May 2, 2008
Sent along by the Auld Soldier...
With this kicker: "Having just spent your inheritance for a couple of squirts of printer ink, I can relate to this."
Seen some like this before but they are always fun to read again. Enjoy and feel better about the price of gas.I guess the next time I spend $9.00 for an 8oz. bottle of shampoo, I won't feel so guilty! The price of Gas versus Printer Ink
All these examples do NOT imply that gasoline is cheap; it just illustrates how outrageous some prices are....
You will be really shocked by the last one!
(At least, I was...)Compared with Gasoline......
Think a gallon of gas is expensive?
This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective.
Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 ... $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ..........$9.52 per gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 ........ $10.00 per gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ...... $33.60 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 ... $178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $385 .. $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ..... . $25.42 per gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 .....$84.48 per gallon
And this is the REAL KICKER...
Evian water 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon! $21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source
(Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)
Ever wonder why printers are so cheap?
So they have you hooked for the ink.
Someone calculated the cost of the ink at...............
(you won't believe it....but it is true.......)
$5,200 a gal. (five thousand two hundred dollars)
So, the next time you're at the pump,be glad your car doesn't run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, Pepto Bismol, Nyquil or God forbid, Printer Ink!
Just a little humor to help ease the pain of your next trip to the pump...
And - If you don't pass this along to at least one person, your muffler will fall off!!
Okay, your muffler won't really fall off...but, you might run out of toilet paper
Heh.
"The obvious models for intervention were Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. The Soviet General Staff planned the Afghanistan invasion based on these models. However, there was a significant difference that the Soviet planners missed. Afghanistan was embroiled in a civil war and a coup de main would only gain control of the central government, not the countryside. Although participating military units were briefed at the last minute, the soviet Christmas Eve invasion of 1979 was masterfully planned and well-executed. The Soviets seized the government, killed the president and put their own man in his place. According to some Russian sources, they planned to stabilize the situation, strengthen the army and withdraw the majority of Soviet forces within three years...""...Invasion and overthrow of the government proved much easier than fighting the hundreds of ubiquitous guerrilla groups. The Soviet Army was trained for large-scale, rapid-tempo operations. They were not trained for the platoon leader's war of finding and closing with small, indigenous forces which would only stand and fight when the terrain and circumstances were to their advantage."
So, doesn't that sound eerily familiar?
Wanna guess the source?
It's from The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. Written by former Afghan Army Colonel Ali Ahmad Jalali, and Lester Grau, an analyst at the US Army Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Published by the USMC Studies and Analysis Division, USMC Combat Development Command.
In 1995.
It's what I'm currently reading.
How to annoy the Armorer.
Admittedly, it really doesn't take all that much, if you go about it right.
Take this picture, fr'instance.
Looks like your average normal guard tower on the frontiers of the Demesne, right? Well, that or a deer stand.
Heh.
*I* didn't build it. None of the people I gave permission to hunt the Demesne this year built it.
And it wasn't there last fall. Someone has a rather different view of "Private Property" than I do. It's not like it wasn't marked or something...
Heh.
It isn't here any more, either. And look, the Sun came out and shone brightly as the interloper was destroyed. But the components will become part of the expanded Fowl Barracks of Argghhh!
Which needs it, after having been battered a bit in last night's 80 mile straight-line winds and 1.5 inches of rain... and Ry's Outhouse suffered a bit, too. But he's going to be here this weekend, so we'll get it all fixed up.
May 1, 2008
H&I Fires* 1 May 2008
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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I've always had a weakness for Indiana Jones. I would've swooned if I'd ever met this guy!: Nazi treasure, giant scorpions... and a crystal skull: The adventures of the REAL Indiana Jones. [h/t Grim]
The Man Who Grew a Finger. Or, to be more specific... regrew it. Be sure to scroll down to the article.
This is the absolute best political photoshop evah. Evah, I tell ya! (Commentary's pretty good, too). - FbL
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A noble and selfless local police officer escorts ducklings across busy multi-lane road. No casualties. We like our duckies here in the soggy corner of the map ...
-Bad Cat Robo(t)
Castle Ducklings Abbott and Costello give Two Wingtips Up and a amiable flick 'o the tail feathers to Officer Friendly and the well behaved drivers who facilitated the crossing. -the Armorer
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WE GOT ONE! Al-Qaida in Somalia head targeted in US strike
"Our brother martyr Aden Hashi, has received what he was looking for — death for the sake of Allah — at the hands of the United States," Robow told The Associated Press by phone.
Yep. he sure did. -Kat
Update: The report says that the strike might harden "moderate Islamist" sentiment against the US prior to the peace conference to be held in Djibouti next week. Jawa says that's bunk because Ayro was threatening to kill anyone who attended that conference. -Kat
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We have a stain on our flag. It's called Iran.
From the Carter administration forward to the current administration, we have always found excuses not to strike Iran, even when faced with undeniable proof. We have never had a stain on our flag like the rogue Iranian regime has continuously imposed on us.-Kat
Soldiers' Angels Founder to Appear On NBC Today Show
Soldiers' Angels founder Patti Patton Bader will appear on NBC's Today show on May 5, during the nine o'clock hour. She has been selected as a semi-finalist in NBC/Teleflora's America's Favorite Mom contest. Votes based on her appearance on the show with two other military moms will determine whether she moves on to the final round.On Mother's Day (May 11), NBC will broadcast a prime-time special featuring the crowning of "America's Favorite Mom," the results of which will be determined by how many votes are received from May 5 to May 9. Each mother can only receive votes during the exact day she appears on the Today show, and the mothers with the five highest vote totals will move on to the prime-time special.
Patton Bader was selected as a semi-finalist after being voted "America's Most Inspirational Mom" in March. Her son, Staff Sergeant Brandon Varn, nominated her for starting a non-profit organization to support soldiers and their families. "My mom is one of the most amazing women in the world," he wrote. "She started an organization called Soldiers' Angels when I was deployed to Iraq. The organization is there to ensure, 'May no soldier go unloved.' It is the largest non-profit independent military support organization that has started since the onset of the 'War on Terrorism.' She puts her whole self into helping Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, and Marines every day," says Varn. Patton Bader's other son, Specialist Bretton Varn, is currently deployed to Iraq and will appear with her via satellite on Today.
Prizes for the five winning mothers include $25,000 to $250,000 in cash, and a number of free services and products. But in keeping with her efforts to support the troops, Patton Bader wants America's soldiers to be the big winners. "I plan on using everything to help heroes. Everything," she says, referring to the wide variety of prizes she could receive if she is lucky enough to win . "It is a true honor to stand with these fourteen outstanding moms," she adds.
Soldiers' Angels encourages all Americans to visit www.nbc.com/Americas_Favorite_Mom to vote for their favorite mom, and to watch the Today show the week of May 5-9 and the America's Favorite Mom show on Mother's Day, May 11, to celebrate these remarkable mothers.
Gone Stupid: Get Medal, Go to the Back of the Bus
[Kat]
So, a few weeks ago we were all agog at the silver star medal pinned on Spc Monica Brown's DCUs for running through enemy fire to save her fellow soldiers.
They gave her the medal and then the Army got stupid.
From Small Wars Journal comes this link:
Woman Gains Silver Star -- And Removal From Combat
Vice President Cheney pinned Brown, of Lake Jackson, Tex., with a Silver Star in March for repeatedly risking her life on April 25, 2007, to shield and treat her wounded comrades, displaying bravery and grit. She is the second woman since World War II to receive the nation's third-highest combat medal.Within a few days of her heroic acts, however, the Army pulled Brown out of the remote camp in Paktika province where she was serving with a cavalry unit -- because, her platoon commander said, Army restrictions on women in combat barred her from such missions.
"We weren't supposed to take her out" on missions "but we had to because there was no other medic," said Lt. Martin Robbins, a platoon leader with Charlie Troop, 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, whose men Brown saved. "By regulations you're not supposed to," he said, but Brown "was one of the guys, mixing it up, clearing rooms, doing everything that anybody else was doing."
The pragmatic side of me says that there is probably some other legitimate reason to keep her off the front lines now. Like, you know, she is now out in public and the Taliban/AQ types would probably make her target #1 in the AO. Beau Coup Propaganda Coup.
On the other hand, that's just retarded because that is the danger of being on the front lines, period. That is the essence of signing that little contract. That is the reality of equality in the military. Share in Equal Rank, share in equal danger.
So, what is the deal here? Give the chick a medal, but now that she's officially "out", as in "known to be in combat situations", she has to go to the back of the bus?
And, what is the army going to do every time somebody gets a whiff of women soldiers on the front line, they are going to yank them? And, replace them with whom? And, Why?
In a military where 30% of forces are women and appx 15% of those serving in Iraq are women, are we going to cut off our right hand in order to serve some bizarre, antiquated notion that there is a) some place safe in an insurgency or b) that women cannot hack it in the field or c) that they are a danger to the men due to some unknown accomodations that apparently have not kept women like Leigh Ann Hester and Monica Brown from being out there (among the unsung many).
US Army - gone stupid.
And, yes, I know, they are just trying to quietly operate through the loop holes in the antiquated, restrictive laws that an equally, if not more so, ignorant congress had put in place almost 2 decades ago. Reality has long since past these folks by.
Please read this entire story because it gives much more background on Brown and the actions that got her the Silver Star.
At dusk on April 25, 2007, Brown's platoon had just finished searching for a Taliban leader near the village of Jani Khel. The convoy of four Humvees and one Afghan National Army pickup truck had turned into a dry streambed when a pressure-plate bomb exploded under the rear Humvee."Two-One is hit!" Staff Sgt. Jose Santos yelled. Looking back, Brown saw the Humvee engulfed in a fireball as its fuel tank and fuel cans ignited. Insurgents about 100 yards to the east opened up with machine guns and AK-47 semiautomatic rifles, as Brown and Santos ran without cover to the burning vehicle.
PS...she earned the coveted title every respected combat medic earns:
"I didn't want to leave," Brown said, after being pulled from the platoon. Robbins said he and his men, who called Brown "Doc," also wanted to keep her as their medic.
"Doc"
Medina and Lawrence: Trying to Draw Parallels in a Paradoxic Universe
[Kat]
At Small Wars Journal: Lawrence and his Message
during a bout of illness when even Lawrence’s prodigious reserves of strength were utterly sapped, that he developed his epiphany regarding the route to victory in the desert. Over the course of a few days he developed the guiding principals which helped him bring his Arab forces to the apogee of success. Thus it was not in his abilities as a cultural polymorph, but in the clarity of thought which he brought to the military problem he faced, that we may derive something useful today.
From Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence notes his strategy:
the algebraic factor would first take practical account of the area we wished to deliver, and I began idly to calculate how many square miles: sixty: eighty: one hundred: perhaps one hundred and forty thousand square miles. And how would the Turks defend all that?[snip]Armies were like plants, immobile, firm-rooted, nourished through long stems to the head. We might be a vapour, blowing where we listed. Our kingdoms lay in each man’s mind;[snip]
Then I figured out how many men they would need to sit on all this ground, to save it from our attack-in-depth, sedition putting up her head in every unoccupied one of those hundred thousand square miles[snip]
it seemed they would have need of a fortified post every four square miles, and a post could not be less than twenty men. If so, they would need six hundred thousand men to meet the ill-wills of all the Arab peoples,
Bateman goes on to describe Lawrence's ultimate plan:
In earlier operations Lawrence had already demonstrated the vulnerability of the Turkish controlled city of Medina to interdiction of its logistical supply line via the single track railway which ran through the Hejaz desert. His new contribution was to note that, seemingly counter-intuitively, the possession of Medina by a Turkish garrison of some 20,000 was advantageous to British.In simple terms, the more Turkish soldiers he could force into holding Medina and the Hejaz railway which supplied it, the fewer Turkish soldiers there would be to face the conventional strength of the main British forces.
Read the rest at Small Wars
The final point that Gentile and Bateman jump to is that Iraq has become our Medina. That it serves both the AQ and Tehran's interests to keep us in Iraq.
My response in flash traffic.
April 30, 2008
H&I Fires* 30 April 2008
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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Rusty over at My Pet Jawa skewers Stockholm Syndrome Poster Child Richard "Better a Hamas jailer than American!" Butler of CBS News- so I don't have to. CBS News in trouble and decline? I wonder if those dots connect.
Speaking of that - looking at the circulation declines of major organs of journalism, and the rapidly imploding CBS News operation, this bit of a conversation I had with a "Senior Government Official" yesterday comes to mind:
Well, you can tell 'em for me... it's a good thing the truth didn't get out about what you just said - or we'd have savaged them for being... idiots. We're not children. Oddly enough, neither is the bulk of the American public. But the major media and PA flacks treat us like we are. Which might be one reason the NYT and CBS are in such trouble, but blogs are doing fine. We don't treat our readers like idiots, either.
Moving on...
Jule Crittenden on Brits surprised to find that visiting America is not like visiting... Baghdad.
Iowahawk on Senator Obama's "Advice for the Lovelorn..." It's a hoot, click that link!
Dusty - this link's for you a bomb-dropping R/C A-10. H/t, Lex. -the Armorer
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Now if only we could find some bath-water to accompany them on the WAAAAAaaaayyyy Down. Alas, a new generation of acrophobics is born. If you ask me, they should stick to playing with Cobras - BOQ
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Local impact of gas prices. I live in a county that pumps oil, but often enough, the little horseheads aren't bobbing. They've been bobbing steadily now for months. Even bigger impact? My neighbor has a drill rig on the former dairy farm he just bought. Drilling for oil. -the Armorer
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Just for fun.
Costas Now yes that Bob Costas, has an interesting segment talking about the internet, sports and blogging.
During which time Buzz Bissinger goes on a rampage regarding bloggers, basically attacking a blogger who was on a panel with him on the show.
I would have responded, but my Sports Blogging Idol, Orson Swindle of Everyday Should Be Saturday (EDSBS) beat me to the punch with a great response.
Watch your 6 in your reading cubicle as strong language warnings apply, but still an excellent read and I think it applies to most bloggers out there period.
-BloodSpite
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Reporting on hunger in Afghanistan: who needs context when you have an agenda to push? Need I mention how disgusted I am? - Damian
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Having now found a video of the Costas/Bissinger/Leitch foofaraw that Bloodspite linked to - all I can say is - that segment is the video demo of why I have The Rulez. But I also understand that when you are as successful as Will is - moderating a blog with that kind of traffic can be a real bear. Keep that in mind, however, next time the Crushing Boot appears in the comments... I don't want to have my next panel discussion (which will be at the GI Film Festival in DC on 18 May) disrupted this way. -the Armorer
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On the taking of "criminals" into the Services.
Well, of course it's a bad idea, right?
Hmmm. Mebbe not. At least, not as bad as those who look for bad things want to spin it to be.
Gosh, maybe there was some utility, in years gone by, when Judges told young offenders - "Enlist or go to jail."
Mind you, it's a delicate balancing act. The services really don't want, nor need, hard-core cases.
But a lot of kids get in trouble because they have poor self-discipline, are too smart, and don't take direction well, because the direction is oft-times applied badly. This is even more true as we as a society seem bent on criminalizing more and more trivial putative "precursor" behaviors, because 1 out of a thousand or so who offend in certain ways go on to offend in more serious, sometimes spectacularly so, ways.
So, the Army did a study on the impact of lowering some of the enlistment standards.
The AP got ahold of a copy of an internal Army study not yet released to the public (I'm trying to get a copy now, via PAO channels). According to the AP, the study found that -
WASHINGTON (AP) - Soldiers who need special waivers to get into the Army because of bad behavior go AWOL more often and face more courts-martial. But they also get promoted faster and re-enlist at a higher rate, according to an internal military study obtained by The Associated Press.
The Army study late last year concluded that taking a chance on a well-screened applicant with a criminal, bad driving or drug record usually pays off. And both the Army and the Marines have been bringing in more recruits with blemished records. Still, senior leaders have called for additional studies, to help determine the impact of the waivers on the Army."We believe that so far the return outweighs the risk," said Army Col. Kent M. Miller, who headed the team that conducted the study.
Such soldiers are a leadership challenge. Ones that good leaders relish, because there's material there you can really mold and shape. Weak leaders hate that kind of soldier. And you can't handle too many of them at once.
But many of the better NCO's I served with during the early years of my career had come to the Army with checkered pasts. But they would freely admit that the Army, by giving them structure, goals, and setting limits, had gotten them through their wild phases and had molded them into leaders who could lead - and lead the troublemakers.
They were also invaluable because they could really help you winnow the salvageable from the un-salvageable, and guide a young Lieutenant through those early minefields, where my mostly-among-officers upbringing had left me some rather large gaps in my understanding of soldiers - and saved me from trying to rescue the terminally self-destructive, and take chances on soldiers who simply infuriated me. How dare they challenge by Lieutenant-level wisdom, after all?
No, it doesn't always work - but for the nonce, at least, it appears to work more often than it fails, and is worth the paperwork and dollar costs of booting the incorrigibles.
The Current Dem attack ad on McCain.
Running here and there, and on the Democratic Party website, as a fundraiser. Typical soundbite sniping, as practiced by both parties.
Expose the Real McCainJohn McCain wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years, but his lobbyist-ran campaign has and will continue to viciously attack anyone who remind the American people.
We know it -- we have it on tape to prove it -- and with your help, the American people will know it as well with our latest ad on John McCain and Iraq.
Spread the word and contribute today:
Heh. The Democrats don't pander to lobbyists, nope. Snerk. Of course, my guys aren't lobbyists, your's are! Mine are just, um, well-intentioned people with agendas who funnel me information and, um, money. On to the ad:
Narrator: "President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years!" with text saying the same thing.Video of Senator McCain: "Maybe a hundred."
Text in the ad: 100 years.
Video of McCain: "That'd be fine with me."
Immediately cut to carefully edited footage of two US soldiers ducking when an IED goes off right next to them (no bodies or gore).
Then snippets of video of lots of screaming people at bombing aftermaths with text that says:
"5 Years"
"500 Billion Spent"
"Over 4,000 dead"
In case you'd not quite gotten the point, the narrator says:
"President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for 50 years!" with text saying the same thing.
Cut back to Senator McCain: "Maybe a hundred."
Narrator: "If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future? The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.
Heh. The ad is mostly red meat for the already decided, to make them feel good about making sure they get to their max limits on giving. It's not really aimed at thinking people who are undecided. Unthinking people... well, hey, if they'll send checks!
Well, gosh, let's have some more of that... Lessee...
How about an ad that ran (using 2002 adjusted dollars (except for Gulf War II) and US casualty figures, both sourced from DoD):
WWI... Led into war by Democrat Woodrow Wilson"6 years"
"564 Billion spent"
"Over 116,000 dead"
Um, but that led to...
WWII... led into war by Democrat Franklin Roosevelt
"67 years... and counting."
"4.6 Trillion spent."
"Over 405,000 dead"
Korea... led into war by Democrat Harry S. Truman
"58 years... and counting."
"391 Billion spent"
"Over 36,000 dead."
Vietnam war... led into war by Democrat John F. Kennedy.
"9 years, and we walked away from an ally."
"840 Billion spent."
"Over 58,000 dead."
Gulf War I... led into war by Republican George H. W. Bush
"12 years"
"9 Billion spent (after Allied reimbursements)"
"Over 300 dead."
Gulf War II... Led into war by Republican George W. Bush
"5 Years"
"500 Billion Spent"
"Over 4,000 dead"
Narrator:
"Democrats: 73 years. 6.4 Trillion Dollars spent. 615,000 dead."
"Republicans: 17 years. 509 Billion Dollars spent. 4,300 dead""Based on this performance, are Democrats the right choice for America?"
The Armorer of Argghhh! is responsible for the content of the political ad parody. ©April 2008 by Castle Argghhh LLC.
Of course there's a whole host of false parallelism in there. And who knows how those cost numbers were calculated. And a complete absence of context. But we never let that get in the way of politics, now do we?
The Republican Party may purchase the rights to this idea... for enough money for me to buy out the guy next door. But I bet they just steal it. H/t to Princess Crabby for bringing the subject up.
The Hidden War: Take 2
[Kat]
The Hidden War: Send them Levis
I believe it was 1989 or '90, right before the collapse post attempts at "Perastroika" or reformation. The report talked about the rise of the black market in Moscow. The most popular items? Levi Jeans and Music. Michael Jackson was very popular.How were these items purchased? American Dollars. The black market circumvented the official economic process and took the revenue right out of the pockets of the government, putting it in the hands of small businessmen. It was an ad hoc free market. Capitalism at its most laissez faire. Of course, it included books, toys, televisions and every other sort of product we could produce. With every item purchased, the idea of capitalism and freedom came with it in a subliminal message wrapped up in packaging and transferred through osmosis as it was held in the hand of its new owner. Even if it was a coke that only lasted ten minutes or a song that lasted three, it was all that it took for the dream to be implanted.[snip]
You want to defeat a nuclear Iran that is reaping double revenues by making statements which destabilize the oil market? Cold War, but faster. We don't have to send in the B 117. Flood their markets with cheap American goods via blackmarkets that only accept American Dollars. Send them CDs and CD players and microwaves. Smuggle in music and books.
Send them Levis and let the best ideology win.
The Hidden War - Take 2: Send them Barbie Dolls
A top Iranian judiciary official warned Monday against the “destructive” cultural and social consequences of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys.[snip]“The irregular importation of such toys, which unfortunately arrive through unofficial sources and smuggling, is destructive culturally and a social danger,” said the letter, a copy of which was made available to The Associated Press. …
“The displays of personalities such as Barbie, Batman, Spiderman and Harry Potter … as well as the irregular importation of unsanctioned computer games and movies are all warning bells to the officials in the cultural arena,” his letter said.
Re-emphasizing HotAir's commentary: where's the air lift of Barbies when you need it?
PS...a side benefit of all that smuggling of things across the Iraq/Iran border. The flow goes both ways. They send in bombs, we send in Barbies. While the exchange seems unfair and one sided on the immediate front, in the long run, the people who will be changed irrevocably are on the other side of that border. And, it will cost us less in men and money than actual ground or even air war.
Saving lives, one Malibu Barbie at a time.
To Bring Peace n In Afghanistan, Talk to the Taliban
[Kat]
Via Michael Yon, a link to an opinion piece by someone he calls a friend.
To Bring Peace n In Afghanistan, Talk to the Taliban
Or, in other words, why Petraeus had to go to CentCom. I wrote last August that the problem in Afghanistan is that there is no Petraeus. Prescient or just common sense? Both, likely.
I'll skip past the "we are failing" opening gambit and the "we don't need to keep so many troops there" (I'll get to that comment). Let's head right for the meat of the "failed counter-insurgency" in Afghanistan:
Before the arrival of our forces in strength in the south in the summer of 2006, I visited Afghans independently in the provincial capital of Helmand. ‘If the British bring security and reconstruction, they are welcome here. But if they don’t bring them, then they should leave.’ A year later — after high levels of violence and tiny amounts of reconstruction — I sat nervously with a group of young Helmandis: ‘The British tell us that we have security and reconstruction — but where is it? They should show us, not always just tell us.’
[continued in flash traffic]
April 29, 2008
H&I Fires* 29 April 2008
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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Sometimes, after all that text and Deep Thoughts and stuff, ya just needa gunpic. -the Armorer
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Continuing the theme of policy from my TINS story below - another quoteable quote from a Senior Government Official:
I hesitate to say we need more policy but in a policy driven organization we may have to write a policy to delete policy and then change the policy to allow less policy.
An encapsulation of much that is wrong with government in general, not just DoD. -the Armorer
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Jamie Lee Curtis over at the HuffPo on the Miley Cyrus kerfuffle:
Today's generation of performers have had to navigate the treacherous shoals of adolescence in full frontal viewberty of the peering voyeurism of the media and it's voyeuristic participants.
Viewberty. Great line. -the Armorer
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Afghans conducting their own aero-medevac.
080429-A-9217P-002 - U.S. service members prepare to move casualties from an Afghan National Air Corps MEDEVAC helicopter April 29 at Jalalabad Airfield in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. This MEDEVAC mission followed a suicide bomber attack at in Nangarhar’s Koghyani District. It is the first point-of-injury MEDEVAC conducted by the ANAC’s 377th Helicopter Kandak. (Photo by Army Staff Sgt. Roberto Perez, 173rd ABCT)
Leaving aside the necessity - it's important to note the capability.
Whatever his "power issues," the face of venality...
...outside of their carefully constructed environment, is, in the end, sad, lonely, and pathetic.
Monsters rarely look like monsters.
Like Pol Pot, without the blood.
Like all things associated with Nation Building and culture-shaping...
...there's progress, lack of progress, and frustration.
But this meeting wouldn't have happened under Taliban rule.
Bagram PRT host women’s affair meetingBy Capt. Toni Tones
455 Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Eight influential Afghan women met for a women affairs seminar hosted by the Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team at Bagram Air Field.
Business owners, government leaders, educators, multi-media and non-governmental organization representatives from Kabul, Kapisa and Parwan provinces met with Suzie Schwartz, wife of Gen. Norton Schwartz, U.S. Transportation Command commander, and openly discussed women affairs in Afghanistan. Education, employment and security were the common themes addressed by representatives at the seminar.
“Kate,” a Kabul multi-media representative, who lived in the Unites States and recently returned to Afghanistan, said that health is a primary concern with education being secondary.
“There are 85,000 widows trying to do everything for their families, but there is no money,” said Kate. “What can they do if they can’t feed themselves and their children?”
“Mary,” another Kabul multi-media representative, who has lived in Afghanistan her entire life, disagreed stating security is the primary concern for Afghan women.
“Where there’s no security, there is no education, no health, and no employment,” said Mary. “The Afghan women are used by politicians to get foreign aid money, but our conditions have not improved.”
“Jan,” an up-and-coming non-governmental organization representative echoed both women’s comments, but said all three are equally important and must be addressed.
“It’s circular-education, employment and security-each problem feeds itself,” said Jan. “If you have no work, you can’t get medicine. If you have no education, you can’t get work. Without security, you can’t have anything. We (Afghans) have bad neighbors, and if the United States leaves, we won’t have any security.”
In 2001, the Taliban was removed from power as a result of U.S.-led operations.
“Three issues resulted from the Taliban era – terrorism, narcotics and women’s oppression,” said Mary. “Since then, measures have been taken to decrease terrorism and narcotics, but very little change has occurred for women’s rights.”
“Lots of promises were made--to include some by the U.S.,” added “Sally,” a refugee and women’s issues advocate who lived in the United States. “Among them was the promise to free Afghan women- that’s a big statement. There was an expectation of political and social liberation. Yes, we now have representation in parliament and other governmental agencies, but there’s been little change in the economic and education arenas. There needs to be a dramatic change in agenda by the international community.”
Although Afghanistan is a male-dominated society, the women are sick of the conflict and want to see change, said Lt. Col. Bill Andersen, Bagram Provincial Reconstruction Team commander.
“I spoke to the governors of Parwan and Kapisa provinces about my plans to be personally involved in women affairs and it seemed to be well accepted,” said Andersen. “My team will ensure female contractors have the opportunity to compete for projects, female entrepreneurs have access to small business opportunities, and females have the opportunity to get an education through the development of dorms and schools, and book purchases.
“This is their society and culture, and they will address theses issues at their own time and pace,” added Andersen. “In the meantime, we are here to help facilitate the development of a stable and secure environment for all Afghans-men and women.”
TINS: Okay, there I was...
...buzzing around in email, talking to mid-level policy wonks in various PA shops around the Puzzle Palace and Combatant Commands, and I'm having this chat with a "Senior Government Official" as we were discussing the overall labyrinthine (and oft-times conflicting) blogging policies... among other things, the recently published blogging policy of the Combined Arms Center, put out by LTG Caldwell. [Update: the way that reads, you might take away that I'm not happy with LTG Caldwell's guidance - on the contrary, I think it's one of the best out there on the topic. -the Armorer]
The subject which lit this particular jet was some commentary about "Strategic Communications" and related subjects, which we had ricocheted to off a policy paper and onto a tangent... which led to a discussion of MountainRunner's blogpost on the subject of StratComms. Most specifically, this part:
Earlier this year, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen wrote the Pentagon placed too much emphasis on the strategic in "strategic communication." The modern environment of New Media and strategic corporals (or captains if you prefer) blur the distinctions (and stovepipes) of tactical, operational, and strategic communication and perception management.
Cue frustrated government official:
When can we get over scientisifyin' everything and just talk to people?Everything in, around, and from the Pentagon is a strategic something-or-other so it sounds important and people can budget money for it. I've asked a couple of dozen people who have "strategic communication" on their business cards just what the term "strategic communication" means and none could tell me. I'd get a blank stare from them and then something like ... "I can't tell you. It's strategic." I'm with the Admiral on this one. If you can't define it you shouldn't be working on it. And what all this rhetoric boils down to is (as stated in the Marine Corps Strategic Communication Manual): do the right thing and then tell people you did the right thing. And then if you did the wrong thing tell people you did the wrong thing and fix it.
Honesty is the best policy.
I come from the old school, Communication = exchanging ideas, CommunicationS = wires, paper, phones, the hard stuff to do it with.
In my old world we typically used the "John Wayne Method" of communication. I keep quiet unless you do something wrong. I tell you that you did something wrong and to stop. You don't stop I warn you one more time and tell you how I'm going to make you stop. You don't stop and I do what I told you I was going to do. And then I hold your scrawny, beaten carcass up for the world to see as an example of what happens when you don't do the right thing. It was all really simple then. No spinning, no perception management, no strategic anything. It was usually a very short say-do loop.
As a leader of troops I found this the most efficient way to do things.
Don't over-think, see - say - do. You may not like what I say but you will DO what I say -- or suffer.
AND if informing and educating is NOT INFLUENCING WHY DO WE SPEND I-DON'T-KNOW HOW MANY BILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR A DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION???
Why is this so hard?
Ok, I'm through ranting now.
Maybe ...
I responded with: Ooh. This *would* be a funblog! , while suggesting he start blogging...
His response (gratifying to know you're read by *someone*...)
Yeah, and if they fire me for blogging then blog I will. It'll be H&I Fires defined by grid squares.
Sweeeeeeeet.
The War: Headlines From Around the Globe
[Kat]
Hat Tip Long War Journal and Mudville Gazette
A foot patrol of British soldiers recounted the moment that they survived an attack by a suicide bomber only to run into an ambush by the Taleban as they picked themselves up after the blast.“It's the luck of the Irish,” said Sergeant Paul Harrison, 27, from Liverpool, who survived the attack along with the rest of his patrol from the 1st Battalion, The Royal Irish Regiment.
[continued in flash traffic]
April 28, 2008
H&I Fires* 27 April 2008
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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Some things over the weekend you might have missed...
Success, failure, tribalism, and the power of money: Taliban Bitten by a Snake in the Grass. It's got a great punchline--and note that word of happenings in Iraq is reaching Afghanistan. [h/t MM, who has more on improvements in Afghanistan].
Of all the good news we're hearing about Iraq and especially Basra, this one was a stunner, as I've not read a whisper of such things from anywhere else (maybe I wasn't paying attention). But once again, it's the foreign press--London Times in this case--that is reporting such things (maybe it has something to do with the fact that they're embedding with the Iraqi Security Forces rather than the terrorists!):
Young women are daring to wear jeans, soldiers listen to pop music on their mobile phones and bands are performing at wedding parties again.Fascinating that the Iraqi and American governments referred to them as "criminal gangs," but they had such a strong religious component...All across Iraq’s second city life is improving, a month after Iraqi troops began a surprise crackdown on the black-clad gangs who were allowed to flourish under the British military. The gunmen’s reign had enforced a strict set of religious codes.
...She also no longer has to wear a headscarf. Under the strict Islamic rules imposed by the militias, women had to cover their hair, could not wear jeans or bright clothes and were strictly forbidden from sitting next to male colleagues on pain of death.
“All these men in black [who imposed the laws] just vanished from the university after this operation,” said Ms Ahmed. “Things have completely changed over the past week.”
More good news from Iraq--this time on the political side. I'm still holding my breath, but the Sunni-Shiite coalition government is looking stronger and stronger, and Sadr continues to make a fool of himself [h/t Powerline]
And for one of those "Wow, this planet is amazing" moments, check out the pictures a random blogger took on a recent trip to Death Valley. - FbL
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Here's a soldier who has an attitude about stop-loss that you probably didn't hear in the major media. - FbL
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Michael Yon's book, Moment of Truth in Iraq, get's reviewed in the New York Sun:
One of the major problems for the war prior to 2007 was that the chaos, death, and refugees caused by Al Qaeda's cruelty were blamed on the Americans, because Al Qaeda came to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. "The correlation of media, counterinsurgency, cult and leadership seemed painfully obvious to me," Mr. Yon writes. "Al Qaeda was a cult that had skillfully used our mistakes to make itself great among the people, while placing on us the ignominy of its own brutality."
Hanson again on He-Man actors and movies.. I think that the main problem isn't that there are no "he man" actors, so much as "actors" no longer have to "act" like a Bogart or a Grant or a Wayne had to do. Props were not nearly as well made. Scenery was often a painted backdrop. Seriously, in these movies, men or women, you simply had to act more than an actor or actress does today.
Not just props either. Certainly, in certain movies actors and actresses have to pretend they are doing something or talking to someone, like a character or a computer generated creature, that actually isn't there. However, if they aren't that good an actor, the electronic gizmodetry covers it up. Not so back in the day. Can you imagine Jimmy Stewart and Harvey the Rabbit today?
But, if we're naming off all time favorite movies, again, I'll re-iterate a few: El Cid, Burt Lancaster; Bringing Up Baby, Cary Grant - Katherine Hepburn, Fort Apache, She wore a Yellow Ribbon, John Wayne; Lawrence of Arabia, Peter O'Toole; A Lion in Winter, Peter O'tool - Katherine Hepburn; ...okay, you're turn. -Kat
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Bummer. The ACLU is extremely disappointed. Heh. Musta lost another court case. Yep. I have a love/hate relationship with the ACLU. They do good now and again, but then they fall all over themselves trying to annoy me. Sigh. Best quote (by Jammie Wearing Fool): Now if we can only get this enforced in the other 49 states, there’d be a lot of dead Democrats no longer voting. -the Armorer
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The Wright story is turning into a firestorm. The implications of what it is revealing about the media, racial politics, and the Democratic party are just scary. I don't know how to summarize, so I'll just link:
The Corner - making racism acceptable
Hot Air: Echoes of The Bell Curve
Ace of Spades: What the media shows us, and where Obama got his "change" mantra (lots of good links). - FbL
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Let's add the left side of the 'sphere to the Wright discussion.
But by now it's obvious Obama is deep in a sound-bite-fed, image-waged war. A man smart as Wright knows it doesn't really matter what he says. He's been reduced to an emotional image -- the Willie Horton of 2008 -- a boogeyman of black nationalism and aggression, used as a prop to make the professorial Obama look like a smooth talker hiding more radical inclinations.
Wright seems utterly sincere to me. He strikes me as having a true spiritual calling. When he says, "America's chickens have come home to roost," I can't fault his logic. Haven't we been squandering hard earned taxpayer money on overseas adventures while we starve poor children? Haven't we been supporting dictators while prating of democracy? Haven't we been enriching profiteers at the expense of health care and education? You betcha.
-the Armorer
********************************
And now, for the rest of the story.
From a CJTF-82 press release:
UAV makes hard landing in Sarobi District Written by Bagram Media Center Saturday, 22 March 2008BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – A Combined Joint Task Force-82 unmanned-aerial vehicle made a hard landing in Sarobi District, Kabul Province, March 22.
The UAV landed in a remote, unpopulated area. There are no reports of injuries to civilians or damage to property.
“There is no indication that the UAV was shot down by enemy forces,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, Coalition forces spokesman. “Initial reports are that the UAV suffered a mechanical failure. In the event of a mechanical failure, UAVs are pre-programmed to guide themselves to an uninhabited location to minimize the risk to civilians.”
The cause of the mishap is under investigation
And now we have... the rest of the story. From The Sun:
A £50MILLION British spy plane was deliberately blown to bits after crash landing in Afghanistan – so the Taliban couldn’t find its secrets.The unmanned Reaper robot aircraft came down during a special forces mission.
A team of SBS men was dropped in to the crash site by helicopter to salvage top secret gear, including a high-intensity camera and computer memory chips.
Then an RAF Harrier jet was scrambled to blow up the Reaper with a laser-guided 1,000lb bomb.
[Cue Paul Harvey]
"And now you know the rest of the story. Good day!"
This is me connecting dots. They may not be the same event... but I'm thinking they probably are. H/t, JimC for the Sun article.
Jeremiah Wright
Much of his radical theology disgusts me, and I have a very strong intellectual disagreement with it. However, growing up a pastor's kid in a religion well-represented among both white and black communities (and more integrated than most), I understand a bit about where he's coming from--politics tends to be more overtly a part of black churches and theology than white, and there is more confidence in calling a spade a spade in the black religious tradition (church being a refuge from white control and interference going back to even the slavery days). But Jeremiah Wright is far beyond the tradition of black churches railing against injustice and pulling together to address or mitigate that injustice as much as possible.
While listening to the extended excerpts Hugh Hewitt played last week, I sat with my mouth hanging open. Literally. I had tried so hard to "understand," to consider that maybe Wright tended to get carried away to hyperbole with his emotionalism, that perhaps he spoke more metaphorically as is often the case in black churches. But there it was, staring me in the face.
I had two reactions after I was done: 1) I now "get" the Obamas. Michelle's speeches, her tone, her body language... the awkwardness of having said she'd never been proud of her country until her husband ran for president... I had never been able to form a coherent vision of her. Listening to Wright's sermons was like a final piece of the puzzle that made the picture pull into focus. And even moreso, I understood the cult of personality that Barak cultivated in his campaign. Whether she and Barak Obama believed as Wright does when they joined the church, twenty years of hearing things like I did as I listened cannot help but shape a person's intellect and attitude. 2) I need a shower; I felt like I'd had the worst kind of sludge poured over me for the last hour.
Mere transcripts do not do justice to the mood of Wright's diatribes against this country and people who don't look like him or believe like him. I was stunned and appalled. So much rage, so much carefully-considered and clearly-laid-out venom for the country he once served as a Marine and which has enabled him to retire in wealth to a gated community. Those short excerpts we heard were not moments of overwhelming emotion or ill-considered metaphors/similes/parallels. They were snippets in carefully-constructed and consciously-delivered sermons of rage, hatred, uber-left-wing politics, and a desire for the destruction of this country and anybody who didn't agree with him.
In response, I at first felt anger. But that quickly gave way to pity, and finally a sense of filthiness for continuing to listen... much as one feels if looking too closely at the car wreck as one drives by. It is appalling, and even moreso when you subsequently listen to the mild-mannered and "oh-so-reasonable" man Bill Moyers interviewed last week. I was forcibly reminded of the wolf in sheep's clothing, but I don't think I've ever seen the two sides so starkly drawn as they are in Reverend Wright.
Over at Powerline, John Hinderaker comes close to summing up my opinion on this, though perhaps with a bit more resentment/offense than I had (I mostly feel pity for someone so obviously consumed with rage and the more destructive emotions of this life):
I had a busy weekend, and missed it when Hugh Hewitt posted extensive transcripts of the sermons of Jeremiah Wright on Friday evening. The transcripts are devastating to Wright. He is a despicable human being, and the fact that has been ordained, apparently, is a disgrace. Wright has been claiming that he was quoted out of context, and Barack Obama has suggested that Americans would view Wright differently if they heard his whole sermons instead of a few sound bites. In fact, the context makes it worse, and the whole sermons are outrageous. It turns out that "God damn America" understates the baroque hatefulness of Wright's theology.Still unexplained is what Wright's political screeds have to do with Christianity. I don't know anyone who would sit still for a minister who persistently abused the pulpit to preach hate instead of the Gospel. As a Christian, I am outraged that "Reverend" Wright has hijacked my faith to preach hate and to sow falsehood. How Barack Obama could have participated in this charade for twenty years, and then held himself out as someone fit to lead this nation, is inexplicable.
Let the charges of racism begin...
[Note: if you are unfamiliar with the original definition of baroque (the one NOT referring to classical music), look it up. Hinderocker obviously chose his words very carefully here.]
What's a fella to do, when nation-building from scratch?
...and facing a fanatically persistent and destabilizing Insurgency?
SGM Curtis L. Regan CJTF-82, CJ-3 Bagram, Afghanistan, has some thoughts. (Cue angst-ridden Homo Neanderthalensis)
Counter-Insurgency - so easy a caveman could do it. Okay, maybe not that easy. Admittedly, Counter-insurgency operations are inherently complex and place great demands on everyone involved. Nation Building is equally difficult – the complexities even greater when insurgents are allowed to meet political and ideological objectives. Historically U.S. Forces have supported insurgents in toppling oppressive governments, and given the historical success of insurgencies, the task of executing a well-planned counter-insurgency strategy takes on greater significance.These somewhat unconventional military operations are designed to establish law and order in unstable areas outside of the US and its territories. However, the mere presence of armed forces certainly does not guarantee stability. Political and military unity is necessary to defeat enemies who oppose a stable and secure environment. The ability of Armed forces to
win this Counterinsurgency is directly related to America’s perceived will to deploy its troops as long as necessary to achieve our political objectives. Our Congressional and Legislative bodies must enhance the capabilities and legitimacy of the Nation’s military efforts and leverage interagency and multinational cooperation toward these collective goals.The Nation is best served when Congress remains focused toward concrete resolution of all armed conflict. The effectiveness of the Military’s collective efforts overseas speaks well for the institutional soul of today’s Armed Forces. Our values and the laws governing warfare teach us to respect human dignity, maintain our honesty, and do what is right. Adherence to our values distinguishes us from terrorists, insurgents, and other lawless factions. The ultimate success of this Counter-Insurgency Operation depends on maintaining the obligatory value systems in all that we do, and that we continue to occupy the moral high ground, be it with prisoners of war, suspected enemy personnel, or our own countrymen.
The necessity and required outcome of this conflict remain unchanged. Strong resolute men must remain steadfast in the prosecution of terrorists and insurgent forces and a strong, capable, self-reliant Nation must follow in the wake of fanatical tyranny. Evil must be eradicated, and ideology must be constrained to lawful and legitimate means of debate. Free people must be endowed with the choice of personal religious practices, the pursuit of happiness, and the rewards that come with hard work, creative thinking, and personal expressions of excellence. Coercion, abuse of power, and tyrannical submission of individual rights and liberties cannot go unchecked.
So where are we?
If you want to find out where the Sergeant Major thinks we are - you'll have to click here. I will say that when the staff at CJTF-82 decide to editorialize, they're not shy. Here we've got the Sergeant Major offering instruction to Congress, and a little earlier this year, we had a fella telling Dutch politician Geert Wilders that he shouldn't oughta go showing his film about Islam, which struck a spark with Uncle Jimbo over at Blackfive (and I would note that BCR chimed in with the hallelujah chorus - hey, BCR - more *ahem* flaunting!). That op-ed, btw, has been moved inside their firewall and is no longer available. SFCMac over at The Foxhole has goodly chunks of it excerpted.
Strategic Communications: Speaking A Universal Language - Take 2
[Kat]
In my original theoretical concept, I gave a simple schematic about how groups of people directly or indirectly influence others: Developing Effective Strategic Communications
One of the necessities for developing a communication strategy is determining what the message is and what method or concept would be most conducive to delivering that message.
Strategic Communications - Speaking a Universal Language
The idea is to look for commonalities among communities and cultures that would align with our own. These commonalities could be leveraged to influence communities that, in turn, would influence individuals to act or not act in specific ways. I chose "morality" or "morals" as the "universal language" for several reasons, not the least of which is that it is the social bond that ties communities together, that allows great and small numbers of people to live together in relative peace. Morals (or values?) are "expected behaviors" that shape how individuals act personally and to or with each other.
In developing that idea, I discarded, rather offhandedly, the idea of math as the universal language. The question arose as to whether I had discarded that too easily considering the number of scientific studies and philosophical meanderings that indicate that human interaction is governed by math. There is truth in that and I did it for the purpose of leaping, maybe too quickly, to the idea that I believe is most effective in motivating people's behavior. Largely, shared behaviors that create human bonds and rules, or morals, that govern that behavior to allow a number of people to get on with a minimum of friction.
Before I explore the mathematical influences on people and their behavior, I believe that I should explain the other reason that I first discarded math. There are several studies that have been published regarding what motivates someone to accept, propagate and act on a specific ideology. To wit, what makes a normal young man (or woman), living a relatively comfortable life, eschew any cultural or moral normative to become a terrorist?
[continued in flash traffic]
April 27, 2008
Commandos initiated through operation
Members of the Afghan National Army's 207th Commando Kandak move toward their objective during a pre-graduation mission, in Kapisa province, April 21-24. During the operation, the Commandos, supported by Coalition forces, captured one insurgent, killed one other who tried to mount an attack against them and recovered weapons, IED material and rockets. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Corey T. Dennis)
COMBINED JOINT TASK FORCE- 101 COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN APO AE 09354BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (April 27, 2008) – Afghan National Army Commando students captured an insurgent and thwarted an insurgent attack, in Kapisa province, April 21.
Members of the newly minted 207th Commando Kandak performed a number of night-time air assault missions, resulting in the capture of one insurgent, numerous small weapons caches and IED materials.
“The Company air assaulted into the target area, occupied blocking positions and cleared the objective utilizing speed, surprise and violence of action,” said the Coalition Team Leader in charge of the Commando training.
Prior to their graduation, the Commandos trained for, planned and executed their own mission to demonstrate their ability to perform competently in combat.
“I feel that there is continual improvement due to the growing capability of the Commando training company, the Afghan cadre, as well as the attention that the program receives from key leaders in the Afghan National Army and the Ministry of Defense,” said a Special Forces commander.
“We do this for the people of Afghanistan, and my Commandos did well during training and working with [Coalition forces],” said the 207th Kandak first sergeant, after the mission.
Next, the Commandos will graduate training and perform strategic strikes against insurgents, with the support of Coalition forces.
“The capabilities of the Commando force enhance the security of the Afghan people, thus creating the opportunity for stability operations,” said the Special Forces commander. This will create an atmosphere for other organizations to initiate development projects, such as the opening of schools and government offices.
(Editors Note: It is Special Forces policy to not identify members below the rank of lieutenant colonel.)
Hmmm. Izzat a radio control box in that stuff in the cache above (linked pic)?
One of the interesting things about the press releases regarding weapons caches... is what you find in the caches. Such as the pic below, from a seizure on April 3. Anybody wanna guess what I found interesting in this picture? This is the best pic there is, I asked for a better one, and they don't have any.
Coalition forces seized a weapons cache April 3 in Garmsir District, Helmand Province, during an operation targeting a Taliban insurgent associated with weapons facilitations operations. The items were destroyed to prevent their use by extremist forces and protect innocent civilians from inadvertent harm. (U.S. Army courtesy photo)
A Dissertation on Getting It Right
I'm now working with my second group of IqAF helicopter pilots -- evidently, I didn't scare the first group that badly one single bit. These guys were evidently well-briefed before they came up here from Taji, because they opened the door to our office, looked around grinning and said, "Good morning!", made a beeline for yours truly and promptly introduced themselves. I saw two familiar squadron patches, so I've got a good idea who described me to them...
After the initial sim period (our sims are visual, non-motion, so there's a whale of a cognitive disconnect between what your eyes tell your brain and what the seat of your pants conveys), we were decompressing in the shade and started trading aviation background info. I thought you might like to know that there was one part of the Basra op that was planned *right* and went according to plan from Day One all the way through. I'll let Ali tell it -- it was his story, after all.
"So, on the first day, we knew the troops will be needing the ammunition, the food, the medicine for casualties. The C-130 [an IqAF Herky, BTW] lands and offloads the ammunition first. We put the ammunition into the Huey IIs and fly resupply. The Bad Guys shoot to drive us off, but we shoot back and continue into the area to land because the troops, our troops, need ammunition.
"More ammunition and food go on the Mi-17s because the packages are large and heavy, only ammunition goes on the Huey IIs. We all go, Huey IIs and Mi-17s. Again the Bad Guys shoot and try to drive us off, keep us from landing. Again, we shoot back and go in and land, we offload the ammunition and the food.
"Then we all go back to where the C-130 is, and we get more ammunition, more food, and fly it to the troops. The Bad Guys shoot, but not so much, because the troops are moving around in the city now, and we don't shoot because the Bad Guys are close to the troops, close to the people of the city and we land, again.
"My copilot says to me, 'This is not as bad as the Vietnam films on the TV, but now *I* will have a "Hey, No Sh*t" helicopter war story to tell!' "
Heh. Fast learners...
.
Mebbe it's just Clobbering Time.
.
Just sayin'
.
"The Iraqis don't want Saddam back - they want the stability. But they want the stability without being fed into industrial chippers."
. -The Armorer, on Hugh Hewitt, 27 December 2006.
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