Sic Semper Tyrannis

Neil Richardson on World War II

 
Walrus: "'We won because we learned the discipline of 20th Century warfare the fastest.' With the greatest respect, the Germans taught you, and you were good students. " I think this is quite a bit of oversimplification. We learned not only from the Germans (mainly the earlier "heavy" version of armored division which proved inflexible as both armies discovered), but also the French (Contrary to popular opinion regarding the efficacy of the French army, they were the US artillery doctrine's early inspiration for TOT and other techniques. Artillery was our strongest branch in the Army during the war. The Heer was at least a generation behind us), and the Brits (USAAF fighter section tactics and early convoy tactics although the USN came up with the Thach Weave on its own).

New Year's Eve - 2010

  

We will see you on the other side.  Thanks to all of you for your generosity this last year.  pl 

"The Secret Section in Israel's U.S. Lobby That Stifles American Debate" Gregory Slabodkin

"During the reign of terror that Senator Joseph McCarthy unleashed in the 1950s, when the reputations and lives of many loyal Americans were ruined by false charges of "communism" and "treason," American Jewry was overwhelmingly opposed to the Wisconsin senator and his blackmail by blacklists. According to the Gallup polls of the time, the percentage of U.S. Jews who opposed McCarthy's smear tactics was twice that of the rest of the population. Many Jewish organizations passed resolutions condemning McCarthy's ruthless character assassination.

Today, however, such national Jewish organizations as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) are using the same tactics to stifle open debate of U.S. policy in the Middle East."  Slabodkin

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An oldie but a goodie.  pl

http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0792/9207007.html

 

"Army edits its history of the deadly battle of Wanat" Greg Jaffe

"The final history, released in recent weeks, drops many of the earlier conclusions and instead focuses on failures of lower-level commanders."  Jaffe

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In other words, the platoon leader, a lieutenant of infantry, is now held to have been largely responsible for what happened to him and his men.  His father, a retired colonel of Army aviation, has every right to be outraged.  I have studied this action to the extent possible.  It seems clear that the wilfully ignorant and incompetent actions and neglects of the officers now relieved of responsibility for the action at Wanat have in fact been rewarded.   Tarnish on the blade.  Tarnish on the blade.  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/28/AR2010122804334.html?hpid=topnews

 

"Evan Kohlmann; ‘the Doogie Howser of terrorism’?" Tom Mills

I have watched this man in court.  It is quite an amazing performance.  The FBI and DoJ (at least some of them) claearly love him.  He has never worked for government except as a consultant, has no real academic background in any relevant field, has no Arabic, has never had a government security clearance and seems to re-cycle his material.  He has never been in the intelligence or police businesses anywhere.  He does library research, period.  The prosecuters refer to him as "Doctor Kohlmann," referring, I suppose, to his JD.  He is an MSNBC terrorism "analyst."

I guess I should not be surprised.  The War on Terror has made for strange bedfellows.  The FBI and DoJ also consder the Russian FSB to be their great allies and dependable sources.  I have seen that process play out as well.  The Russian FSB is the re-cycled KGB "Second Chief Directorate."  They were and are (with many of the same people) the USSR and CPUSSR's chief instrument of the Gulag terror.  They still occupy the old KGB headquarters in the Lubyanka prison.

"Is this a great country or what?" pl

http://www.spinwatch.org/-articles-by-category-mainmenu-8/74-terror-spin/4850-evan-kohlmann-the-doogie-howser-of-terrorism

"War on terror mired in graft as Pentagon billions are probed" The Australian

"A separate US army investigation into protection payments made by some transport companies is continuing. "If shown to be true, it would mean that the United States is unintentionally engaged in a vast protection racket, and as such may be indirectly funding the very insurgents we are trying to fight,""  The Australian

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This is just the tip of the iceberg.  pl 

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/war-on-terror-mired-in-graft-as-pentagon-billions-are-probed/story-e6frg6so-1225977395812

 

"Terror Expert Emerson Feels His Own Heat Over Finances" Forward

"Now, under pressure to introduce more transparency to his tax-exempt charitable organization, Emerson is attempting to explain how and why the Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation avoids revealing much of the information that charities are routinely required to disclose.

Emerson, it turns out, succeeds in veiling his foundation’s data by channeling the tax-deductible funds he raises into a for-profit company that he controls."  Forward

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Steve's associates include people who routinely testify as "experts" in US courts against Muslim Americans.  They are frequently used as consultants by
Department of Justice prosecuters.  pl 

http://forward.com/articles/133244/

 

Whistling past the graveyard....... FB Ali

The graveyard of empires, that is. The Obama administration’s recent review of the Afghan war amounts essentially to little more than that. The bizarre aim of the war, formulated by Obama in 2009, is repeated: dismantling al-Qaeda! This weirdness permeates the whole report. It mentions, almost in passing, the two main pre-requisites for success (eradicating insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan, and establishing half-decent governance in Afghanistan) and then, without coming to grips with them, hurries on to claim all-round “progress” in the war. While this published overview is obviously a (rather futile) PR exercise, there is no evidence that the full review was any more realistic. 

The US has now been fighting this war for nine years, and is prepared to continue it for another four; it presently has some 100,000 US soldiers fighting there at an annual cost of some 100 billion dollars. All in order to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda? Al-Qaeda? In Afghanistan and Pakistan? The ridiculousness of this proposition compelled Joe Biden a few days later to publicly clarify that he, at least, knows that, whatever the danger from AQ, it doesn’t come from this region. 

"Why are we still here?" Jaffe

Earlier this year, Lt. Col. Joseph Ryan concluded that his 800-soldier battalion was locked in an endless war for an irrelevant valley.

"There is nothing strategically important about this terrain," said Ryan, 41, a blunt commander who has spent much of the past decade in combat. "We fight here because the enemy is here. The enemy fights here because we are here."  Jaffe

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"... new strategy for eastern Afghanistan focused limited American resources on those areas where governance, police and economic development efforts have shown promise in recent years.

The Pech Valley wasn't one of those places. Even the Afghan government's commitment to the valley seemed shaky. The police were so poorly equipped that they begged the Americans for blankets. The Afghan army refused to patrol without the Americans.

Senior U.S. officials still have not reached a final decision to leave the valley, though a significant reduction in U.S. forces seems likely.

Ryan envisioned two possible outcomes following a U.S. pullout. In the best-case scenario, army and police forces would be able to hold off the recently bloodied insurgents, retain their bases and figure out how to meld into the insular and tribal valley society. In the worst-case scenario, the Afghan forces would collapse, he said.

"I came in looking for a counterinsurgency victory," Ryan said. "But here, there is no such thing."  Jaffe

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LTC Ryan is described as having spent most of the last decade in combat.  Such experience clarifies the mind.

These two articles tell a grim story.

Waste, corruption and a lack of strategic vision mark these wars.

At the same time troops are all too often committed against campaign objectives that have become self-justifying, proverbial "self licking ice cream cones."  Officers find themselves asked to accomplish goals that reflect the ideology of the COIN disguise now worn by jacobin neocon philosophy.  President Obama evidently accepts such goals as his strategy overseas.  Instead of restricting Amercan military action to the pursuit of our enemies wherever they are found, we appear to be intent on the reformation of various alien societies.

At the same time the US is sinking economically under ever heavier burdens of debt in a world in which we are no longer the principal economic power.

Will Republican victories in Congress and in 2012 improve the situation?  That does not appear to be the case.  The Republicans seem to appeal to jingoistic nationalism even more than do the Democrats.

Is it not obvious that the chimeras of the "existential" threats posed by Islamic fanaticism and miniscule regional powers like North Korea must not be allowed to exhaust the strength of the United States in overseas adventures?  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/26/AR2010122602622.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-honda-afghanistan-20101215,0,3512544.story

 

The Coen Brothers on "The Athenaeum"

A reflection of my film obsession.  pl 

Let the Koreans deal with each other....

"One day, no doubt the North Korean regime will pass into history. But until then, the South Koreans must finally disenthrall themselves from the illusion that other countries will ensure their day-to-day security from attack -- it will not be done by the United States, let alone the United Nations, and certainly not by China."  Edward Luttwak

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Luttwak seems to believe that South Korea should not rely on other countries in ensuring its security from invasion and aggression by North Korea.  As he points out, a false reliance on good will in international relations as a shield against aggression is merely naive and foolish.  I agree.

I would take this message a step farther.  So long as China stays out of any intra-Korean trouble the South Koreans should be able to take care of themselves.  North Korea may collapse messily?  Good, the sooner the better.

If deterrence fails, let South Korea deal with its own fate.  To make that a viable policy, the US should withdraw its remaining forces from the Korean Peninsula.

Happy New Year.  pl

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/12/21/the_guns_of_december

"The Anderson Platoon"

I happened to watch this old film in streaming video on the Netflix website last week. The contrasts in it to the material in the film "Restrepo" are striking.  pl 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anderson_Platoon

 

"Obama the Great - if he does say so himself" Dana Milbank

"It took President Obama fewer than 50 days to go from shellacking to swashbuckling."  Milbank

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I like Milbank's work.  The picture is particularly "cuddly" and does not imply that I take him lightly.  He has a fine eye for nonsense.

Several SSTers with psychological credentials are of the opinion that Obama suffers from some sort of incapacity involving narcissism.  That could be.  I am not qualified to judge except by having worked for several massively narcissistic people who, nevertheless, rewarded me for my work with money, rank and decorations.  Ain't life grand?  But, all good things come to an end.

Even Thaddeus Stevens Matthews, scourge of the South, expressed the thought the other day that the president's triumphal presser was not a good idea.  I watched the press conference.  it looked worrisome to me.  The body language, the haughtiness, the "I am the answer" spirit of the thing were all troubling.

There will be a lot more Republicans in the next Congress.  A lot of them will be confused but earnest tea partyers.  Does he really think that he will be the answer for them as well?  This performance of his will stir up even more Republican resistance to him than might have been the case.

Still, he may well be re-elected.  The Republican possibilities for candidate range from the lunatic to the uninteresting.  There are a few who might make a good president, i.e., one who will do little, but the Left is going to "knee cap" anyone who looks like serious opposition.  Man's (or woman's) nature is such that everyone has a few skeletons in the closet.  Once found they can be used to generate a "crippling" disqualification in the idiot media.  The "discovery" of Haley Barbour's "racism" last week was an example.  He wasn't going to be president anyway, but...

We are going for an exciting ride...  Milbank should start wearing a Victorian coachman's get up.  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/22/AR2010122204868.html

"Maliki's governing style raises questions about future of Iraq's fragile democracy" Washington Post

""He's now more experienced and relaxed," said Askari, the Maliki aide. "In 2006, Iraq was in a very bad situation and the country was on the verge of civil war. Now he's in full control of the security forces and has full political control. He will be more able to do what he likes to do.""  Karen do Young

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Now...  if Sawyer had asked Clapper about this...  That would have been interesting.  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122106870.html

 

"DNI Clapper Looks Stumped by ABC’s Sawyer" - Shear

"Mr. Clapper appeared to know less than even the casual television viewer during an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, the anchor of World News Tonight."  Shear

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Well, hardly anyone is perfect.  He's a process person.  Enough said.  pl 

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/dni-clapper-looks-stumped-by-abcs-sawyer/?partner=rss&emc=rss

 

Embargo on both Fox and MSNBC

After considering the present extreme leftist posture of MSNBC and the extreme rightist posture of Fox News, my wife and I have decided that these networks are banned from our house.  If CNN advocates releasing Pollard they will be banned as well. pl 

Equal Treatment for Women Soldiers

The repeal of DADT logically raises the issue of discriminatory and "separate but equal" treatment for women in the armed forces.  Having repealed DADT on the basis of a need for equality and social leveling the Congress should now be asked to justify why women generally should not be treated with equal justice.

This should be considered in two areas:

1- Limitations on service specialties.  At present the Congress has blocked women from service in the infantry, armor and special forces (MOS group 18). Should it not be the case that women who wish to serve in these specialties should be allowed to do so if they are physically capable?

2- The Department of Defense has announced that its response to the repeal of DADT will include a policy that there will be no separate facilities provided for openly gay service members.  In other words, no separate; living space, shower facilities, latrines (bathrooms), etc.  Since the provision of such separate facilities for women was predicated on the sexual attraction between heterosexual males and females, the open service of male and female homosexuals who are sexually attracted by people of their own sex should call into question the existence of any separate facilities in the military for reasons of gender difference.

The proponents of repeal have argued that military policies with regard to fraternization, assault and public sexual behavior will be sufficient to prevent misbehavior under this change. If this is true then what is the rationale for not expecting the same with regard to heterosexual relationships and facilities in the US military?  pl

No!No! No! to START

"New START would reduce both nuclear giants' long-range deployed warheads to 1,550, from a current ceiling of 2,200. The treaty also would reestablish a system under which U.S. and Russian officials could monitor each other's strategic nuclear arsenals. The U.S. military regards such inspections as crucial to maintaining stability with the world's other nuclear giant."  Washpost

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Senator McConnell has said that the principal focus of the Republican Party must be the defeat of President Obama in 2012.

The JCS, and the Intelligence Community are agreed that there is no "down side" to this new START treaty.

Is there a reasonable way to see Republican opposition to approval of this treaty as other than purely political partisanship?  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/19/AR2010121903794.html

 

Open Thread - Christmas to New Year

I am going to put up several of my Christmas and New Years Posts from years gone by.  pl 

How close are we to this?

"...if two-thirds of the state legislatures demand one, Congress must call for a constitutional convention, which would have the power to propose amendments. As no such convention has been called, it is unclear how one would work in practice. In two instances — reapportionment in the 1960s and a balanced federal budget during the 1970s and 1980s — attempts to use this process have come extremely close to triggering a constitutional convention. The apportionment debate of the 1960s fell only one state short of the required number of states."  Wiki

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The original constitutional convention was called to amend the Articles of Confederation, not to write a completely separate document.  Once in Philadelphia the delegates seized control of the process and without authorization by Congress wrote a document to create a different form of government.  They then submitted this document to the states for ratification, not by the state legislatures, but rather by conventions of delegates elected just for this purpose.  This was a surprising process.  the resulting struggle over ratification was largely determined in the Virginia convention.  Before that happened two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island had voted against ratification.

I understand that a large number of states have passed resolutions calling for a new constitutional convention.  Is this so?  If it is, then I offer the opinion that once called such a constitution would become uncontrollable in its scope. The resulting document would have to be ratified by the states.  pl

http://www.crf-usa.org/america-responds-to-terrorism/do-we-need-a-new-constitutional-convention.html

 

How about this man?

William Howard Taft come again?  "Big Bill Taft?"  Chris Christie would be a dark horse candidate for president in 2012.  Not everyone in New Jersey loves him, but, so what? He seems to have clean coat tails.  He seems to run the government reasonably.  

If he were elected, Washington would work its magic on the man to turn him into the usual zombie driven by special interests, but perhaps for a couple of years we would have a reasonable man governing reasonably.  

What are the alternatives?

More Obama?  Left wing disillusionment may leave him with not much more than his Black base and his ego.  A challenge for the nomination?  Only Clinton could do it and she does not seem interested.

Palin?  She has a reliable but small base in the "know nothing" wing of the GOP.

Romney?  Not enough evangelical Christians will vote for the man and they are unimpressed by political correctness.  Chris Matthews alternately babbles and shrieks about a "religious test" for office.  He does not seem to accept that this principle applies to the government, not to voters.  

Huckabee?  A Baptist preacher from Arkansas who is a TV personality on Fox?  That will sell well on the left and right coasts?

Barbour?  A good man but he knows that his voice is a bar to national office. Yankee prejudice?  You bet, but it is what it is.

Pawlenty?  Who?

OK  Who do you think is a likely candidate?  pl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Christie

 

Holbrooke - Richard Sale

by Richard Sale, author of Clinton’s Secret Wars 

The early Greeks believed that the character of the hero revealed itself primarily in battle.  To pierce the pious fog of sanctimonious adulation surrounding Richard Holbrooke’s unfortunate death, it is best to remember Richard had a fixed, innate pugnacity that sat at the root of his nature.  The clash of mind against mind stirred and exalted his senses.  Because of his superb arsenal of talents, his analytical intellect, the penetrating discernment, the delicacy of his feelings and his moral fearlessness, Holbrooke liked a fight because he believed he was very likely to win it. I think he always had a sense that his brain surpassed or at the very least, equaled those of the people he was confronting.

We wuz right! - Afghanistan

"Journalist Bob Woodward, author of "Obama’s Wars," took note of this fact at a CNAS forum he moderated Wednesday with Barno and Exum. “Joe Biden reads this report and he’s going to say, ‘Hey, this is exactly where I was last year.' "  CSM

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Yeah!  So there!  Biden and me wuz robbed!  We had it right last year.  COIN is cool, just not possible except in a country the size of a playground.  It also helps if you own the playground and do not leave after pacification ends along with recess.

"We" are still listening to CNAS?  The chief of policy in the five sided "Mixmaster" is a former chief-priestess there?  What is Woodward doing?  Mocking them?  Setting up quotes for his book on "how we lost in the kebab wars?"  

It will be tough to end this.  Petraeus knows that his place in history depends on making it seem that he was responsible for success in both places.  As Dr. Brenner points out in this weeks NJ blog, that was not the case in Iraq.  So...  It has to be made true in Afghanistan.

The services have turned themselves inside out trying to become a COIN army. Emotional commitments have been made.  Generals have made their careers on this stuff.  Are they now going to reduce forces and adopt Bidenism?

Is it any surprise that this report on "progress" is what it is?  The Intelligence Community demurs?  How dare they?  Soon it will be said that "only the commander's estimate matters."  I have heard that before.  The "Commander's Estimate" will, in July, in effect, say that we must stay the course because victory beckons.

President Romney, or President Palin or President Huckabee and the Yahoo faction in Congress who will be sworn in there in early 2013 may well wish to "stay the course" rather than follow a more modest course of action.  pl 

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/1216/Pentagon-shifting-Afghanistan-war-strategy-to-shoot-more-bad-guys/(page)/2

 

 

National Journal Blog - 14 December 2010

http://security.nationaljournal.com/2010/12/afghan-review-tipping-point-or.php#1820829

 

 

Cordesman "sobers up" on Afghanistan AND IRAQ.

Holbrooke is dead. Even in great pain he could not avoid schmoozing the surgical team about his diplomatic task and how obsessed with it he was.   This a man who truly let his work kill him.   All you Type A people out there!  Pay Attention!  Nobody is that important or necessary.

Anthony Cordesman should be appointed to replace Holbrooke.  He is equally self important and although he was an enthusiastic cheerleader for the "transformational" neocon goals of the wars of our time, he now professes to see the light of rational limitations on national folly.

He, too, likes the sound of his own voice and will make a suitable "guest" for Farid Zakariya and that Rose fellow.  

Send him, Lord.  pl 

http://csis.org/publication/americas-wars-afghanistan-pakistan-and-iraq

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkpoint-washington/2010/12/holbrookes_final_words_on_the.html

A Few More Thoughts on Restrepo - Silverman

Adam L. Silverman PhD[1][1]

I finally got a chance to see Restrepo two weekends ago.  Shortly thereafter I took the opportunity to speak with a senior colleague who was serving in Afghanistan on the joint staff during part of the time period in which the events in Restrepo took place.  I specifically wanted to ask him about several items that stood out to me.  The first question I asked, of course, was if he’d seen the movie.  He said he had and had also read the book.  In fact he recommended that I, and anyone else who really wants to get a much deeper and more nuanced understanding of what actually occurred in the Korengal over that year should read the book that goes with the film and expands on what is presented on screen. It also provides much more of the history of how the 173^rd got into the Korengal, what its assignments were, and the tactical and operational history of what went on. He also made it clear that to really understand why the video documentary is put together in the way that it is, one really needs to see the interviews that Junger and Hetherington gave explaining why they made the documentary, which was to get as much of the reality of what was actually happening into the faces of those in the US and to try to show just what it is really like for soldiers in Afghanistan.  Several of those interviews can be found at:

Natanyahu Lies Again

 
No?  pl

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-mitchell-i-m-ready-to-discuss-all-essential-mideast-issues-1.330431

"Restrepo" and "Taliban," a contrast

I have given my opinion as to what is to be learned by watching Junger's film:

- egocentric type A officers unable to deal with village elders.

- Poorly built and organized defensive positions.

- inadequate fire and logistical support for Outpost Restrepo.

- An apparent lack of rotation of troops off Restrepo.

- Surprising reactions to combat stress.

People tell me that these airborne infantrymen were not at Restrepo to make friends and influence people and that Green berets were supposed to "pass through" the area to do that for them.  Well, that is not how that works.  You have to live with the "objects of your affection" and become like them as they become more like you. You don't acquire "allies" by sitting on your hilltop, shooting at their valley and then occasionally treating their elders with disrespect.

Now we have this film made by a Norwegian "indie" who ends as I expected by having to convert to Islam to save himself from beheading by AQ "visitors."  This journalist gives us a photographic record of true Afghan Nuristani Taliban as they are, not as the creatures of our nightmares.  These are the very kind of men who are just over the ridge in the next valley in "Restrepo."  These men fight coalition forces because coalition forces are the foreign, alien intruder.  This Norwegian makes his way into their midst to film for a couple of weeks.  He sees and films their lack of serious equipment and training.  He sees the ineffectiveness of their atttacks by fire on vehicles.  He watches them chatter on VHF/UHF hand held radios like "schoolgirls" without any communications discipline at all.  "Hey, Ahmad, how is it going?"  etc.  Such radios are child's play to intercept.  The odd AC-130 shows up to shoot up the general area.  Well, duh!  What took so long?  These men wear wrist watches.  How would they know what time to set on them?  Broadcast radio maybe from Kabul?  Think about it.  i am more used to tribals that one had to teach the concepts of; time, distance and number.  Watches?  A Talib Qadi makes his way to the little camp where he tells that Norwegian that in his Islam the rules are not the same rules as in AQ Islam.  Think about it.

What are we playing at?  The inept battling the incapable?  pl 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/27/rare-taliban-video-reveal_n_696939.html

 

Nawa? How much for how long?

"Many civilian officials who track the war at the White House, the State Department and the CIA remain unconvinced that other parts of Afghanistan will turn around as quickly as Nawa has. They argue that weak local governance, tribal rivalries, inept development projects and incompetent Afghan security forces remain the norm." Washpost

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The question has never been whether or not COIN can work.  Of course it can work. The question is - how much are you willing to pay for success?  pl 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/11/AR2010121103041.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2010121103059

 

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadelupe

"more than 28,000 lives since President Felipe Calderon intensified a crackdown on cartels when he took office in late 2006."  Yahoonews

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Some time ago I made the comment that Mexico is a failed state.  Some objected to that.  Just as a matter of "keeping up" I would like to know if opinion still favors the notion that all is well south of the border.  pl

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lt_drug_war_mexico

 

 

Open Thread - 11 December 2010

Typepad and Paypal still messed up

As of 10 December, 2010.  pl 

Barbie the Caribou Killer

If you have really hunted or even been around firearms a lot this video says it all. This woman, bless her, is no hunter.  She may be a supporter of the idea of hunting but she is not Natty Bumpo with curves.  

By way of credentials, I shot my first white tail at 14 with a .30-.40 Krag carbine that I bought from my grandfather for forty dollars.  My uncle Roger and I followed three deer through scrubby second growth slash and hard bottomed bogs for a couple of miles. The snow helped.  When the deer was down I walked over and shot it in the head with a handgun to finish it off.  Then, I hung my hunting coat on a branch, rolled up my sleeves and got on with the business of gutting the kill.  You start up near the breast bone and open the abdominal cavity to expose the still steaming entrails.  Then you carefully separate the paunch, being careful not to pierce the bladder or intestines.  If you do, you will be anointed with their contents.  If it is a male you cut the genitals off so that the meat is not made more wild in taste after death.  Having done that you carry the carcass out to a road through the brush and swamps.  When you are done you wash the deer blood off with handfuls of snow. Dried deer blood has a flaky, crisp consistency that nothing else has.  There were a lot of other deer after that.  I stopped hunting in my twenties when I could no longer see game animals as anything but food.

I didn't see Palin do any of that after she supposedly shot this confused animal. What I did see was a woman who looked afraid of the rifle and who couldn't hit that Caribou with it.  Her father kept talking to her as though she were a 12 year old who had to be talked into killing Bambi's mommy.  He worked the bolt for her several times to re-load the rifle after she missed clean shots at the deer.  The poor deer, with bullets whizzing around it, wandered around looking to see what the source of the noise might be.  Finally someone shot it in the chest. Did she do it? Maybe.

Now, I don't want you to misunderstand.  It is perfectly all right with me if she doesn't like killing animals.  Actually I would think better of her for that.  What I don't like is phony estrogen loaded woodsiness.  It reminds me of John Kerry with his $5,000 worth of hunting gear.  pl

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/12/7/926348/-RKBA:-Palin,-fake-hunter-

 

National Security Journal Blog - 6 December 2010

 

http://security.nationaljournal.com/2010/12/the-timing-and-impact-of-endin.php#1810377

I put this in the starkest terms to start this discussion.  I will have more to say, but my remark here does not mean that I necessarily think that in all cases gay soldiers can't be "brothers" in the infantry sense of the word.  I do think that this phenomenon would complicate relationships a lot in the way that I believe General Amos meant.  pl

"The Horror over WikiLeaks" Richard Armstrong

"The horror over WikiLeaks, which is being expressed mostly by inept diplomats, is disingenuous in the extreme. The consistent claims that lives are being endangered by the information borders on the hilarious. How many lives have been lost to erroneous, yet secret information that led to our invasion of Iraq? If WikiLeaks had been around in 2003 the public might have been well armed with information to create political resistance to W's folly in the ancient deserts. It is, of course, of equal absurdity to suggest there is no need for clandestine operations. But taxpayers and voters tend to acquire their information after the consequences of secret government endeavors, and, obviously, that is a bit late to be of preventive value." 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/wikileaks-and-the-myth-of_b_791740.html 

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The chattering classes are all up in arms about WikiLeaks as is our government.  It makes sense that the government should be upset and I would be dismayed if it wasn't protective both proactively and retroactively.  What I cannot understand is how the chattering classes, especially those of the conservative bent do not see the hypocrisy of damning WikiLeaks while with full throats they overwhelmingly supported this country foolishly choosing to start two completely unnecessary wars of choice. 

WikiLeaks detractors claim Assange is "threatening national security", "putting lives at risk", "damaging international relations" and "breaking the law". 

Let's be honest about this.  Obviously going to war puts lives at risk especially those of the civilian population in disproportional numbers to military personnel.  Yet, the jingoists saw nothing wrong with war. 

Wasting personnel, weapons systems, materiel and national treasure on military follies can certainly be said to threaten national security.  Yet those on the right and the occasional leftist refuse to admit this. 

Our international relations with our allies have been damaged and we've done a fine job of alienating those that adhere to the largest faith in the world by our actions. 

The release of classified material is definitely illegal however few if any had any problem with pundits, members of the press and the Office of the Vice President outing a CIA agent with No Operational Cover. 

The selective morality of the right and the chattering classes is nothing if not hypocritical.

 

 

 

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Speech is dying in the United States.  It is being strangled one speaker at a time, strangled by those who have no respect or affection for traditional American values and who serve the idea that Brave New Worlds should be constructed on the basis of the superiority of their ideas or minority allegiances.

There are a growing number of people in the country who are willing to express disdain, scorn and dismissiveness toward the views of others solely because they do not agree with them.

Political Correctness rules.  The kind of "Mommyism" that is typified by Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC is now running rampant across the land.  Foreign interests dominate large parts of the political process and the violations of law that accompany that phenomenon are simply ignored by law enforcement because the political masters of the cops have been bought, rented or intimidated.  The media are servants of all of this.  You don't think so?  Look at the people who are "talking heads" now on television.  They are all in one way or another servants of this system.  The army of highly qualified retired ambassadors who spent their lives in the service of the United States in the Middle East are ignored because they cannot be trusted to be altogether pro-Israel in what they say.

The United States is in decline.  Someone mentioned 378 AD as a destination for which we are bound.  I would add 1071 AD to that prophecy.

pl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech

 

Change of mind

I would like to thank Wayne State University for their spineless insult to Helen Thomas. It has stiffened my resolve to continue here so long as I can.  pl

 http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/12/04/helen.thomas.award/

 

"Service Chiefs Tell of Risks to Repeal of Gay Ban" Bumiller

 
"The commandant of the Marine Corps and the chiefs of staff of the Army and Air Force sternly warned a Senate panel this morning about the consequences of allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the armed forces."  Bumiller

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For Casey, Amos and Schwartz to say this much shows just how doubtful they really are.  They certainly do not want to oppose the administration in public.  pl

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/us/politics/04military.html

Restrepo - 2

Having watched "Restrepo" again and having re-read the available material on the operations of 2/503 PIR as part of 173rd Airborne Brigade in the Korengal Valley of Kunar Province of Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008 my conclusion is that the letters of reprimand given to the commanders of 173rd Airborne Brigade, 2/503 battalion (LTC Ostlund) and 2/503 C company in connection with the action at Wanat were deserved.  (see my earlier posts on the battle of Wanat) 

Furthermore, the level of leadership and planning displayed in the operations of B 2/503 as reflected in the "Restrepo" film are unimpressive.  Neither LTC Ostlund, (the battalion CO) nor (then) Captain Kearney (B Company) seem to have been able to comprehend the need to maintain firm but respectful relations with village elders and tribesmen in the AOR.  Both Ostlund and Kearney are shown in the film in interactions with these people.  In these settings they are aggressively confrontational, disrespectful in speech and posture and unwilling to really listen to the other side or understand what they are saying.  The incident involving the death of a farmer's cow at Restrepo is representative.  When approached by elders with a request for compensation, the battalion or brigade command refused payment in specie and instead offered to pay in mess hall supplies.  This is inherently unfair since the cow was a capital good for the farmer and the food supplies were consumer goods.  At other points in the film Captain Kearney decides during operations to employ tactical air against buildings likely to house family members of local farmers.  As a result several children and villagers are killed or wounded. Kearney is seen in the film saying that he needs to learn to do this better.  He was correct.

The general impression given by this film is that the officers of these paratroops were particularly inept in the command tone that they imparted to relations with the villagers in the Konergal Valley.  LTC Ostlund was quoted in the news reporting about Wanat as saying that he was puzzled by the villagers and determined to impose his will on them and make them faithful supporters of the Kabul government. This attitude imparted to his command (2/503) in both the Wanat and Restrepo situations probably contributed to the continuing willingness of the villagers to participate in combat operations against 2/503.

There are, in fact, some curiously and sadly humorous moments in the "Restrepo" film.  Captain Kearney's "high school" locker room pep talk to his men represents a particular low in the display of troop leading skills.

I could continue on such "issues" as the inadequately dug in position at OP Restrepo. One of the NCOs on the position actually says in the film that the locals could over run them at any time.  How often were these particular men rotated off Restrepo for rest?  After a while they started to act more than a little squirrelly up there. What were the available all weather fires for close in defense of this position? etc.

I will welcome corrections of fact but not interpretation about all this.

We lost in the Konergal Valley?  This should not be a surprise.  LTC Ostlund and his officers were not of the Major Jim Gant variety.  Too bad.  pl 

The Grocer and Alice’s Cat - FB Ali

It was the dawn of 2010, and the ISI had a problem: Pakistan’s spy agency was losing control over some of its Taliban proteges. The previous year the British and some Europeans, wearying of the unending war, had prevailed upon the UN representative in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, to get peace negotiations started between the Karzai government and the Taliban. With the assistance of the Saudis, Eide arranged some meetings with a few former Taliban leaders and also involved some Afghan officials. These didn’t bother the ISI; what was getting them worried now were reports that the Taliban’s No. 2 man, and operational commander, Mullah Baradar, was involved in these talks. 

DADT Post closed

Having become weary of self serving comments from gay advocates I have closed comments on that post.   I appeal to all those offended by my views on this subject to stop coming here and tell your friends to stop coming here.  If enough of you do that I will be able to close SST.  i have other things to do.  pl