Archive for February, 2005
Missile shield test fizzles out
Blah. Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah blah blah.
Blah.
US troops, insurgents clash in Mosul
Although attacks seem to have fallen noticeably since the days before the election, it still isn’t anything close to calm. And Mosul, the apparent new focal point for the terrorists and insurgency, continues to be in the news:
The US military says the fighting began when US troops responding to a mortar strike on a base were hit by rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades from a mosque.A US tank and a Stryker armored vehicle have been severely damaged, and several cars and parts of buildings were left burning.
There were no American casualties but nine insurgents were killed.
The fighting was described as “fierce”, which is what all fighting is.
I wonder if the damage to the tank and the Stryker was really “severe”, as no casualties were taken.
Stryker Brigade News points out a Yahoo! News photo caption also describing the incident, but it has no further info other than saying the tank and Stryker were “disabled”. That could be a broken track and a couple of flat tires, or it could be a lot more serious.
Here’s the pic:
U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment soldiers return fire during a four-hour running gun battle with insurgents in Mosul, Iraq Saturday Feb. 12, 2005. Nine insurgents were killed after attacking U.S. troops with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. A U.S. Army tank and Stryker combat vehicle were disabled by RPG attacks, but there were no U.S. casualties. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)
Keep an eye on Stryker Brigade News for more. MO watches and points out things here and there, but SBN is all over it.
UPDATE: Here’s a paragraph in another story on the fighting that sums it all up:
Sunni Arab extremists, fearing a loss of their privileged position, have accused the Americans of manipulating the election to install Shiites and Kurds in power. Sunni Arabs, an estimated 20 percent of the population, form the heart of the insurgency, and many of them boycotted the election.
Ignore for the moment that the Sunnis, by and large, have been the harsh overlords of the Shiites and Kurds for several decades.
The Sunnis comprise about 20% of the population. Then, due to boycotts, threats from terrorists and insurgents to abstain from voting, and the fact that many Sunni areas are still torn by violence (instigated by Sunnis and Sunni-backed foreigners), many of that 20% didn’t vote.
The Sunnis shouldn’t expect anything from this election. Their only saving grace might be that there’s another election at the end of this year. Hopefully, some will see that they’ve missed the boat on this but will take advantage of the fact that the first elections of the permanent government will come so soon. Not often do you get such a powerful second chance so soon after blowing your first opportunity.
I recommend another look at ACE’s post on the new digital camo. The comments section has a pretty good summary of the thinking (both pro and con) that this new uniform is surrounded with.
Plus, as a special bonus, I shared a uniform related story that for some reason I never posted on MO:
I was at a logistics (my line of work) conference last fall where a guy from the DoD spoke about their efforts in ID and radio frequency ID in the logistics chain. He noted that, for some reason, RFID tags couldn’t be read through Prell shampoo. (RFID has trouble with liquids, but I guess it’s even worse with Prell.)Later, while he was talking about embedding RFID chips into the gear itself rather than the shipping containers, someone asked if that wouldn’t allow the enemy to pick our guys up using RFID scanners. He said something to the effect of “if someone’s close enough to pick you up with one of those scanners, you’ve got bigger problems than your RFID chips”.
Afterwords I tracked him down and told him I had a solution for the “enemy tracking our RFID chips” problem: Hose everyone down with Prell before they go out on a mission. Plus it would keep the guys clean and save shower time.
He laughed pretty hard, but said it probably wouldn’t work since the troops would start giving off bubbles if it started raining and then they could be tracked that way.
My wife isn’t feeling so good today, so I made her some breakfast. She wanted oatmeal — the ‘Quick Quaker Oats’ stuff, not the instant packets. Since I wanted some myself, I made four servings.
Logic: Me + My Wife = 2. And I wanted more than one serving for myself.
Not having actually made oatmeal for about 10-15 years, I didn’t realize the serving sizes.
I can email out oatmeal as an attachment if your server will accept it.
A number of other bloggers have successfully completed offers at this place, so I’m giving it a try. I signed up, answered a bunch of their survey questions, and joined one of the offers.
Now I just need to get ten others to do likewise and I get a free 80GB Mac Mini. Each of the ten that join through my referral code can then earn their own free Mac Mini when they get ten more to join up.
Once you create your account at Freeminimacs, you have twenty different offers to choose from. Although I imagine they change from time to time, the current lineup looks pretty good to me and consists of various music clubs, movie clubs, credit cards, book clubs, and periodicals.
I selected the Blockbuster Online movie club, since I had been considering joining anyway. You qualify for the same new-member offers that non-Freeminimac customers get.
I joined up on Monday afternoon, and I’ve already watched Open Water and Troy. They’re in the mailbox to go back and I should receive my next two movies by the middle of next week.
Anyway, I’m curious about the new Mac Mini, but wasn’t real keen to spend the $500 to test drive one (or the $600 for the faster one with a bigger drive). So this seems like quite a deal.
If you are thinking about joining Blockbuster Online, Columbia House DVD Club, BMG Club, Real Rhapsody, or Cheap Trips (among others), why not sign up for the Free Mac Mini deal while you’re doing so? If you’re motivated and have a few friends, you should eventually score a free Apple. (If not, at least help me score one.)
So follow this link, join up, answer a few survey questions, and complete an offer. Then bring on the Macs.
(This is the better of the two Mac Mini models. The one with the 1.42GHz G4 and the 80GB hard drive.)
Just be sure to follow my link. Right now I have a Blogad running for it, though that won’t be permanent. If you’re unable to find the link, click here.
Dutch flag is unsafe at Dutch school: It might offend some Moroccan students.
Iraqis seize 16 trucks filled with Iranian weapons, explosives and cash for terrorists: I wonder if the percentage of stuff getting seized is increasing at all.
Iraq says to close its borders Feb. 17-22: I’d feel better if this read “Iraq says to close it’s borders Feb. – Nov.” but I guess you can’t have everything.
Howard Dean For DNC Chairman: As a Conservative, of course, I fully support Dean for the post. It might torpedo the next two or four years for the Dems, and it might get the Dems to realize they need to shift course a bit. I hope so on both counts.
Austrians sold 800 sniper rifles to Iran: If we ever have to invade Iran, all we’re going to hear about is how we sold weapons to the Shah in the 1970s, so we “armed” Iran.
First US Air Force Carrier: A picture, plus a pic of the Navy’s replacement for the one being shifted to the USAF.
Tsunami: Nearing $1 billion: The Stingy List is at 900.6 million so far.
Why Congressman Johnny Can’t Cut the Budget: Discouraging.
If this isn’t true… it should be: Argghhh! notes the story about Europeans sneering at the US sending a carrier to the tsunami region. And he notes that the USS RONALD REAGAN made her first stop in Pearl Harbor as part of the relief effort. He’s got a pic of the REAGAN, but don’t forget my pic at America and its stupid aircraft carriers.
Now get back to work.
Polish Troops Won’t Leave Iraq in 2005
I see this as great news. You all know that I’m a bit of a fan of Poland.
Although dozens of nations have or have had troops in Iraq, all along it’s been the USA, the UK, Autralia, and Poland that have been unfaltering in their commitment to victory and freedom in Iraq. (via Rantburg)
2Slick posts a message from a buddy of his that suggests getting rid of the name “Iraq”:
Iraq’ has a history basically from WWI, and the British mandate following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire – the last vestige of the Muslim Caliphate. The problem is (besides a name imposed by the British Empire) that the name does nothing to unify or appeal to the people who live their now. There is no overwhelming sense of Iraqi nationalism- no ethnic, religious, political or cultural unifying theme in Iraq.I would suggest that the new government look to the rich history of the region – the birthplace of civilization, and appeal to the historical significance of the area within Iraq’s borders. By going back before the birth of Islam, you bypass the Shia-Sunni strife, and going back far enough you can claim the first modern culture in the world. Call the new nation Sumer or Babylon appeals to the pride, nationalism, and helps redefine an identity.
I think the idea has at least a little merit. Many of the problems in Iraq (and the greater Middle East) stem from the partitioning of the region following World War I without much regard to the cultures or history of the area. Obviously that’s a lot of history to try and undo (to an extent) but some moves in that direction, as approved by Iraqis, might go a long way. However, the battle over a new name between the different cultures might cause more trouble than it would solve.
GA unit first in Iraq with new unis
ACE notes that the first unit to wear the new digital camoflage BDUs ACUs in Iraq is about to deploy.
