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

Category: Military issues

  • Hillary got bin Laden now

    Several folks have sent us links to the Atlanta Journal Constitution which reports hearsay on a speech that Hillary Clinton gave to the National Association of Convenience and Fuel Retailing (NACS). During her paid speaking engagement, Clinton was asked about her role in the decision to get bin Laden and according to someone who was there, she spent 25 minutes answering that question, taking credit along with Leon Panetta for taking down the terror leader while Joe Bite Me opposed the action;

    No ears reported any mention of whatever 2016 ambitions Clinton might have. But state Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Dunwoody, said the former first lady dropped a huge hint. “I know she’s running for president now, because toward the end, she was asked about the Osama bin Laden raid. She took 25 minutes to answer,” Taylor said. “Without turning the knife too deeply, she put it to [Vice President Joe] Biden.”

    Time and time again, Taylor said, Clinton mentioned the vice president’s opposition to the raid, while characterizing herself and Leon Panetta, then director of the Central Intelligence Agency, as the action’s most fierce advocates.

    So yeah, we’re going to get another round of elections in 2016 in which the candidates take credit for the bin Laden raid, completely discounting the role that the US military played. Ho-hum.

  • War Crimes: They’re Not Just for the Assad Regime Any More

    We keep hearing about all those “war crimes” on the part of the Assad regime.  Many of them may well be legitimate.

    I’d long suspected that the Syrian opposition might not exactly be clean on that score.  But as far as I know no one has come out and accused the Syrian opposition of war crimes.

    Until now, that is.  Human Rights Watch has now come out and flatly accused elements of the Syrian opposition of committing atrocities against unarmed civilians that indeed qualify as war crimes.  Their report is 105 pages in length, and details attacks against unarmed civilians in a dozen predominately Alawite villages in Latika village on/about 4 Aug of this year.

    We’re not talking a handful of people killed in a few isolated incidents, either.  Human Rights Watch documents at least 190 people killed and 200 taken prisoner.  It also appears that around 100 are being held hostage as bargaining chips for the return of captured Syrian resistance members held by the Assad regime.

    The perpetrators were identified as 5 groups within the Syrian resistance that have ties to Islamic fundamentalism and/or al Qaeda.  Color me shocked.

    The Free Syrian Army has disavowed the actions of the 5 groups who committed these atrocities, with their spokesman stating that, “Anyone who commits such crimes will not belong to the revolution anymore.”

    Yeah, right.  I think I’ll wait until we see some proof before I accept that little statement.  I seem to remember a saying popular in that part of the world that starts out:  “The enemy of my enemy . . . .”

    I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  tell me again why we’re supporting either side in that damn civil war?

  • Flat D!&%

    Okay, the story from Fox doesn’t go into great detail so I’d love to hear from you nuke types. Looks like the Air Force went right to the top, I wish other services would consistently do the same.

    The Air Force is firing the two-star general in charge of all of its nuclear missiles in response to an investigation into alleged personal misbehavior, officials told The Associated Press on Friday.

    Of course, I may have to amend that….he wasn’t relieved because of the nuclear inspection results but because of “Personal behavior”…..Ooops!

    carey_william2

  • A Really Bad Idea

    A recent article in the National Journal says that it may soon be possible for Remotely Piloted Aircraft (AKA “drones”) to make independent decisions on whether to engage targets.  In short, soon it might be possible that they’ll be lethally-armed robots.  No humans involved.

    Technologically, this may be possible one day soon – at least under certain circumstances. It would indeed have the effect of removing a potential source of mission failure:  comm problems.  (No comm required means a greatly reduced chance that a comm failure could impact the mission.)  It might also lead to fewer members of our military being placed at risk.

    Still, IMO this would be a monumentally bad idea.  I hope we never opt to go down this particular path.  And that goes for both unmanned ground and unmanned sea systems, too.

    Why?  Read this (it’s not that long). I think you’ll understand why afterwards.

  • Phony ceremonies on phony planes

    Several of you have been sending us links to the story about the phony ceremonies for phony dead on board phony planes at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. This story is reported in Military.com;

    The Department of Defense unit charged with recovering servicemembers’ remains abroad has been holding phony “arrival ceremonies” for seven years, with an honor guard carrying flag-draped coffins off of a cargo plane as though they held the remains returning that day from old battlefields.

    The Pentagon acknowledged Wednesday that no honored dead were in fact arriving, and that the planes used in the ceremonies often couldn’t even fly, and were towed into position. The story was first reported on nbcnews.com.

    The ceremonies at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii are held up as a sign of the nation’s commitment to its fallen warriors. They have been attended by veterans and families of MIAs, led to believe that they were witnessing the return of Americans killed in World War II, Vietnam and Korea.

    I guess they don’t even need troops to use for props, just an airplane hull, a casket and a flag.

  • Tell Us Something We Didn’t Already Know, General

    The headline says it all, but the article is fairly short and worth reading:

    Current funding makes hollow force ‘inevitable,’ 3-star says

    No surprise, really.  Some of us are old enough to remember post-Vietnam and the Carter years.

    Looks like it’s gonna be, in the words of Yogi Berra, “Déjà vu all over again.”

  • Regarding the Former USSTRATCOM Deputy . . .

    By now, most have probably heard about the relief of VADM Tim Giardina.  Until yesterday, he was the Deputy Commander of USSTRATCOM.  He’d been suspended from duty, but not formally relieved, since 3 Sep.  It was announced yesterday he’d been formally relieved from his position.

    What you might not have heard was the reason.  I didn’t know much about that – other than it was due to a “gambling investigation” – until today.

    It seems the reports that this was due to a “gambling investigation” are indeed true.  Giardina apparently went to a casino in Council Bluffs, IA, and did some gambling.

    No issue with going to a casino; where Giardina went, casino gambling is legal.  And it’s not prohibited by the UCMJ.

    Except . . . it seems there might have been a bit of an issue with what went on at the casino.

    Giardina is alleged to have used $1,500 worth of counterfeit chips while gambling at that casino.  Seriously.

    Iowa authorities have decided not to prosecute Giardina.  The prosecutor apparently feels that – given Giardina’s exemplary service record to date and the relatively small amount (in dollar terms) of the alleged crime – it wouldn’t be worth the effort.  He feels that because of those factors Giardina would likely not get any serious punishment in state court if convicted.

    However, NCIS is continuing to examine the allegations; Giardina may end up facing charges under the UCMJ.  If the allegations turn out to be true I personally hope he does.

    In the interim, Giardina is being reassigned to the Navy staff, with duties not specified.  As a consequence of the reassignment he’s also reverted to his previous 2-star rank.

    As I said:  the matter is still under investigation.  Nothing’s yet been proven, and Giardina’s currently facing no charges.

    But if the allegations are true, all I can say is:  geez, Admiral.  For freaking $1,500?

  • GOP claims that Pay Our Military Act of 2013 pays death benefit

    The Washington Times reports that members of Congress claim that their Pay Our Military Act of 2013 that they passed earlier this week does indeed cover payment of the death benefit for the military and that the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel is the fellow withholding funds from bereaved families;

    Congressional Republicans say the Pay Our Military Act, passed by Congress and signed by Mr. Obama on Sept. 30, authorizes such payments. The act states that it is authorizing “such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to members of the armed forces.”

    And the death gratuity is listed on the Pentagon’s official list — “Pays and Allowances Summary.”

    Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, has sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The letter contains the Pentagon’s official lists of pays and allowances, and asks the secretary what other benefits he plans to deny service members in addition to the death gratuity.

    Here’s the bill as it was signed if you’re interested. It does say that;

    There are hereby appropriated for fiscal year 2014, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for fiscal year 2014 are not in effect–

    (1) such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to members of the Armed Forces (as defined in section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States Code), including reserve components thereof, who perform active service during such period;

    So if the death benefit appears on the DoD’s Pays and Allowances Summary (I can’t find it so I’m not sure), it appears that it’s one of those things that Hagel decided would bring pain to a small number of people and they thought they could get away with it.

    This from Fox News;

    The House voted Wednesday afternoon to restore the $100,000 payments. But in a rapid turn of events, the Pentagon announced minutes later that it had entered into an agreement with the non-profit Fisher House Foundation to keep the payments flowing to families — without the need for congressional action.

    So, the administration appears to have fixed a problem that they themselves created, and they hoodwinked Fisher House into funding it for them.