This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Zero Ponsdorf

  • Where do we apply The Hammer?

    Maslow is attributed with saying  “It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” I don’t think the source is critical to the question? Matt over at Blackfive sorta indirectly  posed a question that should be reverberating everywhere. Time to leave Afghanistan?

    I left a comment there, but the TAH commenters are a different lot.

    I know what happened in several cases when we opted to pull out, but maybe, just maybe, we need to be looking for the nearest nail??

    Should we be moving our focus, or what?

  • Flash Traffic: All Commands Alert

    Folks: It IS April Fool’s Day!

    Jonn Lilyea is in negotiations to sell TAH to Blackfive.net for “brown “things” from central america”.

    This information is based on a validated  NSA intercept.

    Activate OPLAN 666 today – April 1 2011.

    Report local impact via the usual channels.

    This Alert is valid until 2400 April 1, 2011

    Ponsdorf sends.

  • For Better or Worse

    Doing what they are paid to do… politics be damned.

    The Navy and Air Force git some.

    A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft and guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52), engaged Libyan Coast Guard vessel Vittoria and two smaller crafts March 28.

    The vessels were engaged after confirmed reports that Vittoria and accompanying crafts were firing indiscriminately at merchant vessels in the port of Misrata, Libya.

    The P-3C fired at Vittoria with AGM-65F Maverick missiles, rendering the 12-meter patrol vessel ineffective and forcing it to be beached after multiple explosions were observed in the vicinity of the port.

    Two smaller Libyan crafts were fired upon by the A-10 using its 30mm GAU-8/ Avenger cannon, destroying one and forcing the other to be abandoned.

    Dunno if an A-10 has ever been used in a maritime environment before? Seems to work though.

  • Libya: Just Another Police Action?

    My dad was KIA in Korea.  Not directly relevant, I admit, but  President Truman observed:

    Q. Mr. President, would it be correct, against your explanation, to call this a police action under the United Nations?

    THE PRESIDENT. Yes. That is exactly what it amounts to.

    Some of you readers may not be concerned with ancient history, but I see a connection of sorts. Truman – the President who dropped the bombs couldn’t use the word, and we yet again have a White House that plays with words concerning Libya.

    Rhodes said.  “Obviously that involves kinetic military action, particularly on the front end.”

    A bit earlier Jonn noted a poll that said that 17 percent of Americans see President Barack Obama as a strong and decisive military leader?

    Why even that many? Burke observed:

    “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”

    I’ll add, before anyone else does, we no longer teach – or care much about – history.

  • Sometimes…

    Sometimes old wounds get torn open.

    We have a CinC who never served, surrounded by more who are so arrogant that they don’t realize might have missed something by not wearing the uniform, sending our folks into harms way.

    Set aside the mode (the UN made me do it), and just keep the above in mind.

    For me this is a “been there, done that” moment.

    Of course, the context is NOT the same – and any parallels inexact, but I think I can invoke LBJ with ease to explain my concerns.

    Left with a holdover war from the last President, LBJ made half-hearted decisions that were, at best,  peripheral to HIS agenda.

    Sadly, there is little malice in either case, just little folks paying the price.

    Thanks Kriste.

  • Sometimes a word or two captures a thing…

    From Don Surber: A concept all here can grasp.

    From the Associated Press: “President Barack Obama played grand tourist to Rio de Janeiro’s vivid extremes on Sunday, motorcading from brilliant beaches to a notorious slum even as he monitored U.S. military strikes in faraway Libya.” The Navy went to war. (if  we can believe the news reports the easy bits have ended?)

    The commander-in-chief went to Rio.

    It matters little to the anti-war crowd; their agenda is moot, but it makes ME concerned. We’re invested in a situation of note! A third front? Some allies? Our BLOOD is again on the line!

    Let all the pundits and politicians begin carving out their positions (and get the popcorn), but let’s keep that single thing forefront.

  • Bellavia – NY 26

    Does anyone NOT realize that David Bellavia needs signatures well ahead of money? If he doesn’t get those he will be sidelined yet again. We need him!

    Let me re-reference a thing our host mentioned:

    He must collect thousands of signatures in Western New York by March 19th to meet the legal deadline. Without you, he cannot.

    Jonn is heading up.  I talked to Uncle Jimbo and he didn’t realize the time frame even after interviewing Bellavia TODAY!

    So… just now we very much need to contact anyone who is (or might be) in NY 26.

    Some of you here on TAH can swing the hammer, I’m sure. One of us can, and will, make a real difference. Is it YOU?

  • THE Question That Needs to be Asked?

    This need NOT have ethnic/racial answers. I’m thinking more about attitude?

    Don Surber asks a simple question: Why is there no looting in Japan?

    “Why do some cultures react to disaster by reverting to everyone for himself, but others – especially the Japanese – display altruism even in adversity?”

    Some of Don’s comments are just fascinating, but I’m curious about TAH readers.

    Disclaimer: This has little to do with Vet/military issues.  I’m just genuinely interested in seeing how others might reply.