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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From the Stars and Stripes comes this, by Seth Robson:
DEY CHOPAN DISTRICT, Afghanistan — A noncommissioned officer who led troops in battle for more than an hour despite a bullet wound to the head that left him partially paralyzed has been recommended for the Silver Star Medal.Staff Sgt. Matthew Ritenour of 2nd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, based in Hohenfels, Germany, was in charge of soldiers manning the “rock guard” when Taliban attacked the base on Sept. 4.
Well done, Staff Sergeant Ritenour!
Just because I like things painted in camouflage colors... even ones floating in the ocean.
PACIFIC (Dec. 15, 2007) A U.S. Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) departs the well deck of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18) on Dec. 15, 2007. U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Ashleigh S. Teitel
If you'd like to see some more pics of the USMC's new toy... click here.
John Hawkins of Right Wing News compiles his annual list of the "The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes Of 2007". A sample:
33) "I do believe that it's the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel. I do believe that it defies physics that World Trade Center tower 7 — building 7, which collapsed in on itself — it is impossible for a building to fall the way it fell without explosives being involved. World Trade Center 7. World Trade [Center] 1 and 2 got hit by planes — 7, miraculously, the first time in history, steel was melted by fire. It is physically impossible." -- Rosie O'Donnell talks Trutherism
Got any faves (from *across* the spectrum) ya wanna add? -the Armorer
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Austin Bay suggests we keep a watch for an al-Qaeda "Tet Offensive" since the elections are coming up...
This spring marks the 40th anniversary of Hanoi's offensive (yes, 40 years, two generations). It will also mark the umpteenth time American enemies have attempted to win in the psychological and political clash of an American election what they cannot win on the battlefield.In the course of Tet 1968, North Vietnamese, American and South Vietnamese forces all suffered tactical defeat and achieved tactical victories; that's usually the case in every military campaign. At the operational level, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) suffered a terrible defeat. As NVA regiments emerged from jungle-covered enclaves and massed for attack, they exposed themselves to the firepower of U.S. aircraft and artillery. The NVA units temporarily seized many cities at the cost of extremely heavy casualties.
However, Tet achieved the grand political ends North Vietnam sought. Tet was a strategic psychological attack launched in a presidential election year during a primary season featuring media-savvy "peace" candidates. "Peace" in this context must be italicized with determined irony; in the historical lens it requires an insistent blindness steeled by Stalinist mendacity to confuse the results of U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam (e.g., Cambodia's genocide) with any honest interpretation of peace.
Read the rest, by clicking here.
Ralph Peters sees things through slightly rosier glasses... they can both be right, however.
January 2, 2008 -- AS 2007 drew to a close, embarrassed journalists sought to play down American military successes and avoided questioning Democratic presidential contenders about their predictions of inevitable failure in Iraq. Magically, Iraq disappeared from the headlines - except on those rare occasions when a problem could be reported. At the close of a year of stunning progress, media stories on New Year's Eve leapt to report that 2007 had been the deadliest year for US troops.You had to read deep into the columns to learn that those casualties occurred in the first half of 2007, as we battled and defeated the terrorists and militias - or that, in recent months, American and Iraqi casualties have plummeted as a relative peace broke out.
Still, all that was just hushing up dirty family secrets in the media clan and an effort by left-leaning journalists and editors to protect the politicians they favor.
The greatest media story of 2007 was the one you never read (unless you read The Post): The year was a strategic catastrophe for Islamist terrorists - and possibly a historic turning point in the struggle against al Qaeda and its affiliates.
While al Qaeda in Iraq can still launch suicide missions, such acts now serve only to further alienate the Iraqi people, who've come to hate the grisly foreign interlopers with a passion you have to encounter first-hand to appreciate.
That fundamental change in outlook, especially among Sunni Arabs, may well mark last year as Islamist terrorism's high-water mark, the point at which fellow Muslims by the tens of millions publicly rejected the message and methods of self-styled holy warriors who revel in the slaughter of the innocent.
Tens of thousands of fellow Muslims, previously allied with al Qaeda, turned their weapons against the fanatics. It was the biggest global story since 9/11. And it was buried on Page 14, if mentioned at all.
Read the rest of Peter's bit, by clicking here. -the Armorer
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Who Inspired You the Most in 2007: Sports stars? Celebrities? The Rich and Famous? Select Politicians? Americas North Shore Journal has the definative list of men and women, some you've probably heard of, some you probably never heard of... which is a terrible shame.
[Crossposted from The Thunder Run]
David M
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SugarButton's moonlighting escapades are getting out of hand. How did you get clearance from Carborundum for interplanetary flight paths, eh?
Bad Cat Robot
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*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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