Archive for August, 2004

FAITH-BASED MISSILE DEFENSE

EX-PENTAGON BIG RIPS ANTI-MISSILES

RUMMY HEARTS MISSILE DEFENSE

For the record, I think national missile defense is an important thing to research and develop. I think it’s possible, if not today, soon. I think it’s worth a significant investment.

I also think that concerns about our leadership willing to play tougher than they would otherwise because they think we’re protected by the current system are well-placed. If the Patriot has trouble with short- and intermediate-ranged missiles, how is the NMD going to manage with intercontinentals?

Via Instapundit:

Scrappleface noted the official announcement of troop-withdrawal plans a couple of days ago, as well.

In a public announcement probably not intended as humor, John Kerry questions the move, claiming that it will threaten US security.

“Why are we withdrawing unilaterally 12,000 troops from the Korean Peninsula at the very time we are negotiating with North Korea — a country that really has nuclear weapons?” Kerry asked.

Kerry quoted Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as saying North Korea was probably more dangerous than at any other time since the end of the Korean War in 1953. “This is clearly the wrong signal to send at the wrong time,” Kerry said.

Kerry argued that Bush’s policy would dangerously reduce forces at a time when the nation was fighting the al-Qaida terrorist network in 60 countries.

“Let’s be clear — the president’s vaguely stated plan does not strengthen our hand in the war on terror,” he said. “It in no way relieves the strain on our overextended military personnel. It doesn’t even begin until 2006, and it takes 10 years to achieve. And this hastily announced plan raises more doubts about our intentions and our commitments than it provides real answers.” (all emphasis mine)

This is a treasure trove of Fisking material. I’ll go bold item by bold item.

• “Withdrawing unilaterally”? The “unilateral” claims weren’t true when they were made about the invasion of Iraq, but Kerry figures he can make mileage with the word here. Let’s see. Should we be multi-laterally withdrawing forces from Korea? Does that mean South Korea needs to remove forces from the Korean peninsula, as well? Or does it just mean that we need Korean approval to manage our armed forces? If France approved of our plan, would it be multi-lateral? What does “unilateral” even mean here?

• “The wrong signal at the wrong time”? Troops in Korea haven’t been in combat for fifty years. Troops in Germany haven’t been in combat for sixty years. Troops in Iraq are in combat hourly. Kerry vows to draw down US forces in Iraq within six months, but Bush’s plan to reduce troops in Germany and Korea sends the wrong message? Insurgents in Iraq know that if Kerry is elected they just need to wait him out. In fact, they will be encouraged to lay off if he’s elected, since toning it down temporarily will help guarantee that Kerry goes through with his plan. But Kerry thinks drawing down forces in Europe and Asia is sending the wrong message.
• “Dangerously reduce forces at a time when the nation was fighting the al-Qaida terrorist network”? This is asinine. The move to draw down forces in Germany and Korea is strategic, but a tactical benefit would be to INCREASE forces at a time when the nation is fighting the al-Qaeda terrorist network. Troops not required to garrison Germany and Korea would be available to deploy elsewhere if needed. What in the world is he talking about?
• “Vaguely stated plan”? What’s he expecting? Exact dates of departure and flight numbers? Names of the 12,000? Considering the timing and current military situation around the world today, I’d think a little lack of detail is in order. He just wants to make it look like Bush’s announcement doesn’t contain much meat.
• “It in no way relieves the strain”? Bringing men and women, and their families in many cases, home from overseas in no way relieves the strain? If Bush announced that he was increasing forces in Korea, many would decry the additional strain the move would place on military personnel and their families. But John Kerry thinks bringing a few of them home IN NO WAY helps?
• “It doesn’t even begin until 2006, and it takes 10 years to achieve”? So maybe this isn’t as hot of an issue as Kerry claims? Clarify, please. Is this happening too quickly, or too slowly? I can’t really debate this, because I don’t have the slightest clue what he’s getting at.
• “Hastily announced”? Is it the announcement that was hasty? It sure wasn’t the planing that was hasty. This has been seriously discussed for, oh, say, about ten years. Maybe if Kerry spent more time in the Senate and reading reports, he’d have known all about it. This isn’t anything new, though the discussion and planning have picked up steam over the past year or so. But, as, Kerry pointed out one sentence ago, this doesn’t start for over a year and it will take a decade to achieve. Hmmm. Sounds suspiciously like the “rush to war” to me. In other words, it’s b*!!$#/+.
• “Raises more doubts about our intentions and our commitments”? Again, I refer you to Kerry’s plan to reduce US forces significantly in Iraq within six months of his taking of office. The biggest fear the average Iraqi has is probably that when US forces leave, security in the new Iraq will crumble and they will be left with warlords, Syrians, and Iranians running things. Many Iraqis probably remember our failure to support resistance to Saddam in the months following the 1991 Gulf War. So Kerry publicly announces our “intention” to renege on our “commitment” in Iraq, but he thinks we’re leaving the Koreans hanging out to dry after five decades?

Remember, we’re not withdrawing ALL of our forces from Germany or Korea. In Korea, as a matter of fact, we’d still have about 25,000 US military personnel on the peninsula. And, as part of this restructuring, we’re also supposed to be working to increase our quick-deployment capability to react to threats around the world. Troops in Korea can only battle Koreans. A lot depends on our airlift and sealift capacity, of course, but it’s easier to send troops somewhere from California than it is to send them somewhere from Korea.

There’s no doubt political games being played here. By both sides. But one side seems to have thought through what it’s saying, and the other does not.

I thought Global Warming was the problem.

But my local TV news just ran a story about the problems associated with this summers cool trend. In my neck of the woods, the Grand Rapids, MI, area, this summer has been 4 degrees cooler than last year, and only twice has the official temperature in Grand Rapids hit 90. (That doesn’t seem right to me, but I’ll let it pass.)

They interviewed a local swimsuit store owner who was having trouble selling swimsuits and a local park ranger who was worried that tourist dollars weren’t rolling in.

So is it warm weather that’s the problem, or cool weather?

This is only four degrees, so we’re obviously not talking The Day After Tomorrow, here. No worries about the coming ice age.

Plus, check out the water levels for Lake Michigan:

The levels I noted in early July seem to be holding about steady, relatively speaking, and they’re slightly higher than the extremely low levels we had last year. In other words, they’re more toward the long-term average.

So what’s the excitement all about?

When temps are up a bit, water levels are down (bad). But when temps are down a bit, swimsuit stores, many of which probably opened or expanded their shops based on a season or two of NON-TYPICAL weather, suffer (bad).

Temps are down four degrees from last year. Good? Bad?

Ugly.

Weird. Apparently this is a hot topic.

Which OS Are You?

Murdoc is:

And why is Windows ME such a laughingstock? (hat tip to the Slackeware Linux who pointed this out to me)

UPDATE: It’s pretty annoying when I have to fix the code for quiz results. If you’re trying to post your results on your site, remove the extra line breaks and remove the quotes from the borders tag. Worked for me.

I guess that’s what you get when a Slackware Linux forwards you something.

Amorphous tungsten could replace depleted uranium

ACE has the details. Go read.

Even if amorphous tungsten isn’t as effective as DU, maybe we could consider using it most of the time in most of the places, saving the DU for when the stuff really hits the fan. Worth a look.

Thought AvP was bad? Check this out. (via Andrew Olmsted)

Following that theme, a reader tips me off to a write-up on Jib Jab’s THIS LAND IS MY LAND political parody, mentioned here last month. The video got 18 million hits in July.

This is the 30th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. Here’s a good Q&A with GG. I count myself among those who do not buy his claims that Tolkien had little or no effect on his game design. I read that about twenty years ago in Dragon magazine and I didn’t believe it, and I do not believe it now. Points for consistency, though. (via, of all places, Instapundit)

That Air Force Major who got busted for bringing back unauthorized war souveniers was actually trying to equip an army equivalent to France’s it appears. You must check out the pics. Unbelievable.

I’ve been calling the Global War On Terror the Fourth World War since long before I began this site. In 1996 I wrote a short article called “How the United Stated Won the Third World War.” I haven’t had time to check out the whole thing, but here’s a World War IV article that tries to draw strong parallels between the early 1950s and the early 2000s. (via Belmont Club) (And if any family or friends have that old article of mine, distributed via email, send me a copy. I don’t have one, and I’m quite curious to see exactly what I thought back then.)

XM-109 25mm Sniper Rifle

At Strategy Page. See my post on this weapon here.

Speedy Strykers Survive (Aug 14 entry)

This Strategy Page post touches on the fact that the Stryker is doing just fine so far in Iraq. (See my recent post, as well.)

The action in and around Mosul is not as heavy as it is down around Baghdad. But there are heavily armed Baath party diehards and al Qaeda terrorists up in Mosul. Thus the Stryker brigade has seen a lot of action, some of it quite heavy. It was thought that the Strykers would be very vulnerable to RPGs, but only two vehicles have been lost that way so far. In some actions, platoons (four vehicles) of Strykers had dozens of RPGs fired at them with no serious damage. (emphasis mine)

Have there really been two vehicles lost to RPGs? I’m aware of one lost when (officially) an external gas can was set ablaze by an RPG warhead that had been defeated by the slat armor. Earlier, one had been destroyed by an IED.

These are the only two Strykers I’m aware of being destroyed in combat. Only one was from an RPG, and even that one was a sort of freak hit. There have been a few accidents, and I’ve seen quite a few reports of Strykers damaged in battle, but no total losses. If I’ve missed something, clue me in.

Beach volleyball’s bikini cheerleaders stir up a storm

Scandalous behavior in Athens:

A bikini-clad team of cheerleaders at the Olympic beach volleyball tournament are not proving popular with everyone.

Fans arriving at the Olympic Beach Volleyball Center by the Greek coast on Saturday were greeted by the sight of 12 women wearing skimpy, orange bikinis and dancing up a storm in the sand.

It’s sad to see the ancient and distinguished game that used to be a model of decorum and tranquility become like any other sport a battleground where rival ideologies can slug it out with glee.

What a crock.

Australian player Nicole Sanderson was not impressed. “It’s disrespectful to have other girls in bikinis out there dancing,” she said while her partner, Sydney gold medallist Natalie Cook, said that if there were men out on the court dancing it could equal things out.

Ah, Nicole Sanderson thinks it’s disrespectful to have “girls in bikinis out there dancing.”

Here are some shots of Ms. Sanderson in action:

#13: Blue hat:

Looking at these, it’s obvious why the prude Sanderson is opposed to exploiting the female form for attention.

If you reread her quote, you’ll see she said it was disrespectful to have “other girls” out there flaunting it to the crowd. That, at least, is an honest admission.