Navy Orders LCS-Barely

Tired of waiting on Congress, the Navy used some budget tricks to order its new Littoral Combat Ship for a 2006 start. From Defense News:

Because the rules that govern R&D spending are more lenient than those for ordinary procurement, the service was able to begin building a new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in October even though the 2006 defense authorization and appropriations bills have yet to pass Congress or be signed by the president.
When the Navy signed a $223 million construction contract with General Dynamics on Oct. 14, congressional budget watchdogs and even some lawmakers wondered whether the service had overstepped its authority by agreeing to buy a ship before it had money in hand to do so.

The Navy seemed to break the rules, but this proved not the case:

First, money allocated for research and development is not as closely tied to specific programs as is money allocated for procurement, the aide explained. That’s because the cost of research and development projects are harder to predict than the cost of established programs due to their experimental nature. To compensate for that uncertainty, the services are given greater latitude to spend R&D money as they see fit.
Thus, the Navy does not need specific authorization to buy an LCS if it is using R&D money for the purchase.

Its a shame we're reduced to tricks to get warships built, but whatever it takes!

Media Aids the Terrorists

A bold statement from a senior military official in Iraq. He says what everyone is thinking:

Despite a desperate media battle in Iraq, terrorists are failing to stop Iraqis from advancing on the political and security fronts, a senior military official in Baghdad told reporters Oct. 30.
"To the terrorists, the media is a vital force multiplier," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, director of strategic communications for Multinational Force Iraq during a briefing at the Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad.
That's why terrorists targeted Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, a base for many media outlets, during an Oct. 24 car bombing, Alston said. He called the bombing a signature al Qaeda attack, set to inflict as much death and destruction as possible while guaranteeing maximum media coverage.

Even the enemy admits as much:

A letter from al Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, reflects that desperation, Alston said. Intelligence operatives intercepted the letter before it reached its intended recipient, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the main leader of terrorists in Iraq.
"We are in a media battle in a race for the hearts and minds of the (followers of Islam)," Zawahiri wrote, acknowledging that it's al Qaeda's only hope of success in Iraq.

Also read Soldiers and the American Media via American Thinker. Quote:

"As a soldier my concern is that while Americans enjoy their freedom of speech and freedom of the press they are inadvertently weakening our defenses, damaging our nation, and negatively influencing the frontline soldiers that continue to ensure their freedoms. "

Remembering Suez

On October 29 1956, Israel invaded Egypt, and thus began the Suez Crisis:

On October 29, 1956, Israeli troops invaded Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and quickly overcame opposition as they raced for Suez. The next day, Britain and France, following their part of the script, offered to temporarily occupy the Canal Zone and suggested a 10 mile buffer on either side which would separate the Egyptian forces from the Israelis. Nasser of course refused, and on October 31, Egypt was attacked and invaded by the military forces of Britain and France. In response to these developments, the Soviet Union, which at the time was ruthlessly suppressing an anti-Communist uprising in Hungary, threatened to intervene on Egypt's behalf. President Eisenhower of the United States pressured Britain, France and Israel into agreeing to a cease-fire and eventual withdrawal from Egypt.

France quit NATO, Britain abandoned its empire, and radical Arab nationalism began and continues to this day. Meanwhile Russia was invading Hungary and the Cold War continued. Way to go Ike!

Preachin' Prince Charles

From the Washington Times:

Charles to target U.S. attitude toward Islam

Prince Charles will try to convince President Bush of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11, 2001. The prince, who leaves tomorrow for an eight-day tour of the United States, has voiced private concerns over Washington's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate what he regards as Islam's strengths.
..."I find the language and rhetoric coming from America too confrontational," the prince said, according to one leader at the meeting. It is understood that Prince Charles did not -- and does not -- believe that the actions of 19 hijackers should tarnish the reputation of hundreds of millions of law-abiding Muslims
around the world.

My advice to Prince Charlie is head to the Arab states and question their intolerance of Christianity and Western ideals, women's rights, ect., ect.

On the Blogs

Austin Bay has a Word to the White House, on Scooter Libby and a Tough Look at New Orleans

Thomas Barnett discusses Iraqi TV

Murdoc on the Rascist Twins (with photos!)

Winds of Change on the Media Hotel Bombing plus the Littoral Combat Ship and George Galloway

Blogs for Bush reveals Left-Wing Hypocrisy and on Harriet Miers , and says the Democrats are Running Scared

Michelle Malkin tells us What the Times Lift Out

Powerline also on the Palestine Hotel blast

La Shawn Barber has Killer Blogs , Harriet Miers, and Condoleezza's Photo

BRAC: Why Congress Doesn't Get It

The folks on Capitol Hill seem to think it a disaster when a military base closes in their congressional district. This is why why have independent reviews like the BRAC Commission. Yet they still fight it tooth-and-nail says Thomas Barnett:

Here's the painful rub on that one: time and time again when bases close, the local economy does better in the long run without them. Huge tracts of new land enter the market, both residential and commercial (to include industrial), and our private sector knows no bounds in its cleverness in generating new wealth from these opportunities previously held off-limits. Smart communities welcome base closures, knowing the short-term pain will be surpassed by the long-term gain.
So, sometimes the world's last centrally-planned economy, known as the Pentagon, gets it right (privatization of unneeded infrastructure).

Iraqi Army Leads the Way

From CentCom on the recent Constitutional Referendum in Iraq:

As nearly 10 million Iraqi citizens went to the polls to vote on the Constitutional Referendum Oct. 15, the day also marked a milestone in the Iraqi Army’s growing responsibility for the nation’s security.
Coalition Forces remained on call to support the Iraqi Army if needed during the Referendum.
“Every time we go out, we try to stay prepared,” said Sgt. Justin Kerns, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. “We don’t know if things are going to happen, but if they do, we are ready for them.”

...The Iraqi Army did their job at the polling sites while the Coalition Forces patrolled outer perimeters, and the day passed mostly without incident.
“The Iraqi Army really performed well, manning their positions and providing security,” said Spc. Brandon Castleberry, 1/11th ACR. “They did a good job of keeping the elections safe from incident.”
Soldiers said Oct. 15 was one more step forward in providing a free and democratic Iraq for the people.

National Budget Simulation Game

This is fun. I cut the budget deficit by $500 billion!

Dates to Remember

The next couple of weeks may be tough in Iraq according to Strategypage:

Dates to Consider. The next week will see to important dates in the Islamic religious calendar, which might be used by terrorists to grab headlines.
· October 30-31: the “Night of Power,” the holiest day in the Islamic faith, commemorating God’s revelation of the Koran to Mohammed.
· November 3-6: “Eid al Fitr,” the festival celebrating the end of Ramadan.

The president said things will be hard as Iraq grows in its new Constitution. Lets not let our sacred dead to have died in vain!

Also read This: Americans won't let Democrats lose Iraq

Nuke Carrier to Japan, and the "Jiei-gun"

Japan has reversed a decades old decision not to allow US nuclear vessels in its home waters:

Japan is to allow a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be stationed in its waters for the first time.
The vessel will replace the USS Kitty Hawk, the US Navy's oldest active ship, when it is decommissioned in 2008.
Although US troops have been based in Japan since the end of World War II, public opinion there has long been wary of a nuclear presence.

In a related story, Japanese lawmakers are proposing to revise its Constitution for a more agressive military role:

Japan should possess a military not just to defend itself, a role to which it has been restricted for nearly 60 years, but to play a greater role in global security, the main ruling party said on Friday.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party proposed revising the country's pacifist constitution, which has not been changed since it was written by U.S. Occupation authorities just after World War Two.

Under the LDP proposal, the 240,000 member Self-Defence Force (Jiei-tai) would be renamed "Jiei-gun". The phrase translates as the same in English, but the word "gun" makes clear it is a military force.

I think this is inevitable. What other economic superpower has sat on its laurels and allowed someone else to defend it? We sat behind the safety of the Royal Navy for most of the 19th Century, but when our time came...

House OKs BRAC

Whew! This had me worried. Some lawmakers will do anything to keep the money flowing to their districts. They may say its for defense, but the taxpayers know better!

The House voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to reject a last-ditch effort to halt the military base-closure process, bringing a relatively quiet end to an often raucous, six-month process.
On a 324-85 vote, the House defeated a joint resolution sponsored by Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., that would have disapproved the independent Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission's final recommendations. Already endorsed by President Bush, the recommendations -- which include the closure of 22 major military facilities and the realignment of 33 others -- are now expected to become law.

From $900 Hammers to...

Congress is trying to cut $2 million from a Navy study on "No Flush" toilets. I'm not kidding:

The House wants to divert $2 million in the Navy's fiscal 2006 operations accounts to boost a rapidly growing Michigan environmental technology firm that markets itself as the "world leader for waterfree urinals."
In an unpublicized portion of the House version of the fiscal 2006 Defense appropriations bill, lawmakers added a conservation initiative that would pay for a Navy study exploring the use of "no flush" urinals. Advocates say the product could save thousands of gallons of water onboard ships and at military installations where water is scant.

Water is scant on ships? As for the Army, whatever happened to the good ole outhouse? This high-tech stuff has gone too far!

China's "Joint" Problem

This is an analysis of the recent and highly-publicized maneuvers between Russi and China, from Strategypage:

With much fanfare, China and Russia recently held, for the first time in about a generation, “combined” military exercises, in the Amur region. The exercise was more for the publicity, than the military, value. So journalists were allowed a lot of access to the operation, especially in headquarters. This is unusual, especially for the secretive (especially on military matters) Chinese. The maneuvers were hardly “combined,” as there was no unified command. Chinese and Russian troops operated cooperatively, but never actually interacted very much. Russian observers with the Chinese reported that the PLA has little “joint” capability.

...What this all shows is that the Chinese have a way to go before they possess a world class military. The hyped up headlines in the media (and Pentagon budget requests) represent a future threat that is not here yet, and may take a long, long time in arriving.

I for one am glad to see this, as I consider China a threat, but not a major threat to America. Mainly because to get to us, the Reds would have to go through other Asian powers, such as Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. The Pentagon likes to worry about China, or make you worry, to justify increasingly expensive weapons such as fighters, supercarriers, and nuclear subs. To them, its always the war they want, not the war we get. Remember Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq?

Miers Withdraws

Though I'm disappointed in the loss for President Bush, I'm consoled by the fact that its a win for conservatives. Wasn't it amazing how the Democrats have been left out of the debate altogether? One thing that disturbed me was something that appeared in the news yesterday from a 1993 speech by Miers:

In a 1993 speech to a Dallas women's group, Miers talked about abortion, the separation of church and state, and how the issues play out in the legal system. "The underlying theme in most of these cases is the insistence of more self-determination," she said. "And the more I think about these issues, the more self-determination makes sense."

I know people do change, but it would be better to nominate someone with a consistent conservative judicial view. Even Reagan was fooled by Sandra O'Connor, so don't fault Bush too much.

Update- Murdoc discusses the "New Coke" theory.

"Overmatch" is the Word

From Spacewar comes a new description of our future warfighting strategy:

The military is not interested in fairness when it comes to warfighting, a senior Navy officer said here Tuesday. 'Overmatch' is what we want in the future joint force," Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard, vice chief of naval operations, told attendees at the Defense News Media Group's annual Joint Warfare Conference.
"We're not interested in a fair fight, but rather one in which we, and our coalition partners, dominate every domain across every phase of war."
"Overmatch" is a word coined by the Joint Forces Command's lessons-learned team after major Operation Iraqi Freedom combat operations to describe the advantage the United States and its coalition partners had over the conventional Iraqi armed forces.

It Fell From the Sky!

I'm not kidding, this lady is my 1st cousin. From WIS News:

Bowman woman reports object that apparently fell from F-15E Strike Eagle

(Bowman) Oct. 25, 2005 - A pylon ejector foot caused a stir Monday night when it ended up falling onto a Bowman woman's property.
Monday night around 7pm a homeowner Cindy Williams was startled from her house when she heard a loud noise outside.
Williams says a canister came through her carport, hit the top of her Tahoe and ricocheted off, shattering her window, "It was like, Ka-Pow! It sounded like something fell. There was a big crash, broken glass. I was thinking, 'What is that?'"
The SLED bomb squad was called to the scene, as well as the Bowman Police Department.
Air Force officials later identified the object as a pylon ejector foot, a six-inch cylindrical piece of metal used to aid in the launch of missiles from the aircraft. They say an F-15E Strike Eagle from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base near Fayetteville accidentally dropped the object when it was training over Bowman Monday.

Defense Cuts Loom Pt. 2

This from DefenseTech, on what I reported earlier:

Now, the Pentagon is "looking to cut between $13 billion and $15 billion from the U.S. Department of Defense's 2007 budget," Defense News notes. And after all those billions spent on Katrina and on another year in Iraq, there are indications that the men in uniform might be a little less reluctant about paring back their budgets this time around.

Of the weapons planned for cutting, I most disappointed in the Marines F-35B decision. This V/STOL is needed desperately to replace antiquated Harriers, and also the AF A-10 Warthogs. Both these system have been invaluable for close air support throughout the Terror War, in contrast to super carriers and nuclear subs.

Lord Haw Haw Busted-Updated

Britain's George Galloway, often called Terror's Lord Haw Haw, has been busted in the Oil-For-Food scandal, says NewsMax:

An anti-war British lawmaker gave false testimony to Congress when he denied receiving U.N. oil-for-food allocations from deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a Senate investigative panel said Monday.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., chairman of the subcommittee, and his investigators presented evidence that they say shows British lawmaker George Galloway's political organization and his wife received nearly $600,000 from the oil allocations.

Is anyone really surprised at this?

Update- Austin Bay's take on the story.

Bush's Strategy

In a speech today given before military spouses, President Bush outlined a 5 point strategy to defeat the terrorists:

1. First, we're determined to prevent the attacks of terrorist networks before they occur.
2. Second, we're determined to deny weapons of mass destruction to outlaw regimes, and to the terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation.
3. Third, we're determined to deny radical groups the support and sanctuary of outlaw regimes.
4. Fourth, we're determined to deny the militants control of any nation, which they would use as a home base and launching pad for terror.
5. The fifth element of our strategy in the war on terror is to deny the militants of future recruits by replacing hatred and resentment with democracy and hope across the broader Middle East.

In the same speech, Bush repeatedly referred to Iran and Syria as sponsors of terrorism. He gave a particularly curt warning to Syria:

Syria is destabilizing Lebanon, permitting terrorists to use its territory to reach Iraq, and giving safe harbor to Palestinian terrorist groups. The United Nations has passed strong resolutions against terror. Now the United Nations must act -- and Syria and its leaders must be held accountable for their continuing support for terrorism, including any involvement in the murder of Prime Minister Hariri.

Bush's War?

Its a common theme among liberals and the MSM that President Bush led the country to war in Iraq on false information. In other words "he lied" they submit. The so called "Leakgate" involving the White House vs Judith Miller and the New York Times is revealing some interesting facts about how we really went to war. Believe it or not, Robert Kagan at the Washington Post is pointing the finger back at the media:

It is that the Times, along with The Post and other news organizations, ran many alarming stories about Iraq's weapons programs before the election of George W. Bush. A quick search through the Times archives before 2001 produces such headlines as

"Iraq Has Network of Outside Help on Arms, Experts Say"(November 1998),

"U.S. Says Iraq Aided Production of Chemical Weapons in Sudan"(August 1998),

"Iraq Suspected of Secret Germ War Effort" (February 2000),

"Signs of Iraqi Arms Buildup Bedevil U.S. Administration" (February 2000),

"Flight Tests Show Iraq Has Resumed a Missile Program" (July 2000). (A somewhat shorter list can be compiled from The Post's archives, including a September 1998 headline: "Iraqi Work Toward A-Bomb Reported.")

I remember all the info on Saddam's WDM threat coming from the press in the 1990's. Can we along with the left forget the ongoing struggle between Iraq and Clinton throughout his term, and from the beginning? I think the media hopes we have.

Hunter Boxes for Iraq

This is a neat new armored gun truck for US troops in Iraq, named after a Congressman. From National Defense Magazine:

The gun-truck kit was dubbed “Hunter Box” after Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who earmarked funds for the project. Researchers at California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory designed the kit.
To date, some 31 trucks have been outfitted with the armor protection kits and added to U.S. convoys. In recent weeks, the Army has allocated $2 million, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency $1.5 million to produce gun-box armor kits for 80 more trucks, said a Lawrence Livermore spokesman.

New Dawn in Iraq

An editorial from the Toronto Sun says:

Never before -- anywhere in the Arab world -- has a population participated freely and willingly in the shaping of its government as Iraqis are doing -- despite the tremendous violence directed against them by bloody-minded insurgents. Never, in the 1,400 years of Islam, has an Arab-Muslim despot been brought into a court of justice to answer for crimes of rape, torture and murder of people under him.
This is a uniquely riveting moment in Arab-Muslim history, and everyone in the region is mesmerized by the events occurring in Iraq.

Amen, but there are pundits:

then there is the Paris-Berlin axis, whose politicians and opinion-makers remain alert to denigrate the sacrifices of others in expanding liberty's frontiers...
There is also the mainstream lib-left media in North America whose instincts are to bury or tear down anyone or anything that has a whiff of nobility or goodness in it.
Moreover, in the realm of blinkered thinking and political fiction inhabited by the likes of Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore and their supporters, America has never done any good, and any faults of the likes of Saddam, Fidel Castro or Robert Mugabe can readily be attributed to some "root causes" originating in the perfidy of Anglo-American imperialism.

Too bad. Let them whine. Life is good.

A More Potent Presidency

Legal scholar John Yoo says a firmer hand is needed to fight the War on Terror, and in a new book, declares its legal according to the framers of the Constitution. Read this:

IN JOHN YOO'S world, President Bush didn't need to ask Congress for permission to invade Iraq. And if the special forces captured a terrorist suspect who might know of an upcoming attack on the New York subway, Bush could order him placed on a torture rack-regardless of treaties the US has signed or whether Congress had passed laws banning torture.

Yet Yoo, for his part, says he's offering a fresh look at constitutional history that not only reflects the framers' ideas, but also better mirrors the reality of modern history than does mainstream international law. ''There are these areas-war powers, treaties-in which academics all say one thing, and then presidents, Congress, and the courts all do something that is opposite," he said in a recent interview. His book tries to explain why the people he describes as ''my friends in international law" get so many things wrong.

I agree that if we are going to win the war, we need a to get a lot tougher than we are. This crying everytime a terrorist is reported abused, and constant criticism from the left, can only hurt our cause in the long run.

View From the Other Side

We're always trying to educate the muslims on democracy. Maybe we can learn a few things from them. NewsBusters has this article from someone named "Alex":

His observations come from a childhood raised in Islam, carefully studying us from a distant vantage point and applying a genius-level IQ to define what he sees;

AMERICA’S BORDERS: America is being diluted by people who are lazy and dumbing her down. They aren’t coming to you with anything to add, only everything to take. You have absolutely no control over who enters and who doesn’t, so you can’t tell if someone will be an asset or a liability to you...

YOUR MEDIA: I don’t understand this area of America at all. They seem intent on anything and everything that belittles and destroys the foundations of your country. They never support your wars or your soldiers—at least not since Vietnam—and deliberately only cover stories that will turn the world against you and get your men killed...

EDUCATION: Go to any major university and look at their roster of professors and graduate students in any of the science or math fields. You won’t find an American name in any of them, or at least very very few...

ISLAM, COMMUNISM, AND OTHER ENEMIES OF AMERICA: I know you’re all about freedom, but how could you allow Iraq to even consider a constitution that makes Islam the law of the land? We are starting to think you are insane!

Read the whole thing. We might learn something.

What We Won

Blogs for Bush has this piece on what America has gained from the Iraq War. In a nutshell:

1. Our absolute resolve. No more Vietnams - the American military, once committed, stays until the job is done.

2. That the Arab/Moslems peoples of the world not only wants democratic self-rule, but are fully capable of exercising it.

3. That fighting for freedom is what America must always be about.

4. That our military is the most powerful military force ever created by the hand of man.

and:

This is, in large measure, President Bush's victory - and that is why we're not likely to bear much about this. President Bush, you see, proved them all wrong - all the critics have been absolutely and from start to finish wrong about President Bush's program in Iraq.

It Keeps Getting Better!

This is from the CentCom newsletter, which you can subscribe to here:

Election Comparison January 30th vs. October 15th
Registered voters - 14.3 million voters registered in Jan. vs. 15.6 million voters registered in Oct.
Numbers of polling centers 5,677 polling centers in Jan. vs. 5,852 polling centers in Oct. with most of the new centers going to Sunni regions.
* Al Anbar polling centers increased from 33 in Jan. to 171 in Oct. (indications are that more than 200,000 additional people voted in Anbar)
* Ninewah polling centers increased from 88 in Jan. to 230 in Oct. (nearly 400,000 more voted this time)
Poll worker applications increased from 110,000 in Jan. to 450,000 in Oct.
Total poll workers increased from 108,000 in Jan. to 171,000 in Oct.
- Early projections are that more than 60 percent voted (of registered)
Voting Rights Changes Since January
- Iraqi Security Forces guarding polling stations outside their provinces were allowed to vote
- U.S. held detainees that had not been convicted of a crime were allowed to vote
Election Security
- Total attacks in Iraq - 299 attacks on 30 Jan 05 vs. 89 Attacks on 15 Oct. 05
- Total polling place attacks - 108 attacks in 30 Jan 05 vs. 19 Attacks on 15 Oct. 05
- Total number of Civilians killed - 30 Deaths on 30 Jan 05 vs. 3 Deaths on 15 Oct. 05
* Overall 34 deaths on 30 Jan, 10 deaths 15 Oct.
- Total number of suicide bombers - 7 on 30 Jan vs. 0 On 15 Oct. 05
Security Forces
- Ministry of Interior Forces - 79,116 in January 05 vs. 106, 112 in October 05
- Ministry of Defense Forces - 56, 949 in January 05 vs. 93, 959 in October 05
Logistics
- MNF-I moved most of the materials in Jan; Iraqi contractors conducted most of the movement and logistics
- Voting supplies were moved into warehouses three days earlier than in January with no shortages of supplies reported (per IECI press conference)

Combat Hammer

Cool Raptor photos from a recent Air Force exercise.

Remembering Nelson

Today is the historic anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. From the Guardian:

Two hundred years after his finest achievement, what more is there to say about Horatio Nelson? Perhaps only this: that, as the sprawling, splendid Trafalgar bicentennial draws to a close, and the national hero is put back in his glass case until the next anniversary, it is clear that, even in the 21st century, Nelson endures.

...He does so because all his life - never more than in the mythic apotheosis of October 21 1805 - he rose to the occasion and, above all, because he was a brilliant naval strategist and a surprisingly caring leader - the lower deck adored him too.

Rove, Libby Cleared!

I thought I heard a deep and sustaining groan come from the Left Coast. From NewsMax:

Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has likely decided not to indict top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby based on allegations they "outed" CIA employee Valerie Plame, lawyers close to Fitzgerald's Leakgate investigation have told the New York Times.
Instead, the paper said, conflicting accounts given by Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby have been the focus of Mr. Fiztgerald's probe "almost from the start" - raising questions about whether the respected prosecutor continued his investigation after determining that no underlying crime had been committed.

...Instead, the Times said: "Among the charges that Mr. Fitzgerald is considering are perjury, obstruction of justice and false statement" - raising speculation that the Leakgate case may devolve into a Martha Stewart-like prosecution, which drew howls of derision from legal critics.

If the NYT is reporting good news about the White House, it must be true!

Defense Cuts Loom

I've been a doubter at times, but looks like the Pentagon may have little choice. From Wired News:

A Pentagon team on October 5 recommended several steps, such as canceling the DD(X) destroyer being developed by Northrop Grumman Corp.; cutting tactical air forces by nearly a third; further delaying the Army's Future Combat Systems program, led by Boeing Co.; building more fast sealift ships and submarines; and developing a new long-range bomber, according to sources familiar with the briefing.

Probably a few more big ticket items will be built, such as the Virginia subs, the F/A-22, and maybe even the CVN-21, but its doubtful the full programs can be sustained. What with the military fighting 2 wars overseas, and the Cold War legacy defense contractors like Boeing and Newport News unable to control costs, I'm surprised they made it this far.

DefenseTech is also reporting this.

Churchill and America

This is an interactive site by the Library of Congress on one of history's great leaders, and a hero of mine, Winston Churchill. Very good!

CentCom vs Burning Allegations

The MSM and anti-American pundits are at it again, criticizing an isolated incident by US troops, and naturally blowing it out of proportions. CentCom has issued a press release condemning the allegations:

CENTCOM CONDEMNS ALLEGATIONS OF DESECRATIONMacDill AFB, FL -- Recent media reports out of Afghanistan have alleged that U.S. forces were involved in an incident involving the desecration of the bodies of deceased enemy combatants.Under no circumstances does U.S. Central Command condone the desecration, abuse or inappropriate treatment of enemy combatants. Such actions are contrary to U.S. policy as well as the Geneva Convention.The Army Criminal Investigation Division has initiated an investigation into the alleged misconduct. Should that investigation uncover actions by U.S. personnel that were contrary to the Geneva Convention and U.S. policy, legal and disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Let Locals Lead

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, my personal choice for Prez in 2008, says that state and local government, not the federals, should take the lead in disaster relief:

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush delivered a stern message to Congress on Wednesday: State and local officials, not the federal government or the U.S. military, should have the primary responsibility for handling natural disasters..."I can say with certainty that federalizing emergency response to catastrophic events would be a disaster as bad as Hurricane Katrina,” Bush told the committee.

Here's why, he said:

Although Bush said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had done a good job coordinating the immediate response when four hurricanes hit Florida last year, he criticized FEMA’s actions during recovery.
He cited the agency’s "bureaucratic slowness” in securing long-term housing and loans, debris removal and reimbursement.

Army's Silent Hummer

New army vehicles are being built for stealth and quietness. The latest Humvee variant uses a hybrid diesel/electric engine much like a conventional sub, and is just as sneaky!

The Hybrid Electric Humvee, which can operate in silent mode on battery power alone, was run through a number of field assessments Sept. 26 to Oct. 3 by Soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky.Soldiers drove the Humvee for six miles on only battery power, convoyed in the hybrid (electric-diesel) mode, and used the vehicle’s electrical system to power a battalion tactical operations center...The hybrid vehicle is a bit heavier than a normal Humvee; it runs quiet on electric power and can go 10 kilometers on battery power alone, said Maj. John Williamson of the Soldiers Battle Lab at Fort Benning.

...In the silent electric mode, the vehicle crawls, and in the hybrid mode the throttle sometimes sticks at 25 miles per hour, he said.Soldiers liked the “Silent Watch” capability that allows the Humvee to set in a battle position at night and operate radios, battery chargers and other devices without the need to periodically run the engine to charge the battery, they said.

Skeptics Praise the Stryker!

Defense Industry Daily has a collection of interviews from military personnel who fought with the Stryker Armored vehicle in combat situations. I strongly suggest you read the whole thing but here are the highlights:

Col Robert Brown of 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry div: The Stryker's fantastic. It has incredible mobility, incredible speed. It has saved hundreds of my soldiers' lives. I'm telling you hundreds of their lives. We've been hit by 84 suicide VBIEDs [JK: car bombs] have hit Strykers, and I've had the greater majority of soldiers walk away without even a scratch.

A Russian analyst:We were hit by 115 RPGs hit Strykers over the year we had here, not one penetrated a Stryker, not one. Not any -- no machine gun fire penetrated a Stryker inside.

Maj. Nicholas Mullen on the Stryker's slat armor: I was here [at Fort Lewis] when they came up with the slat armor. Everybody's like, 'oh, it's a birdcage. It'll never do anything...I've seen it hit with multiple rocket-propelled grenades and keep going. I've seen it hit with vehicle-borne bombs that you wonder how anybody could have survived—and everybody walks away.

Iraq Constitution-On the Blogs

If you listen to the mainstream media, every success in Iraq means civil war is pending. Thank God for the alternate media, the bloggers. Here is a roundtable of some of the best:

Austin Bay, Kaafari echoes a sentiment I heard last year while serving on active duty in Iraq. Several Iraqis I spoke with told me they knew democracy was “our big chance.” One man said it was Iraq’s chance to “escape bad history.” To paraphrase a couple of other Iraqis: toppling Saddam and building a more open society was a chance “to enter the modern world.” .

Thomas Barnett As always, whenever the Bush administration helps to pull off an election in Iraq, you have to hand it to them. Poor job on occupation, no doubt, but this thing keeps muddling through.

Murdoc Online Hard to believe that the Shiites and Kurds would act in their own best interests. Oh. Wait. THAT'S THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS!

Blogs for Bush As I write this on Sunday evening, it appears certain that the Iraqi's, in a massive turn-out election, have approved their Constitution. The War on Terrorism still has a long way to go until victory, but the liberation of Iraq is, in the larger sense, complete.

Strategypage The successful referendum underscores just how impotent al Qaeda has become since the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Four years ago, al Qaeda was able to launch a coordinated attack that killed 3,000 people in the United States. Now, al Qaeda has proven unable to oppose the United States after American troops have liberated two countries in al Qaeda’s backyard.

Serious About Defense Cuts-NOT!!

In the House plan to cut unnecessary expenditures to pay for the recent hurricane disasters, only one defense program was singled out for termination, the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile saving about $148 million. Actually JASSM is about 1/3 cheaper than the Tomahawk cruise missile

Wish Congress would take a look at my proposed cuts, which would save billions!

The Dirt Navy

Here's more on the Navy's plan for its new naval infantry to complement its Brown Water Fleet idea:

Less formidable than SEAL commandos but more fierce than average swabbies, the hybrid sailor-soldiers would not elbow out Marines, said Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chief of naval operations. Marines are the Navy’s traditional combat troops, and blurring roles can be a touchy business in the rivalry-prone military....Under the blueprint announced in July, a number of sailors would “harden up” to fill the Marine void. The original concept called for a battalion-size force, or 600 to 800 sailors, but planners have been hammering out the nuts and bolts for months, and the reality could be much different.

But the Marines are worried:

his counterpart with the Marines – Gen. Michael W. Hagee – has questioned him repeatedly about its purpose.
“Gen. Hagee tells me he gets asked about it everywhere he goes by his Marines,” Mullen said.
Mullen stressed that the new force would not compete with the Marines but complement them.

Midshipmen "Sink" Aircraft Carrier

Recently in a wargame conducted by Navy midshipmen on 3 patrol craft, a simulated aircraft carrier protected by a "missile cruiser" was sent to the bottom by missiles:


Ensign Jeffrey Wilcox, who developed the war game scenario during a midshipman
research project, stood on the bridge. His YP was simulating a cruiser that was striving to
protect an aircraft carrier by firing guided missiles.
ET2 Ed Fox of the Small Craft Repair Department was aboard the YP that was playing
the part of an aircraft carrier under enemy fire from Professor David Stahl's YP. Fox was
taking evasive maneuvers to try to avoid damage.

...Stahl sunk the aircraft carrier and damaged the cruiser.

On several occasions here and here I mentioned how simple it was to sink an aircraft carrier, or at least put it out of action. China has been interested in just such a scenario since Pres. Bill Clinton deployed USS Independence during the Taiwan Straits Crisis in 1996.

Defense Costs Out of Control

Terry Pudas is interim director of the Pentagon's Office of Force Transformation. In a recent conference he had this to say about spiraling defense expenditures:

"We can no longer live with programs that take decades to develop," Pudas told defense and aerospace industry executives and investors attending a conference yesterday at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort.
"We don't want to be adversaries with industry," Pudas said in an interview following his luncheon speech. "But at the same time, we want to address some of these issues to the betterment of our national security."

As an example he gives the Navy's newest warship project, the DDX destroyer:

At a time when at least 80 countries possess anti-ship cruise missiles, Pudas said military planners are questioning the rationale for building a new fleet of Navy destroyers at a cost of $3.2 billion apiece.

Aussies Get US Warship Contract-Updated

Austal of Australia is set to build American Littoral Combat Ships according to this report:

WEST Australian shipbuilder Austal will announce today it has locked away its biggest and probably most significant single contract — a pioneer order worth about $135 million to build a new combat ship for the US Navy.
Austal called a trading halt in its shares over the weekend pending what it said was an expected finalisation this morning of the details of the contract for the Littoral Combat Ship.

...the Navy could require up to 82 of the vessels over the next 30 years, including 27 within the next decade.

82 LCS? Works for me, and lets hope, for the Navy! Austal builds those sleek catamarans called high-speed vessels, which recently supported Navy hurricane relief in the Gulf States. I say "in" the states cause theses frigate-size vessles cruised in inland waters where the big ships couldn't.

Update: Here is the official news release from Austal.

Punishing Success

Liberals hate success. Since Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, Republicans have been on an upswing of achievement, not just furthering their own agenda, but bringing America back to her glory days. In this article called "Criminalizing Conservatives", Bill Kristol puts things in perspective.

THE MOST EFFECTIVE CONSERVATIVE LEGISLATOR of--oh--the last century or so, Congressman Tom DeLay, was indicted last month for allegedly violating Texas campaign finance laws, and has vacated his position as House majority leader. The Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, is under investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for his sale of stock in the medical company his family started.

...Why are conservative Republicans, who control the executive and legislative branches of government for the first time in living memory, so vulnerable to the phenomenon of criminalization? Is it simple payback for the impeachment of Bill Clinton? Or is it a reflection of some deep malady at the heart of American politics? If criminalization is seen to loom ahead for every conservative who begins successfully to act out his or her beliefs in government or politics, is the project of conservative reform sustainable?

Democratic Myths

From the Washington Times is the article on a report from Democratic strategists, on why their parties lose elections:

Among the major points made in the study:
• "The myth of mobilization." Democrats are not going to be able to win with the old liberal orthodoxy by simply energizing the party's base and bringing voters "to the polls in record numbers." In an electorate "where conservatives outnumber liberals 3-2 and where ideology so closely predicts voting behavior, Democrats cannot win the game of 'base' ball."
• "The myth of demography." Democrats are fooling themselves if they think the population growth among major minorities such as Hispanics "will secure a Democratic majority for decades to come." "Along with rising Hispanic voter rolls has been a dramatic increase in Hispanic incomes, and these newly affluent voters behave more like the rest of the middle-class electorate."
• "The myth of prescription drugs is our shorthand for the proposition, which seems to bewitch Democratic political consultants, that Democrats can win present-day national elections by avoiding cultural issues, downplaying national security, and changing the subject to domestic issues such as health care, education and job security."

The study is called "the Politics of Polarization". Click on the link and scroll down fro the PDF file.

Cutbacks in Asia

From Spacewar.com comes a report warning against America withdrawing from Cold War era bases in Asia, fearing the military buildup of potential hostile states, such as China and North Korea. Hadn't we learned our lesson about fighting a land war in Asia?

The United States can ill afford cutbacks in military capabilities in Asia, warns a report on regional military needs as Washington plans to reduce dependence on bases and troops overseas.
The report by 14 experts assesses how Asian states are modernizing their military programs in response to China's rise as a regional power, counterterrorism, changes in US force posture and local security dilemmas.
Highlighting three possible "conflict" scenarios -- China-Taiwan war, strife on the Korean peninsula and nuclear catastrophe in South Asia -- Michael O'Hanlon, an arms control expert from The Brookings Institution, said the United States and Asian allies "must retain a wide range of military capabilities."

What these "experts" fail to understand is the power of modern weapons, such as smart bombs and cruise missiles, to take the place of troops in many circumstances. And didn't so called experts claim during the Cold War its time to let our allies, especially Japan, to stand on their own and defend themselves?

Recalling Suez

I heard alot of comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam. In Britain they are more familiar with the debacle of Suez in 1956. Read this:

One of the most paradoxical aspects of this bitter debate has been the constant references to Suez. The late Robin Cook described the Iraqi enterprise as the worst error in British foreign policy since Suez. Charles Kennedy used almost exactly the same words when addressing his own party conference a few weeks ago. Ken Clarke and Sir Malcolm Rifkind have each echoed this terminology in separate remarks to Conservative audiences.
Yet the evidence is that Suez was a military success but a political failure. Anglo-French soldiers put the Egyptian Air Force out of action with aplomb in 1956 and seized Port Said within 24 hours of landing there. But as a result of this action, Arab nationalism was fanned, not flattened.

I always considered it a shame Eisenhower didn't support the Brits and the French, while at the same time did nothing against the Russian invading Hungary. Afterwards of course, you had Nasser wanting to destroy Israel, the oil embargo, france leaving NATO. We musn't give up on an allie again!

"Crackdown, Not a Crackup!"

I disagree with Rush Limbaugh on the Harriet Miers nomination, which is one reason he wrote this Oped! Very stirring!

The real crackup has already occurred--on the left! The Democratic Party has been hijacked by 1960s retreads like Howard Dean; billionaire eccentrics like George Soros; and leftwing computer geeks like Moveon.org. It nominated John Kerry, a notorious Vietnam-era antiwar activist, as its presidential standard-bearer. Its major spokesmen are old extremists like Ted Kennedy and new propagandists like Michael Moore. Its great presidential hope is one of the most divisive figures in U.S. politics, Hillary Clinton. And its favorite son is an impeached, disbarred, held-in-contempt ex-president, Bill Clinton.

Whew!! You tell 'em Rush!

Millions More (or Less!)

From OpinionJournal on the Million More March:

It seems to us, though, that size does matter. If the Million Man March drew "hundreds of thousands" and the Millions More Movement only "thousands," that means this movement is shrinking exponentially--by two orders of magnitude in a scant 10 years.
The diminution of the Louis Farrakhan-led "Millions" is a welcome development. Among the "issues of the Millions More Movement" is this:
We demand full and complete Reparations for the descendants of slaves. We demand that America take the appropriate steps to help in the repair of the damage done from 300 years of slavery, 100 years of segregation, and 50 years of the misuse and abuse of governmental power to destroy Black organizations and leaders.
A Washington Post puff piece on Farrakhan notes that "the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast has become a rallying point"--and indeed, many observers predicted that Katrina would be a boon to the infantile politics of racial grievance. The failure of the Millions More Movement to draw a sizable audience suggests these predictions were wrong. For that, the country--and especially black Americans--can be grateful.

Were all his supporters in Toledo? Or maybe like the Iraqi's, they are tired of being bossed by tyrants!

President Bush's Legacy

Would any other President have stood the test of war to allow the current Iraqi elections to occur? Would the Party, who seems more interested in a pull-out than results, had they won in 2004? From OpinionJournal:

The reality is that President Bush's legacy will be judged on two things: whether America is successful in Iraq, and, if so, whether success in Iraq helps promote democracy and discourage terrorism elsewhere in the Arab and Muslim worlds.
If the former happens, history will recognize Bush as a near-great president; if the latter, as a great one. That's why Bush's foes in politics and in the media, here in America and overseas, have, with unseemly eagerness and impatience, embraced the idea that America is destined to fail in Iraq. And it is why they have to be feeling pretty blue after Saturday's successful constitutional referendum in Iraq.

Thank God for our brave troops, the Iraqi people, and our stalwart President!

The Last Manned Fighter

The Air force thinks we need a few UAVs, backed up by a huge manned fighter force. Actually, says Strategypage, its going the other way:

A major reason for the decline in demand for the F-35 is not rising costs, but smart bombs. It’s easier to deliver the new generation of satellite guided smart bombs via a heavy bomber (like the half century old B-52), than via the latest fighter-bomber. However, in the opening stages of a war, when the enemy still has some effective air defense weapons, sending in stealthy F-35s is a much safer, and certain, way to go. But even that appears to be old-school, with more capable UAVs entering service. Why risk an F-35 and a pilot, when you can send in unmanned aircraft. Then you can bring in the “bomb trucks” (B-52, B-1, B-2) to deliver the smart bombs. For these reasons, many believe the F-35 will be the last manned combat aircraft. Not because of the high cost, but because robots do it better.

Pentagon Propaganda?

Last night Showbiz Tonight discussed the possibility that The Pentagon Channel is conducting propaganda and may be breaking the law. What gets me, is the MSM has been the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party for decades, and they get off scott free. Thanks goodness for sites like News Busters, which has a transcript of the silly report.

Building the Future Fleet

Navy CNO Mike Mullen released his "2006 Guidance for the Navy" yesterday. Here are his top priorities for the future fleet:

• Sustain combat readiness … with the right combat capabilities -- access, speed, agility, adaptability, persistence, awareness and lethality -- for the right cost.
• Build a fleet for the future … balanced, rotational, forward deployed and surge capable of the proper size and mix of capabilities to empower our enduring and emerging partners, deter our adversaries and defeat our enemies.
• Develop 21st Century leaders … through a transformed manpower, personnel, training and education organization that better competes for the talent our country produces and creates the conditions in which the full potential of every man and woman serving our Navy can be achieved.

You can read the whole thing in pdf here.

Honest News

Updated Honest News:

Links to positive stories about America & the War on Terror. Updated regularly!

Mach 7 for Naval Gun

SeaPower magazine is reporting this, but the Navy is getting hush-hush:

The rail gun, which fires projectiles by drawing them through the barrel by a massive current of electromagnetic energy, offers advantages that are revolutionary in naval gunnery. Ranges never before dreamed of for naval artillery — 200 to perhaps 300 nautical miles — would be possible, enabling sustained strikes far inland in any weather.
With no need for explosive propellant charges, ship and crew safety is considerably enhanced. Catastrophic magazine explosions would no longer be possible, for example. Logistics would be simplified without the need to handle propellant charges and more rounds could be stored in a magazine.
The rail gun concept is not new and, until recently, was discussed openly by the Navy. The service, however, has tightened discussion of the subject.

From Blue to Green Navy

As I reported earlier, the Navy is claiming it wants to shift from a force geared to deep sea fighting, to one more relevant for warfare inshore. We've heard this before but the New Chief sounds serious:

Adm. Michael Mullen, the chief of naval operations, said he envisioned the Navy operating not just in the "blue water" of the deep oceans, but also in the "green water" close to shore and the "brown water" of rivers.
Mullen said his proposal to create a "Navy combat battalion" that would conduct a variety of missions ashore was still a concept, but said he was establishing a Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, to be led by a rear admiral, that would direct and coordinate such inland operations.
He also repeated an earlier proposal to create a Navy river combat force, perhaps similar to the gunboats the Navy operated in Vietnam or the smaller armed motorboats the Marines now use for river missions.

He still sounds to me like a traditional big ship advocate, but I guess he's trying:

But Mullen expressed his strong support for the list of new ships and aircraft proposed by his predecessor, Adm. Vern Clark, all of which are being challenged because of high price tags, risky technology or, in some cases, over whether they are even needed.
He specifically endorsed the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS); the DD(X) land-attack destroyer; CVN-21, the next generation aircraft carrier, and the Joint Strike Fighter.

This is Just Wrong

I don't need actors to convince me we're doing a great job for the Iraqi people and for Freedom. From NewsMax:

Bush's 'Talk' with Troops in Iraq Staged

It was billed as a conversation with U.S. troops, but the questions President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution.
"This is an important time," Allison Barber, deputy assistant defense secretary, said, coaching the soldiers before Bush arrived. "The president is looking forward to having just a conversation with you."

The Zawahiri Letter Pt. 2

I was asked by CentCom if I would post a link to the Zawahiri-Zarqawi letter. Here's the full letter in English, and here is the military analysis.

If you would like to subscribe to the Centcom Newsletter, and get up to date and accurate reports on the War on Terror, go here.

Donkey Man

Staff Sgt. Matthew Sheppard from the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, patrols Lwar Kowndalan, Afghanistan by donkey. See story here.

Spc. Daniel Boyle spotted the old man as he led a team of donkeys up a hill in the distance. Boyle realized the donkeys might be the solution to A Co’s transportation problem. He beckoned the man over and began to negotiate. They reached an agreement, and soon each donkey was loaded with a bundle of supplies and was ready to move out. Staff Sgt. Matthew Sheppard mounted the lead donkey and with a gentle jab he spurred the animal forward. “On a mission like that, you never know what situation you’re going to find yourself in. That’s why we just try to stay flexible and make the most out of whatever breaks we get,” said Shaw.

Raptor Vs Super Hornet

I'm a big supporter of warfare off-the shelf. Why not buy new models of old weapons and team them with new precision wepons which are being constantly produced, much faster than the Cold War style tanks, carriers, and fighters. Here's an article supporting my point:

*The Raptor program divided and distributed the work equally among three contractor teams, whereas the Super Hornet team was focused mostly on one.

*The Raptor program allowed concurrent technology development, whereas the Super Hornet managers sought incremental improvements to reduce risk.

*Super Hornet managers set up a larger management cash reserve for development problems than the Raptor leaders.

The Iraqi's in Action

I get most of my War on Terror news from government sources, the links of which you can get on the right. I am increasingly amazed at the amount of action Iraqi troops are undergoing, and the lack of reporting from the MSM. This is from Strategypage:

Despite the controversy over independent operations certification, that has been in the news recently, the Iraqi military has clearly been coming into their own. Iraqi combat divisions have taken over security work in several parts of the country. On October 3, the 6th Iraqi Division assumed formal authority over Baghdad's central and northern districts, where it has been operating for several months. Also operating in the Baghdad area is the Ninth Iraqi Division (Mechanized), which has been teamed up with the U.S. 1st Armor in raiding operations over the major road networks. The Iraqi 4th Division has been conducting raids and cordon and searches along the Tigris River Valley north of Baghdad, up to Tikrit. The Iraqi 2nd Division has been operating with good success in extending control in and around Mosul out to Tal Afar. A battalion of the Iraqi 2nd Division was moved to Tal Afar at the end of August by the Iraqi 23rd Air Transport Squadron (operating C-130 airplanes). This was the first report of the new Iraqi Army supported by the new Iraqi Air Force.

The Stryker is Tops With Troops

A few years ago, I was booted out of a Military Reform group when I disagreed with a vet over the Stryker Armored Vehicle. It feels great to be vindicated! From Strategypage:

Most critics, especially civilians, underestimated, or were simply clueless about, the importance of speed. Being a wheeled vehicle, the Stryker could run down cars and trucks, something even a fast tracked armored vehicle, like the M-2 Bradley, could not do. In Iraq, where many of the bad guys rolled around in SUVs, the Stryker could keep up. Not only that, but the fast moving Stryker could get to places more quickly, and, in effect, make more “appointments” with the enemy in a day. It’s what they call a “force multiplier.”Stealthiness was another thing civilian critics had no clue about. In Iraq, the quiet Stryker could, literally, sneak up on the enemy, especially since so many of the raids are conducted at night. American troops quickly adapted their tactics to take advantage of it, and these stealthy Strykers quickly put fear in the hearts of the enemy. Much of the criticism aimed at the Stryker had to do with it’s vulnerability to enemy fire. In actual practice, this turned out not to be the case. The troops have high praise for the Strykers ability to take hits, and keep on going, or at least protect its passengers.

Air Force Hits the Ground, Literally

The age of Air Force dominance may be at an end, according to this article:

the Pentagon has begun deploying thousands of Air Force personnel to combat zones in new jobs as interrogators, prison sentries and gunners on supply trucks.The Air Force years ago banked its future on state-of-the-art fighter jets and billion-dollar satellites. Yet the service that has long avoided being pulled into ground operations is now finding that its people — rather than its weapons — are what the Pentagon needs most as it wages a prolonged war against a low-tech, insurgent enemy.
...As part of the effort, more than 3,000 Air Force personnel are being assigned new roles. And they are being dispatched to combat zones for longer tours of duty — as much as 12 months rather than four.

The situation also represents a reversal of sorts for the Air Force, which had played a dominant role in recent conflicts, including the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the war to expel Serbian troops from Kosovo.

The only reason this was so, is President Clinton felt American's wouldn't accept casualties, even for a worthy cause. Our troops are currently proving him wrong in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Zawahiri Letter

This is like a liberal fantasy: What if we cut in run in Iraq like we did in Vietnam? Austin Bay has an analysis.

High-Speed Swift Underestimated

The future of warfare is HSV-Swift and her kin. These high speed catamarans recently proved their worth in the debri filled waters in Katrina strikened Louisiana:

The Navy's high-speed vessel Swift (HSV 2), homeported at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va., played a major role in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in September.Swift was pierside at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, when the crew learned they were needed to deliver fresh food to federal, state and local agencies assisting with the relief efforts.“You can only eat MREs (meals ready to eat) for so long,” said Lt. Cmdr. Phillip Pournelle, Swift’s executive officer.

Most roads were hopelessy blocked, but they couldn't keep Swift and her gallant crew from helping:

According to Chief Quartermaster Robert M. Collins, Swift’s navigator, traveling through water littered with debris would have been a difficult task for any Navy ship, but the HSV’s capability allowed them to navigate with ease.Swift crew members moored at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Fla., loaded the mission deck with supplies and then departed for New Orleans to resupply the Navy ships already on station. It became apparent to Collins that Swift’s storage capacity was underestimated.

So back and forth she went, finally carrying a total of 501 pallets of food for suffering Louisiana:

It was Swift’s high-speed capability, added Pournelle, and the crew's dedication which enabled them to respond quickly.“You can build all the high-tech ships in the world, but unless you have the crew that’s capable and willing to do the work, it’s useless,” said Pournelle. “You name the mission, you give us the module, and we can do it.”

Maybe She's Right, Uh Left?

First Lady Laura Bush raised Republican ire by saying many of Harriet Miers critics may be sexist in their opinions. According to this article, the sexism is coming from an unusual source, the liberal left:

Curiously, the nastiest gender-based swipe at Miers so far has come from a liberal feminist, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. Dowd calls the women on the Bush team ''self-sacrificing, buttoned-up nannies serving as adoring work wives, catering to W's every political, legal, and ego-affirming need." So Bush's male friends are just cronies, but his female friends are described in blatantly sexist terms. Just imagine the reaction if a conservative male journalist wrote something like that about the women in a Democratic administration.

Again kudos to OpinionJournal.

Harriet Miers Blog

Harriet Miers blog. Thanks to OpinionJournal.

On the Blogs

Austin Bay reminisces about Rhein-Main airbase.

Thomas Barnett on religion and capitalism and the US "invasion" of Pakistan

Murdoc discusses Hollywood and the News.

Blogs for Bush has a "stirring plea" from Iraq, and Harriet Miers and the big picture.

Iraq War Today laments about Smurfgate! Drafted into ROTC?

Pajamas Media

Pajamas Media. Nuff said!

Pajamas Media had its beginnings in 2004, when co-founders Charles Johnson and Roger L. Simon experienced first-hand two events that marked the growing influence of blogs on society: a blog-driven investigation into the United Nations Oil for Food scandal and another into the falsified military records cited by CBS News in coverage of President George W. Bush.

After spending several months developing a model to support a dramatic new publishing medium, they announced in the summer of 2005 that their venture was a go. Their plan will provide an online place where readers and thoughtful bloggers can come together to be informed, to explore issues of the day, and to have fun. Key details of the plan are still under wraps. For now, the co-founders will say only that there will be a significant unveiling in the fall of 2005.

Fighting the Cold War in the Gulf

I was reading this interesting article on Task Force 58, the coalition naval force in the Persian Gulf, when this sentence by a US Navy Captian struck me:

We have this huge cruiser designed for the Cold War," US Captain Hank Miranda, current commander of the naval group deployed in the northern Gulf, told AFP aboard the USS Chosin.
"Was it designed to do this? No. Are there other weapons that would be more efficient? Yes," he said.

I know I complain alot that the Navy is building the wrong type of ships to fight the War on Terror, but it really adds weight to the argument when someone in the fleet is saying the same thing!

Happy Birthday Lady Thatcher!

Britian's "Iron Lady" is celebrating her 80th birthday on Thursday in a big way, says NewsMax:

Margaret Thatcher is holding an 80th birthday bash with a guest list that includes one of her successors at No. 10 Downing St. - current Prime Minister Tony Blair - and Queen Elizabeth II, Thatcher's office said Tuesday...she'll be marking her 80th on Thursday with about 680 guests at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel near Hyde Park, her assistant Gilly Penrose said.

Lady Thatcher is won of my heroes from the Cold War, along with Ronald Reagan, who not only saved their own nations from the menace of communism, but the entire world:

Although Thatcher has faded from public view since she gave up most public speaking on her doctors' advice several years ago, the legacy of the woman who dominated British politics for more than a decade still exerts a powerful influence.
Her free-market philosophy and push to privatize state industries dramatically changed the country's economic landscape. Even Blair - whose Labour Party languished in opposition while the Conservative Thatcher held onto office for more than a decade - has adopted many of her views.
"She certainly wrought an economic revolution in Britain and whether or not that's a good revolution or a bad revolution depends upon your definition of what society should be like," said Christopher Stevens, a specialist in British politics at Canterbury Christ Church University College. "She created a new political consensus."

Hillary Won't Win

Though she lauds Hillary Clinton in a new book as "America's once in a lifetime chance" to elect a female President, liberal Susan Estrich didn't always think so, according to NewsMax:

...two years ago Estrich was warning: "Hillary Clinton is never going to be president of the United States."
"There is no more divisive figure in the Democratic Party, much less the country, than the former first lady," the California-based law professor complained in her nationally syndicated column.
"I like her," proclaimed Estrich. "But many women don't. Even Democratic women. Even working women. Not to mention non-working, independent, non-political women.
"The more people talk about her as a future president, the more money Republicans raise," Estrich lamented.

I agree whole-heartedly! There is no more divisive figure in US politics today than the Clintons. Many conservative leaders were elected to office because of the scandals of the 1990's, the worst in American history, making Watergate look overblown in comparison. The Clintons were the best thing ever to happen to Republicans!

At Ramming Speed in Iraq

There is no difference in the reserve and active services in Iraq, according to former Multi-national forces commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz:

The III Corps commanding general had plenty of opportunities to see Army Reserve and Army National Guard Soldiers in action in Iraq. About 39 percent of the American forces in MNC-I during Operation Iraqi Freedom II were from the reserve components. That percentage has risen to 43 percent in OIFIII.Metz used the analogy of an ancient oar-driven warship to describe the pace of operations for the Army today and the lack of difference between the components.“We’re all at ramming speed,” he said. “If you look around at the others pulling on the oars, you can’t tell any difference in the guys on the other oars.”

US General to Guatemala

Defense Secretary Rumsfled has dispatched the chief of US Southern Command Gen. Bantz J. Craddock to assist hurricane-stricken Guatemala:

Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, commander of U.S. Southern Command, arrived in Guatemala Oct. 9. In a conference call with Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Gen. Peter Pace this morning, Craddock assessed the preparedness of the Guatemalan military as good.
He said they had pre-positioned supplies, but the scope of the disaster is overwhelming capabilities to get aid to remote, mountainous areas of the country, Roger Pardo-Maurer, deputy assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere security policy, said today. The need for helicopters is particularly great in areas where bridges have been wiped out, often cutting off the only means to reach isolated villages.
...Rumsfeld called the situation in Guatemala "heartbreaking."
"It looks like it's a terrible natural disaster," he said as he prepared to depart for Miami.

Here is the general's bio.

On the Offensive in Iraq

Bill Roggio at Fourth Rail has a neat Flash presentation of recent Coalition operations on the river Euphrates. Check it out!

Mosul Substation Expansion

From CentCom:

A substation expansion project in Mosul will increase the existing capacity of the 400 kV Mosul substation to allow for an additional 400 kV transmission line between Mosul and Baghdad. The Mosul substation expansion is a critical, electric grid system element to increase the amount of available power to the entire country. The expansion provides the capacity to distribute power more reliably, thereby affecting six million people.

Apologizing to Terror

A new Arab TV show overseas is raising the ire of many in the Mid-East for its anti-terrorism stance. Says NewsMax:

The programs, which began last Tuesday on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, have come under a blistering attack on the Internet in Arabic language chat rooms.
The critics are demanding the Saudi-owned and Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, a popular Arabic satellite television station that bought the show and broadcasts it across the region, cancel it.

What's sad, this would probably be critisized if it was made in the US, and not just from Muslims.

The Energy Crisis

If you were, like me, appaled at the Democrat's grandstanding over the Energy Bill yesterday in the House, please contact your Senator and tell them to push this vital legislation through. Our very future is at stake! Here's the letter I wrote:

I was appalled yesterday at the Democrats resistance to the Energy Bill in the House, even after the multiptle hurricane disasters on the Gulf Coast. This proves to me that liberals care little of the suffering of average Americans. All this while India and China are consuming vast quantities of the available fuel supplies, causing the high price of gas. When this Bill comes to the Senate, I hope Americans can depend on you to vigorously support it, for the sake of future generations and in spite of those who wish to bring the country down.
Thank you.

Go here to email your Senator, and hurry!!

This I Like!

The Navy is doing something right with its Littoral Combat Ship. Unlike the destroyers and submarines of the last Century, the LCS is being especially designed to combat terrorists in coastal waters:

Unlike the big iron ships of the past, the new ships are smaller, faster and more versatile.
They also are less expensive and require 40 people to operate, instead of the 450 needed on a deep-water battleship.
The Navy expects to buy 60 to 100 of these ships at $230 million each from Lockheed and General Dynamics Corp.

Lockheed has built a virtual demonstrator thats like a fighter cockpit:

Sitting at a three-screen console, Joe Zertuche, a Navy veteran of the Gulf War and Kosovo, demonstrated how easy it is to unleash a missile at a hostile target, or fire a Bofors gun from the deck of a littoral combat ship, all from his swivel chair at mission control.
"Sailing close to shore definitely puts us in harm's way. But I'm confident Lockheed has created the latest and greatest sensors to ensure we come home every time," said Zertuche, a Texas native who will be the tactical action officer on Lockheed's first ship.

A Case in Point

Here is a case in point to the last post. The Navy can't build the ships it needs because they've become too expensive. Its not rocket science people! Build cheaper ships!!!!

Two subs and two destroyers will be needed by 2012 to keep up with ships leaving the fleet. Optimistically, O'Rourke said, those four new ships will cost $8 billion.Pessimistically, he said, they'll cost $12 billion - more than what's typically spent on the entire shipbuilding budget now. Planned purchases of a small vessel called the littoral combat ship could bring that total to $13 billion."Now you've used up your entire prospective shipbuilding budget and you haven't bought anything else" - such as aircraft carriers, carrier refueling costs, amphibious assault ships, and other surface combat ships, O'Rourke said during a panel discussion at a U.S. Naval Institute Joint Warfare Symposium at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

Maybe they'll get the idea:

And what's true of submarines, O'Rourke said, is also true of the DD(X), the replacement for the Arleigh-Burke class of destroyers."We're going to have the same kind of limited options," he said of the new destroyer. "The ship is only really affordable at one per year."He suggested the Navy should determine the most critical new technologies and capabilities of that ship and eliminate the rest.That could cut 25-30 percent off the cost of the ship, he speculated.

I always wondered why we needed 10,000 ton destroyers equipped with 100 missiles launchers that cost $1 billion each, like the Burkes. The Europeans have only 35-40 launchers on their new missiles destroyers and frigates, and they cost $500 million or less.
Once the Navy planned to build a missile barge, at over $500 million each that could carry 500 cruise missiles or more. Yet they were cancelled in favor of a $3 billion destroyer. Too bad since we need less expensive platforms which take advantage of the new precision weapon's that don't need a super expensive and vulnerable battleship as a launcher. They just need a ride to where the action is!

Rumsfeld Fights for Change

Against heated opposition from Congress and the Pentagon, who have much to gain in keeping alive Cold War era weapons, Secretary Rumsfeld continues to push for transformation in our increasingly antiquated military:

A hint of what Rumsfeld had in mind - and the political hurdles that stood in the way - came in a document called "Program Budget Decision 753" that leaked in January. It proposed shifting resources away from several expensive Navy and Air Force programs to help pay for the ballooning cost of the Iraq War, which is being fought mostly by the Army and Marines. Worried Air Force and Navy partisans knew
where to go for help. The day after the document leaked, members of Congress from affected districts were racing to save the very aircraft carriers and
fighter jets Rumsfeld had proposed to cut. In the end, PBD 753 was shelved and the decisions were postponed.

Still Rumsfeld continues to battle the traditionalists:

The transformationalists had a powerful intellectual weapon in a document that came to be known as "the quad chart." It was a standard matrix, graphing threats to the U.S. according to their likelihood and the nation's vulnerability. At the top right, the zone of greatest
likelihood and vulnerability, were
"catastrophic" threats such as a terrorist WMD attack. At the bottom left, the
area of least likelihood and vulnerability, was a "traditional" attack involving
conventional air, sea and land forces or established nuclear forces.
The quad chart suggested that the imminent danger to America came
from Al-Qaeda, not from a rising
conventional-nuclear power such as China. That obviously was more bad news for the services that would fight
a war against China, the Navy and Air Force. You don't have to be a cynic to recognize that recent studies warning of the Chinese military threat are, in the code of Pentagon budget wars, arguments for more Navy and Air Force spending.

We can only hope the secretary will prevail in his quest to create a military better suited to the realities of the 21st century, as opposed to the old ideas of the last one. I think our very future is on the line in the upcoming Quadrennial
Defense Review.

A Letter from the Terrorists

This was recently recovered by US officials and details curious insights into the mind of the terrorists. Most interesting is the importance Al Qaeda places on the battle in Iraq, unlike many on the left whom seem content that we lose there:

US officials say they were struck by the letter's emphasis on the centrality of Iraq to Al Qaeda's long-term mission. One of the two excerpts provided by officials quotes Zawahiri, a former doctor from Egypt, telling his Jordanian-born ally, ''I want to be the first to congratulate you for what God has blessed you with in terms of fighting in the heart of the Islamic world, which was formerly the field for major battles in Islam's history, and what is now the place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era."

Fearful of an American Empire? How about one led by Osama and his deputies:

Bin Laden's deputy has spoken before about the broad plans for the Al Qaeda movement. In a book smuggled out of Afghanistan in December 2001, Zawahiri said the goal of jihad was to establish a religious state throughout the Islamic world and ''reinstate its fallen caliphate and regain its lost glory."

The writer complained about giving a bad impression to the world with vicious beheadings of captives:

the letter, described by one senior administration official as a ''treatise" from Ayman Zawahiri, also warns Abu Musab al-Zarqawi against alienating the Islamic world, and virtually reprimands the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda for beheading hostages and then distributing videotapes, officials said

Voice of America states Al Qaeda is in a bad way in Afghanistan:

The letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi also concedes that al-Qaida has lost many key leaders, and is resigned to defeat in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon spokesman says the letter makes a plea for financial support, admitting that funding has been severely disrupted.

Austin Bay also on the lettter.

Bush's Speech, The Lowdown

Here is an excellent analysis of President Bush's War on Terror speech yesterday from Powerline. I'm listening, John!

I haven't seen a report on how many people watched Bush's speech; in fact, I'm only assuming that it was broadcast by someone. My guess is that very few either saw it or will read it in its entirety. Instead, the overwhelming majority depend on what they read about Bush's speech in the newspapers or hear on television news reports. Those articles and reports, with hardly any exceptions, will be carefully framed to minimize the speech's impact.
People used to talk about the Presidency as a "bully pulpit," but I think one lesson of the Bush years is that the President's ability to communicate effectively with the American people, outside of the context of an election campaign, is limited. The real "bully pulpit" belongs to the mainstream press, which is just about unanimously devoted to undermining the President's effort to communicate with, and thereby lead, the American people.

Stykers Made a Difference

Col. Bob Brown of the 1st Brigade Strykers has recently returned home and says his troops made a "huge difference" in Northern Iraq:

"One of the things you can measure is 80 percent of al-Qaida in Northern Iraq were either captured or killed. That's not our term, this came from the al-Qaida leaders themselves."
The Stryker Brigade, known by its specialized vehicles, spent much of its time around Mosul.
"We captured the No. 2 al-Qaida leader in Iraq and the No. 1 in Northern Iraq and after he was captured, the next 7 guys to step up to take over were captured."

Thanks Colonel to you and your men, and God Bless!