Why we couldn’t simply replicate the Afghanistan/Taliban approach in democratizing Iraq:
"It is not enough to persuade a Muslim population to reject al Qaeda’s ideology and practice. Someone must also be willing and able to protect that population against the terrorists they had been harboring, something that special forces and long-range missiles alone can’t do."
Read it all.
Comments Off on Military lessons of Iraq
Posted in Afghanistan, Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Afghanistan, al Queda, Iraq, Kagan, Taliban
"The Bush Presidency is running out of time to act if it wants to stop Iran from gaining a bomb. With GIs fighting and dying in Iraq, Mr. Bush also owes it to them not to allow enemy sanctuaries or weapons pipelines from Iran. If the President believes half of what he and his Administration have said about Iran’s behavior, he has an obligation to do whatever it takes to stop it."
Less talk and more action would be a good idea, both for the present and for the future.
Comments Off on Where’s the beef, George?
Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Bush, Iran, Iraq, sanctuaries, the bomb, weapons pipeline
"Hollywood acting as a collective voice stakes out an anti-victory position on the current war in Iraq, continuing its deplorable 40-year streak of working against the United States’ strategic objectives at a time of war. Congratulations to every heroic studio exec and heroin-addled reality star for being ahead of — and helping to move — the polls."
Read it all.
Navy F/A-18 from the USS Enterprise refuels off an Air Force tanker, somewhere over the Persian Gulf. Probably not from this tanker crew, but who knows?
Via Op-For
Comments Off on Today’s pretty picture
Tagged aerial refueling, Navy F/A-18
Help restore a vandalized snack shack for IDF soldiers. Helps if you have a PayPal account, but it can be established with a credit card number. Good photos of the young soldier patrons are at the link.
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Posted in Israel, The War, Troops
Tagged IDF, Israel, Pina Chama, Treppenwitz
This is an old favorite of mine. It’s a four-plus years old photo, from the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom, and these gals may no longer be flying KC-135 Stratotankers for refueling fighter-bombers over there. But you can bet that they’re flying aerial gas stations somewhere. It’s a nice illustration of both the all-volunteer military and the 9/11 generation. They are not what you think.
Posted in Afghanistan, The War, Troops
Tagged 9/11 Generation, all-volunteer military, KC-135 Stratotanker female crews
Those hundreds of rockets that Hamas has been raining down on Israeli towns (and an Army barracks) are about to get a military response and a few civilian ones (like shutting off the air conditioning), since Israel provides more than half of the Gaza electricity and fuel. The dictator’s club at the UN (of course) decries Israel’s recent declaration of Gaza as an "enemy entity," but the White House backs it.
Comments Off on The Gazan Entity
Posted in Israel, The War, Troops
Tagged Gazan Entity, Israel, Kassam rockets
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 