Archives for the 'military' Category
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.
9 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 [...]
Events In The Night Sky
Published on 2 Apr 2009 at 1:15 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
Remarked upon. April 2, 2003:
Around midnight, a longer stop, again in the desert. We got out, pissed at the side of the track. We decided to do some housecleaning and threw some empty MRE boxes off to one side of the road. Baxter, Smitty and I shared a couple of butts by the track. We [...]
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Diminishing Returns
Published on 2 Apr 2009 at 12:58 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, military.
Petraeus would like another 10,000. Washington Post:
Petraeus acknowledged that the ratio of coalition and Afghan security forces to the population is projected through 2011 to be significantly lower than the 20 troops per 1,000 people prescribed by the Army counterinsurgency manual he helped write.
“If you assume there is an insurgency throughout the country . . [...]
To LBJ Or Not To LBJ
Published on 31 Mar 2009 at 10:29 pm.
3 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, military.
ABC: McCain to Obama … Don’t be like LBJ.
Old guy advises the kid to quit pussyfooting around with the incrementalism in Afghanistan. Only one problem. Obama doesn’t want to be a war president. Too bad. Because not being one isn’t one of his options. He only gets to choose whether he wants to be a winning war [...]
“That Bitch Just Froze!”
Published on 31 Mar 2009 at 8:15 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Iraq, media, military.
Personal anniversary, March 31, 2003:
We came out of the desert at dawn. The tanks kicked up dust by mud hut farms, their skull-and-crossed-saber guidons whipping in the wind.
“This all looks so ancient … Nothing has changed here in 2,000 years,” said the LT, up in his turret hatch. There were people in the doorways of the [...]
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Cyber Attack
Published on 30 Mar 2009 at 7:20 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under China, Internet, military.
Linked to China. WSJ:
Security researchers said they have discovered software capable of stealing information installed on computers in 103 countries from a network that targeted government agencies.
The software infected more than 1,200 computers, almost 30% of which were considered high-value targets, according to a report published Sunday by Information Warfare Monitor, a Toronto-based organization.
Among the [...]
About That ISI Problem
Published on 30 Mar 2009 at 7:02 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, Pakistan, military.
Top U.S. brass turn up the heat. BBC:
In recent days three top American generals have turned their guns on Pakistan, accusing elements of its main intelligence agency, the ISI, of supporting Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.
The unprecedented broadside followed the announcement by the US President Barack Obama of a new strategy for Afghanistan.
Mr Obama cited as [...]
Joker One
Published on 27 Mar 2009 at 8:47 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Iraq, military.
A friend with combat embed experience recommends Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood , calls it “fantastic.”
Dallas Morning News loved it:
Author Donovan Campbell, who now lives in Dallas with his wife and young daughter, had spent a no-obligation summer in the Marines’ Officer Candidate School. And despite his own reservations, he [...]
Afghanistan Made Easy
Published on 25 Mar 2009 at 10:00 am.
4 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, media, military.
To get, not to do. Enough with the hysteria/doom-and-gloom mongering. War correspondent Robert Kaplan, who has been around the block a couple of times in Afghanistan and with the United States military, with a note of reason on the evolving campaign, what that campaign is fundamentally about, why we can win it, and why we have to. Excerpts [...]
Meanwhile, In IDF News
Published on 25 Mar 2009 at 9:58 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Israel, Palestinians, military, sex.
The IDF isn’t just about killing terrorists. They’re also showcasing IDF cheesecake on their English language website. Miss Israel 2009 is no petty officer herself. Danger Room suggests the IDF’s focus on eye candy is a bid to change the subject amid questions over the behavior of IDF troops in Gaza. Looks more like IDF PR as usual.
Israel by the way is [...]
NATOons
Published on 24 Mar 2009 at 9:42 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under Europe, military.
US backs Danish premier for top NATO post who sounds like he doesn’t want NATO to be a joke. Bush liked Anders Fogh Rasmussem. The Euros like him. Turkey doesn’t like him. He backed freedom of speech in the Motoons case, and sent Danish troops to Iraq. Hey, I like him already … I just can’t [...]
Takes One To Know One
Published on 24 Mar 2009 at 9:30 pm.
1 Comment.
Filed under PTSD, military.
The VA hires combat vets who’ve experienced PTSD to find combat vets experiencing PTSD and talk to them about seeking treatment. ”Sometimes there is a certain look in their eye,” says former Army sergeant Derek Graner. AP.
Victory In Sight!
Published on 23 Mar 2009 at 10:25 am.
7 Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, military.
For al-Qaeda and the Taliban, as Obama explains his priority in Afghanistan. Getting Out. NYT:
Living History
Published on 23 Mar 2009 at 9:09 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under history, military.
And sacred soil. Joe Galloway on the dedication of a parade ground at the new National Infantry Museum:
Not Safer!
Published on 22 Mar 2009 at 11:15 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under Obama, justice, military.
That’s the word from Obama, who is advancing from arguing with Rush about the economy to arguing with Cheney about the man-caused disasterism formerly known as jihad, but still hasn’t exactly managed to come up a foreign policy or war policy of his own. NYT:
Obama Lied, Contractors Hired
Published on 22 Mar 2009 at 10:22 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, military.
Private security contractor is use up in Afghanistan. I blame Bush! I dunno if it’s his fault, but this AP article sure talks a lot about crimes of the Bush era, while avoiding any accusations of rank hypocrisy, reckless cynicism in the current admin. I suppose it’s a refreshing change from the shrill coverage of presidential/DoD policy matters [...]
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Love & War
Published on 18 Mar 2009 at 8:52 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Afghanistan, Obama, Pakistan, military, pols.
US mulling whether to hit Taliban R&R/support areas in the vicinity of Quetta, Baluchistan, Pakistan proper, where big mullahs have fallen back due to the heat in Waziristan’s tribal areas. via Al Qaeda Early Warning System, aka NYT. Rather than whack NYT for reporting what admin officials are blabbing about, though, it’s more useful to consider what it says [...]
Pay To Play
Published on 16 Mar 2009 at 11:01 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under Obama, military.
No more free care for warmongers. And I thought it was the Bush administration that didn’t give a damn about war-wounded veterans. American Legion strongly opposed to Obama admin’s plan to charge wounded heroes. Push a grateful nation’s debt off on private insurers, employers who hire vets, people who work with them. Turns out he isn’t [...]
Counterinsurgency Primer
Published on 16 Mar 2009 at 9:33 am.
No Comments.
Filed under Australia, GWOT, military.
Max Boot at WSJ on David Kilcullen’s The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One, ranks it among the classics of war.
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Iowa Buzz
Published on 15 Mar 2009 at 10:43 am.
No Comments.
Filed under military, pols.
Because Petraeus has signed on to speak at a commencement there in 2010. Interesting. Sometimes a commencement speech is just a commencement speech. Bully pulpit, though. UK Spectator and Weekly Standard, which notes he’s also going to Princeton. Could be interesting, but it would need to be a lot more than a war candidacy. 2010’s [...]
Crazy …
Published on 11 Mar 2009 at 11:58 pm.
2 Comments.
Filed under media, military, moronocy.
Crazy for repeating this guy’s crap. Crazy … Raw Story with more nonsense from Hersh. If you’ve every attended an event where he is speaking, you know that he blathers, gets excited, essentially makes things up, starts saying all kinds of things that will never see ink. Much like this, for example:
Long War, Petty Battle, Cheap Shots
Published on 9 Mar 2009 at 9:48 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under Afghanistan, Iraq, academia, military.
If the world were a perfect place, I’d advise David Kilcullen at Small Wars Journal not to waste any time or energy responding to the intellectually dishonest Andrew Bacevich’s trashing of Kilcullen’s The Accidental Guerrilla. Not least because lately Bacevich has been incapable of managing a coherent essay, not that that stops people from printing them. But Australian [...]
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Shell Game?
Published on 8 Mar 2009 at 9:25 pm.
No Comments.
Filed under Afghanistan, Iraq, Obama, military.
Mudville thinks the Obama admin is playing one, diverting a Stryker brigade that had been preparing for Iraq to Afghanistan amid much fanfare, and shortly afterward, sending a Stryker brigade to Iraq.
