H&I Fires* 10 DEC 2007

December 10, 2007 | | Comments (8)

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.

You're advertising here, we should get an ad at your place...

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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For your reading pleasure today, a heavy dose of anti-media fascism and right-wing attacks on Democrats... *wink*

Uncle Jimbo has an exclusive tip and a must-read at Pajamas Media, confirming what milbloggers and warfighters have long known about certain "stringers" in Iraq (my thoughts here).

And as long as we're on the subject of terrorist PSYOP, it looks like ABC got caught up in an operation.

On the subject of Democrats... Part of the reason they've accomplished so little (for better or worse) is that most days they don't have a majority in Congress.

Politics is a nasty business, though today it seems to involve an astonishing level of historical revisionism. But why should we worry? As Lex says, "Nothing personal, George." I mean, it's not like it involves national security or anything... - FbL

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Every once in awhile, the decisions by juries just confuse the heck out of me. Up in Canada, a pig farmer was arrested, charged with killing 26 women, cutting up their bodies and feeding them to the pigs or otherwise disposing of them. The prosecutor goes for first degree murder. The jury refuses to convict on first degree murder charges and, instead, convicts him of second degree murder. The difference in charges? First degree implies premeditation of the act. Second degree implies an act of the moment, not premeditation.

One might believe that the first murder was not planned out, however, it is a long stretch of the imagination to believe the guy did not plan and execute another 25 murders. The continual pattern of abduction, torture, murder and disposal of the bodies might be a dead give away. No pun intended. The families of the victims were naturally shocked by the verdicts.

If you missed this over night shocker, the EU says it will assume responsibility for policing Kosovo from the United Nations. Call me a partisan Republican hack, but this can only be possible due to the hard work of the current administrations State Department. Something even good ol' Billy Bob couldn't pull off. Of course, that also means that additional troops will be freed up for rotation to other places.

Oh, and, thus, concludes our open ended commitment to a "war without end". Amen
-Kat

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{Cursing under my breath as I re-post this]

Allow me to take the time to thank FuzzyB for putting up the H&I's yesterday and today!

Here's a fascinating bit of history recently come to light. Click the pic to get the story of "White 23."

White 23 - welcome home, Lieutenant Baranovsky, and your mount.

Welcome home, Lieutenant Baranovsky - and your mount. Hat tip - Dan H. -the Armorer

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[oops!]

On another note, Sadr Militia "cleaning house". You have to decide for yourself it that's "good" or "bad" sign. They say they are trying to get rid of the "Iranian" influences (you know, the ones Sadr invited in to his clique in 2004). Sounds like he might also be dumping the mobsters a la Gotti and the NY Mafia. Just keep that in mind when they report some unknown dead bodies around Iraq. Their's a gang war going on there. -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 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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8 Comments

By fdcol63 on December 10, 2007 12:48 PM
kat, I don't know. The EU's decision about taking over in Kosovo is probably more motivated by their need for a good excuse to withdraw from Afghanistan now that real fighting is erupting there again as Iraq stabilizes and AQ redirects its forces and efforts to de-stabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan.
 
By kat-missouri on December 10, 2007 1:02 PM
Either way, frees up a few thousand of our forces. Particularly those that now have a ton of experience doing Civ Affairs. Good either way I think.
 
By Damian on December 10, 2007 1:09 PM
Kat, a couple of points about the "pig farmer" trial. First, this initial trial was only for six of the women killed - the remainder will follow in a separate trial or trials. Second, there was some question as to Pickton's mental capacity. I'd suggest that second-degree murder is a decent verdict, given the fact that he'll be sentenced for at least six of those, rather than being given a pass on psychological grounds. Here were the questions the jury was to ponder (as reported by the CBC):
With each count, jurors must start with the first question and if they say yes to it, move on to the next, proceeding down the list in the same fashion. For Pickton to be convicted of a charge of first-degree murder, the jury must say yes to all five questions. The questions are: 1. Is the victim dead, and was the victim killed by means of an unlawful act? 2. Was the victim killed at the time and place listed? 3. Is Pickton the person who killed the victim? 4. Did Pickton mean to cause the victim's death or mean to cause bodily harm that would be likely to cause death, and was reckless about whether or not it would cause death? 5. Was the victim's death planned and deliberate? If the jury can say yes to the first four questions, but not the fifth, Pickton is convicted of second-degree murder. If the jury only agrees to the first three questions, Pickton is convicted of manslaughter. If the jury can only say yes to the first two questions, Pickton is acquitted.
Remember, we don't have the death penalty, and Pickton is 58 years old - which means the distinction might be less meaningful than it would in the U.S., since one way or another, it's likely he'll be incarcerated for the remainder of his natural life. I'll wait until I see the sentence handed down before I get up in arms about this one.
 
By AFSister on December 10, 2007 1:23 PM
My liberal west-coast-based company has blocked the link to the lost airplane story. grumble.
 
By John of Argghhh! on December 10, 2007 1:52 PM
They might just block access to anything with a .ru url, AFSis.
 
By JimC on December 10, 2007 3:57 PM
Thanks for the AiraCobra. Great story and wonderful pictures.
 
By JimC on December 10, 2007 4:01 PM
It occurs to me that if the water is so clear has the AiraCobra ever generated sea monster in the lake stories or legends of giant sturgeons? Just a thought.