Remembering Flight 93

Blackfive says "Never Yield"

I've been to Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald. I've been to the cliffs of Point du Hoc where the Rangers climbed to begin the end of the Nazis. I've walked the battlegrounds of the Bulge, Gettysburg, Ardennes, Bunker Hill, the Alamo, and Massada. Not all places were last stands, but they certainly were places of defiance and courage. Someday, I'll make a trip out to a field in Pennsylvania...

Haven't seen the movie yet, but heard some good stuff about it.

Rumsfeld and the Generals

My new article at Opinion Editorials.

CIA Needs Shaking Up

This story is from the Inside the Ring column at Washington Times:

We asked Dan Gallington, who once was chief counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, to discuss whether the CIA's bureaucracy is working against President Bush's policies in the war on al Qaeda. "I wouldn't say they are anti-Bush as much as to say they generally support the more conciliatory policy positions of the State Department bureaucracy," Mr. Gallington said. "Even though CIA is not a policy organization, they actively participate in influencing national security policy. "I would say it seems clear that the leaks out of the CIA in recent years are both substantively, and in timing, seem intended to embarrass the president." He said a "purge" is the answer for a leak-weary Bush administration. "It's already under way," he said.

This is good and I hope its a complete purge.

Milbloggers are United

Against the Old Mainstream Media, says Harold Hutchison at TCS Daily:

Last weekend was the 2006 Milblogging Conference held in Washington, DC. For this author, it was the first chance to meet Austin Bay, a TCS contributor and colleague of mine at Strategypage.com. But the gathering also gave folks an insight into how military bloggers (aka milbloggers) have been making a difference in the War on Terror...

Milblogger efforts have shown that the landscape has changed greatly from Vietnam. As Steve, who blogs at Threatswatch, pointed out, the Tet Offensive was a military defeat for the North Vietnamese, but the victory by American forces on the battlefield was taken away by misreporting from the media of that time. Today, such misreporting will not go unchallenged, as there is a check against the MSM.

There are 2 wars going on, the one with the terrorists "over there", and the one for the hearts and minds of the public here at home.

Get Over Gas Prices

Charles Krauthammer says we shouldn't be surprised, even at the hysteria:

If you thought the Dubai port deal marked a record high in Washington cynicism, think again. Nothing can match the spectacle of politicians scrambling for cover during a spike in gasoline prices. And this time, the panderfest has gone all the way to the Oval Office. President Bush has joined the braying congressional hordes by ordering the Energy and Justice Departments and the FTC to launch an investigation into possible gasoline price-fixing.

Why not ethanol?

Brazil makes a ton of it and very cheaply. Answer: The Iowa caucuses. Iowa grows corn and chooses presidents. So we have a ridiculously high 54-cent ethanol tariff and ethanol shortages.

My take is, we are at war, so gas shortages and high prices shouldn't faze us. Think of what our troops on the frontline in Iraq are facing everday next time you complain at the pumps.

Iraqis kill Al Qaeda Leader

I include this mainly because it was on Yahoo's home page, which I thought unusual, being good news from Iraq:

Iraqi commando forces, acting on a tip, raided a house where Hamid al-Takhi, the local al-Qaida in Iraq leader, and the two other insurgents were hiding just outside Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, said police Capt. Laith Mohammed.
Al-Takhi, known as the "emir" of Samarra, was gunned down while fleeing the house, and the other two militants while trying to defend it with grenades, the U.S. military said. After they were killed, the Iraqi troops found a car parked nearby containing a grenade launcher, rockets, AK-47s, grenades, and a shotgun, the U.S. military said.

German Sub Sets Record

A big boost for air-independent-propulsion. From MonstersandCritics:

One of Germany's crack new fuel-cell-powered submarines has set a world record with a two-week-long dive, the German Navy said Wednesday.
The trip by the U212A-class sub with a crew of 27 from Eckernfoerde in Germany to Rota in Spain involved the longest period that any non-nuclear vessel had ever spent under water...

Germany, which has no nuclear weapons and no nuclear-powered ships, developed the high-tech hybrid-powered submarines to replace diesel-electric vessels that need to surface more often to obtain air for the engines.

This is ominous tidings for those who think conventional boats are the wave of the future.

The Zarqawi Video

CentCom has a translation and this analysis:

Arab media and on-line reaction notes that this is the first time Zarqawi has shown himself. Some commentary views this as a sign of weakness in the face of political progress being made in Iraq. Other commentary reiterates criticism of Zarqawi's tactics, which target innocent Muslims and undermine the legitimacy of the Iraqi insurgency. Al-Arabiya featured an Egyptian analyst who said that both Zarqawi and bin Laden "are trying to assert the existence and strength of the organization." The program also featured the Iraqi national security advisor asserting that Zarqawi's people are killing Iraqi civilians. Al-Jazeera prominently featured State Department official Alberto Fernandez, who predicted the terrorist's message would be rejected not only in the West but in the East, adding that the tape demonstrates Zarqawi's desperation. Online commentary discusses Zarqawi's character. Bloggers refer to him as a "bloody psychopath," "criminal," and "terrorist;" a minority support him as a leader of the "resistance" in Iraq. Interestingly, many said the video refutes the popular theory that Zarqawi is an imaginary bogeyman created by the Americans to justify US actions.

The General Revolt: Revelations Continue

More facts unfold about the recent Revolt of the generals. This is about the Center for Defense Information, from JR Dunn:

During the 1970s, according to the Heritage Foundation, the CDI opposed the B-1 bomber, the cruise missile, the MX ICBM, nuclear weapons modernization, and U.S. bases in the Indian Ocean and the Philippines. No Pentagon budget, not even the anemic amounts of the 70s, was low enough for the CDI. Fears of growing Soviet strength were dismissed, particularly involving Soviet naval expansion...

Despite losing most of its battles, the CDI grew in influence, becoming one of the behind-the-Beltway-scenes organizations that not so much as sets the agenda as creates the context for policy debates...The CDI has become the go-to source for military topics. Most reporters never bother to quote any other.

Here's where the Generals come in:

...it’s a shock to see a man of Anthony Zinni’s stature listed on the organization’s website as “distinguished military fellow”...Readers of this site will realize that little is new in Zinni’s recent charges. In fact, Zinni retailed the entire package at a CDI banquet in 2004, minus only the demand that Donald Rumsfeld resign. The only other novel point is that a half-dozen other officers have joined him.

Thanks to John Burtis for the tip.

Bush and Lincoln

Another President wrongly malinged by Democrats, says Thomas Bray:

T he president lied us into war. Much of the prewar intelligence was wrong. The defense chief was detested as "brusque, domineering and unbearably unpleasant to work with." Civil liberties were abridged. And many embittered Democrats, claiming the war had been a failure, demanded the troops be brought home.
George Bush? Yes -- but also Abraham Lincoln. One is struck by the parallels in reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's masterful new book, "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln."

Even with an embattled civilian defense chief:

As the casualties mounted -- 23,000 would die or be wounded on both sides in the Battle of Antietam -- the civilian chiefs, including Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, were fiercely criticized.
The criticism came not from a few retired generals flogging their memoirs but from the active duty commander, Gen. George McClellan. McClellan, who regularly referred to Lincoln as "that ape" and once kept him waiting at his headquarters while he took a nap, had a familiar complaint: Washington wasn't giving him enough troops to do the job.

That does sounds familiar!

Cut the Air Force

Proposes Loren Thompson. I agree:

For example, that the Air Force should cut its $276 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program by a third, he said. The Air Force is on the books to buy 1,763 of the new fighters, which even service officials have acknowledged may be too many...
In addition to the fighter cuts, Thompson recommended that the Air Force drop its fledgling multibillion-dollar plan to buy 100 or more light cargo planes through its Joint Cargo Aircraft partnership with the Army.
Thompson said larger C-130 planes can be used effectively in Iraq to eliminate the need for a smaller aircraft. He also recommended retiring the oldest C-130s and canceling a Boeing Co. (BA) program to upgrade that fleet. And he recommended retiring the oldest KC-135 tanker planes.

And the Army's not exempt:

...the Army needs the new communications networks that FCS will bring. But they say the Army could be biting off more than it could chew by trying to replace its land vehicles and other weapons systems as part of the same project.

Cut the Navy too, I say, until they learn to build cheaper ships!

More Than Muscle Needed

Rich Lowry says we need more than massive military force to change the culture of the Middle East:

Instead of a backward-looking debate about the number of post-invasion troops in Iraq, we should be having a forward-looking one about how we can attain the requisite cultural understanding for any long-term effort to transform the Middle East. We need a good dose of muscular multiculturalism, not in the cause of undermining the American nation (the radical left’s favorite use for it), but of advancing one of its most important foreign-policy goals.

With lessons from Britain's own experience:

Historian Niall Ferguson might have been correct when he urged the application of U.S. power in far-reaching corners of the globe, but wondered whether we had the right stuff to pull it off: “America’s brightest and best aspire not to govern Mesopotamia but to manage MTV; not to rule the Hejaz but to run a hedge fund. Unlike their British counterparts of a century ago, who left the elite British universities with an overtly imperial ethos, the letters ambitious young Americans would like to see after their names are CEO, not CBE [Commander of the Order of the British Empire].”

We're still early in the game, though. We might still pull this off with far-seeing men like Rumsfeld at the helm.

Canada Censors Media

Rightly so in times like these. From the Chronicle Herald:

Still raw from the events of last weekend, when Taliban militants attacked and killed four Canadian soldiers, the Conservative government’s decision to ban the media from covering the arrival ceremonies of war casualties back in Canada was greeted with cautious approval.
"They already know when someone dies down here," said Bombardier Hugo Girouard, a gunner from Shilo, Man.
"Why dramatize more what is already dramatic?"
When asked what their biggest concern would be should something happen to them, very nearly all the soldiers who agreed to speak Tuesday said they preferred grieving family members be shielded from what they consider to be the sometimes ruthless intensity of the media spotlight.

I think we need more freedom from the press, and less freedom of the press.

Working in Mexico

This was sent to me by email. Being employed down south not as easy as in the states:

The following from a director with SW BELL in Mexico City.

I spent five years working in Mexico.I worked under a tourist visa for three months and could legally renewitfor three more months. After that you were working illegally. I was technically illegal for three weeks waiting on the FM3 approval.During that six months our Mexican and US Attorneys were working tosecure a permanent work visa called a FM3. It was in addition to my US passport that I had to show each time I entered and left the country.Barbara's was the same except hers did not permit her to work.

To apply for the FM3 I needed to submit the following notarized originals(not copies) of my:
1. Birth certificates for Barbara and me.
2. Marriage certificate.
3. High school transcripts and proof of graduation.
4. College transcripts for every college I attended and proof ofgraduation.
5. Two letters of recommendation from supervisors I had worked for at least one year.
6. A letter from The ST. Louis Chief of Police indicating I had noarrestrecord in the US and no outstanding warrants and was "a citizen in goodstanding."
7. Finally; I had to write a letter about myself that clearly stated why there was no Mexican citizen with my skills and why my skills were important to Mexico.

We called it our "I am the greatest person on earth"letter. It was fun to write.All of the above were in English that had to be translated into Spanish and be certified as legal translations and our signatures notarized. It produced a folder about 1.5 inches thick with English on the left side and Spanish on the right. Once they were completed Barbara and I spent about five hours accompanied by a Mexican attorney touring Mexican government office locations and being photographed and fingerprinted at least three times. At each location (and we remember at least four locations) we were instructed onMexican tax, labor, housing, and criminal law and that we were requiredtoobey their laws or face the consequences. We could not protest any of the government's actions or we would be committing a felony.

We paid out four thousand dollars in fees and bribes to complete the process. When this was done we could legally bring in our household goods that were held by US customs in Loredo Texas. This meant we rented furniture in Mexico while awaiting our goods. There were extensive fees involved here that the company paid.We could not buy a home and were required to rent at very high rates and under contract and compliance with Mexican law.

We were required to get a Mexican drivers license. This was an amazing process. The company arranged for the licensing agency to come to our headquarters location with their photography and finger print equipment and the laminating machine. We showed our US license, were photographed and fingerprinted again and issued the license instantly after paying out a six dollar fee. We did not take a written or driving test and never received instructions on the rules of the road. Our only instruction was never give a policeman your license if stopped and asked. We were instructed to hold it against the inside window away from his grasp. If he got his hands on it you would have to pay ransom to get it back.

We then had to pay and file Mexican income tax annually using the number of our FM3 as our ID number. The companies Mexican accountants did this for us and we just signed what they prepared. I was about twenty legalsize pages annually.The FM 3 was good for three years and renewable for two more after paying more fees.Leaving the country meant turning in the FM# and certifying we were leaving no debts behind and no outstanding legal affairs (warrants,tickets or liens) before our household goods were released to customs.

It was a real adventure and If any of our senators or congressmen went through it once they would have a different attitude toward Mexico. The Mexican Government uses its vast military and police forces to keep its citizens intimidated and compliant. They never protest at their White House or government offices but do protest daily in front of the UnitedStates Embassy. The US embassy looks like a strongly reinforced fortress and during most protests the Mexican Military surround the block with their men standing shoulder to shoulder in full riot gear to protect theEmbassy. These protests are never shown on US or Mexican TV. There is a large public park across the street where they do their protesting.Anything can cause a protest such as proposed law changes in California or Texas.Please feel free to share this with everyone who thinks we are being hard on illegal immigrants.

Noise from Iran

Here's Don Rumsfeld's view on all the posturing and threats coming from Iran's President lately:

He said Iranian leaders feel threatened by the burgeoning democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq, which geographically bookmark Iran. "The last thing Iran wants is to have successful regimes, representative systems, free people, in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said. "It is harmful to their extreme view of the world."
Rumsfeld said continued success in Iraq and Afghanistan will help contain extremism in Iran. "Success in Afghanistan and success in Iraq is critical to containing the extreme impulses that we see emanating from Iran," he said.

He's right, change makes people nervous. That may also be the reason Rumsfeld himself is so often attacked by the generals formerly under his command.

Dead Wood at the CIA

John Burtis on the Mary McCarthy leaks, and liberals in the spy game:

Bush never cleaned out the dead wood, the hidden agents and the scoundrels left over from the Clinton administration.
Sure, I’ll bet there were some decent hard working folk in the CIA, the State Department and at the Pentagon, but every last one of the holdovers should have been fired, pending a serious go at vetting, with the same lie detector tests which were belatedly administered to Ms. McCarthy, given up front to insure their reappointment...
Compassion is one thing, the survival of the nation is another.

I agree! These liberals have become a National Security threat and they should all go, whether at the CIA, the Pentagon, or the State Dept.

The Left's Lynch Mob

Thomas Sowell presents his thought's on the Duke lacrosse team's rape allegation:

When a prosecutor acts like he has made up his mind and doesn't want to be confused by the facts, that is when the spirit of the lynch mob has entered the legal system. When this happens on the eve of an election for the prosecutor, it looks even uglier.
If the young men accused of rape are in fact guilty, they need to be proved guilty because they are guilty, not because an election is coming up or there is racial hype in the media or a legally stacked deck. More important, we need to know that the rule of law is there for all of us, regardless of who we are or who our accuser might be.

It does seem like the left increasingly believes that whites are guilty until proven guilty. Didn't racists do this to minority's in bygone days?

Return of the Winter Soldier

He's back with no apologies. From Real Clear Politics:

In an op-ed in the Boston Globe on Saturday arguing the importance of dissent in wartime, Kerry wrote about his testimony thirty-five years ago that "Many people did not understand or agree with my act of public dissent. To them, supporting the troops meant continuing to support the war, or at least keeping my mouth shut."
Not exactly. What many people found offensive in 1971, and in the thirty-five years since, wasn't necessarily Kerry voicing objections to the policy in Vietnam but his willingness to publicly condemn the entire U.S. military for heinous crimes like rape and murder which he testified were "committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command." Furthermore, Kerry made those charges based on the testimony of veterans which some have found to be less than credible.

Yes John, please run again, maybe as an independent against Hillary!

Russian Stealth Bombers?

Spacewar says they were undetected by US radar: Russian military planes flew undetected through the U.S. zone of the Arctic Ocean to Canada during recent military exercises, a senior Air Force commander said Saturday. The commander of the country's long-range strategic bombers, Lieutenant General Igor Khvorov, said the U.S. Air Force is now investigating why its military was unable to detect the Russian bombers. "They were unable to detect the planes either with radars or visually," he said. Not good if true. http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russian_Bombers_Flew_Undetected_Across_Arctic.html

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The Last Dinosaur

My new article for Opinion Editorials is here: http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcontributors/mburleson_20060424.html

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Dissident Bush

Former Russian Gulag prisoner Natan Sharansky honors Bush's stand for freedom: He is a man fired by a deep belief in the universal appeal of freedom, its transformative power, and its critical connection to international peace and stability. Even the fiercest critics of these ideas would surely admit that Mr. Bush has championed them both before and after his re-election, both when he was riding high in the polls and now that his popularity has plummeted, when criticism has come from longstanding opponents and from erstwhile supporters. With a dogged determination that any dissident can appreciate, Mr. Bush, faced with overwhelming opposition, stands his ideological ground, motivated in large measure by what appears to be a refusal to countenance moral failure. The world needs more men like this, both of them!! http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008281

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McCarthy's Motives

James Taranto reports on where confessed CIA leaker Mary McCarthy loyalties may lie:

Mary McCarthy turns out to be a politically active Democrat. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it may be probative in establishing her motive for revealing national-security secrets. She also served as a special assistant to the president during the Clinton administration. The New York Times reported Saturday that she contributed $2,000 to the 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry*. Blogger Tom Maguire notes that she also donated $5,000 to the Ohio Democratic Party, and that a male landscaper who shares her address and her last name--we're guessing they also share a connubial bed, but the FEC doesn't keep tabs on that--also gave $2,000 to Kerry, plus $500 to Maryland's Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat.

Are liberals in their zeal to get Bush a security risk? Yes!!!

A General Revolt?

Tony Blankley studies this disturbing prospect. Sounds like something out of Hollywood!

This may sound far-fetched, but in Sunday's Washington Post the very smart, very well-connected former Clinton Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke published an article entitled "Behind the Military Revolt." In this article he predicts that there will be increasing numbers of retired generals speaking out against Sec. Rumsfeld. Then, shockingly, he writes the following words: "If more angry generals emerge -- and they will -- if some of them are on active duty, as seems probable . . . then this storm will continue until finally it consumes not only Donald Rumsfeld."

...But if active generals in a theater of war are planning such a series of events, they may be illegally conspiring together to do that which would be legal if done without agreement. And Ambassador Holbrooke's article is -- if it is not a fiction (which I doubt it is) -- strong evidence of such an agreement. Of course, a conspiracy is merely an agreement against public policy.

Anything is possible nowadays. But if Democrats continue to lose elections and radicals like Howard Dean continue to stir them up, who knows?

CIA Leaker Busted

She should be tried, but this is a start. From the Washington Post:

The CIA fired a long-serving intelligence officer for sharing classified information with The Washington Post and other news organizations, officials said yesterday, as the agency continued an aggressive internal search for anyone who may have discussed intelligence with the news media.
CIA officials said the career intelligence officer failed more than one polygraph test and acknowledged unauthorized contacts with reporters. The "officer knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence, including operational information" with journalists, the agency said in a statement yesterday.
The CIA did not reveal the identity of the employee, who was dismissed Thursday, but NBC News reported last night she is Mary McCarthy. An intelligence source confirmed that the report was accurate.

Leave it to the press to give out an agents name. Who are the real leakers?

ExposetheLeft reveals McCarthy is a Democrat supporter.

The Press Should Pray

Says James Taranto in the latest Opinion Journal:

For journalists of a certain age, Vietnam and Watergate were triumphs that they are eager to repeat. It doesn't look as though that's going to happen. Our advice to newsmen? Pray. "Lord, grant me the courage to change what I can, the serenity to accept what I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference."

As should we all.

Congress to Beef Border Security

It's about time, from the Washington Times:

The Senate again will take up immigration-reform legislation in the coming weeks with an eye toward at least beefing up border security before the fall elections. Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, set a new deadline of Memorial Day to pass a comprehensive immigration bill, Senate Republican leadership aides said yesterday...

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he intends to increase enforcement efforts everywhere. "We are going to move beyond the current level of activity to a higher level in each month and year to come," he said. To pay for the stepped-up enforcement, the department has requested $41 million and 200 more U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents for fiscal 2007, which will increase to about 525 the number of ICE agents assigned to track down the 10 million to 12 million illegal aliens now in the United States.

This is the right way to go, but much more needs to be done than a few hundred more agents. More like several thousand.

Revolutionizing Undersea Warfare

This is the future of the submarine, say analysts:

To counter China's rapidly strengthening submarine fleet, the United States should spur a revolution in undersea warfare by focusing greater attention and resources on developing advanced unmanned underwater vehicles, a top naval analyst said Tuesday.
Such a move could make China's submarine investments "worthless" and secure the Navy's place as the world's premier maritime fleet, said Robert Work, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Struggling domestic shipbuilders, who are urging Congress to increase submarine purchases to two a year by 2009, are capable of changing "the rules of the game" in naval warfare, Work said.

Two subs a year at 2-3 billion each isn't going to work. But how about a uuv at $100,000 a copy, maybe with supercavitating technology?

Raptor Vs. Messerschmidt

Will there be enough to tackle future threats, asks Ed Offley:

Because the Raptor ultimately ballooned into a weapon that costs $361 million per copy, even Congress could not stomach the total program cost exceeding $65 billion, Sprey said. As a result, the Air Force is now committed to fielding a fighter program that lacks sufficient numbers to prevail in a major conflict, however effective the individual aircraft may be.
“Hitler had 70 Me-262s in combat,” Sprey said. “They were crushed by the force of 2,000 inferior P-51s that the United States had in the air.”

I've always wondered about this too. China has how many fighter versus our 180 Raptors?

(The photo is of a US P-47 Thunderbolt and an F-22 Raptor)

New Article

Over at Opinion Editorials: Demise of the Supercarrier.

Baby Looks Good!

This photo via CentCom:
KABUL , Afghanistan – A newborn baby at the newly renovated Rabia Balkhi Maternity Hospital prepares for her initial weighing.

Rumsfeld Vs. the Generals

One of our favorite columnists, John Burtis has a new article titled "They’re on the barricades together":

...true to his word, Pinch, through his minions, really laid into Mr. Rumsfeld, in Wednesday’s article, Rumsfeld Defends His Record Against His Critics, the Times avers that, "…many of his controversial decisions-- and his second-guessing of the military…"
Controversial decisions? Second guessing of the military? But of course, historical fact has no place at the NYT, a stark truth which still troubles old line readers. Let it appear that Mr. Rumsfeld dares to question the generals, the new allies of the Times, the real leaders in this time of war, the thwarted architects of systems and plans that would have worked in Iraq--the victims of an ego run roughshod.

And mentions how the generals ( and the press and the Democrats) are all wrong on how to win in Iraq:

...while all the armchair fox hunters looking for Mr. Rumfeld’s scalp blather about the half million men we need in Iraq to win, not one of them took the time to mention the amazing number of additional targets this astonishing number of troops and boundless stockpiles of materiel this vast expeditionary force would supply the enemy.

Such thinking helped us lose in Vietnam. Rummy is right!

Back Online

Sorry about the lack of posting this week. Had a bout with the flu. Much better now thanks!

Carrier Lobby Defends New Construction

Who care's about our shrinking fleet? From The Hill:

Bush’s request also would give the carrier industry a lifeline by requiring the Navy to start building a new CVN-21 every four years. Construction on the first will start in 2008. All carriers are built by Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia.
The first ship in the CVN-21 class is projected to cost more than $13 billion, a price tag that forced the Navy to cancel plans for a 2007 start to construction.
“Our biggest concern is maintaining a constant shipbuilding stream,” said Rick Giannini, president and CEO of the Milwaukee Valve Co., a supplier for Navy carriers.

Yeah, we know.

Moussaoui's Rough Childhood

This is from FoxNews:

Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui suffered a traumatic childhood that transformed him from a boy with a sense of humor who made friends easily to a man who spurned his family and embraced radical Islam, a defense witness testified Monday.

Jan Vogelsang, a clinical social worker, said at Moussaoui's death-penalty trial that the 37-year-old Frenchman was in and out of orphanages the first six years of his life. As a teenager, she said, he was rejected as a "dirty Arab" by the family of his longtime girlfriend, with whom he lived briefly and won dance contests.

Wonder what kind of childhood the orphans of 9/11 are going to have?

Why Didn't the Generals Resign?

Thomas Lipscomb asks a question and gives a history lesson to some dissenting ex-military men:

At least Wesley Clark got himself fired and summarily retired as NATO commander in comparative disgrace for submarining the Balkans policies of his Oxford classmate President Bill Clinton and his defense secretary, William Cohen. Gen. Billy Mitchell is regarded by many as having saved American military aviation by accepting a court-martial and resigning from the service he loved because of his differences in policy with the federal government...

But if Generals Gregory Newbold, John Batiste, Zinni and others have believed Rumsfeld's policies have been so dire that they are calling for his resignation, their opinions would have carried far more weight if they had stated them at some personal cost to themselves while on active service by resigning in protest. That action might have also carried some evidence of the courage Americans expect of the highest ranking officers of its uniformed services.

Could be they are campaigning for a Democratic nomination?

Myers Supports Rumsfeld

The former chairman of the JCS comes to the defense of his old boss:

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said yesterday that the behavior and comments from six generals is "inappropriate" for military officers. "I think there are professional standards that you have when you are in uniform that carry on when you retire," he said. "It's inappropriate because it's not the military that judges our civilian bosses. We'd be in a horrible state in this country, in my opinion, if the military was left to judge the civilian bosses, because when you judge Secretary Rumsfeld, you're also judging the commander in chief, because that's the chain of command, and that's just not appropriate," Gen. Myers told ABC's "This Week" program.

Plus Sen Mitch McConnell too:

"...it does remind us that civilian control of the military in this country is important, and at the end of the day, the civilian leaders are the ones who make the decision,"

President Supports Rumsfeld

In this statement from the White House: Earlier today I spoke with Don Rumsfeld about ongoing military operations in the Global War on Terror. I reiterated my strong support for his leadership during this historic and challenging time for our Nation. The Department of Defense has been tasked with many difficult missions. Upon assuming office, I asked Don to transform the largest department in our government. That kind of change is hard, but our Nation must have a military that is fully prepared to confront the dangerous threats of the 21st Century. Don and our military commanders have also been tasked to take the fight to the enemy abroad on multiple fronts. I have seen first-hand how Don relies upon our military commanders in the field and at the Pentagon to make decisions about how best to complete these missions. Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period. He has my full support and deepest appreciation. It's all about civilian control, so get over it generals! We're not a military dictatorship yet. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/04/20060414.html

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The "Big George" Scenario.

From NewsMax, a proposed air strike on Iran as envisioned by Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney :

In his "Big George" scenario, the United States would attack 1,000 targets in Iran. Fifteen B2 stealth bombers based in the United States and another 45 F117s and F-22s based in the region would carry out the initial waves of the attack, crippling Iran's long-range radar and strategic air defenses.

Massive, additional waves of carrier-based F-18s, as well as F-15s and F-16s launching from ground bases in Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, and Bahrain, would take out Iran's known nuclear and missile sites.

"Big George" would also target command and control facilities – Revolutionary Guards command centers, key clerics, and other regime-sensitive sites – in the hope of triggering a revolt against the clerical regime by opposition groups inside Iran.
The massive strike scenario could be carried out in just two days...

Might work! If only we could get the Left to see the danger facing the world over Iran Nukes. But I say, go ahead without their support. Reagan would have.

Taking the Fight to the Terrorists

With 'Operation Mountain Lion' in Afghanistan, the largest such Coalition fight in years:

Military officials in Afghanistan said Operation Mountain Lion is part of the coalition's ongoing series of offensives that aim to disrupt insurgent activities, deny them sanctuary and prevent their ability to restock...

Soldiers from 3rd Brigade of the Afghan National Army's 203rd Corps are fighting alongside servicemembers from the coalition's Task Force Spartan, made up of soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division and 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment Marines from Task Force Lava. More than 2,500 Afghan National Army and coalition forces are involved in the operation. "We're taking the fight to the terrorists in their own backyard," said Army Command Sgt. Maj. James Redmore of Task Force Spartan. "They gave their victims no sanctuary. They'll receive none from us."

Thank God for men like this!

Foxhunting From the Easy chair

This is great by John Burtis. A hilarious critique of opportunistic generals:

Unlike the sea lords noted for the "Admiral's Revolt" in the late 1940s, where the leaders of the US Navy laid their careers on the line to discuss actual strategy and offensive systems following the creation of the US Air Force, the Department of Defense and its civilian leadership, today's decidedly more politic and facile Army hounds are piling on the scrum to beleaguer Mr. Rumsfeld out of raw political expediency...

Today's buffalo hunting generals are a far cry from yesterday's admirals-- currying favor inside the service, never voicing the slightest concern while in uniform, feathering their own nest, then safely tweaking the tails of those in charge when the pension is safely banked away to curry favor with the political party offering the largest and quickest return.
You won't find a Billy Mitchell--willing to state his case on airpower before a court martial and put his career on the line to keep America safe, and who eventually resigned--in this crowd of temperamental fox hounds ready for the chase.

Thanks John, for defending a great American, Don Rumsfeld!

The Press and the War

Emmet Tyrell discusses media coverage of the GWOT. It seems like they aren't on our side:

Read the liberal press. Increasingly it reads like the press of what during the Cold War was called a "nonaligned nation." Increasingly it appears that the American press "is not taking sides" in this war, this Republican war. Over the weekend it was reported that the Bush administration has been laying plans to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. On Monday the Washington Post reported that "The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq." The Post knows this because its reporters laid hands on "internal military documents." So now those documents and the controversy within the military surrounding them are known to the public, the world public. Both news stories are out there for our enemies to make use of.

He also compares it to better days in another war:

In 1942, when all Americans recognized that we were at war, the press was more disciplined. Of course, President Franklin Roosevelt encouraged this discipline with such instruments as the Office of Censorship authorized under the War Powers Act. Codes of reportage were established, and news organizations submitted thousands of stories to the censors.

I think the Old Media will have to change or be changed if Civilisation is to defeat the terrorists in the Long War.

Recurrent Myths Concerning American Soldiers

W. Thomas Smith, Jr. at Townhall debunks the top 5:

1) The U.S. Defense Department is unable to recruit enough military personnel to defend the country and its interests abroad.
2) Critical combat arms units are not being filled.
3) The military will accept any warm body and any dull brain it can get its hands on.
4) American minorities (and those from lower income urban areas) are suffering disproportionately higher losses on the battlefield.
5) Female soldiers are fighting in offensive ground combat operations.

All are myths perpetuated by those opposed to our efforts in Iraq, who are opposed to the current administration and the U.S. Department of Defense, who are pulling the race card (for whatever reason), or who would simply prefer to use the military for social engineering purposes rather than for what it is designed to do.

I'll admit I was curious about how much women recruits are facing combat situations. An eye opener!

I Have a Fan!

Phelps Hobart of SeaPower Ambassador. What a guy. In an email he wrote:

Just a reminder if you are not already a member of Mike's groups that maybe you should examine them and if you like what you see join them as well as SeaPower.

I commend him for his endeavors!

Phelps Hobart, Moderator
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SeaPower
Over 500 posts and a considerable number of links within many of them.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UltimateWarships

This site just passed a milestone - over 1,000 posts! It is self described as

YOUR ULTIMATE SOURCE OF CURRENT AND FUTURE NAVAL DEVELOPMENTS. PREPARE YOURSELF FOR BREAKING NEWS ON MODERN WARSHIPS, AND EMERGING NAVAL STRATEGIES. FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE "NAVY REVIEW" NEWSLETTER.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/precisionstrike

This site also passed a milestone - over 750 posts! It has the following description

We are currently experiencing a revolution in warfare unseen since the 1930s. Precision guided munitions-PGMs-first used with great success in Desert Storm are making old ways of warfighting obsolete. During WW2, it took about 9000 bombs to destroy a single target,which was reduced to 300 by the Vietnam War. By the Gulf War, 1 or 2 PGMs were needed to accomplish the same mission. This group will post BREAKING NEWS of future warfare and invites any discussion on the remaking of modern armies, navies , and air forces.

Mike Burleson , the moderator of both sites, also maintains:

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/honestnews

Positive stories from Iraq and the War on Terror. No spin, just Honest News!

http://newwars.blogspot.com

New Wars Blog - The transformation of armies, navies, and airpower in the Digital Age.

Zumwalt is No Destroyer

Says Strategypage. My sentiments exactly!

The new class of destroyers, the Zumwalts, aren't really destroyers. They're cruisers. The current American cruisers are built on the same hull as are U.S. destroyers. Why the U.S. Navy persists in calling these 9,000 ton ships "destroyers" is something of a mystery. In the rest of the world, even the term "destroyer" is falling out of favor. Traditionally, you had destroyers, cruisers and "capital ships" (once battleships, now aircraft carriers). Today, the preferred progression is, frigates, cruisers, capital ships. It appears to be kind of a PC thing, with the term "destroyer" now considered a bit too rough for the ears of voters.

But the LCS is. I agree as well:

That's one reason for the LCS. There are a lot of dangerous jobs that destroyers used to do, because they were cheap and "expendable." But today's destroyers are too expensive to risk like that. So we have the LCS, a "destroyer" for the 21st century.

In a related article, Defense Industry Daily on US Naval Shipbuilding Challenges:

"In the past, the Navy has had shipbuilding production plans that included 34 Spruance class destroyers, 30 Aegis Cruisers, 62 Arleigh Burke class destroyers, and 54 Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates - very large production runs over relatively short periods of time. Needless to say, those production rates are just not feasible with ships like DD (X), CG (X), CVN21, and Virginia class submarines. We need a new shipbuilding model that can cost-effectively provide significant increases in capability at low rates of production."

France's Anti-Terror Strategy

Drawing on the lessons of others. From the Scotsman:

France has overhauled the way it combats terrorism in the light of attacks on neighbours Britain and Spain, part of a broader response to the growing threat it sees from Islamist extremists.
The first ever French strategic review on terrorism and domestic security says "Islamist-inspired world terrorism" threatens France, with disaffected home-grown youths and converts to Islam heightening the threat of attack...

It draws heavily on the British experience, reflecting the admiration of France's security and political establishment for London's measured response to the July 7, 2005 suicide bomb attacks that killed 52 people.

Marines Urge Name Change

In past decades, the US Marine Corps has been faced with extiction as a needless expense in the Defense Budget, but times have certainly changed. From the Washington Post:

This month, a few Marine Corps veterans and advocates began an online petition effort to persuade Congress to rename the Department of the Navy. Since the Corps functions within the department but has its own military command structure (the commandant of the Corps is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), its bureaucratic home would become the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

Interesting idea, and well deserved. You can view and sign the petition here.

What Part of "Illegal" Don't You Understand?

Herman Cain points out the differences between the Civil Rights struggles of the last Century, and Illegals protesting for the same thing:

The key difference between the civil rights movement of the 19th and 20th Centuries and the call today for protection of non-existent rights by leaders of illegal aliens is that the leaders of the civil rights movement were fighting to secure and protect the rights of legal citizens. If illegal aliens were conferred the same constitutional rights as legal U.S. citizens, the benefits and uniqueness of U.S. citizenship would cease to have meaning and our nation would lose its sovereignty.

Amen! Invaders are not immigrants!

Path to Success

The US ambassador and senior military chief in Iraq gives us this message of progress and hope:
As we look at Iraq today, it is in the middle of a difficult transition. During the last year, Iraqis elected a transitional government, drafted and ratified a sound constitution and held successful elections for their new national assembly. About 75% of Iraq's registered voters cast ballots in December, and the new assembly will represent all of the country's major communities.

In the last 12 months, Iraqi security forces have grown from 127,000 members to more than 250,000. Fifty Iraqi army battalions, 13 brigades and two divisions have security responsibility for thousands of square miles of territory, and another 12 battalions and three brigades are poised to assume their own security responsibility soon. By the end of summer, the goal is 75% of Iraqi army battalions and brigades will be leading counterinsurgency operations, with coalition forces playing only training and supporting roles.

Read it all and be encouraged as I was!

NeoCons are Right

A much maligned group of thinkers, yet no one seems to have a better idea, save burying our heads in the sand. Article by Marcus Gee:

...neo-con idealism is preferable to Cold War cynicism. Some of the same people who denounce the neo-cons today for trying to "impose" Western democracy on other peoples used to denounce the U.S. for propping up friendly dictators, disregarding human rights and democracy. Neo-conservative thinkers such as William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, argue that rather than smugly enjoying its victory over international communism in the Cold War, the U.S. should use its influence as the sole remaining superpower to promote freedom and democracy -- not a bad thing, surely.

A Brown Water Navy From Scratch

The US Navy is building its new Riverene Force from the ground up:

The Navy has not seen this type of action since the Vietnam War, so it is calling river veterans, the Marine Corps and the special warfare community for advice. The chosen sailors will undergo eight months of training, including combat first aid and grunt infantry at Camp Lejeune, N.C...

The riverine group will consist of three squadrons and roughly 900 sailors, including the 200 initially deployed, and support staff. Each unit will have 16 boats, most likely 30- to 40-foot crafts capable of cruising as fast as 40 knots. The craft will be similar to those used by Marines and special forces.

One way to get the fleet into the Terror War.

The Precision Revolution

The US Air Force wants to get into the new insurgency warfare with "focused-lethality munitions":

The story of this unusual bomb is just one example of how the Iraq war is triggering changes throughout a U.S. military coming to grips with the shadowy 21st century wars against terrorists and guerrillas. The Army and Marine Corps are rewriting the doctrine that guides the way they fight such wars, emphasizing restraint instead of overwhelming firepower. The Navy is pouring $200 million into developing a force that can police rivers -- its first since Vietnam. Billions are being spent Pentagon-wide to spot and destroy low-tech killers like remote-detonated roadside bombs.
For the Air Force, the new bomb is part of an effort to carve out a role for itself in today's messy, low-tech wars, which are being fought largely on the ground. The development of the focused-lethality munition is also an example of how the massive Pentagon bureaucracy often isn't as nimble as the enemy it is fighting.

Everyone wants to get into the act! Good, it will take teamwork to defeat this new bloody foe.

Warships off the Shelf

This is something I've advocated for other vehicles, but Strategypage says the Marines are considering it for amphibious shipping:

The U.S. Navy wants to save money by building its amphibious ships to merchant ship standards. This is something Europeans are already doing with some of their smaller warships. The thinking is that these ships, when hit by an anti-ship missile, are not going to be any better protected by the more expensive (double welds on seams, etc) techniques usually used for warships.

But here's the catch:

Part of the problem is that the shipbuilders don't want to do anything that would require short term sacrifices for long term gain. The shipbuilding companies are obliged, by the stock markets, to keep those quarterly results up.

Congress would probably be against it if the old legacy shipbuilders are. Jobs means votes and votes means more than National Security to Congress.

Force Field for Stryker

Well, sort of. It can't stop an artillery shell but could defeat an RPG attack:

A Stryker eight-wheeled combat vehicle equipped with Trophy underwent testing in support of OFT’s Project Sheriff, or the Full-Spectrum Effects Platform (FSEP). FSEP program officials seek to meet urgent operational requirements for a range of lethal and non-lethal technologies on a rapidly deployable platform. Trophy was selected in 2005 to be FSEP’s active protection solution.
The Dahlgren tests culminated in a live-fire demonstration March 30 for various US and international military dignitaries. Trophy detected, tracked and defeated an inert incoming RPG while the Stryker combat vehicle was on the move. Similar tests were successfully conducted in Israel in late February.

This could breathe new life into armored vehicles which have been having a rough go with insurgents in Iraq.

Time Immigration Poll

I don't give much credence to polls anymore, but this is at least interesting, from NewsMax:

Americans support building a security fence along the entire 2,000 mile U.S.- Mexican border by a landslide, a new Time magazine poll has found.
By a margin of 56 to 40 percent, respondents said they want the wall built from sea to shining sea - not just the 700 miles stipulated in the House plan, a proposal the press calls "draconian."

...Time found, however, that 47 percent of those surveyed actually favor deporting "all illegal immigrants." 49 percent were opposed.
And 51 percent said the U.S. would be "better of" if all illegals were deported and the border sealed to prevent any more from coming in. Just 38 percent disagreed.

I don't know about deporting, or even a wall, but the border should be closed. No nation can claim sovereignty if it can't control its borders.

New Yorker "Screed" on Iran Strike

Austin Bay takes down Seymour Hersh's article on alledged White House plans to nuke Iran:

Sy Hersh is a provacateur, not a reporter. StrategyPage has covered all of the options Hersh mentions– without the breathless hype and fearmongering.

Hersh quotes from numerous unnamed officials which sound fishy to me, like tabloid journalism. Besides, if Bush wanted to send a message to Iran , he would do it through Fox News, right?

Army Surpasses Goals

Good news for the all-volunteer military:

Two of every three eligible soldiers continue to re-enlist, putting the Army, which has endured most of the fighting in Iraq, ahead of its annual goal.
The Army was 15% ahead of its re-enlistment goal of 34,668 for the first six months of fiscal year 2006, which ended March 31. More than 39,900 soldiers had re-enlisted, according to figures scheduled to be released today by the Army.

Soldiers like the Army, "and the war is not causing people to leave," says Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman. Through March, 2,325 U.S. troops had been killed in Iraq; 1,593 were Army soldiers.

Certainly America's new "Greatest Generation".

What We've Gained

This is by Don Rumsfeld for CentCom:

Some have described the situation in Iraq as a tightening noose, noting that "time is not on our side" and that "morale is down." Others have described a "very dangerous" turn of events and are "extremely concerned."

Who are they that have expressed these concerns? In fact, these are the exact words of terrorists discussing Iraq -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his associates -- who are describing their own situation and must be watching with fear the progress that Iraq has made over the past three years.

The terrorists seem to recognize that they are losing in Iraq. I believe that history will show that to be the case.

Fortunately, history is not made up of daily headlines, blogs on Web sites or the latest sensational attack. History is a bigger picture, and it takes some time and perspective to measure accurately.

DDX Renamed USS Zumwalt

This is from the Navy News (and thanks to Murdoc):

The Navy has announced April 7 that the first DD(X) destroyer will be designated DDG 1000. As the lead ship in the class, it will also be named in honor of former Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt, Jr.Developed under the DD(X) destroyer program, Zumwalt is the lead ship in a class of next-generation, multimission surface combatants tailored for land attack and littoral dominance, with capabilities designed to defeat current and projected threats as well as improve battle force defense.
Zumwalt was appointed Chief of Naval Operations in 1970. As the youngest man ever to serve as CNO, Zumwalt cemented an acclaimed reputation as a visionary leader and thoughtful reformer. July 4, 2000, then-President Bill Clinton celebrated Zumwalt’s accomplishments and memory with the naming of the class and lead ship shortly after the admiral’s passing in Durham, N.C., Jan. 2, 2000.

To me the DDX is more battle cruiser than like the tin cans of WW 2, in size and function, but I do love the Navy!

Bad Year for Al Qaeda in Iraq

From Strategypage. Just read the whole thing, good stuff!

The White House "Leak" Non-Story

This is from the NY Post:

Yesterday, breathless news reports suggested that President Bush had directed the "leak" of classified information in July 2003. Yet the "leak" in question was from a document called the National Intelligence Estimate, or NIE - and by the time this "leak" occurred, the contents of the NIE as they related to Iraq were almost entirely public.
On Oct. 7, 2002, nine months before Bush's supposed "leak," the administration released an unclassified version of the very same NIE at the urging of Senate Democrats. And in early 2003, reporters hostile to the administration (primarily John Judis and Spencer Ackerman of The New Republic) were being told all sorts of things about the still-classified portions of the NIE.
And this "leak" wasn't a leak in any case. A "leak" is the unauthorized release of government information. The leak of classified information is a crime. But according to Scooter Libby, the former chief of staff to the vice president who gave the information from the NIE to a reporter, he only released it because he was authorized to do so by the president himself.

Which means, if the President authorized it, it wasn't a leak. The NY Times would call him a whistle blower, if he was on their payroll.
And read Austin Bay's take.

Germany's Iron lady

This interesting assesment of German Chancellor Angela Merkel is from the Washington Times:

To call Mrs. Merkel a breath of fresh air is an understatement. Addressing German legislators on March 29, she shocked Berlin's staid foreign-policy establishment with a stirring address outlining a tough-minded determination to stand up for German principles abroad. She cited the case of Abdul Rahman, the Afghan convert to Christianity who faced the death penalty. (Rahman is now safely in Italy.) Mrs. Merkel was among those applying the most diplomatic pressure on the Afghan regime, along with officials in the United States and Italy. Mrs. Merkel declared it "appalling" and was among the first to telephone Afghan president Hamid Karzai and twist some arms diplomatically.
Regarding Iran's nuclear program, Mrs. Merkel has taken a much tougher line than her predecessor. She compared Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler.

And on America's good relations with Europe:

Tony Blair remains prime minister of Britain; whether he retires in the coming months or further in the future, his successor, Gordon Brown, will find many aspects of the Bush-Blair partnership locked in. Silvio Berlusconi has a good chance of re-election in Italy on April 9, and even his center-left opponent admits his foreign policy on Iraq will be indistinguishable from the current policy, a gradual withdrawal based on the Iraqi government's requests. And many Europeans, after witnessing the violent reaction in the Islamic world over some Danish cartoons, are realizing that the U.S. aim to stomp out Islamist terrorist groups around the globe isn't just the PR cover for some sinister conspiracy tied to oil interests. And now, with Mrs. Merkel restoring good relations with Washington, the anti-American chief executives in Europe are fewer.

Immigration Bill "a Cave In"

This according to Newt Gingrich. Seems like its going to fail anyway, and what did you expect with Ted Kennedy sponsoring it:

Gingrich, prior to Friday's test vote in the Senate, called the immigration proposal a "cave-in" that would establish amnesty for lawbreakers.
The proposal failed the test vote and has been sidetracked until Congress returns from a two-week recess.
"It is very important for America to control its borders for national security reasons," Gingrich said. "It is also important for America to continue to develop a system to encourage patriotic legal immigration whereby immigrants are on the path to becoming American citizens by being effectively integrated and assimilated into American society."

Congress' atitude lately is, even a bad bill is better than nothing! Where's Delay when you need him?

Bush to Blame for Pearl Harbor

Apparently, according to Ted Kennedy. Read this bizzare exert from his new book:

Bush's decision to invade Iraq, Kennedy says, was an example of ''preventive war"--attacking a nation to prevent it from developing the ability to threaten the United States. A similar manner of thinking led the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor in 1941, he writes, since Japan was seeking to block the US military buildup in the Pacific.

Comparing modern America to the bloodthirsty Japanese who slaughtered millions of Asians before and during WW 2, is proof of the demented reasoning of the anti-American left.

Pentagon's "Terribly Broken" System

The Military's procurement is in trouble, says the Hill. If you ask me, its headed for catastrophie:

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has warned Pentagon officials that inefficient weapons-buying practices would lead to serious vulnerabilities in national security.The Pentagon's ability to maintain a proficient acquisition system is "going to be increasingly difficult," Hunter said...

In the past five years, the Pentagon has doubled its planned investments in new weapons from about $700 billion in 2001 to nearly $1.4 trillion in 2006, according to the GAO. Despite doubling the investment, the Pentagon did not improve its management of those contracts, Walker said.

The delays and cost increases have led the DoD to cut back on quantities and capabilities, he added. The Air Force's Joint Strike Fighter went from an estimated cost of $189.8 billion for 2,866 aircraft to $206.3 billion for more than 400 fewer aircraft.
The Army's Future Combat Systems went from an estimated $82.6 billion to $127.5 billion. The F-22 Raptor went from $81.1 billion for 648 aircraft to $64.4 billion for only 181 jets. The cost per airplane went up by 188 percent, according to the GAO.

Simple solution, design and buy cheaper weapons that are "good enough", such as off-the-shelf, and can be in the hands of the troops during mine and your lifetime.

Top Terrorist Captured

More good news from Iraq, and Army News:

Multi-National Force - Iraq officials announced the capture of one of Iraq’s most-wanted fugitives, as Iraqi Army battalions take over more of their own battlespace. Iraqi and Coalition Forces captured Muhammed Hila Hammad Ubaydi, aka Abu Ayman, in the al Mahmudiyah neighborhood in southern Baghdad March 7. Investigators delayed notice of the capture until DNA testing confirmed Abu Ayman’s identity. Coalition and Iraqi intelligence professionals mounted a major manhunt for the Iraqi terrorist leader, who was the former aide to the Chief of Staff of Intelligence during the Saddam Hussein regime. He was the leader of the Secret Islamic Army in the Northern Babil Province and is the prime suspect in the kidnapping of Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena and for assassination attempts on Iraqi government and security forces officials.

Another milestone for the good guys!

Burning Pilot Video a Fake

Probably according to the US Military. This is the tape that was posted on the internet this week of a downed Apache pilot in Iraq:

The time stamp on the video which shows the minutes and seconds do not run sequentially, and the scenes appear disjointed. The posting also included bombing scenes filmed elsewhere, indicating the material had been edited as a propaganda package.
Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a spokesman for the command, said the wreckage shown on the video "does appear to be an AH-64" but added that other helicopters of that type have been lost.
"We have serious doubts about the authenticity of this video, a common tactic we see terrorist groups use to keep the stories they want alive in the media," he said.

McKinney Apologizes

The congresswoman has expressed regret for the incident where she slapped a police officer:

Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., expressed "sincere regret" Thursday for her altercation with a Capitol police officer, and offered an apology to the House.
"There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney said in brief remarks on the House floor. "I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize."

Though this is welcome, I wonder if the apology would have came had her colleagues rallied to her defense.

Iran's Super Torpedo Scam

That's what this article from Strategypage claims:

For decades, Iran has continually boasted of new, Iranian designed and manufactured weapons, only to have the rather more somber truth leak out later. Iran's weapons design capabilities are primitive, but the government has some excellent publicists, who always manage to grab some headlines initially, before anyone can question the basic facts behind these amazing new weapons. Take, for example, the new wonder torpedo. The Russians have not had any success convincing the world's navy that their rocket propelled torpedo is a real threat.

I'm not so sure. Could ex-Soviet scientists be working for Iran and selling them secrets, as the Germans did for us and the Russians after WW2?

Here is another skeptical article from Global Security.

Threats Watch discusses the real Iranian threat.

A Deafening Silence from the Left

A self-styled woman of color, Michelle Malkin takes issue with Rep. Cynthia McKinney and the "stone-cold silence of Beltway Democrats":

...as a fellow "woman of color," I have been pulled aside by government security agents numerous times for secondary screening at airports over the last few years. I've had my bra straps snapped, my thighs pawed, and my torso wanded. I've had my cell phone tested for bomb residue, my laptop inspected, and my handbags manhandled.
My response was not to go postal or do a Naomi Campbell on the gropers. My response was to ask why they aren't doing more security profiling.
McKinney is spitting venom about "double standards" of justice. But if I had done what McKinney did to the police officer just doing his job, I would be marking time in the slammer.

And says cop bashing is nothing new for the Congresswoman's party:

Contempt for law enforcement is a hallmark of the party of Ted Kennedy, Al Sharpton, Chuck Schumer, Jesse Jackson and the Clintons. New Yorkers won't forget the shameful attack on members of the Albany Police Department honor guard, who were cursed at and spat on by participants in the state Democratic Party convention in 2000.

By keeping quiet, supposedly they offend no one, when actually it speaks volumes for their patriotism, or lack thereof.

USS Independence is Newest LCS

The US Navy is forging ahead with its newest class of littoral warships:

Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter has named the Navy's newest Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) – Independence.“Independence, along with USS Freedom, are going to be great 21st century ships. Their speed and agility are widely recognized. I believe that their modular approach yields tremendous flexibility for employing these ships and for taking the fight right to the enemy’s shoreline," Winter said.

The name Independence recognizes the cornerstone of our nation’s foundation that so many Americans have fought and died to ensure. Five previous ships have also had that name. The first Independence was a 10-gun sloop that served during the War of Independence. The second Independence, the first ship of the line in the Navy, was launched in 1814 as a 74-gun ship, but later refitted to a 54-gun frigate. The third Independence served with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) following the end of World War I. The fourth Independence (CVL 22), a small aircraft carrier commissioned in 1943, earned eight battle stars during World War II. The fifth Independence (CV 62) was an aircraft carrier commissioned in 1959 and decommissioned in 1998.

Murdoc also has a post.

Senator Reid's Immigration Plan

From 1993. I'm for this! If we'd have listened to the Senator back then, we wouldn't be in this mess now:

"Our borders have overflowed with illegal immigrants placing tremendous burdens on our criminal justice system, schools and social programs," Reid said. "The Immigration and Naturalization Service needs the ability to step up enforcement."Our federal wallet is stretched to the limit by illegal aliens getting welfare, food stamps, medical care and other benefits often without paying any taxes."Safeguards like welfare and free medical care are in place to boost Americans in need of short-term assistance. These programs were not meant to entice freeloaders and scam artists from around the world. "Even worse, Americans have seen heinous crimes committed by individuals who are here illegally," Reid said.

I think Republicans should reintroduce this Bill and call it, rightly so, the Reid Immigration Reform Bill.

Update- In a related story, Powerline reveals the communist link to the recent pro-immagration protests.

Tom Delay's Guerilla War

A good guerilla fighter knows there is a time to fight and a time to run away. Tom Delay has again confounded his adversaries in the Democratic Party who were preparing for a long and dirty political campaign against the now former Congressman, known in the House as the “Hammer”. Instead Delay has “headed for the hills”, nursing his wounds and preparing to fight another day.

Compromise was once considered a dirty word, giving up one’s principles in order to satisfy others. Now it seems commonplace on Capitol Hill. With the departure of Tom Delay from Congress, our elected officials will now revert to form, performing for the cameras, jockeying for reelections, and betraying the American people who long for real change from the legislature, not watered down bills and endless partisan bickering.

Iran's New Threat

John Burtis discusses the new Iranian missiles (and mentions this blog!) is his latest article:

...the New Wars blog-site carries a story on how to sink a carrier, which surfaced courtesy of a naïve US Naval officer who let the whole thing slip to a Chinese counterpart during a good will visit. Sometime later the Chinese were seen busily buying wake-following Russian torpedoes. The Iranians will not be too far behind in this technology and the Hoot may be their weapon of choice.

And with some important history:

Napoleon spoke of a whiff of grapeshot to break up a Parisian mob, while the Japanese spoke of the need for just a brush of the mailed sleeve to eject the Americans from Guadalcanal. Napoleon was right, the Japanese were wrong — how will the dice bounce for the Revolutionary Guards and the United States?
Remember that we were the underdogs at Guadalcanal. That we defeated a superior, battle tested and more technically advanced — for 1942 — foe. And imagine if we enter this conflict and quit the seas in defeat after the loss of a few capital ships and aircraft, including an aircraft carrier.

The loss of one carrier with some 6000 crewmen would be more devastating than the entire battleline attacked at Pearl Harbor, where we lost less than 3000 sailors. We can only hope our leaders won't shrug off this latest threat to our big ships on the high seas.

Insurgencies Are Winnable

And not just by insurgents says Kevin Ferris in this refreshing article on the Iraq Conflict:

Lt. Col. John Nagl, author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam, wants Americans to understand three things about the war in Iraq.
One, there is a "very real chance of victory," he says. Two, "the costs of failure are immense."
"An informed discussion of Iraq has to start with those facts," Nagl says. "This is hard, but we can succeed. However, if we fail, Americans will be substantially less secure, and there will be an extraordinary humanitarian disaster. This really matters."
At least inside the Pentagon, Nagl, a military assistant to the deputy secretary of defense, is being heard. His book impressed Gen. George Casey, the U.S. military commander in Iraq, who is using the book's lessons to avoid the mistakes of Vietnam.

He says at first, we learned nothing from Vietnam:

The Vietnam experience inclined U.S. military leaders to stay as far away from thinking about counterinsurgencies as possible. "We became devoted to conventional superiority, and we succeeded," Nagl says. "So nations, subnational groups, or terrorists opposed to our interests turn to insurgency, irregular warfare and terrorism.

But we are learning the right lessons:

Some of those successful strategies were learned from the British, who beat the communist insurgency in Malaya during the 1950s, a contrast to U.S. efforts in Vietnam. Where the British were flexible in their tactics, the U.S. military was rigid, Nagl writes. The British adapted with a lighter footprint, the training of local forces, and attempts to win over Malayans. The Americans went into Vietnam with an overwhelming-force approach, seemingly unconcerned about collateral damage or creating an indigenous army. When the United States finally tried to adapt, it was too late. Many Americans had turned against the war.
Though some loss of public support is evident with Iraq, Nagl argues that, in this case, the U.S. military has been more flexible than it was in Vietnam.

Very good and encouraging. Read the whole thing.

Cosby in New Orleans

And speaking not very politically correct. Go Cos!!!

Humorist Bill Cosby lectured black residents of New Orleans over the weekend, saying their community was "wounded" by crime even before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city and killed their neighbors...
"Ladies and gentlemen, you had the highest murder rate, unto each other. You were dealing drugs to each other. You were impregnating our 13-, 12-, 11-year-old children," he said, in quotes picked up by Reuters.
"What kind of a village is that?"

Meanwhile, Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who were also on hand for the rally, seemed to contradict Cosby's message of self reliance.

No surprise there.

Delay to Resign

From FoxNews:

DeLay said that he decided not to run ( for reelection to Congress) after taking into account the "the interest of the conservative cause and the Republican majority," which he said he was more interested in than his own future. He said the campaign in his Houston district has become "very nasty."
"Every leftist organization in America is down here," DeLay said.

Whew! What a relief (say liberals and weak-knee Republicans). Now they can get back to real business of doing nothing save passing uselessly compromised bills and pointless committees investigating the executive branch. I am so disappointed in this present Congress.

How Mexico Treats Immigrants

This article by Frank Gaffney is an eye opener. The illegals marching in the streets of our cities recently are protesting the wrong government:


*Pursuant to Article 33, “Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country.” This ban applies, among other things, to participation in demonstrations and the expression of opinions in public about domestic politics like those much in evidence in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere in recent days.

*Equal Employment rights are denied to immigrants, even legal ones. Article 32: “Mexicans shall have priority over foreigners under equality of circumstances for all classes of concessions and for all employment, positions, or commissions of the Government in which the status of citizenship is not indispensable.”

*Jobs for which Mexican citizenship is considered “indispensable” include, pursuant to Article 32, bans on foreigners, immigrants, and even naturalized citizens of Mexico serving as military officers, Mexican-flagged ship and airline crew, and chiefs of seaports and airports.

But this shouldn't be surpirsing, since corrupt governemnts (and liberals) are always blaming the US for something they themselves already do, like Hugo Chavez claiming Americans conduct torture.

Sunnis Give Up!

Austin Bay on Iraq-Watch the Trends, Not the Headlines:

You can't kill enough Americans to scare them into leaving. Saddam, and most Iraqis, were convinced that, because of Vietnam (where 55,000 American died) and Somalia (where 18 died in 1993), the United States would withdraw if you killed enough of them. While that is sometimes true, it's good to remember that over a million Vietnamese died during the 1960s, and that 1993 battle in Mogadishu left over 500 Somalis dead as well. Moreover, this, "the Americans have no stomach for a fight" is nothing new. It's why Japan attacked in 1941, believing that if they beat up the Americans bad enough, the faint hearted Yankees would just go away. Hitler also believed the Americans would not fight. After three years, the Iraqi Sunni Arabs have discovered that the Americans can certainly fight, and the Yankees have also found ways to do it that involve extraordinarily low American casualties.

Read all and be amazed!

Now and Then

Justin Darr discusses a belated 9/11 film, and the difference between us and the World War 2 generation:

So what is the difference between today and the World War II era? In World War II, there were tens of thousands more "Gold Star Mothers" than there are today, were they not horribly offended seeing boys, just like their sons, dying in the trenches? Today, every time we strike a terrorist camp in Iraq and the terrorists who were not killed claim that it was a "wedding party" and no militants, just women and children, were killed, the modern left thinks we should immediately pull out of the country and impeach the President. But, in World War II, tens of thousands of innocent civilians were inadvertently killed in Allied bombing campaigns, but the War effort never wavered. And, Pearl Harbor was a military target that killed far fewer people than the September 11 attacks, but "Remember Pearl Harbor" remains a stirring battle cry to this day while, for some reason, people get upset when we "remind" them about 9/11.

I too long for the "good ole days" which I see in these old films, but since this generation is ours we must make the best of it. God bless the troops and the USA!