Category Archives: The War

Happy Birthday, Sir Winston

Posted on November 30, 2006 | Comments Off on Happy Birthday, Sir Winston

"You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."

Churchill’s first speech upon becoming prime minister, May 13, 1940. Today, he would have been 132.

Via No Left Turns 

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Posted in The War

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Get your isotopes here

Posted on November 29, 2006 | Comments Off on Get your isotopes here

That old Russian spy, and new British citizen, Alexander Litvinenko, was alleged to have been a victim of Putin’s revenge gang at the KGB. Because where, after all, could one get one’s hands on the exotic material, Polonium 210, that killed him? Ah, well now, it turns out you can buy it on the Web, at $69 a pop. Safety-sealed (for transport protection) but with a half-life of 138 days. Easy as pie.

Via SlashDot 

UPDATE  Snoop, at SimplyJews, says the quantity of these samples isn’t enough to kill anyone. Ah, but what if you bought a few hundred of them?

UPDATE2  Well, the seller, United Nuclear, finally has weighed in on the topic and scotched my notion with this notation on their website: "You would need about 15,000 of our Polonium-210 needle sources at a total cost of about $1 million – to have a toxic amount." Plus, they couldn’t sell you such a large amount, since they don’t stock the stuff but buy it from government reactors which will only sell small amounts.

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Scribbles, The War

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Bright idea

Posted on November 29, 2006 | Comments Off on Bright idea

Josh Manchester, The Adventures of Chester, adds a brilliant wrinkle to the Pentagon’s reported "Go Long" strategy for Iraq, i.e. Go Long and Go Native.

"These changes would be dramatic. It takes guts to tell a sovereign government that we’re relieving it of its military. But by going native, the US can destroy or neutralize the Shi’ite militias; restore confidence in the Iraqi armed forces; increase our language and cultural proficiency, which is a huge force multiplier; and over time we can gradually cede the military back to the Iraqi government."

Probably too innovative for even the Bush administration, but worth a look.

Via Instapundit

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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops

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Stubborness or integrity?

Posted on November 29, 2006 | Comments Off on Stubborness or integrity?

"It appears Bush’s characteristic Texas stubbornness is the only thing standing between victory and the U.S. defeat that has all but been proclaimed by Washington’s foreign policy establishment and its friends in the mainstream media like ’60 Minutes’ reporter Lara Logan. She insisted in her weekend interview with Gen. John Abizaid that ‘managing the defeat’ is America’s only option."

It isn’t Texas "stubborness," but Texas integrity. The old guard and the news media have been against the war–not just the Iraq campaign–from the very beginning. Now it’s supposedly Daddy Bush’s former consigliere James Baker who’s going to turn the stubborn son around and get him to suck up to the dictators like Daddy did. So far Son is refusing, and that’s good. The boy is keeping his word. Not letting the naysayers lead him away by the nose from the course that young men and women have enlisted to follow–and some have died for. And so he’d better, because if he ends his term as just another Washington lickspittle, he should not come back to Texas.

Via Instapundit 

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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops

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AP’s bogus sources

Posted on November 27, 2006 | Comments Off on AP’s bogus sources

Surprises me how far they’ve fallen in five years of war, but with CENTCOM denying and bloggers on their case, it looks like the narrative they’ve been pushing finally caught up with them–in the form of some bogus Iraqi cops who seem more likely to be insurgents spreading lies. Given AP’s reach, however, the lies are already working memes across the rest of the MSM and may be impossible to reclaim.

But the Defense Department is trying, with this rebuttal site which can seem too picky, but ought to be taken seriously as more than just "the government position." It’s unusual, to say the least.

UPDATE  AP is fighting back by reiterating, etc. Austin Bay says an independent investigation is needed, and while you’re at it, revive the National News Council to do it. 

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Posted in Blogosphere, Iraq, The War, Troops

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Advisory effort

Posted on November 27, 2006 | Comments Off on Advisory effort

This LATimes piece maintains that Iraq commanders favor applying the advisory effort underway at the end of the Vietnam war.

"…an influx of military advisors and a speeded-up handover to indigenous forces followed by a gradual U.S. withdrawal."

It might well work, as it almost did in Vietnam–unless an impatient Congress and president pull the plug on funding, as happened in 1975.

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Posted in Iraq, The War

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Still fleeing Iran

Posted on November 27, 2006 | Comments Off on Still fleeing Iran

Snoopy the Goon links to our piece on Zahra Kamalfar, the Iranian woman, and her two children who Pajamas Media and others say is living in the Moscow airport, unable to find asylum while trying to avoid deportation back to Iran where she says she was jailed for protesting the government. Iranian officials, unsurprisingly, have not confirmed her story.

Snoop did a Web search on her and found contradictory info, including that the MSM had, up to that point, ignored the story. He seemed to find that meaningful (although he noted that European MSM has good reason not to anger the Russians who supply their natural gas for heating), and perhaps it is, but I found the Pajamas reporting impressive enough.

Pajamas, meanwhile, has linked to a CNN report from Moscow on the saga, which provides at least some extra verification that they are there–although Pajamas had done a pretty good job of that already. In any case, for the MSM version, go to the CNN report at Pajamas.

UPDATE  Snoop, who reads Russian, has now found a Russian news outlet also confirming the family’s plight, so he’s now convinced. 

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Posted in Israel, The War

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