Category Archives: The War

Will the real Jamil Hussein please show up

Posted on December 10, 2006 | Comments Off on Will the real Jamil Hussein please show up

Afterall, the Associated Press has based no less than 61 articles on this fellow, who they say is an Iraqi police captain. Meanwhile, CENTCOM and the Iraqi government deny that he even exists. AP insists he does, but so far hasn’t persuaded him to go talk to either so they might change their tune. And the MSM’s detractors among the blogosphere are having quite a time mocking AP. So will the real Jamil Hussein (assuming he does exist) please show up and put this controversy to rest. Otherwise, the AP has quite a few corrections to issue. Madison dot com weighs in with a fisking of AP’s latest snippy "assurances," to put it kindly.

Via a host of blogs, including Instapundit, Black Five, and Confederate Yankee 

Comments Off on Will the real Jamil Hussein please show up

Posted in Blogosphere, Iraq, The War

Tagged ,

The real Ramadi

Posted on December 10, 2006 | Comments Off on The real Ramadi

Are we winning or losing the war in Ramadi in Iraq’s al Anbar? With the defeatist MSM reporting from the Green Zone, it’s hard to tell. Depends on who you read. Blogger Michael Fumento, who has been there three times, says we’re winning. So does the Times of London which also sent a reporter there. Saying we’re losing (surprise, surprise) is the Washington Post’s reporter Thomas Ricks, author of "Fiasco," which ought to show you what he thinks before he sets fingers to keyboard. Especially since, according to Fumento, Ricks has never set foot in Ramadi. Now, lo and behold, the WaPo is contradicting Ricks with a new, upbeat piece. Curiouser and curiouser.

Via MichaelFumento.com, which is a good place to begin. 

Comments Off on The real Ramadi

Posted in Iraq, The War

Tagged , , , , ,

Trauma Pod

Posted on December 9, 2006 | Comments Off on Trauma Pod

It’s like something out of Starship Troopers, the 1957 science fiction novel by Robert Heinlein, i.e. "pre-hospital or far forward battlefield casualty care…in which a self contained casualty ‘cocoon’ was sent automatically from the spaceship directly to the wounded soldier on the battlefield."

Doc In The Machine has three videos explaining the concept, which looks more doable in the first one, a video game-like presentation whose audio reminds me of the old Mech Warrior video game, than in the other two, or in this generalized explanation of some of the DARPA-funded work on it at the University of Texas-Austin. But definitely worth a look, including the news that its funding may be about to be eliminated.

Comments Off on Trauma Pod

Posted in Science/Engineering, The War, Troops

Tagged , , ,

Oil for the people

Posted on December 9, 2006 | Comments Off on Oil for the people

Mohammed at Iraq the Model reports the government is considering a move often suggested in the blogosphere, but which American officials seemed not to have taken seriously.

"…yesterday al-Sabah brought the news that the parliament is discussing a suggestion to set aside 30% of oil sales income to distribute among the citizens of Iraq. The draft law sets 3 classes of payments according to age and subsequent needs and responsibilities; from one month to 6 years, from 6 to 18 years and the third one 19 years and older. People who migrated from Iraq, those with salaries higher tha[n] 1 million dinars/month and convicted criminals will be excluded from the payment program, the report added. The people here met the news with some delight, hope and some skepticism too although the announcement came through the government’s paper."

If it pans out–and Mohammed also reports that oil exports are up almost 15 percent from last year–the project would make Iraq a world model for fairness in the use of natural resources, as well as a regional one for democracy. It might even inspire a measure of sectarian peace.

Comments Off on Oil for the people

Posted in Blogosphere, Iraq, The War

Tagged , ,

The original 9/11

Posted on December 7, 2006 | Comments Off on The original 9/11

Pearl Harbor, that is, on this Day That Shall Live In Infamy. Fewer actually died then than on September 11, and almost all of them were military. Some of the old veterans of those days, I found out a few years ago in doing a commemorative piece on the day, still refuse to buy Japanese cars, electronics and other products. We, alas, are still buying Saudi oil. But, then, a lot of us can’t decide what September 11 meant. Few people had that problem in the 1940s, or the veterans since.

Link is to old Pearl Harbor photos, via Instapundit

Comments Off on The original 9/11

Posted in The War

Tagged , , ,

Celebrating 9/11 (really)

Posted on December 6, 2006 | Comments Off on Celebrating 9/11 (really)

You can imagine the grins, the glee and the laughter. No, you really can’t. You have to see (and read) the Arab and Iranian reaction to 9/11, the convoluted conspiracy theories, and the denial, as compiled in a new documentary and transcript by the translators at MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute. You have to see it to believe it.

Comments Off on Celebrating 9/11 (really)

Posted in The War

Tagged , , ,

Adding a granny knot to a square knot

Posted on December 6, 2006 | Comments Off on Adding a granny knot to a square knot

The Iraq Study Group’s recommendations for solving the problems in Iraq? Make them bigger by, among other things, offering to return the Golan Heights to Syria. Huh?

"The normal approach to a difficult problem would be to bound or simplify it. But the ISG recommendations try the exact opposite: it adds complexity to the already complex situation."

It will be interesting to see what the headline writers do with this one. Simplicity ain’t in it.

UPDATE  The Wall Street Journal dubs it "The Iraq Muddle Group," but notes it serves the useful purpose of denying any fast departure and underlines the stark consequences of a failure there. 

Comments Off on Adding a granny knot to a square knot

Posted in Iraq, Israel, The War, Troops

Tagged , , , , ,