Thomas Ricks: Fisco
A fantastic and scary account of the incompetence in the leadership leading up to, and execution of, the Iraq war (*****)
Zbigniew Brzezinski: The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership
Should we dominate the world or lead the world? Great question
The New American Militarism
Listened to the author on NPR. This will be my next read.
Dore Gold: Hatred's Kingdom : How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism
Very good history book showing the origins of the Al Qaeda and radical Islamist movement. While we like to think that most of this is new, this book really points out the roots in old history which drive current events. (*****)
MICHAEL SCHEUER: Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror
Fantastic read. Supports the conclusion that we lost sight of the true war by invading Iraq. Rather than getting Bin Laden (a misunderstood enemy) we went into Iraq and have now caused more issues than we have solved. (****)
Jon Lee Anderson: The Fall Of Baghdad
Not your average reporter. Jon Anderson did not embed but rather saw the invasion first hand. A great read! (*****)
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Link: US military: 4 Marines killed in Anbar province in Iraq - Yahoo! News.
George Bush can now add 4 more casualties to his tally of Americans killed due to his stubbornness and stupidity. Interesting that it is in the Anbar Province where we supposedly "tamed" the insurgents during our great "Surge".
Perhaps not?
The infamous "collateral" damage occurs in Iraq except this time a U. S. Missile causes destruction at a hospital. Another reason to stop this war. We lose the civilian "hearts and minds" when this happens and we look stupid in the rest of the world. There is a better way. vote for Barack Obama to end this war. Donate to Barack Obama's Campaign.
Link: U.S. Army Individual Ready Reserve Has Formal Process for Requesting Delays or Exemptions.
After almost 4 years of this nonsense, the Army issues a press release describing the D&E process. Oh well, better late then never. This is a good reference point concerning what to do if you are called.
Remember, ALWAYS REQUEST AN EXEMPTION. It is your RIGHT and they cannot stop you.
Vote for Barack Obama and you will not have to worry about this as he will get us out of the Iraq quagmire.
Contribute to Barack Obama's Campaign through the Kevin O'Meara Donation Page.
Because I live near the border of Indiana, I am getting deluged with political ads from both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton leading up to the Democratic Indiana Primary. I do not watch a lot of television but last night I watched about 2 hours and wow, was Hillary Clinton negative!!
Just about every break in the shows had at least one commercial for each candidate. EVERY Barack Obama ad was about what HE believed and what HE is doing and about what HE will do.
On the other hand, just about every Hillary Clinton ad was a negative attack on Barack Obama. It was not much about her; it was all about attacking Barack Obama.
We do not need four more years of the sleaze with which the Republicans and George Bush have run this Country. That is, apparently, what Hillary will get us. Given Hillary has gone so far to the negative tactics of the right, how can she even call herself a Democrat?
Vote for Barack Obama and Contribute to Barack Obama's campaign using the Kevin O'Meara contribution page.
Usually politician's first statements are what they really feel. They then "clarify" the remark when they realize what they said is not selling well with the public. John McCain, in this article, "McCain Clarifies His Remarks on Oil", "clarifies" that what he meant when he said that energy independence will ensure our kids never have to go fight wars in the Mid-East again.
Of course, we all know we would not have gone to "help" the Iraqi people if it were, say, Somalia. This is a well known fact about why we are there and what this Blog has been saying for a long time. Our security is MORE ENHANCED by getting out of the war and becoming independent of foreign oil versus the disaster we are in now.
Link: General Defends 15-Month Tours.
Soon, this general will either be fired or will say he was "misunderstood" and will somehow retract this story. In an interview, the commanding General of the soldiers in Afghanistan defended the 15 month combat tour (Which even the nut Bush has rescinded) and said that troops will need to stay at the current levels or higher, in Afghanistan, through 2011.
But, the best part is when he said they are doing "just a little bit better than just whacking a mole". That does not instill confidence in me, does it for you? Just a little bit better than Whack a Mole? All these soldiers dying for that?
Read the rest of this article and it sure sounds like the beginning of open defiance to the nutbag in chief in the White House.
What a strange question to be coming from a person who is dedicated to everything Barack Obama. However, as I was thinking tonight I was pondering what will the next President face in office? I came to the conclusion that the next President will face a Country in a very deep recession, in a war which will be difficult to end, a trade deficit which is skyrocketing, and a housing crisis which is making many Americans live on the street.
Not to mention a crumbling infrastructure and a health care system which is a debacle. Now, I ask you, is this what we want a Democrat to face? My prediction is whoever is elected is a one term president because the Country will be in such dire straits in a few years no matter who is in office that person will get thrown out. So, I thought, should we just take a "pass" on 2008 and let the Republicans get destroyed over the next four years?
Then, I came to my senses and decided that in any case, I want Barack Obama on my side. I want him fighting for what is right in this country and I want him to be making the tough calls.
Yes, a short and frightening thought about perhaps skipping 2008. It is over now. Now we can get down to the business of winning the Presidency.
Link: Poll: More disapprove of Bush than any other president - CNN.com.
Absolutely! There is no doubt that this monster we have as a President will go down in history as the worst President. Further, I would not be surprised that soon, once all the truth comes out about what has gone on in this White House, he will be brought up on criminal charges, tried and found guilty of crimes against the United States.
What we cannot afford is 4 more years of this moron and that is precisely what we will get if we elect John McCain.
Please vote for Barack Obama. Please, go to Kevin O'Meara's Fund Raising page for Barack and donate anything you can. We need change and we need hope. Barack gives us that.
Ok.. I have to spend some time today discussing my thoughts and ideas after reading a lot of interesting military posts. I decided to enter the fray and post at the most disgusting website I have ever gone to: Military.com. This is supposed to be a website which advocates on behalf of the military and the military soldiers. At the best it gives them a place to hang out, at the worst, it is a circus bazaar.
The first thing you realize is it really is an advertising mecca for every bottom fisher in just about any industry. Ads all over the place for insurance, bank rip offs and just about anything that is made or service provided by anyone who is willing to pony up some money. The site obviously does not check on the advertisers and you are just floored by the people picking money out of the hands of the military soldiers who, my guess, are very trusting figuring this site "clears" participants.
But, that is not the worst of it. If you get a chance, go to the "Discussion Boards". I put discussion in parens because it mostly is a one way dialog of a bunch of neo nazis trying to beat up anyone who even remotely thinks they may have one day been near a Muslim. The outward racism towards Muslims is very evident.
Try to actual discuss anything (usually that means someone is on one side and someone on the other) and you will get attacked by every E-1 with 3 years in service you ever wanted to meet. Which brings me to another issue. When you go to the profiles of these neo nazis, what you find is a bunch of power hungry junior enlisted who just love the fact that they "control things". If you say something they disagree with, they will "ban you" (Of course, that is stupid since you can just sign up with a different name).
Today, I am serving a 45 day suspension because I posted two things. I posted that the Vice President Started the war in Iraq (I said it just like that) and I said he was President of Haliburton which has made a ton of money from the war. Those two facts are all I stated and they said it showed "disrespect" to the VP who is not now in the chain of command but "could be at some time".
So, this site is just a bunch of punks who really are not worth the time except that it is fun to challenge them. When they cannot figure out a response to what you say, they claim you are "violating the TOS". That is just like their Mentor, George Bush.
These are the stormtroopers running Military.com and they are part of Monster Worldwide. If that is the type of Company Monster runs, I know one website I can just ignore moving forward!
So, those are my thoughts for tonight. Have a great night and let's hope this war ends soon!
Link: White House admits fault on 'Mission Accomplished' banner.
5 years after President Bozo declared that "Major combat operations in Iraq were over", we are still at war and 50 soldiers have been killed just this month.
I am sure the 4,000 plus soldiers who have died since this declaration was made are thrilled they were not killed in "Major Combat Operations".
Link: US troop deaths hit 7-month high in Iraq - Yahoo! News.
Well, I guess it is back to the drawing board again. More soldiers die at the hands of George Bush's debacle. You have to wonder why we allow this to continue. Soldiers are just driving around Baghdad getting shot at. How silly is this?
This story disgusts me. It is another indication of a Country and an administration trying to fight the war on the cheap. Add this to the Walter Reed incident and the "You go to war with the Army you have" nonsense.
Bush should be tried for high crimes and everyone in his administration connected to this war should find their way to the gallows.
I find it interesting that today the Marines are launching a major attack on the Taliban. Where is our ground Army? Y guess is they are truly decimated.
As if the IRR Recall is not stupid enough, they are now recalling journalists and videographers? You have to be kidding me! What a waste of our tax money. This is a sham just like the war.
The military has now stated that the "back door draft" policy of stop loss will continue through 2009. I also am very certain, given this policy, that the IRR recalls will continue through at least this time as well. LTG Thurman, in an AP article stated that the need will continue through 2009 as "Demand is greater than Supply".
Of course, this absolutely flies in the face of the fact the military continues to say they are meeting recruiting goals. How can both of these exist unless the recruiting goals are set so low that they know, in advance, even by hitting the goals they will not have enough soldiers? The IRR recall and stop loss are great money savers for the military. They get soldiers without the long term costs of retirement as they know most will get out before retirement age (since they did not want to be there in the first place). So, it is my contention that the military is trying to get soldiers on the cheap and this practice will continue for far longer than 2009.
Another activity which will require the next President to have to make the tough decision. This current yahoo in office has basically decided to abdicate any decision and let the next guy/gal "clean it up".
I have been writing for a long time about the bad effects of the Iraq war on our Military (mostly Army) and therefore our national security. While sounding counterintuitive, I believe the strain we have put the Army under has made us far LESS SECURE than we were before we invaded Iraq. Our Army is at it's breaking point and no one can deny that anymore.
I am on many bulletin board sites interacting with soldiers to collect first hand what it is like to be in the Army today. I was recently shocked by the description of the career of an officer, who screwed up it is, and why they are all getting out. Here, I re-post this entirely and hope you read it. It should tell show you that even if this officer is 1/2 right, the Army is a disaster and not just stretched but actually broken. Here goes:
"For the benefit of those who haven't been in active service for a while, here is a look at lifecycle management's effect on officers.
Most BCTs fall under what is called lifecycle management. This was created to provide stability and predictability and intended to be a 3-year cycle from stand-up thru deployment, however in practice its more like 2 to 2.5-years (much to the chagrin of HRC). Lifecycles are stop loss/stop move environments. Once you're in, it is difficult to get out (possible, but not likely. Its ultimately up to the BDE CDR). Lifecycles culminate upon redeployment. To help you understand the lifecycle, I'll use an example of a new BCT."
Continue reading "The Army is Far More Broken Than Even I Imagined " »
I was given a link to the Flock Browser to try out. I must say it is fantastic. It is especially designed for those of us who are constantly on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and other sites like that. It keeps you signed in, has easy access toolbars and is built off of the Firefox platform (in fact, virtually all your Firefox settings are brought over upon installation.
That, combined with being able to post blog entries directly from Facebook, and things are starting to tie together nicely.
I highly encourage everyone to give Flock a try.
I attended the Detroit Red Wings / Colorado Avalanche game yesterday at "The Joe" (Joe Louis Arena - Detroit, MI) and had the time of my life! It was, by far, one of the best sporting events I have ever been to in my life and watching the Wings destroy Colorado was a great feeling.
In fact, the defeat was so bad for Colorado with one minute to go in the 2d period, Colorado had the puck and they just flat out stopped! They had the puck in their own end and they stopped, stood up and looked up at the clock as if to say, "Please, can't this period end any quicker". I have never seen a hockey team just quit in mid stream. It had to be embarrassing for Colorado fans.
Many Octopus were thrown on the ice at the beginning of the game and one was picked up by an Avalanche player. That is a no-no and it always brings bad luck to the visiting team who does this. Colorado got theirs.
Well, on to Colorado where I am sure their fans will try to give the Wings the business but if the games are even close to what I saw, Colorado is just out matched.
A short post.. Sitting at "the Joe" waiting for the Red Wings game to start. Should be fun. Take my mind off of Bush the terrorist.
Link: More convicted felons allowed to enlist in Army, Marines.
Not much of a surprise here. Very expected.. it will get worse.
Link: Defense secretary scolds Air Force for war effort - CNN.com.
Amazing to me that the SecDEF cannot get the Airforce to do what he wants. Can't he just tell them to do it (whatever it is that he wants them to do)? He must really think the Air Force is bad if he feels a need to "go public" with his discontent.
Link: The Spectrum Online:.
More on the disabled student. I have written both authors telling them he does not have to report if he files for an exemption. However, it appears he is reporting first then going to fight it which is the WORST thing you can do.
I am starting to think he is doing this to get out of his exams. :)
All I ever hear from the military clan is that those who serve do so out of "love for Country" and patriotism. Well, apparently that is not enough to keep them in the Army during a time of war. Like normal people working at normal companies, it seems it all comes down to cash.
The Army, facing a huge drain on Army Captains (the future leaders of the Army) has decided to try to bribe them to stay. They are offering bonuses of up to $35K. Kind of like a signing bonus for people who already are in the Army. Even with that the Army does not think it will be enough to retain these "patriots". The Army says:
"The cap on the dollars is purely pragmatic, according to Dan Goure, an Army expert and vice president of the Lexington Institute, a defense think tank in Virginia: “There’s a limit on what the Army can spend.”
With the current wars and their related costs, there just isn’t enough money for higher bonuses, Goure told Stripes in a Thursday telephone interview.
“What we have is five pounds of need and a three-pound sack of money,” he said."
I just find it funny that the Military has us all convinced that somehow they serve a higher calling and are somehow "better" than the rest of us. Well, it appears they are JUST LIKE the rest of us. Give them enough money and they will do anything. Hold back the money and they quit.
Link: A Navy Lieutenant No More.
This is the first I have heard of this. Navy personnel have been augmenting the Army, on the ground, in Iraq for a while. This Lieutenant apparently refused what sounds like an IRR Call up and the Navy threatened to arrest her.
They did! She was shackled and led off and ultimately separated. This may embolden the Army to take similar actions. Be wary.
Here is a cool site where you get to decide what you would do with the $3Trillion dollars blown on Iraq. Buy health care for everyone perhaps? Or, how about schools? Or maybe a few flak jackets for our soldiers?
It would be funny if it were not so sad.
I read an article today which basically states that GEN Myers (Former JCS) was duped into believing that what was going on at GITMO was within the Geneva convention (see previous Post). Whether he was or not, who knows and I do not want to argue about "what is torture" and what is not.
The reason I bring this up is there is a hypothesis many have had for quite some time which basically states the following: When Military Historians write of this time 20 years from now it will go down as a very "dark period" for the United States Military.
This DOES NOT cover the conduct of the war, the tactics or how individual units/individuals have fought. That will have its own history.
What I am talking about is the strategy and the overall war planning and reasons for the war. Was the entire military structure "duped" into supporting this and will we, 20 years hence, be saying "what were we thinking" or "Why did the leadership of the military allow this to happen? Here is some evidence/ideas/predictions to support that this just may be the case:
* Many senior generals will come out at some point (my guess is after this CINC is out of office) and say they resigned/retired in silent protest of the war. This will include GEN Powell leaving his civilian leadership position.
* Many will say they went along with it for personal benefit (i.e., a big job after serving) and will deeply regret it.
* Many will say "I just did not know" of all the things the administration was really doing behind the scenes.
And to add insult to injury, when this war fails (Which I believe it already has and will be admitted soon... let's face it.. the "SURGE" is more of a retrograde strategy than anything else), the civilian leadership will blame the military.
The civilian leadership has set the military up really nice here. Remember, the civilian leadership has always contended that they are "giving the military everything they need" and , in deference to VIETNAM, the civilian leadership has said "we do what our ground commanders tell us".
So, who naturally, if all this is true, is at fault for the first 4 years of the war which was a debacle by all accounts? It must be the military. Now, I do not believe this. I do not believe they are doing what the military tells them to do. Or, in the best case, they just continue to fire military people until they find one who will do what they want.
So, in 20 years, after this is a known debacle and when military historians write about this time, and when there is enough "space" that current Generals can speak out, I wonder what will be said.
The story of Vietnam has basically become "We could have won but the politicians meddled". I wonder what this story will be?
Link: Top US general 'hoodwinked' over aggressive interrogation | World news | guardian.co.uk.
This is a very interesting hypothesis. I have wondered for a while if this period will go down in history as the "dark period" for the military. In other words, has the military been "duped" as this article suggests GEN Meyers was? I wonder if 20 years from now the military historians will say that the military was so caught up and "excited" about actually going to war that they became devoid of all common sense?
It will be interesting to see how this period is treated in the annals of military history.
Amazing... I wonder how much this "intelligence" cost us. Telling us that there will be a suicide bombing in Baghdad is like "predicting" the sun will come up tomorrow.
Pick a day and I will "predict" a suicide bombing. i will have a 90% shot of being right. Surge or no surge.
Link: Disabled vet may be redeployed to Iraq - UPI.com.
The UPI picks up on a story about a disabled vet who has been recalled to active duty. I have written the author of the original article to tell this person to STAY OUT and get an exemption. Let us hope he finds us first so we can help him.
Here is a great video showing Dick Cheney in a more lucid moment. Here he describes why we should not invade Iraq. Amazingly, he predicts virtually EXACTLY what happened in this disaster of a war. I wonder what caused him to change his mind. Could it be that when he was President of Haliburton he learned how much money was to be made by invading Iraq? Me thinks so.....
Please do not say 9/11 had anything to do with it. Even Bush and Co have admitted that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
You Can Resist Even if You are In The Military!
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