…because you just won’t have to walk tours, you may have to lose your head.

“White slips.”  Discrepancy reports..gets demerits for you at one of the fine institutions of the South East. Exceed your monthly demerit quota and start with confinement, or maybe do not pass go and head straight for the Quad of Third Battalion to walk tours with your assigned M-14 over your shoulder.

One favorite discrepancy was “failure to get the word.” In this case, it will be “failure to pass the word,” if you don’t comply. the punishment? Not a fifty minute stint doing close order drill in the muggy Charleston afternoon heat, but the loss of liberty and justice, and far too many citizens.

The Islamist Head fake editorial in Investors Business Daily, tells a summarized story of what’s been coming out in almost not covered in the MSM’s pages: The Holy Land Foundation trial: The real conspiracy that has been occurring for decades in this country.

The lunatics can scream about how GWB planned the 9/11, purposely blew the WTC Towers, including #7, that the war on terror is all a construct for the much feared “military industrial complex” or a great string pulling by the puppet masters in Israel, but they will never find evidence (other than what they can manufacturer (if they are smart enough to get an IBM Selectric II on ebay)), because none of those theories are valid..

The one to subvert American politics, and use our own money to attempt to finance our own demise, has all to solid a “paper trail,” and it’s being exposed using clear rules of evidence in a formal court of law, not by some college kids with some chicken wire, a brick, some kerosene and a cheap digital video camera.

I’m passing the word, by linking the IBD editorial. You need to read it carefully and consider the implications of what has been set in place by the PC/multi-cultural environment. One commenter at Little Green Footballs remarked:

#6 Bearster 9/29/07 10:25:07 pm reply quote report 14

The worst thing about political correctness is not that it attacks white males. The worst is that it blocks the very attempt to think (or speak) clearly.

It’s not possible to accept the multicultural-diversity view and, at the same time, grasp that Islam’s goal is to kill or subjugate every non-muslim. As long as PC rules the country, we will continue to grant moral sanction, political power, foreign policy concessions, and aid and comfort to the enemy.

It’s really a race to see if we can shake off mind-numbing philosophy of PC, or if islam will destroy us first.

It is a race, one between reason and compassionate tolerance of those around us, or being led to the slaughter for holding dear the right to have our own religion, or not, and to let those around us practice theirs simultaneously.

Pass the word around…and invite others to understand the depth of the deception in our midst, and to discuss it appropriately with our elected representatives.

For those in uniform during the Cold War, I ask a rhetorical question: Did you ever wonder how the Soviets planned to attack Europe?

No more do you have to lay awake at night and guess: Historian Petr Lunak found the paperwork…

From the UK Telegraph:

Soviet plan for WW3 nuclear attack unearthed

By Henry Samuel in Paris
Last Updated: 4:24pm BST 20/09/2007

Chilling Soviet plans to launch massive nuclear strikes in Europe followed by a ground offensive in Germany and southern France have been unearthed by a Nato historian.

According to scenarios drafted in 1964, Warsaw Pact forces planned to use 131 tactical nuclear missiles and bombs to sideline NATO armaments and destroy Western Europe’s political and communications centres, in the event of an “imperialist” strike.

In an alarming insight into the “Doctor Strangelove” mindset of Soviet strategists, the Czechoslovak People’s Army, CSLA, was then expected to immediately march over deadly radioactive landscape and invade Nuremburg, Stuttgart and Munich, then bastions of West Germany.

On the ninth day the troops would take Lyon, south eastern France.

Soviet reinforcements would then continue the offensive towards the Pyrenees in the west.

[…]

When was this the plan? For a while:

[…]
According to Mr Lunak, the plan was still an option until 1986, three years before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

It was shelved by Vaclav Havel in 1990 when he was elected Czech president.
[…]

Rest easy jow, knowing we won that war.

H/T: Little Green Footballs commenter NJDhockeyfan

Captain Gustavas Conyngham
From Wikipedia:

A privateer was a private warship authorized by a country’s government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping. Strictly, a privateer was only entitled to attack enemy vessels during wartime. However, states often encouraged attacks on opposing powers while at peace, or on neutral vessels during time of war, blurring the line between privateering and piracy.

Privateers were an accepted part of naval warfare from the 16th to the 19th centuries, authorised by all significant naval powers. The costs of commissioning privateers was borne by investors hoping to gain a significant return from prize money earned from enemy merchants.
[…]

Captain Gustavas Conyngham was born in Ireland in 1744. He came to America with his father and settled in Philadelphia, PA before the Revolutionary War. He became a successful privateer captain. From the CONYNGHAM Association page:

[…]
In 1777, the merchant ship he commanded, CHARMING PEGGY, was seized and interned in Europe. He then sought and obtained a Captain’s Commission in the Continental Navy. Operating primarily in British waters, Captain Conyngham proved to be one of the most successful and audacious naval officers in the American Revolution.

His first naval command was the 100-ton cutter SURPRISE whose mission was attacking British shipping in the English Channel. After taking numerous prizes, he was given command of the cutter REVENGE which was larger and faster than SURPRISE. He continued to harass British shipping, taking more than 60 prizes in 18 months. Each ship captured was sent into a friendly port and the cargo disposed of in the interest of the revolutionary cause. Historians indicate that the proceeds from these prizes contributed materially to the operations of Benjamin Franklin and his American mission in France.

British influence finally forced the closure of French and Spanish ports to him, so he set sail for the West Indies where he convoyed American shipping in addition to continuing his task of capturing enemy merchant ships.

In 1779, Captain Conyngham returned to Philadelphia, but on his next cruise he was captured and taken prisoner as a privateer. He was interned first in New York and then in London, from where he escaped only to be recaptured while returning to America in 1780. Again, he escaped and was in France, preparing to cruise against the British, when the war ended.

Captain Conyngham returned to the merchant service and commanded the armed brig MARIA during the Quasi-War with France. Later, as a member of the common council of Philadelphia, he assisted in the defense of the city during the War of 1812. Captain Conyngham died on 27 March, 1819 and is buried in St. Peter’s Churchyard in Philadelphia.

Showing how the logistical needs of your enemy can handsomely fund your resistance obviously became a specialty for Captain Conyngham. Consider his first voyage on a 100 ton vessel, harassing British shipping right under the noses of His Royal Majesty’s finest ships and crews. Guts. Lots of them. Oh, and “Prize crews” come from your own hands on deck and ship’s officers…leaving you and the prize ships underhanded. Yet, it appears he made due somehow, probably had frequent port call credits built up in France and our eastern seaboard….

For his daring exploits and contribution to our Nation’s first war, three ships have been named for Gustavas Conyngham:

DD-58A Tucker Class Destroyer, the first USS CONYNGHAM was commissioned in January, 1916 and saw action in WWI, protecting shipping and conducting anti-submarine duties. Decommissioned in 1922.

DD-371The second USS CONYNGHAM was also a destroyer, this time of the Mahan Class. Commissioned 4 November, 1936, patrolled in the Atlantic and Med, then was sent to the Pacific Fleet. She was in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. She became a veteran of many famous battles, being assigned aircraft carrier screening duties. Present at Midway, the Battle of Santa Cruz and Gadalcanal. Later in WWII, CONYNGHAM escorted battleships during the invasions in the Marina Islands and was also in the action in the Philippines off Leyte Gulf.She was used as a test target for “Operation Crossroads” at Bikini Atoll in 1946 and was later sunk in 1948.

DDG-17The third USS CONYNGHAM was a guided missile destroyer of the Charles F. Adams Class. Commissioned 13 June, 1963. Making 15 Med deployments, she spent her career in the Atlantic Fleet. Present to help evacuated Americans from Cypress in 1964 and 1974, she also was present in the Med for the Yom-Kippur War in 1973 and helped evacuate Beruit in 1976. She was at Grenada in 1983, and later did numerous drug interdiction patrols.In 1987, USS CONYNGHAM was the second ship to arrive after the USS STARK (FFG-31) was hit by two Iraqi Exocet missiles. CONYNGHAM remained nearby, providing men and supplies to help the damage control efforts to save STARK. I discussed some of my remembrances of that day in this post, which, was found by the then Executive Officer of CONYNGHAM, who left a comment.USS CONYNGHAM (DDG-17) was decommissioned 20 October, 1990, and later sold for scrap.

I sailed in company with USS CONYNGHAM (DDG-17), and my neighbor across the hall at my first apartment, ENS Tom Brubaker, was an officer aboard her. They certainly were a can do ship, with a hard charging captain. From my vantage point on the “fat ship,” I recalled them departing our starbaord side, having just taken three rigs (two fuel, one stores) and within 20 minutes announcing they were ready to take the VERTREP (helicopter delivered vertical replenishment) deliveries. It looked like an ant’s nest of frenzied activity over there, but they had the “git ‘er done” mentality working for them, long before we had heard of Larry the Cable Guy. We often commiserated together about the cost of such a reputation on the crew, but he lived and went on to a career as a civil engineer for the Navy, and I believe he ended up with the SEABEEs. We sailed on a deployment to the Med in 1978, which had both our ships in the Med when the Shah of Iran was overthrown. The USS CONYNGHAM (DDG-17) was also discussed in my post about breakaway music last year.

The Soviets, and their parred down left overs, the Russians, have a bad habit of copying “stuff” we design, test and produce. Side Note: We’re not above doing a little ourselves, but that can be a whole series of posts unto itself….

So, we made the “Mother of All Bombs,” the Massive Ordnance Air Burst bomb in 1993. weighing in at 21,000 lbs, it is 6K lbs heavier than the BLU-82 “Daisy Cutter” used since the Vietnam War. The weapon relies upon it’s “FAE” (fuel air explosive) characteristics to make a point when it detonates.So, the Russians, after a decade and a few years, have managed to make what they call the “Father of All Bombs.”

Russia’s military yesterday announced that it had successfully tested a lethal new air-delivered bomb, which it described as the world’s most powerful non-nuclear weapon.

In what appears to be the Kremlin’s latest display of military might, officials said Moscow had developed a new thermobaric bomb to add to its already potent nuclear arsenal.

Russia’s state-run Channel One television said the new ordnance – dubbed the Father of all Bombs – is four times more powerful than the US’s Mother of all Bombs.
[…]

According to the article, the FOAB is delivered by the TU-160 “Blackjack” strategic bomber (oh, BTW, a knock off of the B-1 Lancer), reported to have a payload 88,220 lbs, which, would square with the “four times” as big claim….The Guardian, where I found this report, can’t manage to stick to reporting, but has to blame this new weapons on President Bush’s plan to locate ABM systems in Europe:

[…]
The development of this latest device appears to be another response to the Bush administration’s plans to site elements of its missile defence system in central Europe. Mr Putin has denounced the plan, arguing that it upsets Europe’s strategic balance, and has vowed to respond.
[…]

My comment: What buffons! Weaponry such as this didn’t begin their development on June 7th (or 8th, if you want to to think the leadership slept on the decision to order the development), 2007. Besides, from a tactical standpoint, you wouldn’t need an “almost a nuke” to render ABM sites combat ineffective. No, the Russians made it, because they want to have a “big bang” in their pocket, and can say with a straight face, “nope, that’s sure not a nuke we got here, boys!” at the negotiation table.

Anyhow, We’re gonna have to make a bigger bomber if we’re gonna compete in the “who can make the Grand-Pappy” of all bombs race…

Update 09/14/2007: Major John (USAF) of OpFor sez we got a bomb with more bang than the new one the Russians built…and oh, yea, it goes deep and then goes “BOOM!” The Russian FOAB isn’t a penetrator…ya’ll paying attention Iran?

Last Friday, Rush got on quite a straight forward monologue, and a particular part of it got me thinking.

Over the last several years, the constant complaint from the Left has been that we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq. In actuality, we did so quite deliberately, rather than a spur of the moment idea. Rush was talking about this very thing and I realized the move into Iraq was brilliant. Why?

Trying to fight in Afghanistan, which is proving to be successful, is a tough proposition. Over not all that distant history, at least two major superpowers found out the hard way that taking conventional military forces into that region of the world caused disaster. The lines of communications are long, and between the sea and the mountainous country of Afghanistan are other sovereign nations, which requires diplomacy for the access or further military operations to seize and hold supply lines. We face the same thing today. Certainly, with the airlift capacity of the Air Force, we can haul lots of cargo and men, but there’s nothing that beats ships and logistics trains of trucks, trucks and more trucks. So, from a strategic logistical standpoint, fighting in Afghanistan is a too hard for a major conflict.

From a terrain standpoint, there are all sorts of issues. A lot of real estate, where the enemy can easily hide, are up at the top end of the altitude range for our ever present air mobile transports, in other words, helicopters. Add to that, the mountains make flying close air support a difficult task. Tactically, our ability to mass firepower becomes limited quickly.

From Afghanistan, troops can strategically tie down terrorist forces, and pick away at them, keeping them from the larger engagements in the GWoT. Not only can they keep them off the main field of battle, Iraq, as stated by the many communiques of al-Qaeda, but also out of our shopping malls and government buildings here at home. That, in and of itself, is a successful employment of our service personnel, and that of NATO and other allied nations to that country.

Iraq, on the other hand, while hot and sandy, has access to seaports (limited, but there is some, as well in neighboring Kuwait) and the land mass is characterized by lots of open terrain, ideally suited to bring many types of vehicles to any fight. Helos are not limited by the altitude and TACAIR isn’t in constant danger of colliding with ridges and mountains while carrying out their missions of ground support. Caves are not a prevalent attribute of the land, either.

But, let’s cut to the chase: When fighting a “stateless” enemy, with forces comprised of citizens from many countries, many whom are, at the national level, allied with us, just where do you stand to conduct the military operations? That’s the real salient point Rush got me thinking about. If not in Iraq, one at least with a basically secular and educated population, because of and in spite of Saddam’s rule, then where?

Which US citizens would provide their land within our borders to let us have the fight here, so we don’t conduct military operations on the soil of another country? My bet is tending toward none. For the Democrats, which Blue State would be first to offer their territory to serve as the staging area for the terrorists of many lands, to come and have the fight they are spoiling for? Tending towards zero again, I’d venture once more.

If the battles were to take place here, with the demonstrated ability of the terrorists to slip through our dragnets, who would actually want to risk them loose in our neighborhoods and cities? I think many would change their tunes about “freedom fighters” when they same were somewhere nearer to them than about 6,000 miles away.

Given the propensity of the Left to make this out as some sort of law enforcement effort, once the decision was made to not disturb any other country, would they want to turn the “work” over to police, sheriffs and the FBI? Something about Posse Comitatus might certainly come up, thereby depriving us of the most effective arm of the Government to take on this fight.

Fanciful, I know, the part at the end, but, if not in Iraq, as Rush alluded to, then where would we have had this war to date?

All in all, the choice or Iraq is brilliant for the full employment of our military forces, in my opinion.

I found the Global Defense Group blog via a comment on Acute Politics (written by an Active Duty Soldier currently completing his tour in Iraq). Scanning the GDG site quickly, it looks like there’s some interesting posts on three, and also I noted they are looking for help, in the form of authors and other technical support.

Contributors are the key to the success of Global Defense Group.
It is the members of the community who bring this site to life, and without the contributors GDG would be little more than a bunch of buttons on a web page.
GDG is always on the prowl for qualified “authors”, and if you have experience in any of the following areas, we encourage you to contact us about becoming a contributor to the blogs, databases or media archives:

* Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism
* Cyber-Terrorism, Hacking and Internet Security
* Domestic Politics and, in particular, Political Activism
* Military/Insurgency Tactics and Military History
* Homeland Security and Law Enforcement
* Digital Video/Audio/Podcast Production
* Border Security and Illegal Immigration
* Diplomacy and International Law
* WMD and Nuclear Proliferation
* Islam and The Q’uran (Arabic and Farsi translators wanted!)
* The Constitution and United States Law
* Political Satire and Political Cartooning
* Global Economics and The Oil Industry
* Middle East History and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

In addition to the specialized fields listed above, GDG is also looking for dedicated individuals to help with the daily operations of the site. While these people will not be in “the lime light”, their contributions will be essential for the efficient and continued operation of the site.
Some of these areas are:

* Maintaining the Events Calendar
* Research and Documentation
* Forum and Chat Room Moderation
* Maintaining Image and Video Archives
* Site Promotion and Recruitment
* Coordination and Correspondence
* Video and Podcast Production
* Editing and Publishing
* Legal Protection
* More Research and Documentation

The individuals who perform these tasks will be given “Author” access or higher, depending upon the access required for each job. Members will be selected to fill these important roles based on a variety of factors, including availability, expertise, and an ability to work and communicate with others.

Sounds like some of the readers here might be able to lend a hand over there….

Also: Don’t miss Teflon Don’s (Acute Politics Blogger) short but wonderfully written post: Beauty in the Dirt. He has a way with words to rival some of the best novelists, yet he speaks about the real world around him…

Gouge…some who read this know the inestimable value of such a commodity….

A recently opened blog, Information Dissemination, is becoming a good resource to keep tabs on developments in naval equipment and navies, not only the US stuff, but some detailed articles on China, Saudi Arabia and India have shown up as well.

Interspersed are deployed orders of battles of the US Fleets, and lots of discussion on current and projected shipbuilding.

Wander on over, I think you’ll find it a resource worth bookmarking and returning to regularly.

Subtitle: The Dove becomes the Hawk, when the opportunity to make brownie points exists…

Presidential candidate, Barak Obama (D), has a plan. BZ for coming forward with something instead of criticisms, butjfk nailed it: I’m too stoopid to understand such well educated people such as Barak:

Obama might send troops into Pakistan

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 1 minute ago

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would possibly send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive.

The Illinois senator warned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that he must do more to shut down terrorist operations in his country and evict foreign fighters under an Obama presidency, or Pakistan will risk a U.S. troop invasion and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.

“Let me make this clear,” Obama said in a speech prepared for delivery at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”
[…]

Let me get this straight: He was courageous enough to vote against going to Iraq, and he will sit down with dictators and thugs who oppose us, but threatens invasion of a country, which, has it’s internal struggles, but is generally an ally in the larger endeavor.

Am I missing something? Send the military to get the internal policy of a nation who is helping us, yet, crawl to the feet of those who specifically state they are trying to kill as many of us as they can….

This certainly would set a new low water mark for American foreign diplomacy. I can see it now: We pull out and let the manics run wild and murder, yet we punish those trying to help us for not helping in the way we think they should be.

Boy, you think they hate Bush? Wait until we and they both are on the receiving end of this immature, blustering, plainly idiotic effort. We won’t have a single ally left on the face of the planet…but maybe that’s what “they” are angling for.

I guess it’s his plan to say he’s gonna get OBL, because GWB couldn’t manage to do it (but, then again, WJC had sniper scopes on OBL and couldn’t be bothered to issue the orders and save the pain caused in the subsequent years). I would say BO has an exceptionally limited understanding of the very conflict we are engaged in. Getting OBL isn’t going to stop the many deadly incidents of the of the distributed network of sudden and not so sudden jihadis. Picking off OBL and parading the pictures of his cold dead body, at this point, is likely to cause a major flare up of the problems we’re having now. Keeping him in hole in the side of a wind and snow swept mountain has effectively decapitated his leadership role, significantly reducing the scope and deadliness of future attacks around the world, let alone here at home.

So, here we go: In order to skunk his only significant political rival, Hillary, he will speak as though he is the President and telegraph a message I’m sure all the rest of the world, who is at least marginally of wholly on our side, to cringe, while the enemy, far in the mountains, smiles upon their good fortune that the Republicans abrogated their responsibility to really lead this country….

But, hey, I’m unedumacted, what do I know? I bet Obama doesn’t realize a lot of foreign money isn’t coming his way, at least via normal channels. Now it will have to come by caravan in small unmarked bills from SW Asia. It will take a lot longer to get here.

H/T: Andi posting on Milblogs

While they have the reputation of “Fighting SEABEEs,” they most often are without their rifles in their hands, because they have to man a shovel or the controls of heavy construction equipment. News feed from U.S. Central Command:

U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Edward Miller

NMCB-133 drilling wells, building schools in the Horn of Africa

26 Jul 07
by MC1 Mary Popejoy
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs

The Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion-ONE THIRTY THREE Detachment Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonier have been deployed to the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa area of operation since Feb. 5 performing well drilling operations, school building projects and other quality of life projects throughout East Africa.

Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion ONE THIRTY THREE pour concrete into a concrete pad located inside the expansion area of Camp Lemonier May 15. The concrete pad project is just one of three projects the Seabees are responsible for on Camp Lemonier. The Seabees, more than 130 strong, are currently in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya providing each community with much-needed assistance to improve the quality of life in each area. Each project the Seabees have taken on aligns with the task force’s mission of preventing conflict, promoting regional stability and protecting coalition interests in order to prevail against extremism. This mission is accomplished by partnering with nations on humanitarian assistance, civic action programs such as school and medical clinic construction and water development projects.
[…]
For Builder 2nd Class Gabriel Kelly, it provides a lot of personal satisfaction being able to build structures in a country such as Africa.

“It is very rewarding to be able to use the skills I have and provide a better way of life for the people who use the facilities in the future,” he said.

According to BU1 (Seabee Combat Warfare) Michael Cadoret, project manager for Camp Lemonier, the end result of each project makes it completely worthwhile.

“The best part of any project is seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces and how happy they are to have a new and improved building for them to use,” he said. “Seeing the effect and impact our projects have on a community make the long hours completely worth it.”

Leaving the community with a good impression of the U.S. military is an important and critical part of every mission.
[…]

From the NMCB-133 Official Navy Website, the “Running Roos” are from the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Mississippi, the home of the Atlantic Fleet Seabees. NMCB 133 is currently on its 2007 deployed to SWA, HOA, Belize, Sae Tome, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Rota. Commanding Officer: CDR Paul J. Odenthal, P.E., CEC, USN.Sounds like a busy bunch. BZ to NMCB-133 for the work they do around the world!

Subscribe to the CENTCOM RSS news feed here.

Current CENTCOM press releases are here.

Can’t find it on the web yet, but the news on radio about 30 minutes ago said the judge decided to award $8M to the 15 families of the USS COLE (DDG-67) casualties in their case against the government of Sudan.

Report said the request was $100M. I’m sure details will be around the MSM/net soon…

Update 7/26/2007: Here’s a story, but not from a “big” MSM outlet. Hmmm…

Corrections: 17 families, not 15 and the original demand was $105M