Archive for November, 2007

Due to technical difficulties last week’s Linkzookery failed to publish. So a couple of these items are holdovers.

The march to the low 200s…
CDR Salamander is unimpressed with the future of the LCS program. Well, “unimpressed” probably overstates things by a bit…

Nigeria won’t host U.S. military command
AFRICOM won’t be in Africa’s most-populous nation.

U.S. ship transits Taiwan Strait after China flap
Actually a carrier strike group, not just one ship.

Turkey: New Airport Fuels Speculation of US Base
Yuksekova, Hakkari in Turkey’s East Anatolia region. Frequent visits of US delegations have the rumor mill running.

Techno-Optimistic Environmentalism
Environmentalists turned off possible supporters because they were invested in telling the public doom-and-gloom “I have a nightmare” stories rather than delivering “I have a dream” speeches.

Army prioritizing 37,000 GIs for first combat tours
Over 40% of the US Army has never deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Algerian minister says “Jewish lobby” elected Sarkozy
Of course. Should have known it.

Launch Anniversary of the Day: HMS Vanguard
That was a fine-looking battlewagon and it used guns that had seen service on other ships.

Somalia insurgents attack African peacekeepers
Ugandan peacekeeper base in Mogadishu assaulted but no reported casualties.

How to build the perfect terrorist cell
Researchers diagram organizations that avoid crumbling when attacked
Read the rest of this entry »

This is enough to make one question the basic fundamentals of ones belief system:

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), one of the leading anti-war voices in the House Democratic Caucus, is back from a trip to Iraq and he now says the “surge is working.”

He’s been so terribly wrong about so many things regarding the campaign in Iraq. Do we dare hope he’s suddenly right about this?

If anything anywhere is enough to get the “we’ve won” talk to calm down just a bit, this should be it.

Via Instapundit.

U.S. cruiser spots 2 Iranian subs in Gulf

USS Vicksburg (CG 69) spots two Kilos:

Crew members aboard the cruiser didn’t consider the encounters hostile, although it wasn’t clear if the Iranian boats surfaced within view of the cruiser or if the U.S. warship happened to see the Iranian subs while they were already running on the surface. Iran has a fleet of three Kilo-class SSKs, according to Jane’s Fighting Ships.

[Capt. Chip] Swicker indicated the Vicksburg was close enough to Iranian waters at the times of the encounters that crew members didn’t consider it out of the ordinary to see Iranian navy vessels.

But subs on the surface? With the US Navy in the area? Were they trying to send a message? Or just incompetent?

UPDATE: DJ Eliott explains the surfaced subs:

Don’t forget the alleged supercavitating Hoot torpedo.

Meanwhile: Iran launches stealth sub

Iran’s second domestically produced submarine, equipped with an anti-sonar system, was launched in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas on Wednesday.

The modern submarine of the Ghadir class became operational during a ceremony commemorating Navy Day, the Fars News Agency reported.

The light underwater craft, outfitted with the latest military and electronic equipment, was designed and manufactured in cooperation with Iran’s universities over the course of 10 years.

Though I certainly don’t want to risk underestimating diesel subs of potential enemies, my guess is that this homegrown sub is roughly the equivalent of the homegrown fighter Iran rolled out some time back.

And the pressure is building: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards patrol Persian Gulf, U.S. says

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has taken command of Iranian naval operations in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. military has revealed.

That means U.S. naval forces are operating in the same waters as an organization the United States considers a major supporter of terrorist activity…

The move is of concern to the U.S. Navy, which has long viewed the IRGC’s forces as more antagonistic than Iran’s regular navy.

Mullen said Iran made a “strategic decision” in recent months to “essentially give the entire Gulf to the IRGC over the next four or five years.”

Those who argue that Iran has not hostile intentions and should be treated just like any other peaceful nation simply choose to ignore the fact that the more extreme factions within Iran continue to gather more internal power.

Matthews is Defining away victory:

But my definition of a defeat is you can’t leave. If we can’t leave that country in the foreseeable future, we are losing. The purpose of the American Army is to get home and be ready to defend this country against possible threats to this country…if we can’t ever come home, we can’t ever say we won.

Let’s just say that all the troops came home tomorrow, he’d be on TV next week saying “But my definition of a defeat is not leaving right away. We were there for years. If we can’t come home right away, we can’t ever say we won.”

Continuing my hypothetical process, if we were to invade Country X in January, win, and get out by the end of the month, he’d go on TV in February and say “But my definition of a defeat is having to go in the first place. We had to use the last resort. If we can’t win without using force, we can’t ever say we won.”

Then, in July, all the troops at home are needed to repel a massive surprise invasion by an alliance led by Country Y. We win a short but savage war, protecting the homeland. From the ruins of New York City, Matthews goes on TV in August and says “But my definition of a defeat is giving others a reason to hate us and attack us. If we can’t have peace without needing to win a war, we can’t ever say we won.”

Seeing us weak and damaged, Country Z sees its only chance and attacks in November. They conquer most of the United States. From his new international television studio in the capital of Country Z, Matthews says “We won.”

At some point, don’t these folks who have got so much personally invested in the defeat of the United States need to explain why they spend so much time publicly cheerleading for the other side? If they don’t, aren’t they running the risk of looking like they might be ON the other side?

Don’t question their patriotism, though.

China: Navy spat not a misunderstanding

BEIJING – China’s last-minute cancellation of a U.S. Navy visit to Hong Kong was not the result of a misunderstanding, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday, adding that ties had been “disturbed and harmed” by Congress’ honoring of the Dalai Lama and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Spokesman Liu Jianchao denounced an earlier report from Washington that said Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told President Bush the incident was a misunderstanding.

Nice that we’re clear on that.

Liu said “erroneous” actions on the part of the U.S. had “disturbed and harmed” relations.

He pointed to Congress’ awarding its highest civilian honor to the Dalai Lama last month. Although the Tibetan spiritual leader is lauded in much of the world as a figure of moral authority, Beijing demonizes the monk and claims he seeks to destroy China’s sovereignty by pushing for independence for Tibet.

Also hurting relations were arms sales to Taiwan, an island which China regards as a renegade province, he said.

If Murdoc was President, we’d immediately issue a statement explaining that honoring the Dalai Lama and the arms sales to Taiwan were not “erroneous”, as earlier reported by some Chinese official, but very carefully thought-out and intentional actions of official policy on our part.

By Darth Izzard, so beware of a few words from the Dark Side.

6,000 Sunni Iraqis Join Pact With U.S.

Military.com:

Nearly 6,000 Sunni Arab residents joined a security pact with American forces Nov. 28 in what U.S. officers described as a critical step in plugging the remaining escape routes for extremists flushed from former strongholds.

The new alliance – called the single largest single volunteer mobilization since the war began – covers the “last gateway” for groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq seeking new havens in northern Iraq, U.S. military officials said.

This sort of thing is a two birds, one stone deal. Not only do our forces get the aid of these fighters, but they won’t have to worry about facing them in battle. If they can be trusted, of course. That remains an issue, but results lately have been pretty positive in this area. Everyone wants to play on the winning team.

Well, almost everyone:

Female Bomber Wounds Seven U.S. Troops
A woman wearing an explosives belt blew herself up near an American patrol northeast of Baghdad – a rare female suicide bombing that wounded seven U.S. troops and five Iraqis, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

What we’re going to have keep in mind is that this sort of thing is going to happen more or less forever. No matter how many deals are brokered, no matter how many agreements are made, no matter how much time passes with Iraqis enjoying peace and security, there are going to be those willing to trade their mortal lives for a bit of terror and violence.

Hopefully we can get to the point where these attacks are uncommon enough to seem unusual.

Over the past six or eight months there have been complaints that our alliances with various tribes and militias are nothing more than bribery. And in some cases that’s probably absolutely true. We agree to stop killing them and give them some cash, they agree to stop attacking us and to help provide security against the dead-enders and terrorists. Cash is one thing we have plenty of. We just need to make sure it’s getting spent on the right things.

That said, not everyone is doing it only for the money:

Village mayors and others who signed Wednesday’s agreement say about 200 militants have sought refuge in the area, about 30 miles southwest of Kirkuk on the edge of northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Hawija is a predominantly Sunni Arab cluster of villages which has long been an insurgent flashpoint.

The recently arrived militants have waged a campaign of killing and intimidation to try to establish a new base, said Sheikh Khalaf Ali Issa, mayor of Zaab village.

“They killed 476 of my citizens, and I will not let them continue their killing,” Issa said.

Most Iraqis have more to gain from peace than war, and as the fighting dies down more and more of them are going to work harder to make the peace a lasting one.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by Diet Eman, a member of the Dutch Resistance during World War 2. She currently lives in Grand Rapids and spoke to a packed room at the Homeschool Building in (the city of) Wyoming.

It was quite something to hear about her experiences and exploits following the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. She helped hide Dutch Jews, she aided downed Allied pilots, she helped steal ID papers and ration cards for those in hiding, and she basically lived on the run until captured and imprisoned in 1944. Her fiance was killed. Canadian troops finally liberated the area in 1945.

She credits her Christian faith and God’s will for her success and survival. I believe that the things she did and the close calls she managed to escape were not mere coincidence or good fortune.

She refused an honorarium for speaking because of her strong support for homeschooling.

I bought a copy of her book Things We Couldn’t Say and it looks good. It was published by Eerdmans in Grand Rapids. Mrs. Eman was signing books, and I had her make it out to my wife who has read a number of WW2-era stories to our kids, including at least one on the Dutch Resistance. I’ll probably have some excerpts and additional comments once I get a chance to read it.

To hear her stories from her mouth in person was quite an experience. She told us that any of us would do the same thing in the same position, and I would like to believe it. But to hear her speak of what she did, I wonder.

Bill Clinton says he opposed Iraq war from start

On Iraq, he told the crowd that wealthy people like he and his wife should pay more taxes in times of war. –Even though I approved of Afghanistan and opposed Iraq from the beginning, I still resent that I was not asked or given the opportunity to support those soldiers,” Clinton said.

Give Willie credit. He pulls no punches when telling whoppers.

Not only does he misremember earlier things he said about Iraq, he uses it to campaign for higher tax rates. All while pretending that he wanted to give more money to the military but couldn’t. He probably feels the military’s pain and all.

If he really, truly, honestly can’t find one single place to donate money, let Murdoc suggest AmericanSnipers.org.

Pickpocket whupped by Marine pleads guilty

Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Jesse Daniel Rae, who was beaten up by a older Marine while he was trying to rob him, plead guilty to assault with intent to rob Wednesday.

Rae tried to rob Bill Barnes, 72, at a convenience store in Alpine Township in early summer. Barnes quickly got the upper hand on Rae, 27, and the incident was caught on surveillance cameras.

Rae will be sentenced January 28 and faces up to 15 years in prison.

Coverage from this summer:

Bill Barnes says he was scratching off a losing $2 lottery ticket inside a gas station when he felt a hand slip into his front-left pants pocket, where he had $300 in cash.

He immediately grabbed the person’s wrist with his left hand and started throwing punches with his right, landing six or seven blows before a store manager intervened.