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.
********************************
Some things I've collected over the last few days...
People are finally finding it in themselves to make fun of Obama. Some pretty good jokes at the bottom of the article. Of course, you shouldn't be surprised that it's not an American newspaper. And on the same subject (with a sideswipe at the media)...
Between the Edwards story and the Olympics, this probably got overlooked in the major media. Nice to see, though. Just another bit of good news outta Iraq...
Hitchens on the Iraq budget surplus. In my interviews with Ambassador Ries and the 3ID brigadier generals this spring, it was so obvious that on of the biggest challenges facing a new Iraq government was not money, but functionality. A great deal of time was being spent teaching the Iraqis procedures and processes for getting money and expertise into places they were needed throughout the country. And all of that is further complicated by the Sunnis having sat out the last elections, and the delays in provincial elections (local government needs to exist and be connected at the national level before the national government can funnel the appropriate monies to them). But I guess this is just too complicated for the loyal opposition among our elected officials. So much easier for them to just say that we're giving Iraq a free ride.
I'm not sure I've ever seen an election where both parties were such utter incompetents in campaign strategy. By all past standards, Obama should be running away with it. But then again, with friends like this...
Interesting article on the development of the Iraqi military. - FbL
********************************
Retired Major General Lew MacKenzie - a charismatic straight-talking Canadian officer from back before that was in vogue - has thrown up his hands and given up on NATO:
I find this condemnation especially serious coming from a man whose entire career as an infantry soldier was spent thinking his big fight would be against the Soviets, as part of a NATO force. - Damian
********************************
********************************
Some things I've collected over the last few days...
People are finally finding it in themselves to make fun of Obama. Some pretty good jokes at the bottom of the article. Of course, you shouldn't be surprised that it's not an American newspaper. And on the same subject (with a sideswipe at the media)...
Between the Edwards story and the Olympics, this probably got overlooked in the major media. Nice to see, though. Just another bit of good news outta Iraq...
Hitchens on the Iraq budget surplus. In my interviews with Ambassador Ries and the 3ID brigadier generals this spring, it was so obvious that on of the biggest challenges facing a new Iraq government was not money, but functionality. A great deal of time was being spent teaching the Iraqis procedures and processes for getting money and expertise into places they were needed throughout the country. And all of that is further complicated by the Sunnis having sat out the last elections, and the delays in provincial elections (local government needs to exist and be connected at the national level before the national government can funnel the appropriate monies to them). But I guess this is just too complicated for the loyal opposition among our elected officials. So much easier for them to just say that we're giving Iraq a free ride.
I'm not sure I've ever seen an election where both parties were such utter incompetents in campaign strategy. By all past standards, Obama should be running away with it. But then again, with friends like this...
Interesting article on the development of the Iraqi military. - FbL
********************************
Retired Major General Lew MacKenzie - a charismatic straight-talking Canadian officer from back before that was in vogue - has thrown up his hands and given up on NATO:
There are more than 3,000 medium-lift helicopters sitting safely on the ground far, far away from Afghanistan, at airbases located in NATO's 26 member countries. Three thousand, and Canada is stuck with providing helicopter support, not just for its own troops, but for all the other national contingents in Region South.Although I'd be a bit more reluctant to point fingers, given my nation's wealth and the fact that we're still getting our national-defence act together, I have trouble disagreeing with much that he says here.
I find this condemnation especially serious coming from a man whose entire career as an infantry soldier was spent thinking his big fight would be against the Soviets, as part of a NATO force. - Damian
********************************
*************************************<br /><br />*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 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. Of course, now I have to call them UAS's, because someone got a Legion of Merit for the name change.Anyway, I call the post H&I Fires because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to that particular topic. Another term of art that might be appropriate is Free Fire Zone.<br />
Everything is done on a cash basis. Officials are well aware of the arcane art of sending large sums of money to any point on the globe, but they're also aware of the pitfalls -- foremost among them, a charge of corruption by those who don;t understand electronic banking. The average Iraqi understand handing $10,000 to someone and getting a signed receipt in return, because now someone with a face and a signature has assumed accountability. They have a big problem accepting that, somewhere else in the world, there is someone whom they don't personally know who is willing to accept stewardship of those same funds with just an electronic printout as verification.
I didn't mean to imply that the government was ignorant of money transfer, but I was speaking much more broadly of developing the relationships and standards/procedures for planning, developing, and then moving the money to the places it was needed in the most effective and efficient manner. I was sloppy in my writing. Sorry about that.