the Marine Corps - he knows his job - and has a good ear for both inside and outside the beltway.

"If we're going to grow the force on the one hand, we've got to be able to justify it to the bean counters ... how we have 66,000 Marines that haven't been to Iraq or Afghanistan," he said.

About half of those who have not yet deployed are potentially slated for future Iraq deployments, meaning this new policy would target the remaining 33,000.

Conway says many Marines want to go into combat but are denied. This new policy would relieve Marines who are on their third and fourth deployments.

McCain Might Not Vote for GEN Casey as Army Chief of Staff

He made the comments on Meet the Press this morning.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain on Sunday said he might vote against Gen. George W. Casey's nomination as Army chief of staff, saying he had "serious concerns" about the man who has overseen the Iraq war since 2004.

"I have very serious concerns about General Casey's nomination," McCain said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

For what it's worth, Pat Leahy on CNN said that despite McCain's comments, he expects Casey to get confirmed.

Loons at sea

A "Loon" hanger on a submarine?

A Glenn Ford movie?

All part of the history of the U.S. Navy's first missile submarines here.

It Was His Duty

Refusing to deploy was his duty, they say.

Watadamania.

More than 400 people turned out Saturday for a forum on the legality of the Iraq war that felt like part congressional hearing, part teach-in and part religious tent revival.

Speakers were sworn in while placing their hands on the U.S. Constitution. They quoted Henry David Thoreau, playwright Berthold Brecht, President Ulysses S. Grant and the prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trial. There were standing ovations, impassioned speeches and appeals to leave a few bucks in the collection basket.

There might have been people there who disagreed with what was being said.

But most seemed to endorse testimony that the invasion of Iraq violated international and U.S. law, that it’s a rerun of Vietnam, if not worse, and that military officers like Army Lt. Ehren Watada don’t have just a right, but a duty, to refuse orders to fight it.

Read the whole thing and pay particular attention to the "witness" list.

IMHO - The Surge - It just might work

Security is mostly perception. People who might become victims believe the security forces will prevent it,failing that, both they and the culprit the security forces will catch the culprit.

Blood on Sand

By now you're no doubt aware a helicopter crash in Iraq yesterday claimed the lives of 12 US servicemembers. On hearing the news I considered a post predicting the media response.

Watch the media hype this one, I would have said, as one of "the bloodiest days for the US since whenever". I refrained - because in spite of past experience I didn't really think the press would stoop to that level.

Today...

Re: Egypt Abetting Anti-US TV

Hosni Mubarak came to power and maintained it well understanding the power of mass communications--in his case radio.

Don't let anybody fool you that Egypt doesn't understand or accidentally minimizes the importance of their actions in supporting the Nilesat uplink.

Insight

Via comments below:

Two items of commentary by Dave Kilcullen at the Small Wars Journal Blog that may be of interest here:

A Framework for Thinking About Iraq Strategy (12 January) and Don't Confuse the "Surge" with the Strategy (19 January).

(Thanks to Dave Dilegge)

Egypt Refuses to Touch Insurgent TV

Coming to you live and in color, with lots of help from Egypt and Syria.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 20 — The video starts with a young American soldier patrolling an Iraqi street. His head is obscured by leaves, so a red target is digitally inserted to draw the viewer’s eye. A split second later, the soldier collapses, shot. Martial music kicks in, a jihadi answer to John Philip Sousa. The time and place of the attack scrolls at the bottom of the screen.

Such tapes, along with images of victims of Shiite militias and unflattering coverage of Shiite leaders, are beaming across Iraq and much of the Middle East 24 hours a day, broadcast by a banned Iraqi satellite television station that has become a major information center for the Sunni insurgency — and the focus of a cat-and-mouse hunt that has exasperated and infuriated American and Iraqi forces.

Making the situation even more galling for the authorities, American and Iraqi officials say that money stolen from the United States probably helps pay for the station.

Where does Syria fit in? Easy, it's the current stomping ground of the channel's founder.

This just in - President Bush's Health Insurance tax deduction from the SOTU.

SOTU Preview:

Standard Deduction For Health Insurance

"So in my State of the Union Address next Tuesday, I will propose a tax reform designed to help make basic private health insurance more affordable – whether you get it through your job or on your own."

– President George W. Bush, Radio Address, 1/20/07

Additional Information About The President's Proposed Standard Deduction For Health Insurance

· The President's primary goal is to make health insurance more affordable, allowing more Americans to purchase insurance.

· In his State of the Union Address, the President will propose a "standard deduction for health insurance" – just like the standard deduction for dependents.

· Under the President's proposal, families with health insurance will not pay income or payroll taxes on the first $15,000 in compensation and singles will not pay income or payroll taxes on the first $7,500.

· At the same time, health insurance would be considered taxable income. This is a change for those who now have health insurance through their jobs. The President's proposal will result in lower taxes for about 80 percent of them. The 20 percent of them with more generous policies will have the option to adjust their compensation to have lower premiums and higher wages to offset the tax change.

· The President's proposal levels the playing field for Americans who purchase health insurance individually rather than through their employers, providing a substantial tax benefit for all those who currently have health insurance purchased on the individual market.

· This proposal lowers taxes for all currently uninsured Americans who decide to purchase health insurance – making insurance more affordable and providing a significant incentive to all working Americans to purchase insurance coverage, thereby reducing the number of uninsured Americans.

· As we reform the Federal tax code, we will also support the innovative measures that States are taking to address the problem of the uninsured. Governors across the Nation have put forward plans to make basic private health insurance more accessible for their citizens.

· In his State of the Union Address, the President will announce a new effort – led by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt – to help governors reduce the number of people in their states without private health insurance.

Any smart guys with informed opinions here?

I'm trying to see how it will affect we military types who use the military system, TRICARE, in all it's forms.

The government *does* pay into it, but I don't think they do so in the same way that, say, General Motors or Sears does - those policies, procured from specific companies, will have price tags attached.

I do see the Pentagon seeing a way to set the cost at the high end (where it may, in fact, be) in order to force as many of us as possible into the "The 20 percent of them with more generous policies will have the option to adjust their compensation to have lower premiums and higher wages to offset the tax change." group so that those of us who can will jump to employer-provided coverage.

Heh. The devil will be in the details. On a first read, by unsophisticated me, it doesn't sound that bad - but... I sense a pay cut or benefit cut coming my way, at one end or the other, simply because I'm in a group that doesn't appear to be really covered here in the vision. We'll see. It's got to get past Congress, first.

Perry Advocates Bombing North Korea, Again

Former Clinton Administration Defense Secretary William Perry is once again advocating starting a war with North Korea by bombing it’s nuclear reactor:

Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry proposed Thursday that the United States should consider military action against North Korea if China and South Korea refuse to prod Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program, according to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Although the move is dangerous, there is no alternative left if China and South Korea, the two key economic lifelines to North Korea, do not join any U.S.-led “diplomatic coercive’’ action against Pyongyang, he told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.

AFP quoted Perry, the Pentagon chief under former president Bill Clinton, as saying that the U.S. should consider destroying a large reactor under construction in North Korea capable of making about 10 nuclear bombs a year.

Clouding an Issue

General Casey answers questions on "the surge":

Watch the video, then check the extended section for the resulting headline.

Run, Rabbit, Run

From the story HERE

Al-Sadr said that 400 of his men had been arrested and that he is also being targeted, prompting him to move his family to a secure location, the Italian daily La Repubblica reported.

The Shiite cleric said he is being targeted.

"For this reason, I have moved my family to a secure location. I even have had a will drawn up, and I move continuously in a way that only few can know where I am," he was quoted as saying by Repubblica.

I thought dying for your faith was what Muqty was all about... you know, killing infidels and those that do not toe the line and pay money... er, believe as he does... I'm betting on a spidey hole

re: Oh Noes

John, like we say in the Polomac Flotilla: I non-concur. So do a few others.

There is probably no better way to get China's nationalists to demand a Great Leap Forward in military spending than to tell them they are two decades behind the United States.
...
The American public may now be lulled into a false sense of security by the "been there, done that" attitude prevalent in some quarters; or it may be sent into a panic that a new communist rival is about to replace it as Top Nation. But China's leaders will not be taken in by either myth, and will instead keep a cool eye on what really matters.

Despite appearances, what really matters to China is not whether its military and its space programme can catch up with America's.
...
They looked up and saw America's single greatest strength — the extraordinary satellite technology that enabled it to know where its enemies were and bomb them. And they realized its greatest strength was also its weakness, because while a human can fight back, a satellite cannot.

This is a great opportunity to ponder: we shouldn't dismiss it.

Democrats Vow to Fund the War

Against global warming.

Close, so close.

Fighting the Information War?

This is one way to do it, I suppose...

Key figures in Iraq’s Sadrist movement said on Friday that US forces had detained one of its top members, the latest in a series of signs that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had authorised a crackdown on the radical Shia movement whose militias are blamed for a large share of the country’s sectarian violence.
<...>
The Sadrists identified the detainee as Abd al-Hadi al-Darraji, the movement’s media director in Baghdad.

Update (20 Jan): Turns out there's a bit more to the story. It's Sadr's organization that claims Daraji is simply a " media director" - others say he's much more. The story is still developing. Here's General Casey responding to early questions from reporters:

And here's today's news on the story:

News of Afghanistan ٤٢

"We highly recommend reading the News."

It's Time

Time Magazine

If you want to know whether a surge of U.S. troops in Baghdad will make a difference, listen to Iraqis like taxi driver Ali Mansoor, 38. Last fall Mansoor's neighborhood in central Baghdad, a mixed Shi'ite-Sunni area known as al-Sadoon, became a sectarian killing zone. The streets around his house were the scene of scores of murders and abductions every day. And then, for one week last October, the violence stopped. "There was a big change in the security situation. Everybody noticed," says Mansoor, who asked not to be identified by his real name. "In my area, there was not a single kidnapping or killing."

So what happened? For the first time since the war began, U.S. forces had locked down the Baghdad slum known as Sadr City, haven to the militias and death squads loyal to rebel Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Looking for a missing U.S. soldier, the Americans cordoned off much of Sadr City, preventing hundreds of killers from slipping out. On Oct. 24, the daily murder rate fell roughly 50%. It stayed down for more than a week, until Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki demanded that the U.S. end the blockade around Sadr City. After the U.S. pulled out, the body count in Baghdad returned to its previous levels, and life for Iraqis like Mansoor became hell again. "I think most of the bad guys came from Sadr City," says Mansoor. "The Americans should attack that place today, not tomorrow."

Re: Oh Noes

Please tell me it wasn't "Keep on lovin' you".

Meanwhile, John J. Miller says "the blame-America-first crowd is wasting no time in blaming America first":

Michael Krepon, president emeritus of the Henry L. Stimson Center, another non-profit involved with security issues in Washington, called the Chinese test a likely — and unfortunate — response to American space policies.

"The Chinese are telling the Pentagon that they don't own space," he said. "We can play this game, too, and we can play it dirtier than you."

Krepon said the Chinese test "blows a hole through the Bush administration reasoning behind not talking to anybody about space arms control — that there is no space arms race. It looks like there is one at this point."

Bet he's not an REO Speedwagon fan either.

STUDYING IRAQ FOR DHIMMIS

Holy prolificacy, Batman! Buck has not only posted more than once this month already, but twice this week?! Alert Glenn Reynolds! Someone text Drudge! Quick, somebody update his Wikipedia profile! Belay that -- quick, somebody create his Wikipedia profile! D'oh! Stupid pseudonymity...

Seeing as how Buck is soon to be a master's candidate in Military Studies with a concentration in Strategic Leadership (granted, a stretch for a lowly noncom), expect all future posts to get brainier, more pompous, and even more compellingly unreadable than ever before. All telling, more of all the wonderful qualities that routinely awarded him B minuses at his beloved alma mater Liberal Groupthink University.

But until he becomes a regular on Fox News -- to the point where Roger Ailes begins seriously pondering how well "Hannity & Buck" would roll off the tongue -- keep enjoying him for free here.

"The situation in Baghdad and several provinces is dire... The level of violence is high and growing. There is great suffering, and the daily lives of many Iraqis show little or no improvement. Pessimism is pervasive."

Indeed it is. Especially in this report!

Oh Noes!

China Space Attack: Unstoppable

China has shown it can destroy a satellite in orbit. What could the U.S. do to stop Beijing, if it decided to attack an American orbiter next? Short answer: nothing.

It takes about 20 minutes to fire a ballistic missile into space, and have its "kill vehicle" strike a satellite at hypersonic speed -- over 15,000 miles per hour -- in low-earth orbit. That's far too quick for anything in the American arsenal to respond, in time. There's "no possibility of shielding" a relatively-fragile satellite against such a strike. "And it is impractical [for a satellite] to carry enough fuel to maneuver away even if you had specific and timely warning of an attack," Center for Defense Information analyst Theresea Hitchens notes.

Meh. Welcome to 1985, Chicoms. The year when --presumably with REO Speedwagon cranked-- we sent an F-15 soaring to the edge of space to kill a target sat.

While I'm sure this will get the gears turning at places like the Space Warfare Center and RAND, there's simple solutions here, methinks. I'm not sure how long it takes to plug a burn into one of our keyholes to dodge one of these red rockets, but surely we could do it in under 20 minutes? Hitchens says we don't have the fuel for such a move, maybe she's right. But seeing that hitting an orbital vehicle from the ground is the rough equivalent of tossing a pebble into a coke bottle from end zone to endzone in the Superdome, I'm not so sure that this isn't something a simple delta-v maneuver couldn't cure. Suppose the simplest solution would be to spend a little extra on rocket fuel and send our new birds into orbits with perigees that are out of range of the Chinese arsenal.

Oh and if this piece of junk ever works, I guess we could work it into the calculus of defensive counterspace as well.

Cross-Posted at OPFOR

Re: I...

...like the sound of that too. Let's just hope it isn't the sound of one hand clapping ourselves on the back.

If this story turns out to be true, then all I can say is:

It's about damn time.

Failing to target the Mahd Squads is the key to everything that has been going wrong the past year in Baghdad. They outnumber the Sunni insurgents there by at least a 10-1 margin and their intentions are just as nefarious. They are the very reason the civilian bodycount is so high still on a day-to-day basis.

The Iraqi government must take JAM on directly before the people will ever take their elected officials seriously, much less the ISF.

Disasters

I got a letter my my bank today offering every assistance in recovering from the Disaster that apparently occurred where I live. I don't watch television news and don't get the local newspaper...I was completely unaware that a disaster had occurred.

I've done some research - From FEMA

“The recovery process for survivors of the November floods begins by calling FEMA’s registration number, 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week

I...

...like the sound of this, too.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Mahdi Army fighters said Thursday they were under siege in their Sadr City stronghold as U.S. and Iraqi troops killed or seized key commanders in pinpoint nighttime raids. Two commanders of the Shiite militia said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has stopped protecting the group under pressure from Washington and threats from Sunni Muslim Arab governments.

Update: Here's a slightly different version by the same AP reporter in the Prescott, Arizona Herald (a great town, from what I hear...)

Re: Fifth Column

Another tidbit from that Fox poll: "By 59 percent to 36 percent, Americans oppose sending more U.S. troops to Iraq."

That's right in line with other polls on the topic - so much so that it's hard to refute the results. USA Today/Gallup Poll: "those surveyed oppose the idea of increased troop levels by 61%-36%." Times/Bloomberg found 36% approve, 60% disapprove of the plan. CBS reported 33% favor sending more troops and 59% oppose.

That, my friends, is consistency. And it's also the peg upon which many politicians are hanging their political hopes. (I'd say "betting their political futures" but I suspect that given American media it's a safe bet - they'll get "cover" regardless of what transpires.)

Now let's revisit that other question from Fox: Do you personally want the Iraq plan President Bush announced last week to succeed?

Via Insta, a State lawyer blogging on subjects we've been talking about.

Pentagon Issues Manual for Military Commissions

WaPo

In a Pentagon news conference today, Daniel J. Dell'Orto, the Defense Department's principal deputy general counsel, said the new procedures faithfully follow the Military Commissions Act and ensure that "alien unlawful enemy combatants" who are suspected of war crimes receive "all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized people."

Dell'Orto also announced that Susan J. Crawford, the former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces, will serve as "the convening authority for military commissions." Crawford formerly worked in the Pentagon, serving for a time under then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney during the administration of President George H.W. Bush.

Air Force Gen. Thomas L. Hemingway, legal adviser to the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions, said detainee trials at Guantanamo that had been suspended will now go forward before the special military tribunals. He said 10 cases had been underway when the process was halted by a challenge in federal court and that a total of 14 cases had been "in various preparatory stages."

Here's a link to the Manual for Military Commissions (PDF--238 pages)

Much has been made of the rules of evidence present in the commissions and the extent to which "coerced" and hearsay statements are admissible. From the Manual's Preamble:

Fifth Column?

This is stunning. In response to the poll question: "Do you personally want the Iraq plan President Bush announced last week to succeed?"

Twenty-two percent (22%) said "No."

A full third of Democrats (34%), one-fifth of Independents (19%) and one-tenth of Republicans (11%), respectively) said that no, they actually want the "surge" to fail (PDF). Not whether they think it is likely to fail or succeed, but that they personally want it to fail.

Let that sink in for a second.

Re: More Promising News

Shiite Fighters Are Arrested, Iraq Says

BAGHDAD, Jan. 17 — Facing intense pressure from the Bush administration to show progress in securing Iraq, senior Iraqi officials announced Wednesday that they had moved against the country’s most powerful Shiite militia, arresting several dozen senior members in the past few weeks.

It was the first time the Shiite government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had claimed significant action against the militia, the Mahdi Army, one of the most intractable problems facing his administration. The militia’s leader, the cleric Moktada al-Sadr, helped put Mr. Maliki in power, but pressure to crack down on the group has mounted as its killings in the capital have driven a wedge into efforts to keep the country together.

Although the announcement seemed timed to deflect growing scrutiny by an American administration that has grown increasingly frustrated with Mr. Maliki, American officers here offered some support for the government’s claims, saying that at least half a dozen senior militia leaders had been taken into custody in recent weeks.

In perhaps the most surprising development, the Americans said, none of the members had been prematurely released, a chronic problem as this government has frequently shielded Shiite fighters.

“There was definitely a change in attitudes,” in the past three to four weeks, a senior American military officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Though the story notes the Iraqi government engaged in a bit of..."puffing" with respect to how many total militiamen had been arrested.

Iraqi Fact(orie)s

Non-military progress reported in Iraq, from Reuters:

U.S. aims to restart 10 Iraqi factories in weeks

BAGHDAD, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. officials have drawn up a list of 10 former state-run Iraqi factories they hope to restart within weeks to employ 11,000 people, kicking off a plan aimed at giving potential insurgents an economic reason not to fight.

Paul Brinkley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for business transformation, said the factories on the "top 10 list" are among 200 major factories around Iraq that used to employ more than 300,000 people before the March 2003 U.S. invasion.

U.S. policy immediately after the invasion was to promote privatisation so most state-run factories closed.

That left their employees surviving on stipends of about 30 to 40 percent of their former salaries and had a ripple effect on the economy, for example on farmers whose produce was no longer bought by food-processing plants, Brinkley said.

"The core effort right now is to restore employment to as many of the Iraqi people as we can," Brinkley told a news conference in Baghdad. "We think that will improve stability. It will undermine insurgent sympathy."
<...>
Conceding that U.S. policy had been based on the false assumption that Iraq's industry was "Soviet-style" and inefficient, Brinkley said a gradual transformation to the private sector was now favored over rapid privatisation.

Digging Strategic Holes

(aka Re: The plan comes together)

Here's what President Bush didn't mention about "the surge": It's nothing more than an adjustment in rotation dates. Some troops are going a couple months early, others will stay late. Stop the "surge" and the same troops will go to Iraq - just on their normal schedule and in time to hive-five the folks they will replace instead of reinforce. Those newly arrived troops will be completely up shit creek, of course, as no one in Iraq is going to take them at all seriously.

But simply naming this action without explaining it completely - perhaps in an effort to avoid the "nothing new here" response that would predictably follow - provides something "tangible" to oppose: more troops in Iraq who wouldn't otherwise be there.

Promising News

Or at least, news of promises:

Khalilzad also said the United States was "committed to going after" Iranian operatives in Iraq, who he said were responsible for supplying sophisticated bombs used against U.S. forces.
<...>
Khalilzad said Iraqi leaders have agreed to allow U.S. forces unfettered access to Baghdad neighborhoods. Such access is key to disarming militias. "We'll have the freedom of action to go anywhere in the city in pursuing these objectives," he said. "We have to wait and see whether what has been agreed to, which is quite satisfactory, is actually implemented."

Petraeus Hearings: "A Blow"

The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing next week on Lt. Gen. Petraeus' appointment as the next military commander in Iraq.

According to the LA Times, this will be a "blow to the White House" (and a "setback", too).

White House officials are concerned that Congress may try to "scapegoat" Gen. George W. Casey Jr., who has overseen the Iraq war since 2004 and has been nominated as Army chief of staff, the service's highest post. Army and administration officials had planned for Casey to be considered first, in the belief that the urgency of appointing Petraeus as his successor would dissuade lawmakers from engaging in a long and divisive fight over his handling of the war.
<...>
Although Defense officials had indicated Casey's nomination would go to the Senate first, White House officials sent over three nominations simultaneously Tuesday — those of Petraeus, Casey and Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, who has been nominated to head the U.S. Central Command, which oversees all U.S. military activity in the Mideast.

On Wednesday, Senate Democrats, at McCain's urging, moved to put Petraeus' confirmation hearing on the committee's calendar. Casey's has not yet been scheduled.
<...>
But the swift consideration of Petraeus could mean a rougher time for Casey, who has been criticized by McCain and others for failing to seek additional troops or commit existing forces to Al Anbar province, a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency.

The obligatory Vietnam comparison follows:

The nomination of Casey as chief of staff has drawn comparisons of him and Gen. William C. Westmoreland, the controversial commander who oversaw the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. When Westmoreland was replaced in Vietnam, he too was nominated as Army chief of staff and served in that post for four years.

Searching for Answers

A question on Ehren Watada, from comments here:

Wonder when someone will inform him that the legality of the war has no bearing on his obligation to deploy when ordered.

On Tuesday, however, Lt. Col. John M. Head, the military judge in the case, rejected Watada's request to debate the legality of the war at his court-martial next month. Although Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz, had sought to open the question so the soldier could explain why he defied his deployment orders, Head ruled that the war's legality was a political question irrelevant to the charges at hand.

Quote Of The Day

Bill Roggio interviews the milblogger who writes Acute Politics, one of the more literary milblogs I've seen and a good blog besides despite his short time on line. This should give one pause:

Do you fear your experiences in Iraq will cause your idealism to fade?

No, I don't think they will. I'm here in part because of my idealism - because I believe everyone should be given the chance to choose their own path in life, and because I felt I needed to back that belief with action. I don't see my time here changing that.

When the Plan Comes Together

The mainstream media must be awfully proud of themselves these days. They've laid the groundwork for stories like this.

A group of senators including a Republican war critic announced agreement Wednesday on a resolution opposing President Bush's 21,500 troop build up in Iraq, setting their marker for a major clash between the White House and Congress over the unpopular war.

The non-binding resolution, which was also gaining interest from a second key Republican, would symbolically put the Senate on record as saying the U.S. commitment in Iraq "can only be sustained" with popular support among the American public and in Congress.

"I will do everything I can to stop the president's policy as he outlined it Wednesday night," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican and potential 2008 presidential candidate, who joined Democrats at a press conference on the resolution.

No, things in Iraq haven't always gone according to plan and no, the media isn't to blame for everything, but isn't it nifty how the media shapes public opinion and then writes stories about the "unpopular war" and erosion of "popular support," something they've had a hand in flipping? Jerry Springer-like, me thinks....

Legal Profession's Collective Integrity Remains Intact

Whew, thank goodness. For a second I was worried people might start to have a bad impression of lawyers.

Official 'sorry' for lawyers jibe

A Pentagon official who criticised US law firms for representing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay US base in Cuba has apologised for his remarks.

In a radio interview, Charles Stimson said he found it shocking that US law firms would represent inmates at the detention centre free of charge.

He also said the firms might suffer financially when corporate clients found they were involved in the cases.

Mr Stimson now says he did not intend to question the lawyers' integrity.

Neal Sonnett, the head of the American Judicature Society [ed: you ever heard of em? Me neither], a non-partisan group, said Mr Stimson's remarks had been "shameful and irresponsible".

He had made a "blatant attempt to intimidate lawyers and their firms who are rendering important public service in upholding the rule of law and our democratic ideals", he said.

How Stimson's comments constituted intimidation or a threat is beyond me. At last check, the government employs its own attorneys and doesn't farm out legal work to BigFirms(tm). And unless I missed something, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs lacks legislative authority.

Iran isn't bothering much today - really

Russia 2015-2022 is what is giving me fits as of late.

There are ten million people in Moscow. Do you know how many of them are Muslim? Two and a half million. Or about a quarter of the population. The ethnic Russians are older; the Muslims are younger. The ethnic Russians are already in net population decline; the Muslim population in the country has increased by 40% in the last 15 years. Seven out of ten Russian pregnancies (according to some surveys) are aborted; in some Muslim communities, the fertility rate is ten babies per woman. Russian men have record rates of heart disease, liver disease, drug addiction and Aids; Muslims are the only guys in the country who aren’t face down in the vodka.

Faced with these trends, most experts extrapolate: thus, it’s generally accepted that by mid-century the Russian Federation will be majority Muslim. But you don’t really need to extrapolate when the future’s already checking in at reception. The Toronto Star (which is Canada’s biggest-selling newspaper and impeccably liberal) recently noted that by 2015 Muslims will make up a majority of Russia’s army.

What a train wreck coming around the bend. Don't forget all that Russian you learned as a JO yet....

Re: The Wayback Machine

The Washington Post, May 17, 2003; Page A01:

No Political Fallout for Bush on Weapons

Few Democrats are challenging Bush on the forbidden weapons, preferring to put the war behind them and focus attention on the economy, health care and other domestic issues.
<...>
This week, Pelosi said it is "difficult to understand" why the weapons can't be found. Yet she did not seem concerned about whether any are found. "I am sort of agnostic on it; that is to say, maybe they are there," Pelosi said. "I salute the president for the goal of removing weapons of mass destruction."

Similarly, Senate Democratic Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), who on the eve of war accused Bush of failing "miserably" to win international backing, now talks of giving the president "great credit" for winning the war.

Why the reticence to remind Bush of the rationale for the war? Public opinion may be one reason.

According to a May 1 Gallup poll for CNN and USA Today, 79 percent of Americans said the war with Iraq was justified even without conclusive evidence of the illegal weapons, while 19 percent said discoveries of the weapons were needed to justify the war. An April Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 72 percent supported the war even without a finding of chemical or biological weapons. Similarly, a CBS News poll found that 60 percent said the war was worth the blood and other costs even if weapons are never found.
<...>
"If I were a Democratic candidate, I don't think I would be pushing this issue,' said Andrew Kohut, of the nonpartisan Pew Research Center for the People and the Press...

"Inasmuch as we've already done the deed, the need for that as a rationale is less," he said.

Re: The Curse

Ooooh... pretty.

Who did the design?

Re: Step Away From the DFAC, Fat Boy

For those of us on a first name basis with the military's taping system, there is hope:.

Nintendo.

Six weeks ago, I began what has become a huge obsession of mine. It is called the “Wii Sports Experiment” (Read my original announcement of this from Early December ‘06). I outlined a 6 week game plan for myself, the idea being that I would continue ALL normal activity and eating habits, and simply add 30 minutes of Wii Sports to my day. For the past month and a half, I’ve stuck to these guidelines very strictly.

Science!

Rum Rations

An Appeal For Redress

"Given the dubious constutionality of General Order #1, as well as "mistakes" made by the administration of 1862(specifically ending the rum ration) we the undersigned demand compensation for compliance with General Order #1 at the rate of 1/8th pint of Rum (the pre-1862 Rum ration) for each day subjected to General Order #1."

I wonder if I can get 1,000 signatures??? I wonder if the NY TImes and WaPo will write artices about it?

A Limited Appeal

The WaPo picks up the "Appeal for Redress" story:

Working from within, Hutto, Rogers and others have established AppealforRedress.org , a Web site that enables active-duty, reserve and National Guard troops to appeal directly to Congress to withdraw military personnel from Iraq. On Monday, the group held its coming-out news conference in Norfolk, announcing that more than 1,000 people have signed appeals. On Tuesday, the pleas will be presented to Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) on Capitol Hill...

Kucinich will meet today with representatives of the group to receive the appeals for redress and present them to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

In fact, the story leaves out quite a few details - but that "simple sailors protesting war" is a much better angle than the whole truth - but the odds of the truth about this one ever appearing in the Washington Post are slim to none.

Note, however, that the Post is only willing to claim that "more than 1,000 people" have signed the petition. Other sources have noted that "mainly active duty members of the military" have signed. The group originally claimed they would check the signatures to "verify that they are legitimate service members". The numbers are small, but there's a numbers game being played here.

Here, too:

Organizers estimated that about two dozen active-duty members showed up at the Norfolk event, in a church near the naval base here. They were expecting 50.

But apparently worthy of Washington Post coverage.

Stennis Deploying Today

USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) is deploying today from Washington state on her way to the Indian Ocean and beyond. Expect this news to ignite a whole new round of "we're about to attack Iran" idiocy. We've got the Eisenhower off Somalia, the Stennis on her way, and the Eisenhower's normal relief will probably show up in April or so. That'll be three. I'm planning on continuing to yawn about an "attack on Iran" until we get four real carriers in the Fifth Fleet AOR (the amphibs don't count -- neither does the eastern Med).

Kagan and Keane

A week or two back I posted a quick reaction to the Kagan/Keane proposal, spurred on by CDR Salamander's post. Since people are drawing parallels to Kagan/Keane and the President's speech (and critiquing them thusly), I should link to both Phibian's and my takes on the proposal.

Re: Re: The Curse

Heh - you should see what Mudville looked like circa '03. No - actually no one should.

Oh but we shall. Thank you Internet Wayback Machine

(back on topic: the new design looks good)

Re: The Curse

Sadr's Mahd Squads are producing Muslim body counts in Baghdad at a rate that would impress Jack Bauer circa Season Four.

But site design? Heh - you should see what Mudville looked like circa '03. No - actually no one should. Point being I'm the wrong guy to talk about that.

Breaking the Curse

Greyhawk's always lamenting the fact that so many milbloggers close up shop after returning home from the war. While I understand the reasons why (so much more to do with your free time here than sit in front of the keyboard), I do believe I've finally overcome the tractor beam of stateside sloth.

I'll try to get back to my old form ASAP. But until then, please bear with me.

Whenever you hear someone state that there is "no military solution in Iraq, only a diplomatic or political one," consider that code for "I have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about."

Let me know how the new site design looks and feels. Constructive feedback, people.

The Other Three Thousand

On February 21, 2005, before all of his unit had arrived in Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. Thomas Stone and his advance party of California National Guard soldiers stopped to help another group of soldiers after a Humvee accident in downtown Baghdad. Stone shepherded the other unit's dazed troops into a proper security perimeter and called in a helicopter for the injured. But as the chopper landed, an insurgent detonated a hidden roadside bomb that shredded nine men. Stone ran back and forth, braving sniper fire, to grab first-aid supplies. Then, as a second medevac helicopter arrived and the survivors braced for another blast -- a common tactic of Iraqi insurgents -- Stone curled himself around a badly wounded friend, covering the soldier with his own body. "If it goes off, you're going to be OK," Stone told him. "Hug your wife and kids, and don't ever forget me."

Newspeak

The WaPo has a great new term for surrender in Iraq: "Alternatives centered around pulling out troops".

In context:

"We recognize that many members of Congress are skeptical," Bush said in his radio address yesterday, adding: "Members of Congress have a right to express their views, and express them forcefully. But those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance for success. To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible."

Many Democrats, in fact, have proposed alternatives centered around pulling out troops, an idea Bush flatly rejects.

Bad Link...

...in an earlier post, since corrected. But it's a bit down there now, and this is a must-read.

Set Your Coffee Down...

...before reading the quote below.

Saddam Hussein's half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Saddam-era Revolutionary Court, have been hanged. Originally convicted along with Saddam, apparently they were originally scheduled to swing with him, too.

But

A lawyer for the two men told The Associated Press recently that they were taken from their cells and told they were going to be hanged on the same day Saddam was executed.

Issam Ghazawi, a member of Saddam's defense team for the past two years, said he met individually with Ibrahim and al-Bandar recently, and that Ibrahim told him they were escorted from their cells and told they were also going to be executed.

"The Americans took me and al-Bandar from our cells on the same day of Saddam's execution to an office inside the prison at 1 a.m. They asked us to collect our belongings because they intend to execute us at dawn," Ibrahim reportedly said.

He said the two men were also told to write their wills.

Al-Bandar and Ibrahim were taken back to their prison cells nearly nine hours later, according to Ghazawi.

"Their execution should be commuted under such circumstances because of the psychological pain they endured as they waited to hang," he said.

Update:

The official video of hanging of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants screened for reporters Monday showed the former leader's half brother lying headless below the gallows, his severed head several yards away. The video shows Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, being hanged side by side.

They wore red prison jumpsuits. As they reached the gallows, black hoods were put on their heads and five masked men surrounded them.

After the trap doors opened, al-Bandar could be seen dangling from the rope. Ibrahim's body was lying on the floor, chest down, his severed head resting several yards away...

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the gallows were built to international standards and in accordance with human rights organizations.

They still don't know if Jeff Ake's alive or not.

Jawa reports:

His business is failing. His wife may have to sell the house. There is no insurance, because they still don't know if Jeff Ake's alive or not. It wasn't exactly Halliburton; smaller businesses can't do much when the boss is kidnapped and disappeared.

They need some help.

The New York Times Surrenders

From today's editorial:

It was surreal how disconnected President Bush was the other night, both from Iraq’s horrifying reality and America’s anguish over this unnecessary, mismanaged and now unwinnable war.

Not exactly new or surprising, but I don't even think the NYT has stated it so succinctly. Stand firm Grey Lady, stand firm. And lest you nattering nabobs of NYT negativity think nary a new solution is proposed, we have the much-vaunted international conference:

Mr. Bush should reinforce that message by convening a conference of all of Iraq’s neighbors to discuss how they can help stabilize Iraq — and what they can do to contain the wider chaos should it come.

I've got that warm fuzzy feeling, myself.

Port Protection- the old way

A ship with horns? What is it doing?

Old fashioned port protection, as set out here.

Update: A modern technique.

Iran on Inuaguration Day

Human Events - Jan 1981

It was remarked that their release was a gift from President Carter, which it was, in a way, but it was also a gift from Reagan to himself, since Reagan's own tough stance on the hostage issue had almost certainly caused the mullahs in Iran to feel they had better make a quick deal with the outgoing Administration. The joke going around the Capitol was: "What’s flat and glows?" The answer: "Iran on Inauguration Day." The joke was apparently not lost on the Iranians.

I think the Iranians have forgotten.

Re: Compare and Contrast

I've noticed the resurgence of the term "warbloggers" (a term in no way related to milbloggers, btw) in the Leftist discussion of Jamil Hussein. It's rather quaint and absolutely outdated - until Rosen and others started tossing it around again I hadn't seen it used since 2003. (See here and here.) "Back in the day" it applied to bloggers of every political persuasion who wrote about the post-9/11 world, and separated them from the pure diarist or tech-blogger or celebrity-gosip-blogger or whatever. It fell into disuse because it was an utterly inaccurate descriptor - even Welch's "farewell" came a couple years after the term had all but faded from memory of anyone not involved in the gestation. I doubt anyone who first found the blogosphere in 2004 or later had ever even seen the term. But now it appears again. Are Rosen and his sort trying to pretend they are far out of touch with the blogosphere while simultaneously responding to every rumble from its depths?

Orwell's Boot (Part II)

Wherever you find the boot of totalitarianism smashing endlessly into the human face, you'll find a "jounalist" praising the resulting "stability":

Pelley: But wasn't it your administration that created the instability in Iraq?

Bush: Our administration took care of a source of instability in Iraq. Envision a world in which Saddam Hussein was rushing for a nuclear weapon to compete against Iran... He was a significant source of instability.

Pelley: It's much more unstable now, Mr. President.

Compare and Contrast

Jay Rosen says in a very long series of posts (the link is the latest) that "warbloggers" are in a "culture war" over reporting, with a "retreat from empiricism", using some convoluted appeals and assumptions with which I do not agree and see as intermittently counterfactual. Jason van Steenwyk of Countercolumn is the (usually) lone dissenting voice but nobody (including Rosen) seems to want to understand in favor of misdirecting on the Jamil Hussein imbroglio.

On the other hand, Bill Ardolino interviews a Marine in Iraq. This interview is a little easier to understand.

Update: Argh! Wrong guy named "Bill" embedded in Iraq and blogging. My apologies; fixed. Uh, I did that on purpose...as a joke. Yeah, that's it.

Drop the Donut...

...and step away from the DFAC, fat boy:

Military Personnel Eating, Drinking More, Survey Says

U.S. troops were fatter and drank harder in 2005 than before the Iraq war started, according a Pentagon survey of more than 16,000 service members released yesterday.

Just over 60 percent of respondents in the 2005 survey were overweight; in the previous survey conducted in 2002, 57.2 percent were. The Iraq war began in March 2003.

See Shark, Jump

Jonathan Hutto officially (and predictably) joins the "Stolen Valor" crowd:

"With recent calls for an escalation of troops in Iraq, Congress should listen to those of us who have been and who will be directly affected by this policy change,'' said Norfolk-based Seaman Jonathan Hutto.

He's getting some very skimpy local press coverage because MLK Day is the promised date to deliver the results of the Leftist astroturf "Appeal for Redress" effort.

The Appeal messages will be delivered to members of Congress at the time of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January 2007.

Over 1,000 signatures of mainly active duty members of the military have been gathered.

Note the latest version is that "mainly active duty members of the military" have signed - some of whom have been to Iraq. Even with the additional padding, the number is incredibly low.

This one's even lower:

Event organizers said they expect roughly 50 active-duty military personnel to be on hand to ask Congress to short-circuit the president's proposal, unveiled in a nationally televised address on Wednesday, to send an additional 21,500 troops to the country.

But hey, they got "Lisa" on board:

"Lisa" -- 20 years old, E-4, USAF, Stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii:

I joined up two weeks after I turned 17 because I wanted to save American lives. I wanted to be a hero like any American child.

I supported the war when I joined because I thought it was justified. Only after my own research and the truth coming out did I learn how wrong I was, how -- for lack of a better word -- how brainwashed I was.

Now I know the war is illegal, unjustified and that our troops have no reason for being there.

Too bad she didn't do research here.

More things...

...that make Yugo hmmmm

What we're not asking is actually the central question. We're getting distracted by the shiny political knife fight. What we need to be asking is, what happens if we lose? And no one will answer that question. If we lose, how are we going to mitigate the consequences of this?

It's so much easier for us to cover this as a political horse race. It's on the cover of "The New York Times" today, what this means for the '08 election. But we're not asking the central national security question, because it seems that if as a reporter you do ask the national security question, all of a sudden you're carrying Bush's water. There are national security questions at stake, and we're ignoring them and the country is getting screwed.

Things that make you go Hmmmm...

Guantanamo detainees don't lack for legal representation. A list of lead counsel released this week in response to a Freedom of Information Act request reads like a who's who of America's most prestigious law firms: Shearman and Sterling; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr; Covington & Burling; Hunton & Williams; Sullivan & Cromwell; Debevoise & Plimpton; Cleary Gottlieb; and Blank Rome are among the marquee names.

A senior U.S. official I spoke to speculates that this information might cause something of scandal, since so much of the pro bono work being done to tilt the playing field in favor of al Qaeda appears to be subsidized by legal fees from the Fortune 500. "Corporate CEOs seeing this should ask firms to choose between lucrative retainers and representing terrorists" who deliberately target the U.S. economy, he opined.

When Marine Lt. Ilario Pantano was facing court martial--and potentially, the death penalty--over his conduct on the battlefield, did any of these law firms offer to send down a pro-bono attorney for him?

Even More Troop Support

James Taranto asks: Are There Two Different Fort Bennings?

"Bush Cheered at Fort Benning: FORT BENNING, Ga.--President Bush, surrounded on Thursday by cheering soldiers in camouflage, defended his decision to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq and cautioned that the buildup will not produce quick results. 'It's going to take awhile,' he said."--headline and lead paragraph, Associated Press, Jan. 11

"Bush Speaks and Base Is Subdued: FORT BENNING, Ga., Jan. 11--President Bush came to this Georgia military base looking for a friendly audience to sell his new Iraq strategy. But his lunchtime talk received a restrained response from soldiers who clapped politely but showed little of the wild enthusiasm that they ordinarily shower on the commander in chief."-- New York Times, Jan. 12

Unlike in Congressional corridors and across the civilian landscape of the country, there seems far more support than outrage, more cheer than cheerlessness, and a hope that maybe this will do it.

More re: Because they support the yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah

In December, 2003, Hillary Clinton visited Iraq to deliver a message to American troops: Americans don't support your mission.

The morale of the troops, she said, "is very high," but she said the military personnel with whom she spoke in meetings and during "two turkey dinners" wanted to know "how the people at home feel about what we are doing."

" "Americans are wholeheartedly proud of what you are doing,' " Clinton said she replied, " "but there are many questions at home about the (Bush) administration's policies.' "

What happened is that when I was in Afghanistan and Iraq speaking with a lot of our soldiers who I think are doing an extraordinary job under dangerous and difficult circumstances. They asked me on one particular occasion well you know what will people think of us and we're doing back home? Now I'm not going to lie to an American soldier particularly a soldier from the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, New York.

Re: Because They Support The Troops

Everybody's talking about the war, but nobody's doing anything about it. That's the message from Ehren Watada, who has apparently discovered the difference between "having an opinion" and "giving a damn" now that his expected public support has failed to materialize.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 13, 2007:

Public Inaction Dismays Watada

Seven months ago, Watada made headlines when he refused to deploy to Iraq with a Fort Lewis-based Stryker Brigade, saying the war was illegal. His decision drew the attention of the anti-war movement, and eventually charges for conduct unbecoming an officer and missing a troop movement.

On Friday, Watada continued to talk, wondering about the lack of public outrage over the nearly four-year-old war.

"Could it be that ... many people don't care about the illegality of this war?" Watada asked students and others who packed a hall at Seattle Central Community College. "It is my belief that the American people have relinquished their responsibility."

Because They Support The Troops

Somebody came to my site after doing a search for Armywrong.net

From the site's own press release:

ArmyWrong is a new front in an escalating insurgency to counter the $200 million per year the Army spends on campaigns squarely aimed at the youth of America--packed with images of power and hyped across the full media spectrum.

This nationwide effort, led by Texans for Peace, battles growing militarism while also pointing out how today's military-industrial complex "perverts the ideals of Democracy, Freedom, Justice and Liberty," says Charlie Jackson, ArmyWrong creator.

In the tradition of Vietnam-era satire, ArmyWrong turns military slogans on their face. "There's Wrong and There's Army Wrong" is the motto of the new campaign. The project's website and materials heap payloads of satire and humor on military issues ranging from daily army life to the lack of volunteers from neoconservative groups.

But make no mistake, counter-recruiting efforts like ArmyWrrong [sic] are hoping to do something more serious … obstruct the creeping militarism of America and war policies by encouraging youth to find other forms of service.

Charming. Truly.

Iran War Casualties

via Debka (questionable sourcing)

For the first time, the Pentagon released the figures of US and British casualties in Iraq from the extra-lethal explosive devices manufactured in Iran: 198 dead and more than 600 wounded

Clueless

via The Globe and Mail

At hearings yesterday, Mr. Levin forced Mr. Gates and Lieutenant-General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Okay..so I'm nitpicking...the most senior member of the worlds third largest military has what rank? Should a guy who can't tell the difference between a 3 star general and a 4 star general (one wears 3 stars..the other 4 stars) be considered an authoritative source on a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing?

The Bi-Partisans Have Spoken

Reuters

President George W. Bush made clear on Saturday he would not back off his plan to send more troops to Iraq despite bipartisan hostility to the idea and he accused his critics of failing to offer an alternative.

But it's easier to be "anti-war" once you've been trained to believe that only George Bush has anything to lose.

Talibani Responds to "the Surge"

A translation from Iraqi media, via Haider Ajina.

Bush's speech was delivered in the pre-dawn hours, Iraq time, and initial US media coverage accurately noted "no response yet" from the Iraqi government.

I don't know if any American outlets have subsequently covered Talibani's response, but the AP did have this today:

Days after President Bush accused Syria of encouraging the violence in Iraq, President Jalal Talabani on Sunday will become the highest-level Iraqi official to visit this country in more than 24 years.

Re: The Two Below

I highly recommend everyone follow the links in the next two posts down.

There may be a few folks who don't know it (and she doesn't mention it) but Some Soldier's Mom's soldier son was wounded in action during his last trip to Iraq. The Mrs and I got to meet both her and her husband at Landstuhl, where he had been evac'd for medical care. (Unfortunately, that was the only way we got to meet fellow milbloggers while we were in Germany. Fortunately the number wasn't high.)

There are two sides in this war. You can't call for defeat of one without simultaneously calling for victory for the other. Obviously I'm not addressing those who simply voice concerns over the whole "surge" concept - I'm among that number myself. But if you live in the United States or enjoy the protections we afford so many other nations, then you have a stake in this war, and will bear both the unforeseable and predictable consequences of failure. Sadly, too many - perhaps because of those very perceptions of protection here and abroad - feel too much distance from that threat, and can summon adequate "courage" to participate in a simultaneous (and safer, at least as far as immediate likelihood of a participant's physical injury or death) political "war".

The stakes are high in that more genteel battle too, but I fear those who think victory in that sphere will somehow justify defeat in ours are in for a rather rude awakwening should they grasp that brass ring of their fondest dreams.

It's Not a Sound Bite...

Wednesday morning, the phone rings. “Who the heck is calling at this hour?” As I turn over to reach for the nightstand, I glance at the windows in the room. They’re still dark; no hint of light. And I mutter under my breath, “It’s never good news if it’s dark.” As I reach for the phone, the green numbers on the clock say 5:30. I pick the phone out of its cradle and push the “on” button.

"Hello?"
“Hey, Ma.” I mentally calculate, 7:30 Georgia time.
“Hey. Everything OK?”
“We’re going.”
"Your unit?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit.” Great. Not even out of bed and I’m already cursing.
“Do you know when?”
“Can’t say exactly. Looks like March. Be sure to watch the President's speech tonight."
I think, as if we’d miss it??
“Is it official? Did you get orders?”
“Not yet.” And then he tells me a tentative date.
Damn. Just Damn.

Follow along at Some Soldier's Mom

Et Tu?

I SAW IT IN MY INBOX this evening. It was an email from a familiar name, someone very close to me. But it was the subject line that got me really steamed:

FW: Oppose Escalation in Iraq

Opening it, I read this single line from a loved one:

Let your conscience decide....

What followed was, as the subject line suggested, a forwarded petition urging Congress to cut off funding for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Continue reading "Et Tu?"

Hey, does this mean Allah reads Milblogs?

China addresses a strategic vulnerability

By using the Mekong River to move oil instead of the Malacca Strait. Why?

As noted here

Piracy is not the only perceived vulnerability though. Beijing has also concerns that in a potential conflict with US fuel shipments through the waterway could be choked off, hence the importance of the Mekong.

More here.

Update: I should note that instead of viewing the Mekong route as an alternate to the Malacca Strait, it may be more appropriate to view it as an alternative to the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait as I mention in an update to the final link set out above.

News o' Afghanistan

"41st edition of the News! Curse that Crusader, Major John!"

Explosion at US Embassy - Athens

Breaking News... From CNN

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- An explosion shook the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, on Friday, an embassy spokeswoman told CNN. No injuries were reported.

The spokeswoman did not give immediate details on the cause, size or scope of the blast, but local media reported it occurred around 5:55 a.m. (10:55 p.m. ET).

and at FOX

Amid all the other news today...

...Corporal Jason Dunham, USMC, became the first Marine to earn the Medal of Honor in Iraq.

Chuck Simmins has followed the story from the beginning, you can read it all here.

Re: A Little Contest

Greg Gutfeld's got another contest running. You may want to look at that one.

A Little Contest...

...at The Huffington Post:

How many U.S. troops will be killed in Iraq in the next year?

Submit your best estimate here...

I'll keep track--our memories are long--and we'll notify the "winner" one year from today.
<...>
Our collective prognostications might just serve as a public declaration that the Commander-in-Chief cannot make Iraq into a crapshoot with our kids.

So submit your estimate here. Put a number to it. On January 10, 2008, how many additional men and women in the U.S. services, do you think, will be dead for this cause?

Okay, This Is Just Cool

I don't know about you, but an hour and a half of listening to the same Happy Flowers song sounds like a good deal to me.

Oh, wait. I like the Happy Flowers. That pretty much was my college radio show, back in the day. Wonder what Chief Wiggles would think of that?

RE: Heads Up

The local Fox affiliate gave this deadlined MILBLOGGER some airtime this am, for reaction to the President's speech last night. Video here.

Nowhere near as detailed, nor exhaustive, as Greyhawk, but maybe every little bit helps to dispel the ignorance...

Iran,Syria denounce Bush plan

via AP

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran and Syria on Thursday denounced President Bush's new Iraq strategy that blames them for fueling violence in the war-torn country, and they said the plan to send more U.S. troops would only increase bloodshed

I wasn't all that thrilled about the plan, but if it upsets the usual suspects, Iran and Syria, it must be good.

Heads Up

Below the fold, the White House fact sheet sent to media in advance of tonight's speech.

And:

The Highlights of the Iraq Strategy Review Slideshow is now available on the White House website in PDF format.

Our past efforts to secure Baghdad failed for two principal reasons: There were not enough Iraqi and American troops to secure neighborhoods that had been cleared of terrorists and insurgents. And there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have.

Of course, a better definition of exactly what "restrictions" were acknowledged as excessive would be nice too. (I'm betting it ain't General Order One he was talking about, but other than that who knows?) I'm not sure we'll see one though - but once again, I didn't expect "restrictions" would be addressed at all.

But I'll bet that in all the "surge" hype, even in the "President acknowledges mistakes" hype that's sure to follow, this "restrictions" bit gets overlooked by most. The smart kids will notice.

Updating: A slightly different take - Byron York caught it, but thinks it will lead to "more pointed questions than ever before". I suspect he believes there are lots of smart kids out there.

More: Meanwhile, back in iraq, where the President's speech played at 0'dark hundred...

Iraq PM Tells Shiite Militias to Give Up

Iraq's prime minister has told Shiite militiamen to surrender their arms or face an all-out assault by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces, senior Iraqi officials said Wednesday, as American and Iraqi troops prepared major military operations aimed at ending sectarian warfare in Baghdad.

The move came as President Bush said he will send an additional of 21,500 American combat troops to Iraq, according to excerpts of a speech the president was set to deliver later Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, head of Iraq's Shiite-led government, previously had blocked several U.S. attempts to crack down on fighters controlled by his most powerful political ally, Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric.

"Prime Minister al-Maliki has told everyone that there will be no escape from attack," a senior Shiite legislator and close al-Maliki adviser said. "The government has told the Sadrists: 'If we want to build a state we have no other choice but to attack armed groups.'"

In the past, the Iraqi government has tried to prevent American military operations against the Mahdi Army, while giving U.S. forces a free hand against Sunni militants. The Bush administration has pushed al-Maliki, who took office in May, to curb his militia allies or allow U.S. troops to do the job.

Although al-Maliki withdrew political protection from the Mahdi Army, there was no guarantee the Shiite fighters would be easily routed from the large and growing area of Baghdad under their control.

I have another concern about the surge though, but if whoever I eventually share a cot with at least smells nice it won't be too awful bad.

Final update: Full transcript here.

Just Like Home

There's a hell of a quote buried in Bill Ardolino's interview with Captain Eric "Disco" Dominijanni, USMC, a New Yorker currently serving as a Company Commander in Iraq:

I asked him who the enemy was:

"A lot of (those who plant IED's) are poor farmers who have no money. Some just drop them off on their way to work. A local insurgent leader or ringleader will say 'hey, here's $5 to drop an IED against the Americans," sometimes more if they video them dropping it. It's also almost like a rite to manhood out here. We're getting kids, like 18 and 19 years-old that are trying to look like men, get that symbol of manhood and establish themselves as local leaders in the community. And what's the best way to do that? It's to fight the infidels."

I suggested they join football teams instead.

"Well actually we're doing that, we're handing out soccer balls, and you can actually see the impact in some areas with the younger kids. All kids want candy, but when you see them and they are waving when you drive by, that's a key indicator - but only when no adults are nearby, because some of them will slap their hands down. Some areas are friendly and some are not; you'll feel it, like back in NY. When everyone scatters, something is about to go down."

USS Newport News And The Venturi Effect

It looks like there might be a reasonable explanation for the USS Newport News colliding with the Japanese tanker after all. This article says that Navy is thinking that the sub was drawn up into the tanker by the "venturi effect" as the tanker overtook and passed over the sub. The explanation passed the smell test as far as I'm concerned -- I discuss it a little more over at my home submarine blog.

An exchange of views

Warning, some profanity in this one. I have also posted this at my own place...

General Bell to "Fight" Any USFK Relocation Delays

We had some hints before that USFK was not happy about the announced Camp Humphreys delay and cutting of funds by the South Korean government and finally, the USFK commander has come out fighting:

The top U.S. military commander in South Korea said Friday that he would "fight" any move to delay the much-awaited relocation of U.S. forces to a base south of Seoul.

"I am opposed to any decision to stretch this out for any reasons, whether it’s political or it’s fiscal… or whatever it is," Gen. B.B. Bell, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) told a news conference at his office at the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul.

He stressed that the expansion of Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul, should be completed by 2008 as scheduled.

The commander was responding to media reports that the South Korean government has decided to postpone the relocation move until as late as 2013 due to a backlash by residents and financial constraints.

Continue reading "General Bell to "Fight" Any USFK Relocation Delay"

USS Newport News Update

Expanding on Chap's post below, here's the Fifth Fleet press release. Apparently, the Newport News was submerged when she hit the supertanker; those things can draw 100 feet at the keel, so it's possible the U.S. sub wasn't even at PD, but rather was cruising at depth. I have some more info over at my home submarine blog.

Another Boat Collision

Sounds like nobody hurt, but a submarine and merchant collide in the Arabian Gulf, according to this news report.
(h/t Fark)
Update: As usual, the Sub Report has better info, naming the boat (USS Newport News) and giving details..

Dear Mr. President:

Since I won't be at the White House on Wednesday or at Fort Benning on Thursday...

Dear Mr. President: Common sense and reason tell me that just sending more soldiers and Marines without some fundamental change in the approach would be a mistake. If you are planning to send more troops, I hope you can make a clear and convincing argument… but be prepared if it’s just more of the same as I will be the first one to stand and tell you if I think you’re full of.. it.

There's also a plea to Americans about supporting the troops... all at Some Soldier's Mom

Re: Breaking News

A look at CJTF-HOA here. Excerpt:

The lead actor in this case has been Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, or CJTF-HOA. Headquartered at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti--a sweltering speck of a country wedged at the intersection of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and the Gulf of Aden--the U.S. military presence does not look like much: a rough and tumble collection of air-conditioned tents, prefab trailers, and plywood shacks, perched between the scruffy Djiboutian capital and a volcanic desert. A French colony until 1977, Djibouti remains home to Paris's largest overseas military contingent. Foreign Legionnaires jog on the perimeter of the U.S. compound, while Mirage fighter jets fly overhead. (U.S. troops note their neighbors have a special fondness for buzzing low over Camp Lemonier early on Sunday mornings.)

A Hero's Sacrifice

The Wall Street Journal:

At the White House on Thursday, President Bush will present Cpl. Dunham's parents with the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor, the first such award for a Marine since Vietnam. The ceremony will enshrine Jason Dunham for posterity as one who loved his brothers more than himself.

Oui Oui!

Says frere Jacques

PARIS, Jan. 5 — In a scathing attack of the American-led war in Iraq, President Jacques Chirac said Friday that his predictions that the war would spread chaos and more terrorism had come true.

“As France had foreseen and feared, the war in Iraq has sparked upheavals that have yet to show their full effects,” Mr. Chirac said in his New Year’s address at Élysée Palace to the foreign diplomatic corps.

“This adventure has worsened the divisions among communities and threatened the very integrity of Iraq,” he said. “It has undermined the stability of the entire region, where every country now fears for its security and its independence. It has offered terrorism a new field for expansion.”

All done!

Cindy...

...goes to Cuba:

Sheehan arrived in Havana on Saturday with a dozen other peace activists and plans to attend a human rights conference in the eastern Cuban city of Guantanamo on Wednesday. On Thursday, the group is to hold a protest outside the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo base, where nearly 400 men are being held on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

Breaking News

Action.

A U.S. Air Force gunship has conducted a strike against suspected members of al Qaeda in Somalia, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports exclusively.

The targets included the senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa and an al Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of two American embassies in Africa, Martin reports. Those terror attacks killed more than 200 people.

The AC-130 gunship is capable of firing thousands of rounds per second, and sources say a lot of bodies were seen on the ground after the strike, but there is as yet, no confirmation of the identities.

Read the rest.

Cone of Silence

This makes sense:

Kerry was at that table to conduct an off-the-record breakfast discussion with two reporters, so there would have been no reason whatsover for troops to be sitting with them. In fact, Kerry and the reporters even sought out empty seats, I'm told.

Wonder what they talked about, while eating that free Haliburton food?

Sevens

In the first seven days of 2007, the number of bodies found dead in Baghdad streets as reported by Reuters has ended in the number 7 four times. Twice 47 bodies being found in Bagdad has been reported by Reuters in the first seven days of 2007.

Source www.Icasualties.org

When Things Aren't What They Seem

An interesting story about propaganda-gone-bad.

An Iraqi insurgent propaganda video, containing what is described as a Christmas message from a U.S. soldier taped just before he was killed, appeared on dozens of Web sites and on the al Jazeera network.

But a lot about the video does not add up, including the fact that ABC News found the supposedly dead soldier is "alive and well" and present for duty, according to a U.S. Army spokesman at Fort Campbell, Ky.

"There are a whole bunch of lies on that tape," said Lt. Col. Ed Loomis at Fort Campbell. "It is nothing but a total fabrication."

Check out the comment section.

You Go Girl

Airforcewife schools the media.

Perspective...

...is a good thing.

I saw Ellicia for the first time today. First time since she'd died and they'd wheeled her away.

Was nervous. But, went right up to her...

She was covered in a sheet (up to her neck) because they didn't have clothes yet. The clothes I'd brought, even though she'd recently worn them, didn't fit anymore. I'd gone shopping for her, and selected a few outfits. (As an aside, Ellicia and I enjoyed doing clothes shopping, but men, I have to tell you... if you think clothes shopping is difficult, it's really hard when she can't try them on. Takes a lot of imagination.)

I think it's a beautiful outfit, and she'll look lovely in it.

Read the rest.

Odd happenings at Port of Miami

Breaking story on truck with some unlisted (and lied about) passengers.

Port security was, in this instance, on the ball.

More here.

Curious indeed. Persons of interest identified as U.S. citizens of Iraq and Lebanese descent.

Press conference coming.

Update: Sounds a little like something from the Vince Flynn book Memorial Day.

Update2: 1730 EST- The press conference clears up a great deal of misinformation from initial reports- the cargo of the truck does match the manifest and there were no mysterious "55 gallon drums" as reported by the Miami Herald. On the other hand, the explanation of finding a couple of additional people in the truck as a "miscommunication" seems a little weak.

Maybe it was all innocent fun, but it could have also been a probe of the security at the port on a Sunday in January. From what I have seen and heard, Miami Port security passed the test...

40

US casualties in Iraq actually were lower in 2006 than in 2005.

Here's how the Boston Globe chose to ignore that story:

N.E. Toll In Iraq Nearly Doubles

Most of 40 killed in '06 were men under age 25

The number of New Englanders killed in combat in Iraq nearly doubled last year to 40, mostly men under age 25 cut down by increasingly lethal hidden roadside bombs, according to a Globe analysis.

Military analysts said the numbers underscore a troubling aspect of the war: Insurgents have been able to outwit American forces by improving roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices, resulting in a steady stream of deaths among the young soldiers and Marines typically assigned to daily patrols.

In New Hampshire, 2006 was particularly difficult for military families. The number of Iraq deaths jumped from two in 2005 to eight, and five of last year's dead were younger than 25, leaving a trail of unfulfilled aspirations.

30

Following PM Maliki's promise to increase efforts to crack down on sectarian violence in Baghdad, Iraqi troops "fought with gunmen in an area where several residents had been killed and their bodies hanged from street lampposts", the New York Times reports.

A spokesman for the Defense Ministry, Muhammad al-Askari, said that an Iraqi Army unit had gone into the area after receiving reports that Sunni fighters had set up a fake security checkpoint and were taking Shiites aside and shooting them.

The bodies of many of those killed at the roadblock were then hanged from the lampposts, Mr. Askari said.

He said that Iraqi soldiers had moved in and surrounded the fighters at the checkpoint. In initial fighting there, 30 of the men were killed and several more were arrested, Mr. Askari said, adding that the neighborhood remained locked down.

20

Offensive to pacify Baghdad begins

Hassan al-Suneid, a key aide and member of Mr. al-Maliki's Dawa Party, said the Iraqi leader had committed 20,000 soldiers to the operation and would call upon American troops and air power only when needed.

10

No 10: Saddam execution 'was wrong'

Prime Minister Tony Blair believes that the way in which former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was executed was "completely wrong", his official spokesman at Downing Street has said.

Zero

Dear Mr. President:

The start of the new Congress brings us opportunities to work together on the critical issues confronting our country. No issue is more important than finding an end to the war in Iraq. December was the deadliest month of the war in over two years, pushing U.S. fatality figures over the 3,000 mark.
<...>
Our troops and the American people have already sacrificed a great deal for the future of Iraq. After nearly four years of combat, tens of thousands of U.S. casualties, and over $300 billion dollars, it is time to bring the war to a close.

A Needed Service

Ships at sea reporting on the weather.

And geting sunk by U-boats.

Being the only U.S. surface ships to capture an enemy surface vessel during WWII...

Boring holes in the ocean...

And performing a rescue at sea that "must rank with the Coast Guard's outstanding rescue feats."

Details here.

If You Liked Two Percent You'll Love Next Year

Not as if it matters, but just to tweak people...

Navy Times says the proposed 2008 raise will be 3.5%. The proposal doesn't tend to go up over the year; it tends to go down...

No Sugar Coating this one...

...it's flat out the most disgusting administrative snafu I've ever heard of:

The Army said it will apologize to the families of about 275 officers killed or wounded in action who were mistakenly sent letters urging them to return to active duty.

The letters were sent a few days after Christmas to more than 5,100 Army officers who had recently left the service. Included were letters to about 75 officers killed and about 200 wounded.

Impetus?

I find most talk from Washington these days disturbing - I'm not a supporter of surge or retreat. But perhaps that talk is designed to disturb someone else:

Iraqi PM Announces New Security Plan for Baghdad

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has announced a new security plan for Baghdad aimed at curbing the raging insurgent and sectarian violence that is plaguing the capital.

In a speech marking the anniversary of the Iraqi army Saturday, Mr. Maliki said Iraqi forces will begin cracking down on militants in Baghdad, regardless of their sectarian or political affiliation.

Re: Mothballing the RN

This speech from April 2006 (Tory defence spokesman Liam Fox) indicates the depth of the rot. And it's not really only "due to Iraq costs", it's more a case of the bills coming due. Here's a teaser:

This year we will spend only 2.2% of our GDP on defence. This is the smallest proportion of our national wealth that we have spent on defending our country since 1930. By the time we finish the new Wembley Stadium, we will be able to seat the ranks of the whole of the British army inside it. The Royal Navy will be smaller than the French navy. And the RAF Museum at Hendon will have more attack aircraft than the RAF does now…

Re: End of the Royal...

Something is certainly afoot in Britain:

Figures from Defence Analytical Services Agency show 14,460 personnel left the Army in 2006.
<...>
Tory MP and former Army officer, Patrick Mercer, told the Sun newspaper: "This is the greatest emergency facing the Army for many years, yet the government continues to talk about recruitment as if it is improving."

He added: "The facts are staggering. Battalions are reaching the point where they can hardly do their jobs in war - but they continue to be sent to the front.

"This can only put soldiers' lives in greater peril."

The Sun newspaper cited a leaked document revealing that infantry battalions were 2,788 men short - three times worse than in December 2004.

The revelations come a day after a senior officer criticised the standard of living accommodation for soldiers and their families.

Adjutant-general Lt Gen Freddie Viggers condemned cramped and decaying living quarters in barracks, saying soldiers and their families deserved better.

See also: Army living conditions: Even prisoners are better off

See also Tommy (Not the one by Townshend, the one by Kipling, discussed at length in comments here, though God only knows why.)

End Of The Royal Navy?

There are a couple of articles in the Telegraph this week that seem almost implausible, but I couldn't find anyone disputing them. The first says that the British Government is planning on drastically reducing the number of operational ships in the RN by "moth-balling" several frigates and destroyers; now, they're claiming that the Royal Navy will be putting a five year freeze on officer promotions for LCDRs and above. (Articles from the Daily Mail here and here seem to support these claims.) Is this the end of the Royal Navy as an effective force? And should we celebrate this as our final victory over the embarrassers of USS Chesapeake, or wonder why even our closest allies are expecting us to pick up more and more of the worldwide missions in the middle of a war?

Forgiving

Douglas Wood, who was rescued from captivity in Iraq last year, has an opinion piece in Australia's The Age: Time to forgive and forget if Iraq is to rebuild.

Via Tim Blair, who notes

Wood is obviously a very forgiving man; his piece appears in the Age, the same paper that previously condemned him as insensitive, a graceless, undignified, blustering buffoon, and unreliable.

The Kagan-Keane Plan: Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq

Looks like Steve and I want to suck up all your spare time this Saturday!

Good ideas are all over the place. In case you missed it, yesterday Frederick W. Kagan and General Jack Keane (USA, ret.) presented their plan at a conf. hosted at the AEI. Also speaking were Senators McCain and Lieberman. They have produced a compact Executive Summary and 50-page OPLAN, but you can also listen or watch the whole conf. All the appropriate links over at my place. A quick snip of the opening of the ES, with the rest of the ES after the jump.

Victory is still an option in Iraq. America, a country of 300 million people with a GDP of $12 trillion and more than 1 million soldiers and Marines, has the resources to stabilize Iraq, a state the size of California with a population of 25 million and a GDP under $100 billion. America must use its resources skillfully and decisively to help build a successful democratically elected, sovereign government in Iraq.

Victory in Iraq is vital to America’s security. Defeat will likely lead to regional conflict, humanitarian catastrophe, and increased global terrorism.

Iraq has reached a critical point. The strategy of relying on a political process to eliminate the insurgency has failed. Rising sectarian violence threatens to break America’s will to fight. This violence will destroy the Iraqi government, armed forces, and people if it is not rapidly controlled.

Victory in Iraq is still possible at an acceptable level of effort. We must adopt a new approach to the war and implement it quickly and decisively.

We must act now to restore security and stability to Baghdad. We and the enemy have identified it as the decisive point.

Achieving Victory In Iraq: An Independent Report

For consideration and review among peers, MilBloggers and readers may be interested in reading a Center for Threat Awareness report we have written and published at ThreatsWatch. It was clearly inspired by our dissatisfaction with the recommendations present within the Iraq Study Group Report. But we began crafting it only after our equal dissatisfaction in the lack of a comprehensive response with a comprehensive set of alternative recommendations guided by a desire to achieve victory rather than the ISG report's guiding principle of achieving 'success' through negotiation with Iraq's principle outside state instigators and without pressing al-Qaeda in Iraq to its own defeat. There was no shortage of criticism, many with an alternative or two, yet many also without recommendation beyond complaint. But there was seemingly no organized and broad alternative to the ISG's body of work when we began the process.

The introduction to the report can be found here: PrincipalAnalysis: Achieving Victory in Iraq

The Full Text Original Doc is here: Achieving Victory in Iraq

Rather than a withdrawal and handing over of the pursuit of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQAM) and the insurgency to the nascent Iraqi military, we call for a surge and a redefined mission of routing AQAM. Finding value in a regional initiative to support Iraq, we call for such but with the intent and open exclusion of Iran and Syria unless they reverse course, stop importing violence into Iraq and end their terrorist-supporting ways elsewhere. There is absolutely no value in smiling diplomats around a table fantasizing about how Iran and/or Syria are going to assist Iraq's security and stability until such time.

From early on, our first four recommendations (below) address this:

Hummmm

A senior official in the Somali government's new Ministry of the Interior told ABC News government forces had recovered "dozens of foreign passports," including several American passports, on the bodies of al Qaeda fighters killed in combat between forces affiliated with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and Ethiopian forces in Somalia.

According to the same source, most of the foreign passports were Sudanese, Pakistani and Yemeni, but several American, British and Australian passports were also recovered.

Story here.

Meanwhile, the cave-hopper is sounding off again.

The Most Respectful I've Ever Seen Him

Ralph Peters on Petraeus.

News of Afghanistan ۴۰

"We have to get back to the FOB, I hear the News is up!"

Some Quick Hits

Michael Ledeen, in the Corner, reminding us that persuading other countries isn't always binary "diplomats talking or soldiers invading".
Victor Hanson pushes back against some conventional wisdom. "Worn Out" means different things to different people...

Re: Greyhawk's Two Word Answers

'Hawk, I think your point is well taken...and more importantly, the timeline outlined in the links you put together is essential to understanding the "why" for our faltering in that part of the year. (I also learned something; I don't think I will ever look at SFTT the same way again, even though I didn't like it that much when Hack was alive.)

Re: Moves

Check out the early comments at the link. There are some very, uhhh... interesting people getting their news from ABC.

Another Re: Long War / Strategy

We almost lost Fallujah because we pulled back. We had to have a Second Battle of Fallujah because our enemy almost got the benefit of our lack of will to be violent. About this time, we had Sadr in our posession and let him go. This weakness is damaging.

There are several two word answers. The least arguable is "Abu Ghraib".

April 9, 2004, Iraq:

U.S. troops fanned out across Kut, southeast of Baghdad, after meeting little resistance in the city, witnesses said, in a major foray by the American military into the south, where U.S. allies have struggled to deal with the uprising by the al-Mahdi Army, led by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Some Interesting Personnel Moves

ABC News links, nothing official in my inbox but clearly someone's been talking:

--Khalilzad named to the UN.
--Negroponte resigning from intel to be named as deputy State.
--VADM (ret.) McConnell named to run intel.
--Fallon nominated to CENTCOM; Petraeus to MNF-I.

Hell No to Ho or Mama Watada Comes to Washington

Whole lotta Hussein stuff tonight, but as with most things, I always like to end my night with a game of "What about Watada?"

I love me some puff pieces. There's nothing quite so enjoyable as an article that doesn't even try to play it straight. Take this wonderful piece in WaPo about 1LT Ehren Watada's mother's trip to Capitol Hill on behalf of her shytebag son.

Carolyn Ho is a mother on a mission.

Good start, nice and neutral.

Re: Jamil

I really hate saying this: Don't say I didn't warn you.

By the way, this is not good:

Khalaf told the AP that an arrest warrant had been issued for the captain for having contacts with the media in violation of the ministry's regulations.

Hussein told the AP on Wednesday that he learned the arrest warrant would be issued when he returned to work on Thursday after the Eid al-Adha holiday. His phone was turned off Thursday and he could not be reached for further comment.

Hussein appears to have fallen afoul of a new Iraqi push, encouraged by some U.S. advisers, to more closely monitor the flow of information about the country's violence, and strictly enforce regulations that bar all but authorized spokesmen from talking to media.

Let me also assure you all the AP welcomed the Jamil Hussein focus - encouraged it, even. It masked the issue of false reports from Iraq. Were six people burned? Probably not. Were four Mosques burned? Demonstrably not. Did one of those Mosques contain 18 people who were killed in the fire (as the NY Times claimed)? No. Were 184 Mosques attacked last February? No again. Does any of this matter now? Nope. This huge victory (in a battle that shouldn't have been fought) in the information war has essentially given the AP a free pass to report anything without fear of question for months to come.

I'll also assure you this "humbling of bloggers" will be very well covered by the media in the weeks ahead. The AP set 'em up with their "he exists because we say so" responses, (in hindsight, this move was exceptionally well played, just before checkmate) and they'll just love knocking 'em dowm.

And most bloggers walked right into the punch.

Update: Nevermind, that's what they've all been saying all along, apparently. I prefer ArmyLawyer's response.

Re: Capt Jamil Hussein

Now that the AP has located him, they might want to ask him why he can't effectively police the neighborhood he is assigned to without substantial US assistance. We've heard a lot of news from Jamil Hussein about how violent his neighborhood is, but we have heard nothing about what he intends to do PERSONALLY to stop the violence in his neighborhood.

Iraqi MOI Located Jamil Hussein

Link

Ministry spokesman Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, who had previously denied there was any such police employee as Capt. Jamil Hussein, said in an interview that Hussein is an officer assigned to the Khadra police station, as had been reported by The Associated Press.
...
Khalaf offered no explanation Thursday for why the ministry had initially denied Hussein's existence, other than to state that its first search of records failed to turn up his full name. He also declined to say how long the ministry had known of its error and why it had made no attempt in the past six weeks to correct the public record.

"Will we see apologies from the keyboard kommandoes?"

Re: Escape from Somalia

Wherever you find the boot of totalitarianism smashing endlessly into the human face, you'll find a leftist praising the resulting "stability".

Another Tragedy

The military community has lost another member to cancer. The second in one week.

Hat Tip: ArmyWifeToddlerMom.

Blatantly Stealing a Quickie...

...from Lex:

The newest aircraft carrier now being designed at Northrop Grumman Newport News will bear the name of former President Gerald R. Ford.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld let the news slip Wednesday during his eulogy at Ford’s memorial service in Grand Rapids, Mich., when he spoke of giving the former president a souvenir last year.

“Without giving away any secrets, I can report that during (a) visit with President Ford, I brought him a cap with ‘USS Gerald R. Ford’ emblazoned across the top of it,” Rumsfeld told the crowd. “How fitting it will be that the name Gerald R. Ford will patrol the high seas for decades to come in the defense of the nation he loved so much.”

Navy officials, who had kept the name of the newest flattop a closely guarded secret in recent months, were caught off guard and left scrambling by Rumsfeld’s sudden revelation. Later in the day, the Navy confirmed that the ship would indeed be named the USS Gerald R. Ford. The announcement had not been expected until Jan. 16.

Because the new carrier is a first-in-class ship, the Ford name will be associated with carriers for decades to come - even long after the ship is retired. Just as the nine ships following the USS Nimitz are known as “Nimitz-class” carriers, the new batch of what could be 10 ships will carry the “Ford-class” designation.

If true...

If this is true, then it appears the Devil is gaining company at a quick pace lately.

The effect on Iran's actions - I fear very little. But any opportunity for Iran to improve, by having a beast like Khamenei demise, is fine by me.

"Hey, am I dead or what?"

Is al Qaeda trying to escape Somalia by sea?

That'd be perfect:

We’ve been at this so long now, and have spent so much in blood and treasure that it’s possible to forget how this all started and the resolve we first brought into the fight: Tired of taking hits, more tired still of trembling in anticipation of the next blow we decided to change the rules of the game: Put them off balance. Strike fear into their hearts. Drive them into caves. Seal up the entrances.

Flush ‘em out. Flush ‘em down.

Michelle Malkin...

...is going to Iraq.

We need to get some Lefty bloggers over there for balance. Any volunteers?

Operation Babylift

This began as a comment on a MilBlogs post, but the more I read about it the more I realized this (mostly unknown) story was more than worthy of it's own space.

Re: The Long War - A Strategy

Grim, that post has some great thoughts. I've responded to them a little bit over at my place.

The bottom line: We need a Long Telegram.

Re: Greyhawk's Essential Documents

I'm thinking that Greyhawk's idea is useful. A format that might work would be something like den Beste's 2002 Essential Library, but focused on the needed resources.

A great resource of this type is the front page of the Small Wars Journal. Problem is that it's so full of information that the page will drown a newbie in links and reading.

What we need is a way to deaggregate ourselves to learn, teach and grow COIN experts more effectively than the hirabists pump out new converts to destruction. Grim got me to thinking about how the National Defense University once was an incubator for Cold War thinking--and it wasn't a military only organization by a long shot.

Internal FBI Inquiry Into Guantanamo Treatment

Apparently the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Defense have different rules. Personally, I'm shocked. Pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request, the FBI released the results of their internal inquiry into whether FBI employees had observed "aggressive mistreatment, interrogations or interview techniques of GTMO." While some of the incidents described probably warrant further investigation, it's important to keep some perspective:

A survey of 493 FBI personnel who were asked whether they observed aggressive mistreatment, interrogations or interview techniques of GTMO yielded 26 positive responses and several additional responses that were "not purely negative."

The most questionable incidents described include the use of a dog to intimidate detainees (a tactic since determined to be a no-no); two instances where detainees' heads or faces were wrapped in duct tape; and allegations (though no witnessing) by detainees of having been beaten.

While the report will certainly be grist for the mill for certain fundraising groups, the report lacks anything that calls into serious question existing DOD interrogation practices, let alone anything in the way of "torture." While many of the interview techniques are noted as being within DOD policies (loud music, sleep deprivation, cold room, etc), but outside FBI regulations; things like the duct tape incidents do not have that qualifier.

What's notable about the response from groups like the ACLU is the charge that the FBI "ignored" the allegations or otherwise "failed to followup." Yet people seem to miss the FBI's determination:

...that there was no FBI involvement in the target interview techniques -- only outside entities.

Accordingly, any investigation will be done by those "outside entities." Standard procedure when you have multiple agencies working together. Unless the ACLU cares to inform us all how the FBI intends to investigate the DOD?

But whatever, it's more fun to allege an FBI coverup.

Here's a familiar name...

...in "print" and video.

Re: Strategy/Long War

Well done, Grim.

I think we need a permanent (hyperlinked) list of essential documents for understanding the war on terror somewhere in the right or left column here. I'd suggest The Management of Savagery be included in that list, perhaps under a "Know the Enemy" sub header.

I'm thinking texts that are available in their entirety online, free of charge (and hopefully free of political hyperbole).

Other recommendations are welcome.

The Long War: A Strategy

I have composed the thoughts I had about Chap's recent article on global COIN. You can read them here.

At Any Price?

I suppose this doesn't come as a surprise.

Al Arabiya is reporting that a Kuwaiti businessman offered any amount in order to buy the rope that hanged Saddam Hussein. The businessman was told that he has to negotiate with the person who now owns the rope: Muqtada Sadr!

Remember Desert Storm?

Co-blogger Bill the Rotorhead...

Over at my place, doesn't post often enough, but is pretty funny when he does.

Every now and then I stumble across this old chestnut.

Suitably updated, naturally, from Being All that It Could Be in the Army of One to being Army Strong.

"Sir! Why, Sir, did the chicken cross the road, Sir?!?"

USAAVNC: The purpose is to familiarize the chicken with the tasks, conditions and standards inherent in road-crossing. Road-crossing should be performed only between the hours of sunrise and sunset. Solo chickens must have at least three miles visibility and a safety observer. Special considerations: MOPP Level IV Not Authorized.

HQ, DA: Due to the needs of the Army, the chicken was involuntarily reassigned to the other side of the road. This will be 1-year unaccompanied tour and the chicken will have a stabilized 3-year tour upon its return. The chicken will not be eligible for re-deployment until at least three months after its return. Every chicken will be required to accomplish one road-crossing during its career, which will not affect its opportunities for future promotion.

TRADOC: This event will need confirmation by repeated iterations of road-crossing using various chicken breeds, road types and weather conditions in order to confirm whether it will consistently occur within the parameters specified for chickens and the remote possibility that they might be tasked with crossing Thruways/Interstate Highways. Commanders will insure that a Risk Assessment Worksheet is completed for each set of specified conditions.

USAREUR: The purpose is not important. What is important is that the chicken remained OPCON to SFOR and was not sliced to KFOR on the other side of the road. Without slicing, the chicken was able to achieve a seamless road-crossing with near-perfect, real-time, in-transit visibility.

USASC: The chicken was instructed to "Hold Short" of the road. This Road Incursion incident was reported in a Hazardous Chicken Road-Crossing Report (HCRCR). Commanders will re-emphasize that chickens are required to read back all Hold Short instructions.

CECOM: The legacy "stovepipe" chickens of today will be replaced with multi-functional, supportable, affordable, integrated and interoperable world-class Warrior and Supporting-Element Chickens (WSEC), enabling them to dominate the digital roads of today and tomorrow. However, previously-committed funding for legacy Comanche software development will require the Service to further slip initial fielding of the WSEC to the right by two-to-four years unless Congressional plus-ups are approved.

CENTCOM J-6 Chicken Systems Program Office (C2J6-CSPO): In a partnering relationship with the client, CSPO assisted the chicken in rethinking its physical distribution strategy and core-paradigm processes, thereby enabling the chicken to implement change in order to continue meeting its mission. However, the actual crossing of the road has not yet occurred due to the number of action items still open from the meeting.

SOCOM: Chicken? What chicken? You did *not* see a chicken, understand?

Acronymed out? See Flash Traffic...

Flash Traffic (extended entry) Follows »

USAAVNC -- US Army AViatioN Center, aka, The Schoolhouse, aka, Mother Rucker.

HQ, DA -- Headquarters, Department of the Army. The head head in the head shed. Key piece in the Puzzle Palace.

TRADOC -- TRaining And DOctrine Command. Or, sometimes TRAining and DOctrine Command. It doesn't matter, so long as you maintain internal consistency within the document.

USAREUR -- US ARmy, EURope. The only major command (MACOM) that will be able to fit in a squad dayroom once all the unit juggling is finished.

USASC -- US Army Safety Center. It used to be the US Army AViatioN Center/School and Aviation Safety Center, but one morning, the sign fell down and they had to whack it up to get it out of the boxwoods.

CECOM -- Communications and Electronics COMmand. They make some really neat prototypes that nobody knows how to activate -- or if it's even safe to do so.

CENTCOM -- CENTral COMmand. If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Or at least place you in the holding cell beneath the stage at Cap'n Jack's in Doha...

SOCOM -- Special Operations COMmand. Acronym? What acronym...?

Is this report accurate?

Or an attempt to begin a "Bush blames the military" narrative? The NY Times:

Over the past 12 months, as optimism collided with reality, Mr. Bush increasingly found himself uneasy with General Casey’s strategy. And now, as the image of Saddam Hussein at the gallows recedes, Mr. Bush seems all but certain not only to reverse the strategy that General Casey championed, but also to accelerate the general’s departure from Iraq, according to senior military officials.

The shifting of blame has been predicted, and whether or not it occurs it shouldn't surprise anyone if the media declares it has. A new version of the " Shinseki myth" may be in the making, as Iraq tours don't last forever.

For the record, the strategy is a good one:

The original plan, championed by Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top commander in Baghdad, and backed by Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, called for turning over responsibility for security to the Iraqis, shrinking the number of American bases and beginning the gradual withdrawal of American troops.

Will Congress Reconsider?

In an op-ed published in Tuesday's New York Times, John M. Shalikashvili, retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says Congress should give "serious reconsideration" to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the ban on openly lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel. Shalikashvili, who supported the ban on open service in 1993, writes that "I now believe that if gay men and lesbians served openly in the United States military, they would not undermine the efficacy of the armed forces," and goes on to say that "Our military has been stretched thin by our deployments in the Middle East, and we must welcome the service of any American who is willing and able to do the job."

Full story here.

Colombia Murders at 20-year low

via BBC

Colombian police say the murder rate in the South American nation has fallen to its lowest level in two decades.
Police chief Gen Jorge Daniel Castro said that a total of 17,206 people suffered violent deaths in 2006, 517 fewer than in 2005. (emphasis mine)

via CIA Factbook

The Colombian Government has stepped up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, and now has a presence in every one of its municipalities. However, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders.

I Ran in Iraq, too!

Benjamin Cheever set out to do a story on military running for Runner's World magazine. Included in the package: a trip to Baghdad. But even before he got there he'd learned more than he expected.

Among other reasons I hope to make it to DC for the MilBlogs Conference, I really want to do a few miles in that town.

Update: Warning on page one of the manual for my new watch:

It is your responsibility to us this in a safe manner and to maintain full awareness of all conditions and surroundings at all times. Consulting the watch while moving is unsafe and could result in collision or other accident causing damage and personal injury to yourself or others. Thw watch contains memory functions that should be used to record your speed and distance data for later review.

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT PRUDENTLY.

Re: Expansion

The Boston Globe looks at one way to make Big Army bigger:

The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting goals, are considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks -- including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and putting more immigrants on a faster track to US citizenship if they volunteer -- according to Pentagon officials.

The Globe also indicates the most likely opposition/media response, should this plan become reality:

Foreign citizens serving in the US military is a highly charged issue, which could expose the Pentagon to criticism that it is essentially using mercenaries to defend the country.

As tempting as the image of Leftists being sliced open in the mosque square might be for some, most of us won't let it happen. But obviously if too few Americans deem their country worthy of defense, those of us who do will make every possible effort to find others willing to contribute to the cause. (Before conscripting those who aren't willing - but that's another issue altogether.) This step might only delay (not prevent) the fall of Rome, but so be it.

The Strategy page crew addressed the issue here:

The "shortages of volunteers" the media talks about, does not exist. In the last fifteen years, the military kept raising its standards (mostly in terms of education, and scores on military aptitude exams) in order to exclude recruits it believed would be less successful as soldiers. Lower the standards back to 1991 levels, and you have all the troops you need.

But the military, particularly the army, likes the higher standards. This is something that is little discussed, and largely unknown outside the army itself, but those stratospheric recruiting standards has produced the most professional and capable military in American history.
<...>
Many senior officers in the army do pay attention to history, and want to maintain the highest standards. Thus there are now proposals to recruit more foreigners... This brought forth protests from those opposed to, well, whatever. Historically, the American military has usually had more foreigners in the ranks, than it does now. During the American Civil War, about twenty percent of the Union Army was foreign born troops.

Tangential historical discussion here.

All done!

Ethiopia Plans to Pull Troops From Somalia

Maybe not a good idea, but Ethiopia has little ability to sustain a prolonged military action.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Jan. 2 — The prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, said today that his country, one of the poorest in the world, could not afford to keep its troops in neighboring Somalia much longer, and that Somalia’s stability depended on the quick injection of foreign peacekeepers.

In a speech to parliament, in which his tone alternated between humble and triumphant, Mr. Meles said that Ethiopia had accomplished its mission to wipe out Somalia’s Islamist forces, which just two weeks ago controlled a large chunk of the country and were regarded as a regional menace.

“We will now leave as soon as possible — it could be weeks, it could be months,” he said. “We don’t have the money to take this burden individually.”
...
Diplomats in the region are now hurrying to cobble together an African peacekeeping force to take the place of the Ethiopian forces. But despite murmurs of commitment from several countries, including Uganda, South Africa and Nigeria, no force has yet materialized.

UPDATE: Same speech--slightly different take: Ethiopian troops to stay in Somalia weeks

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Ethiopian troops will stay in Somalia for another few weeks to help the victorious government pacify the Horn of Africa nation after a two-week war to oust militant Islamists, Addis Ababa said on Tuesday.

Does Almost Count?

Glenn Reynolds quotes Eason Jordan:

If an Iraqi police captain by the name of Jamil Hussein exists, there is no convincing evidence of it - and that means the Associated Press has a journalistic scandal on its hands that will fester until the AP deals with it properly.

Added thought: Has anybody heard anything from Jamil Hussein lately? Seems odd that the AP, who quoted this guy in over 60 stories between April and November last year would suddenly stop doing so after stating emphatically that

Hussein is well known to AP. We first met him, in uniform, in a police station, some two years ago. We have talked with him a number of times since then and he has been a reliable source of accurate information on a variety of events in Baghdad.

Funny, that.

UPDATE: Holy Cow - the AP responds to Jordan:

Kathleen Carroll, AP executive editor, told E&P today that she had not read Jordan's latest item, posted Monday, and likely would not. But she stood by the news organization's previous statements backing the existence of an Iraqi police captain, Jamail Hussein.

Grim Milestone Watch

The latest mark in the US death toll from Iraq drew a bit of media attention:

His father, David, learnt that his son’s death was the 3,000th by logging on to the internet after reporters began calling at his home.

“We had no idea why we were getting, within an hour, almost eight or nine people at the door,” he said. “That was a surprise to us because none of them mentioned why they were there. Perhaps they were embarrassed. One guy was standing there shaking like a leaf.”

But a much more significant "milestone" was reached last month - and virtually ignored.

The number of military service women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has reached 70, more than the total from the Korean, Vietnam and Desert Storm wars.

Re: 2%

We should note a second pay raise scheduled for April this year, though only mid-grade enlisted and warrants will see a boost in that one.

With all due respect to the memory of Gerry Ford...

If your experiences have been anything like mine during this Bowl season, you've repeatedly discovered Michigan fans crumpled to the ground in a puddle of their own tears whimpering softly and incoherently over the fairness of life and a system that denied them an opportunity to play Ohio State just one more time to prove that they are actually the bestest team in the whole wide world. Being a sensitive, caring type, I've (until now) studiously not kicked or even stepped on them while passing by in their moment of endless bitter anguish.

But now, courtesy of USC and Bugs Bunny, I'll have something different to say tomorrow.

Surge vs Expansion

Expanding the Army is a bad idea. That's the central premise of this WaPo opinion piece by Gordon Adams and John Diamond. The authors give three reasons:

(1) It won't make a difference in Iraq. (right)
(2) It'll cost too much. (wrong, or rather, tangential)
(3) Voters in November rejected an expanded mission for the Army. (way too big a leap to make)

The budgetary concerns are misplaced insofar as they are dependent on how important you think the mission (however defined) is. If you think the mission is important, you're willing to shoulder the increased costs. Adams and Price argue that an increased Army will costs too much largely on the basis of increased retirement and health care costs. But that's hardly a justification for foregoing a mission central to national security--if you think the mission is central to national security. If you don't, well, then it's an easy choice to make. Additionally, arguments about increased retirment costs and healthcare fail for the simple fact those costs don't kick in until much later in time (i.e. when the new bigger Army is "older" and hence, closer to retirement and in greater need of medical care).

Former Army Coach

...wins big game.

It's Two! Two! Two-point-Two Percent!

2007 DOD Pay Tables

Because 2.2% is better than nothing. I'm excited. How about you?

For 2007, The War on Terror

...is off to a good start:

Ethiopian forces backing Somalia's weak transitional government took control of Kismaayo, the last stronghold of the country's Islamic movement, and on Monday chased the remnants of the Islamic militia along the Indian Ocean coast toward the Kenyan border about 100 miles to the south.

In the final stage of a dramatic power shift inside a fragile nation of great strategic importance to the United States, the Islamic fighters abandoned their heaviest weapons early Monday morning and took off for villages in the forest with Ethiopian and government troops in hot pursuit of key leaders, including three suspects in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The nation is far from stable, of course. But perhaps the UN - an organization that sputtered ineffectively as the acknowledged government was all but ousted by the Islamic fundamentalists then contemplated a cry for a cease-fire just before those Islamists were crushed by Ethiopia, might now feel secure enough to pass some additional resolutions declaring support and solidarity.

December 27:

The top U.N. envoy to Somalia urged the Security Council to demand an immediate cease-fire between Ethiopian forces backing Somalia's weak government and the powerful Islamic militia that has controlled much of the country.
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The Security Council couldn't agree on a draft presidential statement circulated by Qatar calling for an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of all foreign forces, specifically Ethiopian troops.

With the most hard-core militiamen headed their way, Kenyan authorities on Monday tightened security along their 250-mile long border with Somalia.

The leaders of the Council of Islamic Courts claimed their readiness for talks with the interim government, recognized by the United Nations, but on the condition that the Ethiopia's troops leave Somalia.

Ellicia Stanley, R.I.P.

A milblogger has lost his wife to cancer. The blogosphere helped out when hospice care was needed and not covered by the government; now there are three little kids without a mom, and an Army specialist who's starting a new year much more alone in the world.

If you like, condolences are in the comments. He and his family have recently moved stateside from Germany, and living in Ft. Eustis; if you are in the area, you may want to meet a milblogger.

(h/t Malkin)

Re: Happy New Year

Joining Greyhawk in wishing everyone a very happy 2007.

And asking "Please bring us Peace as soon as you can. Amen."