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Not all campaigns involve the violent clash of arms.
Some require other tools.
Like these:
How these will be applied described here.
You might consider them to be "special" forces.
(...since "taking the boeing" means a lot more money than he's getting.)
The excellent writer and in-theater soldier behind Acute Politics has joined Pajamas Media, has some posts in Doonesbury's site, and apparently will be published in the Doonesbury book.
I wonder if we would have gotten such great writing if he had started a few months later, as Eighty Deuce can attest (h/t B5).
Arkin manages to notice Badger 6 snarking at him in that entertaining post. Of course Arkin misspells the name of our favorite milblogging public figure from OPFOR. (So now in the space of months, he's gotten his name, rank, and job gotten wrong in the MSM--so much for the legions of fact checkers!)
It looks as though Arkin may have backed away from writing about his "obscene amenities" posture somewhat, and now is merely being the guild representative because the guild knows better than those peasant blogger types. I think we addressed that guild thing a while back, but it's going to come up again and again for a while.
I also note that Arkin didn't mention the ending of Blackfive's post, either.
I wonder why.
...You'd think the MSM would be all over this
But nope, no where.
KAMR -- An Amarillo man has been indicted for lying about earning military medals. Richard "David" McClanahan was indicted in federal court on three counts. Two were for his claims of having military honors including 3 Purple Hearts, 3 Silver Stars, and a Congressional Medal of Honor. The other count had to do with falsifying bank documents. These indictments have been in the works for at least a month, our story however, started two months ago. In the beginning it was a tale of heroics, in the end it turned into an I-Team investigation. David McClanahan was a poster boy of bravery, at least that's what so many believed. The letter from the President confirmed it. It was a nomination for the Congressional Medal of Honor. The letter told a story of valor, and he confirmed it on more than one speaking engagement. At a military banquet on March 24, 2007, McClanahan told the crowd, "It's just a nomination. There are so many more who deserve it." After several calls to the White House and Pentagon we confirmed the letter was a fake. By that time McClanahan had already shared his story with hundreds, including his unsuspecting family. It was a tale of how he killed Iraqis and saved American lives. On paper his story of bravery continued. His resume boasted dozens of awards, including 3 Purple Hearts and 3 Silver Stars. A Lt. Colonel at the Pentagon looked into those claims for us and e-mailed us this response. "The Army is looking into this matter, and as of yet has found no evidence to substantiate McClanahan's claim.
What is it with the MSM, and the blatant disregard to expose the Jesse Macbeths of this war.
AND, I'd liked to know, why were so many so easily fooled; I mean 3 purple hearts, 3 Silver Stars, and the Congressional Medal of Honor, among the many other supposed awards, well, that's pretty damn impressive and a red flag in my book. Not that this could not be accomplished, I'm just saying, I'd have at least checked him out in the beginning before being made a fool of.
According to Jack Barnes, who heads up America Supports You in Amarillo, Texas, McClanahan told him he had been awarded three Silver Stars, three Purple Hearts, the Legion of Merit and a nomination for the Congressional Medal of Honor for combat bravery in Iraq."We just embraced this young man. His story was so real," recalled Barnes.
UPDATE: A reader digs deeper into google and emails his findings:
I was surprised that this guy got away with what he did. Was there no one with prior military service looking at McClanahan's supposed experiences and awards?!--- 29 years old
--- "Retired Master Sergeant" (retired as an E-8 at 29yo?!)
--- See purported list of awards below (screen capture image assembled in Photoshop from online video)
--- Tours: at least one in Iraq; one in Afghanistan
--- Two Navy Achievement Medals (good for a young Army guy)
--- One Navy Good Conduct Medal (even better for a young Army guy)
--- Korean Defense Service Medal
Other info (below) I found while playing on Google.
--- His current wife's MySpace page acknowledging the hoax and her realization that McClanahan was married when they became engaged. Includes scanned images of McClanahan's indictment.
--- A couple forum entries by people conned by McClanahan into believing his story. *** Real sad part is the forum author's remark re people that were on hand to listen to McClanahan lie: "...the mothers, fathers, widows and children of the fallen. There were three families there, and their presence was extremely sobering to us...."***
Mr Arkin continues with his analogy here
I guess I'll continue in my naïve hope that a free press, not a fan base, is our best hope for encouraging impartial and well-rounded criticism.
Well Mr Arkin...my problem isn't with a free press. I actually believe I am part of a free press. My problem is with sloppy, inaccurate, misinformed reporting by the so called MSM. Case in point..from the AP quoting General Odierno
He said he thinks 80 percent of Iraqis — including Sunni insurgents and Shia militants — can reach reconciliation with each other, though most al-Qaida operatives won't.One would assume Gen Odierno was speaking about the entire Iraqi population. Further down in the article -
Odierno said. "I believe about 80 percent are reconcilable, both Jaish al-Mahdi as well as Sunni insurgents," though very few of al-Qaida.One would assume Gen Odierno was speaking about 80% of Iraqi "insurgents" being reconcilable.
Which reality should I chose from this article Mr Arkin?
Michael Yon follows up on yesterday's tease with a powerful explanation of what happened and why.
It's useful to remember, now that everyone's getting buzzword compliant on COIN, that Iraq is also what's left of a Stalinist state. The security apparatus in the Soviet Union was so powerful that it survived the death of Stalin by decades; Saddam idolized Stalin and built his security apparatus the same way. Absolute power corrupts, even in cases where the man with power starts out strong. Also, people in groups tend to tolerate bad actors in their midst much more than they should--just think of a workplace you were in where they didn't fire the guy who was the real pain in the tail.
I don't know more than what Yon tells us--but it sounds as though LTC Crissman's team is walking a tightrope and doing it well.
On Sunday, June 3, Lifetime television will debut a new television series, Army Wives. I had the oppertunity to review the first episode. Should be interesting to read the reactions of "real" Army Wives.
Pat Dollard JD Johannes explains why it feels as though sometimes the ordnance has your name on it, and sometimes it doesn't.
Update: Post fixed. Thanks for the heads up.
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