Glenn Greenwald nails it

Posted By Uncle Jimbo • [October 21, 2012]

Glenn Greenwald is a left wing butthead, a sock puppeteer and a general ass-clown. But his column today is spot on. I may never again say those words and I am kinda shocked to do so now, but he points out that Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is such a complete tool that even he is embarrassed. Fun, fun, fun.

On 29 May 2012, the New York Times published a remarkable 6,000-word story on its front page about what it termed President Obama's "kill list". It detailed the president's personal role in deciding which individuals will end up being targeted for assassination by the CIA based on Obama's secret, unchecked decree that they are "terrorists" and deserve to die....

 

But Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic Congresswoman from Florida and the Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, does not know about any of this. She has never heard of any of it. She has managed to remain completely ignorant about the fact that President Obama has asserted and exercised the power to secretly place human beings, including US citizens, on his "kill list" and then order the CIA to extinguish their lives.

Anyone who observes politics closely has a very low bar of expectations. It's almost inevitable to become cynical - even jaded - about just how inept and inane top Washington officials are. Still, even processing this through those lowly standards, I just find this staggering. Staggering and repellent. This is an elected official in Congress, the body that the Constitution designed to impose checks on the president's abuses of power, and she does not have the foggiest idea what is happening in the White House, and obviously does not care in the slightest, because the person doing it is part of the party she leads.

Amen brother, amen.

A Medevac Crew that you should know - The men and women of Charlie 3-25

Posted By Blackfive • [October 21, 2012]

“We send our strongest flight medics out here because of injuries we see.  This area is the worst, so we need soldiers that can handle it.” - Captain Margaret Larson, Medevac Pilot and XO, C/3-25.

The flight crews of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, pose in front of a UH-60 Black Hawk located in Pasab, Afghanistan, in late September. (Photo by Sgt. Randy Ojeda/25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs)

This is a great story about a Medevac station in Afghanistan:

Medevac central: A glimpse at one of the busiest medevac locations in Afghanistan
25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs
Story by Capt. Richard Barker
Sunday, October 10, 2012
#####
PASAB, Afghanistan – When I was asked to meet and capture the lives of the medevac crews of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, located at Pasab, a small outpost in a highly-active and dangerous region of Afghanistan located west of Kandahar Airfield, I was slightly concerned.

I expected to meet a rag-tag group of medevac crews. It would have to make sense, I thought. Pasab has the most challenging medevac missions in Regional Command-South due to the high frequency of missions and traumatic nature of the injuries common in the area.

Pasab averages 30 percent of all Category Alpha medevac missions in RC-South. The medevac crews at Pasab also see the worst injuries as they only respond to urgent medical calls, known as CAT-A missions. These are calls with injuries, such as a multiple amputee patients, that require a response from mission start to medical facility delivery of less than one hour - known as the golden hour.

When I arrived to meet the medevac crews, I was greeted by a very energetic Capt. Margaret Larson, a pilot and the executive officer for C/ 3-25. She gave me a two-minute tour of their footprint. There were two sleep tents and a third tent that served as an operations center and crew rest area.

As Larson introduced me to the Pasab flight crews, I noticed my expected vision of them was way off. These were professional soldiers with overall impressive statures.

“We send our strongest flight medics out here because of injuries we see,” explained Larson. “This area is the worst, so we need soldiers that can handle it.”

I sat down with many of the crew members who were eager to share their experiences.

The soldiers explained some of the challenges of life in Pasab.

First was the secret behind their high levels of energy and calm. Due to the nature of the Pasab mission, no single medevac crew is allowed to stay in Pasab for more than two weeks at a time. Instead they rotate out to Pasab from Kandahar Airfield, on an either weekly or bi-weekly basis depending on the mission tempo.

The one to two weeks they are at Pasab, though, are rough, as the crews cannot leave the small area they operate in. There are two full crews at Pasab which rotate every 24 hours from being first responder to second responder. As a result, if there are two missions, everyone is flying.

Members of the crew explained this can mean long times without showers, and that they find the time to sleep and eat when they can. Sleeping sometimes comes in spurts while food comes from piles of care packages stacked in the corner of their operations tent.

Regardless, they all expressed a love for what they do.

“I like doing what I do,” said Spc. Arnell James, a flight medic for C/3-25, from Savannah, Ga., who has been on the Pasab rotation five times. “I like the mission tempo and being able to do our job, to be able to use the skills we trained for.”

I was informed that some of the medics on the crews were not flight medics, rather medics who served as a second hand to the flight medics. While this is not a common practice, it is deemed necessary in Pasab.

Spc. John Hill, a medic with 209th Headquarters and Headquarters Support Company, 209th Aviation Support Battalion, 25th CAB, and a native of Austin, Texas, is one of the selected “second-hand” flight medics at Pasab.

“I signed up to be a medic to help other people,” said Hill, who is on his second rotation to Pasab. “That’s the kind of person missions like this need; someone who wants to help but doesn’t expect anything in return.”

The crews began to share their lighter and humorous stories. One involved a miscommunication where a call over the radio to request a replacement crew chief due to losing one from “intestinal distress” was wrongly heard as “emotional distress.” To make a long story short, the poor crew chief, who was simply trying to relieve his “intestinal distress” in a nearby portable bathroom, was surprised to find an army of leadership was outside trying to talk him out before he hurt himself from “emotional distress.”

Wow.

The humorous stories continued when a loud, alerting sound came from the operations desk where all medevac missions and updates are monitored. Everyone was on their feet in an instant, many gone with amazing haste. Others stood ready to take action as they waited for the official call.

“It’s just a weather update,” yelled the operations sergeant. The soldier standing closest to me took a deep breath, placed one hand on his heart and another on my shoulder as he told me the adrenaline was always pumping around there.

The crews slowly returned to sit around and share some more. For some reason, the false alarm caused the crews to start sharing their sadder stories.

“The harder days are when we have to go pick up kids,” said James, as he stared down at his feet. “It hits close to home. I picked up a girl once who looked just like my daughter.”

The crews started to discuss other challenges at Pasab, ranging from extreme, dusty environments to the threat of land mines on landing zones and common instances of random gun fire.

The discussion turned to treating Afghan National Army soldiers.

“Treating local nationals can be a challenge,” said James explaining they sometimes resist treatment. “Some have never seen a helicopter and they get scared, and on top of that we have the language barrier. But we push through it, we do our job and we are successful.”

The Pasab medevac crews have a 98-percent success rate of retrieving, treating and transporting their patients to a medical facility within the golden hour.

The conversations continued into the night as I chuckled to myself about how wrong I had been about this group.

No medevac calls came through while I was there, but, sometimes that’s just how it is.

Mil-links

Posted By McQ • [October 20, 2012]

~Susan Katz Keating has the ultimate tribute to CSM Basil Plumley, who recently passed away.  My favorite couple of paragraphs:

Hansen said he was intrigued, some years back, when he came across a mention of "first sergeant" Plumley in a historical book about World War II. 

"We all thought he was hatched a sergeant major, and here he was in black and white, a first sergeant. The passage wasn't very clear, just mentioned (Plumley) and something about a German tank," Hansen said. "He was a man of few words and a humble man; a lot of people don't realize that about him. He didn't brag, he just told you like it was. I asked him, 'What's the story about you and a German tank and he just grunted and said, 'Obviously I won.' And that was all there was to it."

CSM Plumley was a legend in the Army. It is said that Sam Elliot actually "underplayed" him in "We Were Soldiers Once."  Three awards of the CIB, 5 combat jumps in two wars.  A gruff and demanding NCO who set and enforced high standards.  That's why he won.  RIP CSM.

~This Ain't Hell tackles the Obama Administration's attack on earned health care (Tricare).  It seems the administration has decided to eliminate TriCare Prime in the western states.  Of course that means more cost for those who wil now be put under TriCare Standard.  

The point I’ve made in the past is that Obamacare was supposed to reduce healthcare costs for Americans, yet, the single opportunity that the government has to control healthcare costs, they jack up costs to retired American veterans. That’s probably because we earned the benefit of healthcare instead of standing with our hands out.

So much for "contracts" and promises.

~Some much needed perspective on F-35 costs.  Way back when Matty O'Blackfive explained this.  But, as usual, critics either don't understand this or just don't want too.

~It is hard to believe this is still in dispute:

Nearly three years after the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, many of those affected are urging the U.S. government to declare it a terrorist attack, saying wounded soldiers and victims' relatives otherwise won't receive the same benefits as those in a combat zone.

This was ruled a "workplace dispute".  Really?  A guy running through an area yelling "Allu Akbar" who we find out was radicalized by a Muslim Imam who preached jihad against the US? Sounds like the administration's description of the Benghazi incident.  "Spontaneous protests that got out of hand".  Yeah, Ft. Hood was as much an "act of terrorism" as was Benghazi (as it is now recognized).

~ Meanwhile:

The Army psychiatrist accused of the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood must shave his beard, an Army court ruled Thursday. 

That took how long?  Amazing.

~If you're retired and wondering about COLA, here it is:

The 2013 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for all military retirement pay, Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities, Social Security benefits, and Veterans Affairs disability and survivor benefits has been announced.  The adjustment will provide a 1.7% increase in those payments, effective 1 December 2012. 

That plus more will now go to the increase in your health care payments.  Keep telling yourself that it costs less now, because, you know, that's what ObamaCare promised to do.

~Here is a great jobs program that those getting out of the military need to appy too.  What's great about it is it recognizes the value of ex-military members.  It also provides a number of ways to get good jobs among some of the best companies in America (GE, Lockheed Martin, etc).  And most importantly, it isn't a goverment program -- so it will probably live up to it's billing:

 

Enjoy your weekend!

~McQ

Much more than a bullet was found...

Posted By Blackfive • [October 20, 2012]
Read this amazing story about a Brit from WWII and what was found after he recently passed away:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9618342/Weighty-memento-war-veterans-secret-revealed-after-his-death.html

RANGER UP: If you don't vote, this is what happens to you...

Posted By Blackfive • [October 19, 2012]

This is a public service announcement from the crazies at Ranger Up (with Tim Kennedy and Toby Nunn in a death match).  This is what happens to you when you don't vote...

President Epic Ass-Clown...

Posted By Deebow • [October 19, 2012]

On this, words fail me...  I hope they don't fail the Romney Campaign....

Stewart asked Obama whether the investigation would address communication problems that contributed to confusion about the circumstances of the attack in Benghazi. 

"Because I would say, even you would admit, it was not the optimal response, at least to the American people, as far as all of us being on the same page," Stewart said. 

"Here’s what I’ll say. When four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal. We’re going to fix it. All of it," Obama replied. 

"The government is a big operation and any given time something screws up. And you make sure that you find out what’s broken and you fix it. 

 

"Not Optimal?!"  Thanks Mr. President for pulling sharply into focus how you truly feel and just exactly what a freaking amateur you are and pointing out in grand fashion how you are out of your depth in a parking lot puddle.  What is broke in government Mr. President is you.

Thanks for that awesome sound byte and good luck on that foreign policy debate next week....

Do We Need Service Secretaries?

Posted By LongTabSigO • [October 19, 2012]

An interesting and intriguing idea from former SECDEF Harold Brown. 

Mr. Brown posits the idea that, in an era of bloated gov't/defense, one area where cuts could occur and not negatively impact readiness is to eliminate the Service Secretaries and much of their staff. He opens thusly:

The four military services in the Defense Department differ in their roles, missions and skills — which are good reasons to retain their separate identities. But as the duties of the uniformed service chiefs have converged with those of the civilian secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force, the latter have become redundant appendages. Eliminating those positions would save money and streamline management, a good example for the rest of government. In today’s climate of fiscal austerity, cutting overhead is better than cutting defense programs.

To me, what makes this an idea worthy of consideration is that it points out some reform already done He points out how Goldwater/Nichols fixed some problems but internal reform was never completed.  It sets up one of those "yeah, why exactly are we doing this" situations.  

One of the hardest parts of reform is getting rid of the old/redundant.  Brown tells an interesting story which is equal part funny and headshakingly dopey:

I am reminded of an apocryphal piece of Washington history. In the 1950s, the Army reexamined its Table of Organization and Equipment. It found that an artillery battery contained one soldier whose presence and function were unexplained. The position was that of the man who, during combat, had held the horses that drew the caissons carrying the guns. The horses had gone, but not the personnel slot. Let’s retire another set of horse holders.

This requires law change (difficult enough, especially when 'creating jobs' is the buzz word in all of DC and the Legislature). And there will be howls of protest from several pockets of entrenched bureaucrats and legacy thinkers who always opt for "go slow" or "we need to study this" options.

As long as the civilian oversight responsibilities are properly allocated, and especially if acquistion streamlining could be realized by doing this, it is very worthy of serious consideration by the next SECDEF.

Read the whole OpEd here:  Do We Need Service Secretaries

Didn't We Just Have A Conversation About This?

Posted By Deebow • [October 19, 2012]

I mean, it seems to me like we might have just been talking abut this this week...

Evidently, when you leave some ass-clown who you were in an active gunfight with during a combat operation to die the death he deserves, you can be charged with murder...

Five Royal Marines have been charged with murdering a Taliban fighter in one of the most lawless regions of Afghanistan.

The arrests followed the discovery of what the Independent revealed on Friday to have been footage showing a group of Marines in discussion about whether to provide medical aid to an injured Afghan lying on the ground. 

It appears that during a search for pornography on a soldier's computer (a problem that we could spend some time covering because that in and of itself is BS), this footage was found and this has been what has propelled this investigation.

Let me tell you, having a discussion about whether or not to give aid to a wounded enemy soldier is DEFINITELY a discussion we would have if I was there.  The idea that we are required to give them aid is wrongheaded.  I would give them aid if (1) they were of some intelligence value, (2) It was safe to do so and did not endanger the lives of my men, and (3) after any and all available aid was given to any of my wounded soldiers and (4) to any of the civilians that might need it (including farm animals and household pets)

Now, for some of the fainting trolls that stop by now and then, that may seem psychopathic, but it is actually very reasonable given the circumstances of combat.

Continue reading "Didn't We Just Have A Conversation About This?"

Do I Have To Say I Told Them So?

Posted By Deebow • [October 18, 2012]

Maybe not, but anyone with 3 firing synapses and an understanding of 2nd grade playground dynamics knows that this was what was going to happen...

Both volunteers in a study to see if women could become Marine ground combat leaders have dropped out of the rigorous Infantry Officer Course, with the second failing because of a medical reason late last week

The other female volunteer, who was also a second lieutenant, was unable to complete the introductory endurance test and dropped out – along with nearly 30 men – on Sept. 28. The program, run at the Marine base at Quantico, Va., is considered the toughest course in the Marine Corps.

Along with 30 men...  Who couldn't make the cut....  In the hardest job in the USMC....

I don't know if this ends the debate or just sends it to another level, but I think that this helps make the point that, no, the ladies, can't do anything that men can do.  As you can see, some men can't even do what some men do.

And if you think I am prejudiced or one sided on this, read what this Marine had to say about it...  And this one...  And here as well....

Nuff said...

Book Review: Into the Fire

Posted By Blackfive • [October 18, 2012]

The following review is a special provided to BlackFive readers by Elise Cooper.  

Into The Fire, written by Dakota Meyer and Bing West, is a first hand account of the 2009 battle in Ganjigal, Afghanistan. The reader will get a glimpse into why Dakota is a Medal of Honor recipient, the intense battle scenes, and his relationships with other Marines and the Afghan infantry, who he was sent to train.

Bing West knows a lot about national security as evidenced by his eight books and his serving as Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. He wanted to write a book with Dakota Meyer because he “considered him a brave American. What fascinated me is how he attacked the enemy numerous times and was probably going to die. I wanted to explore why he did it, was it his nature, how he was brought up, or was it his nurturing and training by the Marines. I came to the conclusion that I hope the reader will as well, that he is a very determined and hardheaded person. It was absolutely in his nature; however, if the Marines did not train him to be a sniper for three years I think the Taliban would have easily killed him.”

In the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in the mountain village of Ganjigal. As the soldiers became pinned down they repeatedly asked for artillery support, which was refused. Marine Corporal Meyer disobeyed orders and attacked in an attempt to rescue his comrades. He made multiple trips in and out of the battlefield, repeatedly repulsing enemy attackers, carrying wounded Afghan soldiers to safety, and providing cover. For his actions he became the first living Marine in many years to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

The reader gets to know Meyer as he discusses his personal life and why he chose to become a Marine. It is obvious throughout the book that Marines have a special bond with each other. Dakota directly stated, “We should appreciate our freedoms and the men and women who are over there fighting. I am hoping the readers will get to know my teammates instead of seeing them as just names.”

The battle scenes are extremely powerful. Anyone reading this book will become upset, infuriated, and exasperated regarding the rules of engagement. A powerful quote from the book, “This couldn’t be happening. We were on the same side… This was war and my team was on the verge of dying. Whose side was the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) on?” Bing West commented to blackfive.net that the rules of engagement theme “… is what leaps off the pages. I wanted to show the chaos of battle but what struck was that particular aspect. The rules of engagement are not beneficial for our soldiers. Ganjigal showed what happens when the top insists on tougher and tougher rules of engagement in order to prevent civilian casualties. This is the trickle down bureaucracy that is read and studied by staff officers.”

The book further displays the strategy, that those at the TOC were making the decisions instead of the soldiers on the ground. Another powerful quote in the book by General Colin Powell, “The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong…” West put in that quote because he felt it summarized the dilemma of American troops. West told blackfive.net, “We have gotten that exactly backwards in Afghanistan. So in the end we ended up with Ganjigal.”

The end of the book goes into the controversy surrounding Captain Will Swenson’s Medal of Honor application. Swenson was on the ground at Ganjigal and could not persuade the staff officers at TOC to fire the artillery. The Director of the Joint Staff, Lt-General Curtis Scaparrotti had an inquiry about what happened. West explained, “When Swenson was questioned under oath he said in essence, F--- You because you tried to tell me what to do when you were not even there. The General lost Swenson’s Medal of Honor package. This is disgraceful. How does that happen considering it is eighty pages long and a large number of people knew about it? The US Army needs a day of reckoning with this one. He was left out to dry. I am still hopeful he will get the Medal of Honor.”

West wants the readers to understand that Into The Fire is a tale of American values and upbringing, of heroism, and adjusting to the loss of friends while surviving. This book is a must read and will be very hard to put down. It is an intense story that puts the reader right into the battle.

Book Review: Nelson DeMille's The Panther

Posted By Blackfive • [October 18, 2012]

The following book review is a special provided for BlackFive readers by Elise Cooper.

Nelson DeMille’s latest book, The Panther, is a gripping tale about fanatical Muslims. He decided to place John Corey and Kate Mayfield in a hostile environment and chose Yemen. Although seeing what is going on today in that part of the world, he could have substituted many other countries.

DeMille explained to BlackFive that The Panther parallels what is happening in the headlines today. He used the Yemen setting because “right now it is the center of Al Qaeda activity. I did a lot of research on the American embassy there. I did think about it when I saw the mob storming the American embassy compound.” He joked that being a history major taught him to use what he researched, which is why he included certain aspects: the historical tidbits, such as Noah’s Ark resting place, Arsh Bilqis, and the throne of Sheba, as well as focusing on the backward society of Yemen. In addition he allows the reader to understand the Yemen culture made up of tribal warlords and Bedouin tribes. In the book he summarized that Yemen had “… mostly a history of civil wars, revolutions, and invasions.”

The plot has John Corey, an anti-terrorist Task Force agent, and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, being sent to Yemen to apprehend the Panther, the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing. There is also a sub-plot involving a conspiracy theory where Corey sees himself and Mayfield as bait: Corey killed the Lion, a Libyan terrorist which earned him a spot on Al Qaeda’s kill list, and Mayfield killed a rogue CIA official who had plotted to nuke the Middle East. To understand this sub-plot it is not necessary to read the previous books, The Lion, The Lion’s Game, and Wild Fire, although they do make for a very interesting read.

As in all his books DeMille presents interesting, likeable, funny, and powerful characters. He is able to use his dry wit to enhance the dialogue, especially when he teams up Corey with Paul Brenner, the embassy DSS chief and a two-tour Vietnam veteran. He commented, “These are two alpha males that butt heads. It is a tricky thing to do. I was able to pull it off in this book. Hopefully, I will do it again.” Corey throughout the book is the wise cracking NYPD cop, Kate is his straight person, and Brenner is the joking military veteran hero.

Fans of DeMille will recognize Brenner from previous books including the epic novel, Up Country, where the plot involved Brenner having to return to the country that haunts him, in order to investigate a murder that took place during the Vietnam War. One of the best quotes in The Panther, is when Brenner compares the Vietnam War to the War in Yemen, “It’s like Vietnam… Incompetent and weak-willed allies fighting an enemy who are motivated by something higher than saving their own worthless asses.”

The Panther, a terrorist, born in America is shown to be a religious fanatic. DeMille tries to explore how someone brought up in America can turn to terrorism. “After speaking to those in the terrorism task force and the FBI I cannot understand what is the thinking behind an American turned terrorist. How could they leave America and go to someplace like Yemen? It must be religious fanaticism. I don’t believe the political motive would be that strong.”

Since DeMille was a former US Army Lt. who served in Vietnam during the Tet offensive it is no surprise that he uses the USS Cole as a backdrop for this plot and brings back a former character who fought in the Vietnam war. Through his characters it becomes obvious that he is angry over the Cole incident, blaming “… the Navy’s Rules of Engagement (that) were rewritten by some committee of politically correct, ball-less wonders in the bowels of the Pentagon.” He told BlackFive that he hopes this book shows his support of the military, and is grateful “to have a lot of military fans. I get a large amount of emails, first from Iraq, and now from Afghanistan. I love when these guys can relate to the book and hopefully find them accurate.”

He gave a heads up about his next projects. He will be writing the seventh book in the John Corey series. The plot has John Corey and Kate Mayfield, with a possibility of Paul Brenner, working with the FBI Hostage Rescue Team. Once again they will leave New York and be placed in a hostile environment somewhere in the Middle East, this time to rescue hostages. There is also the possibility of making a TV series based around the John Corey books.

The Panther is a very entertaining and informative book. Even though it is fiction, it is very insightful about Yemen. Readers will learn what America is up against in the Middle East and why the Islamic extremists are at war through DeMille’s in depth narrative on the culture, the psyche, and the motive behind those fighting in Yemen. It is a must read for anyone who enjoys political thrillers.

This Appears To Be What Happens When You Let the Guy Who Leads From Behind Run a War...

Posted By Deebow • [October 16, 2012]

If I had my way, this would be the 3rd article of impeachment, right next to the Benghazi story.  In a world where the Legacy Media actually did their job, this would continue to be a news item for some time (and if a Republican was in the White House, you know it would), but a news item over at Breitbart and a related story right here at Human Events got me a bit heated and it was just fortuitous that a friend of the blog will be discussing this on Blog Talk Radio this next week and I would encourage all to tune in to hear what the panelists have to say.  I plan on making a little time while at work to have a listen.

But the idea of this discussion about the ROE and this news story about one of our special operators got me to thinking about what a difference in leadership means and how that difference is personified in the way we prosecute the war in Afghanistan.

If the powers that be were to ask me, and I hope someone does, this is how I would do it next time.

Continue reading "This Appears To Be What Happens When You Let the Guy Who Leads From Behind Run a War..."

Obama killed Osama

Posted By Uncle Jimbo • [October 15, 2012]

He shot him in the eye remember? I don't see how you could forget, with the relentless end zone dancing in speeches, ads and as the cornerstone of O's "I ended al Qaeda"reelection slogan. Which brings me to the campaign propaganda disgrace of the day. This is the flyer an Obama tool was handing out.

Like I said, shot him in the eye. What a complete bad ass Barry is. He wastes more money before 9am, than all the rest of the Presidents combined. Then he slaps on his ninja gear, HALOs in, executes OBL, feeds him to the sharks and is back in time to do a segment chatting up the haggard harridans on The View. When I mentioned this to my best girl LTC Ma'am, she said it was excellent news. "Since we have all these budget cuts coming up, we can just get rid of SEAL Team 6".

Disclaimer: Yeah I know this didn't come directly from the White House, they would have wasted a lot more money on graphics etc. And obviously they knew no more about this, than they did about the requests for security in Libya.

Colonel makes case against COIN in Afghanistan

Posted By Crush • [October 15, 2012]

Although a fan of counterinsurgency (COIN) in certain cases, I have publicly opposed the population-centric model of COIN utilized in Afghanistan for several years. But I am safe at home and feel that we should defer to those whose lives depend on how effective our warfighting doctrine is. I came across a wonderfully written letter by a former infantry commander, who is also an officially trained military historian, to the Secretary of the Army detailing why we are failing in Afghanistan.

I understand many folks in the military still support COIN in Afghanistan, but I doubt I am the only one that thinks something is wrong when the world's most advanced military is 11 years into a war with an illiterate enemy that has no armor, navy, or air force.

An excerpt from my latest piece at The US Report:

Where did we go wrong? [Col. Harry D.]Tunnell said it's mainly because our senior leaders, who have less combat maneuver experience now than perhaps at any time in U.S. military history, are "unwilling to conduct operations that reflect sound military art and science."

Years ago, we abandoned our counterterrorism efforts in favor of counterinsurgency (COIN), a nebulous, and primarily political strategy aimed at protecting populations and addressing grievances. Killing the enemy and breaking their will to fight becomes secondary, and success hinges on an incredibly corrupt Afghan government.

Tunnell says that COIN "consists of musings from amateurs, contractors, plagiarized journal articles, etc." and has contributed to "needless American casualties":

COIN has become such a restrictive dogma that it cannot be questioned; any professional discussion about its strengths and weaknesses is discouraged. It has reached such a crisis that those who employ other Army doctrinal concepts do so at their own professional peril because they will be subject to censure for not adhering to COIN. This has created a dysfunctional and toxic leadership environment throughout our Army which has resulted in poor organization, unrealistic training, and indecisive battlefield performance.

Our military exists to protect American citizens, not Afghans. And if the Afghan people have grievances, that is their business – not ours. Our business should be to kill the terrorists that seek to kill Americans and then come home. The moment we quit doing that was the moment we abandoned our own best interests:

Continue reading "Colonel makes case against COIN in Afghanistan"

Getting diplomats killed

Posted By Uncle Jimbo • [October 15, 2012]

The death of a US Ambassador and other Americans in an utterly predictable, predicted and preventable terrorist attack is a disgrace that Barack Obama and his team of soft power naifs cannot escape. Bob Woodward details just how directly Obama's policies and his team's desire to claim they vanquished al Qaeda led to these men being slaughtered.

WOODWARD: There are lots of unanswered questions. And I love documents, and they released some documents in this, and if you go and look at the original request for more security, they say our policy, our goal here is to shift from an emergency footing to normalize the security relationship.

Now, this is in March, six, seven months ago. Anyone looking at that what say, wait a minute, read the document in which they say, oh, the situation is incredibly unstable. Well, why are you trying to normalize your security in a situation that's visibly unstable? You even acknowledge that.

The attack was not even vaguely related to the video of doom, but the truth points out something that destroys the narrative that bravely, brave Sir Barry has vaporized our enemies.

(CNN) -- A pro-al Qaeda group responsible for a previous armed assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is the chief suspect in Tuesday's attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, sources tracking militant Islamist groups in eastern Libya say.

They also note that the attack immediately followed a call from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri for revenge for the death in June of Abu Yahya al-Libi, a senior Libyan member of the terror group.

Zawahiri calls for revenge for the killing of the most senior Libyan member of AQ and voila, on the anniversary of 9/11 US soil is invaded and our Ambassador and others are murdered. This article shows all the lies and political propaganda that has been thrown in the air in a failing attempt to obscure the truth. Osama is dead and al Qaeda is not.The Obama team could not admit that al Qaeda was still a major threat and that they would attack us in direct response to actions of the master of the kill list. That doesn't make it wrong to return terrorists to their component molecules wherever we ca find them. But it is wrong to use this as a reelection ploy and try to lie your way out of accepting the responsivbility of making those gutsy calls.

UPDATE: The Drill SGT points out in the comments that the security company may not be the problem as much as the rules they were forced to operate under.

On a side note, I would like to point out that the Obama team also avoided using the evil Blackwater folks to protect American diplomats using instead a fly by night firm from Wales who in perfect soft power methodology hired some locals and gave them handcuffs and batons. A grand total of zero diplomats were killed during Blackwater's tenure that includes Ambassadors and all the staff, in a ton of the world's biggest crapholes. Just sayin'.

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