Category: War

Gates and Murtha Back More Funds For FCS

No Comments

We have a report that Rep. John Murtha and SecDef Robert Gates are supporting the acceleration of the Future Combat System in order to apply the technologies to Iraq and (particularly) Afghanistan.

What the story appears to be saying is that they want to get the improved communications and sensors capabilities into the hands of soldiers.

While I can see the advantage of this, fundamentally, the subtext here is that this is being suggested as an alternative to boots on the ground, which is a losing proposition.

One of the major problems in US counterinsurgency is that we do not commit enough ground troops, and so, we overuse air assets, which, because of collateral damage, strengthen local support for the insurgency.

Pulling the money out of whiz bang, and out of Air Force combat operations in theater, would be a much more effective use of resources.

Gaza Upate

No Comments

First, something we can all agree on, that this clusterf&$% is Bush and Condi’s gift to the middle east.

You remember, first they insisted on elections in the territories, and then when Hamas won, because the PA is corrupt and incompetent at governing even by the standards of the Arab world, they proceeded to encourage Israel and the PLO to go after Hamas, which led to Hamas kicking the PLO out of Gaza, because the PLO is the worst army ever.

In breaking news, it looks like there may be a 48 hour cease fire, though both sides are currently acknowledging any negotiations.

Also I have one report of a ground offensive starting, it’s an eyewitness account, but it has since been corrected to say that tanks are shelling from over the Green Line.

Afghan Erection Update

No Comments

Not a typo. They CIA is using Viagra to win friends and influence tribal leaders in Afthanistan:

The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.

Four blue pills. Viagra.

“Take one of these. You’ll love it,” the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.

The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes — followed by a request for more pills.

At least this cannot be turned into an IED.

No, this is not the Onion.

Why Barack Obama Needs to Fire a General or Two

No Comments

So, the status of forces agreement is signed, and General Ray Ordierno immediately starts making public statements about how it a binding timeline in the agreement does not really mean a binding timeline.

Now we have unnamed sources deep in the Pentagon saying that the pullout of troops from Iraqi cities will be a pullout in name only:

Even though the agreement with the Iraqi government calls for all American combat troops to be out of the cities by the end of June, military planners are now quietly acknowledging that many will stay behind as renamed “trainers” and “advisers” in what are effectively combat roles. In other words, they will still be engaged in combat, just called something else.

Let’s be clear, this is a case of the Pentagon leaking from near the top: the leaks have been approved by Gates, Petraeus, or Ordierno.

On January 21, they need to be told that they will stop all comments, and that the entire chain of command needs to know that the status of forces agreement is now the position of the government of the United States of America, and that anyone who suggests otherwise is engaging in insubordination, and will be subject to severe disciplinary actions.

And then, the next relatively senior officer (Lt. Col. and above) who shoots off his yap gets fired.

Because this really is insubordination, and while it may serve the desires of Bush and His Evil Minions™ to subvert the timetables in the SOF, it does not suit the desires or needs of the nation.

If anything else is done, Barack Obama will be rolled for the rest of his time as President by the Pentagon.

What Big Media Matt Says

No Comments

On Iraq:

The harsh reality is that this was not a noble undertaking done for good reasons. It was a criminal enterprise launched by madmen cheered on by a chorus of fools and cowards. And it’s seen as such by virtually everyone all around the world — including but by no means limited to the Arab world. But it’s impolitic to point this out in the United States, and it’s clear that even a president-elect who had the wisdom not to be suckered in by the War Fever of 2002 has no intention of really acting to marginalize the bad actors. Which, I think, makes sense for his political objectives. But if Americans want to play a constructive role in world affairs, it’s vitally important for us to get in touch with the reality of what the past eight years of US foreign policy have been and how they’re seen and understood by people who aren’t stirred by the shibboleths of American patriotism.

(emphasis mine)

I don’t want them marginalized. I want them imprisoned.

What the Other Matt Said

No Comments

Matthew Yglesias again:

To go stronger here, it’s worth observing that absolutely integral to starting to achieve success in Iraq was the rolling strategic decision to abandon our main war aims. In particular, we’re now neither trying to create a strong Iraqi state, nor trying to create an Iraqi state that isn’t dominated by pro-Iranian forces, nor trying to create an Iraqi state that’s a base for American military power, nor especially trying to create a stable Iraqi democracy. I think all of those decisions were the right decisions, based in smart pragmatic thinking about Iraqi realities and American interests. But if we didn’t want to do that stuff, that we could have just not invaded in the first place. Which is exactly what we should have done!

(emphasis original)

Too true.

The Last Refuge of Well Connected Nuts: The WSJ Ediitorial Page

No Comments

In this case it’s Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who continues to pimp the lie that the Rissians attacked first.

No, they didn’t. They knew that you would attack, and they knew when and where you would attack almost before you did, and so massed troops on their side of the border waiting for the balloon to go up, but you attacked first.

Being stupid, and having your state security apparatus thoroughly penetrated by a large unfriendly neighbor does not make you the victim of an attack. It just makes it either stupid or insane to launch an attack against their troops and allies.

You sir, notwithstanding your vaunted Western education, are both stupid and insane.

I Wish Your Intelligence Had Been Adequate

No Comments

Bush was interviewed by Charlie Gibson:

BUSH: I don’t know — the biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn’t just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence. And, you know, that’s not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.

Let’s see, we have documents from the British saying that your intel was complete ballocks, the French thought that it was complete ballocks, the Germans thought that it was complete ballocks, the Israelis thought that it was complete ballocks.

You systematically excluded anything that did not support your wish to invade Iraq, and you, and the rest of your Evil Minions&trade should all be on your way to the Hague.

Good News About the Iraq SOF Deal

No Comments

It appears that the deal not only rescinds immunity for mercenaries contractors, but it does so retroactively, meaning that they could be liable to stand trial in an Iraqi court for earlier actions, like shooting wildly into a crowd at a Baghdad traffic circle:

A new U.S.-Iraq security agreement doesn’t specifically prevent Iraqi officials from bringing criminal charges retroactively in cases such as the September 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians by contractors protecting a State Department convoy, officials told security company officials during meetings in Washington Thursday

Good.

Hopefully this should get the mercenaries contractors out of Iraq, which would be good for both the Iraqis and our troops, who will find the Iraqi people a little bit less pissed off at Americans.

The War Nerd on Eastern Congo

No Comments

His only posts every few weeks typically, and when he covers conflict, there is a glee that is a bit unsettling (he admits it himself), but he knows and understands conflict, both on the tactical level and the social level, to a degree I have not seen elsewhere.

Case in point, his latest post on the ongoing conflict in eastern congo:

Every word, every disgusting damn word, of these BBC and Guardian stories is bullsh@#. actually makes me sick, listening to these stupid lies over and over. The reason Nkunda’s little army (estimates range from 5000 to 10000 men) advanced into Eastern Congo this week is that the Hutu gangs were getting a little too aggressive about jumping ethnic-Tutsi villages in eastern Congo, killing the men and kidnapping women and girls as sex slaves. Nkunda knows very well nobody else will protect the Tutsi, for the simple reason nobody ever has. So he went in to do it himself.

(expletives expurged mine)

Read the whole thing, because it’s a wonderful background on the whole region, Rwanda included, and it makes it clear that the continued operation of Refugee camps by the UN and NGOs long after it was clear that almost all of these people could return home without any major retribution is the real problem here, and not Nkunda.

Quoting again:

The rest fled into the forests of Eastern Congo. They’re the “refugees” that [BBC Reporter] Orla Guerin feels so sorry for: the frickin’ monsters who did their best to kill the whole Tutsi population of Rwanda in ninety days, like they were on one of those timed shopping sprees.

As I’ve said before, I lost most of my respect for the NGO’s, and much in the way of the UN’s refugee apparatus, when they signed off on running concentration camps for the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

If there were no refugees, they would not have a job, so they do their best to make sure that there are refugees.

Go read the whole thing.

Spencer Ackerman Misses the Big Picture

No Comments

quotes the following from the Heritage Foundation:

October 30, 2008
The New Cold War: Reviving the U.S. Presence in the Arctic
by Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., Lajos F. Szaszdi, Ph.D., and Jim Dolbow
Backgrounder #2202

The Arctic is quickly reemerging as a strategic area where vital U.S. interests are at stake. The geo­political and geo-economic importance of the Arctic region is rising rapidly, and its mineral wealth will likely transform the region into a booming eco­nomic frontier in the 21st century. The coasts and continental shelf of the Arctic Ocean are estimated to hold large deposits of oil, natural gas, and meth­ane hydrate (natural gas) clusters along with large quantities of valuable minerals.

He seems to think that, “important corners of the Republican Party remain frothing, bloodshot-eyeball insane.”

He’s wrong. These folks are completely sane. The Republican party, of which the Heritage foundation is an integral part, needs to have a big scary enemy to further their partisan electoral goals.

Additionally, it furthers their policy goals, because the money going into the military makes it difficult to find resources for social programs.

This is not insanity, this is a complete lack of conscience. War is just a way to win elections.

HRW Alleges Georgian War Crimes in South Ossetia

No Comments

It’s a BBC radio broadcast (at link), but the money quote is:

Research by the organisation Human Rights Watch [HRW] ints to indiscriminate use of force by the Georgian military and the possible deliberate targeting of civilians.

Indiscriminate use of force is a violation of the Geneva Convention and serious violations are considered to be war crimes.

No big surprise here, this was obvious in the first few hours of the war, before, you know, the Russians eradicated the Georgian military.

It marks a turn around for HRW though. In the early days following the war, they accused the Russians of using cluster bombs….Until it was revealed that the physical evidence that they had was all ofS weapons.

Syria Blowback in Iraq

No Comments

Well, we now have a “senior American official” saying that the raid on the Syrian villiage was a warning to Syria.

Some warning, the Iraqi cabinet was already feeling their oats enough to make further changes to the deal, despite US threats to shut down all US operations in Iraq, military and otherwise.

No one believes them, becauseleaving is too politically crushing to Bush and His Evil Minions™.

But as a result of the raid, which was condemned by the government of Iraq, and is looking at further changes in the status of forces agreement to prevent this in the future.

Heck of a job, Condi.

Bush Caved Completely in Status of Forces Agreement

No Comments

The Washington Independent has the scoop. Basically, Bush and His Evil Minions™completely caved to Iraqi demands.

You’ll recall that they pushed back the date to 2011, for, as Nouri al-Maliki admitted, for US domestic political reasons, and that is what it says in sub-article one of article 25 of the agreement:

The U.S. forces shall withdraw from Iraqi territories no later than December 31 2011.

But wait, there’s more, there is also sub-article 6:

U.S. forces may withdraw from Iraq before the dates indicated in this article if either of the two sides should so request. The U.S. government recognizes the Iraqi government’s sovereign right to request a withdrawal of U.S. forces at anytime.

So we leave when we’re told to leave by al Maliki, and indirectly by his sponsors in the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Gates Says U.S. Forces Agreement in Iraq Near

No Comments

The devil, as always, is in the details, and while I think that Gates and the DoD want to get out as quickly as is possible, Bush and His Evil Minions™ really do want to settle their successor with Iraq as a firm commitment.

The sticking points:

But they have differed over some issues such as granting immunity to U.S. soldiers for acts committed in Iraq, whether Washington has the right to detain Iraqi prisoners and on the future command of military operations on the ground.

Same old, same old.