The Command T.O.C.

Mudville (Air Force Officer) Once Again Shows His Disdain for America

As my readers know, I write about the interesting dichotomy of American Soldiers (Mostly officers) who hate America. Mudville is one of them ( a LTC in the Army Air Force). This LTC has written many times about how he "defends" America yet he constantly denigrates the things America stands for. He hates dissent, he hates protests, he hates anything that does not support his jackbooted idea of what America should be.

In this posting he, once again, describes how protesters are just "making noise" and he is making history. This LTC HATES America. He would prefer it to be some kind of dictatorship where it is made in his image. Instead of saying to the protesters, "Congratulations for exercising your right" he just degrades them.

Yes, Mudville and his ilk are making history in much the same way Nazi Germany made history: It is BAD history, believe me.

The history Mudville is making includes the following:

• The first invasion of a sovereign Country by the US with no reason and the exercise of a "preventative war" strategy.
• The most inept military plan ever devised.
• The most incompetent fighting force ever fielded (despite the high tech)
• The destruction of the US Army through and through
• Allowing REAL enemy nations such as North Korea to continue to build and threaten us with Nuclear weapons because people like Mudville are over in Iraq listening to Toby Keith making believe they are Patton in the making.

Those are just starters. Yes, Mudville, you are making history.

Army, Navy, Airforce, Times Calling for Rumsfeld's Resignation

I suppose it is one thing to have the NYT call for Dummy Rummy's resignation but now the Army Times is calling for his resignation in a to be published editorial on Monday. To be sure, the Army times is not an "official" US Army publication but for anyone who has been in the Army you will know it is "The Army Newspaper". They get better access, more information and more cooperation from the Army than just about any other publication except for maybe the Stars and Stripes.

While the article is not published yet, odds are it will follow in the footsteps of many Republicans who are now calling for the ouster of Rumsfeld due to incompetence. Some think Bush lied, most do not. Most agree that with the information available at the time, they made the correct decision (I do not believe that and never have - against it since day 1) but that decision to support the war was based on an assumption that we had competent Generals and civilian leaders like the SecDef. Clearly we did not and do not have competence at the top. That is why Rummy should go.

I have discussed this topic before concerning what the American Military can learn from the civilian world and that is: ACCOUNTABILITY (I posted about this here and here). If a business plan went as bad as this war, a CEO would be fired and that is when there is only money at stake. Here, we have lives at stake and there has yet to be any accountability.

HT: Irritated Vet

UPDATE: Mudville Gazette, part of the incompetent leadership of the US Army, would have you believe that everyone commenting on this topic are misleading the public by making you believe the Army Times is an Army publication. Of course, here, I make the point in the first paragraph that it is not. This article describing the editorial immediately, upfront, ensures the reader knows the Army Times is part of Gannet.

Instapundit makes the claim that it is all "convenient" for the election and ignores the fact that President Bush made it an issue by so recently supporting Rumsfeld and saying he is "his guy". By doing that, Bush has made this an issue.

The Pentagon's Response is an embarrassment for the Pentagon. For example, to "prove" that the leadership of the US told the American people this would be "tough" they use a quote from President Bush saying to the American people:

"“A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment.”

Of course, that quote was a bunch of "could be" and "maybe" and does not spell anything out. Contrast that to the virtual absolutes of Rumsfeld when he said:

"It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”

Or when he said:

"There is no question but that they [soldiers] would be welcomed"

I guess the key question for our "War President" is how could we have conquered Japan and Germany in less time than it is taking you to take Iraq unless you are incompetent?

These quotes are available here.

It looks like the Pentagon's defense of this will be right out of their WMD playbook. Basically, you know that the entire war was sold on WMDs. When that is found to fizzle, you find some obscure quote somewhere that is general enough you could interpret it any way you want and then say, "see, we warned you". But, let's continue. The Pentagon ignores the quote on the cost of the war when the number 2 guy, Wolfowitz, told the Country that it would cost almost nothing since it would all be paid for by the oil revenues from Iraq - A self funding war. He said:

"There’s a lot of money to pay for this that doesn’t have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people…and on a rough recollection, the oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three years…We’re dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.”

Bottom line is that like WMDs, the Bush Administration has botched this war up beyond all recognition. They were wrong and they are incompetent and they are getting kids killed. The key is that it is not THEIR kids so they probably could care less.

The editorial in advance copy is here.

Mudville Believes He and The Government Must Protect You from Yourself

I very rarely even link over to the Mudville site any more because they (the milbloggers) have, for the most part, proven they are a looney splinter group of an even loonier conservative government. But, I always think it is interesting to identify their points for what they are.

The conservatives are supposed to be the party of individuality and one of "let the free markets reign". Unless, of course, the free markets go against them. They also, apparently, believe that you are too stupid to see both sides of any issue.

In his latest post, Mudville rants about the CNN network showing a Al Qaeda "propaganda" film of them targeting American Soldiers. Gee, is the American public too stupid to see that? Do we really need a moron like Mudville "protecting" us? Or, God forbid, Dadmanly outlining a religious right doctrine for us?

The American public should see both sides. We should see the enemy. We can determine if they are as nutty as Bush (I presume they are but that is, in fact, pretty nutty). We can determine what we think of them.

Unfortunately, Mudville and Dadmanly have realized they have been "had" by their own Government and now are trying to stop the onslaught of evidence that they have been tricked and duped for so many years.

P.S.: I happened to see the video when it aired on CNN and I have no idea what MG is talking about. They called it out for exactly what it was, where they received it from and why they were showing it.

I think the far right "milbloggers"  have  gone nuts quite frankly.

The Pornographic "Blog of War" Book is Down to $10,20 and Dropping.

Isn't capitalism great? When a product doesn't sell at all it gets discounted to incredible levels. We saw the latest Ann Coulter filth get discounted to $4.00 so she could claim "best seller".

Now, a collection of censored material from the war, written by a bunch of people who pounded the war drums contributing to us being in a war causing thousands of deaths, has been discounted to $10,20 and dropping fast. There are new ones available for $8.00.

But, just like Bush has claimed victory at least 4 times during this war, they will claim best seller I am sure. Once the price is down to pennies and all their relatives have made their purchases, they will claim victory. Maybe Dadmanly, Mudville and Blackfive will get the Navy to fly them to a carrier where they can say "Major Combat is over"... of course that was a few years and 2,000 dead soldiers ago.

Currently #786 in the Amazon Best (??) Seller List... Great...

Not So Free Speech From Those Who Make it Free

My trackbacks work to every site but Mudville. Guess he has had enough of hearing opposing views and now only listens to and reads those he agrees with. I am honored. His saying "Free Speech from Those Who Make it Free" has now been changed:

• "We, those with the guns, will determine what you say"

Greyhawk Continues to Lie to The American Public

Greyhawk, supposedly a military officer, continues to lie and deceive the American Public. In his new post, he remarks that the enlistments are good and retention is good. He fails to acknowledge the fact that the Army is consistently reducing its standards to meet these goals. If the standards remained the same, the enlistment numbers would be a lot worse.

Those are facts. What is unknown is why Greyhawk continues to purposefully mislead and lie to the American Public? And this is the guy who is supposed to be "defending" our way of life? Sounds a lot like a propaganda spinner designed to continue the growth of the dangerous American Militarism.

Officers such as Greyhawk are dangerous. They are dangerous because they are cunning in their deceit and they hold high rank in our military. More reason why we need to CRUSH the American Military. At least at the leadership levels, it is an absolute mess and it is starting to become dangerous to our way of life. I am not sure if I am more afraid of Osama or our officer corps in the Army.

Please read on as I have posted a great reply from IRR showing the errors of Greyhawk's ways:

Once Again Milbloggers Misrepresent Themselves to The American Public

Link: MilBlog Conference 2006.

I will continue to call out the misleading lies the milbloggers say to the American public. I have stated over and over that they are a censored group of people and they know it. They CANNOT report everything they see and they CANNOT say things that are detrimental / in disagreement with the President of the United States. The Blogs that are generated "in theater" must be reviewed by the commanding officer of the blogger. That is censorship.

However, they keep saying they are not censored as if to believe that if they say it enough it must be true. Well it is NOT true. On the registration page for the Milblog conference it states:

"This conference is not sponsored, sanctioned, censored by, or in any way affiliated with the Department of Defense."

Well, the facts are that those who attend who are still in the military are, in fact, censored by the Department of the Defense. They will say they are not. Ok, let's test that. I would like to see a military officer (blogger) participate in the conference with an anti-war/anti-bush position. I would like to see one sit on a committee and say that the war is wrong, the troops should come home, the intelligence was flawed, the whole idea of what we are doing in Iraq is wrong. How about one calling for the impeachment or prosecution of Rumsfeld/Bush for war crimes?

If they did this, the DoD would lock them up so fast their head would spin. They would be bagging groceries at Leavenworth faster than they could say, "Rumsfeld is an idiot".

Granted, the civilian / Former milbloggers are not censored but to imply that an active duty LTC is not censored by the DoD is beyond disingenuous, it is an outright lie.

Posted to: The Mudville Gazette

Once Again, Mudville Reports "Selective" Facts

I always seem to have to dive deeper into the stories Mudville reports since he seems to either miss some points or selectively chooses not to report them.

Recently, Mudville "reported" how the "Dems" tanked Hackett's election needs implying that the sole cause of Hackett's demise was a seedy Democratic machine that just did not want him to win (Mudville's source was the Mother Jones E-zine. This is interesting in and of itself since he is quick to believe MJ when it suits his purpose but when MJ reports on all the mistakes and lies of the Bush administration in the dereliction of duty during the Iraq war, he quickly points out what a liberal rag MJ is).

Well, now we learn from the Cleveland Plain Dealer that perhaps there was more than "meets the eye" and that it was a complex mix of events that brought him down (Imagine, something is not as straightforward as first reported - i.e., The reason for Iraq was WMDs). The PD reports that the Hackett campaign was in disarray and even Hackett's wife said that he was not a good candidate, did not like people managing his schedule and refused to attend fund raisers when scheduled. He was "autonomous" she said.

Think about it. If he was a good candidate and a "winnable" candidate, why would the Democrats tank him? Who better to put up than an Iraqi veteran who is against the war? At least he can say he did it first then was against it versus the republican talking heads who, for the most part, had and continue to avoid service yet are gung ho to send others to their death.

When I first read Mudville's story, I knew there was more their and it is now coming out. Just a service I provide for those who want full truth rather than "Milblog truth".

Pentagon Misleads Public on Impact of Reserve Call Ups

The Pentagon has made a big splash by saying that the reservists have really cried wolf on the financial impact of the call ups. They financed a RAND study which showed (at first glance) that the recalled civilians are actually better off (financially) in the military than they were in civilian life. But, alas, you must look at the study (unlike the Mudville Gazette does) to understand how they made the numbers work.

To all of us who have been even remotely successful in civilian life, the recall would have been/has been a huge financial impact for two reasons. First, current pay, even after taxes are accounted for, is far less in the military (for some to the tune of 6 figures), than in civilian life. Second, the only reason anyone would take the lower pay is for the guarantee of future payments (i.e., pensions) but the recalled reservist cannot take advantage of that pension as they will be spun out prior to their qualifying. The recalled reservist will most likely be "frozen" in their civilian pension but will never be eligible for the military pension thus adding to the financial hardship.

So, how do the numbers work in the RAND "study"? Simple. If you read closely you will find they used "Social Security wages" as their baseline for civilian pay. As most know, that is capped this year at $90,000 and in 2003 when this study was done, the cap was $87,000. So, if you are making $150,000 in salary and wages, the "study" will show you at $90,000. Further, you do not pay SS tax on capital gains, only on salary and wages. So, if you made $120k last year in salary and wages but make another $20k in capital gains from stock investments, the "Rand" study will show you making $87,000. Assume that you cannot make the capital gains while you are in Iraq because I doubt you can trade during the day while at war, you are out the $20k and Rand says you make $87,000.

So, the study is incredibly flawed. But, this is simple to see, so why do people not see it? First, it is clear RAND and the Pentagon are trying to mislead people. They know what i have shown above; they are smart. However, by "slipping in" the unrealistic assumption, they have drawn a conclusion that is "technically" correct assuming SS wages show how much money you make. They know that most will not look beyond the headlines so they leave it at that.

The Mudville Watch: Greyhawk at Mudville Supports Torture

First, this is a new segment called "The Mudville Watch". Why have I done this? Simple, Greyhawk has become the de facto leader of the Milblog movement which is tacitly supported by the U.S. Government and his statements are more and more against what this Country stands for. I feel it is my duty to disclose the inaccuracies and the crazy statements which are made on that site.

Today, I bring to you the idea of torture. At this post, it appears Greyhawk is stating that it does not matter how we win the war as long as we win. As an Army officer (I believe) he is tacitly supporting the torture of the enemy. Interesting if not criminal. He tries to say, "Who cares how we win, as long as we win".

Well, as an American, I do care. I do care about the "how" as well as the outcome. It is moral and ethical laziness to not care about the methods. If the Army is torturing our enemy than it is guilty of a crime. If Army officers are tacitly supporting this method then they are personally guilty of a crime.

The idea that because Clinton supported extradition makes it somehow OK is ludicrous for two reasons. First, since when does the radical right use Clinton as their barometer for what is morally ethical and reasonable? You spent 8 years telling us he is morally bankrupt and now you use him to support your torture policy?

Second, even if Clinton supported it, who cares? Remember what your mom taught you (hopefully): Two wrongs do not make a right (or a right wing)!