Who done it?

News quiz!

What terrorist organization's attack on a helicopter resulted in minor wounds to the ambassadors of Italy and the U.S. and to the U.N. resident coordinator?

Check your answer here.

Second question.

What is going to be done about it?

Damage Control at Walter Reed.

Things are moving forward at Walter Reed, but it would appear there's an element of "two steps forward, one back" in evidence, as well.

The Army Times is reporting this two steps forward:

The soldiers said they were also told their first sergeant has been relieved of duty, and that all of their platoon sergeants have been moved to other positions at Walter Reed. And 120 permanent-duty soldiers are expected to arrive by mid-March to take control of the Medical Hold Unit, the soldiers said.

Then there's this - which I actually put mostly into a step forward.

Soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Medical Hold Unit say they have been told they will wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and have their rooms ready for inspection at 7 a.m.,

Many of the troops undoubtedly think of this an punishment for those who spoke to the press. There may, indeed, be an element of that in there, in that the command is trying to regain control of the message (hold on, more to follow on that thought). However - I suspect this is also the jump-start of a return to a firmer discipline than that seemingly lax form of discipline that led to the environment at Walter Reed.

One of the things the service learned (and apparently forgot) between how it handled casualties in WWI vice WWII, especially psychiatric casualties - is that the maintenance of military discipline - not fanatical ala Gunnery Sergeant Hartman of Full Metal Jacket but simply firm discipline designed to enforce basic standards of cleanliness, appearance, demeanor - and to keep people usefully occupied with relevant tasks. The key to all that is, of course, good leadership, a quality abundantly absent at WRAMC. Getting those troops back into a routine will be good for them, and for the installation. Of course, the follow-on is that the command must also find a way to break through the logjam of paperwork and find ways to usefully employ those soldiers. And if they can't - it may actually make sense to break them out to less full facilities where they can be given useful duties for those times when they aren't busy trying to fight their way through the paperwork.

Now for one step back. Heck, possibly more, if at least in a different direction. That is the clamp-down on media contact - both by the soldiers themselves, and in more official ways.

The Army Times is reporting that the Pentagon has also shut down media coverage of any and all Defense Department medical facilities. This includes suspending planned projects by CNN and the Discovery Channel. The Army Times quotes a PAO email where the Army's official position is “It will be in most cases not appropriate to engage the media while this review takes place.” This apparently in reference to the panel being convened by DoD to investigate issues at Walter Reed.

I completely disagree. A buddy of mine sums it up nicely:

When will the Army learn that transparency in non-OPSEC issues is a disarming approach? Cover-ups do not work and do not speak well of our REMFs – and I do mean REMFs. This burns my ass…… ML

Gezackly. Better to throw open the doors, than simply ensure that the press will now push harder, and the disaffected soldiery will slip around the corners to talk to them - and you will have completely lost control of the message. And it will be the Army's own damn fault.

Lastly, accountability.

- The 1st Sergeant was relieved.
- The Platoon Sergeants were reassigned.

It may just be an oversight in the reporting by Army Times - but... where is my officer scalp? I *always* want an officer scalp, publicly taken, when things like this happen. Not scapegoat scalps, I want the people who forgot their most basic responsibility to pay the price.

Was the med hold company commander relieved? If not, it must only be because he or she just assumed command and was essentially blameless - in which case there ought to be an amended OER making the rounds for the commander's predecessor. Followed with a show cause for retention letter. And the OER of the rating official who let that company commander get his command to this state should be in receipt of, or pending receipt of, an OER that will guarantee they never command beyond their current level.

There is no way that you relieve a 1SG and reassign all the platoon sergeants and the primary blame doesn't lay squarely on the shoulders of the officer commanding.

Appropriate action may have been taken - and if it was, well, someone ought to report it. I don't have to have the name - I just want to know that officer careers imploded as thoroughly (actually moreso) as the NCO careers did. From where I sit, as a commissioned officer of the United States Army, currently without assignment, there is a disturbing lack of commissioned scalps hanging from the pike at the gate.

And if that is in fact true - it is a failure of leadership at the higher levels at WRAMC. REMFs, indeed.

Sad that an organization that in the balance is full of hard-working, dedicated people who just want to do right by the wounded is being let down by it's commissioned leadership - and if that's not the case, then the PAO needs a new job.

Regardless, more officer scalps please.

Cross posted at my place.

War on Terror Comes Home to South Korea

The Republic of Korea (ROK) Army deployed troops to Afghanistan immediately upon a US request in 2002 as well as deploying 3,000 soldiers to support the US mission in Iraq. The ROK Army due to the South Korean government's risk adverse policy, has been limited to humanitarian and reconstruction missions in both countries. The ROK Army may not be conducting combat missions, but this week served as a reminder to the citizens of Korea that even reconstruction missions carry an element of danger in Iraq or Afghanistan when South Korea had their first soldier killed by hostile action during the War on Terror when 27 year old, SGT Yoon, Jang-ho was killed by a terrorist bomb attack in Afghanistan.

Re: Intelligence Failures

Oh, to be able to respond to that post.

Suffice it to say that combat is a way to learn things, and that CENTCOM's not been the only organization that's been screaming for linguists for years, and that Peters was Army.

Like an intel captain told me once with a wry smile, "with the operators it's always an operational success or an intelligence failure".

Analytic Challenge

At the risk of getting a reputation as a statistics geek, I came across some data on Jihadi terrorism as massaged and reported by Peter Bergen at Mother Jones, and thought readers and contributors here might want to weigh in.

It seems like there’s an awful lot of analysis out there – note I didn’t say a lot of awful analysis – that warrants a lot of serious, statistical or logical challenge.

I have been tracking an ongoing conversation that springs from new reporting from Mother Jones, of all places, journalism-wise. As part of a series “Iraq 101,” Mother Jones hosts a piece written by Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, entitled The Iraq Effect - The War in Iraq and Its Impact on the War on Terrorism.

Bergen is as reliable an anti-war critic as can be found, but he strenuously attempts to do so with evidence and data he marshals to achieve that end. He serves his purpose well, to the adoring and enduring gratitude of audiences for media such as The New York Times and Mother Jones. Preaches to the choir, he does, and thus his analysis predictably follows the liberal hymnal.

(Actual data and in depth analysis back at Dadmanly.)

Congratulations to the 2006 Milbloggie Winners!

Blatantly reaquired from Milblogging.com and JP

Remember, the Milbloggies are NOT a popularity contest. The purpose each year is to recognize military bloggers for their contribution to blogging, news and information, and to the military over the past year. Make sure to check out each winning milblog below, and you’ll see why they won this year’s Milbloggie Award.

Now, I’d normally write up an eloquent piece about the Milbloggies and each of the winners (which I will get around to), but I’ve been online all day monitoring the website and at this point, I’m not really making sense. Earlier this evening I took a quick break to rock my 10-month old son to sleep, and it turns out I was holding a Mr. Potato Head.

Intelligence Failures

Intel channels are buzzing today over Ralph Peters’ searing indictment of their community in this NY Post editorial.

He starts his critique with an anecdote of questionable import, describing how American troops “mistakenly” detained, searched and “jerked around” Amar al-Hakim, the son of the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), presumed to be a cooperative Shia partner to the US and Coalition efforts in Iraq.

Peters relates that he reacted first with annoyance, then with indulgence, about what he perceives as an apparent lapse in tracking such an important personage. Why annoyance?

MOH: Bruce Crandall (II)

"ICON" is a new series from the Pentagon Channel. Here's the debut episode.

More video (and other info on Lt Col Crandall) at the official MOH web page.

Bomb at Bagram

I have a few brief thoughts (and pictures!) regarding the bomb at the front gate of BAF. Bottom line up front - the bomber hit an area that you are most likely to kill kids and truck drivers, and where the VP was, I doubt you could have even heard the bomb, much less been hurt by it. But the press needs a hook, so there it is.

UPDATE: I guess the VP did hear the boom. Just wasn't in danger from it, fortunately.

A growing victory in the Long War

Not a small front, there is more and more good news from The Philippines.

"Five years ago, when U.S. troops were first sent to Basilan, many predicted 'a new Afghanistan.' Instead, the security environment there has been transformed."

Fourth generation warfare

...a brief explanation of the enemy's application thereof - from a U.S. congressman. (Deeper background here; as one of that original paper's authors says, "Our troops reportedly found copies of the article in the caves at Tora Bora".)

Because I'm all about equal time, here's something from the other side of the aisle.

It's sadly uncommon these days to see elected officials explaining their positions on issues to the American public, rather than simply confirming their support for whatever opinion the latest polls declare in vogue.

MOH: Bruce Crandall

For actions in the battle of Ia Drang.

What the President didn't say: "Snake Shit" - because he flew lower than that.

Garry Owen!

Update: As soon as I saw this news, I knew this guy would be there. But formal invitations - who knew?

Giddy Up!

Crossed the one-million hits threshold today. Isss a good feelin'. Thanks to all of you who sent traffic to our quaint, dorky little milblog. And since I'm in the thanking people mood this morning, thanks to Greyhawk for 1) setting up this awesome blog and 2) actually letting me post on it. :)

Another Friday at Walter Reed

"SUPPORT THE TROOPS." For some people, it's second nature. For others, it's just an empty political slogan.

On Friday, Tantor and I went to Walter Reed to visit some friends. But first, we stopped in front of the main gate to visit the seven remaining members of the Code Pink "vigil" that has been gathering on Georgia Avenue every Friday evening for the past eighteen months.

SMASH: Can I ask you guys a question?

WOMAN: Yeah, sure.

SMASH: Can any of you name three soldiers being treated at this hospital?

Check 60

Looks like Appeal for Redress will get a big boost tonight when 60 Minutes covers the group.

Don't expect much investigative journalism from this piece - the online intro includes this:

"I'm not anti-war. I'm not a pacifist. I'm not opposed to protecting our country and defending our principles," says Navy Petty Officer Jonathan Hutto, an Iraq war veteran who, along with another veteran, initiated the petition.

The irony is that 60 Minutes missed a golden opportunity to do what once upon a time a long time ago they supposedly existed for - expose these sorts of frauds perpetrated on unsuspecting people.

Update: The story at the link has already been re-written, eliminating the claim that Hutto is an Iraq war veteran.

But in her "Reporters Notebook" video (at the link) Lara Logan describes Appeal for redress: "It's basically a grass roots movement amongst active duty, serving members of the U.S. military." And "We were very careful to look thoroughly at the group, and to look into their military backgrounds, and to make sure that this wasn't... people with something hidden in their past or some reason that wasn't the stated reason to be involved in this."

Wrong. I guess CBS isn't just guilty of bad reporting, they're actually helping perpetrate the fraud.

A fatuous promise

Michael Fumento doesn't like a plank of a political platform. The "Four Truths" are mentioned. I comment about it at my place.

At one point I was a darn good bus driver for SEALs. Today I do staff work that SEALs don't want to be doing (trust me on this one, eh?). At one point in the future I'm going to be a good potential support cadre for SEALs doing something else. At no time would anyone ever mistake me for a SEAL. Lowering the bar to make a guy like me supposedly finish BUD/S would be farcial, and that's the kind of thing you'd be forced into when saying you're going to rapidly double their numbers. Proposing such means either you've found a way around the SOF truths, which is not bloody likely, or you are talking out of your hat.

These Children Need a Little Christmas...

How about some more Christmas? I know of a place that needs a little Christmas... now.

Well, if you watch the news, you know we have guys deployed. 3ID is deployed and deploying... Some of our guys are already in Ramadi. When one of the wives asked her husband what could she send him... what did HE need? His response was that he needed nothing for himself, but he could use all the children's clothing and shoes he could get... he was distraught at the level of poverty these children experience.

So here's my challenge:

Please get out one (or two... or three) of your US Postal Services Flat Rate boxes... take it to your local Kmart or WalMart or Target or wherever... and buy as much children's clothing and shoes and socks (a small toy, too) as you can fit in that box (boxes!) You can also send gently used clothing and shoes -- any size... send it all!

So I told this wonderful and caring wife to tell that wonderful and caring soldier that I'd be delighted to do what I could... and I am asking all of you to do what you can. Support our troops and their mission... and their big old hearts...

Mail your box (don't forget that dang customs form!!) to:

Sgt. Dinkins, Charles
TF 5/7 CAV A Co 3/69AR
1st PLT C Co 2/7IN
APO AE 09346

Please email this info to all your friends & family... ask your church or civic group to help... and feel free to post it up on blogs and forums. "Our Guys" are asking for some help... let's be sure they can feel our love!

x-posted at Some Soldier's Mom

Helo Down, IRGC Killed

...IRGC are the more fanatic and nasty Iranian guys. Rantburg has the description. Gateway Pundit has a roundup.

It would be interesting to say that this is a subtle tit-for-tat vis-a-vis the US and Iran, but my guess is more that there's light to heavy fighting in the Kurdish and Azeri parts of Iran. Last year we had several mysterious downings of aircraft with senior IRGC (and journalists, in the case of the Teheran crash into the apartment building) aboard. Connections? Who knows...

Which is also interesting.

Appeal For Redress--Kind of Illegal

While I discussed here how the Appeal for Redress douchers are permitted to petition Congress based on DODD 1344.10, there's a bit of a wrinkle that makes their efforts less than...uhhh....lawful.

First, DOD 1344.10 does not allow an active duty member to:

E3.3.5. Solicit or receive a contribution from another member of the Armed Forces or a civilian officer or employee of the United States for the purpose of promoting a political objective or cause, including a political campaign.

And from the AFR's site?

The Appeal for Redress is sponsored by active duty service members based in the Norfolk area and by a sponsoring committee of veterans and military family members.

And what's right up there on the AFR site? A link to where you can "Donate."

As Mel Allen used to say, "How 'bout that!"

ACLU Stands Its Ground, On the Other Side

ACLU: US can't bar terrorism supporters

NEW YORK - A civil rights group asked a judge Friday to find it unconstitutional for the federal government to exclude a prominent Muslim scholar or anyone else from the United States on the grounds that they may have endorsed or espoused terrorism.

The ACLU said schools and organizations who want to invite Ramadan and others into the United States are concerned about what is known as the ideological exclusion provision.
...
The group said the provision violates the First Amendment and has resulted since 2001 in the exclusion from the United States of numerous foreign scholars, human rights activists and writers, barred "not for legitimate security reasons but rather because the government disfavors their politics."

The ACLU said some foreign scholars and writers are now reluctant to accept invitations to the United States because they will be subjected to ideological scrutiny and possibly denied entry.

THe heart bleeds. Of course, so do those that are victims of these scholars curious form of "politics."

Cowboys and Indians, Iraqi Edition

Iraqi kids play make-believe war games

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Toting menacing looking toy guns, young boys swarm around an abandoned car, chanting battle cries of a Shiite militia and pointing their play weapons at the "terrorist" in the driver's seat. Outnumbered, the boy playing a would-be suicide bomber surrenders.
...
"You coward! I will kill you," shouted 6-year-old Haidar Faraj, who played a Shiite militiaman from the Shiite Mahdi Army militia on a recent afternoon in Hurriyah. His younger brother Abbas was the Sunni "terrorist."

Abu Ali, 40, who sells toys in Baghdad's Shorja market, said most of the children who visit his store are looking for the "biggest and most harmful toy guns."

"About 95 percent of the toys I sell are guns," said Abu Ali, who refused to give his full name for security reasons.
...
Kids who can't afford toy weapons simply use their imagination. Take a wooden stick, tie on an empty water bottle with a black sock and presto — a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Boys dart behind parked cars or sprawl on the ground and pretend to fire them.

The names of the games vary depending on the neighborhood.

In Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army, the "bad guys" are "Wahabbis," or Sunni religious extremists. Sometimes the game becomes "Sadr City vs Azamiyah," referring to a nearby Sunni neighborhood.

Now if we can just get their older brothers to stop playing...

My Son Has PTSD

A hazard of war. Considering that DoD estimates that approximately a quarter of a million soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen who have served in OEF and OIF have it to a degree that requires treatment, the fact that my son has it may not be big news to some folks. The news might be that we are talking about it openly.

After Noah was well on his way to physical recovery, it was apparent to us that the person we had raised and known -- the bright, witty upbeat spirit with that generally cheery personality and always optimistic outlook -- was not the person that returned from Iraq. Of course, we know that if war did not affect a person, they wouldn't be human; but as my girlfriend S. might say, "if it wasn't the same face and the same name, I'd swear on a stack of Bibles that this isn't my son."

Noah was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder shortly after he was wounded; at the time, however, the treatment of his physical wounds took precedence. And the deaths of so many in his unit while he recovered -- especially the deaths of five of his squad in a single attack -- seemed to numb him for a while. We recognized the short temper and his quick anger as signs of PTSD... and he admitted that sleep was hard to come by and interrupted by thrashing and nightmares when it did come. We encouraged him to seek treatment...

I write about his hospitalization and his continued treatment... and that his PTSD will keep him from deploying with his unit when they leave next month for their third (his second) tour to Iraq... all of it at Some Soldier's Mom

D'jever...

...do a CPX while simultaneously doing weapons qual, CLS, CIF, and RFI while also learning about the approved ROE for the AO and various other issues though your departure date and destination are still not confirmed but half your stuff has to be ready to roll and you also need it for the aforementioned CPX?

Yeah, that's what a "surge" is. I glanced at my watch yesterday to check the time and was surprised to learn it was Thursday. (Date matters, day of week is TMI.)

I love it. God forgive me, I actually enjoy this.

How Did He Run So Fast With The Wheelbarrow?

Because he must need a wheelbarrow to carry certain parts around if he does something like this.

US Vets - always serving

In a way - this has to make you proud.

A tour bus of U.S. senior citizens defended themselves against a group of alleged muggers, sending two of them fleeing and killing a third in the Atlantic coast city of Limon, police said on Thursday.

One of the tourists, a retired member of the U.S. military aged about 70, put assailant Warner Segura in a head lock and broke his clavicle after the 20-year-old and two other men armed with a knife and gun held up their tour bus Wednesday,

The Milbloggies.

Okay, due to an extreme lack of participation, Castle Argghhh! didn't make it to the top 5 for the US Veteran category in the Milbloggies, thusly saving us from having to do any more non-participation in online popularity contests that we never win anyway.

Or so I thought.

Turns out that Fuzzybear Lioness *did* make the top 5 in her category, Military Supporter. At the moment of this posting, she's leading - but only by one vote.

So, click here - register if you have to, and vote for her. It'll make you feel all... Fuzzy inside. Yeah, that's it! And if you need a reason to vote for her - the category is Military Supporter, and...

Fuzzybear is the Heart of Project Valour-IT, whereby we give voice-activated laptops to wounded warriors whose injuries prevent them from using computers in the normal fashion. You know, like you are, right this second. And we just gave our 1000th, that's One Thousandth, laptop, this week. No, she didn't do it alone. Of course not. Many of us helped. But it was her dream and her drive that have helped two battalions, 2/3s of a Brigade's combat strength worth of profoundly wounded warriors stay connected in ways that all of you reading this post simply take for granted.

BUT SHE GOT IT STARTED AND MADE IT HAPPEN.

I know. I was there. I was one of the people she mercilessly browbeat to help her get it started. And I'm damn glad she did. So, go vote for her. Even if you aren't registered - go register for the sole purpose of casting your vote for her. Not because I told you to - but because there are simply damn few of us out here in our little community who have done as much as she has. Because it's easy to jump on a bandwagon. It's a lot harder to conceive of a bandwagon, then build it, so that people have something to jump on.

And that's what she did.

You can access all the Milbloggies categories here.

And, as a reward for getting to the end of this post - the next installment of Bill's Vietnam Serial War Story is up.

News of Afghanistan...again

"Time for the News, already?"

Albright Blathers

via Reuters

ATLANTA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Thursday the war in Iraq would go down in history as the worst disaster in U.S. foreign policy.

President George W. Bush has squandered the moral authority established by former President Jimmy Carter

The Iran-Iraq war started during the Carter Administration, as well as the Soviet-Aghan war. What moral authority does more than a million dead in wars that started on ones watch create? What moral authority does Presidential National Security Directive 63, withs it wording that it would be the foreign policy of the United States to keep the price of oil cheap moderate create?

Have You Signed Yet?

The Appeal for Courage:

As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.

Authorized by DoD Directive 1325.6 and DoD Directive 7050.6.

As of 0320Z Friday, 845 military members have signed the Appeal.

Have you?

Michael Yon has a new mystery weapon for us...

Fox News Story here.

First cut look at Castle Argghhh! is here. C'mon over and throw your analytical skills and experience at the question.

Bill's serial thriller and some more obscene amenities...

Over at the Castle, Bill continues his saga of Dai-uy Tuttle and the 500 bicycles, in Occam's Punji Stake.

We've simply got to get the man to write a book.

And I have another obscene amenity, and a bleg for all y'all to send in pics of your obscene amenities.

I'm Back Up

Blog's on line again and it might be time for new web hosting, since this is not the first time I disappeared for a couple of days...

Update: Aw, crud. Back down again.

Unit Cohesion

I watched the Baghdad briefing today. The commander of CPATT was repeatedly grilled on how the National Police Re-training program could possibly make a difference. The journalist asking the question didn't understand the answers.

I am pretty certain that the average Joe in the street, and by extension, the average Journalist doesn't understand "Unit Cohesion".

A simple mans versions is that 12 guys with guns all doing there own thing isn't a very effective force. 12 guys that have trained together, and have learned to trust that each has an interdepent role in protecting the other and projecting force is. I'm not the best 'splainer either.

Updated - The Pentagon Channel should be more careful about the dates of briefings. Todays 21 Feb Baghdad Briefing is actually from the 7th.

While "Unit Cohesion" is common knowledge to anyone who has every served in the military, it isn't something that is tought at Journalism School. Virtually all journalists function pretty much independently. They don't know the basics of why a squad arranges itself in a certain pattern. They don't understand what every Private in the Army understands, if one member of the squad is out of position, then the whole squad is at risk.

If the reporter to the left of the reporter asking the question doesn't do his job, it doesn't personnally effect the reporter asking his question, or might possibly make the reporter who is asking the questions job easier.

Some advice to the good General who was trying to 'splain himself. You need to put together a plain english background paper for journalists on unit cohesion. I would also recommend putting together a 60 second verbal explanation that one repeats everytime the question of training comes up.

Making the War Winnable

Most Americans want to win.

Our Iraqi allies want us there.

Jack Murtha and al Qaeda want us to lose.

Making the War Unwinnable

Rich Lowry draws the same conclusion from Congressman Murtha’s “slow bleed” anti-war strategy as I did, not that I can claim any great insight, as it’s the only conclusion possible. Lowry describes Murtha’s deceits in National Review Online.

Rep. Murtha, who cannot seem to help himself any more in matters of subtle politics, than he can keep himself or his friends from slurping loudly at the public till, let slip his ulterior motives in a webcast for MoveCongress.org. His Grand Plan involves making a phony show of support for the troops, pretending to continue to let the military fight, but by every means possible to strip away any capability for the military to actually conduct the fight.

Murtha believes – or wants us to believe – that there’s “no military solution in Iraq,” because there’s no real terrorist threat in Iraq. If we leave, Al Qaeda disappears. This would sound pretty astonishing, coming from a government representative, but from the same man who thought we could base a Middle East “quick reaction force” in Okinawa, it’s all of a stripe. He defines “beclowning.”

“It must fail so that it can end.” So the Democrats believe. So that they can “win,” though America must lose. It’s a sacrifice they’re prepared to have us all make on their behalf.

Making the war unwinnable. That’s the Democrat intent.

Support the troops. Let them win.

(Extended Commentary, with excerpts from NRO, over at Dadmanly.)

Death and Politics

Jonah Goldberg, posting at The Corner (here and here), highlights the factual basis behind what a lot of military people know intuitively, and goes virtually unrecognized by the media and the public whose trust they so willfully neglect.

We lose no more soldiers in Iraq than we would lose, on average, through training accidents, other accidents, and other causes. In other words, soldiers are no less safe (or no more in danger) in Iraq than they are anywhere else.

Sound incredible? It shouldn’t.

Because our soldiers are in Iraq, they are a target for terrorist attack, just as they are virtually anywhere in the world, and have been for two to three decades. Just as are diplomats, business people, and journalists.

The original impetus for Jonah’s post is what he describes as “a powerful op-ed,” written by Alicia Colon in the NY Sun. More on that article later. Jonah updates his original post, passing on feedback from a reader, providing detail to back up the assertion that more soldiers died from 1993-1996 than have died during the equivalent period from 2003 to present.

(Cross-posted at Dadmanly, with more in the Extended Entry.)

The Danger Room

Noah Shachtman, editor of Defense Tech and 2007 Milblog conference panelist, has moved to new digs with Wired Magazine. His blog, heh...X-Men fans bite your knuckles, The Danger Room, will cover a military techno-wizardry spectrum similiar to what we saw with Defense Tech. Only now it's with Wired. In Noah's own words:

We'll be talking about what's next in law enforcement, homeland security, and the military here. Not just the gear -- although you'll get more than your fair share of killer drones, electronic weapons, and nuclear threats, don't worry. We'll look at new strategies, new thinking, and new tactics in national security, as well. And we'll follow the personalities and politics surrounding these developments. Because within a military-industrial complex that chews up a trillion dollars a year, there are plenty of power struggles, both behind the scenes, and in front of the cameras.

Noah has been a great friend to the milblogging community over the years (that's why he got invited to be a panelist...duh), so let's return the favor and help him get his new blog off the ground.

Re: Military Commissions Act

And to add to the fun it's military commission month (more specifically, Love For LCDR Swift month) at Vanity Fair and Esquire.

Does the Military Commissions Act Apply to Foreign Detainees?

DC Circuit: No. From the opinion:

Everyone who has followed the interaction between Congress and the Supreme Court knows full well that one of the primary purposes of the MCA was to overrule Hamdan.

Everyone, that is, except the detainees. Their cases, they argue, are not covered. The arguments are creative but not cogent. To
accept them would be to defy the will of Congress. Section 7(b) could not be clearer. It states that “the amendment made by subsection (a)” – which repeals habeas jurisdiction – applies to “all cases, without exception” relating to any aspect of detention. It is almost as if the proponents of these words were slamming their fists on the table shouting “When we say ‘all,’
we mean all – without exception!”

Emphasis in original. Yup, the DC circuit just threw in some boldface type for the hell of it. That's awesome.

As to whether the denial of jurisdiction violates the Suspension Clause of the Constitution:

The Supreme Court has stated the Suspension Clause protects the writ “as it existed in 1789,” when the first Judiciary Act created the federal courts and granted jurisdiction to issue writs of habeas corpus.
...
We are aware of no case prior to 1789 going the detainees’ way, and we are convinced that the writ in 1789 would not have been available to aliens held at an overseas military base leased from a foreign government.

The detainees encounter another difficulty with their Suspension Clause claim. Precedent in this court and the Supreme Court holds that the Constitution does not confer rights on aliens without property or presence within the United States.

Of course, that the DC Circuit is bound by the MCA doesn't mean much considering how unwilling the Supreme Court has been to entertain the notion that it doesn't have jurisdiction over a particular case.

OMG - Britain Drawing Down in Iraq

(note I'm practicing being a MSM headline writer)

lBlair to announce Withdrawl

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce on Wednesday a new timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, with 1,500 to return home in several weeks, the BBC reported.

Many will have missed "Yesterdays" news -via UK Defence News

The Iraqi Army division based in Basra has transferred from Coalition command, and is now – for the first time – taking its orders direct from an Iraqi headquarters in Baghdad.

A Request

If you live in one of the states below:

Alaska, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Vermont, Wyoming

You can help a Gold Star Mother. Here's how.

Building 18.

So, Bldg 18 is to be fixed - and quickly. H/t, WaPo and Andi.

The facility's commander, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, said Army staff members inspected each of the 54 rooms at the building and discovered that outstanding repair orders for half the rooms had not been completed. He said that mold removal had begun on several rooms and that holes in ceilings, stained carpets and leaking faucets were being fixed.

One can't help but feel, General, that there is *still* a problem with how your organization does business if it took the Washington Post to help you discover those "outstanding repair orders" had not been completed.

Better late than never - but one hopes there are a few efficiency reports and counseling statements that will fill their own little niche of "outstanding repair orders" and if any medals are awarded for this sudden burst of efficiency, they don't go to someone who fixed a problem of their own creation. Unless, of course, it is metaphorically equivalent to this case...

Whew! (waves away the miasma of post titling snarkitude...)

We interrupt this snarkfest and Iraq News Now for Part II of Conservative@War, starring Bill the Rotorhead.

The tease continues.

Iraq '06

Video: The Pentagon Channel reviews Baghdad operations in 2006.

A pdf report on 2006 in Iraq here.

Confession: I'm linking without having read the document myself. I did run the video. Don't watch it if you're looking for a self-congratulatory exercise in back-patting.

The Momentum Has Shifted...

...Did you feel it?

I'd Say "Heh" But It Ain't So Funny

Who wrote this article and what's he doing now?

And what of these elites who misread not only a war but also their own countrymen? Where are they now, other than in the White House? On this vital historical issue that defined our generation, they now keep a low profile, and well they should.

What an eerie feeling it must have been for those who staked the journey of their youth on the idea that their own country was an evil force, to have watched their naiveté unravel in the years following 1975. How sobering it must have been for those who allowed themselves to move beyond their natural denial, to observe the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese fleeing the "pure flame of the revolution" on rickety boats that gave them a 50 percent chance of death at sea, or to see television pictures of thousands of Cambodian skulls lying in open fields, part of the millions killed by Communist "liberators." How hollow the memories of drug-drenched and sex-enshrined antiwar rallies must be; how false the music that beatified their supposedly noble dissent.

Indeed, let’s be frank. How secretly humiliating to stare into the face of a disabled veteran, or to watch the valedictory speech of the latest Vietnamese-American kid whose late father fought alongside the Americans in a cause they openly mocked, derided, and despised. And what a shame that the system of government that allowed that student to be so quickly successful here is not in place in the country of her origin.

New York Times: Then and Now

The NYT on 19 FEB 2007: Making Martial Law Easier

A disturbing recent phenomenon in Washington is that laws that strike to the heart of American democracy have been passed in the dead of night. So it was with a provision quietly tucked into the enormous defense budget bill at the Bush administration’s behest that makes it easier for a president to override local control of law enforcement and declare martial law.
...
The newly enacted provisions upset this careful balance. They shift the focus from making sure that federal laws are enforced to restoring public order. Beyond cases of actual insurrection, the president may now use military troops as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or to any “other condition.”

Now I seem to remember a LOT of caterwauling around the time of Hurricane Katrina about the slow federal response and why National Guard troops weren't more quickly utilized (even though they did outstanding work while there). And lo and behold:

The New York Times on 3 SEP 2005: Katrina's Assault on Washington

There are dozens of questions Americans will demand to have answered once this emergency has passed. If the Homeland Security Department was so ill prepared for a natural disaster that everyone knew was coming, how is it equipped to handle other kinds of crises? Has the war in Iraq drained the nation of resources that it needs for things like flood prevention? Is the National Guard ready to handle a disaster that might be even worse, like a biological or nuclear attack?

Ok, the provision the NYT is talking about is 10 USC 333.

A Post With A Title So That Our Good Friend The Army Lawyer (The Guy Who Admits To Carrying Around At Least One Lace Glove) Can Read It And Not Stumble In His Reading Of These Posts And Hurt His Lips

Heh.

One Banner, Under War

Clinton Objects to Confederate Flag

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from its Statehouse grounds, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.

Here is a picture of the proposed banner we should all unite under:

[/snark]

Baghdad Security Plan - Whats different this time

via Defenselink - Maj Gen Thurmond - June 16th, 2006

On the number of troops right now assigned to the Multinational Division Baghdad, I've got just a little under 30,000 of U.S. coalition. Of course I have some coalition units that are assigned to us inside that. And we've got roughly 31,000 Iraqi army and Iraqi national police units that are assigned to us. Also, there's a total of over 22,000 Iraqi police

via Defenselink - Maj Gen Fil - 16 Feb 2007

P.C. Run Amok?

Not talking about computers - I'm talking about this

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The wealthy Arab man, sporting a foreign accent, has just given an Iraqi teenager some cash and a bomb when police burst in and arrest him. "You come here from abroad and want to make this young man kill his Iraqi brothers?" an officer asks.

The television ad, widely aired across Iraq in recent weeks and meant to encourage Iraqis to report suspicious behavior to police, is a startling example of a new strain of anger and discrimination against foreign Arabs in this Arab-majority country.

It even includes this quote:

Suspicion toward foreign Arabs stems, in part, from the fact that the Sunni-led insurgency has included many foreign fighters, most of them Arabs, who are blamed for deadly attacks that have claimed thousands of Iraqi lives.

But really, there are some reasons for suspicion.

Re: the Beast

On another area of group blog ettiquette, I hate to RE: my own post, but this added thought doesn't fit the original, but is tangential to this:

She seems to be writing as if the event described is well known, a failure perhaps shared by many with an over-developed ego.

This is compounded by juniors who fear being thought ignorant if they actually request clarification.

This somehow fits into "Greyhawk's rule of job security" - which is actually a universal truth about communication and language - and something I was discussing with Soldier's Dad in comments here.

On the other hand, the fun thing about "re" posts and group blogs in general is that the reader can find out what the heck you're talking about just by scrolling around. (And can even join the discussion.)

When I can't think...

...of a title I just use the first few words of my post for the title, and add those three dots.

Sometimes, I can even break it off to where the resulting title is kind of witty. Other times not so much.

(But we ain't got no rules here.)

Thank you sir, may I have another?

Friday:

But now that congress has done their bit for al Qaeda and other killers in Iraq, it's time for them to return the favor. Expect their next best attempt at a Tet-like offensive soon...

BAGHDAD -- Insurgents launched a multi-pronged attack on a U.S. outpost north of the capital today, killing two U.S. soldiers and injuring 17, as violence in and around Baghdad left dozens of Iraqis dead.
<...>
Disjointed accounts of the 7 a.m. attack emerged in cellphone conversations with witnesses and law enforcement officials. An area police officer said the attackers came in three cars, at least one of them packed with explosives, and assaulted the downtown Tarmiya police station, used by U.S. forces as a base.

Insurgents opened fire with rockets mounted on a truck. Fuel tanks inside the base caught fire, setting off a huge explosion, said a police official and a Tarmiya resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. medical helicopters landed five times to evacuate the casualties. Two Iraqi civilians were also injured in the crossfire.

Re: Post Titles

Here's a little algorithm, just for you, in case I again decide a four word post doesn't need a five word title.

Just roll a die. Odd number: Heh. Even: Indeed. On an edge or off the table: Offer not void in New Jersey.

Then you're all set.

The Beast of Abu Ghraib

Colonel Janis Karpinski blogs at the Huffington Post.

She seems to be writing as if the event described is well known, a failure perhaps shared by many with an over-developed ego. Or maybe the details she excludes are just, well, not supportive of her point.

Anyhow, here she is - endorsing an upcoming film:

When Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is broadcast across the country next week, I hope Americans are so annoyed and angry from watching the movie, it stimulates a renewal of demands for the truth and an independent commission to review the facts and render truthful conclusions.

But on the chance that I could save time and taxpayer dollars otherwise thrown at an "independent commission", here's what's probably the best start you can get (warning! - these are fact-based, not opinion pieces):

A combination of blurring and smearing

Porn Squad Commandos

Time permitting, I'll provide another "chapter" in time for the movie premier.

Chap: This is a Post Title

They are your friend. Do not fear them. ;-)

Re: Re: Powerpoint Slides

IMHO

The challenge with Iran is to demonstrate that their various actions rather than making Iran more secure have made Iran less secure. Hence we've been treated to documentation of Irans unhelpful meddling in Iraq and in roughly the same time frame the Original OIF Campaign Plan showing that the US should have been down to a single brigade in Iraq by now.

The administration has also been very careful not to tie the smoking gun of Iranian supplied weapons to the leadership in Iran. If the evidence were to exist, an act of war by the State of Iran against the US occurred and US politicians would be left in the same box that the Iranian Hostage Crisis left them in. Some sort of normalized relations with an as yet to emerge moderate Iranian Government would be politically impossible for at least another generation.

The arguments being made by the usual suspects in the US are exactly the arguments the moderates in Iran need to be making I.E. No one in the US desires a war with Iran, look..they even want to pretend they didn't find our weapons in Iraq, but if you keep it up, that crazy "BushHitler" will bomb us back to the stone age and no one will be able to stop him.

Via Instapundit, Dollard says he's got the Petraeus plan.

I don't know why Dollard's getting the scoop, or why it's being released now, but it's an interesting read...

“So I can go do it some more…”

Well, we've seen the Democrats@War in the House.

Let's compare and contrast that with a Conservative@War.

Another Re: Democracies Perish

Interesting poll results (and another link to our man Lex) here.

Re: PowerPoint

Check out MG Caldwell's Iraq briefing following that one. Reporters bombarded him with questions about Iran, and his responses read well when compared to what PowerLine's Major had to say. Note that clearly they (media) hadn't developed their storyline immediately after the first briefing on the topic, and had to re-attack here.

Why the great and misdirected outcry? I say

I suspect the media - in spite of vigorous denials by the administration - is trying to portray the US as on the brink of war with Iran. This allows Democrats - and Hillary Clinton in particular - to vociferously oppose this non-existent war. (To be fair, this also gets some conservatives very excited over the prospect of "taking out" Iran - their hopes will be dashed.)

Iran Evidence Power Point

A soldier, upset with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's preemptory dismissal of the Baghdad brief last week about Iranian equipment and expertise killing American soldiers, is able to send the brief to Power Line.

I'm assuming that an unclas brief presented to the press was releasable, but that's a pretty good assumption. This kind of direct engagement and countering of stupid and false information needs to be done at the lowest competent level, and we in the military need to support additional informational risk in enabling active duty folks to engage directly. Now how does it get through to the people who've already made up their minds another way?

Mobile Aircraft Repair Service

What were the Army Air Force, Merchant Mariners, Naval Armed Guards, and early sea-going helicopters doing in "Generals" and "Colonels?"

Answer here.

No Surprise

Usually it's politicians, soldiers, or other great figures who are honored with statues or monuments* in public squares.

In Cuba, it's NY Times reporters.

In that glowing article Matthews wrote: "The personality of the man (Castro) is overpowering. It was easy to see that his men adored him and also to see why he has caught the imagination of the youth of Cuba all over the island. Here was an educated, dedicated fanatic, a man of ideals, of courage and of remarkable qualities of leadership."

The interview may have also helped Castro by exaggerating the size of his rebel force. Castro later bragged he only had 18 men at the time, but made them pass in front of the American reporter several times.

Less than two years after the interview, Castro and his revolutionary companion Ernesto "Che" Guevara swept down from the hills and overthrew the Batista government in a leftist revolution that steered Cuba toward communism.

Matthews is dead, but his spirit certainly lives on.

(See also Walter Duranty.)

*Or even just a plaque in the middle of nowhere.

Salute

Miss Arkansas: 2nd Lt. Kelly George, deputy chief of public affairs for the 314th Airlift Wing, Little Rock Air Force Base.

Cngratulations to her, but this might be the quote of the year decade: "training for pageants is similar to being an Airman in the Air Force."

Major Dad, Departing

Bravo Zulu, shipmate, to you and your family. Now continue to go forth and do Great Things.

Re: Murtha And How Democracies Perish

Bad Bob was right: Lex's latest is a corker. Go ye and read of it.

Lex starts by referencing a book by Jean-François Revel, the author who also wrote Without Marx Or Jesus and Anti-Americanism. The latter book was revelatory when I read it in '02 (here's an article by Revel detailing some of the thesis) and I intend to read more of Revel's work.

Revel passed the same year as la Fallaci. I shall miss them both and look for those who will lead where they led.

la cucaracha?

Somebody's got some 'splainin' to do:

Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.

This is the world of Building 18, not the kind of place where Duncan expected to recover when he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq last February with a broken neck and a shredded left ear, nearly dead from blood loss.
<...>
Not all of the quarters are as bleak as Duncan's, but the despair of Building 18 symbolizes a larger problem in Walter Reed's treatment of the wounded, according to dozens of soldiers, family members, veterans aid groups, and current and former Walter Reed staff members interviewed by two Washington Post reporters, who spent more than four months visiting the outpatient world without the knowledge or permission of Walter Reed officials. Many agreed to be quoted by name; others said they feared Army retribution if they complained publicly.

Murtha, and "How Democracies Perish"

Jean-Francois Revel has been there, done that:

Democracy tends to ignore, even deny, threats to its existence because it loathes doing what is necessary to counter them… What we end up with in what is conventionally called Western society is a topsy-turvy situation in which those seeking to destroy democracy appear to be fighting for legitimate aims, while its defenders are pictured as repressive reactionaries. Identification of democracy’s internal and external adversaries with the forces of progress, legitimacy, even peace, discredits and paralyzes the efforts of people who are only trying to preserve their institutions…

Unlike the Western leadership, which is tormented by remorse and a sense of guilt, Soviet leaders’ consciences are perfectly clear, which allows them to use brute force with utter serenity both to preserve their power at home and to extend it abroad.

Early Battles of "the Surge"

Having been sent to Iraq with the Senate's unanimous approval, General Petraeus sends his first message to the men and women of Multi-National Force - Iraq:

Headquarters
Multi-National Force - Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq
APO AE 09342-1400

February 10, 2007

Office of the Commanding General

To the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq:

We serve in Iraq at a critical time. The war here will soon enter its fifth year. A decisive moment approaches. Shoulder-to-shoulder with our Iraqi comrades, we will conduct a pivotal campaign to improve security for the Iraqi people. The stakes could not be higher.

Our task is crucial. Security is essential for Iraq to build its future. Only with security can the Iraqi government come to grips with the tough issues it confronts and develop the capacity to serve its citizens. The hopes of the Iraqi people and the coalition countries are with us.

The enemies of Iraq will shrink at no act, however barbaric. They will do all that they can to shake the confidence of the people and to convince the world that this effort is doomed. We must not underestimate them.

Officially known as Combat Outpost Casino, the Alamo represents the first attempt at putting U.S. and Iraqi forces in smaller stations where they will live together, in the middle of the neighborhoods they are assigned to protect.

Dozens of such posts are planned, and they will be manned by many of the 21,500 additional combat soldiers President Bush has pledged to send to Iraq. The idea is that living in the neighborhoods will do what three years of patrols launched from larger, more distant bases could not.
<...>
The outposts also pose a crucial test for Gen. David Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, and his plans to reshape the way the American military deals with the Iraqi insurgency.
<...>
Battles between militants are tamped down in minutes instead of hours. U.S. officers and local sheiks have exchanged cell phone numbers. Merchants have opened a few sparsely stocked shops, and residents are more willing to share information with American troops.

"We see more, we hear more and we learn more when we're out here," said Lt. Erik Klapmeier, a 24-year-old platoon leader from Geneva, Ill., who led the patrol down Exchange Street. "We've learned more in the last month here than we did in the two months before."

Meanwhile, back in the Senate

WASHINGTON - After Republicans blocked a Senate debate for a second time, Democrats said Saturday they'll drop efforts to pass a non-binding resolution opposing President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq and instead will offer a flurry of anti-war legislation "just like in the days of Vietnam."

The tough talk came a day after the House of Representatives passed its own anti-Iraq resolution and as the GOP used a procedural vote to stop the Senate from taking a position on the 21,500 troop increase.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats would be "relentless."

"There will be resolution after resolution, amendment after amendment . . . just like in the days of Vietnam," Schumer said. "The pressure will mount, the president will find he has no strategy, he will have to change his strategy and the vast majority of our troops will be taken out of harm's way and come home."

Waving the Bullshot Flag at last

For a hell of a long time I've been waiting for some news agency somewhere in America to point out that virtually everything John Murtha claims is a fact about Iraq is actually complete bulls#!t. The Washington Post has finally done it:

Mr. Murtha's cynicism is matched by an alarming ignorance about conditions in Iraq. He continues to insist that Iraq "would be more stable with us out of there," in spite of the consensus of U.S. intelligence agencies that early withdrawal would produce "massive civilian casualties." He says he wants to force the administration to "bulldoze" the Abu Ghraib prison, even though it was emptied of prisoners and turned over to the Iraqi government last year. He wants to "get our troops out of the Green Zone" because "they are living in Saddam Hussein's palace"; could he be unaware that the zone's primary occupants are the Iraqi government and the U.S. Embassy?

Murtha is certainly entitled to his opinions on Iraq, but facts are facts, and I've rarely seen him get one right.

Update: Let's cruise down memory lane:

The Pentagon Channel...

...has revamped its web site, making it much more user friendly, and easy to embed videos like this:

Some day YouTube might look this good.

Life in Baghdad

These video clips depict soldiers of the 5-20th Strykers operating in Eastern Baghdad, paratroopers from the 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment ("White Falcons") returning fire at insurgents from the roof of their combat outpost in the Adimiyah district of Baghdad near Sadr City, and soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment conducting day long knock and search operations in Baghdad's Shaab and Ur neighborhoods - all part of the new Baghdad security plan.

Part of a longer entry I'm working on for Mudville, will link that when complete.

This is how dull Baghdad might be if "the surge" could play out as planned.

Update: Here it is.

What "the vote" really means

I'm venting at Some Soldier's Mom... on what "the vote" really means:

I don't give a damn what little weaselly words about "supporting our troops" you included in your resolution. I don't care about all your self-serving statements about what your friggin' "intent" was. You can say what you want to the media -- we KNOW what the effect is just as you knew when you voted: You slapped our Soldiers and Marines, our Sailors and Airmen... you undercut their authority on the battlefield... you have not helped them complete their mission but you have hampered them in their abilities to do so... you have put their lives at greater risk because you have told our enemy that they can and should.

You have told our men and women fighting that they can not do the job... that you have no faith in them... that you will not support them under any circumstances...

You have told them that no matter how well they have performed, how many schools they have rebuilt, how many hospitals and clinics they have refurbished... no matter how many innocent Iraqi lives they have saved from the brutality of Saddam's regime... no matter how many people have been liberated from oppression and despotism and might now live in democracy and freedom... you have told them that you do not, cannot and will not support them. You have told them that they and their mission are unimportant... that your politics is more important than they are and the job they do.

Most importantly, you -- you Pelosi, Murtha, Reid, et al. -- YOU have told those that seek to kill OUR troops -- OUR children -- that it is OK to do so because you have told them publicly and emphatically that the more deaths and injuries they cause to our troops, the more likely it is that we will cut and run... that YOU will cut and run if you have your way.

Yes... there's more... at SSM

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right

Why, yes, I am retired --why do you ask?

Ralph Peters (also retired) doesn't mince words:

Now that Donald Rumsfeld's gone, the Democrats are doing just what they pilloried the former Secretary of Defense for doing: Denying battlefield commanders the troops and resources they need.
Congresswoman Pelosi, have you no shame?
As a former soldier who still spends a good bit of time with those in uniform, what infuriates me personally is the Doublespeak, Stalin-Prize lie that undercutting our troops and encouraging our enemies is really a way to "support our troops."

Cultural reference here.

H/T to Chap for the Peters link.

UPDATE: For some reason I am reminded of the great speech given by President Reagan at Pointe du Hoc on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day in contrast to words of Pelosi and Murtha and their ilk:

Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

Support Troops, not Tropes

Had to make some "subtle" changes in my site layout due to the fact that I forgot the cardinal rule of upgrading: "Finally out of beta!" really means "all new bugs for you to sort out on your own. Good luck, sucker!" Thus, I'm back to old Blogger, but at least with a new look. Yes, and a new post as well. You didn't think I was coming around just to chat, now did you?

Meanwhile back in Gotcha City, the World's Greatest Derivative Body spent three stemwinding days of debate over their unbinding nonsolution for Iraq. But really, what's to debate? Their firmness of purpose over the last four years has been about as resolute and binding as Army Lieutenant Watada's Oath of Allegiance. Ironically, one of my own New Year's resolutions (also nonbinding, mind you) was to quit being surprised by the utter uselessness of our elected profiles in discouragement.

As always, you find the rest HERE.

We sit, and begin to speak of the dead.

Cut You Down

The cliché on deployment videos is hair metal and testosterone. This one beats the cliché. Great work.

(h/t Malkin)

Fight the Power(Point)

There's a bit of a minor media dust-up (I should clarify: major media, minor dust-up) surrounding a Pentagon PowerPoint presentation from 2003. It's certainly not news that the current situation wasn't the desired end state, but looking at the slides will give you a great idea of what Iraq might have been like today - without terrorists. (Visiting the Kurdish regions will too.)

Of real interest to anyone knowledgeable about the war is the speculation that only 5,000 U.S. troops would remain scattered throughout Iraq by December, 2006. This should - beyond question - eliminate the long standing claims made by terrorist groups of various stripes that Americans had no intention of ever leaving Iraq, that we were an eternal occupation force. (An idea also promulgated by the anti-US Left.)

But it won't.

Re: Ambushing Recruiters

The premise of the story fails, but they run it and pretend it didn't.

You know what, Harvey, I need to get some info from you to find out if you're even qualified for the military, because usually only three out of ten are qualified to process, and one out of ten actually make it.

And here's how the piece portrays recruiters:

A couple of generations ago, the military would have rejected them faster than you can say quagmire. But despairing recruiters have some serious quotas to meet. And for the promise of a fresh, warm body, it seems they're willing to overlook a few flaws.

Re: Care Bears

The head of the United Nations' refugee agency says that at least 2 million Iraqis have fled to neighboring countries, and 1.8 million are internally displaced. The U.N.'s refugee agency has appealed for $60 million and plans to hold a conference soon to get donors to ante up.

[U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio] Guterres says that Syria and Jordan in particular have been overwhelmed with Iraqis now out of work and becoming increasingly poor.

By the way, that 2 million figure represents just under 10 percent of Iraq's population (or about one-third of Baghdad's). I'm not disputing the existence of refugees, but I'd want to see some hard evidence of the real numbers.

We all know the UN is pretty strict when it comes to demanding proof.

By the way, check my math: 60 million divided by 2 million = 30 dollars per refugee.

A moment is not enough...

Nancy Pelosi:

We owe our troops a debt of gratitude, for their patriotism, courage, and service. As a sign of respect for them, particularly those who have lost their lives in the war, and for their families, I request that we observe a moment of silence.

In victory for us, of course, so don't hold your breath.

Re: Navy Geniuses

My big moment like that was on the boat when I met the Rhodes Scholar SEAL.

I told him to quit hogging all the durn talent!

Navy Geniuses

TWO NAVAL ACADEMY SENIORS made USA Today's 2007 list of 20 College Academic All Stars.

Sean Genis, U.S. Naval Academy

Age: 22
Hometown: Sharon, Pa.
Major: Physics
GPA: 4.0, graduating in May
Career goal: U.S. Navy submarine officer

Accomplishments: As an elite Trident Scholar, he co-authored research on developing ways to make acoustic detection of landmines more efficient, published in SPIE-International Society of Optical Engineering Proceedings journal; Academy Regimental Commander; cycling team; glee club member; rock a cappella group co-founder; lead role in campus production of H.M.S. Pinafore; used Spanish fluency while sailing aboard a Spanish tall ship owned by the Spanish Naval Academy; Rhodes Scholar.

Christopher Marsh, U.S. Naval Academy

Age: 22
Hometown: New Alexandria, Pa.
Majors: Systems engineering
GPA: 4.0, graduating in May
Career goal: Naval aviator, astronaut

Accomplishments: Working at Los Alamos National Lab, he developed a control system to regulate reactivity and temperature of a lunar surface nuclear reactor design, being developed to power a future manned outpost on the moon; varsity sprint football quarterback; second regimental commander and battalion commander; helped organize program educating men on how to help a rape survivor, presented to more than 1,000 midshipmen; watchstander at crypt of John Paul Jones.

I feel so... inadequate.

Good for the Goose...

REMEMBER the astroturf effort Appeal for Redress?

Well, now there's a response: The Appeal for Courage.

As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.

Take that, you seditious surrender monkeys!

Lt Gen (ret.) Odom

This interview of Odom by Hewitt is worth a read. There is an attempted deployment of the chickenhawk argument, an unfettered call to retreat, and a near-simultaneous assertion of knowledgeable study about Iran and lack of knowledge or interest about who the enemy's fighting. Dean Barnett calls it disappointing.

Oh, and at the end it's worth reading what the retired lieutenant general says about Gen. Petraeus. Classy.

Schizophrenic Care Bears

From one group of supposed humanitarians we have this report
via AP

GENEVA (AP) - Unrelenting violence and insecurity in Iraq could cause as many as 1 million Iraqis to flee their homes this year, the world's migration body said Friday.

Another group of care bears suggests this as the solution
via AP

Dems: Congress must fight Bush on Iraq

In other news...
via AP

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The number of Iraqi civilians killed in Baghdad's sectarian violence fell drastically overnight, an Iraqi military official said Friday, crediting the joint U.S.-Iraqi security operation that began in force just days ago.

News of Afghanistan

"Yes your Highness, as a matter of fact I do read the News.

Farewell to the Peacock

COLONEL KEN ALLARD resigns in protest from NBC.

Here's why, in his own words:

When you don't have skin in the game, war becomes a matter of sheer personal preference. Channel clickers are wielded, the soldier overlooked or, as we saw last week, even maligned as a mercenary without provoking a career-ending scandal.

It is, therefore, possible to argue that NBC is merely undergoing a delicate arabesque in anticipation of changing audience preferences and the long- hoped-for Democratic restoration (although journalists generally seem reluctant to raise the tough questions that should punctuate the 2008 campaign).

But has anyone else noticed the network's precipitous retreat from journalistic and ethical standards? Not only were no apologies given and no pink slips issued for Arkin's outburst, but on his MSNBC show last week, Keith Olberman went out of his way to defend this "valid criticism" of our military.

In January, Conan O'Brien was allowed to escape without apology after airing a particularly tasteless gay skit deriding Christianity: "Oh, Jesus, I love you, but only as a friend." (Just try doing that sometime using Mohammad's name!)

And only this week, questions have been raised about the cozy relationships between CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo and the companies she covers as a supposedly objective journalist. The response by Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE and godfather of the NBC family: "Substantially, I don't think she did anything wrong."

Fine: Let's hope he's right. But sometimes the only way to show where you really stand is to vote with your feet. And so with great reluctance and best wishes to my former colleagues, with this column I am severing my 10-year relationship with NBC News. (emphasis added)

Ouch.

Oh, and this is my congressman.

The Quote "Surge"

A quick clip from MG Caldwell's Baghdad briefing yesterday:

"First, it will take time for all the additional troops being deployed to arrive and begin operations. Additional Iraqi and American troops comprising the, quote, "surge" will not be completely in place until late May."

I love starting a trend.

Some (hopefully) more insightful observations here.

When Ambushing Recruiters Backfires

Radar Online (don't worry, you've never read it) has an article documenting a "prank" on military recruiters ostensibly to find out how desperate they are for recruits. The article includes purported transcripts of phone calls between the prospective "recruit" and the recruiter. The "recruit" pretends to be a variety of people, from the fashion-conscious-maybe-gay guy to the to a guy with lots of odd health-issues.

Here's the premise:

To find out, Radar's Teddy Wayne called recruiting stations around the country disguised as a veritable Breakfast Club of misfit would-be soldiers, all dramatically unqualified or unattractive for service in some way

The funny part is twofold. First is the assumption of what the military WOULD have done with these recruit but for that pesky Iraq War:

A couple of generations ago, the military would have rejected them faster than you can say quagmire. But despairing recruiters have some serious quotas to meet. And for the promise of a fresh, warm body, it seems they're willing to overlook a few flaws.

Ehhhh....not so much. Unless anyone wants to argue the Army was pulling in the cream of the societal crop as enlistees during between World Wars I and II.

The second funny is that none of the recruiters behaved inappropriately at all. They correctly stated policy, advised recruits on what possible problem areas were and suggested that they come in for an interview.

Basically, the prank backfired.

What's Up?

At first blush, this seems encouraging.

Just across on CNN. According to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, Iraqi police ran across “an insurgent group” on the road between Fallujah and Samarra and shot it out with them, wounding Abu al-Masri and killing one of his top associates. They have the associate’s body, but al-Masri got away.

How they knew for sure it was him, particularly amidst the fog of a gunfight, is anyone’s guess. But this would be a hell of a way to start the surge.

The U.S. military has no comment yet. Standby.

Update: My mistake — MOI hasn’t explicitly said that al-Masri got away. In fact, they’re refusing to comment on how they know he was wounded. Do they have him in custody?

Update: It turns out the MOI spokesman responsible for this story is none other than Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim-Khalaf, the same guy who gave us bad information about the alleged nonexistence of Capt. Jamil Hussein. Proceed with caution.

Stay tuned. Let's see how this shakes out.

Update: NBC claims he's in custody.

Sources tell NBC News that al-Masri is in custody.

Wouldn't that be something?

Update II: The quote from the NBC story above has now been removed (by them).

Re: Defunding the War?

via Reuters

Murtha hopes to choke off the 4-year-old war in Iraq by placing four conditions on combat funds through Sept. 30:

The Pentagon would have to certify that troops being sent to Iraq are "fully combat ready" with training and equipment; troops must have at least one year at home between combat deployments; combat assignments could not be extended beyond one year; a "stop-loss" program forcing soldiers to extend their enlistment periods would be prohibited.

Looks like Murtha's proposal is a lot of bark without much bite.

Defunding the war? NEVER!!!

(Well, maybe a wee bit. )

Two key Democrats in Congress disclosed Wednesday that they are digging through Defense Department funding mechanisms to find a method to choke off funding for the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities.

"We're looking at a schedule - a reasonable schedule - to close it down in stages," Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said in a broadcast on National Public Radio. "We can limit the funds for it and that would shut it down."

Contrast

Take a look at what's been going on in Baghdad this week, then see if you think this NY Times story is an accurate depiction.

Every Journalist...

...in the world now has one assignment: Find the most bitter, disgruntled troop you can and get an interview.

NK Nuclear Deal Explained

With the recent signing of a deal between the US and North Korea over their nuclear program, should we hail this as a success of diplomacy? Well, no and I'll tell you why.

Just Visiting? No - in Jail

MNF-I

The trial court found a Syrian man guilty of entering the country illegally in violation of the Passport Law. On Feb. 2, 2005, MNF-I detained the defendant in an insurgent safe house. On multiple occasions the defendant provided accurate details of his illegal entry into Iraq along with another Syrian national. More specifically the defendant admitted to being a lieutenant in the Syrian Intelligence sent to Iraq to oversee a small group of foreign fighters that use mortars around Mosul and recruit Iraqis for suicide missions against MNF-I. On Feb. 4 the trial panel found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment.

A Letter...

...from a 22-year old Joe in Mosul.

Math Problem

...check my work.

Oh, now this is a gracious little speech by a college professor at Loyola...

(h/t LGF)

Who said it?

Can you identify the source of this chastisement of American Democrats for lack of action on Iraq withdrawal?

"The people chose you [Democrats] due to your opposition to Bush's policy in Iraq, but it appears that you are marching with him to the same abyss, and it appears that you will take part with him in the defeat."

Sadr

I think Mark Steyn has it right:

Sadr running around Baghdad: Iraq in bloody sectarian civil war.

Sadr fled to Tehran: Dangerous power vacuum in Iraq.

Sadr lying in a big hole in the ground underneath US ordnance dropped from a great height: Beloved martyr whose death will be a recruiting tool across the Muslim world.

More Surgin'

So far, so good for part of the surge:

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi troops have passed a key test by showing up at 70 percent strength or better for President Bush's "surge" in Baghdad, a senior U.S. general said.

"This movement of these three brigades and two separate battalions into Baghdad to our way of looking at it has gone very well," Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, said in an interview.

"We've also learned more lessons from this one, and in future deployments, we'll make it even better," added Gen. Dempsey, the top American in charge of building up Iraq's security forces.

Update - Just a few early results:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told a Senate committee in January that the arrival of those Iraqi brigades by mid-February would be a litmus test of whether the Iraqi government was serious about securing its capital city.

(By the way, note the reference to "President Bush's surge"? That's the common media frame now. Will it still be his if it works?)

Fair and Balanced?

Well, what a surprise.

Rather than having outspoken war critic Cindy Sheehan as the featured speaker at Drury University convocation, the university also has invited a military officer to join a discussion of dissent.

Planners of the event said adding Col. Michael Meese to the event April 26 was simply part of the process of putting together the convocation, titled "Liberty and Security in a Post-9/11 World." It was not a reaction to criticism the university received for inviting Sheehan to speak, they said.

"I’m very OK with the program we’ve laid out. It will make it a better day," said Steve Mullins, chairman of the convocation. "There was no arm-twisting."

Joan Collins, head of the Peace Network of the Ozarks, said the timing of adding Meese, deputy head of the social sciences department at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, to the event was "curious." However, she said, it will provide a better opportunity for the audience to hear both sides.

What Sheehan "has to say is very important," Collins said, "and I’m sure she’d like the chance to talk to someone in the military about it."

The name Colonel Meese sound familiar? It should.

Lend a Hand..er, Ear.

I received a letter from my Legion Post (addressed to "Dear Desert Storm Era Veteran"... heh) that asks for some help. Our Service Officer had read an article in the Legion's magazine, and had a thought or two. While we now see an effort for wounded warriors - what about everyone else returning home? Invoking the return of WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam vets coming home to simply try and pick up their lives as best they could he mentions;

Many of our veterans from all these war eras would have had an easier time returning to their families and freinds and assimilating back into the civilian sector if they had been able to discuss their experiences with fellow veterans who had been there and done that.

And then tell us that our Post is going to set aside time every week for returning vets, from OEF and OIF, to have a place to go and someone to talk to.

At first I was a little bitter about this - first, "Dear Desert Storm Era Veteran"? I was in OJE in 1997 and OEF V (2004-2005) .... then I thought "I wish this had been around when I came home in 2005." Let us just say, my return home was a little problematic. But, I quit being bitter and decided I would help.

After all, we take care of our own, yes? Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Etc.

Anyway, I will be at the Post, with the coffee pot on, and a box of doughnuts handy - and I will listen.

Cross posted here.

Watada

We've been following the Ehren Watada story here, but I expect Watada's more interested in this one.

Playing in Peoria

Hoo-rah:

The Padres' ongoing search for baseball talent recently found an unusual source: the United States Marine Corps. The Padres are enlisting Cooper Brannan, a Marine corporal whose service includes two tours of duty in Iraq.

A former pitcher for Highland High in Gilbert, Ariz., Brannan worked out for Padres scout Brendan Hause recently and will participate in spring training with fellow minor leaguers. The 22-year-old right-hander is to report to Peoria on March 2.

“He is a little raw, but he is very athletic and has a great body and a loose arm,” said Grady Fuson, Padres vice president of scouting and player development.

Brannan sustained wounds to his left hand during his second deployment, which resulted in his being sent to San Diego Navy Medical Center.

“The (Marines) are going to let him out of his deal a year early to pursue this,” Fuson said. “We'll give it a shot for a year. There's nothing but good that can happen here.”

Fuson said a few Marines recommended Brannan to Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, who served four years as a Marine infantry officer with a tour of duty in Vietnam.

Sadr Bugs Out?

I'm not convinced this is accurate. I'm less convinced it matters that much.

According to senior military officials, al Sadr left Baghdad two to three weeks ago and fled to Tehran, Iran, where he has family.

Other than that it's an interesting story. One of those things to make you go "hmmmm..."

Update: Hit at the same time as Soldier's Dad, below, who's story quotes a U.S. "senior U.S. official".

More: Reuters has a different spin - The U.S. military believes radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, one of Iraq's most powerful figures, has left the country and is now in Iran, two senior American officials said on Tuesday. I don't fully trust reporters quoting "unnamed officials" who say someone else "believes something." That's three strikes in my book. (But one out doesn't end an inning...)

To clarify: If true, it's good news.

Still more: Combined with multiple previous busts of major figures in the Sadr movement this does bode well for the possibilities of the still not as yet underway "surge". But given that the Sadr gang has been intentionally low profile for a few weeks now we'd best get some of the guys who've been killing folks, too...

And props to Soldier's Mom, who sounds prescient here.

Moqtada runs to his Masters

via AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr fled Iraq for Iran ahead of a security crackdown in Baghdad and the arrival of 21,500 U.S. troops sent by President Bush to quell sectarian violence, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.

A Review of Every Iraq Book Ever Written

From Middle East Quarterly. Seriously, nearly every book out there on the topic is reviewed in this lengthy and very interesting essay.

As you might expect, not every book out there is a good one.

The Anti-Surge

via DVIDS(pdf)

The 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment is now responsible for the entire area of Mosul in conjunction with a capable Iraqi army and police force.

A single US battalion (~600 troops) supporting a city of over a million.

All appeared lost a mere two years ago

via ABC News Nov 142th,2004

Insurgents have set police stations ablaze, stole weapons and brazenly roamed the streets of Mosul as Iraq's third largest city appeared to be sliding out of control, residents said.

Michael Yon's mystery weapon.

You probably saw it around the web yesterday, especially after Drudge linked it.

This is the current working hypothesis at Castle Argghhh! We invite your input.

Not just regarding what it is - but where it might have come from.

A symbolic move?

Closing the borders for 72 hours. Probably won't have much of an effect - however it is an acknowledgment that troubles come not as single spies, but in battalions do they march - and across two borders in particular...

Where There is Hope

From the Christian Science Monitor

Indeed, most Iraqis interviewed in Baghdad Monday about the new security plan, which involves deploying more Iraqi and US soldiers throughout the capital, framed the problem in sectarian terms. But they also expressed hope in the latest effort to restore calm.

"I hope this allows troops to capture all the criminals in the Sunni mosques or in the Shiite mosques," says Feras al-Jabouri, a Sunni who lives in the Amariyah neighborhood, near the road to the airport in western Baghdad.

Mr. Jabouri says war-weary Baghdadis often can identify insurgents and members of sectarian militias. He predicts that many who are fed up with the devastating toll of bombings and sectarian attacks will eventually begin turning the culprits in to the newly arriving American and Iraqi forces.

While the Baghdadis don't paint an entirely rosey picture, it seems that there is progress in the thinking... even in this statement

Muthena Mohammed, a secular Shiite who lives in the southern Baghdad neighborhood al-Bayaa, says he wants to get revenge for attacks on his own house. But he is waiting to see if the US and Iraqi forces will mete out justice for him.

On the other hand, it should be noted that re-establishing security in Baghdad will take time... even the Iraqis interviewed in the story admit (and accept) that... Let's hope there are enough sane Americans left who understand that as well.

The problem with Europeans

Not a good day for a serious West - and a reason we should always make sure we, ahem, get first shot at our interests and not wait for Europe to wake up and grap a pitchfork.

Point 1: Can't take care of old terrorist problems.

Brigitte Mohnhaupt, 57, will be released March 27 after serving 24 years of a life sentence for multiple murders, the Stuttgart state court ruled. Mohnhaupt was convicted in 1985 of involvement in nine murders, including those of West German chief federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and of Hanns-Martin Schleyer, the head of the country's industry federation.

She was given five life sentences on the murder charges and convictions on other counts. Those included attempted murder for her part in a 1981 rocket-propelled grenade attack on the car of U.S. Gen. Frederick Krosen — then the commander of U.S. forces in Europe — which injured both the general and his wife. ... The court decided Mohnhaupt fulfilled the conditions of her sentence and no longer posed a threat to society, court spokeswoman Josefine Koeblitz said.

The decision was made "according to legal conditions and was not an act of clemency," Koeblitz said. ... Mohnhaupt was captured early in her involvement with the Red Army Faction in Berlin in 1972 and jailed for several years. Released in 1977, she immediately went back to the group and played a key role in the trail of death it left later that year, which became known as the "German Autumn."

She was arrested again in then-communist Yugoslavia in 1978, but allowed to go six months later.

She was finally captured by West German authorities on Nov. 11, 1982, as she went to an arms cache in woods near Frankfurt, which had been staked out by a special police unit for two weeks after they received a tip from locals who had stumbled upon it.

Austrian sniper rifles that were exported to Iran have been discovered in the hands of Iraqi terrorists, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
...
The guns were part of a shipment of 800 rifles that the Austrian company, Steyr-Mannlicher, exported legally to Iran last year.
...
Within 45 days of the first HS50 Steyr Mannlicher rifles arriving in Iran, an American officer in an armoured vehicle was shot dead by an Iraqi insurgent using the weapon.

Over the last six months American forces have found small caches of the £10,000 rifles but in the last 24 hours a raid in Baghdad brought the total to more than 100, US defence sources reported.

R.I.P. FHM

Tonight I was tasked by my lovely wife to stop by the store and buy her some “products”. When I shop, I tend to shop in a holistic manner, meaning I wander around and looking at everything and saying to my self "oh, I need that".

Today, I just happened to meander by the magazine rack and saw that FHM was publishing their last issue. Woah, considering it was one of the top read magazines in Iraq, they probably have millions of military dollars, for them to shut down is quite an event. Of course I had to have a look and when I opened it up, the first page I looked at had this guy's picture in the “Who The Hell Are You” section

With the Angels...

Soldiers' Angels Mourns Aunt Mary

It is with great sadness that Soldiers' Angels announces the passing of its dearest and oldest member, Aunt Mary. Mary Irvin Roun was born on April 13, 1905 in Turnersville, NJ and died peacefully in her sleep on February 8,2007.

SecDef in Pakistan

...meets with President Musharraf:

We discussed the coming spring military activity on the border and the measures that the Afghans, the NATO alliance, the United States and Pakistan working together can take both separately and together. I described to him the augmentation of U.S. forces on the Afghan side of the border that I directed a few weeks ago and also talked to him about the comments that I had made and others had made at the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting in Madrid -- in Seville, rather -- about increasing their commitment both in terms of military forces, but also economic development and reconstruction resources for Afghanistan.

We talked about the importance of seizing the offensive this spring to deal the Taliban and al Qaeda a strategic setback. I congratulated him on his efforts to strengthen modern Islam and encouraged him to continue those efforts and that the United States thought this was a significant contribution.

I would just make one final comment. My first visits to Pakistan were over 20 years ago and were in connection with our mutual effort to help the Afghans drive the Soviet troops from their territory.

After the Soviets left, the United States made a mistake. We neglected Afghanistan, and extremism took control of that country. And the United States paid a price for that on September 11th, 2001. We won't make that mistake again. We are here for the long haul.

Be happy to take some questions. Yeah.

Q Mr. Secretary, did you talk and come to any understanding with the president here about U.S. military action in Pakistan? I'm talking about the artillery that's being lobbed across the border, and some of the hot pursuit that U.S. military personnel are doing there.

SEC. GATES: I'll just say that our operations are coordinated with the Pakistanis.

Q But the president -- are these things coordinated to the effect that President Musharraf has approved of them?

SEC. GATES: I don't know that he approves of them. They're coordinated, though. I don't know that he personally approves them. I doubt that, frankly, but they are coordinated in the border area.

The Dawn Patrol is up

Mudville's daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from MilBlogs and other sources around the world.

Revolutionary Guards Quote of the Day

Here's what an Iranian Revolutionary Guards "commander" had to say yesterday:

"We have built birds without passengers [drones] that can carry out suicide operations on the US Navy, at any depth if necessary, to make them leave the region in disgrace," said Ali Shoushtari, deputy commander of the Guards' land forces.

Equal Time

As the Hollywood (Grammys) crowd decided to honor the "Not Welcome In Dixie" Chicks.

I thought I would honor the
Poster Girl on the Wrong Side of the World

But then...I come from one of those places where a Soldiers money is no good at the local watering hole.

Lighten up, Francis

For some reason when I read this story I pictured Sergeant Hulka from Stripes delivering that line.

The Troll Has Found His Own Bridge

This is a bit inside baseball (or rather, inside Milblogs); but I thought you'd all like to know that our resident troll-cum-Academy Graduate(tm)-cum-waste of viable organs Jadegold/Guy Cabot/The Boston Strangler has his own blog now.

So if any milbloggers find some odd links coming from Left Rudder (is that why his arguments are also circular?), you know why.

Remember, "JUNK COMMENT" is your friend.

Apparently these people don't even realize that Anna Nicole Smith is dead...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AP) - Asserting a right to self-defense, American forces in eastern Afghanistan have launched artillery rounds into Pakistan to strike Taliban fighters who attack remote U.S. outposts, the commander of American forces in the region said Sunday.

The headline's a beaut: America Fires Missiles Into Pakistan.

Technically that's true, in the sense that a hand thrown rock is a missile, too. (Will we see "Palestinian youths launch missiles at Israelis" next?)

And yes, it was Waziristan.

Re: Apparently Anna Nicole Smith is Dead

Me, last Sunday:

Whatever happens, it seems likely that news from Iraq will be prominent this week.

(I did pick the right team in the SuperBowl, though.)

They also served who floated and watched...

When this was your main battery:

And when even the veteran's pages call it "tedious and boring duty" you might forget how important it was...

And they sometimes got air mail!

Explained here.

The Fifty Five

Regarding that Yon link in the "Large Battle" post, I don't think I need to point out the awesome job Mike's doing over there, but even if there's just one reader here who isn't aware I guess it's worth it.

I've been highlighting numerous MNF-I press releases here for the past several days, mostly because they're the sorts of stories seldom seen in the mainstream news. Maybe, near the bottom of a story headlining the death toll in Iraq you'll see a statement to the effect of "Elsewhere in Iraq, coalition spokesman claimed four alleged insurgents were captured during a raid in sometown."

I glanced back through those MNF-I press releases trying to find one that might correlate with Mike's Roughnecks story. It might be this one:

Coalition Forces disrupted explosives cells in Mosul and Baghdad during two raids Sunday morning, killing a suspected key vehicle-borne improvised explosive device cell leader and detaining five suspected VBIED terrorists.

The raid in Mosul targeted a terrorist who is believed responsible for the production of explosives used in attacks against Coalition Forces in Mosul.

Upon entering the targeted building, Coalition Forces encountered two suspected terrorists. One of the terrorists ignored Coalition Forces instructions and suddenly reached into his jacket. Coalition Forces responded with proper self defense methods in response to the perceived threat. The terrorist subsequently died from his wounds.

The other suspect was detained and is also believed to be responsible for the attacks. Two other suspected terrorists believed to have ties to the Mosul VBIED network were also detained during the raid.

Worse, the mainstream press, for some odd reason, generally chooses to provide only the oppositions "score".

I'm not addressing that failure here - that's a given. I actually want to point out the magnitude of the failure. Over the past week I've collected not a handful, not a dozen, but 55 such press releases here - and there are others I simply didn't have time to add. Fifty-five stories that could have been told in the way Mike did; unembellished, un-hyped, and simply factual, but with the level of detail that a press release can't provide. Fifty-five stories lacking only the teller to be told.

But for reasons unknown - to me at least - the press won't provide.

This can't be because newspaper or magazine readers don't want this sort of material - I've failed to link Mike's work here recently because the past several times I've tried to do so his servers have been overloaded to the point I've been unable to access his site.

Fifty freaking five...

Pat Dollard On The Recent Large Battle

I didn't talk about this back when the battle was going down because I maintain an interlock between blogging and access to information I shouldn't blog about.

Dollard's got it about right from what little I heard from this far away: a huge meeting engagement combined with luck, air dominance, and combined and coalition arms, wiped out a forest full of bad guys.

Yon has an aside that's telling, too:

In a sharp fight that most likely will never be properly told (too much war, too few writers), Colonel Townsend recalled walking on the battlefield and seeing body after enemy body—in the end there would be more than 250 of corpses—and those dead bodies were wearing full combat gear. Few people seemed to notice that battle, and so the daily twosies and threesies of dead terrorists in Mosul go largely uncounted. At least, in our media.

Ms Pelosi, call your Office

Cramped quarters:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the subject of Republican criticism for her mode of air travel, flew home nonstop Thursday night aboard a 12-seat military aircraft set aside for use by lawmakers.

And even though sternly warned by Jack Murtha to cease and desist, the Pentagon is clearly taunting Nancy here:

HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii, Feb. 9, 2007 – A Marine wounded in Iraq traveled the final leg of his journey back to his unit in style yesterday.

Lance Cpl. Steven Eastburn, a member of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, at Kaneohe Bay, arrived back in Hawaii on an executive jet, after being offered a ride from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., by Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Eastburn was undergoing treatment at Travis for wounds he suffered in Haqlaniyah, Iraq, on Jan. 31.

Pace visited servicemembers at David Grant Medical Center at Travis while his C-40B aircraft was being refueled. Eastburn was at the hospital, and Pace asked the 20-year-old Marine if he would like a ride back to Hawaii. “Of course I said, ‘Sure,’” the Marine said.

“This is a big government plane,” the chairman said. “We can always make room for one more.”

Note to the slow kids: Yes, the comment about "clearly taunting Pelosi" was Greyhawk being sarcastic.

Now this, on the other hand...

...that's taunting.

All done!

The Great North Korean Prison Escape

Reports coming out of North Korea tell of a massive prison break:

Numerous sources have alerted that 120 prisoners escaped a political concentration camp, the Camp 16 in Hwasung, North Hamkyung province in which North Korean authorities responded by mobilizing the National Safety Agency, the People’s Protection Agency and military in a madhunt to search out the fugutives.

Check points have been set up around North Korea and troops are seaching the mountains to capture escaped prisoners. Some of them have already been captured and will assuredly be executed.

One Free Korea has unbelievable Google Earth images of the 16X18 mile prison camp complex along with pics of the terrain these prisoners will need to cross in order to escape to China. Highly recommend that everyone read his posting.

With over 250,000 political prisoners and millions that have perished from famine over the years due to NK governmental neglect, I have always found it interesting how the Hollywood & academia liberal crowd cannot find any time to take up the cause of North Korean human rights and yet find time to condemn America for keeping a few hundred terrorists in Gitmo. While the liberal crowd is shedding tears for terrorists in Gitmo, I will be praying that at least some of these political prisoners can complete their great escape.

Still More dissent at the Times

He's everywhere:

But I can speak to you about how we correspondents at the New York Times feel about the American military in Iraq. We have covered the disasters. We’ve covered what happened at Abu Ghraib. We’ve covered what happened at Haditha. But I think I could say this on behalf of all of us who work at the New York Times, and who depends a great deal for our security on American forces, governments…there’s an old saying that countries get the kind of governments they deserve. Well, I would say that may be true also of the military. And the United States military that we encounter are wonderful. They’re magnificent. They’re extremely brave, that goes without saying. They make an enormous effort to perform a civic as well as military duty in Iraq. They are people of honor, and they’re people of whom America can be proud. And I say that without…in an unhyphenated, unqualified way, and I hope that that finds its way into the columns of the New York Times, in the way that we report on this war. America has a fine military, a fine Army, a fine Marine Corps and Navy, and whereas we experience, it, and they’re in an extremely difficult situation, what General Casey, the departing commander describes as a very convoluted situation from which there is no certain, safe, successful exit.

Al Qaeda Leader: NK Owes Nuclear Tests to the Mujaheddin

With such earth shattering news as Anna Nicole Smith's death happening, I guess it was inevitable that news of Al Qaeda criticizing North Korea becauses it owes the terrorists nuclear tests was not considered newsworthy by the majority of the media:

And in yet another gambit that smacks of desperation, [al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Omar] al-Baghdadi tries to rile up the French and the Chinese against American global hegemony, and addresses those nations as “the freemen of the world.” Not only that, but he adopts a scolding tone with North Korea, essentially invoking the “sharing is caring” line, when he says, “And let North Korea know that it owes its nuclear tests to the mujaheddin in Iraq.” Translation: ” Al Qaeda’s actions distracted America from dealing with your evil, and the least you can do is share a nuclear device with us.”

Medal of Honor

...to Ia Drang vet.

The Gift

Watch this.

Read this.

Take my word for it, I think you'll be glad you did.

A Mission of Ignorance

NY Daily News:

The grossly graphic torture scenes in Fox's highly rated series "24" are encouraging abuses in Iraq, a brigadier general and three top military and FBI interrogators claim.

The four flew to Los Angeles in November to meet with the staff of the show. They said it is hurting efforts to train recruits in effective interrogation techniques and is damaging the image of the U.S. around the world, according The New Yorker.

"I'd like them to stop," Army Brig. Gen. Patrick Finnegan, dean of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, told the magazine.

Finnegan and others told the show's creative team that the torture depicted in "24" never works in real life, and by airing such scenes, they're encouraging military personnel to act illegally.

"People watch the shows, and then walk into the interrogation booths and do the same things they've just seen," said Tony Lagouranis, who was a U.S. Army interrogator in Iraq and attended the meeting.

Of course, it's also possible the reporter got the story completely wrong, but I'm not sure that matters now.

NOTE: Strikethroughs added above after making the following updates to the story. Lesson learned: Never write before your first cup of coffee...

Petraeus takes Command

Mike Yon says: "America has asked David Petraeus to walk into a burning barn and perform brain surgery on a dying patient."

But adds "Personally, I am betting on General Petraeus, his staff, and the great number of hard-minded people who believe Iraq can stand again."

Me too.

Update: The General's first message to the men and women of MNF-I here.

Re: Dissent at the Times

More from John Burns, in Iraq:

Does he often think about losing his life there? "It’s an odd thing and I suppose – I don’t want to get into psychobabble here but I think probably the psychologists could probably explain this. I find the war in Iraq much more frightening to watch on television when I’m on leave outside Iraq than I find it when I’m there."

Apparently Anna Nicole Smith is Dead

Spent yesterday shuttling between about 47 different offices taking care of the 5 dozen different critical things that have to be taken care of properly to prove you really truly want to go to Iraq no matter how hard the DoD tries to stop you.

Fortunately there were televisions in the waiting rooms to keep us entertained. Otherwise I might not have known that Anna Nicole Smith had died, an event that prompted every news network to switch over to 24-hour coverage of various key locations in the story. Not since Princess Di asked the famous question: "Can't this bloody thing outrun a moped?" had I seen the world come to such a complete and screeching halt.

At first I thought it was nice that something had finally knocked the Astronaut story into the background. (Dr Bellows, call your office, stat! Too late! - fired during cutbacks in the Gore years...) but somewhere around hour 32 another guy in the group summed it up:

"Don't get me wrong, but I'm almost hoping for another 9/11 here - anything to get this off the television."

Didn't anything else happen?

Answer: Yes.

The Hildabeast Cometh

While I am loathe to admit to agreeing with Sen. Clinton on anything not related to mutual disdain for her husband ("What in my background equips me to deal with evil and bad men?"), I must confess that the hands-down winner of American Midol is... (gulp)... right. She doesn't want this Iraq monkey on her back and neither do I, especially at a time when she'll be far too busy redesigning the shape of the Oval Office into a ♀, replacing all the missing "H's" in the West Wing keyboards, and beginning construction on Bill's leakproof and pressfree Underground Tailroad for West Wing interns. Who has time for terrorism--least of all "wars on terrorism"--dragging you under when there's universal heath care plans to forcefeed the public with? While her campaign calculus could change once she's secured the Angry Left nomination, currently she's running on a platform of "I win, Iraq loses." Personally, I think she means it.

Read the rest of my latest HERE

Go West

Soldier's Mom snuck the link in at the bottom of a post on another topic, but the story is catching fire through the internet, and rightfuly so.

In addition to Roggio, Major Owen West's name should be familiar to milbloggers too. Here's a story he did on the battle for Fallujah - one I suspect may have been turned down by some of the mainstream sources who've published his work before.

Along with Mark Seavey and some other fine folks, West was also a founding member of Vets for Freedom, a group that for some odd reason doesn't seem to get the same amount of press as certain other groups with more overtly political motives these days.

Owen and his father Bing, also a Marine, are both writers. Senior wrote No True Glory : A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah - the definitive account of that months-long conflict that still defines the war itself in the minds of many. (I used a few passages from the book here.)

Here's an article they co-authored on lessons learned from both the current battlegrounds of the war - both have spent an extensive amount of time "over there".

Finally, here's their web page.

MilBlog Conference News

We have a venue. This year, all events will be held in the same location. You can make your reservations now. Rooms are first-come, first-served.

The Dawn Patrol is Back!

Catch Mudville's daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics from MilBlogs and other sources around the world.

No, Don't Spit On Them

As SMASH says below, "Collectively, we are determined not to repeat that disturbing chapter of our history," where Vietnam veterans were spit upon, literally and figuratively. That 'collective' includes the Vietnam veterans themselves, and they intend to stand at the Vietnam Veterans Wall and protect it from those who still hold them in disdain, including an American who shamelessly served as a key defense attorney in Saddam Hussein's trial.

A 'Gathering of Eagles' will protect the Vietnam Veterans Wall.

Leftist activists who march to the Pentagon next month will discover that their path won't be as clear as it has been in the past.

The group, led by Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark and their ilk, plan to gather March 17 at the Vietnam Memorial Wall to begin a march to protest America's involvement in the Iraq war. The date marks the fourth anniversary of the war's beginning.

This time, however, protestors will see objectors if they spit on Iraqi veterans again, or throw paint on a war memorial. This time, they will encounter a buzz saw of Vietnam veterans and supporters who will gather to protect the Wall, and show their support for U.S. troops. The counter-protestors are calling themselves the Gathering of Eagles.

News of Afghanistan, once again.

"I have to go in an read the News, m'kay?"

Don't Spit on Me

Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, the concept that these spitting incidents constitute an "urban legend" has become de rigeur among the radical left. I participated in a lively discussion on the topic this past summer with Code Pink founder Gael Murphy and union organizer Bruce Wolfe, both committed anti-war activists (in fact, they were protesting outside Walter Reed Army Medical Center at the time). Both insisted that it had never happened, citing sociologist (and anti-war activist) Jerry Lembcke's 1998 book The Spitting Image, in which Lembcke claims that such stories are, in his words, "bogus." When I brought up my father's experience, Bruce and Gael hemmed and hawed, but still wouldn't back down from their assertion that it had never happened (listen to the audio of our discussion). To their credit, neither Bruce nor Gael had the temerity to spit on me or any other veterans. But they didn't exactly treat us with respect, either.

And that's really what this is all about: Respect.

As a nation, we recall with shame the disrespect that many returning Vietnam veterans suffered at the hands of their countrymen. Collectively, we are determined not to repeat that disturbing chapter of our history. Those who experienced these events first-hand -- my father's generation of veterans -- are determined to protect my generation from suffering the same trauma. Those civilians who passively stood by in those days are determined to discourage (or at least loudly condemn) such behavior this time around. Many of today's younger radicals are determined (some for tactical reasons) not to repeat the public relations mistakes of their predecessors. And many of the Vietnam-era radicals are still in denial about what really happened in those dark days.

Continue reading "Don't Spit on Me"

Outside the wire

...that's where I am, in a sense. Trav'lin' about and posting via PDA.

But note that new blog ad to the right. Click through and you'll find a great DVD at a great price. (So buy one for your local Senator, too.)

Murtha Criticizes Pentagon Leaks; Pot and Kettle Both Explode

Granted, it's nothing as sexy as accusing Marines of a massacre, but Jack Murtha is not above giving veiled threats to the Pentagon when it suits his purpose:

Murtha said he is convinced the Pentagon has been leaking information about the possibility that Pelosi would use large military planes to make her look bad. But he said, "They're making a mistake when they leak it because she decides on allocations for them,'' referring to the Pentagon budget.

Classy.

From stalwart hawk to get out fast

The WSJ Opinion Page has an interesting look at the history of Mz Clinton's position/s on Iraq through her Senate career... Good heavens! Looks like a "I was all for it before I was against it... " Just nice to see what we all know in a larger forum...

Starting here:

October 10, 2002. Mrs. Clinton addresses the Senate on the use-of-force resolution. "The facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt," she declares, citing Saddam's record of using chemical weapons, the invasion of Kuwait, and his history of deceiving U.N. weapons inspectors. "As a result, President Clinton, with the British and others, ordered an intensive four-day air assault, Operation Desert Fox, on known and suspected weapons of mass destruction sites and other military targets," she continues, adding that Saddam "has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members."

All the way through to

January 27, 2007. On the campaign trail in Iowa, Mrs. Clinton demands that President Bush "extricate our country from this before he leaves office." And she promises that, if elected, she will end the war quickly.

But I liked this part best:

All politicians change their minds about something at some point, but what's troubling about Mrs. Clinton's record on Iraq is that it tends to follow, rather than lead, public opinion. When the war was first debated, and she couldn't easily walk away from her husband's record against Saddam, she was a solid, even eloquent, hawk. Then for a time she laid low and avoided the antiwar excesses of John Kerry and others.

But now that the war has proven to be difficult, and her fellow Democrats are outflanking her on the antiwar left, she is steadily, even rapidly, moving in their direction. So in the space of merely 14 months and as the Presidential campaign begins in earnest, Mrs. Clinton has gone from advocating a new plan to "win" the Iraq war, with "honor," to vocally opposing President Bush's new strategy to try to do precisely that. And, oh, yes, she now wants the "surge" to be in Afghanistan instead of Iraq.

The question we'd ask is whether this is the kind of stalwart drift that Mrs. Clinton would bring to the Oval Office?

I think we know the answer...

Read the whole thing HERE

And don't miss Daniel Henninger's "Snake Eater" in WSJ Wonder Land

This is a story of can-do in a no-can-do world, a story of how a Marine officer in Iraq, a small network-design company in California, a nonprofit troop-support group, a blogger and other undeterrable folk designed a handheld insurgent-identification device, built it, shipped it and deployed it in Anbar province. They did this in 30 days, from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15. Compared to standard operating procedure for Iraq, this is a nanosecond.

Update: The ever working Bill Roggio (in a timely email) advises you can check the status of this project HERE and HERE.

Meanwhile, Back in Iraq

A Sadr loyalist is arrested

Iraqi forces on Thursday detained a senior Health Ministry official accused in alleged corruption and infiltration of the ministry that has funnelled millions of dollars to Shiite militiamen blamed for much of the recent sectarian violence in the capital, the U.S. military said.

The raid was the latest action in a crackdown on al-Sadr's militia, coming a day after the chief U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said a security sweep to stop the rampant attacks in the capital was under way.
<...>
The military statement did not name the official, but a ministry spokesman said earlier that U.S. and Iraqi forces had seized deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili, a supporter of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, from his first-floor office in northern Baghdad.

The detainee was implicated in the deaths of several ministry officials, including the director-general in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, the military said.

He reportedly orchestrated several kickback schemes related to inflated contracts for equipment and services, with millions of dollars allegedly funnelled to the Mahdi Army militia that is loyal to al-Sadr, according to the statement.

The official also was suspected of providing large-scale employment of militia members who used Health Ministry facilities and services for "sectarian kidnapping and murder," the military said.

Joint U.S.-Iraqi forces stormed the Health Ministry compound early Thursday, causing all the employees to flee, spokesman Qassim Yahya said.
<...>
Baghdad's streets have been electric with tension as U.S. officials confirmed the new security operation was under way. U.S. armour rushed through streets and Iraqi armoured personnel carriers guarded bridges and major intersections.

New coils of barbed-wire and blast barriers marked checkpoints that caused traffic bottlenecks. U.S. Apache helicopters were in the air over parts of the city where they hadn't been seen before.
<...>
Caldwell said Wednesday, that the much-awaited Baghdad security operation was finally underway but would be implemented gradually.

MNF-I press release here.

Will the "Baghdad security operation" be reported as anything other than "increasing violence"? We'll know soon enough. But it may be difficult to tell when operations kick into high gear, as even though rarely reported, operations throughout the country have never ceased.

More news from the past two days in Iraq - see if you can identify the one story that represents the only sort that would continue if the U.S. were to withdraw:

Dissent at the Times

Via NewsBusters; New York Times Baghdad reporter John Burns talks Iraq with Tim Russert:

He's on dangerous ground - another Times reporter was recently publicly humiliated after committing a lesser thought crime.

Bummin'

The past month was not a good one for my morale, as an individual. Some of my friends and contemporaries [I enlisted 22 years ago and later got a commission] are starting to put in their paperwork to retire, and it has me down. And though I can't blame them, I don't like it one bit.

The Crash in Iraq

Earlier today I heard on the news that a CH-46 went down in Iraq and everything stopped as I searched the news for details. My first trip out to Iraq, I flew in 46’s flying CASEVAC and it’s a small community, if you do it long enough, you get know everybody. With 7 deaths in the crash, it wasn’t likely a troop transport run which means was probably a CASEVAC mission.

Word’s not out yet with names or the unit the aircraft belongs to and that won’t happen till the families notified. I’m selfish, hoping that I don’t know any of the dead, saying goodbye is one of the hardest things to do. This one hits way too close to home, it could have me a dozen times over. Six crashes in 18 days, it's troubling news to myself and other corpsman who I work with. We're all part of the Marine aviation community and chances are, we will be heading back out there again before too long.

Cross posted at Doc in the Box

Re: Striking

That exchange b/w Reid and McCain was...interesting.

Reid is wrong on the "they'll lie to McCain because he's important" bit. But he IS right when he says that "those that talk to me tell me something different."

I've tried to make this point before: people will talk to those they are already inclined to agree with.

When a Sean Hannity goes to Iraq and talks to troops, he can truthfully say that all those soldiers he talked to believe and support the mission. When a Pelosi and Kerry visit Iraq, they can probably truthfully say the same thing. (it's inverse rather). I mean, there ARE troops that object to the war and see no conflict b/w opposing the mission and supporting the troops (though the logical gymnastics one must go through to get to that position leave something to be desired).

It's the same reason why for every "Troops Still Believe in Mission" news story you see, you will see a similar "Troops See Mission as Hopeless." Just depends on whom you are talking to on any given day.

The issue of course is whose statements are more representative of the whole?

AP Reporter Inadvertantly Writes Truth

via AP

The streets became nearly deserted well before nightfall, a surprising sign of fear among a population that has lived through wars for much of the past 25 years.

Oops....

Striking, I Guess...

You know what stands out to me in this video clip? The empty room.

I wish I could hear the rest of Reid's comments. I know what the troops think, I'd like to hear what he had to say about it.

But given the empty chairs, that tree fell in a very distant forest.

Update: Well, boo effing hoo.

There's a broadening bipartisan "uprising" to ditch the longer workweek among both lawmakers and staff, especially in the Senate, said a top Democratic Senate aide.

"It's a grind," said Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who enjoys one of the easiest commutes to the Capitol from his home in Northern Virginia. "It's a lot more stringent than people originally thought it would be."

A visibly annoyed Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., agreed: "I just told (Reid) I won't be back by 4:30" for the vote Monday, "even though I'm catching a 1:55 flight."

Mistrial in Watada Court Martial

Over the stipulation of fact

FORT LEWIS -- The court-martial of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada ended in a mistrial Wednesday.

The case's judge, Lt. Col. John Head, declared the trial over after a day of wrangling over a stipulation of facts that Watada had signed before the trial and that would have been part of the instructions to the jury. The judge decided that Watada never intended when he signed the stipulation to mean that he had a duty to go to Iraq with his unit.
...
He had been charged with two other counts of conduct unbecoming for interviews he gave. Prosecutors dropped those charged in return for Watada's signing a stipulation that he had given the interviews. He also acknowledged in the stipulation that he didn't go with his unit to Iraq, though he didn't admit his guilt to the missing movement charge.

With the jury of officers out of the courtroom Wednesday morning, Head wanted to question Watada about the stipulation to make sure that it was accurate and to protect the lieutenant against any mistakes in it.

But Eric Seitz, Watada's attorney, objected to the questioning. He said the stipulation should include Watada's reasons for not going to Iraq: His views that the war is illegal.

"It has always been his position that not only would he miss movement but he would not participate in a war he considered illegal" and not participate in war crimes, Seitz said.

"His specific intent was of a different character all together" than simply missing his unit's deployment to Iraq, Seitz said.

Don't worry, under Rules for Courts Martial 915, the declaration of a mistrial has the effect of withdrawing the charges and returning them to the convening authority, who may refer them to a brand spanking new court martial.

So we ain't done yet.

via (MM)

UPDATE: Nope, not done yet:

Military judge Lt. Col. John Head granted prosecutors' request for a mistrial, which Watada's lawyer opposed. He set a March 12 date for a new trial and dismissed the jurors.

The Waxman Cometh

California Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman is gettin' all investigatory in hearings yesterday and faulting the coalition provisional authority for how it handled cash payments made following the fall of the Iraqi regime:

Mr Waxman said that, in a 13-month period, the US government had shipped 360 tonnes of cash to Iraq. “Who in their right minds would send 360 tonnes of cash into a war zone? But that’s exactly what [this government] did.”

Apparently Waxman would have preferred we cut them checks? Or maybe direct deposit?

Look, waste is serious problem, but in a chaotic environment where communication between civilian personnel and military personnel isn't perfect and all-present--money will get lost.

And "lost" in a sense of "wait, you paid for that too? So did I." I recommend reading this testimony from Dave Oliver, the Director of Management and Budget for the CPA and Adviser to the Iraqi Finance Minister. (in particular pp 34-35)

Small errors, like the CPA bringing the wrong denomination of currency to a job site to pay workers, workers getting upset, and a local Marine commander takes it upon himself to "solve" the problem of angry workers by paying out from funds under his control in smaller denominations.

The Marine commander doesn't technically have the authority to make such payments and doesn't make payments according to the CPA's work log, and hence, such money is "wasted."

Now multiply that scenario over a country the size of California with a population of about 25 million people.

But then again, what do I know, I'm not in Congress.

When to go to Court Martial?

Always a good question. Though it was in another professional world, it is always worth remembering that as a JO, Fleet Admiral Nimitz went to Court Martial for running a ship aground - and he came out OK.

In today's world where nothing stays secret for long and we have to make sure that we treat what few real allies we have with respect - perhaps going to CM is best in some cases so there is little question that justice will be done, and a fair airing will take place. Right now the U.S. is taking a huge hit in the UK for a Blue-on-Blue in '03. Tough call.

The Pentagon refused last night to take any further disciplinary action against the US pilots whose "friendly fire" attack on British tanks in the Iraq war killed a soldier and wounded four others.

Despite the leaking of graphic cockpit video and voice transcript evidence of the 2003 strike, Washington said the officers were cleared in an inquiry held within months. It did not have to re-evaluate its position.

But, faced with a public relations disaster, it agreed officially to hand over the evidence for the inquest into the death of L/Cpl of Horse Matty Hull on condition that it was seen only by his family and by the Oxford assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker.

RE: I KNOW THAT DUDE (TOO)

You know, it's really beginning to become a pet peeve of mine that some people insist on "correcting" the spelling of my own pseudonym for me, as if us enlisted men are so stupid that wee woodn't even no howe too spel r own freeking rank. Anyway, just had to get that off my chest.

So uh, yeah... "the movie." Haven't spent one second on it since I got back. Hey, doing nothing's hard work! (Hard to get used to, at least.)

But it's still gonna happen, I'm just thinking that a "Band of Brothers" type mini-series is more likely to work for me than one continguous film. I just have too much footage to sift through to be able to edit it down to 90 minutes. I'll try to get the first episode on the web by my target date of Spring 07, and then stetch it out one month at a time all the way through the campaign season next year. One, this will help simulate what it was like for us to be gone that long (16 dang months; I still can't believe it's finally over) and two, there's seems to be a rush among CinC wannabee's to see who can announce they'll quit the war fastest. Well, there'll be no quitting on my watch, dammit. I'll force-feed the public this project in month-long installments for the next year and a half if I have to. I can already tell you that my mini-series will flatly contradict everything you'll be hearing about what has gone/does go on in Iraq by the time Hillary really starts campaigning. This won't be because I'll spin it, but because I've already lived it.

-Buck (repeat after me, fobnobs) S-A-R-G-E-N-T

Just Run Away

Hey, Gyrenes: If, a few months from now, a brand new El-Tee named Barrett challenges you to a race, just say no.

(You won't do it, though. I know you people.)

Recognition

Submit your nominations.

The troop-support group SemperComm is asking for nominations for its 2007 awards program recognizing the morale-raising efforts of troops stationed throughout the world. This is the fourth year of the awards program highlighting the personal contributions of troops who go the extra mile for their fellow servicemembers. The deadline for entries is Feb. 26.

“The SemperComm Award recognizes the valuable contributions of military men and women based in out-of-the-way overseas locations where there often isn’t much to do that could be considered recreational,” said Lara Coffee, SemperComm executive director, in a news release. “Keeping our uniformed personnel’s moral high is essential to their well-being and the ability to stay focused on their jobs.”

Nominees will be judged by four retired military officers who will consider three factors: actions taken to boost the morale of fellow servicemembers, remoteness and size of the base where the nominee is stationed, and the desire to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Past winners include National Guard soldiers who built a bocce ball court in Iraq and a chaplain who created a cafe where personnel could enjoy refreshments in addition to watching movies and participating in movie or cigar nights.

SemperComm site here.

Defining "Withdraw"

More of this:

Suicide attacker detonates VBIED on ambulance in Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq – A suicide terrorist, driving a Blue Vargas Wagon packed with explosives at approximately 11:55 a.m., attempted to detonate his vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) in the center of the crowded Al Boursah Market on the west side of Mosul, Feb. 3.

The attacker was heading toward his primary target, believed by local investigating police to be the Al Boursah Market, when he veered into the path of an Iraqi ambulance detonating his VBIED, according to witnesses.

There were three Iraqi civilians in the ambulance, two medical technicians and a pregnant woman on her way to the hospital. All three were wounded in the explosion and the woman later died after succumbing to her injuries. The bomber was killed in the blast.

Iraqi police are currently investigating the incident.

“This is a heinous act by terrorists targeting a pregnant woman in an ambulance,” said Col. Gary Patton, chief of staff for Task Force Lightning.

YUSUFIYAH — Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers uncovered more than 1,100 81mm high-explosive mortar rounds at a cache near the main highway, Route Tampa, leading into the Iraqi capital Saturday.

Troops from 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division and Troop B, 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment “Wolverines,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), made the discovery during Operation Wolverine Alesia near Yusufiyah, Iraq, just 10 miles southwest of the capital.

Acting on a tip from a local resident, the troops conducted an intentional search of the area which resulted in the largest cache find in 2nd “Commando” Brigade’s history. In all, 1,129 mortar rounds were uncovered.

The cache, which was buried in the dirt, was larger than expected. As the Soldiers continued to unearth more mortar rounds, it became evident that this was a major find.

More than 1100 mortar rounds were found by Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 89th Calvary Regiment “Wolverines,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) along Route Tampa, just 10 miles southwest of Baghdad Saturday. (courtesy photo by U.S. Army)

During the operation four individuals were detained by the Iraqi Army for suspicious activity in the vicinity of the cache.

At a second cache site located nearby, Troop C, 1-89th found 20 120mm mortar rounds, 26 81mm mortar rounds, four medium machine guns, 8,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, three rifle scopes, 60 fragmentation hand grenades, 50 pounds of homemade explosives, 27 boxes of 5.56mm rifle ammunition and 10 rocket-propelled grenade projectiles.

Operation Wolverine Alesia is a joint operation designed to deny terrorist sanctuary along Route Tampa, the military designation for Iraqi Highway One, leading into Baghdad from the south. The operation began Saturday and is ongoing.

Keating to PACOM

I didn't expect that one but didn't know enough to tell.

Now, who's going to NORTHCOM, and what's happening with STRATCOM?

Winter Soldiers?

Washington, D.C. - the Winter meeting of the Democratic National Committee:

If there’s one thing obvious in this room, it is that Emanuel might be clever, but it’s Howard Dean’s party. Dean electrified a similar DNC gathering four years ago when he said that he was “from the Democratic wing of the Democratic party,” and launched his antiwar candidacy briefly into the stratosphere. Now, all the Democratic presidential candidates appearing here borrow from Dean and try to appease the party’s yowling, antiwar base.
<...>
The Democrats are in the throes of a full-fledged Vietnam flashback. Even if the Bush “surge” works, Democrats will stay committed to ending the war — just as Democrats cut off the war in Vietnam in the mid-1970s, even as it had been put on a more sustainable footing. The party has regressed all the way to its McGovernite roots. The centrist Clintonite interlude of the 1990s is almost entirely washed away, with the Clintonite candidate — Hillary — trying not to get washed away with it.

Answer:

At the Winter Meeting of the Democratic National Committee, in a ballroom of the Washington Hilton packed with hundreds of Democratic activists...

I Know that dude

Sort of, any way:

More ambitiously, the popular blogger "Buck Sergeant" at American Citizen Soldier is working to edit his footage from Iraq into a serviceable full-length feature, "Give War a Chance." The trailers he has posted on YouTube show some of the stunning images he has captured, as well as the inspiration for his title choice--a plea for public support on the home front that will let the troops continue to fight for hearts and minds in Iraq.

Something to Watch

A US Army unit that monitors thousands of websites and soldiers' blogs has been served with a lawsuit by a San Francisco-based privacy group. In the suit filed in the US District Court in Washington last week, the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) said that despite several requests for information from the Army unit, known as the Awrac (Army Web Risk Assessment Cell), no answers have been provided.

Marcia Hofmann, a Washington-based staff attorney for the EFF, said the FoIA lawsuit is aimed at protecting free speech and privacy and helping soldiers understand how and why websites and soldiers' blogs are being monitored.

"The idea is to get more information on what the Army is doing," Hofmann said. "Some soldier bloggers choose not to blog because of concerns about what they can and can't say" online.

Read the rest.

Mensch

Defined:

We cannot have it both ways. We cannot vote full confidence in General Petraeus, but no confidence in his strategy. We cannot say that the troops have our full support, but disavow their mission on the eve of battle. This is what happens when you try to wage war by committee. That is why the Constitution gave that authority to the President as Commander in Chief.

Cynics may say this kind of thing happens all of the time in Congress. In this case, however, they are wrong. If it passed, this resolution would be unique in American legislative history. I contacted the Library of Congress on this question last week and was told that, never before, when American soldiers have been in harm’s way, fighting and dying in a conflict that Congress had voted to authorize, has Congress turned around and passed a resolution like this, disapproving of a particular battlefield strategy.

Arkin's Skiiing Vacation Gets Interrupted

Boy, those journalists really don't like it when they get some reporter asking questions, do they?

This Can't Be Good PR...

...for either NASA or the Navy. From this CNN article:

A NASA astronaut was arrested Monday on battery and attempted kidnapping charges after allegedly trying to subdue a romantic rival with pepper spray and abduct her from a parking lot at Orlando International Airport, police said.
Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak, who was a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery in July, and Colleen Shipman were both reported to be "in a relationship" with astronaut Bill Oefelein, a Navy commander, according to a police report of the incident.
Nowak, 43, has been charged with battery, attempted kidnapping, attempted burglary to a vehicle and destruction of evidence. Police have recommended Nowak be held without bond...

Re: Run And Hide

Republicans block Senate

Lieberman, who caucuses with the Democrats, voted with the rest of the Republicans not to proceed.

I'm still trying to decode the sentence. But give CNN some credit...they actually acknowdged that Lieberman voted.

The WaPo has somehow managed to lose the Senior Senator from Connecticut from its voting database.

I guess Senator Lieberman has become "An Inconvenient Truth", a Progressive Democratic that wants to "End the Slaughter", true to the Democratic Traditions of Roosevelt.

Day by Day

Run and Hide

The Dems wanted to end debate, the Republicans wanted to keep the debate open and argue alternatives, the headline reads GOP blocks Senate debate on Iraq resolution.

But Harry Reid gets the credit for ironic quote of the day: "You can run, but you can't hide," Reid said. "We are going to debate Iraq."

Speaking of running, if we leave Iraq, the slaughter will skyrocket, but these events will stop:

Re: The Brain Trust

Note the author of that WaPo article: Tom Ricks, author of Fiasco.

Note his proclivity to quote anonymous sources when an opinion is to be put forth...

Cognitive Dis

You can argue that troops have done too many tours in Iraq, or you can argue that the troops are untrained - but you really can't argue both at once:

Soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division had so little time between deployments to Iraq they had to cram more than a year's worth of training into four months.

Some had only a few days to learn how to fire their new rifles before they deployed to Iraq -- for the third time -- last month.

Or stupid.

Or both.

Mercenaries and Whores

All this talk about US troops being mercenaries because they get paid sounds a lot like the argument that all women are prostitutes because of their being with you following a nice dinner and a movie.

There's a certain internal logic behind both, but you're still a schmuck for making either.

The Brain Trust

The WaPo headlines: "Officers With PhDs Advising War Effort"

The only appropriate response might be "Well, duh!"

But seriously folks... no offense to the fine folks profiled therein, but try finding a senior officer in the military without an advanced degree. These guys might be exceptional, but they aren't the exception in that department. There's a bit of myth perpetuaton here - the reality is the military invests time and money in developing the talents of the right folks for the right jobs - and sometimes they get it right.

And in spite of the article's "but the job is too big for these guys or anyone else" tone, I think the right people have indeed been chosen for this task - a conclusion not just based on the evidence of wisdom exhibited in the highlighted words of this paragraph:

Petraeus, who along with the group's members declined to be interviewed for this article, has chosen as his chief adviser on counterinsurgency operations an outspoken officer in the Australian Army. Lt. Col. David Kilcullen holds a PhD in anthropology, for which he studied Islamic extremism in Indonesia.

Kilcullen has served in Cyprus, Papua New Guinea and East Timor and most recently was chief strategist for the State Department's counterterrorism office, lent by the Australian government. His 2006 essay "Twenty-Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company-Level Counterinsurgency" was read by Petraeus, who sent it rocketing around the Army via e-mail. Among Kilcullen's dictums: "Rank is nothing: talent is everything" -- a subversive thought in an organization as hierarchical as the U.S. military.

You might also want to make time for A Framework for thinking about Iraq Strategy and Two Schools of Classical Counterinsurgency.

Analyze This

Apropos of Greyhawk's "confession": Is there something to the fact that I, with no children (yet), and being elsewhere in the world on TDY on Super Bowl Sunday, found the Puppy Bowl absolutely riveting television?

An Angel Gets the Surprise of a Lifetime

What a Story!

Tony Dungy

"Class act" is an understatement.

And it runs in the family:

Humility. How did Tony Dungy learn it? Wilbur Dungy was a hero, but his son Tony didn't even know it until his dad's funeral in 2004. Wilbur was one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, the dedicated and determined young men who enlisted to become America's first black military airmen during World War II.

"I'm proud to be the first African-American coach to win this," Dungy said during the trophy ceremony. "But again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-American but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that."

And in a followup from Indy: Church parties on despite ban.

For AFN Viewers

...the Superbowl commercials are here.

Greyhawk family favorite: The Mouse.

Honorable mention:

The Lions

Letterman

Doritos

Bud Lite

(It may come as no surprise that some of us were also sneaking peeks at the Puppy Bowl.)

The Glenn and Helen Show

Podcast with Michael Yon.

Stop the Madness

As noted yesterday, we can't stop the slaughter in Iraq by withdrawing - in fact, the opposite is more likely.

But withdrawing will put a stop to events covered in stories like these - just a sampling of news from the 22 hours since that original post:

Leadership Changes

...in Afghanistan.

The highest-ranking U.S. general to lead troops in Afghanistan took command of 35,500 strong NATO-led force Sunday, putting an American face on the international mission after nine months of British command.

Gen. Dan McNeill replaced British Gen. David Richards at the helm of NATO's International Security Assistance Force at a time of increased violence and just before an expected uptick in fighting as spring settles in.
<...>
There are now 26,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the highest number since U.S.-led troops ousted the Taliban in 2001 for hosting Osama bin Laden. About 14,000 American forces fall under NATO command; 12,000 troops focused on training Afghan forces and special operations fall under the U.S.-led coalition.

KABUL, Afghanistan — NATO-led troops killed a senior Taliban leader with a precision airstrike near a southern Afghan town overrun by militants, a spokesman for the alliance said Sunday.

Col. Tom Collins said the airstrike near Musa Qala on Sunday morning killed a senior Taliban leader riding in a car.

Musa Qala on Thursday was overrun by an estimated 200 Taliban fighters who disarmed local police, ransacked the district center and hoisted their trademark white flag.

LMSR, anyone?

Talking logistics.

This?

Or This?

Or some combination?

Background here.

XLI

No favoritism here:

May the best team win!

Update/ Warning:

...a recent crackdown on a church that was planning to host a Super Bowl party has brought to light a somewhat poorly written copyright law.

The NFL initially complained that the church was charging people to watch the game, and that they called it "Super Bowl". But even after the church agreed to let people in for free, the NFL continued to press the issue and said that by showing the Super Bowl on a screen that is larger than 55 inches is copyright infringement, which may be a public performance. The stance of the NFL is that they have a long-standing policy to ban mass-out-of-home viewing, with the exception of places that show it as part of their everyday business like sports bars. Using this law against a small congregation seems somewhat petty of a league that is one of the most successful at financially promoting their sport. Still, the law is indeed real, if not outdated in this new HDTV era.

But all you folks planning on watching the game on the big screen TV's in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other military installations and ships throughout the world (yes, we had big screens in Iraq) had better watch out for league reps.

Opposing views always welcome:

Some reasons to root for the Bears:

Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning maxed out to Bob Corker in 2006, and was a Bush/Cheney donor in 2004. The Bears? Urlacher's sole reportable contribution was to a Democratic congressman.

The Tomasky argument:
[W]ho would you rather see happy: Barack Obama and Jan Schakowsky or Richard Lugar and Dan Burton?
<...>
Chicago is the venue city for the 2007 YearlyKos conference. And they'll still be celebrating their Super Bowl victory in August.

RE: RE: Ending the War

Since Greyhawk was so eloquent in explaining that Hillary didn't mean she was going to stop the slaughter I thought it appropriate to speak to the point of

Why They Hate Us

It is really a very simple thought process -

America is all powerful.
My life is miserable.
America must hate me.

Re: Ending the War

Now let's not be unfair, S.D. Hillary knows quite well when she says "ending the war" she doesn't mean stopping the slaughter in Iraq - that will intensify dramatically if we pull out.

This is the sort of stuff a U.S. President has the power to end:

Ending the War

via AP

"Believe me, I understand the frustration and the outrage," Clinton said in a speech to the Democratic National Committee meeting that brought the party's nine White House hopefuls together for the first time. "You have to have 60 votes to cap troops, to limit funding to do anything. If we in Congress don't end this war before January 2009, as president, I will."

Yes Hillary, I like every other member of humanity is frustrated by the War in Iraq. You're preaching to the choir.

Increasing Violence

NY Times:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A suicide truck bomber struck a market in a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad on Saturday, killing as many as 121 people among the crowd buying food for evening meals, one of the most devastating attacks in the capital since the war started.

The attacker was driving a truck carrying foodstuffs including oil and flour when he detonated a ton of explosives, destroying stores and stalls in the busy outdoor Sadriyah market, police said.

The late-afternoon explosion was the latest in a series of attacks against mainly Shiite commercial targets in the capital. No group claimed responsibility, but it appeared to be part of a bid by Sunni insurgents to provoke retaliatory violence and kill as many people as possible ahead of a planned U.S.-Iraqi security sweep.

Stimson, We Hardly Knew Ye (Update 2)

The trials and tribulations of Robert Stimson, previously covered here, continue:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 — The senior Pentagon official who set off a controversy last month with remarks suggesting that corporations should consider severing business ties with law firms that represent Guantánamo Bay detainees has resigned.

The official, Charles D. Stimson, deputy assistant secretary for detainee affairs, said that it was his decision to resign and that he was not asked to leave by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, said Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for the Pentagon.

On Jan. 24, the Bar Association of San Francisco requested that the State Bar of California investigate Mr. Stimson for possible violations of California ethics rules, the San Francisco group’s Web site says.

Update 1

Last fall, a Marine paralegal reported she had heard guys in a bar who claimed to be Guantanamo guards say that they had beaten inmates there.

Now...

...a military defense lawyer whose paralegal reported overhearing guards at the U.S. Navy base in southeastern Cuba brag about beating detainees said the paralegal was accused by a military investigator of filing a false statement.

Army Col. Richard Basset, who was ordered by the U.S. Southern Command to investigate the allegations into guards' actions, told the paralegal, Marine Sgt. Heather Cerveny, that the guards denied her account of their September conversations in a Guantanamo bar, according to Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey.

The investigator accused Cerveny of having made a false statement, Vokey told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. He said Basset met with Cerveny last year at Camp Pendleton, where she is based.

The probe began after Vokey filed a complaint with the Pentagon's Inspector General's office in October and attached a sworn statement from Cerveny. Jose Ruiz, a spokesman for Southern Command where Basset is based, declined to comment on contents of the investigation.

The Marine, a paralegal who was at the U.S. Navy station in Cuba last month, alleges that several guards she talked to at the base club boasted of routinely hitting detainees.

Spit Fight

New?

Not really.

Update:

Shades of Winter Soldier - the left is eager to believe that American troops like John Kerry and his cronies slaughtered babies with wanton abandon, but dismisses the thought that any of their class would waste a drop of precious phlegm to welcome the sick brutes home.

Go Big

NY Daily News

Several thousand more troops will be sent to Iraq on top of the 21,500 in combat brigades for President Bush's plan to take back Baghdad, top officials said yesterday.
<...>
[Defense Secretary Robert] Gates said "there would be some additional support forces," and he put the number "at about 10 to 15% of the number that CBO [the budget office] cited," which would work out to 1,500 to 4,200 more.

In a separate briefing, national security adviser Stephen Hadley said the 21,500 figure would grow. When Bush listed 21,500 troops for the increase, "he was focusing on the combat elements," Hadley said, adding the Pentagon was working on "what additional support is necessary."

Warner v Warner

Through the looking glass:

Sen. John W. Warner will join his fellow Republicans in voting Monday to block the resolution he wrote rebuking President Bush's Iraq war policy.

(Warner resolution examined here.)

Sometimes Soldiers Do Dumb Things

But when they involve an electric fly swatter, a wiener, and video....well, that's just golden.

NIE Hysteria

Cherry Picking:

About Iran. This must have been one of the most controversial elements of the estimate: Iraq's neighbors are "not likely to be a major driver of violence or the prospects for stability because of the self-sustaining character of Iraq's internal sectarian dynamics." There's the expected qualifications that Iran and Syria are up to no good, but this is the major point.

The National Intelligence Report on Iraq

Key Judgments here.

Highlights here. (For those lacking time for the full 3+ pages of text at the first link.)

Some of the more hysterical coverage I've seen thus far seems a bit unwarranted.

The bold font found at the very beginning (which most reports have skipped, as far as I can tell) idicates the authors felt they were making an important point:

Iraqi society’s growing polarization, the persistent weakness of the security forces and the state in general, and all sides’ ready recourse to violence are collectively driving an increase in communal and insurgent violence and political extremism. Unless efforts to reverse these conditions show measurable progress during the term of this Estimate, the coming 12 to 18 months, we assess that the overall security situation will continue to deteriorate at rates comparable to the latter part of 2006. If strengthened Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), more loyal to the government and supported by Coalition forces, are able to reduce levels of violence and establish more effective security for Iraq’s population, Iraqi leaders could have an opportunity to begin the process of political compromise necessary for longer term stability, political progress, and economic recovery.

Can't Read,Write or do Arithmetic at Harvard

via WaPo

Medical costs for U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could range from $350 billion to $662 billion over the next 40 years, as soldiers survive injuries that would have killed them in past conflicts, according to a Harvard University study.

Due to improvements in battlefield medicine and equipment, there are now about 16 "nonmortally wounded" soldiers for every death, far more than the 2.6 soldiers wounded per death in Vietnam, the study said, citing Department of Veterans' Affairs data.

All Roads Lead to Teheran

Call this an update from a previous post on Iran. (With a link and an improved title courtesy of Jules Crittenden.)

Michael Ledeen laments the complete lack of leadership in Washington or elsewhere on our sworn and committed enemies in Iran, over at National Review Online. Close readers of Ledeen will note he no longer calls for acceleration (“Faster, please”), as by his account, we’ve reached a final point of decision.

In contrast to the foolish Editors at the Times, and the spineless majorities in Congress, Ledeen holds this Administration and its heavy laden and latent Foreign Policymakers accountable: for too little action, too little show of strength, too little resolve, and no amount of clue at all, in dealing with Iran. Here’s how Ledeen opens his blast:

Never has a country strained so hard to avoid a conflict as the United States concerning Iran. They have waged war against us for 28 years, and we are only now beginning to contemplate the possibility of a response.

I had a chat today with my former OIF Company Commander. We spoke of the bug-swarm of Presidential wannabes, and then turned to the subject of Iran. How desperately important is has long been, to send Iran a message that can’t possibly be misunderstood. The last straw, for him, was Iranian arms and expertise, used against us in war in Iraq.

(More commentary over at Dadmanly.)

Some times you do things...

...simply because you can.

More funny stuff, not always work-safe, here at FreakingNews.Com

H/t, the Auld Pharts in Korea, via Jim C.

Carl Prine Nails It

I don't always agree with journalist Prine. This time, I do.

A Quick Question

You'll hear more than you could possibly want to about the Warner resolution over the next few days:

Warner's resolution opposes Bush's 17,500 troop buildup for Baghdad but supports the 4,000 troop increase against Sunni Muslim insurgents and al-Qaida in Anbar province. It also declares that it would be wrong to cut off funding for troops in the field.

News of Afghanistan

"Hmmm. I'll take these in a size 10. Whoops, time to go back and read the News!"

Re: 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?

Almost right:

Since Arkin asserts that the troops should not be allowed to influence the public's opinion on the war, and since the entire left demands that anyone supporting the war become a troop himself -- has the left pretty much created a Catch-22 by which any and all support for the war is illegitimate?

(See also here and here and here and here.)

Added thought: Perhaps this is more accurate. Political commenters who support our efforts in Iraq are chickenhawks because they aren't actually in the military. Military members who voice support for our efforts in Iraq (especially those in Iraq) should not do so because it's a political discussion.

A Chat With Admiral Fox

Today, a few of us were able to participate in a conference call with Admiral Mark Fox. Interesting stuff.

Click here to listen.

Name that Plane

Attention crew dogs:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All done!

No area is safe for terrorists

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

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

Glenn Beck on the war protest in DC

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

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

Tens of thousands of people came (READ MORE HERE)

Re: The Shining Path

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

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

Worth a comparison.

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

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

Re: The Shining Path

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

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

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

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

Good News?

From the ChicagoTribune

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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