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

Category: Military issues

  • WWII Rangers meet for last time in Columbus?

    The rumor is that the survivors of the cliff scaling at Pointe du Hoc, the disaster at Cisterna, and the liberation of POWs at Cabanatuan are holding their last reunion this week in Fort Benning, Georgia, the home of today’s modern Rangers. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer writes;

    Frank E. South lends no credence to the rumor his beloved World War II Rangers will be meeting for the last time when they gather for their annual reunion this week in Columbus.

    The former Army medic who served in the 2nd Ranger Battalion during World War II admitted that because of their rapidly dwindling ranks, Rangers from that era are beginning to discuss the possibility of a final gathering.

    “But on the other hand, there are some of us who say, ‘OK, even if there are a couple of tables of four of us, we’ll sit around the table and drink and talk and be as we always are, old comrades.’ But, I think the prevailing feeling is that we’ll go on as long as we can.”

    I remember meeting some of the original Rangers within the first few months after I joined the Army – listening to their stories and being able to share a few beers with them inspired me for the rest of my career. It’s a shame that there are so few left, but it’s a bigger shame they won’t be around to give inspiration to following generations. I wholeheartedly agree with the young Ranger quoted by WTVM;

    At a previous reunion in Iowa, one young Ranger described the experience of meeting Rangers of an earlier war as “walking among giants”….

    They’re the reason it’s well-known that “Rangers Lead The Way.”

  • Losing political will

    Our troops are fighting their asses off in Afghanistan, but the politicians are emptying their bladders in their diapers. So much so, that the NATO chief had to remind the members of that organization that victory in the war in Afghanistan is imperative;

    Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said some critics are starting to say that the cost of engagement in the eight-year war is too high, but he countered that “the cost of inaction would be far higher.”

    “Leaving Afghanistan behind would once again turn the country into a training ground for al-Qaida. The pressure on nuclear-armed Pakistan would be tremendous. Instability would spread throughout central Asia and it would only be a matter of time until we here in Europe would feel the consequences of all of this,” Fogh Rasmussen said at a security conference in Bratislava ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

    Of course, the weak-kneed know that, but it doesn’t keep them from going wobbly at the sound of the word “commitment”. Meanwhile, the former top Canadian general warned that Afghanistan will end NATO;

    Retired general and former Canadian chief of defense staff Rick Hillier wrote in his autobiography to be published next week: “Afghanistan has revealed that NATO has reached the stage where it is a corpse, decomposing” and in need of “lifesaving” or “the alliance will be done.”

    Meanwhile, Dick Cheney told a conservative crowd that President Obama is scared to make a decision about our involvement in Afghanistan;

    “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger,” Cheney said at the Center for Security Policy. “Make no mistake, signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries.”

    Even the USAToday editorial board warns that the Obama Administration’s flirtations with the Taliban are ridiculous;

    Trying to treat al-Qaeda and the Taliban as separate threats is unrealistic and unworkable. It would certainly be easier, and more convenient, if al-Qaeda and the Taliban could be regarded as distinct entities. That would allow the U.S. to pursue a simpler “counterterrorism” strategy against the remnants of al-Qaeda instead of a far more complex “counterinsurgency” strategy against the Taliban. Unfortunately, however, the weight of the evidence is that al-Qaeda and significant elements of the Taliban have become so closely aligned as to be inseparable.

    If nothing else, the Obama Administration should take VoteVets’ endorsement of that strategy as a warning.

    Dick Cheney’s warning to the President should resonate a bit more than the words of dicksmith and Jon Soltz;

    “Now they seem to be pulling back and blaming others for their failure to implement the strategy they embraced,” Cheney said in reference to Emanuel’s comments. “It’s time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity.”

    There is no substitute for American warriors and the more, the better.

  • Kerry as Defense Secretary?

    The Wall Street Journal recounts John Kerry’s weekend with Hamid Karzai and their five meetings resulting in Karzai capitulation to the idea of a run off election;

    According to one Western diplomat, the Afghan president was more comfortable dealing with Sen. Kerry than with U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry or the administration’s special representative to the region, Richard Holbrooke. Mr. Holbrooke angered Mr. Karzai when he suggested shortly after the Aug. 20 election that a runoff might be needed.

    “He and I are friends,” Sen. Kerry said of Mr. Karzai. “It was really trying to lay out the real interests that were at stake. … President Karzai was very attentive and thinks he won the election.”

    I’d probably be more comfortable dealing with Kerry than Eikenberry, too, but it’s only because I think Eikenberry is a dick – and I’ve thought that about for about 34 years. While the Washington Times tells of a furious row between Karzai and Obama’s “most talented diplomats of his generation”, Richard Holbrooke, Kerry and Karzai seemed to hit it off;

    “I said to President Karzai that if we could make further progress, I was willing to come back to Afghanistan,” Sen. Kerry said.

    We all knew Robert Gates wouldn’t last the year as Obama’s Defense Secretary, so I wonder if they’re setting the stage for Kerry to take over since Obama doesn’t really want to think about Afghanistan much, anyway.

    I’m sure within a few weeks Kerry would finally sign that Form 180.

  • Rudderless war policy

    Who is our commander-in-chief and where is he? Today, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, told a gaggle of reporters that the president’s decision to beef up forces in Afghanistan can’t wait for their elections to get unscrewed. Of course, he’s right. There are Taliban and al Qaeda operatives in that country right now that need killing. Obama’s decision boils down to whether he wants to kill them now or wait until Spring and then kill them.

    Why is he waiting?

    “The UN, NATO, the US stand ready to assist the Afghans in conducting the second round,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

    “Whether or not the president makes a decision before that I don’t think has been determined.

    “I have continued to say a decision will be made in the coming weeks as the president goes through an examination of our policy,” he added.

    There is absolutely no reason to delay deploying more troops to Afghanistan waiting on the Afghans to learn how to run elections. Those fighters in the mountains need killing no matter who is president of Afghanistan. The Pakistanis delayed killing them and now they’re locked in a battle for their lives. Delaying killing those folks only benefits them. Of course, it benefits Obama because he gets to hold on to his base supporters a little longer – but meanwhile US troops are dying in Afghanistan. That doesn’t seem to matter to the Obama Administration, though.

    They get to lay some medals on some troops for their actions four decades ago and everyone thinks he supports the troops. But all the Obama Administration has become is a ceremonial unit – he gets Nobel prizes for doing nothing. Jon Soltz, Chris Lejeune and Dicksmith applaud him for sending more troops to Afghanistan, even though those troops were follow-on troops for the last surge there.

    This is clearly Obama’s war now, and he’s clearly afraid to fight it. In the face of a newly-elected Democrat Congress which had been elected on their promise to de-fund his war, george Bush made the politically courageous decision to send more troops to iraq which broke the back of al Qaeda in Iraq – and it was mainly because the al Qaeda thought they had won in Iraq because of the election of Democrats. Bush made it more costly for terrorists to ply their trade.

    miss-me-yet

  • VA contacting Post 9-11 GI Bill recipients

    Just so you don’t think you’re getting a telemarketing call, the VA has released that they’ll be contacting folks who’ve applied for the new GI Bill ed benefits;

    Representatives of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be telephoning Veterans across the country to explain their education benefits under the new Post-911 GI Bill and ensure beneficiaries are able to receive payments due them.

    Especially important in the message;

    VA representatives making calls will not ask for any personal information, such as birthdates, bank account or social security numbers, but they may ask family members for information to contact Veterans who are away at school.

    Especially disturbing in the press release;

    “The Post-9/11 GI Bill is one of our highest priorities,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.

    A third of the recipients hasn’t received a penny yet – but the Ed Bill is one of their highest priorities? I wonder how the folks involved in a lower priority project are getting along.

  • Presidential Unit Citation awarded 39 years later

    The Washington Post reports that the President will award a Presidential Unit Citation to an Army Cav unit that rode to the rescue of the comrades in Vietnam nearly forty years ago;

    Alpha Troop, First Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment — has been awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for its “extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry” in the fight, and the soldiers have been summoned to be honored.

    A truck driver from Harrisonburg, an architect from California, a businessman from Texas, they have come from across the country, many having only in the last few months reopened that harrowing chapter of their lives, when as scared, young soldiers they stood face-to-face with the enemy, as Gutierrez says, in a kind of deadly prizefight.

    “The analogy for me has always been: These two heavyweights stepping into the center of the ring,” he said. “And then just going toe-to-toe, and pounding on each other . . . The first guy that connects, wins.”

  • Marines not amused by AF video

    The Military Times reports that Marines are not amused by a video the Air Force produced as a recruiting video in which an Air Force drill brags that his airmen are in better shape when they leave Lackland AFB than Marines;


    The proverbial feces hit the fan, when an email of the video hit the Marines’ top sergeant’s inbox;

    Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent…asked Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy on Thursday to have it removed. Roy ordered his staff to take it off the site immediately after reading Kent’s e-mail and reviewing the video.

    “Needless to say, I was shocked when I checked my e-mail this morning,” Kent said in a statement released to Marine Corps Times on Thursday. “I had numerous e-mails from privates first class through senior staff [non-commissioned officers] questioning the intent of this video. You have to understand, Marines are very proud, and they view statements like the ones in the video as an attack and will defend the honor of our Corps at all costs.”

    Me? I just think it’s funny all the way around as the father of an airman and the uncle of a Marine.

    To fan the flames of inter-service rivalry, the various services oaths of enlistment are included below the jump;
    (more…)

  • Shinseki still incompetent

    The Stars and Stripes reports this morning that weeks after the Department of Veterans Affairs authorized “emergency payments” for their education benefits, more than 30,000 of the 82,000 veterans who’ve applied are still without checks (that’s about 36% of applicants), some probably won’t get their checks until 2010. So much for “emergency” payments.

    But fear not – DVA’s boss says it’s “unacceptable” Whew! Don’t you feel better? I know that veterans and their families will be able to live on that “unacceptable”. It puts food on the table, it makes it easier to study, it even makes rent payments. What we need here is for Brandon Friedman to have another conference call so he can get dicksmith’s opinion and then leap into action like last time.

    “[VA Secretary Eric Shinseki] has made it clear to everyone that any delay in payments is unacceptable,” [Keith Wilson, director of the VA’s education services] said. “I know what it’s like to stand in line for food stamps after defending this country. I take this very personally, and we’re going to fix it.”

    Yeah, drag out your own victim card to deflect criticism. The fact remains that this bill passed 12 months before the first check was to be cut – DVA had time to fix this. It’s not like a hurricane struck or anything.

    Worse? DVA’s computer system for this process won’t be running for more than a year;

    A new automated computer system is expected to simplify that process, but the system won’t be fully operational until December 2010, Wilson said. That drew criticism from lawmakers, who worry that students enrolling in classes next spring and fall could face similar delays.

    But don’t worry, I’m sure these problems won’t surface when the government takes over all of our health care.