Canada Beefs Up

A new military budget increase will add more muscle to the Great White North:

Yesterday's announcement of $8.3 billion to buy and maintain four Boeing C-17 Globemaster strategic lift cargo jets or ones like them to replace the Antonovs, plus 17 smaller tactical lift aircraft to replace our aging Hercules transports, caps a week of much-needed mobility fixes. The military will also get three new supply ships ($2.9 billion), 16 heavy Chinook-type helicopters ($4.7 billion), and 2,300 trucks ($1.2 billion). This equipment will begin to be deployed in the 2008-2012 period...
While the Globemaster-type jets will be the newest item in the military kit, Canada's new posture can also be seen in the redesigned supply ships.

Their traditional role as floating gas stations and hardware stores has been expanded in significant ways. They will be designed to serve as well as command centres for Joint Task Forces when commandos and other troops are deployed near seacoasts. They will be able to carry combat troops and armour, reducing our reliance on rental sealift. They will carry maritime helicopters. They can be converted into floating hospitals and rescue centres. And they will have modest icebreaking capacity.

This is good news, I am sure for the Canucks, but this bizzare article says: Abolish Canada's military forces.

Congress Rebukes Leakers

Apparently no legal repercussions for now. From FoxNews:

The resolution's preamble, which lays out the reasons for the resolution, claims the news media have made it harder to fight terror. The resolution then states support for the Terror Finance Tracking Program and calls on the media to stop revealing U.S. secrets.
"Whereas beginning on June 23, 2006, certain media organizations knowingly published details about a classified program that the United States government had legally and with appropriate safeguards used to track the financing of terrorism, including specific intelligence gathering methods ...
"Be it resolved that the House of Representatives condemns the unauthorized disclosure of classified information by those persons responsible ... and expects the cooperation of all news media organizations in protecting the lives of Americans," the resolution reads in part.
Republican supporters of the resolution say that the news media have undermined the War on Terror and hurt U.S. efforts to fight U.S. enemies.

Really, a slap on the wrist. The media has made it appear the Gop versus them, but I say its the New York Times against America.

Wounded Soldier Runs With President

This inspiring story is from Army News:

President Bush kept his promise to a wounded soldier yesterday, jogging around the White House running track alongside Staff Sgt. Christian Bagge, who ran with his new prosthetic running legs. The president and Bagge, who sported his PT uniform with "Army" emblazoned across his chest, hit the track in a light afternoon drizzle. In doing so, Bush kept a promise he made to Bagge at his bedside while visiting him and other wounded troops undergoing treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio on New Year's Day. Bagge was serving with the Oregon National Guard's 116th Brigade Combat Team when he lost both legs near Kirkuk, Iraq, in June 2005.

Despite all the spite from the Left, I believe our President is a good Christian-hearted fellow. Maybe that's why they hate him.

War 101

This story says times are changing at the Army's Command and General Staff College:

Where once the college sought to instill its officers with the tactical know-how to defeat the Soviets, it has now turned to the challenging prospect of teaching soldiers how to think for themselves...The college has already added eight counterinsurgency-related courses, and students can now take electives in Arabic and Pashtun. In a dim hallway outside the main auditorium, a metal rack holds reams of suggested reading lists – but the slots for "cultural awareness," "counterinsurgency," and "militant Islam" have already been emptied.

And while politicians still debate whether Iraq is Vietnam, students here study a war more relevent to the region:

...this is one of the new counterinsurgency classes, so the subject is the Soviets' failed foray into Afghanistan – and what the United States can learn from it.
Quite a lot, it seems. When students step to the front of the class to give their part of the presentation, moments of recitation occasionally give way to sparkles of spontaneity. One student seeks to draw parallels to what is happening in Iraq. "Absolutely," a student-leader responds. Another wonders aloud what victory might look like in an Afghan insurgency. A third suggests that it is more about the prosperity and education of the local people than any brilliant military maneuver.

I know the military still seems addicted to high-tech weapons like the F-22 Raptor and the planned Future Combat System. This article proves some lessons from the new warfare since 9/11 have been taken to heart.

Terrorist Attacks Fall

Good news in the Global War on Terror, from Strategypage:

In Iraq, although there was a brief "spike" in the number of terrorist attacks per day following the death of al Qaeda leader Zarqawi on June 7th, since then the daily average has fallen by perhaps 15- to 20-percent over the rate prevailing in the week or so prior. This appears to be the after-effect of over 500 raids resulting from capturing Zarqawi's laptop.

I thought it was because we've become so nice to them now in Gitmo.

Abusing Our Freedoms

How long can we keep them, if we esteem them too lightly. This is by Ann Coulter:

Before the Vietnam War, this country took treason seriously.
But now we're told newspapers have a right to commit treason because of "freedom of the press." Liberals invoke "freedom of the press" like some talismanic formulation that requires us all to fall prostrate in religious ecstasy. On liberals' theory of the First Amendment, the safest place for Osama bin Laden isn't in Afghanistan or Pakistan; it's in The New York Times building.
Freedom of the press means the government generally cannot place a prior restraint on speech before publication.
But freedom of the press does not mean the government cannot prosecute reporters and editors for treason -- or for any other crime.

But she's also mad at Republicans:

..the greatest threat at home isn't traitorous liberals -- it's patriotic Americans, also known as "Republicans," tut-tutting the quaint idea that we should take treason seriously.

In other words, Bush and Congress: get off your duff and defend us from traitors at home as well as terrorists abroad.

A Letter to the Times

This is from one of our brave soldiers on the frontlines in Baghdad, fighting the terrorists over there to prevent another 9/11, via Powerline:

"Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly classified anti-terrorist-financing program (June 23). I apologize for not writing sooner...You may think you have done a public service, but you have gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and innocent Iraqis here. Next time I hear that familiar explosion -- or next time I feel it -- I will wonder whether we could have stopped that bomb had you not instructed terrorists how to evade our financial surveillance."

Please read the rest. Oddly enough, the New YorkTimes should know something about explosions in buildings, or you would think so.

Times Reveals Enigma

I knew this was coming! From TCS Daily:

Yesterday, September 11, 1943, the New York Times reported that allied cryptanalysts had been, for several years, decoding top-secret Axis war messages. The Times story revealed that thousands of code-breakers working in a suburb of London had broken Germany's Enigma military codes. The vast operation, code-named "ULTRA", had succeeded in regularly reading secret military orders broadcast through the German airwaves. In addition, the Times reported that American code-breakers, in an operation called "MAGIC", had broken Imperial Japan's highly secret military code. MAGIC reportedly had successfully intercepted thousands of secret war messages from the Japanese high command to forces in the field and at sea...

Mr. Churchill in a transatlantic telephone call reportedly pleaded with Times executives to suppress the story, stating that in wartime, "the truth is so valuable to our enemies that it must be protected by a bodyguard of lies and deceptions."
Mr. Roosevelt reportedly argued that the ULTRA and MAGIC operations had prevented "dastardly acts" by the enemy and that the revelation of these secrets would set back the allied invasion of Europe and the defeat of Japan "by years", causing the unnecessary deaths of possibly hundreds of thousands of Americans.

I just wonder if the Times believes in real Liberty and Freedom, other than abusing them for their own purposes.

MiLinks

French Airforce Adds Home-Grown Fighter Plane To Its Arsenal.

Israel Plans to Buy Over 100 F-35s.

Super Hornets Get Advanced Radar.

US Using Space Supremacy To Wage Combat In Iraq And Afghanistan.

US Army Awards for Top 10 Inventions of 2005.

Lasers Defeat Heat-seeking Missiles.

Canada charts course for 3 new navy ships.

Realistic scenario drives Naval war games.

Damaged submarine to get a new nose.

USS Lincoln Group Chases Subs During Valiant Shield '06.

Waffling on the War?

Bush isn't, but it sounds like his generals are, as I said the other day:

On Monday, President Bush continued to articulate the MacArthurian objective in the following language regarding troop levels: "That decision will be made by General Casey, as well as the sovereign government of Iraq, based upon conditions on the ground. And one of the things that General Casey assured me of is that, whatever recommendation he makes, it will be aimed toward achieving victory. And that's what we want."
But note that the president's statement was in response to press reports that General Casey is recommending up to two brigades being withdrawn within six months and perhaps 30,000 more by the end of next year. While all of these Pentagon plans for troop reductions are publicly conditioned on Iraqi forces being able to pick up the slack, nonetheless the generals are giving the strong impression to reporters and other Washington insiders that they have a strong urge to draw down troops...the "timetable" Democrats sound like the bladder control advertisement on TV: "Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go."

I think Casey should go, who increasingly is using Democrat talking points, and replaced with a FIGHTING GENERAL.

Media Knows Best

Well, thats their opinion, but not mine and Linda Chavez:

Yet another leak of highly classified intelligence has made fighting terrorists more difficult. But the media claim they -- not our elected leaders -- know what's best for the country. Last week, the New York Times and several other newspapers revealed that since 9/11, the Treasury Department and other federal agencies have been following the terrorist money trail by monitoring financial transactions through a Belgium-based banking consortium known as SWIFT...The newspaper's hubris is breathtaking, but it is important to remember the Times would not have had the story without the help of current and former government officials who decided to betray the nation's trust. They -- not the Times -- should be the subject of criminal prosecution.

I disagree with this last over who's to blame. Like the illegal immigration issue, we should be after those who encourage the law breakers first (in that case, big business). It would be much easier to stop it before its revealed to the public by the press, then go after the leakers. Finally:

...three major classified programs have been revealed on the front pages of the country's leading papers: the SWIFT program, the NSA surveillance program, and the existence of secret overseas CIA-run prisons where suspected terrorists have been questioned and detained.
This last story earned the Washington Post the Pulitzer Prize, but it should have earned jail time for those who revealed the information to the Post.

On this we do agree, whole heartedly!

Superman Is Back

Just in time to save the world! This review is by Megan Basham:

While this storyline is unquestionably traditional, by introducing the question of whether there is a need for Superman, Singer and his team comically deal with modern mores. The idea that the Pulitzer Prize committee would award a point of view that disparages something so fundamentally good and (previously) American as Superman is laughable, but also all too possible. It may do so only for humorÂ’s sake, but conservative audiences wonÂ’t be able to resist a plot that introduces the argument that Superman imposes his do-gooding on the world, with Superman coming out the victor.

This sounds good! Read on:

Similarly, rather than sidestepping the Superman/Christ connection, Singer plays it for everything its worth. As Superman tells Lois: "You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior. But every day I hear people crying for one." Later, after Lex and his thugs beat Superman down Gesthemane-style, he rises, arms spread in a cross formation to the sun as his Kryptonian father’s voice intones over the air, “It is because of their [the human race] capacity for good that I sent them my only son.

OK, that pushing it a little, but the story does sound like a parallel with the Bush War on Terror. After going our merry way in the 1990's, we suddenly got a dramatic wake-up call on 9/11. Thankfully, our savior wasn't Al Gore.

Senate warms to 'border first'?

That's the Washington Times take. Personally, I believe they should be HOT over the idea, as many Americans are:

The House and Senate approved very different immigration bills, with the House focusing on building 700 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border, boosting enforcement and requiring employers to verify that their workers are here legally. The Senate bill boosts enforcement, too, but also creates a program for future immigrant workers and a path to citizenship for many current illegal aliens. On Monday, Mr. Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who will lead House and Senate negotiators in the conference committee, told The Times that border security should be the top priority in the final bill and that he is open to a compromise that would make the guest-worker program and path to citizenship for illegal aliens contingent on first ensuring a secure border and improved interior enforcement.

This is the right way to go. Much easier and faster to build a fence than figuring what to do with millions of illegal workers and their families. We gave amnesty last time in the 80's, but left the border open. Though it may be too late to reverse this grave error, its only going to get worse if we don't act. Same as the War on Terror, better late than never.

Israel Enters Gaza

The Jews seem to be overreacting over one kidnapped soldier, but then, it seems force is the only thing these terrorist understand. From Military.com:

Israel said only freedom for the captive soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, could defuse the crisis, not a political agreement.
The Israeli military said in a statement that the object of the attacks on the bridges was "to impair the ability of the terrorists to transfer the kidnapped soldier." Knocking down the bridges cut Gaza in two, Palestinian security officials said.
Early Wednesday, Israeli warplanes attacked one of the bridges for a second time, Palestinian security officials said. Before daybreak, Israeli warplanes flew low over Gaza city, causing sonic booms and breaking windows.

Like the Israelis, I'm getting frustrated over all the terror attacks and Muslim ( and liberal) indifference. I keep wondering what would the WW 2 generation do in this situation? They would bomb the Middle East back to the Stone Age, though who would notice the change?

Letter to the Editor

From Treasury Secretary Snow to the Editor of the NY Times:

The New York Times' decision to disclose the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, a robust and classified effort to map terrorist networks through the use of financial data, was irresponsible and harmful to the security of Americans and freedom-loving people worldwide. In choosing to expose this program, despite repeated pleas from high-level officials on both sides of the aisle, including myself, the Times undermined a highly successful counter-terrorism program and alerted terrorists to the methods and sources used to track their money trails.
Your charge that our efforts to convince The New York Times not to publish were "half-hearted" is incorrect and offensive. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Read the rest. I hope other lawmakers from both parties would take a stand against this blatant misuse of our freedoms.

Blogs for Bush thinks the death penalty is not too good for traitors.

This blogger thinks the Media realizes it screwed up.

And John McIntyre agrees, but thinks this could be an opportunity for Democrats.

War the Left Way

Brendan Conway reviews a new book by a so-called liberal chicken hawk, Peter Beinart's new book, "The Good Fight: Why Liberals -- and Only Liberals -- Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again," :

It begins with the new anticommunist consensus forged at Washington's Willard Hotel in 1947; it takes shape with the Truman administration; it reaches maturity with JFK and the "Scoop Jackson Democrats"; it falters during and after Vietnam; it gives way in the 1970s and 1980s to the "peace" movement; it then gets eclipsed by crusading Reaganites and makes Republicans of people who were once Cold War Democrats. The present moment of ascendant Deaniacs and the shunning of people like Mr. Lieberman is, for Mr. Beinart, the apotheosis of that trend... Mr. Beinart's "liberal" war on terror would be humbler than the Bush doctrine and the current administration -- rejecting what he claims is the right's tendency to think that "American actions, simply by virtue of being American, are beyond moral judgment" -- and it would also entail a Marshall Plan-like economic development program for the Middle East of several times the magnitude of President Bush's efforts.

Sounds more like Welfare for Terrorists than a Marshall Plan.

Fallout From Cut-n-Run

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. says though a set pullout date was defeated in the Congress, the after effects are already being felt:

Unfortunately, the effect that matters -- perhaps historically so -- at the moment is not in Washington; it is in Iraq. There on Sunday, the new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, unveiled a controversial 24-point "reconciliation" plan. It would involve, among other things, amnesty for those who are deemed not to have committed "crimes and clear terrorist actions," including attacks on fellow Iraqis and Coalition forces. The plan also calls for compensation to be paid to "those who were killed by Iraqi and American forces." Early reports indicated that Mr. al-Maliki's amnesty proposal would apply to those responsible for attacks on American forces as well. Naturally, this repugnant idea precipitated a bipartisan firestorm of criticism in Washington. Curiously, among the most vociferous of critics were those like Mr. Levin, who declared on Fox News Sunday: "For heaven's sake, we liberated that country. We got rid of a horrific dictator. We've paid a tremendous price. More than 2,500 Americans have given up their lives. The idea that they should even consider talking about amnesty for people who have killed people who liberated their country is unconscionable." Mr. Levin's high dudgeon is understandable. But it is truly unconscionable that he fails to acknowledge the contribution he and like-minded legislators have played in the consideration of such an idea by the new Iraqi government. After all, it is surely in part a response to the perception of impending abandonment by the United States.

Even though we aren't going to leave anytime soon, historically we aren't very dependable. What a pathetic legacy the Democrats have given us!

Fox Ratings Down

And Roger Ailes is fuming, according to NewsMax:

Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes is reportedly "on the warpath” about his network’s recent ratings slide – and has given notice to staffers that he’s willing to clean house, according to a report in Broadcasting & Cable.
The cable news channel’s overall prime-time ratings are off 8 percent in the second quarter of this year, and down 22 percent in viewers ages 25 to 54. The first quarter was also disappointing...Ailes is said to be "fuming” over what he views as complacency among staffers, according to B&C.

Here's a thought, Roger: cut out the daily death count and report GOOD NEWS from the War on Terror. People are tired of the costant DOOM and GLOOM.

No UN Army

This editorial is by a Canadian, a country with some experience in Peacekeeping operations, especially those involving the UN:

The popular myth and chronic excuse offered when the UN fails to respond to an obvious security crisis is a lack of resources. In reality, this is merely a convenient way to let the Security Council's Perm 5 off the hook and mask the dominant role played by their own national self-interests...

To suggest that the existence of a UN army would have helped stop the genocide in Rwanda or could be used to take on the current genocide in Darfur is naive. The stumbling block for both was and is not a lack of resources but rather a lack of commitment beyond national self-interests by some of the Perm 5 members. In the case of Rwanda, there were no self-interests strong enough to authorize intervention; in Darfur, the self-interests of at least two members (related to oil production) mean their vetoes stand in the way of any forceful action. If a UN army did exist, it would still be sitting on its hands far away from Darfur.

We discussed the subject here.

Casey Should Go

Every time the President or Congress declares victory as our goal in Iraq, here comes General Casey seeming to agree with the cut and run crowd:

Speculation is rampant following Casey's visit that he will call for a reduction of two combat brigades, about 7,000 troops, to be removed from Iraq in September. The New York Times also reported that Casey has drafted a plan that projects five or six combat brigades will remain in Iraq from the current level of 14 by the end of 2007. That's a reduction of about 28,000 troops. Currently, 127,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Iraq.

Reading the article, its clear the President and Tony Snow are making great efforts to gloss over Casey's big mouth. He should be promoted up to a desk job and away from the anti-American press.

How to Sink a Newspaper

Simply give away your country's National Security secrets like the NY Times did. This is from FoxNews:

Published reports revealing a secret government program that tracks money moving in and out of the United States have endangered Americans and undermines the War on Terror, President Bush said Monday.
"The disclosure of this program is disgraceful," Bush said during a question and answer session with reporters at the White House. "For people to leak that program and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America."

-Since last week's publication of the program, The New York Times in particular has taken the brunt of criticism by lawmakers, conservative publications and national security analysts who say the writers and editors of the Times, including Executive Editor Bill Keller, exceeded the law and violated statutes against transmitting communications intelligence.

And at least one in Washington is calling for criminal charges to be filed:

"I'm calling on the attorney general to begin a criminal investigation and prosecution of The New York Times, its reporters, the editors that worked on this, and the publisher. We're in a time of war ... and what they've done here is absolutely disgraceful. I believe they violated the Espionage Act" and another statute, said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

I agree. Take down one leaker and the rest will be cowed.

Austin Bay has more here and here.

Task Force Rebuilds School, Clinic

This is happening in Yemen, according to CentCom:

The quiet, yet steady, humanitarian efforts of U.S. and coalition forces continue to foster stability in the region.
Thomas Krajeski, the U.S. Ambassador to Yemen , and U.S. Navy Capt. Stephen Johnson, the chief of staff for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa , were on hand to officially dedicate the Zenab Girls’ Secondary School and the Al Mansura Clinic here on June 6.

"We believe the school will inspire young women to learn and we are confident that it will provide educational opportunities for future leaders. This work represents another step towards peace and prosperity throughout the region", U.S. Navy Capt. Stephen Johnson.

“I am happy to be here with you all today to dedicate - or rather, to rededicate - the Zenab Girls’ School,” Krajeski said.

“This project is for you,” he said to the young women who will study at the school.

“We - the United States, our coalition partners and Yemen together - believe in your potential, and have great hopes for your futures,” the ambassador added.

NY Times as Security Threat

This is from the Weekly Standard Online:

BY NOW IT'S UNDENIABLE: The New York Times is a national security threat. So drunk is it on its own power and so antagonistic to the Bush administration that it will expose every classified antiterror program it finds out about, no matter how legal the program, how carefully crafted to safeguard civil liberties, or how vital to protecting American lives...A coterie of former and current Democratic and Republican leaders also begged the Times not to jeopardize this highly successful counterterrorism program, but the Times knew better. In a smug prepared statement, executive editor Bill Keller emotes: "We remain convinced that the administration's extraordinary access to this vast repository of international financial data, however carefully targeted use of it may be, is a matter of public interest."

We got Zarqawi, now time to go after the Times. Say, under the Espionage Act?

Becoming Clearer

Here is a list of articles from Real Clear Politics I thought you'd enjoy (I sure did!).

The Deflating Democrats By Noel Sheppard:

Of late, we've begun to see evidence of the first molecules of air starting to escape. The most prominent such seepage has to be Congressman William Jefferson's disgraceful freezer act, and his removal from the all-important House Ways and Means committee.
This one incident by itself deflated the Democrat Bubble by at least several pounds per square inch, for it makes it impossible for the left to claim that corruption in the nation's capital is exclusively a Republican problem.
Pssssssssssssssssss.

Iraq, Vietnam, the MSM & Dan Rather By Jack Kelly:

"The Tet Offensive proved catastrophic to our plans," said Truong Nhu Tang, minister of justice in the Viet Cong's provisional government, in a 1982 interview. "Our losses were so immense we were unable to replace them with new recruits."
The news media reported this overwhelming American victory as a catastrophic defeat...
Shaken by Tet, he planned to seek terms for a conditional surrender, the North Vietnamese commander, Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, wrote in his memoirs. But our news media's complete misrepresentation of what had actually happened "convinced him America's resolve was weakening and complete victory was within Hanoi's grasp," Mr. de Borchgrave said.

Why I Love Australia By Charles Krauthammer:

Australia joined the faraway wars of early-20th-century Europe not out of imperial nostalgia, but out of a deep understanding that its fate and the fate of liberty were intimately bound with that of the British Empire as principal underwriter of the international system. Today the underwriter is America, and Australia understands that an American retreat or defeat -- a chastening consummation devoutly, if secretly, wished by many a Western ally -- would be catastrophic for Australia and for the world.

Deluded America By Diana West:

The morally superior (read: paralyzed) don't really take sides, don't really believe one culture is qualitatively better or worse than the other. They don't even believe one culture is just plain different from the other. Only in this atmosphere of politically correct and perpetually adolescent non-judgmentalism could anyone believe, for example, that compelling, forcing or torturing a jihadist terrorist to get information to save a city undermines our "values" in any way. It undermines nothing — except the jihad.

Don't Blow it Up

In the Washington Post, Charles L. "Jack" Pritchard says William Perry's call for a strike on North Korea's missile plans is a bad idea:

Before the Iraq invasion, we were concerned that Saddam Hussein would use human shields to prevent U.S. airstrikes on critical facilities. The same holds true for North Korea. Under the Perry plan of prior notification, you can imagine that, rather than evacuating its engineers from the missile test site, Pyongyang might instead erect bleachers and bring in schoolchildren to watch the launch. Worse yet for U.S. security is the prospect that Pyongyang might bide its time and retaliate by transferring weapons-grade plutonium to al-Qaeda, along with a map of New York City.
So we should step back and take a breath, and give our chest-thumping, feel-good opinions a rest.

Its the same way with Iran. we can't really afford to intimidate anyone right now until the Iraq problem is finished.

Meanwhile another Carter Chicken Hawk (for war when its convenient), Walter Mondale, supports Perry.

The Decline of Airpower

Because cost is outwaying the benefits. Just in time for my recent article titled The Decline and Fall of Airpower, Strategypage posts several stories of a similiar vein.

The Revolt Against the Pilots

Why Women Replace Men in as Pilots

Joint Fires Takes On The Air Force

Interesting reading all, but you read it here first!

Senate Rejects Cut and Run

In defiance of Democrats according to Washington Times:

"They were just looking for a political opening and I think they really messed up," Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican, said of the Democrats' strategy. "People see that things are moving [in Iraq]. This was a good week for Republicans." Vice President Dick Cheney also criticized the Democrats' efforts, saying in a CNN interview that "absolutely the worst possible thing we could do at this point would be to validate and encourage the terrorists by doing exactly what they want us to do, which is to leave."

Senator Kerry who proposed the Bill, once criticized cut and run, before he sponsored it:

"In fact, I fear that in the run-up to the 2004 election, the administration is considering what is tantamount to a cut-and-run strategy," Mr. Kerry said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in December 2003. "Their sudden embrace of accelerated Iraqification and American troop withdrawal dates, without adequate stability, is an invitation to failure. The hard work of rebuilding Iraq must not be dictated by the schedule of the next American election."

What an amazing hypocrisy! Kerry and his Party have become their own worst enemies.

Also read Mona Charen's The Spamalot party.

Plus Mike Gallager discusses Embracing the loser within.

Where are the Elite?

Vietnam Era war journalist and Iraq War critic Joe Galloway reviews a new book "AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service -- and How It Hurts Our Country."by Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer:

As recently as 1956, 400 members of Princeton's graduating class went on to serve in the military. In 2004, nine graduates did so. Harvard, Yale, Brown and other elite universities don't even allow Reserve Officer Training Courses on their campuses.
In the years after World War II, virtually every member of Congress was a veteran of military service. By 1971, three-quarters of the members had worn the uniform. Today, only a third of the 535 members of the Senate and the House of Representatives have served.

During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had sons serving in uniform. Today's political leaders and the rest of the country's elite don't feel the same obligation to send their children to serve in harm's way.
Military recruiting has suffered as a consequence. Parents in some better neighborhoods demand that recruiters not be allowed to visit the schools their children attend, and that they not be given their names and phone numbers.

Not only are politicians "missing in action" but lawyers, actors, pastors, ect.

U.S. Forces to Shrink

This is from Military.com:

The top U.S. commander in Iraq predicted on Thursday that the size of the U.S. fighting force will shrink this year, although he said he had not made new recommendations to his Pentagon bosses on the size and timing of any cuts.
"I'm confident that we'll be able to continue to take reductions over the course of this year," Army Gen. George Casey told a Pentagon news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at his side.

And here's what Rummy said:

It will very likely not be a steady path down," Rumsfeld said. "It could very likely be a drawdown with an increase." Noting that there now are 126,900 U.S. troops in Iraq, he said: "It could very well go back up at some point. It very likely will go down and up and down and up depending on the circumstances and depending on the need."

See, no real committment. This is a no brainer. Of course troops will inevitably go down as Iraqi forces increase! Sort of like predicting in the middle of WW2 that the Army size will be cut after the war. The Press is running out of headline ideas. I predict more media people will be layed off soon as the public tire of idiocy.

What Missile Launch?

I've written on this below, but read what Defense Tech has to say on the "alledged" North Korean ICBM testing:

...there's a teeny-tiny fact Perry seems to have overlooked: We have no idea, really, whether North Korea is preparing a missile. Or what that missile is capable of doing.
The hype kicked into high gear when the New York Times claimed that the Norks "completed fueling a long-range ballistic missile" over the weekend. But the report is getting fishier by the second. The Norks generally rely on a highly corrosive gasoline-kerosene mix for their missile fuel, and an oxidizer containing nitric acid. It's nasty, metal-eating stuff. And once fueled up, the missile has to be launched quickly -- two or three days, I've been told -- or else the missile is basically ruined.
It's now been four days. And there's been no launch. Which means it's becoming increasingly unlikely that a missile has been fueled. So much for Perry's demand "to strike the [missile] if North Korea refuses to drain the fuel out."

Is he saying the Media isn't being honest? For shame!

Rumsfeld Vindicated

For transforming the military. And he should be justly praised says Emmett Tyrrell:

Rumsfeld arrived at the Pentagon for his second stint as secretary of defense (he also held the post during the Ford administration) charged to reform the military. Still organized to fight a Cold War, it had to be reorganized for future wars. It had to be brought into line with the Goldwater-Nichols Reauthorization Act of 1986, calling for cooperation among the services and an end to inter-service duplication. Rumsfeld transformed this legislation into Pentagon doctrine. "He did that in spades," Jed Babbin, the Pentagon watcher, remarks. Then came the war in Iraq. Never before have the armed services operated in such smooth combinations so agilely. Rumsfeld was vindicated.

He's had a really tough job, having to overcome the Military Industrial Complex and a Congress extremely adverse to any weapons cuts. All the while leading America's offensive against the terrorists who launched 9/11.

Lessons From Iraq

Dan Abbett says we should keep the hard won lessons of urban combat, rather than the cut and run plan of the Democrats:

Congressman Jack Murtha, the new media darling for pouring cold water on the Iraq war made just about the most asinine statement that one could imagine. He inferred that like Reagan in Lebanon and Clinton in Somalia, it is time to change direction and withdraw our troops from Iraq. Does this man actually have a clue? As a direct result of the “direction” taken by Presidents Reagan in Lebanon and Clinton in Somalia, Lebanon is now host to one of the most radical terrorist organizations, Hezbollah, and Mogadishu, Somalia, has recently been taken over by Al Queda. Is this truly the new direction the Congressman prescribes?

The Dems have obviously become delusional over Iraq, but their impending loss in November is Bush's gain.

Democrat Chicken Hawks

Some Carter/Clinton Democrats are calling for a preemptive strike on North Korea:

Therefore, if North Korea persists in its launch preparations, the United States should immediately make clear its intention to strike and destroy the North Korean Taepodong missile before it can be launched. This could be accomplished, for example, by a cruise missile launched from a submarine carrying a high-explosive warhead. The blast would be similar to the one that killed terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq. But the effect on the Taepodong would be devastating. The multi-story, thin-skinned missile filled with high-energy fuel is itself explosive -- the U.S. airstrike would puncture the missile and probably cause it to explode. The carefully engineered test bed for North Korea's nascent nuclear missile force would be destroyed, and its attempt to retrogress to Cold War threats thwarted. There would be no damage to North Korea outside the immediate vicinity of the missile gantry.

Of course, you know what would happen next? Nk would immediately invade the South and the same Democrats who led the drumbeat for war ( as they did over Iraq) would want us to "redeploy" our troops from Korea. As Karl Rove declared about the Democrats:

"They may be with you for the first shots, But they're not going . . . to be with you for the tough battles."

Also read Murtha's second act by Robert Novak.

Austria Praises America

At least her Chancellor did, after a reporter referred to the US as "threat to world peace. Here's what Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel of Austria said:

Let me add -- let me add something. I think Austria is really a good example to show that America has something to do with freedom, democracy, prosperity, development. Don't forget I was born in '45. At that time, Vienna and half of Austria laid in ruins. And without the participation of America, what fate would have Europe? Where would be Europe today? Not the peaceful, prosperous Europe like we love it and where we live.
Nothing -- I will never forget that America fed us with food, with economic support. The Marshall Plan was an immense aid and incentive to develop industry, agriculture, tourism. And by the way, I said it to the President, the Marshall Fund is still working in Austria. It's now transformed into a kind -- in a fund for research and development -- still working.
The American people, at that time, the American government invested billions of dollars in Europe to develop the former enemy. And now we are a partner. So I think it's grotesque to say that America is a threat to the peace in the world compared with North Korea, Iran, other countries.

At least someone in Europe doesn't have selective amnesia.

Murtha in Culture of Corruption?

This is what the Washington Times is reporting:

Last June, the Los Angeles Times reported how the ranking member on the defense appropriations subcommittee has a brother, Robert Murtha, whose lobbying firm represents 10 companies that received more than $20 million from last year's defense spending bill. "Clients of the lobbying firm KSA Consulting -- whose top officials also include former congressional aide Carmen V. Scialabba, who worked for Rep. Murtha as a congressional aide for 27 years -- received a total of $20.8 million from the bill," the L.A. Times reported.

In early 2004, according to Roll Call, Mr. Murtha "reportedly leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco." Laurence Pelosi, nephew of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, at the time was an executive of the company which owned the rights to the land. The same article also reported how Mr. Murtha has been behind millions of dollars worth of earmarks in defense appropriations bills that went to companies owned by the children of fellow Pennsylvania Democrat, Rep. Paul Kanjorski. Meanwhile, the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan campaign-finance watchdog group, lists Mr. Murtha as the top recipient of defense industry dollars in the current 2006 election cycle.

Seems like the only thing Cut-n-run Jack likes about our military is what he and his friends get out of it, and I don't mean duty and honor. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

MiLinks

Toward A New Laser Era. Did we have an old one?

Plans for a new bomber proceeding.

DID looks at the Army's new-build Chinooks. A great example of warfare off-the-shelf!

Laboratory Tests Fuel Efficient Flying-Wing Aircraft.

Using airbags as an anti-IED.

LongShot Torpedo Defeats Anti-Aircraft Missiles. From submarines!

L.A. County Sheriff to Test Unmanned Drone for Crimefighting. Everybody is going high-tech.

Beefing up the already buff B-52.

Strykers are popular worldwide.

The Royal Navy's mothball fleet.

USS Nimitz is named best in fleet. An oldie but a goodie!

Details on the Navy's newest amphibious carrier: LHA-R.

Canada mulls new aircraft carrier program.

Machine guns sink navy destroyer. A terrorist in a speed boat almost did the same thing.

Pet Projects Prevail

While modern warfare has moved on, the Pentagon and Congress clings to Cold War era weapons, says Jonathan Karp of The Wall Street Journal:

Five years after the septa. 11 attacks changed American military priorities, the U.S. defense machine is still churning out weapons made for old-style, conventional conflicts, even as it needs new tools to battle terrorists and insurgents. One big reason is the sclerotic nature of the procurement process, in which the military, the White House, the defense industry and Congress fight for pet projects that aren't always in synch with strategic priorities. In the case of the destroyers, the senators maintained a weapon whose origins dated to the last decade for the sake of jobs.

Its all about jobs, not National security, and our economy suffers for it. If only there were real patriots in the Congress, who cared for the country's needs over their few constituents.

Iranian Naval Threat

The London Sunday Telegraph (via the Washington Times) details how the Iranians could seize control of the Persian Gulf in any conflict with the West:

"The [Iranian] regime is... reviewing its contingency plans to attack tankers and American naval forces in the Persian Gulf and to mine the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 15 million barrels of oil (about 20 percent of world production) passes every day. Any action in the Gulf would send oil prices soaring -- a weapon that Iran has threatened to wield. [Control of the Persian Gulf also would enable Iran to cut vital sea support links to our troops in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.]

"The naval wing of the Revolutionary Guard has in recent years practiced 'swarming' raids, using its flotilla of small rapid-attack boats to simulate assaults on commercial vessels and United States warships. ... The Pentagon is particularly sensitive to the dangers of such attacks after al Qaeda hit [and nearly sank] the USS Cole off the Yemen with a suicide boat in [Oct. 12] 2000, killing 17 American sailors [and wounding 42]."

The Telegraph goes on to quote "U.S. intelligence sources" that believe "if Iranian nuclear facilities were attacked by either America or Israel, Tehran would respond by trying to close the Strait of Hormuz with naval forces, mines and antiship missiles." One should add that such measures also could well be triggered just by sanctions.

My idea would be to hit them first: preemption with a naval blockade!

Carrier Controversy

Jay Tea doesn't like the idea the Navy's new CVN-78 (formerly CVN-21) is to be named Gerald R. Ford:

I cannot more strongly disagree.
Ford, as I said, did a decent job, but his record is hardly the sort of inspirational sort that a nuclear aircraft carrier should be named for. Such vessels deserve prouder, more valiant, more legendary names than his.
This started in 1945, when the USS Coral Sea (CVB-42) was renamed while still being built as the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. This was proper, as Roosevelt had just recently died in office after leading the United States for over 13 years, including nearly all of World War II. In 1955, the USS Forrestal was named after a late Secretary of the Navy. Then, in 1964, Congress voted to name CV-67 the USS John F. Kennedy after the slain president.
Since then, aircraft carriers have no longer been named after either battles or distinguished warships of the past. They have honored seven presidents, two members of Congress, and one Admiral. Worse yet, three of them were named by Congress (Stennis, Reagan, Bush) for people who were still alive. (Stennis died months before his namesake was actually commissioned, in 1995, but the ship was named in 1988.)

Jay is right, of course, but luckily, I don't see the aircraft carrier remaining the nation's capital ship for much longer. So they can call it whatever they want. Give me USS Independence!

Reagan Alive and Well

At least his policies are, according to this by John Arquilla:


For both good and ill, the 21st century world has been profoundly shaped by ideas advanced during the presidency of Ronald Reagan two decades ago -- so much so that the caricature of him as a simple, shoot-from-the-hip cowboy must give way to a far more complex portrait, that of a concept-driven man.
Reagan's basic beliefs were: 1) The world could be made less nuclear; 2) Tyrants are weak, especially when confronted by freedom-seeking people; and 3) Ideas are ultimately more powerful than military force.

Some ideas though, need to be buried:

...although the Soviet Union winked out of existence 15 years ago, with the Red Army and Navy becoming shadows of their former selves, Reagan's blueprint has been slavishly followed by each of his successors. Indeed, the U.S. military has developed a kind of philosophy of entitlement during the past two decades, which resonates today to the ka-ching of defense spending in excess of $1.25 billion per day; U.S. military expenditures exceed those of the rest of the world combined.
The worst part of this problem is that huge spending on arms ensures continued dependence on big-ticket conventional weapons -- aircraft carriers, main battle tanks, and advanced attack aircraft. These are neither needed for our survival nor are they effective against the threats now confronting us, or those likely to imperil us tomorrow.

But some are working out:

Reagan's military legacy does have some bright spots, though, especially his support for the creation of the Special Operations Command. Formed 20 years ago -- against the wishes of senior Pentagon leadership -- the command is finally taking the lead in the war on terror.

So, when we win this Global War on Terror, its thank you to Ronald Reagan!

Remaking Trek

I am a big Star Trek fan, from way back, as well as a Babylon 5 freak. Now I hear the creator of the latter show, J. Michael Straczynski, planned to reboot Trek a few years back, but it didn't pan out. Too bad: The treatment called for a re-imagining of the original series, centering on the three main characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, set on the U.S.S. Enterprise on its first five-year mission. Zabel told SCI FI Wire that the show would reset the mythology to "start a new 'Universe B' which would be free to move in new directions as needed and yet allow us to work with the classic characters that all fans love and cherish. The best of all worlds, if you will." You can download the "treatment" here: http://bztv.typepad.com/newsviews/files/ST2004Reboot.pdf

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What the Media Thinks of America

And our brave heroes on the frontlines: The reason that the World Trade Center got hit is because there are a lot of people living in abject poverty out there who don't have any hope for a better life....I think they [the 19 hijackers] were brave at the very least." - AOL Time Warner Vice Chairman and CNN founder Ted Turner in February 11 remarks at Brown University, as reported by Gerald Carbone in the February 12, 2002, Providence Journal. The next day, Turner issued a statement: "The attacks of Sept. 11 were despicable acts. I in no way meant to convey otherwise." Headline: "Our Soldiers in Iraq Aren't Heroes." "We should not bestow the mantle of heroism on all of them [American men and women in uniform] for simply being where we sent them. Most are victims, not heroes." - CBS News 60 Minutes commentator, Andy Rooney, writing for The Buffalo News, April 12, 2004. "We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that Reuters upholds the principle that we do not use the word terrorist....To be frank, it adds little to call the attack on the World Trade Center a terrorist attack." - Steven Jukes, global head of news for Reuters News Service, in an internal memo cited by the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz in a September 24, 2001, article. "What drives American civilians to risk death in Iraq? In this economy it may be, for some, the only job they can find." - Dan Rather denigrating the men and women of the Armed Forces by suggesting their decision to serve their nation was a last resort during the CBS Evening News on March 31, 2004, the day four American civilians were killed and mutilated in Fallujah, Iraq. "The other day, while taking a break by the Al-Hamra Hotel pool...I was accosted by an American magazine journalist of serious accomplishment and impeccable liberal credentials....She came to the point. Not only had she 'known' the Iraq war would fail but she considered it essential that it did so because this would ensure that the 'evil' George W. Bush would no longer be running her country. Her editors back on the East Coast were giggling, she said, over what a disaster Iraq had turned out to be. 'Lots of us talk about how awful it would be if this worked out.'" - British journalist Toby Harnden, a reporter for the London Daily Telegraph, in an article published in the May 15, 2004, edition of The Spectator, a British-based weekly, recounting a conversation at a Baghdad hotel. "Like beauty, freedom is a perception that lies in the eye of the beholder, and we ignore other nations' versions at our peril. The most dangerous perception of all may be that one's own side has an exclusive claim to either the truth or patriotism." - CBS News foreign correspondent, Allen Pizzey, preaching moral relativism on CBS's Sunday Morning, October 14, 2001. "I don't support our troops." - Joel Stein, Los Angeles Times columnist, January 26, 2006 "I decided to put on my flag pin tonight--first time.... I put it on to remind myself that not every patriot thinks we should do to the people of Baghdad what bin Laden did to us." - Bill Moyers on PBS's Now, February 28, 2003. How the mighty have fallen. They are so far below the heritage of Edward R. Murrow and Ernie Pyle, they'd have to use a ladder to tie those great men's shoelaces. http://www1.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/06/have_the_msm_ignored_our_heroe.html

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The Decline and Fall of Airpower

This is the title of my latest transformation article at Opeds.com:

Recent events in the Middle East seem to prove that airpower is still supreme, at least for the near future. Yet the aerial decapitation of Iraq’s most wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was not conducted by America’s stealth fighters, which many billions have been spent on in recent decades, but a 25-year-old F-16. The nimble and inexpensive F-16 has been on the frontlines of all of America’s conflicts since 1980, from the Gulf War, to Kosovo, and today in the Middle East. They will likely continue this unmatched service for many years to come.

Modern air strategists look on America’s fleet of stealth fighters and bombers, like the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, as the future of aerial combat. In fact, because of excessive costs in the hundreds of millions for each plane, as well as decade’s long development periods, it is likely this generation is the last of America’s long infatuation with manned combat aircraft.

Bush's Winning Message

Larry Kudlow says the Democrats would like a compliant and defeated GOP. Instead they get this:

In the Rose Garden this week, Bush predicted Republican victories in November, saying the GOP “philosophy is one that is forward looking and optimistic.” He’s right. The Democrats are still the party of pessimism. Vice President Cheney recently said that Republicans will prevail in the midterms because of the strong economy and the ability of the Bush administration to prevent another terrorist attack. Now that’s a winning message.
And it’s filling a vacuum.

And here's the Dems message:

Killing Zarqawi triggered a chorus of Democratic negativism. A strong new government in Iraq elicited catcalls from Democrat John Murtha. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid showed up at a left-wing bloggers conference in Las Vegas, only to talk troop withdrawal and spit venom at Bush. Not a message to be seen.
The U.S. military takes over 400 al-Qaeda hideaways and for all we know U.S. Special Forces are in hot pursuit of Osama bin Laden. Yet not a single Democrat can admit there is good news on the war front.

Which would you choose, hope or defeatism?

Headlines Help the Terrorists

At least in the way they are reported, according to this from the Washington Post:

Both the media and terrorists benefit from terrorist incidents," their study contends. Terrorists get free publicity for themselves and their cause. The media, meanwhile, make money "as reports of terror attacks increase newspaper sales and the number of television viewers."
The researchers counted direct references to terrorism between 1998 and 2005 in the New York Times and Neue Zuercher Zeitung, a respected Swiss newspaper. They also collected data on terrorist attacks around the world during that period. Using a statistical procedure called the Granger Causality Test, they attempted to determine whether more coverage directly led to more attacks.
The results, they said, were unequivocal: Coverage caused more attacks, and attacks caused more coverage -- a mutually beneficial spiral of death that they say has increased because of a heightened interest in terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001.

You would think the Post would experience just a twinge of guilt from this article, but all the news outlets do it, and they're unlikely to change.

Aircraft Carrier vs Cruise Missile 3

This is from an Oped by Victor N Corpus:

The US and UK aircraft carrier battle groups do not have any known defense against the new supersonic missiles of their adversaries. The Phalanx and Aegis ship defense systems may be effective against subsonic cruise missiles like the Exocets or Tomahawks, or exo-atmospheric ballistic missiles, but they are inadequate against the sea-skimming and supersonic Granits, Moskits and Yakhonts or similar types (Shipwreck, Sunburn and Onyx - North Atlantic Treaty Organization codenames) of modern anti-ship missiles in China's inventory.

Not only China and Russia have these modern cruise missiles, so do Iran, India and North Korea. These missiles can be delivered by SU-27 variants, SU-30s, Tu22M Blackjacks, Bears, J6s, JH-7/As, H-6Hs, J-10s, surface ships, diesel submarines or common trucks.

Adding to the problems facing aircraft carriers are the SHKVAL or "squall" rocket torpedoes installed in some Chinese and Russian submarines and surface ships. At 6,000 lbs apiece, these torpedoes travel at 200 knots (or 230 miles per hour) with a range of 7,500 yards guided by autopilot. They are designed to sink aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. Again, it is unfortunate for the US and UK to have no known or existing defenses against this new generation of rocket torpedoes...

The sad part for the American people, particularly the innocent sailors who will be manning the battle groups, is that even if US planners come to realize that the aircraft carrier battle groups (which are the mainstay of the US Navy and the main instrument of US power projection worldwide), have been rendered vulnerable or obsolete by China's assassin's mace.

This echoes what I've written numerous times, here and here.

Beating the Heat in Iraq

This is from CentCom. Makes you thankful for air conditioning!

FOB KALSU, Iraq – Citizens of the Bedrani village in the northern Babil province beat the heat June 7 after receiving hundreds of gallons of water from Iraqi army and Coalition forces.Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division and 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, initially visited the Bedrani village two days prior to the operation and found the village had a serious water problem.“The village had not seen a CF (Coalition force) or Iraqi security force presence in the area for over a year,” said Staff Sgt. Morris Terry, 4th Infantry Division Bradley section leader. “We went to the village to meet the citizens, establish a relationship and discuss issues they may be having.”Upon meeting with the tribal sheik the Soldiers found the village was facing a very dry and dangerous summer. There is no formal water system to bring water to the village. Water used for consumption, crops and animals must be hand carried from the canals. The few pumping systems that have been built must be run by generators requiring gas and maintenance, which is sometimes a challenge for an area so far away from a major town or city.

In a related article: 'Cool' project to help U.S. troops fight heat.

Kerry's Many Ways

Here's James Taranto's list of Sen. John Kerry's constantly wavering views on Iraq:

"The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but as I said, it is not new. It has been with us since the end of that war, and particularly in the last four years we know after Operation Desert Fox failed to force him to reaccept them, that he has continued to build those weapons. He has had a free hand for four years to reconstitute these weapons, allowing the world, during the interval, to lose the focus we had on weapons of mass destruction and the issue of proliferation."--Oct. 9, 2002

"Yea."--vote on authorizing military force to liberate Iraq, Oct. 12, 2002

"Even having botched the diplomacy, it is the duty of any president, in the final analysis, to defend this nation and dispel the security threat. . . . Saddam Hussein has brought military action upon himself by refusing for 12 years to comply with the mandates of the United Nations."--March 18, 2003

"The vote is the vote. I voted to authorize. It was the right vote, and the reason I mentioned the threat is that we gave the--we had to give life to the threat... So I think we did the right thing. I'm convinced we did."--Sept. 9, 2003

"Nay."--vote on $87 billion to fund operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Oct. 17, 2003

"I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."--March 16, 2004

"The president made a mistake in invading Iraq."--Sept. 30, 2004

"No."--answer to Jim Lehrer's question "Are Americans now dying in Iraq for a mistake?," Sept. 30, 2004

" I was wrong to vote for that Iraqi resolution."--June 13, 2006

We were right in the election, Kerry is a flip-flopper, big time. This should be in the dictionary

Flip-Flop: Beach footware, or John Kerry.

The Washington Times echoes my view.

Baghdad Isn't Saigon

Oliver North speaks his mind on Iraq and Vietnam, having been witness to both:

Critics of how President Bush has handled the war in Mesopotamia cynically point to mounting casualties as a way of linking combat in Iraq with what took place nearly four decades ago in Vietnam. There is no doubt that every casualty is a tragedy. Yet, the difference in combat losses between the two wars is staggering. At the peak of the war in Vietnam -- 1968-'69, we were losing more than 35 killed in action daily. In Iraq, the “morbidity rate” is fewer than 2.5 per day.
Then there is the difference in enemies. Our opponents in Vietnam, though certainly capable of extraordinary cruelty, never made videos of their captives being beheaded. Unlike homicidal suicide-terrorists I have seen in Iraq, the NVA soldiers I confronted then -- and those I interviewed in Vietnam just a few weeks ago in the shadow of Hamburger Hill -- all wanted to survive the experience.

Finally, there is the issue of outcome. We lost the war in Vietnam -- not on the battlefield -- but in the corridors of power in our nation's capital. We pulled out and abandoned our South Vietnamese allies and two years later they were overwhelmed. We can still lose this war the same way.

That's the only comparison to the 2 wars that's the same. The Democrats are struggling hard to make defeat a reality, whatever the cost to the country.

In fact, Mark Noonan says The So-Called "Insurgency" is Weakening.

Vote Overwhelms Rhetoric

Democrats talk boldly in front of their base, but when pushed to the wire, they fold:

In a move Democrats criticized as gamesmanship, Senate Republicans brought up the withdrawal measure and quickly dispatched it - for now - on a 93-6 vote...The Senate vote unfolded unexpectedly as the second-ranking leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., introduced legislation he said was taken from a proposal by Sen. John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat and war critic. It called for Bush to agree with the Iraqi government on a schedule for withdrawal of combat troops by Dec. 31, 2006.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said if the United States withdrew prematurely, "I am absolutely convinced the terrorists would see this as vindication." He predicted terrorism would spread around the world, and eventually reach the United States if the United States were to "cut and run" before Iraq can defend itself.

They're waiting for the elections, when (they think) Democrats will control the House and they can do as they please.

CVN-78 to be named Gerald Ford?

At least if Sen. Carl Levin has his way:

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, today joined Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., in introducing an amendment to name the CVN-78 aircraft carrier as the U.S.S. GERALD FORD. The amendment was adopted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2007 fiscal year, which the Senate is currently considering.“We in Michigan have long held Gerry Ford with such affection and esteem,” said Sen. Levin. “Naming this new class of nuclear aircraft after President Ford is an appropriate way to honor him.

I thought it might be USS Colin Powell, but why not?

Murdoc has more.

The Party Left Me

Seth Swirsky explains why he Left the Left:

Iraq is the "Normandy" of the War on Terror. The hope, once Iraq and Afghanistan are more stable, is that the nearly 70 million people in Iran will look at those countires (on it's left and right borders) and say: "Why do these people get to vote, send their women to school, and buy Nikes and we don't?" - and then topple their Mullah's dictatorial regime. The President understands the big picture -- that if the U.S. doesn't help to remake that volatile region, we will face a nuclear version of 9/11 within the next two or five or 10 years. He is simply being realistic in his outlook and responsible in his actions. Iraq is succeeding, slowly but surely, but that's not a sexy enough story to lead the news with: the relatively small amount of casualities are. Don't forget, we occupied Germany and Japan for seven years and we still have troops there, more than 60 years after World War II ended.

And what have the Democrats contributed to the war effort since 9/11? Democrat Sen. Russ Feingold has suggested censuring our president; Former President and Vice President Bill Clinton and Al Gore, while visiting foreign countries, have blasted President Bush - acts of unconscionable irresponsibility; Democrat Rep. John Murtha, has invoked a cut-and-run policy in Iraq, supported by Democrat Senate Minority leader Harry Reid and Democrat House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

I encourage you to read all. Very eye-opening.

Beginning of the End of Al-Qaida

At least in Iraq, according to an Iraqi National Security Adviser:

Iraq's national security adviser said Thursday a "huge treasure" of documents and computer records seized after the raid on terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's hideout has given the Iraqi government the upper hand in its fight against al-Qaida in Iraq.
Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie also estimated that a large number of U.S.-led forces will leave Iraq by the end of this year, and a majority will be gone by the end of next year. "And maybe the last soldier will leave Iraq by mid-2008," he said.

"We believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaida in Iraq," al-Rubaie said, adding that the documents showed al-Qaida is in "pretty bad shape," politically and in terms of training, weapons and media.

This is good news, and you heard it here!

Blogs for Bush says the President has the Upper Hand Over Democrats, concerning Iraq.

Meanwhile, Democrats are in disarray.

A UN Army?

For rapid intervention during a crisis. Can the UN do anything rapid? from NewsMax:

Crisis management experts are calling for the creation of a "United Nations army” – an international rapid reaction force that could be deployed within 48 hours to intervene in emergency situations around the globe.
Composed of up to 15,000 military, police and civilian staff, including medics, the proposed force would be recruited from professionals hired by the U.N. from many countries, and based at designated U.N. sites...University of Notre Dame political scientist Robert Johansen, the book's chief writer, says a U.N. force could help prevent horrendous conflict such as the Rwanda genocide and the current crisis in Darfur.

I don't think this would work. 15,000 troops is not enough to defeat the 500,000 man US Army, which the UN considers the main threat to world peace, not to mention the Israeli Army. As a matter of fact, the American Army has been doing the Useless Nation's job of Peacekeeping since its founding, from Korea to the Middle East.

The Future Media

James Pinkerton predicts the rise of the state sponsored media in America:

This is the future of media: Some elements of the MSM will survive, probably. Bloggers will thrive, of course, but 99.9 percent of them are amateurs, without so many as one full-time employee. What will survive and thrive for sure, however, is the SOMSM. Every country with ambitions on the international stage will soon have its own state-supported media.
If war is too important to be left to generals, then news is too important to be left to reporters. Governments, including ours, have their own ideas, and they want to share them with us, the people -- like it or not.

I guess I agree. Just looking at the state of the MSM since the start of the GWOT, its obvious they are unable to report the news "fair and balanced". Usually it is spouted in the form of opinion, whether from a conservative or liberal viewpoint. This might have been good 60 years ago, when everyone was on the same page of fighting the evil of communism. Now some think that America is the problem rather than the solution. A nation can't survive if its citizens no longer have faith in themselves.

It's Bush's Fault

Time to put the blame where it lies. The reason freedom is spreading in the world today is due to the bold vision of our great President, says Slater Bakhtavar:

A resilient, yet experimental venture by the Bush Administration into uncharted waters has proven largely beneficial, as democracy sweeps several countries once held captive by tyrants. The winds of change are blowing across the world as jubilant demonstrators take back their God-given right to freedom, once denied by fascist dictators. An unshakeable vision of international democracy in coordination with the deep desire of people around the world to be free has led to elections throughout the Middle East
and the former Soviet Union...

Several countries are free and democratic with many more to come, but let us not forget - it is Bush’s fault.

Amen! But I have a feeling the MSM will forget, just like the think Gorbachev brought down communist Russia all by his self.

Where are the Heroes?

Not on the front page, according to Frank Schaeffer:

...if the "chattering classes" ever wonder why those of us in the military family sometimes bitterly resent the media, they need look no further than the "Haditha story." What bothers me is that I haven't seen one recent story dedicated to the heroism of our troops given such consistent prominence in The Times or other leading papers. Nor have I read a front-page headline about a military medal ceremony and the story behind it, although every year I see front-page treatment in The Times of who wins the Oscars.

He compares the MSM's anti-military bias to racism:

The prominence of stories about military malfeasance, absent stories about military heroism, creates an out-of-whack impression. When it comes to reporting on the military, it's as if we're back in the 1950s, only this time the media prejudice and insensitivity are aimed at military service rather than race. In the 1950s, you rarely saw a story about an African American unless he or she committed a crime or was portrayed with condescension as a victim.

I've pretty much given up on the Old Media, and get most of my news from Fox, or the internet, especially Honest News!

GOP Will Keep House & Senate

Not my words, but President Bush:

"I believe we're going to hold the House and the Senate because our philosophy is one that is forward-looking and optimistic and has worked," Bush told reporters at a White House news conference...The elections are a long way off," the president said nearly five months out. "What's going to matter is who's got the plan that will enable us to succeed in Iraq and keep the economy growing."

He's right and it will be thanks to what's going on in Iraq. Many thought the war would be a stumbling-block for Republicans, but success there should be trumpeted from the roof tops!

MiLinks

F-22 Raptor makes super-sonic JDAM strike.

More goggles and MV-22 Ospreys for the Marines.

Air force Space Command supports the Zarqawi hit. Well done!

India Successfully Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile.

Navy Review #31 is online!

Babylon 5 Tech Manual. Boy, I miss this show!

Sweden gets more stealth corvettes. The Visby class.

The Chinese Navy is full of morons, though good ships!

Marines teach the Navy brown water tactics. Who would know better?

These are not your father's warships (LCS).

The Tech That Took Out Zarqawi.

Navigating Battlestar America. Like this show too!

Who's Afraid Now?

This is the title of my latest editorial at Opeds.com:

Terrorists everywhere are shaking in their sandals, never knowing when an American smart bomb will come crashing down on their dreams of jihad. The execution of Iraq’s most wanted, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, responsible for the deaths of ten of thousands of innocents, will likely have greater repercussions in Al Qaeda than currently being portrayed in the Old Media, who are taking great pains to remind us “the war goes on”.

Tet as a US Victory

Randall H. Nunn says that's not how it was reported, and history is repeating itself:

The Tet Offensive has been reviewed and analyzed by many writers since 1968, most of whom have concluded that it was a major setback for the North Vietnamese communists. The communist offensive was decisively repulsed. There was no general uprising in favor of North Viet Nam. The South Vietnamese army did not buckle under the attack and the Viet Cong fighting force was virtually destroyed, leaving the rest of the war to North Vietnamese regular troops. Yet, as Robert Bartley, the late editor of The Wall Street Journal said “Tet was a military victory turned into a psychological defeat on the home front.” The chief architects of that psychological defeat were the liberals running the mainstream media at the time. If the Tet Offensive had been reported accurately by the media and seen as the victory it really was by the American public, it is entirely conceivable that American opinion at home would have allowed a positive outcome to that war.

The media still dreams of another Tet, and even a Watergate, but its time to move on or move out.

Persistence is Paying Off.

Ross Mackenzie explains what the death of Zarqawi may mean for the future of Iraq:

The offing of al-Zarqawi tells us - what? Among many, these things:
- That as it has a habit of doing, persistence may be paying off. Iraq has meant untold horror, unconscionable mayhem and death. It has given the vocabulary such lamentable lapses as Abu Ghraib and - now - perhaps Haditha and Hamdaniya. It has resulted in too many bare ruined lives. Yet
- That liberty still may be able to put another notch in its pistol. Iraq has a democratic government. People - even women - are voting. The young are back in school. Indigenous security forces are ramping up. The infrastructure and government administration are under repair. And
- That allied force reduction can proceed as the Iraqis take on more responsibility for protecting themselves. Already it's happening. Allied troop strength stands at 132,000 - down from a 300,000 peak. The alliance consists of 26 countries, down from a peak of 38. The allies have closed or turned over to the Iraqis 30 bases. The U.S. is moving toward small-unit support of Iraqi military and police - combined with logistical and air support plus quick-reaction teams if the Iraqis need help.

This in spite of the Dems wanting to cut and run. They never learn and are afraid of victory, because it means BUSH WAS RIGHT!

Bomb Killed Al-Zarqawi

Sorry Media, no atrocity story here. The troops even tried to save his life, according to this:

Seeking to dispel allegations that al-Zarqawi was beaten or shot while in U.S. custody, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said on Monday that an autopsy performed Saturday proved the Jordanian-born militant died of "massive internal injuries" that were consistent with a blast caused by the two 500-pound (227 kilo) bombs dropped on his hideout.
"A coalition medic treated Zarqawi while he did lapse in and out of consciousness," Caldwell said at a news conference in Baghdad. "The medic secured his airway, at which point Zarqawi expelled blood." He said the medic "noted the breathing was shallow and labored."

Well, you still have Haditha, at least until our Marines are exonerated.

Army Mulls Cutting a Division

Or maybe the Future Combat System. This is from Military.com:

As the Army crafts its spending plan for the next six years, budget pressures are forcing senior leaders to consider everything from cutting the size of the Army by up to a division or terminating its largest acquisition program -- the Future Combat System, service officials said last week...Since early 2006, Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker has said repeatedly that he will cut the size of the force rather than operate with an under-equipped Army.
"Whatever the government gives us to do it will be the size of the Army," Schoomaker told reporters at an April 26 Defense Writers Group breakfast. "If we get cut, we're going to cut the size of the Army. . . . Or they'll get somebody with a different idea".

The military invariably chooses new weapons over personnel, but I think the $140 billion FCS should go. It would probably take decades to enter service anyway, as most high tech platforms do. Meanwhile, warfare would have moved on. Replace it with off the shelf vehicles like the Stryker which can get to the troops in years, not generations.

Iran Strike No Problem

This according to Isaac Ben Israel, who planned the 1981 Israeli airstrike on Osirak:

One U.S. stealth plane, an F-117 or a B-2, can "drop its bombs (and) accurately destroy the targets the planners decided it should destroy... (It could) enter Iran, leave Iran, and the Iranians won't know it is there," he told a conference marking the 25 anniversary of Israel's attack in Iraq.

I can believe this, after the recent precision strike on Zarqawi. This in spite of supposed obstacles:

He ridiculed claims that the Iranians have learned a lesson from the Osirak strike and placed everything underground.
"These things are always built underground. It's not an Iranian invention," he said, adding that one of the bombs hit the ground in front of the designated spot and plowed through into the structure.

But what about sanctions?

...the world might try economic sanctions. Iran depends on imported refined oil products; its revenues from exporting crude oil are a source of enormous revenues and U.S. naval forces could block much of those in the Straits of Hormuz, noted Inbar.
He nevertheless cautioned that, "Societies and regimes have demonstrated great resilience in the face of economic sanctions and a capacity to withstand pain."