Category: Uncategorized

Just another example of the politicization of the military.  Did this guy have to post the guy’s wedding pictures and slime his wife?  That is pretty low. 

The sell out of the families of abducted South Korean citizens by the Korean government continues:

President Roh Moo-hyun urged his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-il, to help resolve the issue of South Korean abductees and prisoners of war living in the North during their summit talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday, but Kim’s reaction was negative, according to Roh’s office Cheong Wa Dae.

"Roh and the South Korean delegation openly raised the abduction and POW issues at the summit talks, but only confirmed a wide gap in perception," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Cheon Ho-seon was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.

"But the government won’t give up the abduction and POW issues, and will continue to raise them at the upcoming inter-Korean prime ministerial talks scheduled for November in Seoul," said Cheon.  [Korea Herald]

"Wide gap in perception"?  What perception problem is there about returning people kidnapped by the North Koreans to their families in the south?  It is quite obvious that 66 year old grandmas will have to continue to launch rescue operations to free their captive husbands since the Korean government is having a "wide gap in perception" on the status of these abducted citizens. 

This is actually a pretty smart policy being implemented by the State Department and makes me wonder why they didn’t do this long ago:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday ordered federal agents to ride with Blackwater USA escorts of U.S. diplomatic convoys in Baghdad to tighten oversight after a shooting in which private guards are accused of killing 13 Iraqi civilians.

She also ordered video cameras installed in Blackwater vehicles.

The steps will require the State Department to deploy dozens of additional in-house Diplomatic Security agents to accompany Blackwater guards and are the first in a series of moves Rice is expected to take to boost control of contractors the agency depends on to protect its diplomats in Iraq. [Matthew Lee, AP]

Police officers in the US long ago installed video cameras to help protect the police from all the false claims of police brutality and now the State Department has to do the same thing.  The deploying of additional diplomatic security agents once again leaves me wondering why didn’t they do this a long time ago?  I can only guess it is because when Blackwater guys die in Iraq no one cares when a State Department guy dies it will makes news. 

Don’t expect this issue to go away because I fully expect more manufactured controversies to be forthcoming in Iraq if not against Blackwater than against other government contractors.  Another important question that needs to be asked is that as Iraq transfers more and more into a police role for the US military will the military need cameras installed as well? 

Has anyone else noticed that the fact that the US military met their 2007 recruiting goals is hardly mentioned in the media? Back in August I called the media’s attempts to politicize the fact that the active duty Army did not meet their June and July recruiting goals a “False Recruiting Crisis” and the final statistics prove me right.

Could you imagine what the headlines would be if the military did not meet their recruiting goals? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Now here is my prediction for headlines next year. In 2008 the military is going to have a hard time making the recruiting mission because of the plan to expand the force. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates shares my concerns:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he is “inclined to approve” an Army request to cut a year off of the five-year plan to expand the active-duty force.

“I’m probably going to recommend that they go ahead and give it a try,” he told reporters during a Pentagon press conference.

However, Gates said, “my questions are focused principally on whether they can do it, in terms of recruitment, and whether they can do so without lowering standards.” [Stars & Stripes]

To increase the Army by 74,000 soldiers over five years means that the Army would have to recruit at most an additional 14,500 soldiers a year. This number can be off set by the number of re-enlistments which I think will continue to be strong. However, recruiting next year is going to be tough because of the January announcement to further expand the military. If the military does not meet the recruiting goals expect sensationalized media reports with little no context about the expanding of the military. Additionally it’s an election year and the final recruiting stats will be released a month before the presidential election.

So I fully expect the Democrats to jump on this as an example of a “broken military” as they have in the past. Remember next year that you heard it here first; to expect the politicization of US military recruiting numbers in 2008.

This is definitely the best article I have read yet on the status of the Iraq War:

The great question in deciding whether to keep fighting in Iraq is not about the morality and self-interest of supporting a struggling democracy that is also one of the most important countries in the world. The question is whether the war is winnable and whether we can help the winning of it. The answer is made much easier by the fact that three and a half years after the start of the insurgency, most of the big questions in Iraq have been resolved. Moreover, they have been resolved in ways that are mostly towards the positive end of the range of outcomes imagined at the start of the project. The country is whole. It has embraced the ballot box. It has created a fair and popular constitution. It has avoided all-out civil war. It has not been taken over by Iran. It has put an end to Kurdish and marsh Arab genocide, and anti-Shia apartheid. It has rejected mass revenge against the Sunnis. As shown in the great national votes of 2005 and the noisy celebrations of the Iraq football team’s success in July, Iraq survived the Saddam Hussein era with a sense of national unity; even the Kurds—whose reluctant commitment to autonomy rather than full independence is in no danger of changing—celebrated. Iraq’s condition has not caused a sectarian apocalypse across the region. The country has ceased to be a threat to the world or its region. The only neighbours threatened by its status today are the leaders in Damascus, Riyadh and Tehran. [Bartle Bull, Prospect Magazine]

Make sure to read the entire article, especially his reporting on Sadr.  I will remain skeptical about Sadr until he shows otherwise, but it is quite clear that Iraq is reaching a tipping point or has already reached a tipping point and we just don’t know it yet.  That doesn’t mean things are going to be easy from here on out because Al Qaeda still isn’t finished and a final confrontation with the Mahdi Army has yet to occur, so there are plenty of challenges left.  However, trends are definitely pointing towards a sustainable Iraq. 

I recommend further reading on this over at Milblogs. 

Leave it to the Army to put a happy spin on traumatic brain injuries:

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can happen anytime, anywhere, and to anyone.
Each year TBI contributes to a substantial number of deaths and cases of permanent disability. This fact sheet was developed to accompany the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center’s (DVBIC) “Survive, Thrive, and Alive!” brain injury awareness and prevention video.* It provides: (a) a general overview of TBI, (b) prevention tips to help you and your family reduce the risk of TBI, and (c) a list of organizations that can provide you with additional resources and information on TBI.

Now would you want your buddy diagnosing you with a brain injury?

I love the Government Accountability Office.  Today they just exposed something that has irked me for awhile.

This is a great video of the sacrifices made by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan:

HT: Fortress Australia

If anyone has a video of sacrifices made by our foreign allies I would be happy to post here as well. 

I have looked fully into the whole Rush Limbaugh "phony soldier" controversy today and surprise, surprise it was bogus.  Seriously I’m beginning to think Korean journalism standards are becoming higher than American standards considering all the recent bogus media manufactured controversies. 

Some would say this is a sign of success in Iraq:

Deaths among American forces and Iraqi civilians fell dramatically last month to their lowest levels in more than a year, according to figures compiled by the U.S. military, the Iraqi government and The Associated Press.

The decline signaled a U.S. success in bringing down violence in Baghdad and surrounding regions since Washington completed its infusion of 30,000 more troops on June 15.

A total of 64 American forces died in September — the lowest monthly toll since July 2006.  [Steven Hurst, AP]

Just a few months ago critics were claiming the surge was a failure due to increased casualty rates.  I never jumped on that bandwagon just like I’m not jumping on this one. I never felt that US casualties are a big dynamic of success because if this is a sign of success than the military should just keep everyone on post and then the military would have great success in regards to casualties. The fact of the matter is that casualties fluctuate according to the amount of people on the ground and the operations going on.  The surge brought in more soldiers doing offensive operations which is why the casualties increased.  The casualties dropped because the success of the offensive operations in a number of areas like Ramadi has created a sustainable peace.  This is not true in every area US forces are now operating and offensive operations are still on going. 

I expect casualties to increase probably early next year when I suspect US forces will have to take on the Shiite militias namely the Mahdi Army.  Right now the US military is mopping up Al Qaeda and establishing indigenous security forces.  I don’t know, but I suspect these operations against Al Qaeda will continue through December.  After December I fully expect operations against the Shiite militias will begin because major Sunni militias such as the 1920’s Revolution Brigade that are currently working with US forces will never reconcile or disarm until the Shiite militias are crushed.  Just think if you were a Sunni would you want to disarm and reconcile with the ruling Shiite government when your rival militias are still armed and can easily drive up the highway and kill you?  There will never be reconciliation as long as Shia militias are allowed to operate freely.  A confrontation with  the militias is coming and thus casualties will rise and you can expect the usual suspects will come out and claim it is a sign of the US military’s eminent failure. 

Here is a better dynamic of success to measure success in Iraq with:

The decline in Iraqi civilian deaths was even more dramatic, falling from 1,975 in August to at least 988 last month, a decline of 50 percent, according to an AP tally. The civilian death toll has not been so low since June 2006, when 847 Iraqis died.

This dynamic is a way to determine the quality of security of the local population.  Obviously less civilians are being killed when sustainable peace is being established in various sectors.  Something else to keep in mind is that often times killings that get trumpeted by the media as "sectarian violence" is actually every day crime.  Iraq has plenty of murderers, rapists, and thieves just like America and it is easier for them to get away with their crimes in Iraq when the local police force in many areas is not competent.

Another thing to keep in mind in regards to civilian casualties are the massive truck bomb killings.  Just think if the truck bombings in the remote Yazidi area of Iraq had been intercepted?  That bombing killed over 500 people and would have made the August civilian death toll much lower.  However, Al Qaeda was doing everything they could in August to kill as many civilians as possible before General Petraeus’ report to Congress.  Thus Al Qaeda began targeting remote farming areas that probably have never even seen an American presence before in order to simply kill people to keep the civilian death toll high and the media reporting it. 

There is plenty of nuance and analysis that needs to be done in regards to casualties however critics and supporters tend to do little of this and take anything as gospel that confirms what they already believe.