Another Dead Tango, or four… Thursday, Feb 9 2012 

Afghanistan and Comarade Obama and Islam and Military and Muslims and Obama and SCOAMF and Terrorism , , , , , 1IDVET 10:21

I like it when there’s another dead tango to report. At least Obama is getting this one right. Credit where it’s due, I suppose. He’s still a SCOAMF, but at least he’s still letting the sheepdogs kill the wolves.

US drone-fired missiles suspected to have killed Al Qaeda’s Pakistani leader, 3 others

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A US drone strike on a house in northern Pakistan killed at least four suspected militants, and is suspected to have killed Al Qaeda’s Pakistani leader Badar Mansoor, Fox News reports.

The attack is the second in 24 hours. A strike Wednesday in the same area killed at least 10 and several others were injured.

The back-to-back strikes could be an indication the drone program is picking up steam again after a slowdown caused by tensions with Pakistan over accidental American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year.

The U.S. held off on carrying out drone strikes for over six weeks after the deadly accident on Nov. 26. There have been a handful of attacks since they resumed in January, but the last two are the first consecutive strikes since the border incident.

The house hit before dawn on Thursday was located in the main bazaar in Miran Shah, the biggest town in the North Waziristan tribal area, the country’s main sanctuary for Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, said Pakistani intelligence officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

via Report: US Drone-fired Missiles Suspected To Have Killed Al Qaeda’s Pakistani Leader, 3 Others | Fox News.

 

Truth, lies and Afghanistan… Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 

Afghanistan and Lies and Military and Politics and Terrorism and Truth and US Army , , , 1IDVET 10:23

With this title, how could I not post it? Good read.

Truth, lies and Afghanistan

How military leaders have let us down

By LT. COL. DANIEL L. DAVIS

I spent last year in Afghanistan, visiting and talking with U.S. troops and their Afghan partners. My duties with the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force took me into every significant area where our soldiers engage the enemy. Over the course of 12 months, I covered more than 9,000 miles and talked, traveled and patrolled with troops in Kandahar, Kunar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktika, Kunduz, Balkh, Nangarhar and other provinces.

What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by U.S. military leaders about conditions on the ground.

Entering this deployment, I was sincerely hoping to learn that the claims were true: that conditions in Afghanistan were improving, that the local government and military were progressing toward self-sufficiency. I did not need to witness dramatic improvements to be reassured, but merely hoped to see evidence of positive trends, to see companies or battalions produce even minimal but sustainable progress.

Instead, I witnessed the absence of success on virtually every level.

My arrival in country in late 2010 marked the start of my fourth combat deployment, and my second in Afghanistan. A Regular Army officer in the Armor Branch, I served in Operation Desert Storm, in Afghanistan in 2005-06 and in Iraq in 2008-09. In the middle of my career, I spent eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve and held a number of civilian jobs — among them, legislative correspondent for defense and foreign affairs for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

As a representative for the Rapid Equipping Force, I set out to talk to our troops about their needs and their circumstances. Along the way, I conducted mounted and dismounted combat patrols, spending time with conventional and Special Forces troops. I interviewed or had conversations with more than 250 soldiers in the field, from the lowest-ranking 19-year-old private to division commanders and staff members at every echelon. I spoke at length with Afghan security officials, Afghan civilians and a few village elders.

I saw the incredible difficulties any military force would have to pacify even a single area of any of those provinces; I heard many stories of how insurgents controlled virtually every piece of land beyond eyeshot of a U.S. or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) base.

I saw little to no evidence the local governments were able to provide for the basic needs of the people. Some of the Afghan civilians I talked with said the people didn’t want to be connected to a predatory or incapable local government.

From time to time, I observed Afghan Security forces collude with the insurgency.

via Truth, lies and Afghanistan – February 2012 – Armed Forces Journal – Military Strategy, Global Defense Strategy.

 

31 January 1968: Tet Offensive began in South Vietnam Tuesday, Jan 31 2012 

Hero and History and Military and Military History and Truth and US Air Force and US Army and US Marines and US Navy and Veterans , , , 1IDVET 14:34

Let’s not forget our brothers-in-arms from Vietnam. To those that served thank you. To those that died, rest in peace. All gave some, some gave all.

This day in history:

On January 31, 1968, some 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive (named for the lunar new year holiday called Tet), a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam. General Vo Nguyen Giap, leader of the Communist People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), planned the offensive in an attempt both to foment rebellion among the South Vietnamese population and encourage the United States to scale back its support of the Saigon regime. Though U.S. and South Vietnamese forces managed to hold off the Communist attacks, news coverage of the offensive (including the lengthy Battle of Hue) shocked and dismayed the American public and further eroded support for the war effort. Despite heavy casualties, North Vietnam achieved a strategic victory with the Tet Offensive, as the attacks marked a turning point in the Vietnam War and the beginning of the slow, painful American withdrawal from the region.

More

 

A Victory for Free Speech… Wednesday, Jan 25 2012 

First Amendment and Government and Military and Political Correctness and Politics and US Marines , , , , 1IDVET 13:15

Too bad it took a federal judge to tell the Marine Corps that they can’t stifle free speech. Funny thing is, they are sworn to defend the Constitution, yet violate it at all in the name of not offending the enemy.
At least this one was overturned for the stupidity that it really was. Diversity and political correctness will be the end of this nation. Even the French, German and Italians realized that diversity has ruined their countries. Too bad we can’t learn from their mistakes.

Marine base can’t censor criticism of Muhammad

A federal judge has permanently banned officials at Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina from censoring bumper stickers and window decals critical of Islam and its prophet, Muhammad.

The ruling came in the case of a civilian employee who had served 25 years in the Marines including two combat tours in Vietnam before he retired.

Jesse Nieto lost his youngest son, Marc, in the Oct. 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole by Islamic terrorists and subsequently carried bumper stickers and decals critical of the violence of Islam, including “We died, they rejoiced,” “Islam = Terrorism” and a picture of Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes cartoon fame, urinating on a cartoon illustration of Muhammad.

The camp base ordered the criticisms of Islam censored, and when Nieto refused, brought court action against him.

Yesterday’s ruling from Senior U.S. District Judge Malcom J. Howard reversed the order.

via Marine base can’t censor criticism of Muhammad.

 

U.S. Military Rescues Distressed Iranians At Sea Again! Tuesday, Jan 10 2012 

Humor and Military and Politics and US Navy , , , , 1IDVET 12:08

Twice in one week. Wow.

Despite Iranian threats warning the U.S. Navy to keep its distance from the Strait of Hormuz, for the second time in a week the U.S. military has rescued distressed Iranian mariners in the Gulf waters.

In the early morning hours of January 10th the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Monomoy responded to flares fired from the Iranian cargo dhow, Ya-Hussayn, which was experiencing engine troubles 50 miles off the coast of Iraq.

Monomoy launched their small boat and rescued two men off the dhow and four others tied to a life raft off the stern.

In all, six Iranians were taken off the boat, one of whom is being treated for severe burns he suffered in the engine room, according to Pentagon Spokesman George Little. All of the men were provided water, blankets, and halal meals and were later transferred to the Iranian Coast Guard vessel Naji 7.

via U.S. Military Rescues Distressed Iranians At Sea For Second Time | Fox News.

 

PTSD and the Media… Friday, Jan 6 2012 

Lies and Media and Media Bias and Military and Veterans , , , , 1IDVET 13:45

PTSD and the lying ass media. Read this excellent article from VAntage Point…

The Mt. Rainier Shooting and PTSD: How the Media Got It Wrong

The massacre at Ft. Hood two years ago stunned the nation in its cold-blooded calculation. The high body count was just as shocking as the fact soldiers were killed not in combat, but on the grounds of a military installation. Before the slain soldiers were buried, many in the media speculated on a link between combat stress and the shooting, the correlation being that war trauma had driven a soldier to commit those crimes.

When news reports finally explained that Nidal Hasan hadn’t deployed during his Army career, the narrative shifted to secondary PTSD. The thought was that his work as a psychiatrist could have caused it. The reality, however, was that Hasan’s personal beliefs about the United States and the military were among the chief motivations behind the killings. Taken together, the prevailing narrative from those early reports—intentional or not—was this: Post-traumatic stress is a strong factor in violent crimes, and anyone who has deployed to a combat zone is capable of the same.

That narrative—fairly common since John Rambo hit movie screens in 1982—bubbled to the surface once again with the killing of Park Ranger Margaret Anderson on January 1st by Benjamin Colton Barnes, a 24 year-old Iraq Veteran. Within hours of the Rainier shooting, journalists and writers clamored to mention Barnes’ war record, combat stress, and even his duty station in a dizzying effort to find a connection:

via The Mt. Rainier Shooting and PTSD: How the Media Got It Wrong | VAntage Point.

 

U.S. Navy Rescues Iranian Sailors… Friday, Jan 6 2012 

Humor and Military and US Navy , , , , , 1IDVET 11:33

Irony is dish that is best served, delicious…

(CNN) — U.S. sailors from a carrier strike group whose recent presence in the Persian Gulf drew the ire of Iranian military officials have rescued 13 of the Middle Eastern country’s sailors from a hijacked fishing boat, a military spokesman said Friday.

The destroyer USS Kidd came to the aid of the ship Thursday in the North Arabian sea, near the crucial Strait of Hormuz, according to the Navy.

The rescue prompted the captain of the freed ship to offer his “sincere gratitude,” according to Josh Schminky, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service agent aboard the Kidd.

“He was afraid that without our help, they could have been there for months,” said Schminky

The rescue Thursday came two days after Iran said the United States should not send any more warships into the Persian Gulf.

via U.S. Navy rescues Iranian sailors – CNN.com.

 

The Diversity Platoon… Tuesday, Dec 20 2011 

Axis of Idiots and Democrats and Military and Neo-Marxists and Political Correctness and Politics and Socialism and Stupid People and Truth and WTF Files , , 1IDVET 11:52

This is an absolute must read. If like me, you think diversity is a whole steaming pile of bullshit heaped upon the masses through political correctness and is now creeping into the Armed Forces, then you have got to read this. Diversity will kill the military as a trusted institution.

The Current Situation

Forty years ago, the American military was held in great contempt by the public it served. The feeling was returned in roughly equal measure. We have since gone from mutual disdain to the point that the military polls as the nation’s most trusted institution. Those who first accomplished the turnaround were the very Vietnam and often WWII or Korean War or both veterans who had been lied about and spit upon. The vehicle that enabled them to make the change is erroneously called The All Volunteer Force AVF. In reality, it’s the “All Recruited Force.”

Those who molded the AVF pursued the single minded goal of improved war fighting capabilities. Those who followed them continued that pursuit…until, most unfortunately, relatively recently. The war fighting goal and most trusted institution status are now in danger of being buried under dual avalanches of operational commitments and political correctness, including the loudly proclaimed virtue of “diversity.”

via Free Range International » THE DIVERSITY PLATOON.

 

Army Versus Air/Sea Battle | Wings Over Iraq Wednesday, Dec 14 2011 

Military and Politics and US Air Force and US Army and US Marines and US Navy , , , , , 1IDVET 14:50

Excellent post on the coming conflict with China over at Wings Over Iraq. You do know that it is inevitable, right?

Anyway, good read.

The Army is infiltrating a way in – and on a direct challenge – to the “AirSea Battle” concept.

The world’s ‘s largest ocean at first glance seems kinda – all wet – for land forces. So far, only Air Force and Navy have best capitalized on concerns over China, with the 2 highest-tech services putting forward a joint approach to controlling the Western Pacific that they call “AirSea Battle.” (The name, ironically, is a tribute to the influential Army-Air Force “AirLand Battle” concept of the 1980s).

With the goal of revising its guiding “Capstone Concept” document early next year, This We’ll Defend has kicked off a series of conferences on its role after Afghanistan. At the first event, at the end of October, a conclave of experts addressing “alternative futures” for the year 2020 repeatedly highlighted the rise of China. But both the participants and the generals hosting them seemed vague on what the Army could actually do about it.

The argument here is that the Air Force and Navy have fixated on the parts of the China problem that are most suitable to their high-priced, high-tech systems – the clash between aircraft, warships, submarines, and electronic networks to secure or deny access to the Western Pacific – while they have ignored other aspects that the Army is best suited to address.

via Army Versus Air/Sea Battle | Wings Over Iraq.

 

CRS: Afghanistan Casualties – Military and Civilians… Thursday, Dec 1 2011 

Afghanistan and Military and Terrorism and Truth , , 1IDVET 07:41

The CRS has released the casualties numbers for Afghanistan.
The last two years have been the worst.

Afghanistan Casualties – Military and Civilians

 

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