Making History Proud

Here's what Sec. Rumsfeld said to US troops in Iraq Christmas Eve. Very inspiring!

"One day some years out you'll have children. One of them will come home with a textbook and there will be a chapter on Iraq and it will talk about the Saddam Hussein regime and hundreds and thousands of dead people killed by that regime in mass graves. And it will talk about the struggles, the victories that were achieved over Saddam Hussein, that regime, and the struggles that have helped Iraq along its path to democracy, ushering in a new chapter, a new hopeful era not just in Iraq but in the Middle East.

"Each of you will be able to look down at your children or your grandchildren and say that you were there. That you helped to make that possible, which you have done. And you helped to bring freedom to literally millions of human beings — men, women and children that you see on the streets. ... You'll look back with a great deal of pride on the history that you've made, and you are making history. That is what you're doing, and it is a proud history indeed."

Iraq Not Vietnam-Updated

No link here, just an observation. Liberals like to compare any war America gets into with Vietnam, because this fits into their anti-war, "America is always wrong" agenda. Its really sad that an educated and supposedly compassionate group should dwell on hate and bias against the country which most consider the "land of the free and home of the brave". How did we lose them?

Iraq is no way like Vietnam, since during that war in the 60's our country was never directly attacked by the communist North. Plus, when we withdrew from that terrible war, no one seriously considered that Vietnam might directly attack America. This is however, a real possibility if we withdraw prematurely from Iraq. We could expect the terrorists there to become so emboldened as to launch repeats of 9/11, which most likely be far worse than we could imagine, involving weapons of mass destruction.

The stakes to our country is too great to allow a disgruntled and disillusioned minority party to hijack our government, despite how loudly they bellow and accuse the President of wrongdoing.

Update: OK here's a link. From Powerline:

Liberals look at Iraq, "torture," and now domestic spying, and can taste full public vindication. And therein lies their problem. If Iraq is Vietnam, it will soon enough confer great political advantage on the Democrats. But the Democrats (Hillary Clinton aside) are psychologically incapable, after so long in the wildnerness, of "letting the game come to them." Or perhaps they understand that Iraq is not Vietnam. Thus, they overreach -- being too quick to compare Iraq to Vietnam, to eager to insist that we are failing there, and too quick to cry foul over domestic spying that targets mass murderers, not Larry O'Brien and Daniel Ellsberg. And the public recoils.

Justice Dept. Will Probe Leak

This is long overdue, like defending Bush's actions in the war on Terror, which has made us far more safe than during the Clinton years, pre-9/11. From NewsMax:

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President Bush's secret domestic spying program, Justice officials said Friday.
The officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe, said the inquiry will focus on disclosures to The New York Times about warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Too many leaks going on for a nation at war. This is what Congress should be doing instead of always playing "gotcha" with the White House.

Michelle Malkin says Finally.

The Army Looks Back

On a very busy year! Check out all 12 months here.

Navy Grapples With Shipbuilding

The Navy is attempting to control the costs of its future ship programs, all of which, save the Littoral Combat Ship, is exceeding a billion dollars each. According to this article, they seem to be throwing a cog in the works from the start:

Authorizers imposed caps for the Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine. Their conference agreement establishes cost caps on the subs at the current contract ceilings for several vessels: SSN-779, $2.33 billion; SSN-780, $2.47 billion; SSN-781, $2.55 billion; SSN-782, $2.67 billion; and SSN-783, $2.72 billion.
Significantly, authorizers agreed to require the Navy to begin a program to design and develop a next-generation submarine that would be a successor to the Virginia-class boats. The goal is to develop a sub with capabilities meeting or exceeding those of the Virginia-class, but at a lower cost.

Herein lies the problem. The same specs were given for the successor the the $1 billion Burke destroyer and we get the $3 billion DDX, as well as the $2 billion Seawolf sub, and we get the equally pricey Virginias.

How about a ship that is "good enough", cheaper and can be bought in large enough numbers to keep us from having a second-rate fleet.

Judging the War

The normally left-leaning Chicago Tribune gives in to the facts:

On Nov. 20, the Tribune began an inquest: We set out to assess the Bush administration's arguments for war in Iraq. We have weighed each of those nine arguments against the findings of subsequent official investigations by the 9/11 Commission, the Senate Intelligence Committee and others. We predicted that this exercise would distress the smug and self-assured--those who have unquestioningly supported, or opposed, this war.The matrix below summarizes findings from the resulting nine editorials. We have tried to bring order to a national debate that has flared for almost three years. Our intent was to help Tribune readers judge the case for war--based not on who shouts loudest, but on what actually was said and what happened.

And their judgment was:

The White House was correct in predicting that long subjugated Iraqis would embrace democracy. And while Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites have major differences to reconcile, a year's worth of predictions that Sunni disaffection could doom self-rule have, so far, proven wrong.

The Bloggers' War

According to the BBC. I was kinda thinking this as the first Internet War, but this will work too!

The war in Vietnam is often referred to as the first war on television, and the wars in Afghanistan and now in Iraq will be known as the first wars to be blogged.
A new generation of soldier bloggers in the US, known as milbloggers, are both fighting in the field and writing about their experiences.
It is opening up a new window on modern warfare and is creating a new genre of war-time writing.

Americans Want Wiretaps

Rasmussen reports that most Americans approve of Bush trying to protect us from another 9/11:

Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 23% disagree.

Plus 51% of democrats. Yet, read this headline from the Christian Science Monitor:
Americans split on feds listening in

They're split alright, but hardly down the middle.

Why They (Still) Fight

Defenselink reveals why re-enlistment rates are so high for Iraq and Afghan War Vets:

Servicemembers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are re-enlisting in high numbers, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today said he thinks he knows why.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace spoke with Chris Wallace on the Fox News Channel's "Fox News Sunday," making his first appearance on a Sunday talk show as Joint Chiefs chairman.
"(The high re-enlistment rate) shows their pride in what they're doing and their understanding of how important it is," the general said. "It is absolutely true that for those units that have served overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, that their re-enlistment rates are the highest of all of our armed forces."

Thank you so much American Military. May your great sacrifice bear the fruit of freedom for all nations, and may all your enemies be confounded!

Logic versus Defeatists

This is from Logic Times and reveals an informative 10 point test which says we are winning in Iraq. Here are the first 5:

Test Number One: The Iraq War is not going well because American military casualties are too high.
False: Each fatality is painful and each life precious; however, given the risk in war, a statistical analysis shows that casualties have been low for a major war.


Test Number Two: The Iraq War is not going well because, as a result of creating more terrorists than we are destroying, American civilian casualties are too high.
False: There have been zero civilian casualties in the United States since the Iraq War began.

Test Number Three: The Iraq War is not going well because Iraqi civilian casualties are too high.
False: The Coalition intervention has dramatically decreased the rate of civilian casualties in Iraq.

Test Number Four: The Iraq War is not going well because the U.S. military in particular has destroyed the infrastructure and killed many Iraqi civilians.
False: Over two years of combat since the fall of Baghdad, much of it urban warfare pursuing un-uniformed combatants concealed within the civilian population, with less than 1,000 civilians killed as a result of U.S. action is a spectacular humanitarian record.

Test Number Five: The Iraq War is not going well because it has cost too much money.
False: The War in Iraq has cost 1.875% of GDP, one of the most inexpensive wars in American history. By contrast, the Revolutionary War cost over 476.2% of GDP.

Go to the story for some excellent visuals and charts and for the rest of the test. Thanks to Blogs for Bush.

Weapons Cuts Faces the "Iron Triangle"

This refers to Congress, which has greatly resisted major cuts to weapons programs, according to this from NYT:

Mr. (Ryan) Henry, whose official title is principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, said the Pentagon's spending binge of the last several years - its budget has increased 41 percent since 9/11 - cannot be sustained. "We can't do everything we want to do."

...The issue, however, goes beyond tightening budgets. Mr. Henry told the contractors that the Pentagon was redefining the strategic threats facing the United States. No longer are rival nations the primary threat - a type of warfare that calls for naval destroyers and fighter jets. Today the country is facing international networks of terrorists, and the weapons needed are often more technologically advanced, flexible and innovative.

Then comes the trouble:

But already there are signs of trouble ahead. In the last few years, Mr. Rumsfeld has tried to kill some weapons systems he saw as Cold War anachronisms and to push a military modernization plan. But his efforts were thwarted by what Washington calls the Iron Triangle of Congress, the uniformed military command and military contractors.

But I agree with this quote:

"Osama is happy for us to spend billions on and F-22A fighter jet systems that can do him no harm," (said Winslow T. Wheeler, a military analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington). "It's hard to conceive of a larger gap between words and decisions."

More Peace on Earth

From the Washington Post columns page is this heartening article:

Seen through the eyes of the media, the world appears an evermore dangerous place. Iraq is sliding toward civil war, the slaughter in Darfur appears unending, violent insurgencies are brewing in Thailand and a dozen other countries, and terrorism strikes again in Bali. It is not surprising that most people believe global violence is increasing.
However, most people, including many leading policymakers and scholars, are wrong. The reality is that, since the end of the Cold War, armed conflict and nearly all other forms of political violence have decreased. The world is far more peaceful than it was.

With Data:

By 2003, there were 40 percent fewer conflicts than in 1992. The deadliest conflicts -- those with 1,000 or more battle-deaths -- fell by some 80 percent. The number of genocides and other mass slaughters of civilians also dropped by 80 percent, while core human rights abuses have declined in five out of six regions of the developing world since the mid-1990s. International terrorism is the only type of political violence that has increased.

But they give credit to the wrong institution:

In the late 1980s, Washington and Moscow stopped fueling "proxy wars" in the developing world, and the United Nations was liberated to play the global security role its founders intended. Freed from the paralyzing stasis of Cold War geopolitics, the Security Council initiated an unprecedented, though sometimes inchoate, explosion of international activism designed to stop ongoing wars and prevent new ones.

I can't imagine that the corrupt and morally bankrupt UN has anything to do with the decline in wars. My own opinion is the unparralled military power of the worlds last superpower, and also the will to use it as proved in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Bashing the Blogger-Updated

Bill Roggio of Threats Watch debunks a sloppy Washington Post piece concerning milbloggers and the new information war. Could there be a little jealousy emanating from the Old Media?

Update: Radio Blogger has a Hugh Hewitt interview with Roggio on the subject.

The Pentagon's Short Memory

Concerning lessons learned from the last war, the Pentagon frequently forgets that it needs a strong Army. This is even more disturbing since we are still in major land combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. From the Slate:

Do the Pentagon chiefs pay any attention to the lessons they say they've learned? Judging from reports coming out of the Defense Department's current budget and policy reviews, the answer can only be: No. One lesson of the Iraq war, accepted by nearly everyone now, is that the U.S. military, especially the Army, doesn't have enough troops to occupy a country for very long while fighting off insurgents and trying to establish order...

And yet, according to a story by Tom Bowman in the Dec. 21 Baltimore Sun, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is planning to cut the Army's forces by 34,000 troops. That would entail eliminating one active-duty brigade and six National Guard brigades.

So we end up in a future war "with the army we have", and our troops suffer for it.

Air Force to Cut 40,000

Probably to pay for the F-22 Raptor. From Stars & Stripes:

The Air Force is planning a five-year drawdown of 40,000 personnel starting in 2006, according to Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne.
The cuts would be distributed among active duty, Air Force Reserve, and Air Guard members, as well as Air Force civilians, Wynne said during a Dec. 13 press conference at the Pentagon.
If approved, the cuts would follow the Air Force’s two-year drawdown of 16,000 airmen in order to meet the 360,000-airman end strength limit set by Congress, which was finished in July.
The reduction plans are not a done deal, although “from the Air Force perspective, yes, this is something we’re going to do,” Capt. David Small, a spokesman for Wynn, told Stripes on Thursday.
The cuts will require approval from levels above the Air Force, starting with the Defense Department, Small said.

Stars Shy Away From Troops

Not surprising. This is from the Guardian:

During world war two American troops away from home for Christmas were entertained by Marlene Dietrich, Bing Crosby and the Marx Brothers. Even in Vietnam Bob Hope was guaranteed to put in an appearance. But soldiers in Iraq are more likely to get a show from a Christian hip-hop group, a country singer you have probably never heard of and two cheerleaders for the Dallas Cowboys...

It is a far cry from the days following the September 11 2001 attacks, when some of the biggest names in show business, from Jennifer Lopez to Brad Pitt, rallied to the cause. "After 9/11 we couldn't have had enough airplanes for the people who were volunteering to go," Wayne Newton, the Las Vegas crooner who succeeded Bob Hope as head of USO's talent recruiting effort, told USA Today. "Now with 9/11 being as far removed as it is, the war being up one day and down the next, it becomes increasingly difficult to get people to go."

Newton said many celebrities have been wary of going because they think it might be seen that they are endorsing the war. "And I say it's not. I tell them these men and women are over there because our country sent them, and we have the absolute necessity to try to bring them as much happiness as we can."

Sounds like an excuse to me, that very few on the Left Coast loves their country anymore. I watched the Bob Hope specials on the Military Channel Christmas Day. Even through the turmoil of Vietnam he stayed true!

Updated Honest News

Honest News

Links to positive stories about America & the War on Terror. Updated regularly! A Sunday in Iraq, Norad Tracks Santa, Toward a Better Life in Iraq, Fishing for Terrorists, "We feel like we're winning", Hope and Freedom Tour, 20000 Tons of Weapons Destroyed

"Gendarms" for Peacekeeping

Responding to criticism that troops shouldn't be peacekeepers, the State Dept. is looking to France as a model for future wars, according to this article. Hmmm:

Because peace-keeping and nation-building requirements have increased since the early 1990s, an alternative to combat military forces is needed to handle stabilization and reconstruction tasks as well as to conduct standard military operations against combatants, according to two scholars with the National Defense University (NDU).

...A model for such a unit could come from Europe, the authors suggested, where several governments of the European Union (EU), particularly France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, are "drawing on long-standing paramilitary national police forces," to create a multinational European Gendarmeria Force (EGF).
France, which has a national force of 101,000 gendarmerie, will furnish 600 troops to the new 2,150- member unit. In Africa, the French gendarmerie gained valuable experience conducting peace operations in Western Sahara, Somalia and Rwanda.

This may work, unless the troops come from Europe, or worse, the UN!

Super Sub Completes Trials

This is the Navy's new underwater battleship, the Ohio class cruise missile submarine. Ohio is an ex-Trident ballistic missile sub which, along with 3 sisters that are undergoing conversion for littoral warfare operations. From Navy newstand:

USS Ohio (SSGN 726), the Navy’s first modern guided-missile submarine, took a significant step towards rejoining the fleet Dec. 19, when it arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., with a broom atop its sail to signify its clean sweep of the ship’s initial sea trials.

Ohio is the first of four fleet ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to be converted into SSGNs. Prior to the conversion process, each boat unloaded its complement of Trident Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles. Twenty-two of the 24 missile tubes on each boat are being retrofitted to carry up to seven Tomahawk cruise missiles, for a maximum load out of 154 missiles per boat. The remaining two tubes are being converted into Lock-in/Lock-out chambers for use by Special Operations Forces (SOF).

This is the fleet's best bargain since the 4 Iowa class were converted to cruise missile battleships in the 1980's.

Congress Rocks the Troops

Literally! From NewsMax this story of a rock band called Second Amendments filled with Congressmen including:

The bipartisan rock and country band features Rep. Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat, on guitar and lead vocals.
Michigan Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter is on lead guitar.
Republican Rep. Dave Weldon of Florida is on bass.
Nevada Republican Rep. Jon Porter is on keyboards, and the drummer is Missouri Republican Rep. Kenny Hulshoff.

If only we could get the entire Congress to sing together, such as on the Patriot Act and winning the war!

NYT Pulls a "John Walker"

Just what is a John Walker, you ask? Read this from a blogger on the spy case that cost us billions in the Cold War:

What was highly classified was what the libraries contained. This is where John Walker made his money. Through the selling of cryptographic codes to the Soviets, they could then pull previously recorded US radio traffic and play it through the crypto gear, then read the messages.We thought was had exclusive knowledge of the intelligence information, but John Walker and Associates, made sure the enemy could also pick up some of the traffic and then know what we knew. Armed with this information, Soviet engineers could then redesign the equipment and systems that were making the noises we were detecting.

...When the NYT spilled their guts (without any torture, I might add), they did the same thing to the GWoT effort as John Walker did. The difference is John Walker and his band of tratiors were charged with, tried and convicted of espionage and are still in Federal prisons.

Please read the whole article and understand the cost of "loose lips".

Are Liberals Nuts?

And do they need clinical help? Thats the question this article from Dr. Helen (and thanks to Blogs for Bush) attempts to answer:

The unwillingness to offer alternatives reveals a lack of self-confidence and self-esteem. If they offered their own policy ideas they would be vulnerable to criticism. They would run the risk that their ideas would fail, or would not seem persuasive to others. This is especially difficult for anti-capitalists after the fall of the Soviet Union. It has also been difficult in the war against terrorism because Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden are such unsympathetic figures. Psychologically, it is easier to blame America for not finding a solution than it is to put one's own ideas on the line.

Wow! And I thought it was all Bush's fault!

Who's Leading Al Qaeda?

Strategypage tells of a new terrorist video which is raising interesting questions about the status of Osama Bin Laden:

In the video, Dadullah is shown making the usual Taliban anti-infidel pitch. At one point he refers to Osama bin-Laden, using the words, “sitting beside me.” There is then a clip of bin-Laden, who says a few appropriately belligerent words. The monitor then cuts back to Dudullah, who continues his diatribe. The video, which apparently has not yet seen wide circulation, has reportedly provoked a good deal of attention from intelligence specialists.
...Intelligence analysts specializing in Al-Qaeda... suggest that the video may be a clumsy attempt to send a “signal” that the terrorist leader is still very much in charge of operations.

I've been wonding why we haven't heard from"boss" Bin Laden lately. Now I'm still unsure.

The Air War Continues

According to Navy Times, airpower is still relevent in the Battle of Iraq:

The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps have flown thousands of missions in support of U.S. ground troops in Iraq this fall with little attention back home, including attacks by unmanned Predator aircraft armed with Hellfire missiles, military records show.
News reports and the public have focused mainly on ground action by the Army and Marines, but a variety of U.S. aircraft are striking targets in Iraq daily. They include frontline Air Force and Navy fighters as well as Marine Corps attack planes. American and allied refueling, transport and surveillance planes also are flying.

And the Predator UAV is the new star:

The role of the Air Force Predator is not secret but has been largely lost in the clutter of violence on the ground. At least five times this month an unmanned Predator flown remotely by airmen at flight consoles at an Air Force base in Nevada has struck targets in Iraq, mostly in insurgent strongholds in western Anbar province.
Gen. Michael T. Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, said in an interview with reporters at the Pentagon last Tuesday that Predators are attacking targets in either Iraq or Afghanistan “almost every day.” He gave no details.

Scientists Uncover Media Bias

Catching up with the rest of us, the Rocket Scientists at UCLA filed a report on the left-leaning Old Media, with some surprises from the Right:

While the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is conservative, the newspaper's news pages are liberal, even more liberal than The New York Times. The Drudge Report may have a right-wing reputation, but it leans left. Coverage by public television and radio is conservative compared to the rest of the mainstream media. Meanwhile, almost all major media outlets tilt to the left.

...Of the 20 major media outlets studied, 18 scored left of center, with CBS' "Evening News," The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times ranking second, third and fourth most liberal behind the news pages of The Wall Street Journal.Only Fox News' "Special Report With Brit Hume" and The Washington Times scored right of the average U.S. voter.

Myths of Intelligence Failure

Strategypage debunks the claims of intelligence failures that led to the Iraq War:

These charges, however, were themselves a case of overstatement. Reports by David Kay and Charles Duelfer showed that Iraq was maintaining the ability to produce chemical weapons and long-range missiles. General Tommy Franks described the Iraqi programs as being the equivalent of a disassembled pistol. This is hardly a severe intelligence failure- it is more a case of intelligence agencies taking the worst-case scenario (a prudent measure in the wake of a terrorist attack that had killed nearly 3,000 people and the underestimation of Iraq’s progress towards nuclear weapons after Desert Storm in 1991), and discovering that their assessments had been a little too pessimistic.

And on the Saddam/Al Qaeda link:

One document recovered by a Toronto Star reporter in April, 2003, discussed bringing an envoy from bin Laden to Baghdad to “discuss the future of our relationship” with Osama bin Laden. There were reports of contacts as well. Two of the most intriguing are Mohammed Atta’s reported meeting with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in April, 2001 and the actions of Ahmed Hikmat Shakir in Malaysia in January, 2000

Defeatism Not Justified by Facts

This is part of a quote from Bush's speech last night, in a continued offensive to win back the hearts and souls of America for the War on Terror. In the speech he outlined a 3 part strategy for building the Iraqi democracy, a sore point for the Left, but essential for transfroming the Middle East from a terrorist bastion to a free society:

• First, our coalition will remain on the offense
• Second, we're helping the Iraqi government establish the institutions of a unified and lasting democracy
• a reconstruction plan to revive Iraq's economy and infrastructure

To put it simply, US Forces will bring: security, democracy, and reconstruction

My favorite quote from the speech:

Defeatism may have its partisan uses, but it is not justified by the facts. For every scene of destruction in Iraq, there are more scenes of rebuilding and hope. For every life lost, there are countless more lives reclaimed. And for every terrorist working to stop freedom in Iraq, there are many more Iraqis and Americans working to defeat them. My fellow citizens: Not only can we win the war in Iraq, we are winning the war in Iraq.

Amen! Continue the good fight Mr. President!

Hanoi Jane's "Killing Machines"

Neo-neocon has the truth on Jane Fonda's assertion that the government has turned American boys into killing machines:

Because, strange as it may seem, Fonda is actually correct--at least, about part of what she's claiming. But a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, especially in the hands of Jane Fonda, and she draws the entirely wrong conclusions from that element of truth in her remarks.

...It's certainly true that the phrase "killing machines" is a chilling one. But training members of the military to be more efficient and automatic at what they do is actually designed to make them more effective in a combat situation, to reduce psychological stress, and therefore to make atrocities less frequent, rather than more.

Please read the whole thing. Looking at all the mindless violence in video games, movies, and popular music like rap, it seems to me the entertainment industry is more at fault in corrupting our youth. At least the military gives a positive outlet to violence, such as bringing freedom to 25 million Iraqi's. And they say war doesn't solve anything!

To Our Brave Troops

This quote from the movie "Return of the King" is so relevent to our times:

"Hold your ground, hold your ground. Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you *stand, Men of the West!"

Thanks for your service and keep up the good fight for freedom!

On the Blogs-Iraq Elections

NewsMax
Bush Hails Iraqi Vote As 'Step Forward'
Iraqi Voters Flooded the Polls with 70 Percent Turnout
'Bush Was Right' Ads Support Iraq Success

Austin Bay
Freedom From Fear
ABC News Discovers Relative Peace
The Great Revolt Continues

Murdoc
Troops and the election
Blogging the Iraqi elections

Blogs for Bush
US Troops Optimistic as Iraqis Vote in Peace
High Turnout In Iraqi Election, Violence Low
"Then Bush has said it correctly"

Iraq War Today
Iraqi Army Soldiers Vote

Powerline
House Congratulates Iraqis
On yesterday's election
Direct From Iraq...

Junk Yard Blog
A New Birth of Freedom

One Marine's View
THE PROUD IRAQI PEOPLE

Indepundit
Al Qaeda is Defeated in Iraq

My Days At Division
A Great Day

Faces From the Front
Present at the Birth--Almost

Michelle Malkin
IRAQI ELECTION: THE DAY AFTER
HISTORY-MAKING IN IRAQ

Blankets for Afghanis

This is from CentCom:

On the surface, it appeared to be an act of good will and charity to a people who need it the most, during a season when it’s needed the most. But under the surface, much more was going on. The new government was taking vital first steps to assure its people that they will be there for them, an idea that has always been foreign here.
“Afghan people helping Afghan people is the theme,” said Army Lt. Col. Robert Roseman, of the Political Military Integration’s ministry engagement team.
With the Afghan flag design, 7,000 blankets and several boxes of clothing were distributed by the Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation on Monday to 3,000 Afghan families displaced to a village on the outskirts of Kabul .

...An act of good will and charity - 3,000 refugee families will be a lot warmer this winter. But as they wrap themselves with the nation’s flag when the winter weather rolls in, hopefully they will remember it’s their country keeping them warm.

A great Christmas message for us all!

Soldiers vs Contractors

I guess you could call me liberal ( or libertarian) when it comes to defense spending, as I agree with this NYT editorial:

Very few critics of the military's spending priorities want the United States to relinquish its current dominance in the skies and on the seas. But in a world where no rival military powers are remotely capable of challenging America, that dominance can be preserved without loading every new plane and ship with every conceivable technological marvel, whether or not it is relevant to the military mission at hand.
Much of the astounding 41 percent increase in military spending over the past five years has gone toward hugely expensive air and sea combat systems - and this in an era when America's toughest battles are being fought on land against foes that have no known air force or navy.

Between wars, though, the services which hads the less (though important) to do with victory, got the choicest share of the budget:

The Air Force and the Navy can play only secondary roles in wars like Iraq. Their spending plans are increasingly oriented toward the possibility of future military conflict with China.

I suppose its easier to sell deterrent weapons, that also creates jobs at hope, than to use ground troops in preventative actions:

Once expensive planes, ships and other weapons systems find their way into the budget, they are very hard to stop, even when changes in the global military environment make them no longer smart defense investments. Whether they are really needed or not, they remain profit centers for military contractors and a source of well-paying jobs for the Congressional districts where they are built.

China Not a Threat, Yet

This article is from Taiwan, which has more to worry from the mainland than us:

The rise of China and the growth of its economic and military power has not yet challenged US supremacy in maritime East and Southeast Asia as US strategic partnerships with regional allies are getting stronger and China still lacks the capability to build a powerful navy, a US scholar specializing in China-US affairs said at a conference in Taipei yesterday.

China has also to deal with neighboring states:

...countries in East Asia have become more reliant on the Chinese, rather than the US market for economic growth, China's economic power has not caused these states to realign with China, rather they are enhancing their military cooperation with the US.
Ross pointed out countries such as Japan, which has recently allowed the US to station nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in one of its ports. Also Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia which have long been conducting annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercises with the US in the region.

China doesn't pose a sgnificant naval threat to America, even in its own waters:

For China to pose a threat to US security it must move beyond coastal sea-denial capability and develop a blue-water, power-projecting navy. However China faces considerable long-term constraints in pursuing such an objective," Ross said He added that no country would sell China a capable carrier and the necessary aircraft and support ships to achieve that end and China has yet to develop the personnel that can maintain the equipment.

Maybe this is all wishful thinking, but it all makes sense too me. Many in Congress and the military, especially those who disagree with an attitional war in Iraq, would love to face down a major land power with a conventional arms buildup, rather than the more elusive Al Qaeda enemy.

Buy LCS or DDX?

The Navy is currently in a conundrum over what size fleet it needs, and which enemy, China or the terrorists, is an eminent threat. From National Defense Mag:

If the QDR places greater focus on China, then plans for building the new destroyer, the DD(X), may become really important, said Work. But if the war on terror takes precedence, then the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), may well receive more attention.
The DD(X) already has been at the center of much debate because of its high cost. Estimates range from $2 billion to more than $3 billion per ship.

And here is a worthy solution:

A possible solution, O’Rourke(a naval analyst for the Congressional Research Service) said, is to look at a reduced cost alternative to the current ship design. He said the Navy ought to consider building a ship around the most critically desired capabilities while cutting costs by 25 to 35 percent.
...The Navy should consider buying more LCS ships with the money it would save from cutting DD(X), said Work.
“The LCS looks better for what we’re doing right now, so why not build LCS first and hold off on DD(X) until the threat for these bigger ships is more clearly defined,” he said.
The cost of building the hull of LCS is projected at $220 million.

The True Story-Updated

I'm swallowing my tongue, this is by a columnist with the Washington Post:

When I told people that I was getting ready to head back to Iraq for my third tour, the usual response was a frown, a somber head shake and even the occasional "I'm sorry." When I told them that I was glad to be going back, the response was awkward disbelief, a fake smile and a change of subject.

How is it, then, that 64 percent of U.S. military officers think we will succeed if we are allowed to continue our work? Why is there such a dramatic divergence between American public opinion and the upbeat assessment of the men and women doing the fighting?

I can answer that, because of the sensation seeking, anti-American Old Media, like the Washington Post.

It is difficult for most Americans to rationalize this optimism in the face of the horrific images and depressing stories that have come to symbolize the war in Iraq. Most of the violent news is true; the death and destruction are very real. But experienced military officers know that the horror stories, however dramatic, do not represent the broader conditions there or the chances for future success.

Everyone in uniform does not share this sentiment. Thirty-six percent of military officers are less confident in the mission. But these officers will continue to work as hard as the rest of us toward success because they, too, are professionals.

They, like liberal Democrats, have been listening to the overly-skeptical press, which would depress anyone.

Update: Maybe there is hope for the OLd Media. This journalist has a change of heart.

Trading Troops for Weapons

Disappointing but not unexpected. With the war winding down in Iraq this is probably OK, but I still think they wouldn't have these problems if they would buy more low-tech weapons ie Stryker, LCS, and F-16s. Read all:

- Eliminating 40,000 Air Force jobs over the next six years, including active duty, civilian and reserves.
- Cutting up to three National Guard brigades, each of which generally has about 3,500 troops.
- Scaling back plans to increase active Army forces

They really didn't have much choice, Congress has so many pet projects:

"All proposals for cutting weapons systems have, one by one, been shot down, so in the end the savings are achieved by minor cuts in many places, rather than big decisions," said Loren Thompson, defense analyst with the Lexington Institute think tank in Arlington, Va.

There's been alot of speculation on what's coming with the QDR, but I don't think there will be any surprises:

The Pentagon's last quadrennial review was released on Sept. 30, 2001, but largely completed before the Sept. 11 attacks. The new review, expected to be finalized this month, maps the people, equipment and structure the military wants for its 21st century wars.
Thompson said the review would discuss the military's need to focus on emerging threats, such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. He said it would seek to reduce dependence on traditional weapons systems, but by looking for savings in personnel and not arms, the Pentagon will not reflect such changes in the program budgets.

High-Tech Santa Tracker

This cute story is from Spacewar. Careful of friendly fire Santa!

"NORAD uses four high-tech systems to track Santa -- radar, satellites, Santa Cams, and jet fighter aircraft," the organization said, adding that "the satellites can detect Rudolph's bright red nose with practically no problem. With so many years of experience, NORAD has become good at tracking aircraft entering North America, detecting worldwide missile launches and tracking the progress of Santa, thanks to Rudolph."

...Finally, NORAD said that about a dozen jet fighters are equipped with Santa Cams, and "Canadian NORAD fighter pilots, flying the CF-18, take off out of Newfoundland to intercept and welcome Santa to North America. Then at numerous locations in Canada other CF-18 fighter pilots escort Santa, while in the United States American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or F-16 get the thrill of flying with Santa and the famous Reindeer -- Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph."

US/Insurgent Temporary Truce

This is interesting from the Washington Times (free sub):

After months of painstaking dialogue, U.S. officials have persuaded most of the main insurgent groups to cease violence for today's election and its immediate aftermath, U.S. officials said yesterday. In return, the U.S. military agreed, despite severe internal disagreements, to halt "offensive operations" during the period, U.S. Embassy officials said on the condition of anonymity.
...The decision to negotiate, taken by the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, met with resistance from several of his fellow officers. It was then decided to make no public statement, but simply to act on the new orders in secret.

Just who is involved in these negotiations?

Yesterday, the U.S. military issued a statement in response to a query from The Washington Times. It mentioned "occasional meetings," but said the meetings were "with Sunni leaders -- not insurgency leaders with blood on their hands." The U.S. official said, "That only rules out a few individuals, and even then they can send 'cleaner' representatives to talks with us."

And what of Al Qaeda?

An Internet posting from Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq organization this month declared the election a "crusader" plot, but, to the puzzlement of many observers, included no call for any attack on the election system or on voters.

New Amphibious Ship

NEW SHIP PULLS PIER SIDE – TLine handlers stand by while the Navy's newest class of amphibious ship USS San Antonio pulls pier side at its new homeport of Naval Station Norfolk, Va., Dec. 12, 2005. San Antonio is the lead ship in the Navy’s newest amphibious transport dock-class of ships. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Laura A. Moore

Stability Ops get Priority

I reported on this earlier. It seems nation building is now official US policy, whether we want it or not.

Stability operations are now a major priority for the Defense Department, on par with combat operations, and will receive more planning and funding, two DoD officials said here today.
The officials were explaining DoD Directive 3000.05, which was signed Nov. 28. The directive provides guidance on stability operations and assigns responsibility for planning, training and preparing to conduct and support stability operations.
The origins of the directive come from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Jeffrey Nadaner, deputy assistant secretary of defense for stability operations. Before Sept. 11, many people within DoD thought of stability operations as optional, Nadaner said, but after the terrorist attacks, they were seen as a necessity.

Who else but America has the will and the power to do this? The UN is too corrupt and the EU too weak and disorganized.

Navy Makes Steam

I see the current Navy transformation like the transition form sail to steam in the 19th Century. It seems agonizing slow, but steady. Alot of folks in the Military Industrial Complex aren't happy, according to this article, but change is seldom easy. Without it we die:

The overall increase in fleet size can be explained by the Navy's plan to buy 55 Littoral Combat Ships - small, fast attack boats that can patrol waters close to shore. None of those ships exist today. Without them, the proposed future fleet would decline to 258 ships...The shift in force structure, analysts said, signals a desire to reorient the Navy away from traditional deep-ocean battles toward ways to better engage in the war on terrorism - mostly fought on land or close to shore."The fleet is being postured for irregular warfare and unconventional combat," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute. "It is not being postured for war against China in the future."

And I think thats a good thing. If you disagree, please read yesterday's post.

Israel versus Iran?

Its about time! From the Sunday Times:

Israel readies forces for strike on nuclear

ISRAEL’S armed forces have been ordered by Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, to be ready by the end of March for possible strikes on secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran, military sources have revealed.
The order came after Israeli intelligence warned the government that Iran was operating enrichment facilities, believed to be small and concealed in civilian locations.

With good reasons:

Israel — and not only Israel — cannot accept a nuclear Iran,” Sharon warned recently. “We have the ability to deal with this and we’re making all the necessary preparations to be ready for such a situation.”

And they have the forces to do it:

It is believed Israel would call on its top special forces brigade, Unit 262 — the equivalent of the SAS — and the F-15I strategic 69 Squadron, which can strike Iran and return to Israel without refuelling.

China's Bogus Sub Threat

All this sounds familiar. From Strategypage:

Despite howls in some circles (right up to the four star level), the “threat” from China’s 60 or so submarines seems very limited. Rarely are there more than 4-6 boats at sea at any time, often there are none at all, and a number of units (the Han nuke boats, for example), seem never to go to sea at all. China’s Type 092 SSBN Changzheng, laid down in 1978 and commissioned in 1987 (NATO designation: Xia class) seems to be a maritime basket case.

Remember when we lived in dread of the vaunted Soviet navy, yet they rarely went to sea and rarely trained like Western navies? Just more myths to justify big ticket battleships while our troops don't have enough heloes and armor.

Raptor Drops the "A"

Well sort of. Its now F-22A. Better I guess but is it a better plane for the cost? This is from DefenseNews via Murdoc:

Three years after the U.S. Air Force added an “A” to highlight the F/A-22 Raptor’s ability to drop bombs, the service is dropping the extra letter from the stealthy jet’s designator.
The plane, which is expected to officially enter service in the coming weeks, will henceforth be called the F-22A — with the trailing letter indicating a first variant, not an extra role.
Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff, who is said to have been unhappy with the F/A-22 moniker, announced the renaming in a Dec. 12 speech to a U.S. Air National Guard senior leadership conference in Baltimore, Md.

Old Media versus History

This is from RealClearPolitics via Austin Bay:

The media seem to have come up with a formula that would make any war in history unwinnable and unbearable: They simply emphasize the enemy's victories and our losses.
Losses suffered by the enemy are not news, no matter how large, how persistent, or how clearly they indicate the enemy's declining strength.
...the American deaths in Iraqi are a fraction of what they have been in other wars in our history. The media have made a big production about the cumulative fatalities in Iraq, hyping the thousandth death with multiple full-page features in the New York Times and comparable coverage on TV.

With comparisons from other wars:

The Marines lost more than 5,000 men taking one island in the Pacific during a three-month period in World War II. In the Civil War, the Confederates lost 5,000 men in one battle in one day.
Yet there was Jim Lehrer on the "News Hour" last week earnestly asking Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about the ten Americans killed that day.

The ignorance of the Left is astounding. What's to become of us in this new age of violence, if we can't defend ouselves and our culture?

Also on this subject read:

Here's my apology on the 'disaster' of the Iraq war.
At war: government and the media

Saudis Want Littoral Combat Ship

From Strategypage:

Saudi Arabia. Saudi Chief-of-Naval Operations, Vice Admiral Prince Fahd bin Abdullah, has recently expressed considerable interest in the US Navy’s new “Littoral Combat Ship” (LCS). The LCS is to displace 2,500 tons, with a full load draft of under ten feet, permitting access to very shallow “green” and even “brown” coastal and riverine waters, where most naval operations have taken place in the past generation.
...Saudi interest in the LCS is prompted by a number of considerations. The LCS’s shallow draft is particularly suited to Saudi needs, as most of the waters around the kingdom are relatively shallow. In addition, the Royal Saudi Navy has had persistent difficulties securing sufficient quality manpower to operate larger vessels, a problem that smartship technologies would help resolve.

Sunnis Threaten Al-Qeada

In a reverse from earlier elections, Sunni Arabs are warning terrorists to interfere at their own risk. From Reuters:

In a move unthinkable in the bloody run-up to the last election, guerrillas in the western insurgent heartland of Anbar province say they are even prepared to protect voting stations from fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.

And another Sunni says:

"Sunnis should vote to make political gains. We have sent leaflets telling al Qaeda that they will face us if they attack voters."

And Democrats say there is no progress in Iraq? Maybe they should stop listening to the press.

Is NATO a Zombie Organization?

Thats how former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar recently described the alliance, but this article from Spacewar disagrees:

At a meeting in Brussels Thursday foreign ministers agreed to expand alliance operations in southern Afghanistan and boost the number of troops in the war-torn state from 10,000 to 16,000. They defused an increasingly bitter transatlantic row about alleged C.I.A. camps in Europe after receiving reassurances from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that suspected terrorists would not be tortured or sent to countries where they would be tortured. And they penciled in two summits of NATO leaders on transforming and enlarging the military bloc in 2006 and 2008.

And argues NATO is not mired in the Cold War either:

For all the alliance's slights, setbacks and self-doubts, it is difficult to argue -- as Aznar does -- that it remains mired in a cold-war mind-set based of tanks facing each other across the Fulda Gap. By the end of next year it will have a 25,000-strong rapid reaction force capable of intervening anywhere in the world within five days.
It is slowly acquiring airlift capacity to transport troops long distances and its primary focus is now fighting terrorism and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, not stopping a land invasion of Europe from the east.

Thank a Soldier

Check out the video and send your thanks!

"American soldiers are risking their lives all over the globe defending America's interests and defending the freedoms that many of us take for granted. During Thank a Soldier Week (December 19-25), Townhall.com is encouraging Americans to stop for a moment and give thanks to the men and women risking everything for us. "

More Hawkish Than Murtha?

Hard to believe isn't it? But listen to what the Washington Post has to say about America's friend Joe Lieberman:

...he is far more hawkish than the majority of Democrats, and he has vigorously backed invading Iraq and toppling Saddam Hussein from the beginning.

Can this be true? Were we misled by the Old Media to think that Jack Murtha was the reincarnation of old Andy Jackson or Teddy Roosevelt? I shudder at the thought!

The Information War

Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld continues to urge the press to tell the soldiers side of the War on Terror, rather than going with the sensational which gets ratings and aids our enemies:

Rumsfeld reiterated a point he made earlier this week: that journalists need to be more even-handed in their reporting and ensure they tell the whole story of what's happening in Iraq.

Our troops know the truth and is spreading the word:

Troops on the ground know the real story, and share it with their friends and loved ones through e-mails and phone calls, the secretary said. But they continue to wonder why this story isn't finding its way into the media, he said.

Honest News

I've updated Honest News:
Positive stories from the War on terror

Guardsmen Rebuild in Najaf

The Pentagon recently singled out the Mississippi Army National Guard's 155th Brigade Combat Team as an example of the progress US forces are making in Iraq. From the Washington Times:

Wrapping up one year in Iraq, the brigade has worked without much publicity to turn the war-ravaged city of Najaf and surrounding areas into relatively hospitable enclaves. Najaf, home to one of Shi'ite Muslims' most holy shrines, and nearby Karbala, are now run by Iraqis. Babil Province, the 155th's other geographic assignment, is still plagued by violence, but overall attacks are down.

Some of the progress by the brigade was cited:

The renovation of 49 schools and the import of 26,000 backpacks full of pens, paper and rulers. "I gave the order that each company would adopt at least one school," the general said.

The building of health clinics where the brigade's doctors and dentists provided care.

The reopening of Najaf's teaching hospital, which was looted and wrecked by Shi'ite militants. Now, the hospital treats 400 patients daily.

The reconstruction of Najaf's soccer stadium, where 20,000 fans watched an inaugural game between Baghdad and a local team.

Thank you guys, for your service!

Staged India-US Fighter Exercise

You may have read in a recent magazine article how the US Air Force had their "clocks cleaned" by Indian figher pilots. According to Strategypage, this isn't the whole story:

What isn’t usually included in these battle descriptions is the fact that the ground rules deliberately prevented the American pilots from winning every engagement. These days, American pilots use close in dog fighting (with heat seeking Sidewinder missiles) as a fall back tactic. The main air-to-air weapon of the U.S. Air Force is now the long range (over 50 kilometers) AMRAAM missile, and superior radar equipment....
So when American fighter pilots go train with foreign air forces, they have to take their BVR tactics off the table, since under those conditions, the “enemy” force would not have much of a chance.

This has been going on for a while and I'm not surprised the Old Media fell for this, since they always look for reasons to discredit our military.

Winds of Change has a longer analysis of the Exercise Cope India 2005.

Dems War Strategy: Retreat & Defeat

Check out the video at the GOP, a scathing indictment of the Dems retreat strategy using their own words. How easy is that?

Keeping Terrorists Far, Far Away

A US general oints to a recent terrorist attack that killed 30 Iraqi civilians as why we must continue the fight "Over There". From Spacewar:

Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch pointed to today's terrorist bombing of a passenger bus in Baghdad that killed almost 30 Iraqis as a key rationale for American forces to be in Iraq. Lynch is a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq...
"We want to defeat the terrorists here in Iraq," Lynch said, "so similar events don't happen in London, in Washington, back in our hometowns."

And our troops are very successful in their mission:

"We believe our operations continue to isolate the insurgents," Lynch said, "and we'll continue to focus these operations to defeat the terrorists and foreign fighters and to disrupt the insurgency."
Foreign terrorists, who conduct 95 percent of the suicide bomb attacks in Iraq, have been ejected from the western Euphrates River Valley, Lynch said, as the result of recent combined military operations featuring U.S., coalition and Iraqi forces.

Pentagon's 2 War Plan

If you have a coastline on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, this is pretty much a given that you fight 2 wars at a time. From the Washington Times:

The Pentagon, in a major four-year decision, has decided to stick with having the capability of being able to fight two major conflicts at once, The Washington Times has learned. Two officials said that when the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) is completed next month, it will retain the requirement that the Pentagon maintain active forces and reserves able to repel and occupy an enemy in one war and defeat a second enemy but not necessarily occupy the capital.

With a military far smaller in size than in the Cold War, here is how the Pentagon will pull this off:

Officials think that transforming the 10-division active Army into 70 mobile brigades allows the service to meet future challenges with fewer soldiers. "The new brigades are so much more mobile and lethal than they used to be," said a senior defense official, citing better precision-guided weapons, improved intelligence links and shorter logistics tail. "They are easier to get to the fight. ... A new Army brigade has more firepower than an old Army division." Likewise, Navy planners think the fleet today, with 11 carrier battle groups instead of 12, represents more firepower because of better weapons and intelligence links. "We're able to be more lethal with lower numbers," said the source, who, like the other official, asked not to be named.

Amen. Its the Revolution in Military Affairs.

Gone the Age of the Battleship

Wizbang responds to a Robert Novak article that claimed the US marines still need the old Iowa battleships. The blogger disagrees because:

1) Their machinery is very, very old. We no longer have the ability to readily make spare parts. We would end up having to cannibalize the two museum ships (the New Jersey and Missouri) for the inevitable breakdowns.
2) The guns are also very old, and we no longer have the industrial base to work them. They need new liners for the barrels every 250 or so shots, and we haven't made any new ones in decades. We've been living on the spares made during World War II ever since, and we simply can't make more without a huge investment in retooling.
3) They are crew hogs. During World War II, it took over 2,700 men to run the ships. Since their rebuilding in the 1980's, their complement was reduced to between 1,500 and 2,000 crew -- enough to run three or four modern combatants.
4) The Iowa herself is "damaged goods." The center gun of her second turret exploded in 1989, and it was never fully repaired -- she ony has six functional main guns.
5) The United States hasn't made an opposed landing in 55 years. We can pretty much "walk" ashore anywhere we might need to. Our military superiority is such that we simply don't have to worry about such things.

I agree with all of the above especially the excessive crew requirement, and also the yearly cost of upkeep.Also check out Murdoc's take on the subject, and my article on a 21st century battleship.

Whipping the Vietnam Syndrome

This editorial says the Vietnam Syndrome is alive and well in Washington and the Old Media, but not necessarily with the American public:

Americans lost their fear of body bags, I wrote after 9/11. Americans would fight in Iraq. The Vietnam syndrome, I said, was dead.
I was wrong. The Vietnam syndrome is alive and well in significant segments of the Democratic party. It is kicking among Republicans and thrives in the media commentariat.
But there are signs the American public at large is a lesser host. Americans, it looks, still don't like to cut and run; and George W. Bush, the perpetually underestimated president, knows it.

I agree! If we believe that government can't live our lives for us, lets prove them wrong. Support the troops and the President, ignore the media body count and lets whip this malaise once and for all! We can do it, by God cause we're Americans!!!

An Army of More Than One

Looks like the Army may be dropping its add campaign, "An Army of One", says NewsMax:

The Army announced Wednesday that it is switching advertising agencies, dropping Leo Burnett Worldwide, which created the "Army of One" slogan nearly five years ago, in favor of McCann Erickson of New York.
...(Army spokesman) Boyce said the decision to drop Leo Burnett had nothing to do with the fact that the Army missed its recruiting target for the budget year ended Sept. 30 for the first time since 1999.

Always sounded too PC to me anyway!

Brown and Green Navy

The Navy's new shipbuilding plan, announced earlier this week, will give more focus to a fleet geared toward coastal warfare. They've been saying this since the end of the Cold War, but its finally coming, says this article:

Adm. Michael G. Mullen, who took over as chief of naval operations in July, yesterday sketched out a future U.S. Navy that will operate as a "brown water" and a "green water" force in rivers and along"A lot of that is closer to shore, whether it's in the rivers of certain countries that we would be involved to assist in, or whether it's in the shallows near land," said Mullen, who spoke to reporters yesterday after making an "all hands" visit with enlisted sailors at Pearl Harbor coasts in addition to its traditional big-ship, blue-water role.

And this is the fleet that will get us there:

The New York Times reported that as part of a Navy plan to increase its fleet to 313 ships and reverse years of decline in shipbuilding, Mullen wants 55 small, fast littoral combat ships, which are designed to counter mines, diesel submarines and surface craft in coastal regions.

A new command is being created for this new mission:

The new Navy Expeditionary Combat Command in Norfolk, Va., will include three squadrons operating "brown water" river boats. The command will oversee elements of Seabees, explosive ordnance disposal sailors, and the 11,000 master-at-arms security force, Mullen said.

Dems Shaky Over Anti-War Remarks

This is from the Washington Post:

Strong antiwar comments in recent days by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean have opened anew a party rift over Iraq, with some lawmakers warning that the leaders' rhetorical blasts could harm efforts to win control of Congress next year.
Several Democrats joined President Bush yesterday in rebuking Dean's declaration to a San Antonio radio station Monday that "the idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong."

The critics said that comment could reinforce popular perceptions that the party is weak on military matters...

Well Duh!!! I've been thinking that for 25 years.

French CNN

Did you hear about this? I thought they already had one, in America! From NewsMax:

The French government has given the green light for an international TV news channel to start broadcasting in French by the end of next year, with the aim of spreading the country's vision to the world.
According to Reuters, the 24-hour news channel is expected to beam into homes, hotels and newsrooms in much the same way as U.S.-owned CNN, Britain's BBC World and more recently Qatar's Arabic-language al-Jazeera.

"The aim is to bring France's values and its vision of the world to everywhere in the world" ( a spokesman quoted Chirac as telling the cabinet,)

Isn't that what CNN has been doing since it started?

Joe Lieberman, American

Not Democrat of Republican or partisan hack, but a real American. I was beginning to think they were extinct, someone who would put his country before politics. Read what Joe said yesterday:

We can’t tolerate the kind of division that currently exists in our country,” Lieberman said. "Why are we fighting among those who have the same goals?”
..."It’s time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge he’ll be commander-in-chief for three more years. We undermine the president’s credibility at our nation’s peril,” he warned.

I've been waiting for someone to say this since Sept. 11, 2001. Give-em heck, Joe!

The Wrong Army

Read and Listen to The Wrong Army, a graphic intensive display about those who criticize our more successful-than-not military:

We can prevail on the field of battle, but we can't win a war of words where the overriding assumption is that we are always in the wrong.

I can't think of a single point in history where our forces were of the correct size, the correct composition, correctly deployed, and appropriately trained all at the same time...

We really only have one defense against this sort of mudslinging. Success. When we fight, we win, and that's got to count for something. When asked to comment on Operation Desert Storm, the US Army's Lieutenant General Tom Kelly reportedly said, "Iraq went from the fourth-largest army in the world, to the second-largest army in Iraq in 100 hours."

Created by author and naval officer Jeff Edwards. Thanks for your service sir!

Progress Made on 9/11 Commission

The White House has posted this on their website:

Fact Sheet: Progress on the 9/11 Commission Recommendations

Navy Buidlup Cont...

DefenseTech puts a positive spin on the Navy's new shipbuilding plan. Check it out!

In my opinion, it seems like a good deal, such as focusing in littoral operations, and only building 7 of the new DDX battlescruisers. Personally I think we should curtail the big ships for a while, and build only the new LCS, but this is probably a good compromise with the big-ship navy.

Rumsfeld Blasts Media

This is overdue, and should continue fervently. In a speech yesterday the Defense Secretary lambasted the Old Media for wanting to believe any bad news about America in the War on Terror, whether its true or not, and whatever the consequences to the nation:

Rumsfeld, speaking at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University's campus here Dec. 5, said troops frequently ask him why the American people aren't getting a more accurate picture of what's happening in Iraq. They question why violence seems to get the heaviest coverage, while "good news" stories about successes tend to go unreported...

"We've arrived at a strange time in this country, where the worst about America and our military seems to so quickly be taken as truth by the press and reported and spread around the world," the secretary said...

Rumsfeld cited the recent example of the widespread media coverage of two Iraqis' claims that U.S. soldiers had attacked them with lions. These claims are still without substantiation, he said.
In May, rioting and several deaths resulted from what Rumsfeld called "a false and damaging" news story about a Koran being flushed down a toilet at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In yet another instance, a recent New York Times editorial implied that the U.S. armed forces were using tactics Rumsfeld called "reminiscent of Saddam Hussein."

Read the whole thing and judge for yourself, but I believe most Americans agree the press is out of control and hurting the war effort.

Debunking Recruiting Myths

This Pentagon official is firing back at several myths about today's young military recruits, includingfalsehoods you often hear in the press. From DefenseLink:

They are so clearly a cut above America," Bill Carr, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, said of today's recruits.

And here is an abridged version of the Myths:


Myth 1: Military recruits are less educated and have fewer work alternatives than other young Americans. In fact, military recruits are far better educated than the general youth population, Carr said. More than 90 percent of recruits have a high school diploma, compared to about 75 percent of the U.S. youth population.


Myth 2: The military tends to attract people with lower aptitudes. Recruits actually have much higher average aptitudes than the general youth population, Carr said. In fiscal 2005, 67 percent of recruits scored above the 60th percentile on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.


Myth 3: The military attracts a disproportionate number of poor or underprivileged youth. In reality, military recruits mirror the U.S. population and are solidly middle class, Carr said. He cited a recent Heritage Foundation report that shows most recruits come from middle-class families, rather than poorer or wealthier ones.


Myth 4: A disproportionate number of recruits come from urban areas. Inner cities are actually the most underrepresented area among new recruits, Carr said. Both suburban and rural areas are overrepresented, he said.


Myth 5: The military isn't geographically representative of America.
The southern part of the United States generates the most recruits, 41 percent, but also has the biggest youth population to draw from, 36 percent, Carr said. Twenty-four percent of recruits come from north-central regions, which have 23 percent of the youth population. The west, with 24 percent of the nation's youth, contributes 21 percent of the new enlistees. And the northeast, with 18 percent of the youth population, provides 14 percent of new recruits.

The Army and Counter-Insurgency

This article from Tech Central Station says the US Army historically has been pretty good in counter-insurgency, but the public has not:

the United States military has had great success fighting small wars. The Army has a long history of doing so, from the French and Indian War to the War for Independence to the Indian Wars to the Spanish-American War to Vietnam to Afghanistan. The Marines have made it their specialty. Even in Vietnam, which was both the longest war in our history and the biggest loss, the military did an excellent job of adapting to an enemy that fluctuated between conventional and guerrilla tactics. The Army's Green Berets and the Navy SEALs were specialists at this type of warfare, but the conventional Army and Marines fought it well, too...

The problem in Vietnam and Iraq is not so much that the U.S. military is bad at counterinsurgency but that insurgencies are incredibly hard to defeat.

Read the whole thing.

Navy Will Keep Gunboats

This is good news, something I've been advocating for a while. From DefenseTech:

After years of trying to give away its 14 Cyclone-class patrol boats, the Navy is reversing course, according to Navy Times. Now the Cyclones will form the backbone of a revitalized coastal gunboat community based in Little Creek, Virginia.
The 60-meter Cyclones were commissioned in the early '90s with the intention of using them to transport SEALs and other special forces in litorral waters. But the special operators never liked the Cyclones: they were too big and drew too deep for many waterways. So in the late '90s, the Navy offered them to foreign navies. There was only one taker -- the Phillipines navy, which acquired the first of the class -- before events intervened.

For more on the Cyclones, go here.

Navy to Expand Fleet

Not by much, but at least its something. From Reuters:

The (NY) Times said the Navy's plan was to increase its 281-ship fleet by 32 vessels, citing senior Defense Department officials. It said the project that would cost more than $13 billion a year, $3 billion more than the current shipbuilding budget.
"We are at a crisis in shipbuilding," a senior Navy official told the newspaper. "If we don't start building this up next year and the next year and the next year, we won't have the force we need."

They may have to cut the Air Force to get it, something unthinkable even a few years ago, when the AF was the top funded service:

The Wall Street Journal, citing service officials, said the Air Force was considering eliminating over 30,000 uniformed and civilian positions between fiscal 2007 and 2011.
The Journal said that the Army was not looking at personnel cuts, but was considering a modest slowdown in troop growth. The paper said curtailments would be due to the Army's recruiting problems as well as its desire to save money.
The Journal stressed that any proposed cuts were tentative, and that their size could change.

As I said, this is a start, but consider the 100 ships bought during the 1980's , or the 6000 commissioned in WW2.

Also, the NYT expands on the story:

The plan calls for building 55 small, fast vessels called littoral combat ships, which are being designed to allow the Navy to operate in shallow coastal areas where mines and terrorist bombings are a growing threat. Costing less than $300 million, the littoral combat ship is relatively inexpensive.
Navy officials say they have scaled back their goals for a new destroyer, the DD(X), whose primary purpose would be to support major combat operations ashore. The Navy once wanted 23 to 30 DD(X) vessels, but Admiral Mullen has decided on only 7, the Navy official said. The reduction is due in part to the ship's spiraling cost, now estimated at $2 billion to $3 billion per ship.
The plan also calls for building 19 CG(X) vessels, a new cruiser designed for missile defense, but the first ship is not due to be completed until 2017, the Navy official said. The proposal would also reduce the fleet's more than 50 attack submarines to 48, the official said...The plan also calls for building 31 amphibious assault ships, which can be used to ferry marines ashore or support humanitarian operations...But the Navy would keep 11 aircraft carriers, just one fewer than the dozen it has maintained since the end of the cold war.

The DDX seems to be the F/A-22 Raptor of the sea service, they just can't afford as many as they want.

McCain OK with Military Paid News

So am I, and I think there should be more, as long as its the truth! Story from NewsMax:

"If these are accurate stories written by legitimate people then I don't think there's anything wrong with that," McCain told NBC's "Meet the Press."

But the moderator can't handle the truth:

The Arizona Republican's answer clearly disappointed MTP moderator-turned-Leakgate prosecution witness Tim Russert, who asked incredulously: "But here we are trying to teach democracy and freedom of the press and the lack of state-sponsored censorship, if you will, and we're paying Iraqis to print articles?":
McCain shot back: "If these are accurate stories then we should make every effort to get them out. We are in a propaganda war. This is a war for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people as well."

Amen! Nothing wrong with propoganda in wartime, and I think the Pentagon should make an all out effort, including here at home.

Plus, Strategypage tells How Good News Saves Lives

News Feed

You may have noticed the news feed on the right sidebar. This is something new I'm trying out, with updated info on modern weapons from my groups. Hope you enjoy!

Operation Heroic Success

A training operation recently in Afghanistan, called in their language Operation Atal Wali. From Centcom:

Soldiers from the 1st Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps, took part in a nine-day validation training exercise Nov. 12-20 at Kandahar Airfield and Camp Sherzai, the first such exercise ever conducted with the ANA.
The battalion, or Kandak, level exercise, trained ANA soldiers from the top of the chain-of command down to the lower-enlisted ranks. Kandak officers, infantrymen, medics and artillerymen all honed their skills under the watchful eyes of Coalition Forces.

Reconstruction Successes

This is from CentCom. Click on the map for a better view.

1. Completion of police stations in Babil, Basrah, Erbil, Kirkuk, Ninewa, and Salah ad Din Provinces, and a holding facility in Al Muthanna Province will provide approximately 250,000 people a safer environment and greater security as police operate from these improved facilities.

2. The completion of renovations to 12 schools in Baghdad, Basrah, and Al Anbar Provinces will equal a better learning environment and brighter future for over 7,200 Iraqi schoolchildren and 50 teachers.

3. Over 29 km of new roads between Qadisiyah Province and Wassit Province will provide a safer travel route for farming villages to transport their crops to the market and reaching larger towns such as Baghdad.

4. 500,000 people annually will benefit from six renovated railroad station in Qadisiyah Province will provide protection from the environment while the passengers wait to board the train and for the stationmaster to schedule freight movements.

5. 150,000 residents between Baghdad, Ninewa, and Wassit Province now enjoy more reliable electricity as their 15 km of electrical power feeder were installed to local distribution substations.

6. 80,000 people between Maysan, Najaf, and Ninewa Provinces now enjoy potable water with the installation of three compact water units and repair of 27 km of water line.

7. Four border forts in Maysan Province and two border forts in Al Anbar Province will increase the security along the border with Iran and Saudia Arabia, allow for the proper training of the border police, and provide additional logistical support for border patrols.

8. The completion of a Port of Entry in Ninewa province will expedite the safe passage of thousands of vehicles and persons traveling between Iraq and Syria daily.

9. Fire stations in Al Anbar, Basrah, Diyala, and Kirkuk Provinces will increase fire security for 100,000 residents in local towns and provide an excellent training facility for firefighters.

10. Completion of cluster pump station is part of an overall project to restore water injection to pre-war levels. The water injection infrastructure is critical to providing adequate pressure on the oil reservoir in the Rumaylah field and has a direct impact on crude oil production output.