We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:01:29 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Quoting LTG Odierno from this article from DefenseLink detailing events in operations connected to the Surge. "Since January 15, U.S. service members have conducted 98 battalion-level operations, Odierno said. The troops neutralized six car-bomb factories and dismantled four improvised-explosive-device cells. Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed 837 insurgents and terrorists and wounded 180. " Well and good, but what else is going on? Humanitarian progress also continues throughout Iraq, officials said. The military has partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development to produce 32,000 jobs in the country. The goal is to create 40,000 jobs before the end of... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html Sun, 03 Jun 2007 10:21:18 -0600 Umm, I mean Naval gunfire forward observer. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60713 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60713 Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:39:06 -0600 Which reminds me of a story. My former next-door neighbor Bill French jumped into Normandy on June 6, 1944, and on the fiftieth anniversary shared some accounts with us. He still had the actual maps he jumped with (he was an artillery forward observer) and showed them to us. He also had some actual photographs of stacks of dead German soldiers. They didn't look too bad for dead soldiers, being mostly intact, but I swear that every single one of those guys had rather long hair slicked back with something oily. People have pointed out a similar discrepancy in "Saving Private Ryan", in that the Steamboat Willy character's hair was too short. Americans wore short hair then and there, not Germans. P.s. I asked him how he got those photos, as I thought private picture-taking was prohibited. He said, "We cheated." http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60712 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60712 Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:28:12 -0600 Ah, yeah, the haircuts. I do wish they'd decide on haircuts long enough to need a comb but too short for the enemy to grab one by the hair. Unless shorter ones are actually necessary, as in matters of head lice, and typhus etc. Hell, I think the local deppities should be allowed to grow hair long enough to grab, as long as they grease it up good with Brylcreem or equivalent. Bryl-Creem, A little dab'll do ya. Use more, Only if you dare. But watch out, The girls'll all pursue ya, They love to run their fingers through yer hair. And can't get a grip. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60711 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60711 Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:00:08 -0600 Yeah, he and I both pound our helmets on... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60706 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60706 Sun, 03 Jun 2007 21:49:24 -0600 Having worked with Ray very closely in an Operation That Shall Not Be Named, I can assure you he doesn't believe hope is a method. ...and he still thinks hair is a vastly oveerrated male accessory, judging from his appearance, that hasn't changed appreciably since 1999. He does, however, *look* bigger, if that's possible... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60700 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/06/while_hope_is_m.html#comment-60700 Sun, 03 Jun 2007 20:31:56 -0600