Author: TSO

I have the 8th and 13 picks. (then the 28th, 33rd and so on) Anyone got any advice? I have done zero research.

In talking to Jonn and others in the secret cabal last week, there was a ton of discussion about this:

KABUL (AP) – A Swedish charity has accused American troops of storming through a hospital in Afghanistan, breaking down doors and tying up staff. The U.S. military says it is investigating.

The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan accuses the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division of entering the hospital without permission in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul.

The charity’s country director, Anders Fange, says the troops kicked in doors and tied up four hospital employees and two family members of patients last week. He says the troops actions are a violation of the sanctity of medical facilities in combat zones.

I kind of knew what was really going on, and so the word from the US side didn’t surprise me:

A U.S. military spokesman and a senior adviser to the Army’s 10th Mountain Division are now pushing back against claims made by a Swedish charity group that its soldiers rampaged through a hospital in Wardak province, Afghanistan while searching for insurgents.

A senior spokesman for Central Command (CENTCOM) Captain Jack Hanzlik said the Army did enter the hospital, but did so in cooperation with the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police, and the staff of the hospital.

The only reason I am weighing in is that I have been to that hospital, or rather, been outside it. Back in late 2004 I was part of a group that went to meet a woman who was involved with the Hospital. I don’t even remember what we were doing there, it was outside my lane. But, the CO and I and a few others went to talk to this woman. Only we had to go through a local elder to get to her, and when we showed up she was pissed, and waved us on. We would later meet her down the road.

On the night of the Presidential election that year a poll worker in Wardak got hit. I remember him being stable, but we took him part of the way to that hospital, and then, we had to take him out of the humvee and transfer him to the back of a civilian truck and let the ANP take him in. If he’d have shown up in a US vehicle the guy wouldn’t have made it through the night, and we would have put the doctors in danger.

I am always suspicious of NGO’s in general, and the Swedes in particular. They do good things, no doubt. I believe it was also the Swedes who built a school in Srpski Brod when I was in Bosnia. They built this incredible school, they had a big opening, and it was burned and destroyed the next day. But the Swedes also have a tolerance for these savages that drives me nuts. Not as bad as that Norwegian clown Mads Gilbert, but also not angels.

I empathize with the doctors etc there. Imagine you are a doctor there and you let Americans come strolling in one day. You deal with them civally, don’t give up any doctor/patient info and the Americans leave. What solace would that give when the Talis show up the next day looking to wack anyone that dealt with them? It does little good to have a hospital when you know that horrible men will come and kill your patients if they even suspect you are working with the Americans.

There probably have been some Talis who got treatment there that my Battalion helped to ventilate. Damn good chance. And believe me, I hope those sonsabitches got the shittiest treatment imagineable. But I am not sure in this specific case what could have been done differently. Everyone plays a part, and it’s all a big dance. I believe that the American troops did what they had to do. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t understand why the hospital did what they did. I do understand. There’s going to be a shitstorm raging on this no matter what happens.

It seems sometimes that the only thing worse than being a combatant in Afghanistan is being a non-combatant. The reality is that US troops can’t protect the hospital. Wardak is the size of Rhode Island, and they have like a battalion of US troops there. If we protect it, it becomes a target. If we don’t, then I can’t see what they can do other than claim that the US did horrific stuff, and keep their street cred as a non-partial place.

Love for someone to tell me how this could be handled differently, but it just seems lose-lose to me.

I’ll always have a soft spot for Jim Traficant. Yeah, totally get that he was crooked, but damn the man had panache. I still remember the last thing he said to me, “I think they’re gonne get me this time [TSO].” Me too I replied.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, Sept. 6 — The Elvis impersonator had ceded the stage, and the toupee contest was over.

The main act appeared to thunderous applause, looking pretty plucky for a guy who had just spent seven years in prison.

“I plan to get right back in it!” boomed James Traficant, the former Democratic U.S. congressman from Ohio’s 17th District, announcing to 1,200 cheering supporters Sunday that he just might still have a little of the old magic under that memorable rug.

Just as in his heyday, Traficant promised that he’d take on the federal government that he said “cheated” to put him behind bars for racketeering and bribery. As the crowd shouted “Run for Senate,” he trashed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and caused a frenzy when he proclaimed: “If we can take care of people all over the world, damn it, we can take care of our people here!”

Jimbo is back.

He was good to veterans, I’ll give him that.

OK, so yesterday, I got a raise:

Tonight my girl arrives:

Saturday is “Rib America” festival in Indy:

And who is playing at Rib America?

“Anyone else TSO?” Why, glad you asked, yes indeed:

“But, you do know that they suck, right?” Yup, but the band playing at 1330 hours is my #4 favorite band:

“Money, hot chicks, ribs and the Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band featuring his wife breezy playing the washboard? Is this heaven?”

No, this is Indianapolis.

that if this man truly runs for the Mass Senate seat, I will send as much scratch as I can spare to help him.

Bloody sock or no, I’ve always been a big fan.

(BTW- Josh Beckett, I no longer have a man crush on you. What the hell was that last night?)

OK, I am not even going to try to figure out what in the holy hell is going on here:

Private security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul were pressured to participate in naked pool parties and perform sex acts to gain promotions or assignment to preferable shifts, according to one of 12 guards who have gone public with their complaints.

“It was mostly the young guys fresh from the military who were told they had to participate,” said the guard, who talked on a phone hook-up arranged by the Project on Government Oversight, which first revealed photographs of the parties.

“They were not gay but they knew what it took to get promoted,” said the guard, spoke on condition that ABC News not publish his name.

But, I do have a few thoughts. First off, I doubt this is truly as bad as they are making it sound, but if it is, fire them all, cancel the contract etc. But, just because I see it in the news, I am now almost more inclined NOT to believe it. Take the “Eric Prince is the King of Asassins, and also he thinks this is a crusade” story that VoteVets and other retardos are trying to peddle. Nope. Not buying it one bit. And someone still needs to explain to those guys what a civil case is, and how it differs from criminal.

What I can say though is that I served with DynCorps on President Karzai’s protective detail. The guys were of 2 minds on the use of the PMFs, largely because they were paid roughly 4 times what we were. Fair enough. But, I met all the guys on that detail, and to a man they were consummate professionals who were there to do something they believed in. Everyone loves to use the phrase “Mercenary” and really has no clue what that really means, or the fact that largely these PMFs aren’t engaged in shooting, they are more likely to be found fixing showers, washing our clothes etc.

So, whatever they find out about this company, I hope they let us know. And if this is like Custer-Battles and the great fiasco of renting trucks from them, I hope they screw these bastards to the wall. Because they are giving other organizations like DynCorps and others a bad name.

After the jump, one of the pictures, which I swear before god looks like Ineedadinnerjacket partying with Sniper.
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I just talked to him on the phone, but honestly with David I don’t know whether to believe it is to discuss “Anarchists” or not. But anyway, if someone has a way of YouTubing the damn thing, please do so and I will post it here tomorrow, as I don’t have FoxNews here in Indy. Either way, Bells is Grade A awesome on interviews so watch it if you can.