Time to add a new caveat, because from email it's not clear to some folks (mind you, if you don't read this it won't matter...) Being an open post, people (collectively, the Denizens) other than I post in the H&I. They sign their work (most of the time) - keep that in mind when you want to flame someone in email please - if it doesn't say "The Armorer" or "John" then I didn't write it! And honestly - if you don't like something said or posted... leave a comment, and hash it out (within the context of The Rulez which are clearly posted on the comment form, I would add).

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As Trias noted in a comment to yesterday's H&I Fires... a harbinger of things to come around here, too, I'm thinking.

Well the Australian election is over and the incumbents 'Liberal' (the conservatives) have lost to 'Labour'. Though this has little significance outside Australia it will mean a withdrawal of Australian combat support in Iraq though perhaps not Afghanistan. The Australian military will probably still be present in Iraq but in training and other support roles.

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Cannoneer Number 4 wants some input on reconstituting the United States Information Agency. I have thoughts on this... but since they relate to potential work, that's all I'm going to say about it for the nonce.

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Heh. From Robert Novak:

WASHINGTON -- After Congress recessed for Thanksgiving with urgent unfinished business that included facilitating income tax refunds and providing veterans benefits, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid left on an eight-day government-financed trip through Latin America.

I'm almost surprised he didn't drop in on fellow Bush-Hater Hugo Chavez, but I don't think Mr. Reid is that far 'round the bend.

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Dick Morris is concerned about just what is going on in President Bush's head regarding the Clintons. Me, I'm thinking mebbe he's just giving honest answers, if politically awkward. No point in denying what is a truth - Mrs. Clinton *does* have experience under pressure. The point I take from that is how much of that pressure is of her own (or her husband's) doings and dealings. We should give her a rest from all that pressure, poor woman, and retire her. Just a thought... -the Armorer

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I found these two events interesting. First, James Yee, the Muslim Chaplain that was caught leaving Guantanamo with sensitive information on his laptop and eventually had all the charges dropped, shows up in Syria on Syrian TV providing propaganda for Syria and AQ. During the original investigation, one of the things that got him in trouble was his one way ticket to Syria to see his "fiance'. With all that info on his hard drive. Not long after his Syrian TV appearance, the SOP manual for Gitmo shows up on the internet. [H/T Small Wars]

Coincidence? Did Yee's ordeal turn him into a turncoat or did the Air Force have him pegged from the beginning? Did we botch the investigation and let a spy go?

Ukraine prepares to put a finger in Russia's eye by commemorating the Great Famine orchestrated by Stalin.

Turkey Day in Tikrit: Thanks for the Support

Thank you for your support from Afghanistan Yellow Hammering also reports on Thanks Giving in Afghanistan: Humanitarian aid to refugees and KP Duty. - Kat

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The depth of the terrorists' depravity hardly seems news anymore... but a bomb packed with ball-bearings and detonated in a pet market puts things once again in stark relief. And this one had Iran's fingerprints all over it.

Another Where's MEGEN for you. This one is a doozy! - FbL

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Soldier Stays in Iraq Despite Injuries

China refused port to USS Kittyhawk in Hong Kong for Thanks Giving. Families who flew in to see their sailors disappointed. -Kat

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 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"