His blog is here.
There’s some time warp involved… he is in A’Stan.
I met him him and his wife (who is MUCH too good for him) at a Mil-Blog conference. He also has some sweet kids.
Chuck got blown out of his tank in Iraq and barely survived. It does make him a bit cranky at times.
Jonn added: the real truth behind Chuck Jong Il from Blackfive.
The plain facts via MaryAnn:
“Good evening. I have asked for this radio and television time tonight for the purpose of announcing that we today have concluded an agreement to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and in Southeast Asia.” Richard Nixon January 23, 1973
“I would describe our troops as having succeeded in the mission of giving to the Iraqis their country in a way that gives them a chance for a successful future”. Barrack Obama December 2011
Parallels are iffy things at best and I don’t want to get bogged down in quibbling over each minute detail, if you please?
Don Surber has a post up that got me thinking. He’s declared “Victory in Iraq” and that declaration troubles me.
As the United States leaves Iraq after more than 8 years of war, liberals are feeding defeat to a war-weary nation that just wants its troops to come home.
We won in Iraq. Mission Accomplished. It cost 4,500 American lives and maybe 10 times that number in Iraqi lives. The Iraqi death toll — 50,000 in 8 yearts — was a far cry from the 300,000 Iraqis killed by the Saddam Hussein regime or the million lives lost in the ill-fated Iraqi-Iranian War.
It cost taxpayers $800 billion? That works out to one-sixth of the defense spending in that time. The U.S. government now borrows $800 billion every 7 months so the argument that we drained our Treasury on this war is false and hypocritical. We drain our Treasury on “entitlement” programs.
It’s not particularly profound to want to add TIME WILL TELL to the equation.
I can’t help but wonder where we’d all be if the allies had stopped at the German border and went home?
Manning’s sexual orientation raised in hearing
The young Army intelligence specialist accused of passing government secrets spent his 24th birthday in court Saturday as his lawyers argued his status as a gay soldier before the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” played an important role in his actions.
Lawyers for Pfc. Bradley Manning began laying out a defense to show that his struggles as a gay soldier in an environment hostile to homosexuality contributed to mental and emotional problems that should have barred him from having access to sensitive material.
They are NOT saying he didn’t do it? Only that his sexual proclivity made him do it?
BOHICA! If this becomes acceptable where will the line be drawn?
Via Joe Galloway and FB. Just me proud enough to share here. Unfortunately the story is via Those people?
Last U.S. base in Iraq prepares to turn out the lights
CAMP ADDER, Iraq — The young Army officer who’s in charge of logistics at the last U.S. base in Iraq is a Sudanese refugee, one of the “lost boys” who fled their war-ravaged homeland in the mid-1990s.
His staff sergeant survived a deadly improvised-explosives attack during his third tour here in 2005, then returned for two more.
(…)
“We are the ones that are going to sort of turn out the lights and close out Iraq,” said Capt. David Moses, 30, who was born in South Sudan and fled the civil war there as an adolescent, eventually landing in Utah.
ETA: Joe busted my chops some about McClatchy and Dakota Meyer. I still think that story was , at best, “damning with faint praise”. Gonna keep me skeptical.
Congressman begins 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with Occupy DC protesters
A Congressman started a 24-hour hunger strike Thursday evening as a sign of solidarity with four Occupy DC protesters who have fasted for more than a week.
Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison announced on his Twitter page earlier today that he’ll forgo food or drink for one day to support the demonstrators who haven’t had a bite to eat since 8 December.
‘started my 24 hour solidarity fast last night. May the DC vote and budgetary independence prevail!,’ Ellison tweeted.
I doubt that the Occupy DC folks are actually starving themselves, but even if they are – who cares? I don’t mean that in any cruel way, just sincerely curious, who gives a shit?
Regardless, this congress critter is demonstrating how to seize the high moral ground indeed. For 24 hours anyway…
A pal of mine in Nashville put this together,
The closest I came to a Bob Hope show was underway, and rearming from the carrier he was on.
Seems to me he’s in trouble for enforcing FEDERAL law, but we have several actual lawyers here that might explain this?
Justice Department: Arizona Sheriff Arpaio violated federal law
The Justice Department, following an often hostile three-year investigation, said Thursday the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) in Phoenix under the leadership of Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio violated federal law and the Constitution in its handling of persons arrested and inmates held in its jail system.
Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez, who heads the department’s Civil Rights Division, said investigators concluded there was reasonable cause to believe that sheriff’s deputies engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct and violations of federal law that jeopardized the agency’s commitment to fair and effective law enforcement.
The not-unexpected decision said investigators found discriminatory policing practices including unlawful stops, detentions and arrests of Latinos; unlawful retaliation against persons exercising their First Amendment right to criticize the agency’s policies or practices, including its discriminatory treatment of Latinos; and discriminatory jail practices against Latino inmates with limited English proficiency by punishing them and denying them critical services.
The language aspect is an interesting twist. My highlight.