Archive for March, 2007
Michelle Malkin has A question for Dianne Feinstein
Now that Sen. Dianne Feinstein has resigned under an ethical cloud from the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, where she sat while voting for appropriations worth billions to her husband’s firms, I am wondering:
Will she also be resigning from the Senate Rules Committee?
Well, even if she doesn’t, the rest of the Dems will force her out. Because they’re cleaning the corruption out of Congress, and all.
Baghdad High Value Targets Nabbed
Three mass murderers have been arrested in Baghdad over the past week
Another chlorine truck bomb found near Ramadi
The ninth attempted chlorine attack, 7 have been successful
The Sunni Civil War
Al Qaeda ’s campaign against the Sunni tribal and insurgent leaders who oppose al Qaeda
Fallujah government center struck by chlorine suicide attack
Iraq Police, Army stop bomber short of target; dozens wounded, poisoned
Taliban, Pakistani security forces battle in Tank
Baitullah Mehsud’s Taliban mass; 25 Taliban, 1 security officer killed after school principal kidnapped
You’re reading Fourth Rail every day, aren’t you?
It’s official: Senate OKs war bill with Iraq timeline
They know this isn’t veto-proof. They simply want it to be entered into the record. So be it.
Murdoc’s not questioning anyone’s patriotism. I no longer think there’s anything that needs to be asked.
Lawmakers Offer Ships That U.S. Navy Is Reluctant To Accept
Defense News (subscription required) reports that the House of Representatives is offering to fund as many as 12 ships next year instead of the 7 the Navy was planning on. Surprisingly to some, the Navy isn’t falling over itself to accept.
Why?
One problem is that U.S. shipyards would be hard-pressed to increase production to 12 ships a year, said Adm. Michael Mullen, chief of naval operations. Another problem is that two of the Navy’s shipbuilding programs are so problem-plagued that buying more of them poses an unacceptable risk, he said. A third problem is that buying an extra submarine requires about two years of advance procurement.
The Navy would like an extra LPD-17 amphibious ship, but it’s –not affordable,” Mullen told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee March 28.
The one extra ship that the Navy could probably accommodate, Mullen said, would be a T-AKE — a fairly inexpensive, civilian-manned ammunition carrier. That –could be done relatively easily,” he said.
I’m not at all sure how much need for another T-AKE there is, but if it’s truly needed the Navy should jump at the opportunity.
As for some of the rest of the extra cash on the table? I know it won’t help the devastated big shipbuilders or the American shipbuilding supply base in general, but how about another High Speed Vessel and another couple of Sea Fighters?
The uses for this are probably just about endless, particularly if we have 50 of them scattered all over the place.
Pic from Nichols Bros., which built the Sea Fighter.
Bruce Kesler:
One might think that someone who refuses to answer the questions he himself raises would be more circumspect about impugning another’s integrity. But, no. That’s not the way John Kerry operates, nor those who condone or support him.
Did Kerry ever release his Form 180 like he promised to? Murdoc never heard about it if he did.
Senator weighs need for more long-range transport planes
Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, is considering investing heavily in more C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes to better position the armed forces to respond to contingencies abroad.
Inouye, who now is reviewing the Pentagon’s fiscal 2008 budget request in anticipation of a markup of the massive spending bill this summer, is working with the Air Force to determine how many C-17s the military will ultimately need.
Defense News (subscription only):
USAF Prefers More C-130Js Over Other Cargo Lifters
While observers argue over whether the U.S. Air Force needs more C-5s or C-17s, the service’s top brass told Congress last week that they need something else entirely.
–If you gave me another dollar, I would know exactly where to spend it” — on C-130Js, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said at a March 20 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. –We would want to backstop tactical airlift with C-130Js,” he said.
The Hercules transport plane has become the workhorse in Iraq, where it is perilous to run convoys over land, Wynne said. But the war is taking its toll on the fleet.
Many C-130Es have been grounded with structural problems, and the H models are –burning up at high rates,” Gen. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, told the Senate’s defense appropriations panel March 21.
Murdoc’s a bit surprised by the Air Force position, as we’ve heard a lot of reports that the C-17 fleet is getting overworked pretty quickly.
Still, my money says that building C-17s brings more money to Hawaii than building C-130s. How would Murdoc know this without looking anything up? Well, because a Democratic Senator from Hawaii wants to spend money on the military.
Blackfive: Troop Reaction to the Democrats
Short version: They don’t feel terribly supported.
Million dollar quote (from a sailor in Kuwait):
How can they complain about the Iraqi government not STEPPING UP, when the Congress is all but falling down!
And Blackfive says to watch The Victory Caucus.
McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture of Iraq
Former General McCaffrey on March 24th:
We could take, bluntly, a couple to 3,000 casualties.
And he was right, right? Because he said that on the 24th and that there’d be a “two to three day battle out there” and now it’s the 28th and we’re over 3,000 casualties? Very prescient.
However, the “couple to 3,000 casualties” quote is from March 24th, 2003, five days after Operation Iraqi Freedom began. It took four years instead of three days.
So he ain’t exactly the Oracle at Delphi.
Read the WaPo article for McCaffrey’s latest gloominess on Iraq.
As far as I can tell, he’s always been gloomy on Iraq.
