Archives for the 'military' Category
“Stay Strong”
Published on 20 Jul 2009 at 9:17 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, military.
Boston Herald, with the father of slain al Qaeda captive S/Sgt Alex Jimenez to the family of Taliban captive PFC Bowe Bergdahl:
Prop Op
Published on 19 Jul 2009 at 10:03 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, military.
Propaganda opportunity seized by the Taliban, as the strange case of a soldier who reportedly wandered away takes its next turn with a video release. BBC:
Glory
Published on 18 Jul 2009 at 12:16 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under history, military.
146 years ago today, the 54th Massachusetts led the assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina. The all-black regiment and its white officers were decimated, the dead including Col. Robert Gould Shaw, depicted with his soldiers above in the Shaw Memorial on Boston Common and in the 1989 film Glory.
Quick reading list:
Where Death and Glory [...]
Army Gives Money To Harvard
Published on 16 Jul 2009 at 10:11 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under academia, military.
Even though Harvard barely gives the Army the time of day.*
The University of Michigan, Columbia and Harvard are splitting a $50 million grant to study military suicides. Chicago Tribune. The University of Michigan apparently has on-campus ROTC. But it looks like Columbia’s ROTC students, like those who rub shoulders with the privileged elites at Harvard, have to [...]
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Spanish Judicial Misconduct Thwarted
Published on 14 Jul 2009 at 10:35 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, Spain, justice, military.
Spain’s National Court finds an investigative judge presented one-sided evidence in an effort to railroad three American soldiers, and tosses the murder case against Shawn Gibson, Philip Wolford and Philip deCamp in the April 8, 2003, killing of Spanish newsman Jose Couso in the Hotel Palestine. Again. Reuters:
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Nanny State Goes To War
Published on 12 Jul 2009 at 1:11 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under America, military, moronocy, tobacco.
“War is redneck as hell,” as Sgt. Howison observed one hot morning in Baghdad a few years back. He was talking about all the big vehicles, all the blowing shit up, and with all that lead and high explosive flying around the place, all the smoking and dipping and nobody much giving a damn about potential future health threats.
Yeah, [...]
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Countdown to 12:34:56 7/8/9
Published on 8 Jul 2009 at 10:38 am.
11 Comments.
Filed under impending doom!, military.
Shortly after half-past noon today. Be there. I predict the end of the world, with gnashing of teeth, rending of garments, gnawing of tongues for pain, emergence of many-headed beasts, horsemen, plus final determinations on wickedness vs. righteousness, etc. Either that, or 12:34:57 7/8/9. Watch for updates.
UPDATE: Well, it’s 12:34:56 7/8/9 plus, EDT. World not visibly ended yet. [...]
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Rule Of Law By Military Coup*
Published on 3 Jul 2009 at 8:54 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under America, law & order, military.
That’s different. Here’s a Honduran lawyer who says the old Latin American standby is a step forward. Octavio Sanchez lays out the constitutional case for the ouster of the president by the military in Honduras, with consent of several elected and appointed authorities, heralds a bright new day. Christian Science Monitor:
Tegucigalpa, Honduras - Sometimes, the whole world prefers a lie [...]
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Missing
Published on 2 Jul 2009 at 11:06 am.
6 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, military.
Believed captured in Afghanistan. An American soldier apparently wandered off his base. Washington Post:
Obama To Troops: “WTF?”
Published on 2 Jul 2009 at 12:10 am.
7 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, military.
The news out of Afghanistan yesterday was bookended by a couple of Washington Post reports.
Bob Woodward on the ground at Camp Leatherneck reported this morning in an article ridiculously headlined, Preventing Another Iraq/US Says Key to Success in Afghanistan: Economic, Not Military, that the Obama admin considers it a “new era.”
The headline is not Woodward’s fault, except to the extent [...]
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ARVN Nights, IA Days
Published on 1 Jul 2009 at 9:50 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Iraq, military, vietnam.
That’s meant to be a hopeful note, that title, as American forces pull back from Iraqi cities under a neogotiated political deal that will test the new Iraqi Army. Maggie’s Farm glances back for an understanding of current events, looking at the much-maligned and ultimately abandoned Army of the Republic of Vietnam, as an example of what should not be allowed to happen [...]
National Sovereignty Day
Published on 30 Jun 2009 at 1:29 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
It’s a newly declared holiday in Iraq, and a new day as US troops pull out of the cities. Except to the extent they’ll need to be running around the cities training and advising Iraqi troops, and conducting hits on terrorists in the cities and out of them. Which sounds like a wide-open door you could [...]
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United States Army, 234 Today
Published on 14 Jun 2009 at 12:22 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under history, military.
With colonial militias confronting British troops garrisoned in Boston, on June 14, 1775 Congress voted to establish the Continental Army … 10 companies of infantry, with the expectation this number would quickly grow. The next day, Congress unanimously voted George Washington, who had been active in its military planning committees, to command the new army, and ordered him [...]
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Dawn’s Early Light (Captivity In Print)
Published on 12 Jun 2009 at 10:43 am.
13 Comments.
Filed under history, military.
Listening to the Star-Spangled Banner at the ROTC ceremony at Harvard last week, I reflected again on our nation’s choice of a description of armed struggle and resistance for its anthem. Vivid combat imagery, though understated as patriotic messages go. It was there at nightfall, we saw it during the night, by the light of explosions, is it still there? Over [...]
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Gallic Shrug
Published on 6 Jun 2009 at 7:57 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under France, history, military.
The storied Annals of French War Heroes grow by one as the French bestow high honors on a phony D-Day paratrooper, even though they were shown the documented truth.
Lowell, Mass., native/Derry, N.H., cop Howard Manoian retired to Ste. Mere-Eglise in 1985, where he is revered by the locals and has long earned free drinks, regaling tourists and reporters with tales of [...]
10-Minute Leadership Course
Published on 4 Jun 2009 at 12:32 am.
5 Comments.
Filed under academia, military.
From the man who brought Iraq back from the bloody brink.
Gen. David H. Petraeus at Harvard’s 2009 commissioning ceremony for ROTC cadets and midshipmen in Harvard Yard. As twitted by Crit:
Petraeus’ 10-minute ldrshp seminar, delivered @ Harvard’s ROTC commissioning today … “Individuals matter & indvdl leaders really matter.”
Petraeus: “Ldrs r th ones hstry rmmbrs as hving mde th [...]
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This Day In History
Published on 1 Jun 2009 at 12:01 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under Britain, ancient mysteries, history, military.
Kent being the center of a spreading revolt against Parliament, sparked by the banning of Christmas celebrations in December 1647, that became known as the Second English Civil War; on the afternoon of June 1, 1648, the New Model Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax fronted up at the bridges over the Medway at Maidstone.
Fairfax, with his force of about [...]
It’s All About The O
Published on 30 May 2009 at 8:05 am.
3 Comments.
Filed under Obama, media, military, sex.
Hate to say I told you so. Here’s Rolling Stone’s “Hot” love for Small Wars Journal. via SWJ:
Hot Intelligence: ‘Small Wars Journal’
The Military’s New Must Read
Want to know how Obama is going to fight the war in Afghanistan? Then check out Small Wars Journal, an online magazine that provides a crash course on asymmetric warfare. [...]
HOT
Published on 29 May 2009 at 7:54 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under America, Bush, GWOT, Obama, military.
Lady Gaga and Small Wars Journal. Both hot. But don’t take my word for it. Rolling Stone:
Since we launched the Hot List in 1986, we’ve had our share of hits and misses (check our cover gallery to revisit all out past Hot Issues, from Angelina to Giselle to Britney). In 1988, we profiled “Hot Character Actor” [...]
Memorial Day
Published on 25 May 2009 at 9:00 am.
6 Comments.
Filed under military.
Boston Herald’s Peter Gelzinis on one paratrooper who took the gift of life and lived it:
GI To Taliban: Eat My Shorts
Published on 23 May 2009 at 12:20 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, military.
via Boston Herald, on what SecDef Robert Gates called ”a special kind of courage.”
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Injustice Sought
Published on 21 May 2009 at 11:50 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Iraq, Spain, law & order, military, moronocy.
Again. Spanish judge reinstates charges against three American soldiers in the April 2003 Hotel Palestine incident. AP:
Judge Santiago Pedraz said he had obtained new testimony from witnesses contradicting the U.S. argument that the tank crew was responding to hostile fire when it shot at a Baghdad hotel housing Western journalists.
…
In a new 10-page indictment announced [...]
Drone Strikes
Published on 17 May 2009 at 11:05 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Pakistan, military.
Sounds a fair description of your average New York Times scribbler’s periodic output, but actually it’s David Kilcullen and Andrew Exum weighing in against Predator hits in Pakistan. These two terrorist-killing/converting enthusiasts make a lot of good points, like this one:
Small Wars, Big Warrior
Published on 15 May 2009 at 9:39 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, courage, military.
Maj. Steven Hutchison, 60, 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division. Vietnam veteran, KIA Iraq May 10, 2009. via Ace:
Richard Hutchison said that his older brother wanted to re-enlist immediately after 9/11 but that his wife was against it. He signed up again in July 2007 after she died, according [...]
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Small Wars Writ Large
Published on 15 May 2009 at 9:19 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Iraq, military.
Dalton Fury at Small Wars Journal with a somewhat intimate view of McChrystal, aka The Pope, now taking over in Afghanistan, from the perspective of someone who served under him in peace and war. It doesn’t say much about what he’ll do in Afghanistan, but it says a lot about what kind of person is doing it.
Also [...]
Obama = Clinton?
Published on 14 May 2009 at 9:10 am.
6 Comments.
Filed under Obama, military.
Ignatius wonders whether the move to block the release of more Abu Ghraib photos is Obama’s Sister Souljah moment, establishing centrist cred. I dunno, looks like more flaming hypocrisy and gutless lack of conviction in everything he ran on. Also, now that he’s actually responsible for something for the first time in his professional life, the last [...]
Actual Voters Cared About
Published on 13 May 2009 at 11:27 am.
3 Comments.
Filed under military, pols.
As tens of thousands of military absentee ballots are estimated to have been lost. Congressional study finds nearly 100,000 votes missing in a survey of seven states: California, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and West Virginia. If some of those states’ names look familiar, you may remember them as key swing states in recent elections.
What’s astonishing is [...]
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Deck Chairs Rearranged
Published on 12 May 2009 at 9:27 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Afghanistan, military.
McKiernan’s out, McChrystal’s in command in Afghanistan. Small Wars Journal rounds up the news, which touches on the themes that conventional is out, spec ops in, McKiernan is scapegoated, McKiernan was “overly cautious,” and “fresh eyes” are needed, Zarqawi kill team leader is the guy, all without much in the way of telling detail. Some observations follow:
Resting Place Of Mothers’ Sons
Published on 10 May 2009 at 8:18 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under Bush, Obama, history, military.
Will be off limits to the common man on D-Day plus 65 years. Big Hollywood:
Barack Obama will attend the events on June 6th as George Bush did in 2004 for the sixtieth memorial service. Here is the rub, as of now Obama’s State Department has asked (read demanded) the French government not allow tour guide [...]
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Acute Literary
Published on 9 May 2009 at 11:16 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, literary, military.
A Sunday reading list from another mother’s son. Gordon Alanko, aka Teflon Don, home safe at Acute Politics with another simple, wistful, evocative post that reminds me how much I miss him, back when he was the best American combat writer on the ground in Iraq. I knew there was a reason why he was that good.
My parents [...]
Sounds Like His Heart Was In The Right Place
Published on 9 May 2009 at 9:04 am.
8 Comments.
Filed under al qaeda, media, military, pols.
But it doesn’t sound like he knows the troops as well as he thinks he does. The Hill:
CBS Sports commentator David Feherty drew criticism Friday for suggesting any U.S. soldier would murder House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) if given the chance.
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Propaganda Victory!
Published on 7 May 2009 at 11:51 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, media, military.
As a career newsman, I can assure the last thing any reporter worth his salt wants to do is let sticky, unresolved questions and facts mess up the story line. That’s why a professional sometimes employs the time-honored device known as “burying” them. Much as the evidence was buried in Afghanistan. AP:
Anzac Day
Published on 25 Apr 2009 at 11:51 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under Australia, history, military.
April 25 is Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, marking the landings at Gallipoli in 1915 and the disastrous campaign there. Churchill’s idea for a second front went badly wrong, and he ended up resigning as First Lord of the Admiralty. The deaths of thousands of diggers at Gallipoli became a galvanizing event that helped establish [...]
The Pink Lady
Published on 22 Apr 2009 at 11:42 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under aircraft, history, military.
The Dissident Frogman with some French air show art and updates on the status of the Pink Lady, purportedly the last B-17 to see action over Europe that is still flying. History and more art at the Pink Lady link,
NYT Combat Embed
Published on 20 Apr 2009 at 9:45 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Afghanistan, media, military.
In the Korengal Valley. An account of combat, loss, and some of the complicating factors in this corner of the Afghan war. More like this, please. Great photo gallery at the link.
This is a relatively tight focus on a single incident, that doesn’t in itself offer extensive insight. But combat embeds give reporters, media organizations and the public [...]
It Was About Hope, And Change …
Published on 20 Apr 2009 at 8:21 am.
9 Comments.
Filed under America, Boston, Britain, history, military.
Patriots Day may be the least known American holiday, and the day most deserving of our recognition. Observed by schools and government today in Massachusetts and Maine only. Don’t know it? It marks the day, April 19, 1775, on which Americans took up arms against their king, and bled, at the crack of terrible dawn.
The following collection of first-person [...]
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Hasta La Service Academies
Published on 19 Apr 2009 at 11:05 am.
17 Comments.
Filed under academia, military.
Tom Ricks at Washington Post recommends closing the service academies, for better buck bang in officer production. Makes a couple of interesting points, but also misses a couple:
On top of the economic advantage, I’ve been told by some commanders that they prefer officers who come out of ROTC programs, because they tend to be better [...]
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Victory Point
Published on 19 Apr 2009 at 9:14 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, history, military.
My next read, new out this month, Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers - the Marine Corps’ Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, describes 2/3 Marines operations in the Korengal Valley region before, during and after the incident dramatically described by SEAL Marcus Luttrell in Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost [...]
Obama Doctrine Is What?
Published on 13 Apr 2009 at 8:48 am.
13 Comments.
Filed under Obama, crime, law & order, military.
Boston Herald:
Dramatic rescue ends hostage drama
Five days of fear (timeline)
via Herald: Three shots, three popped. Pirates vow revenge, retaliation against any nations that respond with violence to their violence. U.S. is their “No. 1 enemy.” Sounds like open season on pirates. Whatever happened to them liking us better?
via Herald: Obama kept his mouth shut for a change. [...]
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Pahk Your Wahmongah Values Outside Hahvahd Yahd
Published on 13 Apr 2009 at 8:24 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under academia, military.
My pal Michael Graham on Harvard’s raging hypocrisy re terrorism and ROTC. Boston Herald op-ed:
Forty years ago today, Harvard University caved to pressure from violent student radicals and banned the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) from campus. The ban continues because Harvard finds the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy too offensive to be [...]
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OBushma
Published on 13 Apr 2009 at 8:09 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Bush, Iraq, Obama, military, pols.
Boston Herald editorial: Obama the president pushes Congress for quick, no-effing-around action on his $83 billion warfighting request, to a great wringing of hands among his erstwhile pals in the anti-war left.
“This funding will do two things: It will prolong our occupation of Iraq through at least the end of 2011, and it will deepen and expand our [...]
Re The Power Of Being Dead Already
Published on 12 Apr 2009 at 8:43 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
April 12-15 and after:
But I told my buddy Mike Kirsch, a CBS Miami reporter who would know what I meant, that I was losing the power of being dead already, and I hated it.
That and hanging with the looting party.
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Victory At Last!
Published on 9 Apr 2009 at 12:49 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under Bush, Iraq, military.
All it needed was the triumphant arrival of the conquering president. via White House:
Under enormous strain and under enormous sacrifice, through controversy and difficulty and politics, you’ve kept your eyes focused on just doing your job. And because of that, every mission that’s been assigned — from getting rid of Saddam, to reducing violence, to stabilizing [...]
Statue Toppled
Published on 9 Apr 2009 at 10:28 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
April 9, 2003:
Late in the afternoon, I called up the Boston Herald to dictate the day’s story. Deputy Managing Editor James MacLaughlin told me there was big news on CNN. The Marines had just liberated Baghdad. They were in front of the Palestine Hotel, where they pulled down a statue of Saddam. Did I know [...]
The Money Part
Published on 8 Apr 2009 at 8:18 am.
No Comments.
Filed under military, money, pols.
And the procurement part of war-fighting. Danger Room on the end of an arms procurement program. One-vehicle-fits-all-purposes sounds like a pretty bad idea. More Pentagon budget discussion at Abu Muqawama, who looks at nuance in budgetary COIN support in several posts.
UPDATE: Thomas Donnelly and Gary Schmitt pick through in a little more detail at WSJ. Not happy. [...]
“A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood”
Published on 8 Apr 2009 at 1:09 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
That went badly wrong. April 8, 2003:
The Gold Platoon Bradleys advanced up Haifa Street, engaging the bunkers in the park and snipers in surrounding buildings heavily with their 25 mm cannons and machine guns.
“I love you, Gold,” Wolford said over the radio. “I love you, baby! I love you, Gold!”
…
The Gold Bradleys dropped their ramps [...]
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“Peace Be With You” Seemed Like A Good Start …
Published on 7 Apr 2009 at 12:56 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
April 7, 2003:
… We could still hear a lot of gunfire in several directions, but none of it was in our vicinity and we ignored it. By early afternoon, we were getting comfortable in the intersection by the big melodramatic July 14th memorial – a bronze statue depicting one Iraqi soldier slumped dead, two looking [...]
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On Getting Killed And Not Getting Killed
Published on 6 Apr 2009 at 8:49 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
Memory Lane takes a pit stop south of Baghdad. April 6, 2003:
The Bradley would be carrying a Psyops soldier who would play pre-recorded Arabic messages from loudspeakers mounted on top of the armored vehicle. When I got back, the Bradley crew was watching as a Psyops team sergeant addressed three or four of his men. He [...]
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Achtung Baby
Published on 4 Apr 2009 at 1:00 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
April 4, 2003:
Baxter and I were sitting on my cot, backs against the Bradley’s skirt plate, eating MREs for breakfast and talking about Sgt. Lustig. He was the tough platoon sergeant who didn’t talk much and always meant exactly what he said. He was the one with “ACHTUNG BABY” stenciled on his tank’s gun tube. His [...]
“This War Is Gay!”
Published on 3 Apr 2009 at 12:30 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
Re the sexual orientation of war. April 3, 2003:
We crossed the Euphrates around noon. I was asleep in the back and missed it. Another brigade, bounding ahead of us, was responsible for all the wreckage around the bridge.
Baxter was bored and annoyed that someone else was getting all this action. He began bitching about the [...]
