Iraq and Syria diary - 27 June 2014

  

"Jets from Russia and Belarus will hopefully make a key difference in the fight against ISIS in Iraq, the country’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said. He expressed regrets over Iraq's contract with the US, saying their jets are taking too long to arrive.

"God willing within one week this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he toldBBC Arabic.

Meanwhile, Maliki criticized the process of purchasing US jets as “long-winded,” adding that the radicals could have been repelled if Iraq had proper air defense."  RT

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"... could have been repelled if Iraq had proper air defense."  Really?  How?   This is magical thinking.  Contrary to delusions created by advocates of air power, you must have; staff planning capacity,  sound maintenance and actual targeting to make air power effective against ground forces or any other forces.  

Who is going to fly these jets?  Russians, Belorussians, Iranians?  The Mahdi's Army?  Who is going to do the maintenance, run the supply chain and do the targeting?  Who?

The rebel coalition is also seeking to arm itself with captured aircraft, mainly helicopters.  they have several advantages in this process.  1- A lot of the helicopters are of Russian manufacture.  The old Iraqi army men who make up the real military capability of the rebel coalition include a lot of helicopter pilots and mechanics.  2- the airbases north of Baghadad are treasures filled with spare prts and ordnance.  3 - It's a lot easier to vector helicopters in CAS than to target fast movers (jet fighters).

http://rt.com/news/168744-russia-jets-iraq-maliki/

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 "Kent Conrad’s phone hasn’t been ringing very much over the past few weeks, as Iraq, and the debate over America's future in the country, has once again dominated the news.

The architects of the Iraq war are back in TV studios and on op-ed pages, as are journalists and pundits who promoted the Bush administration’s ultimately bogus case for invading. But Conrad, a former senator who was one of only 23 to vote against authorizing the war in October 2002, hasn’t heard from CNN, MSNBC or any other TV outlet. "Not once," he said, when asked if anyone in the press had reached out regarding the current crisis in Iraq.  Huff Post

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I have been called several times in the last week and have declined.  So this is not "sour grapes."  I prefer to leave the whoring after network money to those who desire it and who have been well briefed by the US government.  The same guys were on the TV payrolls and the briefing list in 2003.  Major exceptions to this blanket condemnation are; Jack Jacobs and Andrew Bacevich.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/27/iraq-war-critics-tv-bookers_n_5534549.html

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 "The Obama administration has proposed escalating US involvement in the Syrian civil war, asking Congress for $500m for the US military to train and equip "moderate" Syrian rebels.

The request to Congress on Thursday, heralded by Barack Obama's vow, made during a speech at West Point military academy, to step up assistance to a beleaguered Syrian force, comes as the administration searches for effective alternatives to the jihadist army that has carved out massive swaths of Syria and Iraq for an Islamic state."  The Guardian

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Why?  Why?  The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is one of the smaller and weaker elements in the galaxy of anti Syrian government forces. They have had their asses kicked by the SAG, al-Nusra and ISIS.  They will continue to have their asses kicked.  The SAG' armed forces have become a much stronger force and the notion that the FSA will somehow be transformed into the winners of  the Syrian jug f--k is amusing.

Bashar Assad wants to be taken in from the cold, just as Qathafi wanted the same thing.  

From the time we relented about Qathafi until we chose to get rid of him, Qathafi was not a problem for the US.  Why will we not listen to the Syrian government?  pl  

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/26/obama-seeking-500m-training-moderate-syrian-rebels

Comments

[Ryan]

robt,

That'an astute observation on your part.

Highlander,

I think you could make a case. It took the other idiots and moral traitors years to do their damage.

[Ryan]

Highlander,

Boots on the ground. Keane wants to use the 300 SOC troops. That is probably for starters, he was vague on this point.

I wonder how they determined the number "300"? These folks do engage in a lot of symbolism.

[Matthew]

Fred: I'm not offended we're spying on Maliki; I'm amused that we're offended that he doesn't want us doing it.

[turcopolier]

Ryan

"the 300?" As in "Stranger passing by, go tell the Spartans that here obedient to their law we lie." Well, we sure as hell aren't Spartans. The best use of this epitaph was in a Burt Lancaster movie about early VN. pl

[David Habakkuk]

Colonel Lang,

Certainly ‘300’ is an interesting number.

Of course, Thermopylae is the most obvious association.

However, for an Englishman who recalls a long-ago war in the Crimea, there is a poem by Tennyson which comes to mind. His account of the charge of the Light Brigade I always found appalling – a covering up of abysmal incompetence.

But then, there is a lesser known piece of verse, about the charge of the Heavy Brigade, which I loved as a boy:

“The charge of the gallant three hundred, the Heavy Brigade!
Down the hill, down the hill, thousands of Russians,
Thousands of horsemen, drew to the valley – and stay’d;
For Scarlett and Scarlett’s three hundred were riding by
When the points of the Russian lances arose in the sky;
And he call’d, ‘Left wheel into line!’ and they wheel’d and obey’d.
Then he look’d at the host that had halted he knew not why,
And he turn’d half round, and he bade his trumpeter sound
To the charge, and he rode on ahead, as he waved his blade
To the gallant three hundred whose glory will never die –
‘Follow,’ and up the hill, up the hill, up the hill,
Follow’d the Heavy Brigade.”

(See http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/atennyson/bl-aten-chargeheavy.htm .)

But this has a paradoxical result. The foul-mouthed Bullingdon boy, Sikorski, might have thought he could smuggle Ukraine into NATO by the back door. But if he had understood a little more about British culture than you learn from associating with corrupt old Etonians, he might have understood the egregiousness of his error.

It is precisely because the charge of the Heavy Brigade still resonates for some of us, that we what can grasp that the notion that Sevastopol might become a NATO base would be one that any Russian who had any claim to self-respect would never accept.

[optimax]

Col.

I thought "Go Tell the Spartans" was an excellent movie. I always wonder if the computer generated color coding that was supposed to predict enemy attacks was based in reality.

[Ryan]

Yes, colonel.

You caught the drift of my meaning.

Some of the tv military analysts have said these troops are going to be deployed in 14 man detachments. That means 14 detachments with six men left over as a command group, I suppose.

I can't help to wonder how they derived this number. It seems too much of a coincidence to me.

I recall seeing that movie years ago. Perhaps I'll see if I can find it to see again.

David,

I enjoyed the poem about the British 300.

[turcopolier]

optimax

Yes. A fine film. Lancaster plays the much passed over WW2 veteran major to perfection. I had forgotten the color-coded thing. In that war there was a great deal of emphasis on understanding the COIN situation. To that end there were wonky "labs" set up in the states and over there that attempted to systematize the unsystematizable. That is the point of the movie. There were all kind of odd schemes tried on. That is what makes the madcap effort to statiscally analyze Montagnard poop so funny in Farrell's "The major won the Croix de Guerre." At one point in this film the major recounts to his comrades how he became so massively and repeatedly passed over for promotion after a "hot run" in WW2. He says he was a junior aide de camp to POTUS and accompanied the boss to a mess dress sort of party at the French Embassy. At one point in the evening he found himself out in the gazebo where the ambassador's wife decided that her state of mind required her to kneel and reverence his soldierly manhood. While she was so engaged, the major looked up and beheld POTUS and the ambassador standing in the door of the gazebo. The major's comrades asked what he did then. He says, "I did the only thing I could. I saluted." pl

[Highlander]

Colonel,

You must have had some interactions or close knowledge of John Paul Vann, what was your opinion of the man?

[Highlander]

I knew a lot of passed over Majors in the Corps. Some were damn fine Marines,and some were early stage alcoholics. I would probably have ended up being passed over and alcoholic if I had hung around.

Lancaster played the role to perfection. He was a damn fine actor. I miss his acting.

Today,Hollywood wouldn't hire him,he would be much too manly for their taste.

[turcopolier]

Highlander

Amen. I have many known such majors myself, The drinking never seemed to interfere with the soldiering.

Vann? I knew him well in 1968-69. He would have been yet another pathetic failure but he filled the massive hole in his heart with the Vietnamese people. He had miraculously risen from the ranks after a terrible childhood, but his basic lack of education blocked advancement beyond LTC. He retired and devoted his life to the Vietnamese. He said to me once, "You don't love these people do you?" I did not. I was just there to fight. pl

[Ryan]

Opps. 21 detachments.

[Highlander]

What of his career in Vietnam after the army. Did he truly serve a purpose and accomplish anything worth while? I gather,he was pretty prominent in places like II Corps right up to his death.

I always resented a MSM turd like Sheehan, for using a dead warrior's memory(conveniently,a warrior who could no longer defend himself)to write a book for fun,and profit. And to liberate American liberals from the guilt,their little Asian war escapade caused them.

[alba etie]

Highlander
Amen .

[turcopolier]

highlander

he was always a fighter. He ran II Corps CORDS like it was a combat command. In may of 1968 I was in the process of establishing Detachment A, 3rd Bn, 525th MI Group in Binh Long and Phuoc Long provinces on the border north of Saigon. I needed cover positions for my people. I went to see Vann. He had a lot of empty positions. We agreed that my men would fill is positions; Education adviser, refugee officer, etc. They would do my work at night and his in the daytime. They were so good at it that he tried to hire these college graduate draftees when their army service was up. Vann and I spent a lot of time together making this work. He was a contract civilian by then. we disagreed a lot but he could take my yelling at him and vice versa. He was a hero of the American people and deserved better than he got. It was better that he died before defeat. pl

[Highlander]

Personally,it makes me feel a little better, that he felt the fates had unfairly been kinder to you.

[turcopolier]

highlander

He is such an inconsequential jerk that it matters not. pl

[Ryan]

Interesting observations by you two about Sheehan and John Paul Vann.

I've not only read "A Bright and Shining Lie", I own that damn book. Sheehan notwithstanding, I was able to read between the lines to see that Vann was a fine soldier.

What he did during Tet 72 was impressive.

[optimax]

Colonel, Highlander

Another good Lancaster movie is "Ulzana's Raid." If you haven't seen it it's worth checking out. He plays a crusty old Calvary scout in the Apache wars.