Comments for Stuff caught by the H&I fireplan today...

Stuff caught by the H&I fireplan today...

2005-12-20T12:21:11Z

...some being targets from yesterday. Which happens. Sometimes target intel is slow...

First up - *still* providing earthquake relief in Pakistan.

U.S. service members prepare to externally load humanitarian relief supplies onto a CH-47D Chinook helicopter at Muzaffarabad, Pakistan on December 17, 2005. The United States military is participating in humanitarian assistance operations, Operation Lifeline, in support of Pakistani-led relief efforts to bring aid to victims of the devastating earthquake that struck the region October 8, 2005. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Barry Loo)

Just sayin'.

Boudicca thought you Airpower Types might be interested in this view of the latest version of the F-16, the F-16I, which might be in the news, should Israel decide to act, for better or worse, on their concerns about the Iranian attempts to build the Islamic Bomb.

Bob at Confederate Yankee and Jay over at Stop The ACLU have a look at different sides of essentially the same story. Me, I don't know that the FISA thing will have traction or not. But I never thought Clinton would get impeached, either. I don't know enough to have an informed opinion, so, uncharacteristically, I'll keep mine to myself.

For news from those of us in the mushy middle (as perceived from the bi-polarites) the latest edition of RINO Sightings is available here, courtesy of Kesher Talk.

Damian Brooks points us to this post by Andrew at Bound By Gravity - about "American Patriots, Canadian Warriors." While I was aware of Americans enlisting in Commonwealth Forces during the early part of WWII (The Eagle Squadrons of the RAF, as an example - the sheer number in Canadian service had escaped me. Interesting aside here... Alan of GenX@40 has mildly snarked that in the two big wars of the last century, Americans came late to the fights, even after the threat was obvious. So, here we are, trying to come early, and Alan snarks. There's no satisfying some people. Just noting...

CAPT H. sends us this - the efforts of a Canadian to mine Google Earth for... Canadian Fortifications. I will admit to doing this on the US side. Sadly, some of our more interesting structures are not yet in the hi-res areas.

Other things historical that caught a target tic today...

1915 Russian troops capture Qom, Persia (Note - this is the *best* route into Iran, with another being through Turkey. If we ever invade, and try to do it via the Gulf, or Iraq... it will be a long, dangerous journey to get to Tehran. If it comes down to that - I hope there are more players in the game.

1917 Soviet secret police - the Cheka, NKVD, KGB, etc. - formed
1924 Adolf Hitler freed from jail early - D-oh!
1933 Bolivia & Paraguay sign ceasefire in Chaco War. Great Mauser Rifles from that era *are* available...
1944 Battle of Bastogne: 101st Airborne division surrounded - read about that... here!
1989 Operation Just Cause begins: US troops invade Panama. A Banana War I missed.

See the Flash Traffic/Extended Entry for targets from yesterday that went unserviced and were revalidated for today's target list. (Ooooo, Army-talk!)

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1777 Washington's army takes up winter quarters at Valley Forge
1941 Congress authorizes the President to draft men up to 44 years of age. Hey! We're doing this one with Volunteers!
1941 Italian divers sink battleships Queen Elizabeth & Valiant in
Alexandria - and let's let the Italians tell their story!
1944 Lt Jerry Ford decorated for battling fires aboard USS Monterey - hmmm, we could have had a King as President...

Comment from Bou on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T20:26:51Z

Thank you for the link, although it was not necessary! You know, I'll forward you all that I have when I receive it. It's been rather dry as of late.

Comment from SGT Jeff (IRR) on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T17:28:27Z

JimB - the question is not if Greece would help... the questions is _who_ would Greece help. Realistically, I suspect that at the very least Greece would allow us basing. What's that called? NATO Article V?

Comment from SGT Jeff (IRR) on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T17:25:07Z

I was thinking that those conformal fuel tanks made the -16I look oddly... F/A-18ish.

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T17:25:03Z

Putting boots on the ground in Iran would be counterproductive--the mullahcracy will scream "Crusader invasion" and the same flagellants who flocked to become pasdaran will rally 'round the Jihad Banner. Between the anti-Great Satan blurbs, the periodic crackdowns on wearers of sinful (i.e., Western) clothing and the recent farce masquerading as an election, the Iranians have pretty well had it with their rulers. Our best bet to keep the Persian pot simmering until it boils over is through the quiet, judicious application of designer jeans and cheap laptops, with the occasional bribe --ooops!-- "incentive payment" passed to the loyal opposition. It'll take a few years, but the mad mullahs will be so frustrated at seeing their pronouncements ignored (and power eroding), they'll eventually toss the repress-the-populace card on the table. Then we blanket Teheran and Qom with Tom Paine's stuff, suitably edited and translated into Farsi. Along with directions on where to find the cache of AKs...

Comment from UtahMan on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T17:19:39Z

Pprojection? Ppppp-please. (Ah, the glories of the computer - magnifying your ability to make mistakes by at least a couple of orders of magnitude.) As regards Iran - my chief worry is that we won't have any control over the timetable. The Israelis have to be getting pretty twitchy of late - with Iran's president both denying the Holocaust and sympathizing with it, I am. The fact that they want a nuke, and are close to getting one, will force Israel's hand. And we're in between it all. With our troops in Iraq (and our commitment to Iraqis), we have a stake in how this plays out, and unfortunately we have to be a factor in its resolution. We can't stand on the sidelines like we were able to when the Israelis took out Osirak.

Comment from jim b on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T17:15:21Z

Speaking of Russia as a potential problem, if Russia attacked Turkey from behind would Greece help?

Comment from UtahMan on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T16:58:08Z

Thanks, Bill. Coulda done without that visual. F-16I - is it just me, or does it look like an F-16 with mumps? The extra legs will be well worth it, though. The Israelis have plenty of planes for close-in air-to-air - my hunch is these planes are for power pprojection, for when they want to reach out and touch someone (with a 1000-lb bomb).

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T16:32:49Z

Right, Lex. You can never say too much about parasite drag... *conjuring a horrible visual of tapeworms in little, teensy taffeta gowns*

Comment from kat-missouri on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T16:29:08Z

I'm afraid we won't be getting any assist from Russia on Iran and if we try to stage a large invasion force in the stans I'm thinking that Russia is more likely to intervene on behalf of the Iranians (how timely since I just posted on this subject in rather long, lengthy prose as I am want to do; but I believe I covered all the bases). If we go to it with Iran, I have a feeling we will be bombing the holy mother of mullahs out of it for a very long time While we do blockade in the straits of Hormuz, cut their oil, natural gas, import and export lines in Iraq and Afghanistan and the other stans, freeze all assets, thus performing siege warfare on the largest fortress ever. Being prepared of course with the largest oil reserve known to man since every OPEC (that includes Venezuela who will be too happy to make our lives miserable) country will cut us off and so will Russia. Don't forget that China, who is a major trading partner and gets a nice chunk of their measely oil from there, will be equally pissed off. The only way it happens is that the preside, Ahmanidiot, represses people so far down that they are only to happy to take our money and arms and help from some black op folks, (along with money to get the military to change sides and us flying cover to keep the air force down) and they over throw these a-holes. Then again, maybe we could amass the largest amphibion force ever seen and go right through their only port, while we drop tons of airborne, tanks and artillary behind the lines taking major casualties. That's if or after we amass tons of missiles and tomahawks.

Comment from lex on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T16:24:29Z

Because that was such a goram worthy comment, I just felt like I had to post it twice. Plumber.

Comment from lex on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T16:20:56Z

re: F-16I - conformal fuel tanks, ugh. That's going to cost them a few degrees per second in turn rate, I should think, not to mention the increased parasitic drag component. Guess that's what you have to do though when you can't park USAF tankers ever couple hundred miles. But the rest of that gear is pretty good swag. Guess it focuses the attention of the engineers marvelously to realized that the country may very well need that stuff.

Comment from lex on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T16:20:30Z

Comment from Barb on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T16:13:40Z

ROFL ... What a 'who-oot' ;-)

Comment from cw4(ret)billt on 2005-12-20

2005-12-20T14:21:29Z

During the '60s, some Canadians decided it might be nice to repay America for the unofficial assist in WWII. Quite a few joined the US Army, volunteered for flight school and fought in Vietnam, mostly with units in the Delta, but I know of at least three who flew in I Corps. One of my tentmates in Can Tho introduced me to Canadian rockers... *overture to Tommy blasting from reel-to-reel hooked up to world's largest stereo system* Me: "Nice mix. What's the band?" Greg: "Who." Me: "The band." Greg: "Who." Me: "The band--what's their name?" Greg [starting to grin]: "Who." Me [getting frustrated]: "The band! What's the band?" Greg: "Who!" Me: "What's the name of the band?" Greg: "WHO!" Me [finally adding two plus two]: "Well then, where's What?" Greg: "Second base."