Palin angered by ’sexist’ Newsweek cover

Though Murdoc thinks this is just another example of how shallow and entertainment-driven the news media has become, I wonder if Newsweek’s attempt to marginalize Palin with this (if that was their intent) doesn’t net her MORE fans in the end.

When I saw the headline my initial thought was “If she doesn’t want pictures like that, why’d she pose for them?” But then I saw the photo, and immediately realized it was from the Runner’s World story on her last year.

For the record, Murdoc would be lukewarm toward Palin as a presidential candidate if she threw her hat into the ring today. I think she’s got a lot to prove. But I’m also not buying the idea that she’s hurting the GOP. At least not hurting the GOP any more than the GOP hurts itself already.

Of course, being Newsweek, the worry is that Nidal Malik Hasan May Be a Symptom of a Military on the Brink.

It’s hard to draw too many conclusions right now, but we do know this: Thursday night, authorities shot and then apprehended the lone suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. A psychiatrist who was set to deploy to Iraq at the end of the month, Hasan reportedly opened fire around the Fort Hood Readiness Center, where troops are prepared for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. And though this scene is a most extreme and tragic outlier, it comes at a time when the stress of combat has affected so many soldiers individually that it makes it increasingly difficult for the military as a whole to deploy for wars abroad.

and

Hasan’s perspective is unknown. He had yet to fight abroad. But the accusations against him can’t help but bring to mind the violence scarring military bases all over the country after the duration of two long, brutal wars.

So after spending some time making the case that soldiers who have spent too much time in the combat zone on repeated deployments are close to the breaking point, he finally mentions that Hasan has never deployed.

He then goes into the whole “transferred PTSD” thing. Sure, we get it. Counselors are not immune to the horrible stories they hear.

None of the following words appear in the article:

• Muslim
• terrorist
• militant
• extremist
• religion
• I gave up trying at that point

And no mention is made of reports that Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar!”, confirmed or otherwise.

He concludes by suggesting that by deploying more troops to Afghanistan like Gen. McChrystal has requested, the military may be inviting more shooting rampages.

Of course, the vast majority of those under that stress, no matter how brutal, will not pick up a gun and shoot indiscriminately, like Hasan did.

The “vast majority.” Is he saying that 9 in 10 won’t become mass murderers? 99 out of 100? 99,999 out of every 100,000? Hmm. Let’s see. How many troops that have deployed so far have become mass murderers? Only one?

Oh, no. That’s not right either, is it?. So far NO US troops that have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan have become mass murderers. Zero. “Vast majority” my ass.

But the situation is bad, and getting much worse. From there, it isn’t much of a leap to argue that to further tax our military would do as much as anything to guarantee that the homegrown terror on display today could well repeat itself in the future.

Whoa, buddy. If we’re going to talk “isn’t much of a leap,” there are a few other leaps that should be in the conversation. Leaps involving religion. Leaps involving diversity policies and political correctness concerns that allowed a guy with what appear to have been fairly obvious issues to stay in the system. Leaps involving self defense on military installations. Leaps involving people seeming to hope for another Timothy McVeigh homegrown terrorist. Leaps involving the media actively working to distort the facts.

As I noted earlier somewhere, if this turns out to be a simple case of a PTSD case “just snapping”, it will be used as a broad brush to paint the entire military as a bunch of loose cannons “on the brink.”

If, on the other hand, this turns out to be a simple case of religious jihad, it will be portrayed as one lone nutjob and anyone who thinks otherwise is probably a racist and a bigot.

And yes, I realize that my sites are sort of jacked up on IE8, even in Compatibility View. I’m working on new templates for both MO and GunPundit. Hopefully, they’ll be ready shortly.

I was sitting in about the second row back when the assailant stood up, screamed and yelled Allah Akbar (ph) in Arabic and he opened fire.

A couple of minutes later, the interviewer wonders at the fact that Foster, kept soldiering on, not even realizing that he had been shot in the hip. Foster responds:

I had realized it at first, but with that much adrenaline, you tend to forget things.

Here is how CNN wrote up its own interview:

He said he “was sitting in about the second row back when the assailant stood up and yelled ‘Allahu akbar’ in Arabic and he opened fire,” Foster said Monday on CNN’s “American Morning.”

Foster, 21, said he wasn’t clear about whether the gunman said those exact words, noting that “with that much adrenaline, you tend to forget things.”

ABC has Keara Bono, also wounded in the attack, also saying that Hasan shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire. There seems to be no dispute. Anyone who says it’s unconfirmed is either misinformed or lying.

That includes CNN, even if they are considered a real news orgainization.

If, when the evidence is in, this turns out to be a case of a loyal American soldier “losing it” due to the stress and horrors of war, this lone killer will be held up as an example of how such things are a terrible risk in the US military and that it’s a huge issue that needs to be addressed as many, many more could do the same thing at any moment.

If, on the other hand, this turns out to be a jihadist who put his faith before his country (as seems likely from what I’ve seen so far), he’ll be dismissed as lone wacko. One in a million. Move on. Nothing to see.

The truth is probably somewhere in between somewhere.

U.S. Army Spc. Peter Hurlock qualifying with the M16 in Korea. April 14, 2009. (U.S. photo by Staff Sgt. Christophe D. Paul/Released)

A couple of posts by C.J. Chivers:

How Reliable Is the M-16 Rifle?

and

The M-16 Argument Heats Up, Again

Good overall views of the issue, though the increasing use of 77-grain Mk 262 ammunition with the Special Forces and the poor showing in US Army dust chamber tests against a trio of piston guns were not mentioned.

Also, he writes about the M855 not “fragmenting” as well as the M193. Didn’t he probably mean “tumbling”? Though they do sometimes fragment, I thought that was not the design intent.

Anyway, it’s nice to see decent coverage of this issue where it might get a little more visibility.

First of all, US troops don’t outnumber the Taliban 12-1, it’s all NATO and Afghan forces combined that, according to this report, outnumber the Taliban fighters 12-1.

Secondly, as far as I can tell it’s just counting active Taliban militants, not any of the support network. So if they want to provide a meaningful number, it would be better to only count NATO and Afghan combatants.

Third, as the story does point out, two-thirds of the NATO/Afghan number are Afghan military and police, many of which are woefully under-trained and ill-equipped.

Finally, they’re probably not interested in a meaningful number, anyway. They’re probably looking to spread the idea that there are already so many troops in Afghanistan that it’s pointless to send more just because the military wants them.

For all the talk about “the Surge” in Iraq, it was the shift of tactics and the increasing capabilities and use of the Iraqi forces that made the largest difference.

As long as the Taliban types can keep running into Pakistan to rest and re-arm, things are going to be really tough no matter what the ratio is.

Not at all what happened
USS Ramage (DDG 61) firing a 5-inch gun in 2008.

Destroyer accidentally fires on Polish port

Three 7.62 rounds from an M240 machine gun equals “fired on Polish port.”

The crew of the destroyer Ramage was doing “routine maintenance” to the ship in the port of Gdynia when a sailor inadvertently fired the burst from one of the warship’s M240 machine guns, the official said.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

But if you think this headline is bad, check out this Russian headline:

US destroyer shells Polish shore

Rooskie journalism hasn’t lost a step.

5.56 NATO Dimensions

Steve at The Firearm Blog notes British soldiers also complaining about 5.56mm NATO

In the Telegraph:

A survey of more than 50 servicemen who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by British soldiers ‘tailed off’ after 300 metres yet half of all Helmand firefights are fought between 300 and 900 metres.

This seems to make sense and be perfectly reasonable. After all, our Special Forces found out pretty much the same thing in 2001. A lot of them switched to the heavier Mk 262 from the M855 green tip.

But then there’s:

Taliban marksmen use powerful 7.62mm ammo for their AK47 machine guns, according to a report of the study in The Sun.

If they’re trying to argue that AKs firing 7.62 Russian are outshooting guys with 5.56mm SA80 rifles, they’re going to have to do a lot of convincing. Since they use the term “machine gun”, maybe they mean the 7.62×54mm used in the PK-series. But then they’re arguing apples and oranges.

Yes, the 5.56 leaves some things to be desired. Particularly out of shorter barrels.

Yes, a heavier intermediate round such as the 6.8 SPC or the 6.5 Grendel would probably do better in a wider range of circumstances, particularly at longer ranges.

Yes, full size rounds like the 7.62×51 fired from a full-length rifle pack quite a wallop.

But let’s not whine about 5.56 at medium to long range and then extol the 7.62 Russian or medium machine gun rounds in the media.