Category Archives: The War

Remember this one?

Posted on November 21, 2006 | Comments Off on Remember this one?

Osprey.jpg

The biggies in the MSM only write about the tilt-rotor when it crashes, sort of like the way they usually cover the war–casualties only. But the maligned Osprey is operational now with the Marines–who have two tilt-rotor squadrons, VMM-162 and VMM-263–while Air Force special operations, which recently received the first of thirty, is still testing and developing operational tactics, according to one of the littlesies, the Pensacola News Journal

UPDATE  I am reminded that University of Texas engineering professor Hans Mark, who had a hand in the early development of this thing, used to tout it as a reliever of highway congestion. It would pick up airline passengers at a stop near their homes and whisk them to the airport. It’s a lot faster in airplane configuration than a helicopter. Mark also had something to do with the new Airborne Laser, which has yet to see operational service. I also posted about it here. I don’t recall any civilian apllication. 

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Posted in The War, Troops

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UN abets the Jihadis

Posted on November 20, 2006 | Comments Off on UN abets the Jihadis

The sins of the dictator’s club are manifest. What’s being overlooked is just who they actually help.

"When was the last time the UN sat down to condemn any of the 20-plus Muslim countries that practice wonderful social phenomena like: fostering terrorism; teaching and preaching hatred and racism; recruitment and brainwashing of children as suicide bombers; violence against women; and repression of legitimate democratic expression by civilians? The list could go on, but maybe we should ask this question a slightly different way: When was the first time the UN sat down to condemn such a country? The answer is, of course, never."

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Posted in Israel, The War

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Abizaid: Iraq campaign not a failure

Posted on November 19, 2006 | Comments Off on Abizaid: Iraq campaign not a failure

“’It’s too soon to say we have failed,’ he said. ‘We can’t keep talking about it as if it’s a disaster or a failure.’ …Abizaid said there was reason to believe…the situation in Iraq would ultimately stabilise. He said extremists in the region, including Osama bin Laden and al Qaida, had yet to go ‘mainstream’."

In Vietnam, generals saying things like this were not backed up by the troops. Abizaid is.

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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops

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Fallen troops

Posted on November 18, 2006 | Comments Off on Fallen troops

Any troop can get killed, thinks Steve, a Vietnam veteran in The Dinner Party, one of the tales in my short story collection Leaving The Alamo. So why should being killed be enough to make you a military hero? He concludes the reason is that, nowadays, fewer and fewer Americans are willing to risk a military death.

And so Our Fallen Soldier, a website by the family of a soldier with California, Texas and Oregon ties, who was killed in Iraq at age 23, makes sense. For once the rollcall of the dead is not a protest gimmick, but a true memorial to American heroes–until something better comes along. 

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Posted in Library, The War, Troops

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White lines and dead armadillos

Posted on November 18, 2006 | Comments Off on White lines and dead armadillos

That’s what onetime Texas ag commissioner Jim Hightower says are in the middle of the road. But fav columnist Peggy Noonan says the center is where the Reps and Dems need to be, especially the Dems.

"Can they go down the center, or will radicalism of various sorts erupt and gain sway? No one knows. The Democrats don’t know. The answer is going to help shape America’s future political history. And it will help shape George Bush’s. If the Democrats are radical, he will look more reasonable, not only in the eyes of the public but of history."

The Hightower wing prefers radicalism to imitating armadillos. But at the expense of elevating Bush?

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Posted in The War

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Ask. Tell. Enlist.

Posted on November 17, 2006 | Comments Off on Ask. Tell. Enlist.

Captain’s Quarters uses the occasion of an NYTimes article to vouch once again, as he is wont to do, for allowing gays to serve in the military. I stole his good headline because I agree with him. He has some good arguments, and his host of commenters hash out the cons. Captain Ed’s take…

"In fact, gays serve openly in the military now; they do it in Britain. American and British troops have served together in Afghanistan and Iraq without this causing damage to morale and cohesion. They also serve openly in the IDF, one of the finest fighting forces in the world, although their leadership could use a refresher course after Lebanon. Both armies work jointly with American forces, and 22 other nations also allow gays and lesbians to serve without hiding themselves."

I’ve always thought discriminating against them in this way was absurd. I remember my career Air Force father’s reasoning was that they were security risks, because they could be coerced with threats of exposing them. That made sense in the universal closet days, but hardly does now.

UPDATE  11/21: "The (Israeli) High Court ruled that same-sex marriages registered abroad must be listed in the Interior Ministry registry – a step short of full recognition. MK Gafni: ‘Sodom & Gomorra also had High Courts.’" Not nearly the legalized gay marriages some reports already have it, but a step in the direction thereof.
 

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Posted in The War, Troops

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4th ID coming home

Posted on November 17, 2006 | Comments Off on 4th ID coming home

Welcome home to some 21,000 troops of the 4th Infantry Division who will be returning from Iraq on a staggered schedule to Fort Hood, northwest of Austin, between now and Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, orders are being cut for more troops from the 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kansas, the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and a Stryker brigade at Fort Lewis, Washington, to return to Iraq.

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Posted in The War, Troops

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