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Bill Roggio, via email:
One of the reasons I started this venture because I believe an education about the nature of the fight is our greatest weakness. Many often look at this war as a fight in Afghanistan, sometimes Pakistan, Iraq if we're lucky. I provided an update on the major theaters in the Long War, and in some minor theaters were are often not familiar with. I called the post "The State of Jihad." It is a one to two paragraph roundup of developments in the theaters over the past year.
Pencil Roving reminded me to go look again at a New Yorker article that's long but useful in explaining concepts I've been trying to push for a while.
My reaction here.
Saddam reaches the end of his rope - Jawa has the video. (No, it's not the CNN version).
The striking thing about this is the room. A dark little chamber somewhere in Baghdad, a fitting doorway to sheol for a man whose entry was long overdue.
Below the fold, a still clip received via email. I debated a few moments with myself over whether I'd share all this, but a lot of folks here went to considerable effort to make this happen.
Sic Semper tyrannis? If only that were true. This will certainly do for a start.
Consistent with the observation made by Michael Yon on Christmas in Kuwait that one "never hear[s] soldiers worried about their own morale sagging," Canadian Soldiers Reenlist for Afghanistan.
HOWZ-E MADAD, Afghanistan -- Sweltering heat in the summer, frigid cold in the winter, sleeping in the desert and the ever-present threat of Taliban attacks doesn't seem to be a downside for some Canadian soldiers serving here.As a matter of fact, with the end of this rotation coming up in February, a number are already talking about coming back for another tour of duty.
Forty-four Canadian soldiers have died in this war-torn country since 2002 and 2006 has been the bloodiest year for our troops since the Korean War.
But individuals like Cpl. Mark Ejdrygiewicz, 22, of Lethbridge, Alta., believe a six-month tour isn't long enough to get the job done.
"On this six month tour we did a lot. There was a lot of progress made: Op Medusa and down in Panjwaii and the districts there opening up the schools and building highways," said Ejdrygiewicz, known as "Edge" to his patrol mates, as he rode in the back of a light armoured vehicle near Howz-e Madad.
"We're doing what we can but we know the Taliban are going to come back. Winter's here and they've gone back to Pakistan," he said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "We've got a foothold on the ground in the area but in the back of your mind you know they will be coming back and it will be another threat."
And Ejdrygiewicz takes his job very seriously. Written in felt pen on the cover of his helmet in Pashtu is "Taliban Relocation Service," a tribute to fallen comrade Master Cpl. Jeffrey Walsh, who was killed by an accidental rifle discharge last summer.
O' Canada. Displaying the resolve of the Poles.
The Jessie MacBeths of the world have always been with us. Visit any local bar and one will find an array of individuals who blather on endlessly about experiences they never had.
The greater question is why are they elevated to 'Hero" status?
Voltair(a pretty smart guy) said, "If God didn't exist we would have to invent him."
In general people who have a God have an omnipotent power to put their faith in, a framework of good and evil, and a mechanism for accepting things that have no clear explanation..I.E. God's Will.
Of more than 20 major actions in the Pacific during World War II, she was there for all but two. She was bombed, hit by Kamikazes and fought on and on, for a time as the lone operational carrier in the Pacific.
She became the most decorated ship of the war.
Sailors know who she was, but you can find more here.
Blair himself also recently caught another one in the act - a small timer, perhaps, but I don't mind shining a little extra light on any of these cockroaches.
That one inspired this response from Iraq vet Diggs at 4 Mile Creek.
Regarding the question Diggs asks, the desire to pretend to be a real GI Joe isn't always a political ploy (gaining a few bucks in unearned VA benefits is probably the prime motivator for most, a desire to simply con folks or a desperate need for acclaim probably accounts for much of the rest), but those who do pose for purely political reasons tend to be lefty, anti-war extremists. Maybe that's just part of the pose? It's possible that since these folks don't really know much about the military they've been duped into believing the Hollywood/media fiction of the recalcitrant soldier. MacBeth might fit this category (I've provided a link to the definition in case he wanders by and wants to see if he's been insulted or not), but Micah Wright and this Mike Hudson clown? Not so much.
But the left is absolutely vulnerable to these types because they desperately "want to believe" (que X-Files theme). Witness the real clowns in the Jesse MacBeth story - his "battle buddies" in the IVAW and the chump that made him a video star.
But it should also be noted that the sharper lefties are now avoiding the "stolen valor" problem by planting their own "instant heroes." (More recent news on that story here and here, for those who may have missed the updates.)
Here's a stolen valor round-up from the P.O.W. Network.
The body of Saddam Hussein was handed over Saturday to a delegation representing the tribe of the former Iraqi president, Al Arabiya reported, citing unnamed sources...Here's how they reportedly came for the pick-up:Members of the delegation met with advisers to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the governor of Saladin Province and his deputy, the television station said.
The tribal elders want to transfer the body to a cemetery in the Al-Ouja section of Tikrit, where Saddam Hussein's relatives, including sons Uday and Qusay, are buried.
Sheikh Ali al-Nida, head of the Bou Nasser tribe, led a delegation that traveled aboard a U.S. government airplane to Baghdad.And, according to the same story, his last words were "Muqtada al-Sadr".
"This dark page has been turned over," al-Rubaie said. "Saddam is gone. Today Iraq is an Iraq for all the Iraqis, and all the Iraqis are looking forward. ... The [Hussein] era has gone forever."But...Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who didn't attend the execution, used it as an opportunity to plead for national unity to ward off deadly sectarian violence which is straining Iraq's fledgling government.
"In the name of the people I call on all men of the past regime and manipulated by it to reconsider their stances," al-Maliki said in a written statement released after the execution.
Deadly car bombs Saturday struck a mainly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad and the southern Shiite town of Kufa, officials said.Elsewhere:
Millions of Muslim pilgrims performing the Hajj in Saudi Arabia have thrown stones at three pillars representing the devil, as part of a ritual.CNN is concerned the hanging might create a rift between Sunni and Shiite Muslims:New security measures have been added in an effort to control the movement of pilgrims and prevent stampedes that have killed hundreds in the past.
2006: 345 die in a crush during a stone-throwing ritual
2004: 251 trampled to death in stampede
2003: 14 are crushed to death
2001: 35 die in stampede
1998: At least 118 trampled to death
1997: 343 pilgrims die and 1,500 injured in fire
1994: 270 killed in stampede
1990: 1,426 pilgrims killed in tunnel leading to holy sites
1987: 400 die as Saudi authorities confront pro-Iranian demonstration
Arab pilgrims in Mecca expressed outrage on Saturday that Iraqi authorities had chosen to execute former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on a major religious holiday, saying it was an insult to Muslims.Sunni Arabs at the hajj were shocked at Saddam's hanging which followed his conviction for crimes against humanity against Iraqi Shiites.
"His execution on the day of Eid ... is an insult to all Muslims," said Jordanian pilgrim Nidal Mohammad Salah. "What happened is not good because as a head of state, he should not be executed."
The Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, marks biblical patriarch Abraham's willingness to kill his son for God. Muslim countries often pardon criminals to mark the feast, and prisoners are rarely executed at that time.
The death could harden hatred for Shi'ite Muslims in Saudi Arabia, a bastion of Sunni Islam whose Islamic orthodoxy -- known as Wahhabism -- regards Shiites as virtual heretics.
Unlike in 1943-45, when there were thousands of them - there is only one are only two flyable Lancaster bombers. And those gnomes who spend their spare time poring over the commercial satellite imagery looking for things like airplanes in flight and military installations - found one, flying, in Google Maps.
[Update - over at my place, I've been put in my place as usual by one of my Canadian snipers, positioned to catch all disses Canadian, intentional or unintentional:
Oh dear ... The GoogleEarth image is probably of the Lancaster (PA 474) flying with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight with further details here . However, in TundraLand, we have the Mynarski Lancaster (KB 726) flown by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. I have enjoyed seeing it in flight several times. Hurricane + Spit + Lanc = 6 Merlins in full song.For those who travel, the CWHM is in Hamilton, Ontario. Further info: click here.
Cheers, JMH
Sic Semper Errata. Heh. Twice.
[Remainder of post snipped as being stale and irrelevant per this post from 22 November pointed out by Eagle1 which I obviously never saw. No reason to waste the picture bandwidth on my server or your reading time.]
Let's celebrate the living who paid a hefty price to send Saddam to the house of the dead.
And measure the impact of Project Valour-IT at the same time.
Number of US troops wounded, KIA in Iraq down from last year.
Surely that will be big headline news, right?
Ahhh, well now I understand completely...
However, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who heard arguments from attorneys by phone, rejected the challenge Friday night. She said U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction to interfere in another country's judicial process.In a 21-page request filed Friday, Saddam's attorneys argued that because Saddam also faces a civil lawsuit in Washington, he has rights as a civil defendant that would be violated if he is executed. He has not received notice of those rights and the consequences that the lawsuit would have on his estate, his attorneys said.
A couple of interesting side items from the execution story:
...a U.S. district judge refused a request to stay the execution.He was executed on Saturday in Iraq.Attorney Nicholas Gilman said in an application for a restraining order, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, that a stay would allow Hussein "to be informed of his rights and take whatever action he can and may wish to pursue."
Haddad had called Gilman's filing "rubbish," and said, "It will not delay carrying out the sentence," which he called "final."
There had been speculation that Hussein would be executed before Eid Al-Adha -- a holiday period that means Feast of the Sacrifice, celebrated by Muslims around the world at the climax of the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The law does not permit executions to be carried out during religious holidays.Eid began Saturday for Sunnis and Sunday for Shiites and lasts for four days. Hussein is a Sunni Muslim.
Hussein executed, Iraqi TV stations report
The witness reported that celebrations broke out after Hussein was dead, and that there was "dancing around the body."Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did not attend the execution, according to an adviser to the prime minister who was interviewed on state television.
The execution was videotaped and photographed, state television reported, and those images will be distributed to the media.
Al-Arabiya television network reported that Barzan Hassan, Hussein's half-brother, and Awad Bandar, former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were hanged after Hussein. All three were convicted of killings in the Iraqi town of Dujail nearly 25 years ago.
Jules Crittenden hits his (blogging) stride in Dead by Dawn? - which segues to a brief glimpse at reporting in the early days of the invasion.
I think Jules and I are in about the same frame of mind on the execution.
I's add that it's a damn rare thing to see a tyrant meet his maker in such a manner. Unprecedented in modern history?
WMD and other (IMHO) unfortunate advertising gimmicks aside, the fundamental reason for invading Iraq in the first place was a notion that perhaps if freed from Saddam's oppressive rule the Iraqis could build a model democracy*. I'll admit I believed that in 2003 (with the "perhaps" qualifier included, I'm a bit too old to live without it) but I'd like to see more evidence of it now - say more folks acting instead of wishing (or awaiting Allah's will). But perhaps too many were his children after all, and he the only model to which they aspire.
However few there may be to oppose such as that, I'm still on their side.
This war is strange. I never hear soldiers worried about their own morale sagging. Contrary, the war-fighters here are more concerned to bolster the morale of the people at home. Here in Kuwait, where the dining facilities are bedecked in Christmas decorations, soldiers stream in from Iraq on convoys and stream back north along those bomb-laden roads. The service members here are not all rear-echelon people who never see fighting or blood. Yet their overall morale obviously is high. Few of them know I am a writer, and so they speak freely at the tables around me. In Qatar, from which I'd just departed, I spoke with troops taking four-day R&R passes, some having just returned from the most dangerous parts of Iraq, and others heading straight back, and their overall morale was also very high. The morale at war is higher than I have ever seen it at home; makes me wonder what they know that most Americans seem to be missing.We'll know soon enough. Michael says va email: "I've landed in Baghdad and am preparing to re-embed with U.S. Force."
So is Bill Ardolino, whose INDC journal has a new name. He says he's headed to the airport to manifest for a flight - which shouldn't in any way be confused with the act of getting on a plane that takes you where you want to go.
They arrive in interesting times.
Iraq the Model will be worth a frequent read tonight.
*The "Yeah, but why the f--- should we care?" angle being another issue altogether, and one that good people can argue reasonably.
WSJ Online's Best of the Web Today leads off a look at reporting on Iraq with an extensive quote from Russ Vaughn. Quoteworthy from top to bottom, so there's no point pulling one out for inclusion here.
SADDAM HUSSEIN will be executed no later than 0600 Saturday Baghdad time (2200 Friday EST; 1900 PST).
So long, sucker!
Coming out of the breakwater, four washed overboard in restricted waters; two didn't survive. Details at my place. The Sub Report has the updates.
Sailors, rest your oar.
Three weeks ago the South Korean government announced they were going to suspend the USFK relocation to Camp Humphreys to 2013. The SK government announced this decision at this time because they hoped the Pentagon would be to preoccupied with the transition between Rumsfeld and Gates and the on going Iraq debate to care about events going on in Korea. The Korean government was right because there was no response from the Pentagon. This lack of response gave the Korean government the green light to pass a bill during the Christmas holiday that cut all governmental funding for the USFK relocation.
Many people in Korea complain about the US presence in Korea, especially the Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, but when it comes time to cut US troops and consolidate the remaining troops in an out of the way area south of Seoul the Korean government every time does whatever it can to stop it because the Korean government prefers the status quo.
The current status quo prevents the US from taking any action against North Korea because of where the majority of US forces are currently stationed would be easily destroyed by a North Korean artillery strike. Plus the Korean government doesn't want to pay for the move to Camp Humphreys. Though the South Korean government is more than willing to send over an billion dollars in aid next year to North Korea they have always funded USFK on the cheap. So from the South Korean viewpoint if the US government decides to go ahead and completely finance the move to Camp Humphreys themselves, then when the US eventually pulls out of Korea, the Korean Army will receive a state of the art military base for free.
Other economic factors is the fact that by consolidating USFK bases the US military will be able to cut jobs of Koreans that support the bases. The move would instantly cause massive unemployment in the cities of Dongducheon, Uijongbu, and the Yongsan area of Seoul where the majority of US forces are located.
Another factor that keeps Yongsan where it is at is the fact that Korean politicians love to demagogue this issue for short term political advantage. The usual rhetoric goes, "Vote for me and I will kick the Yankee imperialists off of Yongsan and return this land to Korea!" Yet when this person gets elected they do everything possible to ensure it stays right where it is at ensuring that the USFK gravy train rolls on.
Spook86 is - at In From the Cold- where he has a nice piece on the DPRK and some analyis of the military capability thereof which he (correctly in my opinion) deems "faulty".
A good section:
In other words, why should we be so concerned about North Korea's miniscule arsenal, since the U.S. has enough nukes to flatten the DPRK many times over. But such arguments are specious--and ignore the larger point. The last time I checked, 70% of U.S. military wasn't sitting on the border, prepared to invade our closest neighbors. We don't fire ballistic missiles over Mexico, Canada, Russia, or anyone else to make political points, and the United States hasn't conducted nuclear tests to gain attention on the world stage. As for Pyongyang, guilty on all counts.Additionally, the United States is not part of a global proliferation network that is actively engaged in the transfer of ballistic missile and (possibly) nuclear weapons technology. Pyongyang, on the other hand, is already the world's largest exporter of ballistic missiles, and there is great concern that the bankrupt DPRK will share its nuclear expertise as well. There is justifiable fear that a North Korean nuke design (or a finished weapon) will wind up in the hands or Iran, Syria, or terrorist organizations--regardless of how large or small the U.S. nuclear arsenal might be.
A quote from that story:
But Olson, who received her subpoena Thursday, acknowledged she has no legal grounds to refuse to testify, since she is being asked only to confirm the accuracy of what she wrote about Watada and not to disclose confidential sources or unpublished material.In short, the reporters are simply being required to testify whether what they wrote is truth or fiction. I completely understand their discomfort on this one - such a precedent could destroy the industry as we know it.
This late entry is a contender:
Hundreds of Iraqis Apply to be Hangman
Cliff May posts some interesting notes from a Marine in Iraq.
The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. … Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready made IED's are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges, in Styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.
"Blogger may be malfunctioning like crazy, but the News is still up!"
Our buddy Ehren Watada apparently talked to a lot of journalists. Funnily enough, this is of interest to the people prosecuting him.
Army prosecutors have sent subpoenas to journalists in Oakland and Honolulu demanding testimony about quotes they attributed to an officer who faces a court-martial after denouncing the war in Iraq and refusing to deploy with his unit.
(h/t Insta)
The MSM is big on their narratives. It's the "storyline" through which every news item adheres to in some form or another. So what happens when two major MSM narratives conflict? In this case: "The economy is in the tank and only the poor enlist in the Army as it's their only option."
How then to explain this little nugget in this NYT article about challenges facing recruiters in the wake of the proposed increase of the permanent size of the Army?
Part of the struggle, recruiters said, is economic. Attracting young people to military service is difficult when jobs are plentiful and wages are on the rise.
Darn it, I'm confused. Thankfully, new recruits, being the ignorant troglodytes they are, won't pick up on this fine distinction either.
Intesting report from the LA Times at the end of this:
Somalian government officials said they had no immediate plans to use heavy force to take the capital, a campaign they said could inflict heavy civilian deaths on the city of 2 million people. Instead, Ethiopians and transitional government troops encircled Mogadishu, shut down the seaport and airport, and pressured Islamic leaders to give up.Well, if true, good for us."We are cutting off the roads and begging them to lay down their weapons," said Abdikarim Farah, the transitional government's ambassador to Ethiopia.
He said the United States was among the countries helping to seal off access along the Indian Ocean coastline. (emphasis adde)
When Iowahawk finds a charity, he finds a good 'un. American Legion Post 360's got a pinup calendar for sale. There's also the Dolphin Scholarship calendar for those who aren't into the pinups...
Besides, we were getting too serious anyway.
"The Corps has this reflex when it feels threatened at home. It has a history of eating its young."You'll find the source for that below.
At this point, if we're going to send 20 or 30k extra troops into Iraq, it seems they'd better be qualified to serve as investigating officers, and they better find results compatable with whatever subsequent media coverage may arise.
A.L., there's an interesting tone to the story you linked - it seems to imply that guilt has been determined. I suppose sentencing is all that remains. I'm not at all implying that you share that (perhaps Murtha-inspired) mind set, in fact I'm confident you don't.
Vanity Fair (yes, Vanity Fair) has put their Haditha story back on their online "front page" - and it's one everyone should read. (I linked it when it was new and said the same thing.) It includes this observation on the aftermath of Murtha's declaration of guilt:
Following his statements, Haditha became yet another test in a polarized nation, and never mind the details: if you liked President George W. Bush, you believed that no massacre had taken place; if you disliked him, you believed the opposite.Which is one of countless reasons why anyone in that position should think twice about trying to get his quotes in the press - though for the weaker among us the tempatation will always be entirely too strong.
Another key reason is that guilt is determined in courts, of course, a position I believe we've maintained here from the get-go. (And if anyone knows of a previous example of a case so utterly corrupted in advance by one inept politician, by all means let me know.)
Of course, this case began in the exact same manner - someone released a very ill-considered official comment before all the facts were in (see below). Avoiding such is exactly why the military usually has "no comment" in the first draft of any story on anything.
Again, read the whole thing. For the time-constrained among us, I've excerpted the portion addressing the investigation issue below.
Always better to have them retreat than to have them moving forward.
Triumphant Somali government forces and their Ethiopian allies marched into Mogadishu on Thursday after Islamist rivals abandoned the war-scarred city they held for six months.More to follow, I am sure - but this is a better trend than what we have see for most of the year.The flight of the Islamists was a dramatic turn-around in the volatile Horn of Africa nation after they took Mogadishu in June and spread across the south imposing sharia rule.
Terrified of yet more violence in a city that has become a byword for chaos, some Mogadishu residents greeted the arriving government troops, while others hid.
"People are cheering as they wave flowers to the troops," said resident Abdikadar Abdulle, adding scores of government military vehicles had passed the Somalia National University west of the city center
...you'll find the text of a comment recently left at Mudville. I can't verify the author is who he says he is (or even that "he" is a "he") but the individual expresses an opinion I've heard before, more than once. Outside of some of the political views I agree with much of the core of what he says regarding courses of action in Iraq.
Not how anyone wants to come home for the holidays, but hopefully there's a valour-it laptop waiting under the tree.
Chuck Ziegenfuss - whose similar experience got the whole Valour-IT project started (hopefully readers here know that story) - visits Walter Reed for some follow-up, and meets Three Kings.
J.R. SALZMAN writes:
it is hard for me to tell you all this but i was hurt by an ied here. my right arm has been amputated below the elbow, my left has four working fingers. my legs are fine so l can still logroll! i am on my way to the hospital in germany, then back to the states for more care. i am in high spirits. i am going to be ok, but i will have a long road to recovery. please remember me in your prayers, as well as those who were injured with me. i will let you know more as time passes.
This was last week; presumably, he's in Landstuhl now. Salzman is from the same Minnesota National Guard unit that created the "Halp us Jon Carry" poster.
We wish him the best of luck in his recovery and rehabilitation.
Like it needs to be said, but if you're tasked with conducting an investigation or suspect malfeasance in your command, don't half-ass it, otherwise you can get your own ass in a sling.
Charges over Haditha killings seen as "significant"
Rather understated headline there.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The decision to charge four Marine officers accused of failing to properly investigate the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians was a rare step and might never have occurred had the media not brought the incident to light, experts said on Friday.
Four officers -- a lieutenant colonel, two captains and a lieutenant -- also were charged, accused of dereliction of duty and other counts for their role in the aftermath. An investigation concluded that reporting on the killings up the chain of command was inaccurate and untimely.
Part of my job entails reviewing investigations. In the Army, such investigations are typically informal, in the sense that until there's evidence of criminal conduct, they are not criminal investigations involving law enforcement (Mil Police or Criminal Investigative Division). Such investigations are really just attempts to first figure out what happened. If there is evidence of criminal conduct, then the investigating officer can recommend UCMJ action as appropriate to include a more specific inquiry by the relevant law enforcement agency.
Regrettably, investigating officers don't often do a very good job. Sometimes they do a great job and the investigation is tight, presents sufficient evidence to support its findings and doesn't make any wild leaps of logic or reason. I like those days, they make my job easy when reviewing the investigation and I can say "legally sufficient/mighty fine." Other times, however, the things are a trainwreck. You'll have investigating officers talking to two or three people, asking them a handful of questions each and then determining that "oh well, nothing can be done."
I'm reluctant to call it intentional since I think it's moreso straight up laziness. When good enough will do, so long as they get some statements they're done. Lord knows how many times I've had to talk to an investigating officer and tell him that just because you have two statements that conflict doesn't mean you're done--you actually have to make a FINDING as to which statement you believe.
Ultimately, it's a failure to recognize the importance of producing a coherent and thorough investigation. Stories like this underscore that importance.
I thought that we just finished the argument about triremes already!
As Eagle knows, this argument is on the periodic maintenance schedule.
But there is that argument about the awesome presence of a battleship off your coast..
According to early press reports, former President Gerald R. Ford passed away Tuesday at age 93. President Ford served aboard the USS Monterey (CVL-26) in WWII.
Some more thoughts on the Ethiopian push into Somalia (and links) here. Might be the first time I have ever linked to an African Union press comunique in French...
Time to embargo heavy weapons from entering Somalia?
I think so.
Somalia calls on Islamists to surrenderMeanwhile, the New York Times' proxy site, the International Herald Tribune, declares:Islamic fighters retreated Tuesday as Somali government and Ethiopian troops advanced on three fronts in a decisive turn in the battle for control of this Horn of Africa nation.
Somalia's internationally backed government called on the Council of Islamic Courts to surrender and promised amnesty if they lay down their weapons, spokesman Abdirahman Dinari said from Baidoa, the seat of the interim administration.
In Somalia, a reckless U.S. proxy warUndeterred by the horrors and setbacks in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, the Bush administration has opened another battlefront in the Muslim world. With full U.S. backing and military training, at least 15,000 Ethiopian troops have entered Somalia in an illegal war of aggression against the Union of Islamic Courts, which controls almost the entire south of the country.
Although for some folks he never will:
BAGHDAD - The death sentence on Saddam Hussein and two co-defendants in his trial for crimes against humanity will be carried out within 30 days, appeals court judge Arif Shaheen said Tuesday."It cannot exceed 30 days. As from tomorrow the sentence could be carried out at any time," the judge said, after confirming that the sentences had been upheld and that the trial process was complete and without appeal.
The deaths of six more American soldiers in Iraq pushed the U.S. death toll to at least 2,978 -- five more than the number killed in the September 11 attacks -- as bombs killed more than 20 people in Baghdad on Tuesday.
The Reuters article also notes that December was the higest month for US casualties this year except for October which was higher than December (other months in previous years have had higher death tolls), and calls for the US to surrender now.
At least 89 U.S. soldiers have died so far this month, making it the deadliest this year after October's toll of 106, and adding pressure on President George W. Bush to find a strategy to extricate 135,000 U.S. troops from the messy war.The death toll in Iraq has exceeded that of a couple hours one September morning mere weeks after the length of the war exceeded that of WWII. The percentage of Americans killed in hostile action in Iraq remains at .15% (point-one-five percent, or fifteen-hundredths of one percent) of those deployed in the war on terror.
Once more, someone has suggested bringing back the battleships.
I don't agree.
See here.
Iraq protests at US arrest of Iranian diplomatBAGHDAD - Iraq's president protested on Monday against the arrest by US forces in Iraq of two Iranian diplomats who US officials said were seized in raids against Iranians suspected of planning attacks on Iraqi security forces.
"Two Iranian diplomats were detained by the Americans," said Hiwa Othman, media adviser for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani."The president is unhappy. He is talking to the Americans about it as we speak."
"We suspect this event validates our claim about Iranian meddling," said a White House spokesman.
In Tehran, the ISNA student news agency said the Foreign Ministry had summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran to discuss the arrests. The Swiss embassy represents US interests in Iran since diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington were cut after the 1979 Islamic revolution."This move is not compatible with any international regulations and will provoke unpleasant repercussions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said, ISNA reported.
Now ain't this interesting...
U.S. Is Holding Iranians Seized in Raids in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Dec. 24 — The American military is holding at least four Iranians in Iraq, including men the Bush administration called senior military officials, who were seized in a pair of raids late last week aimed at people suspected of conducting attacks on Iraqi security forces, according to senior Iraqi and American officials in Baghdad and Washington.
Gordon D. Johndroe, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said two Iranian diplomats were among those initially detained in the raids. The two had papers showing that they were accredited to work in Iraq, and he said they were turned over to the Iraqi authorities and released. He confirmed that a group of other Iranians, including the military officials, remained in custody while an investigation continued, and he said, "We continue to work with the government of Iraq on the status of the detainees."It was unclear what kind of evidence American officials possessed that the Iranians were planning attacks, and the officials would not identify those being held. One official said that "a lot of material" was seized in the raid, but would not say if it included arms or documents that pointed to planning for attacks. Much of the material was still being examined, the official said.
Nonetheless, the two raids, in central Baghdad, have deeply upset Iraqi government officials, who have been making strenuous efforts to engage Iran on matters of security. At least two of the Iranians were in this country on an invitation extended by Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, during a visit to Tehran earlier this month. It was particularly awkward for the Iraqis that one of the raids took place in the Baghdad compound of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, one of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders, who traveled to Washington three weeks ago to meet President Bush.
Over the past four days, the Iraqis and Iranians have engaged in intense behind-the-scenes efforts to secure the release of the remaining detainees. One Iraqi government official said, "The Iranian ambassador has been running around from office to office."
Iraqi leaders appealed to the American military, including to Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American ground commander in Iraq, to release the Iranians, according to an Iraqi politician familiar with the efforts. The debate about what to do next has also engaged officials in the White House and the State Department. The national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, has been fully briefed, officials said, though they would not say what Mr. Bush has been told about the seizure or the identity of the detainees.
A senior Western official in Baghdad said the raids were conducted after American officials received information that the people detained had been involved in attacks on official security forces in Iraq. "We conduct operations against those who threaten Iraqi and coalition forces," the official said. "This was based on information."
But what about their access to lawyers?!
At Mudville, a holiday season tradition continues for a fourth year. Milbloggers far from hearth and home this holiday season have time to check their blogs on Christmas day. Will they find tidings of comfort and joy in their comments sections? Perhaps...
Hooah, hooah, hooah! Merry Christmas:
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - Despite being pounded by the Holiday Blizzard of 2006, North American Aerospace Defense Command remains on alert for the nation and ready to track Santa Claus, according to NORAD officials."NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center is schedule to begin operations as scheduled at 2 a.m. Christmas Eve," said Michael Perini, Director of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command Public Affairs.
More than 800 Santa tracking volunteers will cycle through the center answering telephone calls and e-mails from children around the world wanting to get a fix on Santa Claus' whereabouts.
"In 2005, the volunteers at the Operations Center received 563,452 telephone calls and 103,156 emails from children around the world," Perini said.The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, www.noradsanta.org, went live Nov. 17 and has already garnered an amazing 48,695,357 page views. Last year the site received 907,958,865 page views from 204 countries and territories around the world.
Beginning at 2:00 a.m. MST on December 24, the Web site will provide minute-by-minute updates on Santa's journey around the world.A toll free number is also available at 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) for children to call and personally speak to a Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve.
Our friends at JTF-HOA just went from busy to busier. This is going to be nasty.
Ethiopia sent fighter jets into Somalia and bombed several towns Sunday in a dramatic attack on Somalia's powerful Islamic movement, and Ethiopia's prime minister said his country had been "forced to enter a war."They know they live in a tough neighborhood about to get tougher. Ungh. Peace on Earth?
There are those who stand watch and those who've come home.
God rest ye merry gentlemen. Be you in sand, snow, swamp, or solid ground, Merry Christmas.
The "world's longest running humanitarian airdrop" and a great holiday tradition:
Christmas Drop.
...from James Hooker:
I'm offering, to the troops, downloads my new album FREE until 1 Jan. 2007 over at my place. Homemade SinCool stuff, thanks!Permalink to the post, which I've made a sticky, is HERE.
For those unfamiliar with the man and his music, here's Hooker's Hanging Out With The Boys
Lots more (including Christmas tunes) at Hooker's.
For Christmas 2004, Noah came just weeks before his deployment in OIF3. He couldn't be with us last Christmas as he was working at Fort Benning after being returned to duty after his wounding and was preparing for the return of his unit (Our Guys) early in '06. We were particularly pleased that he could spend this Christmas with us as he is slated to return to the battlefield in '07...So Noah arrived from Ft Benning safe and sound to spend Christmas with us... and he brought along an early Christmas present...
To see our gift, keep reading at Some Soldier's Mom
Some folks over at my place do. I disagree, mostly. Here's my conclusion for Reader's Digest fans:
Fundamentally - absent the most dire and immediate exigency - we cannot be a truly free country if we are forced to rely upon the indentured service of a conscript class for the maintenance of our freedoms. If the day should ever come that we can no longer provide for our defense with the service of courageous volunteers, then the day has perhaps come when we no longer deserve to be defended.
The rest is here, if you're curious.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE TIGER, Iraq – The 2nd Iraqi Army Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Jamal, assumed independent authority to control all actions in their battle space during a transfer of authority ceremony held Dec. 18 at Forward Operating Base Tiger in Mosul."This ceremony marks a special time in the 2nd Iraqi Army Division's history," said Maj. Gen. Randy Mixon, commander, 25th Infantry Division. "This day also signifies the last [Iraqi Army] division to assume Iraqi Army lead in Multi-National Division – North, and the 2nd Iraqi Army Division will fall under the control of the Iraqi Ground Forces Command on Jan. 15."
In other belated news
via DVIDS
NAJAF, Iraq – The security and governance of nearly one-million An Najaf citizens was officially transferred to Provincial Iraqi Control in a ceremony here in southern Iraq Dec. 20.
This makes 3 provinces under Iraqi Control, 8 IA Divisions "In The Lead", 3 IA Divisions under Iraqi Ground Forces Command.
Normally, I mock and belittle MSM reports of "we're sending more naval forces to the Persian Gulf so we can attack Iran". The most recent reports, though, have a ring of truth -- not that we're about to attack Iran, but that we are going to plus-up our carrier presence in the Fifth Fleet AOR in the near term to maybe "send a message" to Tehran. I discuss it in more detail at my home blog.
Four U.S. Marines have been charged with murder in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha November 19 2005. Mike O'Sullivan reports, another four Marines face related charges, announced Thursday at Camp Pendleton, California.Some recent discussions on this topic can be found here and here.
Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, who led the squad, faces 12 counts of murder of Iraqi civilians. A 13th count charges him with the murders of six others killed inside a home on his orders.Sergeant Sanick Dela Cruz is charged with five murders. Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt is charged with three. Lance Corporal Steven Tatum will face two murder charges, another four charges of negligent homicide, and two counts of assault.
The Marines are charged with unpremeditated murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Four officers will also face charges that include dereliction, false reporting, obstructing justice and making false statements. The highest-ranking officer is Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani, who is charged with dereliction and failure to investigate and report unlawful killings.
People always worry about the wrong things. In worrying about the wrong things, they invariably feel compelled to do something about those things.
Call me a curmudgeon. (C'mon, that would be a new one for me, and score one more attempt to revive a Perfectly Useful but Out of Favor word from yesteryear.)
Recent elections and the elevation of a Party more prone to Activist Government has predictably led to suggestions of this or that new program, or matters of Urgent Importance to Public Safety and Wellbeing.
In so doing, such Do-Gooders prepare themselves to make whatever matters they address, worse. This has less to do with the weakness or ineffectiveness of their proposed solutions, than the illogical foundation of their misplaced attention. Do-Gooders then compound these attention deficits with an over-abundance of response. You can't do good, without doing something, after all.
I call myself a Conservative, but I find less and less common ground with much of what gets said on both sides of the Political Isle. (Indulge me, I refer to that overstuffed spit of land without a State, the District of Columbia, seat of United States Government, the home of so much pork that some desire to bust.
So out of these reflections comes a two-part, largely Libertarian manifesto on misplaced attention and misguided action. As the song goes about another famous Isle, "…put in your pipe and smoke that in."
Links to the full essay at Dadmanly:
Part One
Part Two
A CentCom press release reports the capture by the Iraqi army of an IED cell leader.
I guess the choice of what to do with him is up to the Iraqis, applying Iraqi law.
My instinct, as I say in my post: "I suppose I'd let him ride in various vehicles traveling the roads of IED land pending his trial...sort of putting him on "point" if you get my drift."
Maybe you have some suggestions?
December 18, 2006: U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Philip Learn, and his co-pilot, Captain Brian Hummel, were recently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroics a year ago in Afghanistan. But there's a lot more to it than that.
From the link in your story it looks like the People's Collective has decided to abandon the "simple Navy sailor" angle on Comrade Hutto.
Jonathan Hutto graduated from Howard University with a degree in political science and a résumé of social activism.Certainly closer to the truth than the original coverage - perhaps they've adopted the "partial truth" approach now in hopes of undoing some of the damage we did to them. It would be nice if they'd tell the full story of this well-organized and funded campaign, but I suppose that's a start.He worked for the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International after college. He whipped up grass-roots protests against police departments and college administrators.
One day in 2003, broke and seeking direction, Hutto enlisted in the Navy.
The Navy couldn't have known it then, but they know it now: They had signed up a sailor strongly opposed to the Iraq war.
Here's an interesting triptych:
Hutto is a finalist again for sailor of the year, yet he still raises some eyebrows with the photos of Malcolm X, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Che Guevara at his desk aboard ship.In honor of that, I've created one of my own:
I was going to ignore it, but now that Drudge is linking to it - the moonbats are going to come out the woodwork and inflate the numbers all stupid like. Sigh. Greyhawk's favorite Astroturfer is back; the Navy's Hutto.
As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq . Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.Yes, an internet appeal where any putz with an internet connection can add their name to the list of "military members" who oppose the war. Yawn...but you know it will get traction. Get a half dozen ligit persons to justify a thousand poseurs. Sigh. Sometimes, all you have is scorn.
BTW, congrats Greyhawk, you scooped Drudge by, what seven weeks? And you have all the gouge!
Many authors and readers at this site are now two-time honorees as Time Magazine's "Person of the Year". (For those of you who've only been recognized once: neener neener neener.)
Looking back at Time's Iraq covers from 2003 I'm struck by the fact that the fundamental themes of every article on Iraq you'll read today are expressed in those ready-for-bumper-sticker headlines. Some might declare their early (and frequent) declarations of American defeat "prescient". I think there are better terms.
There's an article in The Virginian-Pilot about the controversy surrounding the naming of the next aircraft carrier; the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill says CVN 78 should be the USS Gerald R. Ford, while traditionalists are calling for something like USS America. This is a bigger deal than normal, because this will be the "first-of-a-class" ship, like the Nimitz. My thoughts are here -- do any of the Navy aviation-types, or anyone else, have any thoughts on this?
that the soundtrack to this video is going to pop up on about every third deployment video for the next six months. It's already all over the Internets as samizdat...
Nobody today is trying to levitate the Pentagon (as one group attempted back in 1967), but I can't help but wonder what inspires people to engage in such an exercise in futility. As long as they're wasting their time, here's a suggested schedule for more pointless protests:
Monday -- Protest against war outside the Pentagon
Tuesday -- Protest against poverty outside the World Bank
Wednesday -- Protest against violent crime outside FBI Headquarters
Thursday -- Protest against AIDS outside the National Institutes of Health
Friday -- Protest against war (again) outside Walter Reed.
On Saturday, if they're not too busy smoking dope, they can go protest against arson outside their local fire station.
Continue reading "Pointless Protests "
Marc Danziger - aka Armed Liberal - is searching for Capt Jamil Hussein. From what I can glean from the current information available, there may actually be such a person, except that isn't his name, and he isn't a captain in the police, and he might not work where the AP claims he does. Or not.
It certainly looks like this bizarre story is hurtling to an inevitable unsatisfactory and inconclusive conclusion.
Which will be terribly disappointing to those on both sides of the argument who couldn't figure out that the existence or identity of this guy never mattered in the first place. Unless you're only interested in playing "gotcha" with the AP, it's what he claimed that matters. Danziger's asking about that too - good on him.
(Via Glenn Reynolds, who links an Editor and Publisher piece whose authors may have been a bit over-excited in their response to an earlier version of Marc's post.)
Some ideas are so bad, and so "..never gonna happen.." that some people can't help but think it should be done.
Growing instability across the Middle East has prompted foreign policy think tanks to brainstorm ways to stabilize that region. One idea circulating in Washington last week called for admitting Israel into NATO.Just a bit worse than those in the UK that just decided to stop training Para's.At least one analyst thinks NATO membership could provide security to Israel, help settle the Israel-Palestinian border and make the alliance a stabilizing force in the region.
The submarine shown above was designed to help solve a problem that cost the U.S. Navy 12 ships near Okinawa alone.
The problem and the planned solution set out here.
A counterinsurgency can take years to defeat by doctrine standards. The timeline for troops to be pulled out may seem to be getting closer but with more troops heading to Iraq, the DOD is focusing on fighting counterinsurgencies for years to come. With the recent release of the Counter Insurgence manual on Dec 15th, for both Army and Marine service members can now be even more prepared to take the fight to the insurgency more so than ever before. Read the article below
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dec. 15, 2006
The Army and Marine Corps announce the release of the Counterinsurgency Field Manual
Nope. Not asking for money. Just showing you what we do with it.
Today SGT X crossed my path again. Two years ago when he was wounded I didn't know about Soldiers' Angels, I didn't know a thing about combat casualties, and even though SGT X had wounded hands it hadn't yet occurred to me that he wouldn't have adaptive computer technology at his disposal. But today I knew what it meant when I read the details of a request for a Valour-IT laptop:
6- PTSDI knew the name the moment I saw it. Two years on, and he's still recovering. And in those last two years I've been busy. And now maybe I know how to help him. I only wish we'd started sooner.
Small world, huh?
Update: Before posting this last night, I wrote to my Valour-IT colleagues and told them I know SGT X and he's a great guy. Based on that (and his injuries), he was instantly approved. He happened to be at Brooke for a therapy apointment this very morning (12/15/06) and was able to meet Valour-IT's representative and pick up the laptop 15 minutes after he was called. Twelve hours from request to receipt (no, that's not normal). Pretty cool, huh?
Read the rest here, at the home of the Heart of Project Valour-IT, Fuzzybear Lioness.
Former Defense Secretary William Perry, a member of the Iraq Study Group, said Saturday that Iraq could turn into a "quagmire" if the Bush administration fails to change strategy.This is a massive policy shift - many Democrats have been declaring Iraq a quagmire since before the invasion.Perry, who led the Pentagon under President Clinton, delivered the Democratic Party's weekly radio address.
Referring to the Vietnam War, Perry said: "The term 'quagmire' recalls one of the saddest periods in American history, which we do not want to relive. But I believe that is likely to happen if we 'stay the course' in Iraq."
Back when we were in Germany, Mrs G would often cook up a huge pot of soup to take to the wounded troops recovering in the Landstuhl neighborhood. Yes, they had chow hall food available, but it turned out they appreciated the home cooking from time to time too. (Once she singlehandedly did an Easter Dinner for 40 - but that's another story.)
It didn't hurt that the soup was awesome. Now her recipe has been included in Blogalicious - a collection of recipes contributed by bloggers. Now, obviously Mrs G doesn't need a cookbook (he said, by way of maintaining household harmony) so I'm going to buy this one for myself.
On a related note, the lady who actually runs the whole Soldier's Angels Germany show could use your kind thoughts and prayers right about now.
Secretary Rumsfeld sounds worried in an interview (h/t LGF). Much of it sounds a lot like what he said to Smash last week--the secretary is consistent in his message from day to day--but these points are telling.
Look at the Johns Hopkins exercise with smallpox called Dark Winter. It was put in three airports in America. Something between 800,000 and 1 million people 'died' in some number of months, or a year, from a disease people are no longer vaccinated against. So there are things that can be done. There's a tendency for a lot of people to be dismissive of this and to ridicule it.Churchill's phrase about the gathering storm - there was a storm gathering, but there were people in Europe who didn't believe it and who didn't take the periodic storm clouds and the squalls as a real threat. They thought they were transitory and, of course, paid an enormous penalty in treasure and life for their failure to understand the nature of that threat. I worry we are in a gathering storm and we do not, as a society, accept it. Many of the elites of our society, the key opinion leaders, are unwilling or unable to accept what an awful lot of people believe to be the case. The penalty for being wrong can be enormous.
CT: Biggest disappointment?DR: It's the inability to help the free people of the world to understand that this new century and the struggle we're engaged in is real, is terribly dangerous to their safety, and regrettably, it is not going to be as easily seen in terms of pitched battles.
"Thank you everyone, now I have to get back and read the News!"
Heidi's Thanksgiving, 2006. Via Heidi's Mom.
Click the picture for a larger version.
A little more evidence of the cooperation with bloggers we all want to see from CENTCOM...
View image
(Another in a continuing series of profiles, but the first that deviates from a pattern set in previous Profiles, as described below. For a background on these profiles, and why I write them, go read An Introduction to Dadmanly's Profiles.)
All of my previous profiles have dealt with National Guard soldiers who deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, or their families. This profile is a little different, written as a tribute to my good friends, comrades in arms and words, my brothers and sisters of the world wide web, the MILBLOGGERS. Not pajama clad, but camouflaged!
I previously attempted this profile of my fellow MILBLOGGERS. Earlier, I ended up writing about the significance of stories to soldiers, stories about their experiences, humorous anecdotes, remembrances, just stories, before I was very far into it at all. Best now to read that earlier post as preface to this profile of the MILBLOGGERS.
In Soldier Stories, I described concentric circles of shared experience, the strongest and tightest of all, the connection within a unit, and of shared command.
That's how I think about MILBLOGGERS. Like the fellow soldiers of my unit, we've shared a mission. We fought together, in a very real sense, against media misrepresentations and the sometime indifference of our own nation or its leaders. We boosted each other up, we encouraged and sustained, we motivated. We worked through events together, covering scandal or history in the making, found perspective, described context, in short, told stories. Our stories, and our story telling, became the strongest bond of all.
(For more of the MILBLOGGER Profile, check back at Dadmanly. Many of my friends here are mentioned.)
Interesting story.
The FBI has sent a bulletin to state and local law enforcement warning of possible terrorist reprisals as the health of an incarcerated terror mastermind fails, FOX News has learned.Although the FBI said there is no credible indication that a plan for retribution is in place, the agency sent the warning as Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman was treated in Missouri for bleeding.
The blind sheik, who was the alleged architect of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, has called for revenge should he die in U.S. custody.
I think it's pretty clear that the Sheik will die in U.S. custody. The only question is when.
This is why we at OPFOR love being a part of the Military.com family. We're proud to introduce Reconnect America, a joint venture between Military.com and The Military Channel.
(Silver Spring, MD) - The Military Channel, the only cable network to go "behind the lines" on military subjects, and Military.com, the nation's largest online military destination, and subsidiary of Monster Worldwide, Inc., today announced a joint partnership to support men and women in uniform and give voice to veterans and current servicemembers through Reconnect America. This new national campaign will help raise awareness for numerous national organizations that support the U.S. armed forces, veterans and families nationwide, giving citizens everywhere the information they need to get involved. Reconnect America unites 50 million Military Channel and Military.com viewers and visitors with more then 10 million Americans in military-focused organizations such as Operation Gratitude, the Armed Services YMCA, the National Military Family Association, the Fisher House Foundation, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and many others.
I've got a list of contacts for press inquiries, so email if you're interested.
From my correspondent in the 1st Cav.
John,MOH recommendation moved up today for Division Commander's signature. We had some bad weather in Taji, but the packet was eventually specially flown from his unit's FOB. FYI his battalion is assigned to 2/1 ID, one of our 7 BCTs, but was task organized to 2nd Brigade, 2nd ID, another of our 7 BCTs, so a lot of units will get the privilege of honoring his heroism.
First Team.
As I alluded to in my post and Matthew Maynard points out in full - there are 141 precedents. And, as Matt has pointed out - the kid was a lion.
Recently, I attended the funeral of Private Reece Moreno, a Third Infantry Division soldier killed in Iraq. In the Patriot Guard Riders flag line, I stood next to Samantha, a local mother of a 3ID soldier and also the mother of a serving US Marine. At the funeral, we spoke briefly to Reece's mother, Regan, and told her to always remember that what her son had chosen for his life was important... that he was important.
A few days after the funeral, I was contacted by Lori, another local mom of a 3ID soldier and she asked if I would accompany her to present the Gold Star banner from Gold Star Mothers of America to Regan and Private Moreno's family. I said that I would be honored.
Today, Lori and I visited Private Moreno's mother and stepfather and Lori presented Regan with her banner, which they promptly hung proudly in the front window of their home.
Of course, there were tears -- more of that liquid love straight from the heart to our eyes -- as we embraced and talked of Reece. Regan proudly told us of his love for the Army, for his brothers and sisters, for his nieces, for his friends. She shared with us a video the family had made of Reece with pictures and the video of Reece's high school band... of he and his best friend Taylor.
Doesn't sound like the judge was happy about it, but he appears to have followed the law.
WASHINGTON - A federal judge upheld the Bush administration's new terrorism law Wednesday, agreeing that Guantanamo Bay detainees do not have the right to challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge James Robertson is the first to address the new Military Commissions Act and is a legal victory for the Bush administration at a time when it has been fending off criticism of the law from Democrats and libertarians.
Though Robertson originally sided with Hamdan, he said that he no longer had jurisdiction to hear Hamdan's case because Congress clearly intended to keep such disputes out of federal courts. He said foreigners being held in overseas military prisons do not have the right to challenge their detention, a right people inside the country normally enjoy.
This was only a District Court. The lowest of the federal courts. The real test will be how the appellate court and (ultimately) the Supreme Court deal with this.
SCOTUS has generally not been too keen on the concept of jurisdiction stripping. Especially attempts to limit its own authority. Which presents a rather nice irony whereby the Court says that even though a law denies them jurisdiction to hear a case, the court hears the case to determine the constitutionality of the law.
Personally I think JDX stripping is cool and one of the few checks on a frequently irresponsible (and democratically irresponsive) judiciary.
Man, you just don't KNOW! When you're knee deep in the shyte, wastin' Charlie! Jumpin' outta planes! YOU CAN'T UNDO THAT MAN!
U.S. Army records produced in 2004 in response to a request from the organization News From Indian Country show that Churchill was inducted on Nov. 16, 1966, and trained as a light-truck driver and projectionist.He spent most of a year in Vietnam.
The stories he has told over the years of his Vietnam service have varied dramatically. On a 1980 résumé submitted to the University of Colorado, Churchill wrote that he served as a public-information specialist who "wrote and edited the battalion newsletter and wrote news releases."
In a 1987 interview with The Denver Post, and as recently as two weeks ago, Churchill described his Vietnam service as more complicated. In the 1987 interview, he said he had attended paratrooper school and been assigned as part of an elite long-range reconnaissance patrol to hunt the enemy. His service records do not reflect paratrooper school, or training or assignment on reconnaissance.
At his recent trial on charges of disrupting Denver's Columbus Day parade, he said he had walked "point" in a combat unit in Vietnam and was called "chief" because of his Indian heritage."
I was on the ground pulling triggers. You can't undo that. And I have an obligation to do what I can by way of compensation," Churchill said in a recent interview. "You can say that is the foundational reason that I do most all of what I do."
Chickens coming home to roost, indeed.
The South Korean government has made a power play against the new Pentagon leadership by announcing the delay of the United States Forces Korea relocation to Camp Humphreys:
A government source told Yonhap that it looks like transfer of the U.S. garrison at Yongsan to Pyeongtaek, originally scheduled to take place in 2007, would be delayed by five years to late 2013.A source from one of the related government ministries said the possibility of completing the transfer by 2008 as scheduled was currently low, and that Korean government ministries handling the move were actively discussing a plan to delay the transfer from Yongsan and the competition of new base facilities in Pyeongtaek to 2013.
The government will reportedly announce this plan sometime next week.
The source said the change in schedule was necessary due to delays in discussions between authorities connected to the move and setbacks caused by protests from residents and civic groups.
As tempting as it might be for some to see Mr. Bush lose his little war, it doesn't end that cleanly. In order for him to lose, someone or something else has to win. And just because things are bad now does not mean that they can't get worse.
We're all familiar with this picture of Arlington National Cemetary at Christmas.
2006 will mark the 15th anniversary of holiday wreaths being sent from the State of Maine to Arlington National Cemetery. Each year the folks at Worcester Wreath Company make and decorate wreaths that will adorn over 5000 headstones of our Nation's fallen heroes - in what has become an annual event coordinated with the Cemetery Administration and the Maine State Society. The Patriot Guard Riders are escorting the wreaths from Maine to Arlington.
You Are Invited... to participate in the wreath-laying ceremony and activities at Arlington National Cemetery, or at any of the locations across the Country on Thursday, December 14th, 2006
A Moment of Silence will be held at ALL locations at Noon EST (sharp).
How can you get involved?
We hope you will be able to join us at Arlington National Cemetery or one of the other participating locations across the Country.
For those not able to attend, please pass the word that there will be a Moment of Silence at Noon EST, where people all across the Nation will stop and share a silent thank you, to all those who serve, to all we've lost, and to their families who will be without loved ones this holidays.
Please Share - Help spread the word!
More info HERE
The House and Senate will be faced will some early decisions as both the Army and Marine Corps ask them to increase the number of permanent personnel. Is the House ready to continue the attack on terrorism?
Someone you should know.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq – Private First Class Ross A. McGinnis packed only 136 pounds into his 6-foot frame, but few have ever matched his inner strength.McGinnis sacrificed himself in an act of supreme bravery on Dec. 4, belying his status as the youngest Soldier in Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.
The 19-year-old amateur mechanic from Knox , Pa. , who enjoyed poker and loud music, likely saved the lives of four Soldiers riding with him on a mission in Baghdad .
McGinnis was manning the gunner's hatch when an insurgent tossed a grenade from above. It flew past McGinnis and down through the hatch before lodging near the radio.His platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Cedric Thomas of Longview , Texas , recalled what happened next.
"Pfc. McGinnis yelled 'Grenade…It's in the truck,'" Thomas said. "I looked out of the corner of my eye as I was crouching down and I saw him pin it down."
McGinnis did so even though he could have escaped.
"He had time to jump out of the truck," Thomas said. "He chose not to."
Thomas remembered McGinnis talking about how he would respond in such a situation. McGinnis said then he didn't know how he would act, but when the time came, he delivered.
"He gave his life to save his crew and his platoon sergeant," Thomas said. "He's a hero. He's a professional. He was just an awesome guy."Three of the Soldiers with McGinnis who were wounded that day have returned to duty, while a fourth is recovering in Germany .
For saving the lives of his friends and giving up his own in the process, McGinnis earned the Silver Star, posthumously. His unit paid their final respects in a somber ceremony here Dec. 11.
McGinnis was born June 14, 1987, and joined the Army right after graduating high school in 2005. He had been in the Army 18 months and made his mark even before his heroic deed.
"He was a good kid," said C Company's senior enlisted Soldier, 1st Sgt. Kenneth J. Hendrix. "He had just gotten approved for a waiver to be promoted to specialist."
He also appeared on the Nov. 30 cover of Stars & Stripes, manning his turret.
Besides his military accomplishments, McGinnis leaves his friends and family with memories of a fun-loving, loyal man.
Private First Class Brennan Beck, a 1-26 infantryman from Lodi , Calif. , said McGinnis made others feel better.
"He would go into a room and when he left, everyone was laughing," Beck said. "He did impersonations of others in the company. He was quick-witted, just hilarious. He loved making people laugh. He was a comedian through and through."
While having a witty side, McGinnis took his job seriously.
"He was not a garrison Soldier. He hated it back in garrison," Beck said. "He loved it here in Iraq . He loved being a gunner. It was a thrill, he loved everything about it. He was one our best Soldiers. He did a great job."
Beck has memories of talking all night with McGinnis about where they wanted their lives to go, and said McGinnis always remembered his friends.
"When I had my appendix removed, he was the only one who visited me in the hospital," Beck said. "That meant a lot."
Another 1-26 infantryman, Private First ClassMichael Blair of Klamath Falls , Ore. , recalled that McGinnis helped him when he arrived at Ledward Barracks in Schweinfurt , Germany .
"When I first came to the unit…he was there and took me in and showed me around," Blair said. "He was real easy to talk to. You could tell him anything. He was a funny guy. He was always making somebody laugh."
McGinnis' final heroic act came as no surprise to Blair.
"He was that kind of person," Blair said. "He would rather take it himself than have his buddies go down."
The brigade's senior noncommissioned officer, Command Sgt. Maj. William Johnson, also had high praise for McGinnis.
"Anytime when you get a Soldier to do something like that - to give his life to protect his fellow Soldiers - that's what heroes are made of," Johnson said.
It also demonstrates, Johnson continued, that the 'MySpace Generation' has what it takes to carry on the Army's proud traditions.
"Some think Soldiers who come in today are all about themselves," Johnson said. "I see it differently."
The Silver Star has already been approved for McGinnis' actions Dec.4, and will be awarded posthumously.
Well done, PFC McGinnis. Requiescat Im Pace.
However, I have a question. Is the Silver Star a final award, or an interim? Why do I ask? Glad you asked. This is why:
What do these 39 men have in common? They all, in one way or another, fell on grenades to save the lives of others around them. Some were involved in hairy fights, some were isolated incidents. Few of them survived.
In other words, they all acted as did PFC McGinnis.
The difference? All the names listed above, except for PFC McGinnis, recieved the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. And that's only from the A-L list, not the M-Z list.
And that doesn't include WWII or WWI, which I don't have time to go through.
So, I hope this is an *interim* award. I've asked. I'll let you know if I get an answer.
Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.
Update: Glad I asked. I just got this (of course, right *after* I posted the above) from a buddy and long-time reader who is in-country and in a position to know.
John,Just wanted to give you a heads up that PFC Ross McGinnis, 1-26 IN, was
KIA on 04 DEC 2006 here in Baghdad. His parents will receive his Silver Star (hopefully interim) at the funeral. He is being submitted for the Medal of Honor. AIF got a grenade into his M1151 through the top hatch.He yelled "Grenade" and shielded his comrades by throwing his body on the grenade. Everyone in that vehicle walked away; some were pretty hurt, but nonetheless, were alive.
I hope this award doesn't drag out for two-plus years.
Good. And ditto on that timeliness thing.
Update: Glad I asked. I just got this (of course, right *after* I posted the above) from a buddy and long-time reader who is in-country and in a position to know.
John,Just wanted to give you a heads up that PFC Ross McGinnis, 1-26 IN, was KIA on 04 DEC 2006 here in Baghdad. His parents will receive his Silver Star (hopefully interim) at the funeral. He is being submitted for the Medal of Honor. AIF got a grenade into his M1151 through the top hatch.
He yelled "Grenade" and shielded his comrades by throwing his body on the grenade. Everyone in that vehicle walked away; some were pretty hurt, but nonetheless, were alive.
I hope this award doesn't drag out for two-plus years.
Good. And ditto on that timliness thing.
As ever, Matt does it better. More story here.
There's been some confusion over a Washington Post story about Fran O'Brien's. Confusion cleared up here.
HotAir links to this video by the Christian Embassy featuring a whole bunch of senior military leaders in uniform speaking about their faith in, among other places, the Pentagon. Allah asks whether this violates DODI 1334.01, which prohibits wearing the uniform:
...when participating in activities such as unofficial public speeches, interviews, picket lines, marches, rallies or any public demonstration, which may imply Service sanction of the cause for which the demonstration or activity is conducted.
Had such a request come across my desk for review, I'd have likely advised against it based on the potential that it would be seen as an official endorsement of a private organization. But 1334.01 does provide for exceptions to the general prohibition provided authorization is received.
DOD personnel can participate in private orgs in their personal capacities–they cannot do so (in or out of uniform) and attempt to coerce subordinates to join/donate money/etc. So even though I would have advised against it–nothing I saw in the video leads me to believe that DOD is endorsing Christian Embassy, either explicitly or implicitly. The video participants speak exclusively of their own beliefs, not DOD policy. So while it's a close question given their wearing of the uniform, ultimately I'd say the statements are not violative of existing policy.
As an additional note–the MRFF "compliance" PDF is garbage. It speaks of emails sent from an Air Force account that include bible verses as being "illegal" since, in their words "according to regulations, [such accounts] should be used solely for military business."
This is the second time this week I learn of somebody I should have known a long time ago. Read Blackfive's tribute...and then go read CPT Patriquin's thoughts on working in Iraq.
I started to write a Dadmanly Profile for MILBLOGGERS. I ended up writing about the significance of stories to soldiers, stories about their experiences, humorous anecdotes, remembrances, just stories, before I was very far into it at all. Rather than make the MILBLOGGER profile overly lengthy – I tell you, what I need most is a good editor – I thought I'd make this its own post.
I visit a Vet Center from time to time, and in one of our group sessions, I remarked that I felt guilty that I hadn't done more for my troops as a First Sergeant, mobilized, training, and then during deployment to Iraq. Oh, I did what I needed to do, I watched what I needed to watch, disciplined who I needed to discipline, stocked what I needed to stock and fixed what was broke. I did the duty, took some pictures, got a medal way too easily earned, would have got the T shirt, if we'd bothered to make one.
But somehow, I took care of my psyche, my emotional and spiritual needs my own way, almost in isolation. My faith was central, but MILBLOGGING was my emotional lifeline, as important to my strength and morale as the frequent phone calls and IM and emails with my wife and family. Every troop needs some kind of emotional contact, and I hadn't been that as much as I could have been for my troops. I kept pretty close to home, so to speak.
One of the young men at the Vet Center, struggling with his own demons with post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) since combat, challenged me to turn my guilt into action. He said that I wouldn't be in that room, saying what I was saying, if it were really the case that I wasn't ready to help my men and women when they needed me most. He said, "Top, they need you now. You're a First Sergeant, you need to remember what it's like and advocate for your troops. You need to make sure they get taken care of, that they get what they deserve." I added to that thought, thinking that they need to get what they deserve from the Nation that owes them more than can be repaid.
I often think about the guys at the Vet Center. Some of them are angry, some are hurting, and all have been affected by their time in combat. We all of us share concentric circles of connection, we who serve.
(For the rest of Soldier Stories, check back at Dadmanly.)
I'm still very close friends with one of my roommates from VMI. I went on to join the military, he went on to become a reporter with a large MSM rag.
Naturally, we dual frequently over Iraq War reporting. His contention is that reporters are pros who are just trying to do their job. Bias is non-existant, and if it does occasional eek into stories, it is unintentional. Now since Sam lives the life of the intrepid reporter, I give him the benefit of the doubt on this subject. And his pops was a Green Beret, so Sam does understand both worlds, both lifestyles. I know that most journalists take accuracy very seriously, and that the editorial board of the New York Times and the DC beltway establishment are not the same as the larger national press corps.
So I can equally respect the positions of these journalists who commented on war reporting in a recent edition of the Columbia Journalism review:
Paul Holmes ReutersI have young journalists who come to me and say, "I want to go to Iraq." And my response to them is, "I will help you to build the sort of experience that would qualify you to go to Iraq, but you can't go to Iraq. I'm sorry." And most of them, in fact, all of them, have accepted it. I don't think anybody should have to go to Iraq unless they have experience in a previous conflict, because I don't think it's fair to them, I don't think it's fair to their colleagues, and I don't think it's particularly good for the story. So we look at their experience, we look at their maturity. In a place like Iraq, they live and work with their colleagues in a compound where they can't go out for most of the day and all of the night, and that requires a very special sort of person; you can't have prima donnas in that environment, you can't have loudmouths in that environment. I've worked in that sort of environment with loudmouths, and it's unbearable.
The Australian Defence Force bans its soldiers from milblogging.
Parents of the year in my book, and the anti-Cindy Sheehan that I wish more Americans knew about.
Since Staff Sgt. Christopher W. Swanson was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in July, his father has trumpeted one message: "It's OK to hate war, but you've got to love the warrior."Earlier this week, the couple flew from Maryland to Germany on their own dime to attend the welcome home ceremony of the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team — their son's former unit.
"I believe that's what our son would want," Gary Swanson said.
The couple has visited wounded members of their son's unit at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is not far from their home in Rose Haven, Md.
"The whole thing for us, our family being in and coming from public service, is it's uplifting and it's good therapy for us to be around these guys also," said Gary Swanson.
Donald Rumsfeld is not universally loved in the Pentagon. I'm told that he can be a tough, stubborn, and demanding boss. Rumsfeld is infamous for firing off short memos -- known colloquially as "snowflakes" -- asking next-to-impossible-to-answer questions or demanding revolutionary changes. He came to the building in 2001, promising to transform the Department of Defense from a Cold War force to a more flexible, agile military, better prepared to face the challenges of the Twenty-first Century. Almost six years later, that transformation is well underway, but not yet complete. Along the way, Rumsfeld has stepped on many toes, and slaughtered many sacred cows. Inevitably, he made some enemies, especially among the senior officers and long-serving bureaucrats who were heavily invested in the "old way" of doing things.
But the troops, and a solid majority of the officers, love him. This is abundantly clear from the warm reception Rumsfeld receives as he walks up to the podium.
Continue reading "MilBlogger Meets Rummy"
For the visual learners among us, the NECC badge looks like this:
And, as a fomer MIUWU guy (like Smash), I like the idea of some good folks getting a little recognition for doing a challenging job.
An enlightening interview:
Al Qaeda is what, I asked, Sunni or Shia?That's from an interview with Silvestre Reyes, incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Here's a question his interviewer asked only of readers:"Al Qaeda, they have both," Reyes said. "You're talking about predominately?"
"Sure," I said, not knowing what else to say.
"Predominantly — probably Shiite," he ventured.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
Al Qaeda is profoundly Sunni. If a Shiite showed up at an al Qaeda club house, they'd slice off his head and use it for a soccer ball.
It's been five years since these Muslim extremists flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center.And here's Congressman Reyes' opinion on troop levels in Iraq:Is it too much to ask that our intelligence overseers know who they are?
Yet Reyes says he favors sending more troops there.For the record, I believe this is illustrative of one source (unfortunately a mere fraction) of frustration General Chiarelli expressed regarding the non-military commitment to Iraq. As the interviewer points out, Reyes is hardly alone in his world."If it's going to target the militias and eliminate them, I think that's a worthwhile investment," he said.
But lest you despair, here's a reassuring quote from his home page:
He remains concerned about the potential threats to our national security and continues to push our Intelligence Community to develop more human intelligence, to procure more advanced technology, and to share more information so as to prevent tragedies like the terrorist attacks of September 11th from happening again.
An explorer, deliverer of humanitarian aid, law enforcer and -for a little longer- the oldest ship in the U. S. Coast Guard.
More here
I think you put too much emphasis on whether or not he's really a Marine. Don't forget Jonathan Hutto - who like Philip Martin joined the military after the invasion of Iraq. ("Philip Martin has been a Marine for 2 years"). Hutto is an obvious anti-war "implant" in the ranks, but active duty nonetheless.
Martin, on the other hand, may be exactly what he claims he is - someone who was completely and totally gullible enough to be duped into joining the Marines during an actual war, the sort of person who will "fall for anything". Now he's parroting extremist Lefty talking points about Bushitler.
A lot of congressional leaders (and other Americans) are insisting they were completely and totally duped by pre-war claims of WMDs in Iraq. I'm always curious as to why these self-professed "easy marks" are considered worth listening to when they announce their latest epiphanies.
I put "Marine" in quotes not because people on active duty don't have the right to have personal opinions, but because I'm not sure this guy is who he says he is:
The moonbatty anti-war sites are a-twitter today with an essay written by one Philip Martin, who claims to be an active duty Marine stationed at Twentynine Palms. The essay itself is fairly juvenile, filled with a bunch of simplistic leftist conclusions that one normally weans themselves of during freshman year bull sessions (high school, not college). For example, he seems to be claiming that nationalism in America is a recent phenomenon. Later on, he says things about President Bush that, if said by an officer, would clearly be in violation of Article 88 -- but he doesn't seem to be claiming to be an officer. It's hard to tell when he really wrote the essay -- he mentioned the leaked Marine intel report from September, so it had to be after that. He also says that on the day he wrote the essay, he had attended a memorial service for a Marine killed in April. Do Marines really wait that long to hold memorials? He says he's deploying again in April -- are there any major Marine units scheduled to deploy then?
Anyway, if there's any group that could determine if this guy is really who he says he is, or if he's just someone claiming to be an active duty Marine, the mil-bloggers would be the ones to do it.
Update: From a reader, here's a story on the OP-29 website that may be the memorial service Martin was talking about; it was held Dec 5th..
December 7, 2006: The U.S. Navy will now issue a pin for enlisted sailors serving with the "Naval Expeditionary Combat Command" (NECC). Several other specialties have similar pins. Submariners wear a dolphin, aviators wear wings. The NECC sailors are being trained for ground combat, and this will let people know who they are. It's good for morale.
It's a quote ripped from out of its context. The General was referring to what has happened in the past - he says we could not have done more militarily than what we have done. He did not at all mean that we have nothing left to do, or that we can't do anything else, and certainly not that it's time to throw in the towel. He was speaking in the past tense.
The full quote is in the "continue reading" section, the full briefing text is here. The last line of the question he was responding to is this: "What missteps did we make in the last year?" And the short (but not hacked to the point of meaningless) version of his answer is "I happen to believe that we have done everything militarily we possibly can. We're working to strengthen the Iraqi military. The Iraqi army gets better every day. But I really believe the key to this conflict is to understand that it's going to take more than military action to solve the problems that face Iraq and to pull people together."
I'm not sure what's earth shattering about that. If anyone's ever been arguing that the US military by itself can fix every problem anywhere they are blithering idiots. In fact, I'm not sure what's headline worthy about that - unless you change what he meant to something entirely different.
Of course the media is going to frame that as a statement that the military can do no more than it has - which is far from the truth, and far from what the General said. But virtually any quote you see from a member of the US armed forces in the press will be completely butchered. For some reason, that butchering will invariably make it appear the individual quoted is defeated and surrendering. When reading or watching news you must bear in mind that the vast majority of members of the media are not on our side in this current war.
For the record, here's the next question:
Q And, sir, you don't think it's -- it's not too late for that? You think there's still an opportunity to turn things around?GEN. CHIARELLI: I definitely think there's an opportunity to turn things around. There's no doubt in my mind there is.
I am trying to process this quote from LTG Chiarelli. I need help.
"I happen to believe that we have done everything militarily that we possibly can,"Our "full measure?" Out of Schlitz? Winchester? Culmination?
I have looked all over the place for better context. It has to be out there. Isn't there a PIO out there that can "revise and extend his remarks?" Was he talking about a specific tactical aspect? Just an unfortunate choice of words, i.e. the wrong words at the right time in the wrong ears? We all have bad days. In a word: ungh.
Steele's point is timely; I'd point to some other essays that are also germane:
It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time -- Screamin' Eagle Edition
A Top Sekrit photo representative of the extensive testing the Army Combat Uniform went through has been released by the New York Times.
Hey - one thing's for sure... the ACU works in an urban environment!
H/t, Mike L.
Shelby Steele concludes a thoughtful piece at the Opinion Journal of the Wall Street Journal today...
For every reason, from the humanitarian to the geopolitical to the military, Iraq is a war that America must win in the hegemonic, even colonial, sense. It is a test of our civilization's commitment to the good against the alluring notion of menace-as-power that has gripped so much of the Muslim world. Today America is a danger to the world in its own right, not because we are a powerful bully but because we don't fully accept who we are. We rush to war as a superpower protecting the world from menace, then leave the battle before winning as a show of what, humility? We confuse our enemies, discouraging them one minute and encouraging them the next.Could it be that our enemies are really paper tigers made formidable by our unceasing ambivalence? And could it be that the greater good is in both the idea and the reality of American victory?
You should read the whole thing HERE
The U.S. Army has a program in place that allows Soldiers (active-duty, Guard, Reserves) to send a special "thank you" to those who have supported them (spouse, parent, employer). It's free, take advantage of it.
Not sure if the other branches have a similar program. If so, let me know and I'll update the post.
When I saw this it jogged my memory a bit. Finally, I remembered Anecdote #243 [Frank Wilkerson] of the Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes:
I've asked that Mudville be removed from the military blogs category of the weblog awards. Hopefully that will happen ASAP. Thought I'd better explain that before folks started wondering why I vanished.
I've always been strongly opposed to "competitive milblogging." I'm never going to send a message to a troop in Iraq or Afghanistan that some guy blogging from his home office has a better blog than his, and I can't stomach the thought of folks at home voting for their favorite deployed blogger as if troops in Iraq are in some kind of effing beauty pageant.
MilBlogs was briefly "down" today due to technical difficulties. If you had trouble posting a comment (or a post for that matter) that's why.
Some people just can't handle their rifles...
(safe for work)
More than half of the Navy's casualties at Pearl Harbor were sustained aboard the USS Arizona, where 1100 men are still entombed.
We still remember them to this day, in passing we still render honors.
...and being blogged about over at PBS, no less. Mark Glaser at Media Shift on Project Valour-IT.
BTW - the goal was $180K. Currently the total is $230K, and still inching north.
Good on us all, bloggers and contributors alike! That will put the project in front of a "bluer' audience... and will show them some of us chickenhawks at least put our money where our blogs are, and take care of our own.
We ask for money, and convince you it's worth it. We don't make the IRS go take it from people... 8^)
"Um, Lieutenant, sir? Don't you think we've been driving a long time for a 10 mile road march?"
"Of course not, soldier! I've got the GPS. Keep heading southwest."
"Uh, yessir - but the road sign back there said..."
"Troop, I'm not going to tell you again - keep driving!"
This is why we neep to keep maps and map-reading skillz, in addition to the nice gizmos. Snerk.
I did a little reading on this once upon a time. Courtesy of a rant at work, here's an incomplete list of things I've used to think about how organizations change.
Sunni majority countries in the Middle East also could become involved if the Shiite population inside Iraq lauched an ethnic cleansing program against the Sunnis, he said. If that were to happen, "I think that the Turks would not sit by idly if they saw Iraq beginning to fall apart," Gates said. "So I think that you could have Saudi Arabia, you could have Turkey, Syria, Iran, all would be involved. We're already seeing Hezbollah involved in training fighters for Iraq."The war on terror could be a generational effort, and all parties must agree on the general approach to the battle. "He said there needs to be broad agreement on a path forward in Iraq and in terms of how the U.S. fights the war on terror "so that we can carry on this struggle in a way that (the terrorists and extremists) don't think we're going to cut and run, that they don't think we're going to walk away from this war on terrorism, and so that they don't think it's going to be easy to start attacking us here at home because we're not willing to take them on abroad."
Opening up my AKO e-mail, I found this.
I think it is safe to say that we are seeing some improvement by CENTCOM and their work with bloggers...
Robert Gates Confirmed as new SECDEF
WASHINGTON - The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to confirm Robert Gates as defense secretary, with Democrats and Republicans portraying him as the man who will help overhaul President Bush's Iraq policies.
The 95-2 vote was a victory for Bush, who named Gates to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon on Nov. 8, a day after voters gave Democrats control of Congress for next year.
Even so, much of Gates' support stemmed from his pledges to consider new options in Iraq. The vote coincided with the release of an independent study lambasting Bush's approach to the war, increasing pressure on the White House to change course.
Sens. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Jim Bunning, R-Ky., voted against Gates.
I don't mind being beat out by NCOs and guys in the Sandbox... but Noonan? That hurts.
Hey, that does hurt! Why you always harping on the poor Loot? Sheesh and I thought bringing in a Light Bird would've helped some....
In all seriousness, I wouldn't make too much of it John. If the finalists were selected by virtue of daily visits alone, you'd be in the top 4-5 of all milbloggers. So if there's ego damage, remember to keep the grand scheme in perspective!
And the good news here is that milbloggers as a whole made out like bandits. On top of the military blog finalists, Salamander, Bubblehead, and Eagle were nominated in other categories.
Our milblogging swabbies make up a powerful fraternity. Thank God I've at least got a fellow zoomie in Greyhawk.
The recent reports of North Korea making millions of dollars off of insurance scams that would make Tony Soprano proud, really shouldn't be surprising to anyone who follows North Korean affairs. However, what I think everyone would be surprised about is who is paying off the gangsters.
Recently the US and Korea concluded the USFK cost sharing agreement:
South Korea and the United States on Wednesday struck a deal to increase Seoul's share of the cost of maintaining American soldiers here in 2007 and 2008 by 6.6 percent, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.Korea will contribute a total of 725.5 billion won ($780 million) next year, up 45.1 billion won from its share this year, and its share in 2008 will be 725.5 billion won plus the rate of inflation in 2007, ministry officials said.
``We could conclude the agreement with the U.S. side on the phone,'' a ministry official said. ``Both sides are not totally content with the result of the negotiations, but I think it is the most reasonable result based on the spirit of the Seoul-Washington alliance.''
The deal was struck after six rounds of negotiations between Seoul and Washington.
South Korea is going to contribute $780 million dollars to USFK next year which is still less than half the overall USFK costs. Prior to this agreement South Korea payed roughly 40% of USFK's costs; this new agreement means they are paying roughly 46% of costs.
Let's compare the $780 million dollar cost sharing agreement to the amount of money Seoul sends to North Korea.
Tune into Larry King LIVE tonight at 9:00 EST. Becky Davis, the mother of two soldiers and one Marine, will be discussing the Iraq Study Group's recommendations from the perspective of a family member who has someone serving in Iraq.
Becky has endured multiple deployments, her sons are constantly bouncing back and forth from Iraq to Afghanistan. Oh, and I should mention, she's also a milblogger.
My ego still smarts from the Weblog Awards nominations. Slipped from 4th in '04, to 5th in '05, to not even making the cut in '06. Castle Argghhh! had to settle for "Best of the Top 250 Blogs" (which is the short title for "Best of the Top 250 Blogs not a finalist in any other category"). I don't mind being beat out by NCOs and guys in the Sandbox... but Noonan? That hurts.
In reality, it's as much a reflection of the increasing quality of the competition as anything else, but, let's face it, I just got invited to the NIT as a consolation prize.
So, I guess I better bootstrap a little milblogging.
Last week I got to attend a faculty development seminar at the Command And General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. The speaker? Josh Rushing.
Better known as the Marine who went to work for al-Jazeera.
My first thought when I saw him was... "Funny, he doesn't *look* like a demon."
Come see what the rest of my thoughts (and Rushing's) were over at my place.
Click here and come on over!
DEAN ESMAY writes:
I got a buddy, Martin Shoemaker who has a gift worth several thousand dollars he would like to make to a wounded service member.What it amounts to: a free copy of every Microsoft development tool, with a year's worth of updates and support, and a full license to use any of it.
If you're not a professional programmer, this doesn't even seem interesting. But if you WANT to be a professional programmer, this would be an AMAZING gift. Basically, it's everything you might ever need if you wanted to become a full-time programmer in the Microsoft universe. It's beyond what the average college kid gets, it's EVERY tool an up-and-coming programmer might want.
If it's given away lightly it means nothing. But in the hands of a kid who wnts it, however,he can do anything.
Know anyone who might be interested?
Bubblehead has the sad story; a nightmare scenario on board the Frank Cable as a boiler pipe gives way in an enclosed space full of people on watch. Several sailors severely burned.
Soldier's Angels are there, and that Valour-IT drive is already being useful. Chaotic Synaptic has details.
We all know what he's up to: Listening to Frank J.
Frank, you magnificent bastidge. You got traction.
This story has it all, a young sailor who breaks laundry list of rules, he talks his Marine buddies into providing cover for the endeavor. Each week, wearing night-vision goggles, him and a dozen other Marines would drive over to this young girls neighborhood, park a mile away and take a different route to her house. The Marines would provide cover while this young Corpsman, an HM2 Chris Walsh, did his loving deed in the dead of night.
End the end, there are broken bodies, strangers from around the world who are brought together and finally a young woman's chance at happiness.
Just go and read. This is the story that should be on more front pages.
Cross posted at Doc in the Box
THE UNITED STATES plans to establish permanent bases on the Moon, according to a report in the New York Times citing Bush Administration officials.
Under a presidential order signed in 2004, the federal government has been developing plans for new space hardware to deploy personnel to the Moon and establish a foothold near the lunar south pole. Once there, unspecified "other countries" and "commercial enterprises" could "expand the outpost in order to develop scientific and other interests," says a senior administration official.
The official declined to elaborate on what those "other interests" might be, but initial reports hint at efforts to seize and exploit the satellite's natural resources.
Fallujah in June. A "routine" patrol, or at least it was until the IED went off just in front of the HMMWV. A Navy corpsman attached to a Marine rifle company bundles out with his brothers in arms and heads out on a foot race in search of the triggerman. They reach a door, go inside and find…
A frantic mother and a sick baby:
When Walsh and the Marines came to one doorway, M-4 rifles up and ready, a woman emerged from a room, holding an infant and saying, over and over again, "Baby. Baby sick."Walsh put his gun down and the woman put the baby down.
Walsh had seen bad things – as an EMT back home in St. Louis, and at war. But he told his comrades he had never seen anything like this: The child, just a few months old, looked as though her insides had been turned inside out.
Her name was Mariam, and she looked up at Walsh with dead eyes.
There's a lot more to the tale. It manages to both have a happy ending, and be very hard to read.
You should read it anyway.
And not one that leaps to mind these days... you'll see what I mean.
Nice to FINALLY see Greyhawk in the "Best Milblog" category, instead of "Best of the Top 250" or what not.
Lots of resident posters on the list....
Best Military Blog
American Soldier
Bouhammer's Afghanistan Blog
Grey Eagle, A Female Soldier
Michael Yon
Mudville Gazette
Neptunus Lex
Sgt. Hook
For those interested in what the soon-to-be Secretary of Defense has to say:
Here's his response to the Senate's "Advance Policy Questions".
Here's the CSPAN video of the Armed Services Committee hearings: part 1 and part 2. (Real Player)
Tomorrow: The Iraq Study Group releases its report. CSPAN will netcast the press conference at 11AM ET.
Just another reason I love being Catholic.
We have a Saint for EVERYTHING.
PS- yes, there is a military backstory here. I wasn't just hocking my religion :)
PPS- sheesh, where's the love guys? One of you could've emailed me and let me know that I linked the Halo 3 trailer instead of Lt Col P's post.
The soon-to-be SECDEF seems to have an eye on the Long Game.
China is building capabilities to fight short duration, high-intensity conflict on its periphery. Its near-term focus is on generating sufficient combat power to rapidly erode Taiwan's will to resist and to deter or deny effective intervention in a cross-strait conflict.This is good.
I've already mentioned the Instapundit symposium on Iraq:
So can the blogosphere do better? I'm going to try a blog symposium on Iraq, Iran, and Syria. I want some new ideas -- beyond "cut and run" or "stay the course" -- on things we're not doing that we should be doing....but it occurs to me that a lot of sharp folks don't have blogs. So anyone who wants to make a contribution please feel free to do so in comments below.
I'll delete off-topic rambles at my leisure.
...and encountering hostility:
In nearly every conversation, the soldiers, Marines and contractors expressed they were upset with the coverage of the war in Iraq in general, and the public perception of the daily situation on the ground. The felt the media was there to sensationalize the news, and several stated some reporters were only interested in "blood and guts." They freely admitted the obstacles in front of them in Iraq. Most recognized that while we are winning the war on the battlefield, albeit with difficulties in some areas, we are losing the information war. They felt the media had abandoned them.Read the whole thing.During each conversation, I was left in the awkward situation of having to explain that while, yes, I am wearing a press badge, I'm not 'one of them.' I used descriptions like 'independent journalist' or 'blogger' in an attempt to separate myself from the pack.
What a terrible situation to be in, having to defend yourself because of your profession. I've always said that the hardest thing about embedding (besides leaving my family) is wearing the badge that says 'PRESS.' That hasn't changed. I hide the badge whenever I can get away with it.
Jules Crittenden brings the bloggers vs. the AP "burning Sunnis" story to the TeeVee.
Lotsa people watch the TeeVee.
FOR THOSE AMERICANS who still "don't get" the military, let me spell it out for you:
We are not victims. We don't want your pity. We don't need your charity.
All we ask for is a little bit of respect.
DoD Announces Army Soldier as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown
The Department of Defense today announced the identity of a soldier currently listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Dustin M. Adkins, 22, of Finger, Tenn., has been unaccounted for since Dec. 3 in Haditha, Iraq, when the Chinook helicopter he was in made an emergency landing. He is assigned to the Group Support Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Ky.
Search and recovery efforts are ongoing, and the incident is under investigation.
The War Tapes has teamed up with Sew Much Comfort to help our wounded troops. If you purchase a DVD of The War Tapes using this link, 20% of the sales purchase will be transferred to Sew Much Comfort, which really means that 20% of the sales will go to improving the lives of our wounded service members.
Click here to order your copy. I would also add that these DVDs would make great gifts for our deployed troops. Hint, Hint.
By the way, President Bush recently recognized Sew Much Comfort for the great service they provide our wounded heroes. Not too shabby....
But there's always room for one more snarky poster.....
Senator McCain has come out with two moral tests for going forward towards war. This was in response to a question about Iraq, but I think it is good for any time one believes that it is time to war-war and not jaw-jaw.
1. There can be no moral duty to attempt what cannot be done.Though I have issues with some things Sen. McCain supports, in this case I think his reasoning is air-tight. He is still pro-victory, which is why his point should be absorbed, not just read.
2. If you will an end, you must will the means to that end.
...via Glenn Reynolds. This one is for Columbia Journalism students:
What should a newspaper's executive editor do after receiving "a tip from a credible source that one or more unspecified articles in recent editions of the newspaper contain fabricated material"?Hypothetical, of course.
Update: One editor answers:
If newspapers don't have an alternative, readers do. It's called the Internet. That's why newspapers, if they don't want to be dragged further into irrelevance and disrepute, have to tell The Associated Press they are dissatisfied with its product.More here.
A week from today, Worcester will leave Columbia Falls, Maine, to lead the trailer full of wreaths down the coast. This time, it won't be just the trucker, Worcester and his wife, Karen. This time, there'll be an escort of a couple hundred Patriot Guard Riders, a national group of motorcyclists who take it upon themselves to display their respect for fallen service members.If you'd like to help out with a donation, you probably can't:This time, Worcester and friends won't barrel down the interstate; they're taking the slow road, Route 1, so that more motorcyclists -- perhaps thousands more -- might join the caravan.
This time, the wreath-laying won't be a private affair. Instead of the 10 or 12 volunteers who had been rounded up in past years by Wayne Hanson, a retired federal law enforcement officer who lives in Springfield, at least 500 people will be ready to help lay the wreaths Dec. 14 -- and maybe many more.
Worcester has always returned the checks that people send him. The wreath-laying is his personal statement: "This is the least we can do."But you might want to look into this:
"It's just a way to pay respect," Hanson says. "When I came home from Vietnam, well, it wasn't the best time to be in the military, or to be coming home. But this -- it brings tears to my eyes to see 5,000 wreaths laid out across those white government headstones. You can't think about anything but that ultimate sacrifice these people made to give us our freedom."
This year, the interest in Worcester's project has exploded to the point that he had to find some way to extend the tribute, so he has launched http://wreathsacrossamerica.org, a Web site that coordinates similar rituals at more than 200 military cemeteries around the country.
Let it never be said that WaPo isn't ideologically diverse. I mean, they have articles ranging from "Bush is teh suXors!" to "Bush is REALLY teh suXors!" Today's online front page shows the following columns re the Bush Presidency:
He's The Worst Ever
Move Over, Hoover
He's Only Fifth Worst (this might be "optimistic" one)
Time's On His Side
Making such judgments when the man's defining element (Iraq/GWOT) has yet to be resolved is premature at best and ideological masturbation disguised as analysis at worst.
Since Lincoln is generally recognized as either the best or second-best president, it's worth looking at his time in context and comparison. It's fun to think that Lincoln was some preternaturally great Commander in Chief and that the outcome of the Civil War was near-destiny since the man and the hour had met [ed: they said that about Jeff Davis] [AL: I know, it's my post, shut up].
But face it: Lincoln is Lincoln only because he won. Had he lost the Union, we wouldn't have these silly polls since half the people that became president after Lincoln would have been president of an entirely different country.
Professor Reynolds' has a creative writing assignment for the 'sphere:
So can the blogosphere do better? I'm going to try a blog symposium on Iraq, Iran, and Syria. I want some new ideas -- beyond "cut and run" or "stay the course" -- on things we're not doing that we should be doing.In this case "submission" is probably the wrong word...
Is it a good idea? You tell me. And add some other ideas of your own. Put "Iraq Symposium" in the subject line, and add a link to your blog entry. I'll pull them together in two or three days.
Update: Another observation from Glenn:
In fact, it seems as if Donald Rumsfeld, judging by his classified memo thoughtfully leaked to the New York Times, remains more open to new ideas than many of his critics, who often seem stuck in 1968.Which, I think, is accurate. Rumsfeld's memo did present some concepts beyond those bandied about thus far (in public, at least). But this symposium is a good chance for a lot of folks who are smarter than Rummy to prove it.
Robert should move next door to Alabama. Those guys know how to take care of their veterans. Just check out the license plate they authorized.
If that doesn't scream "Alabama supports our troops!"...I don't know what does.
Now as far as the Rummy memo leak is concerned, I defer to Crittenden, who has a much larger brain than I.
These options were unattractive to Rumsfeld because, having become stuck on stupid, he insisted on going to war with a downsized post-Cold War army, and insisted that politicaly and psychologically traumatized Iraq could sort itself out. He and President Bush did not move to expand the Army in the fall of 2001, when they could have had all the recruits they wanted and a blank check from Congress. So Rumsfeld didn't have the forces to put into Iraq, and he no longer had the political capital to raise a larger force.
Okay, maybe that quote doesn't have a whole lot to do with the memo, but the larger Crittenden piece does. I just got hung up on the "transformation" bit. Loved Rummy, but was never a fan of his vision for the 21st century force.
Hotel Tango to Murdoc for the 'Bama plate.
What the heck is that?
A pioneer is what she was, just as the nickname "The Covered Wagon" implied.
Her story here.
From Robert Stokely: "Today, I am embarrassed to be a Georgian."
Why? He's just discovered that if a GI gets wounded and medevaced out of Iraq in the first half of his tour he and his family lose a significant benefit. Details below.
Come January, various Presidential Wannabes and former committee minority leaders who have found themselves transformed into majority leaders will all be chanting the same chant, "Staying the Course is not working". They'll all demand something, anything "change" in order to fix things.
Those of us who are watching Iraq closely know that the course has been changing all along. An Iraqi battlion here or there taking over an AOR, a brigade of 1st ID soldiers at Fort Riley being taken off line and reset into a "training brigade", units moved from one AOR to another, a slow methodical closing of Forward Operating Bases, yet another Stryker Brigade being formed at Ft Lewis, etc...
None of which made much of a difference on the day they happened, but make a huge difference 12 or 24 months into the future.
All of which are too subtle for a Pentagon Press Corp whose careers have been based on discovering a purchase order for a $300 toilet seat or a $75 hammer.
The "Fix it Now" crowd would not be denied on a need for an "immediate change", they got it in the form of firing Secretary Rumsfeld.
In a few days the Baker Commission will hand down its recomendation from on high, in many political circles, it will be given the same stature as God handing down the Ten Commandments to Moses.
Unless we want General Casy and Gen Abizaid to be hamstrung by the recommendations of the Baker Commission, the case has to be made that substantial changes way beyond the Baker recommendations were being considered for some time.
The substance of the memo isn't my largest concern. I am scratching my head like Greyhawk on this; no big shocker about what it says in that we are already doing much of it. You can argue about degree or delay if you want - but that isn't what should keep you up at night.
No, here is what worries me, the first thing that came to my mind is something that Andy McCarthy states very well at The Corner.
If high officials — in wartime, no less — figure they better not give their best, most candid advice on sensitive, publicly-charged issues because opposing policy factions are going to leak each other's memos to the press, the initiative and creativity of the smart people we want in government is stifled. And the leaks will be used to portray the administration as disintegrating into rancorous chaos, which avalanche feeds on itself.On my very micro scale, I am known as the guy who walks into your office 5 minutes after you send me an email. Some things I will not respond to via email, or leave a phone message about. I got burned bad last tour, not going to happen again. I cannot imagine what it is like at the highest levels where you often have to put things in a memo - as walking down the hall or calling VFR direct isn't an option - and having no security that your "CLASSIFIED MEMO" will not be held in the confidence it was delivered. Communication will come to a dead stop. Andy McCarthy is right.
Free Fall. Like watching a train-wreck in slow motion.I don't care if you have spent the last five years sticking pins in your Rummy and Shrub voodoo dolls, you cannot find solace it this turn of events.
I mean, can you guess what newspaper printed the following?
Following is the text of a classified Nov. 6 memorandum
Update: Andrew McCarthy at the Corner:
If high officials — in wartime, no less — figure they better not give their best, most candid advice on sensitive, publicly-charged issues because opposing policy factions are going to leak each other's memos to the press, the initiative and creativity of the smart people we want in government is stifled. And the leaks will be used to portray the administration as disintegrating into rancorous chaos, which avalanche feeds on itself.
Two days before he resigned as defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld submitted a classified memo to the White House that acknowledged that the Bush administration's strategy in Iraq was not working and called for a major course correction.You can ignore the NY Times framing of the memo, of course, because in a rare departure from their normal modus operandi they've provided the actual text. If you read it you'll find that many of "above the fold" options describe what we're going to be doing in Iraq for the next year or so - as per leaked portions of the Baker Committee report, the Pentagon review, and comments from House and Senate members over the past few weeks."In my view it is time for a major adjustment," wrote Mr. Rumsfeld, who has been a symbol of a dogged stay-the-course policy. "Clearly, what U.S. forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough."
"I need an Officer for a secret and dangerous mission. Get me a West Point Football Player!" - General George C. Marshall, VMI Class of 1901.
Words unspoken: and get me a VMI man to coach him!
I went to an Army school but grew up a Navy brat. Ahhh who to root for?
Guess I'll have to throw my hat in with the VMI-led West Point football, gymnastics, and tumbling squad :)
Before there was an Air Force Academy some graduates of West Point and Annapolis joined the Air Force. They flew together as crew members but the old school rivalry made the Army-Navy Game a big thing at the Officers' Club.
More here.
Dear America,Tomorrow we will bury one of your sons. He is not the first -- Lexington... the Marne... Corregidor... Normandy... Pusan... Khe Sahn... Khafji... Takur Ghar... Fallujah.... Ramadi... As hard as is it to accept, he will not be the last. It does not matter that you did not know him. It is important that you know his name. Pvt. Reece David Moreno. Age 19 years, 17 days. Killed in Balad, Iraq. Part of the U.S. Army's proud 3rd Infantry Division... 92 Engineer Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade. Son of Regan and Al.
I will be there.
Read more at Some Soldier's Mom
GEN. MIXON: (ed Commander of MNF-N) We have a goal for this transition, and we're making advances every day. We currently have one Iraqi army division under control of Iraq ground force command, and a second division transferred today.
A third division will transfer by the end of January, and by February all four Iraqi divisions in Multinational Division North will be under Iraqi Ground Force Command. ...As I mentioned, today in western Nineveh province, the 3rd Iraqi Army Division formally took the lead in providing security for Iraq's people. Over the past month, this unit has conducted over 400 operations independent of any coalition support.
If you don't read the News, I will have Marines throw snowballs at you!
[This photo is from 2005 when my little band of Marine security guys got a bit squirrely while we were in Gholam-ali].
No, we're not talking about the last line of defense for Army against Navy tomorrow (methinks it's going to be a slaughter, ever-so-glad I went to a Land Grant college and beat up on Army in football once, myself).
Rather - Laurie of Soldier's Angels New York wants to know if she should be gathering up silly string to send to the sandboxes for booby-trap detection duty.
She's really concerned, as a victim of silly string herself - if the utility of it will outweigh the Hearts and Minds aspect.
Victor Davis Hanson is so good at boiling things down.
The Majority OpinionMaybe I can get that scholarship now that I wasn't eligible for in the '80s.
The new majority school of thought — often described as the more nuanced and more sophisticated — seems to conclude that the "global war on terror" (if that's even what it ever really was) is insidiously winding down to a police matter. Billions spent in lives and treasure in Iraq did not make us any safer; the passing of time, the dissipation of passions, and increased vigilance did.
The Minority Brief
We really are in a global war. Its dimensions are hard to conceptualize since our enemies, while aided and abetted by sympathetic Middle Eastern dictatorships, claim no national affinity. Indeed, the terrorists deliberately mask the role of their patrons. The latter, given understandable fears of the overwhelming conventional power of the United States military, deny culpability.
What's more deadly than a pair of minature helicopters?
That's how Noah Shachtman got thinking about a new type of contest, a cross between Wired's Raves and the Darwin Awards, appropriately dubbed The Deadlies.
Noah is now taking submissions for "The Earth's most lethal gadgetry," nominees which include atomic automobiles and inflateable space pods.
I, for one, will be voting for Darpa's man-cannon.
Send in your own nomination for The Deadlies here.
Noah has also launched a biweekly Defense Tech newsletter that's pretty cool. Right up your ally if you're a gizmo geek.
The real discussion will center on "combat" vs "advisory" roles for US troops in the coming months. I expect what we'll see is a shift to having most US troops in QRF or advisory (embedded with Iraqi units) capacity. Those QRF forces might stage in Iraq. The Kurdish North would be the best option - Kuwait could be another. (Has already been done, in fact.) Other countries could be considered, but Okinawa is right out.
If not already there, the tricky part will be determining when to deploy them into Iraq. That will be up to commanders on the ground, of course, but what happens next time the Association of Muslim Scholars calls the AP and reports 184 mosque attacks? And if we are in other countries, what do their opinions matter on that issue? And will each execution of the option be touted in the press as a failure of the plan?
Another tricky piece would be a "brief" surge in combat troops prior to this shift. That smacks of "home by Christmas" - I'll leave it at that.
That's all a bit further on down the road though. For now, there are reasons for optimism. The battle is still on, and while we may not be as close to "victory" as some would like we are closer to it than any other faction is - for now. Here's why I say that - there are more cracks developing in the enemy facade, and more Iraqi civilians - at least in Anbar - moving from wishing to acting.
THURSDAY MORNING, at the Metro entrance to the Pentagon, I spotted a banner hanging above the entry lobby:
Unfortunately, the Pentagon discourages photo-taking, especially in the entry lobby. So instead, I'll share with you this lovely photo of a formal parade at West Point.
Hey, how did that "BEAT ARMY" banner get up there?