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

Category: Terror War

  • The “might have beens” of twenty years ago

    Fouad Ajami writes in the pages of the Wall Street Journal a recounting of the events after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and his threatened attack on Saudi Arabia two decades ago in a piece entitled “Guns of August, 1990” which serves as a warning to those who dally in the theories of limited warfare.

    A whole history—speculative, the domain of judgment and preference and hindsight—could be written about the “might have beens” of American forces taking that open road to Baghdad the first time around.

    COB6 and I were on that “open road to Baghdad” through April and May of 1991 while we provided a shield for retreating Shi’ites and i’m sure all of us knew that our return was inevitable – well, as it turned out it was our kids who had to clean up after us.

    The lessons of that conflict have been lost on our policy makers. The hardest lesson, of course is that an enemy has to be beaten to death before victory can be declared. The same lesson we should have learned the first time in World War I – hell, as far back as the Napoleonic Wars.

    And now, we’ve forgotten that lesson again. In a rush to declare false victories, we’re making plans to pull out of Afghanistan next year, no matter what the situation there will be next summer. As violence increases in Iraq, we pat ourselves on the back for simply withdrawing “combat” forces.

    We left Afghanistan to their own devices in 1988 when the Soviets withdrew their forces and they became a terror kingdom.

    We left the South Vietnamese flapping in the wind despite Congress’ promises to the contrary and they suffered three decades of torture in re-education camps and floating in the China Sea in make-shift rafts.

    If we don’t continue our commitment to the region, we’ll find ourselves deploying our grandchildren.

  • Sergeant complains his troops aren’t trained for deployment

    One of the “actions” that IVAW is planning for this weekend is the deployment of Indiana-based 656th Transportation Company. According to one of their so-called Non-commissioned Officers, SGT Alejandro Villatoro, his troops aren’t trained for the up-coming mission to Afghanistan;

    The main reason I am doing this is that I want people to know the lack of training and education our soldier have been receiving, and the focus on the mission is just not adequate to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. All I am asking is more time to reevaluate the training and mental health of these soldiers before sending them into war.

    He claims that his troops haven’t had time to train on the weapons they’ll be using or the vehicles they’ll be driving. Sounds like they’ll be using Star Trek phasers and driving spacecraft, huh? Nope, the weapons he hasn’t had sufficient training on are the .50 cal machine guns which have been in the Army’s inventory since before World War Two – it was designed by John Browning just after WWI.

    Do you mean to tell me that there’s been no time in the last 90 years that Villatoro’s troops couldn’t find time to acquaint themselves with the simplest and most durable weapon on any battlefield in the history of warfare? Why would Villatoro complain about his shortcomings in public since it’s his job to train his troops to a standard for combat?

    The unit spent two weeks training up prior to the deployment and he didn’t go to the arms room and sign out an M2 and go over the weapon and it’s characteristics and maintenance? Firing it from a vehicle mount is easy – you put the wooden grips in your chest, squeeze the butterfly trigger and walk the rounds into the target with your body.

    And the vehicle they’re not trained on is the MRAP – I’m sure they’ll get training when they get there, because strangely, the Army figures it’s more important to have MRAPs where they’re needed rather than dormant in an Reserve unit motorpool.

    Villatoros claims he’s afraid that it’ll be a repeat of the invasion of Iraq when he had to drive a truck with a standard transmission and he didn’t know how to drive a stick. Really? A guy in a Trans Co. that couldn’t drive a stick? How stupid would we have to be to believe that one?

    First of all, besides 60s era duece-and-a-halfs, what Army vehicle has a stick? Even five tons were automatic before the 90s. Secondly, since the whole Advanced Individual Training for truck drivers is getting a license and qualified on trucks, who didn’t have the opportunity to drive the old stick shift trucks?

    Even if the Reserve Trans units still had old sticks, it was the NCO’s fault the troops didn’t know how to drive them. Just like it’s Villatoro’s fault his troops aren’t trained. Instead of training them the young sarge was probably playing spades instead of overcoming the shortfalls in the unit’s training plan. That’s what young sergeants are for, buck.

    In addition, Villatoro is claiming the unit is deploying “wounded” soldiers;

    Some mentally ill soldiers are able to keep their diagnoses secret from the military, which is not screening before deployment, while those with known mental illnesses are deployed regardless.

    Wait a second, troops don’t tell their supervisors that have mental problems and some how that equates to the military “not screening”? Sounds to me like those soldiers want to deploy with their unit – how is that the military’s fault?

    This young buck sergeant needs to do a long, slow self-evaluation on the flight over and admit that he’s the one screwing his troops and not the command structure. Oh, by the way, Villalobo is an IVAW member.

  • Ground Zero Mosque Supporters Want Bush To Save Them (And Obama)

    From the Washington Examiner:

    There’s a new argument emerging among supporters of the Ground Zero mosque. Distressed by President Obama’s waffling on the issue, they’re calling on former President George W. Bush to announce his support for the project, because in this case Bush understands better than Obama the connection between the war on terror and the larger question of America’s relationship with Islam.

    So let me get this straight. From pretty much the beginning of combat operations in Afghanistan in October 2001 to his last day in office, George W. Bush was accused of violating the rights of Muslims around the world, was accused of trashing America’s image in the Muslim world, and of course torturing thousands of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, and GITMO. Now, some of the same people who routinely attacked Bush during his administration for his handling of relations with the Muslim world want him to come out and support the Ground Zero Mosque and save President Obama.

    Maureen Dowd professional Bush-basher:

    “It’s time for W. to weigh in,” writes the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. Bush, Dowd explains, understands that “you can’t have an effective war against the terrorists if it is a war on Islam.” Dowd finds it “odd” that Obama seems less sure on that matter. But to set things back on the right course, she says, “W. needs to get his bullhorn back out” — a reference to Bush’s famous “the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!” speech at Ground Zero on September 14, 2001.

    Wow. How the world has turned upside down.

    By the way, if I were GWB, I would have three words for these people: Go Fuck Yourself.

  • NYT: Bold stonings

    The New York Times shows their biases again this morning with the following headline in regards to the Taliban’s sentencing to stoning of a young Afghan couple who committed the heinous crime of eloping;

    Bold? Really? It’s not cowardly or barbaric? It’s bold?

    The couple was lured back from their nuptials by family members and then seized by Taliban authorities. Reports are that the village enjoyed the day’s festivities;

    “People were very happy seeing this,” Mr. Khan maintained, saying the crowd was festive and cheered during the stoning. The couple, he said, “did a bad thing.”

    On the up side, Amnesty International took time out from condemning the United States to notice the Taliban for a minute;

    Amnesty International condemned the latest stonings, calling them the first such executions since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

    Of course, the half-measures this administration has taken in the war against these criminals only encourage them. But calling them “bold” doesn’t help.

  • Iranian F-4 crashes near nuclear reactor

    I’ll bet they went through their emergency stash of Fruit of the Looms at the Bushehr nuclear reactor facility in Iran when a local F-4 crashed due to mechanical failure (Haaretz link);

    Keshtkar says the pilot and co-pilot ejected from the plane before it crashed but were rushed to the hospital in the city. He didn’t provide other details.

    On Friday, Russia said it will begin loading nuclear fuel into the Bushehr reactor, Iran’s first atomic power station on August 21, an irreversible step marking the start-up of the Bushehr plant after nearly 40 years of delays.

    As Jimbo writes, time is getting short for Israel to prevent the power plant from becoming a functioning unit. Jittery nerves on both sides.

  • 61 Iraqi Army recruits die in blast

    As US forces draw down their combat troops in Iraq on a timetable withdrawal plan, Iraqis try to expand the number of their own forces. Today, 61 Iraqis paid for their desire to protect their own country with their lives as they stood in line with applications for enlistment (S&S/AP link);

    Bodies of bloodied young men, some still clutching job applications in their hands, were scattered on the ground outside the military headquarters in central Baghdad. Some of the estimated 1,000 men who had gathered there before dawn for a good spot in line were so desperate for work they returned hours after being treated at hospitals for injuries in the attack.

    Though Iraq’s military and police recruiting centers have been attacked repeatedly, there was virtually no security provided for the hundreds of men seeking to hand in applications on the last day they were being accepted at the headquarters for the Iraqi army’s 11th Division.

    The bomber, it appears, simply walked up and joined the applicants. Witnesses said he approached an officer collecting I.D. cards and set off a blast that split his own body in two.

    Of course, I’m sure this has nothing to do with timetable withdrawals. I mean, the Democrats have been pushing for a schedule for years, so they must be right just based on their persistence, right?

  • Iraq needs US to help protect border

    The LA Times reports that the Iraqi government says they’ll need US troops for about a decade in order to secure their borders.

    Commanders say they are reasonably confident in the Iraqi security forces’ ability to keep order while facing insurgents or other internal threats. But when it comes to their capacity to protect against attacks from other nations, it is inconceivable that the Iraqi army will be able to stand alone by the time U.S. troops go home, said Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, commander of the U.S. military training program in Iraq.

    Talk about the blind leading the blind.

    But ya know what I hope the Iraqis do to defend their borders? Build a wall. Nothing pisses off liberals more than a government which protects it’s citizens with a wall. Ask the Israelis. Ask our own border states. iIn fact the only thing I can think of that would piss off liberals more than a wall between Iraq and Iran is if the Iraqis asked the Israelis to help them build it.

  • 2 Marines killed in jail break attempt

    CNN reports that two US Marines were killed in southern Afghanistan when a prisoner attempted a jail break during his prayer period;

    “The prisoner escaped a room where he was observing prayer time, acquired a rifle and subsequently engaged Afghan and coalition forces,” the statement said, adding that two US marines were killed after they tried to subdue the prisoner.

    “The prisoner was later shot and killed by small-arms fire,” it said, but did not identify the attacker and did not say whether he was affiliated with the Taliban.

    I guess it’s fine when they interrupt their own prayer time to do stuff to our guys. If they’re not saying whether or not the guy was Taliban, that means he was indeed Taliban. If he wasn’t, it would have led the story. I mean, Eikenberry, that dick, is still not blaming the Taliban for the 10 aid workers’ deaths last week even though the Taliban has admitted as much.

    The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, said Karl Eikenberry, U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, but “we do not know whether they are responsible or simply taking credit for the cowardly and despicable acts of others.”

    Speaking of attrocious behavior and the Taliban, if you read our Facebook fan page this morning, I mentioned that the Taliban murdered a pregnant woman for her adultery.

    But we should just leave Afghanistan and let these guys have their country back. What could it hurt, right? besides, the Wiki-traitors have released the details of incidents in which we’ve done much worse, haven’t they?