Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.
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Barnett tackles the ‘bare branch’ phenomenon as a cause for war hypothesis. I’m embarrassed that I gave this theory any real consideration when I heard about it three years ago. It really is one of the silliest reasons to worry about a possible conflict with China. (Hangs head in shame.)
Since I’m on the PRC front, this shows a real lack of understanding of trade and Mahan Theory, and the tyranny of distance by doing some really flawed cannon counting.
We could cut all our military forces in half and still have an overwhelming advantage over China in any military contest outside of its borders or on the sea.
--ry
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Sarge B is feeling all nostalgic an'
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Ted Koppel strays off the reservation. He thinks there actually *is* a war going on, despite wishful thinking otherwise. Good on him. Reasonable people can disagree on how to wage it, but it's good to see a long-time MSM'er, even if retired, talking reasonably about what's going on - and avoiding BDS. -the Armorer
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My friend Matt of Overtaken by Events decides to take a walk on the wild side. Namely a Anti-War Protest in Arkansasreplete with Cow Bells... Complete with pictures, Matt gives a great and graphical representation of folks. Unlike many protests, this one was not only civil, and remarkably peaceful, they weren't exactly representing the folks you'd think! Fellow Arkie bloggerRita gets involved as well
My favorite quote?
"....a minor cautionary note to Democrats. These people don't like you. You rank about a step and a half above the GOP, and somewhat below dental plaque. The people I talked to think you're opportunistic, insincere and mostly corrupted by the world in which you live. Yes, you'll almost certainly get their vote when it comes down to it, but it's probably worth noting...."
-BloodSpite
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AAR Soldiers' Angels Snake Saturday: We Did It! We won 10th place (which came with a nice prize) in the Snake Saturday parade. It was the best experience ever! 150,000 people were screaming out their support for our men and women when I told them that we were video taping a message to send to our troops. Read the story here and see some pictures. Video to follow.
-Kat
[special for the denizens...last photo - spot the denizen]
LT Gen. Kiley Retires (Rather than get the boot in the behind minus a star - too bad, because he represented the worst of both worlds: surgeons who think they are G_d and military officers who think their $%^& doesn't stink).
Adios. See ya.
Though I do have a suggestion for LT Gen. Kiley to fill up his retirement days, instead of golf, why don't you go volunteer at WR as a patient advocate?
-Kat
*A term of art from the artillery. Harassment and Interdiction Fires.
Back in the day, when you could just kill people and break things without a note from a lawyer, they were pre-planned, but to the enemy, random, fires at known gathering points, road junctions, Main Supply Routes, assembly areas, etc - to keep the bad guy nervous that the world around him might start exploding at any minute.
Not really relevant to today's operating environment, right? But, it *is*
The UAVs (oops, can't call 'em UAVs anymore - they're now Unmanned Aerial Systems... some Colonel got his Legion of Merit for that change...), er, um UAS's we fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for targets of opportunity are a form of H&I fires, if you really want to parse it finely. We just have better sensors and fire control now.
I call the post that because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to. It's also an open trackback, so if (Don Surber uses it this way a lot) someone has a post they're proud of, but it really isn't either Castle kind of stuff, or topical to a particular post, I've basically given blanket permission to use that post for that purpose. Another term of art that might be appropriate is "Free Fire Zone".
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