| From The Editor February 26, 2007 |
Why, as a nation, are we so unhappy?The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right? The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3's of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.So being the knuckle dragger I am, I starting thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?'' Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year? Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital. Full Story Gary Jackson |
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| "In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine." Erwin Rommel |
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The Two Worlds of Walter ReedWe used to get chocolate milk delivered to our beds. The amputees of Walter Reed Army Medical Center were accustomed to first-class service as a matter of hospital policy. "The Ritz-Carlton is where you want to go, not Motel 6," the head nurse of Ward 57 told her staff after the Iraq war began in 2003. "That's how I want all my patients treated."But it was a courtesy that apparently stopped at the hospital's front door. According to a series in this week's Washington Post, some wounded soldiers have lived amid mice, mold and mismanagement in outpatient facilities. It was a shocking account to ordinary Americans who know of Walter Reed by its spit-shine, high-tech image, but especially to me. An embedded reporter who lost a hand in a grenade attack, I was treated at Walter Reed as an in-patient from December 16, 2003 to January 8, 2004, when I left for my home in Washington. I returned regularly to the hospital as an outpatient for 18 months, stopping often to visit friends who were living in the modern, clean Malogne House. Full Story Quiet in Baghdad. Too QuietThe silence is eerie. After opening the U.S. Army's first combat outpost (COP) in Baghdad last month the men of Charlie Company, 2-12 Cavalry, had gotten used to gunfights raging nearby, the crack of bullets passing overhead, and the explosion of rocket-propelled grenades. After all, this was Ghazaliyah, where Sunni insurgents and Shi'a militiamen have battled each other, the Iraqi army and police, and the Americans for months. In the past week, though, the men have been unnerved by absence of the sounds of war. "It's been quiet - really, really, quiet," said Sgt. Sergej Michaud, 24. Michaud has cropped his dark hair nearly to the scalp, and he has a tattoo of a helmeted skull on his left forearm with TANKER printed below. Like many other soldiers at the COP he relishes the chance to drive towards gunfire and separate the combatants in Iraq's sectarian war. That was routine for his platoon until a few days ago, when the violence suddenly dropped almost to nothing. One soldier said he used to doze off at night by imagining the gunfire was the sound of rain on a tin roof. Now the nights are virtually silent. That's unusual for any Baghdad neighborhood, and eerie for a notoriously violent place like Ghazaliyah. Gunfights with insurgents and militiamen worry Sgt. Michaud less than figuring out where those enemies have gone. "I have no idea," he said. "It's kind of scary. It's kind of scary." Full Story The New Enemy?President Bush officially anointed a new enemy of the United States on Wednesday: the "Quds Force." After a week in which his administration contradicted itself repeatedly over the threat from Iran, Bush settled on what he said were the known facts. The sophisticated weapons being used against U.S. troops in Iraq "were provided by the Quds Force," a paramilitary arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the president said at a news conference in the East Room. "We know that. And we also know that the Quds Force is a part of the Iranian government. That's a known. What we don't know is whether or not head leaders of Iran ordered the Quds Force to do what they did."Just who are the Quds Force? And how good is the intelligence on them, really? A NEWSWEEK investigation shows that the evidence against the Quds Force is still questionable, and that some of the key Iraqi politicians Washington is relying on most, such as Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, have had close relations with the Iranian group. The United States found itself on the same side as the Quds Force after 9/11 in the fight against the Taliban, when Quds supported the leader of the Northern Alliance, Ahmed Shah Masoud. Full Story |
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How U.S. Is Failing Its War VeteransAfter returning from Iraq in late 2005, Jonathan Schulze spent every day struggling not to fall apart. When a Department of Veterans Affairs clinic turned him away last month, he lost the battle. The 25-year-old Marine from Stewart, Minn., had told his parents that 16 men in his unit had died in two days of battle in Ramadi. At home, he was drinking hard to stave off the nightmares. Though he managed to get a job as a roofer, he was suffering flashbacks and panic attacks so intense that he couldn't concentrate on his work. Sometimes, he heard in his mind the haunting chants of the muezzin - the Muslim call to prayer that he'd heard many times in Iraq. Again and again, he'd relive the moments he was in a Humvee, manning the machine gun, but helpless to save his fellow Marines. "He'd be seeing them in his own mind, standing in front of him," says his stepmother, Marianne. Schulze, who earned two Purple Hearts for wounds sustained in Iraq, was initially reluctant to turn to the VA. Raised among fighters - Schulze's father served in Vietnam and over the years his older brother and six stepbrothers all enlisted in the military - Jonathan might have felt asking for help didn't befit a Marine.Full Story The Democrats' Special Forces FetishIt was one bullet point in the plan for the Pelosi Congress's "first 100 hours," two sentences in the Democrats' 31-page "New Direction for America" document released last June: In order to "Defeat terrorists and stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, we will . . . . Double the size of our Special Forces" (emphasis added). Sounds nifty, doesn't it, like a bumper sticker reading "Outlaw War Now!"? And, indeed, top-notch warriors play an invaluable role in any war but are most useful in the sorts of guerrilla actions and antiterrorist activity that will probably dominate the military's missions for the next generation. There are just two problems. First, doubling can only be accomplished by going a disastrous route--making special ops no longer special. Second, false solutions crowd out real ones. Much can be done to improve the quality of our armed forces, but this Democratic proposal doesn't make the grade.Full Story Serious use for Silly String WAR >> Future Marine already working to save livesZeke Peterson is a 14-year-old on a mission to save lives. He's collecting money to buy Silly String for troops in Iraq. Some Marines and soldiers apparently use the party favor for a serious purpose: to detect trip wires on bombs and booby traps. They spray the neon-colored strands into an area they're about to enter. If there are trip wires--which are almost impossible to see--the string gets caught on them. In December, Zeke put out collection boxes at schools and visited businesses in Charles County, Md., asking for donations. He got $6,000--enough to buy 4,400 cans. (He was paying up to $3 a can before he found a dollar-store brand.)Full Story General implicates al-Qaeda in helicopter crashes"Al-Qaeda-associated" cells may be behind a recent spike in downed U.S. helicopters in Iraq, a general said Thursday. Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, said two suspects have been captured in connection with the helicopter attacks. One suspect, he said, admitted involvement in one attack. Since Jan. 20, insurgents have shot or forced down eight U.S. helicopters, killing 28 troops and civilians. Enemy fire forced down a Black Hawk helicopter north of Baghdad on Wednesday. Insurgents fire on Army helicopters an average of 100 times a month, Maj. Gen. James Simmons, deputy commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, said earlier this month. Enemy fire hits helicopters in about 17% of those attacks, he said. Most are able to keep flying.Full Story 4th Regiment Ready for ActionThe 4th Marine Regiment's Regimental Schools conducted its pre-deployment training program Jan. 22-Feb. 16 for the first time since the school's creation in December. The Regimental Schools, once a part of 3rd Marine Division Schools, was created as a specialized school with a core of about 15 instructors, according to Staff Sgt. Larry R. Lintz, the PTP staff non-commissioned officer-in-charge for the Regimental Schools. The instructors are now dedicated solely to providing pre-deployment training to 3rd MarDiv Marines preparing for operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, he said. "(As Division Schools), we were responsible for a number of different training (programs) such as Marine Corps Martial Arts and Corporals' Leadership Courses," Lintz said. "But we got the word that we were going to switch and become a cadre of instructors that comes up here to 4th Marines and would be responsible solely for PTP."Full Story |
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Learnin' From the Muj?The web is packed with folks wondering what the recent rash of helicopter downings in Iraq means to the American war effort. Basically, it means the enemy has simultaneously figured out how to use the gear stashed in sheds and burrows around the country and found the cojones to use it. It also means that American helicopter routes had grown a bit too predicatable. After all, we'd flown thousands of sorties for years now without a single shoulder-fired SAM being lobbed skyward. Those days are over. Whether Stingers from the CIA by way of the Taliban or SA-18s from Russia by way of Iran, the bad guys have possession of weapons that can reach out and touch our rotary wing aircraft. That's a big eye-opener, considering that going by air was heretofore considered the safer alternative to traveling over IED-infested roads.Full Story Marines debate infantry planFor some years, the U.S. Marine Corps has been playing with a concept called "Distributed Operations." On January 11, it issued a short paper over the signature of Lt. Gen. J.F. Amos, the grandiloquently titled "Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration" (I can remember when Marines would have choked on a title like that) which defines and explains the concept. Well, sort of. To understand the paper, a bit of background helps. There are two potential definitions of distributed operations, one that could carry the Marine Corps forwards in important ways and another that is essentially a scam. In the first, distributed operations is just a new term for true light or Jaeger infantry. While both the Marine Corps-and the U. S. Army call their foot infantry "light," in terms of its tactics it is line infantry. True light infantry has always fought distributed, with small units operating beyond range of mutual support or supporting arms.Full Story US generals 'will quit' if Bush orders Iran attackSOME of America's most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources. Tension in the Gulf region has raised fears that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely before President George Bush leaves office. The Sunday Times has learnt that up to five generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would be a reckless attack. "There are four or five generals and admirals we know of who would resign if Bush ordered an attack on Iran," a source with close ties to British intelligence said. "There is simply no stomach for it in the Pentagon, and a lot of people question whether such an attack would be effective or even possible." A British defence source confirmed that there were deep misgivings inside the Pentagon about a military strike. "All the generals are perfectly clear that they don't have the military capacity to take Iran on in any meaningful fashion. Nobody wants to do it and it would be a matter of conscience for them.Full Story A Failure to CommunicateIn Iraq, we have been losing not clashes of arms but clashes of perceptions. Our enemies understood early on that they could not defeat American troops in combat. But they were clever enough to realize they didn't need to. Instead, they could win a war of ideas. Their strategy was audacious: They would target their enemies - "occupiers," "infidels," and "collaborators"- only opportunistically and sporadically. Their most lethal weapon, the suicide bomber, they would deploy against ordinary Iraqis shopping in the market, waiting on line for jobs, sitting in cafes. One might have expected the fabled "Arab Street" to erupt over the slaughter of fellow Arabs. It did not do so. Muslims around the world ought to have been furious over seeing their co-religionists killed in cold blood. They were not. Nor were Europeans outraged at the mass murder of innocents. On the contrary, many expressed something close to admiration for what they persisted in calling the "Resistance."Full Story 11 Days Till BaghdadTheir camouflage on, their wives carrying infants, their older children carrying flags, the soldiers of George W. Bush's surge crowded into a gymnasium for their brigade deployment ceremony, a last public viewing before they disappeared into Iraq. Baghdad, long an abstraction, was now imminent. Of the 21,500 additional troops President Bush decided to send to Iraq in the coming months, about 3,500 were coming from here. "Are you frightened?" a TV reporter called out. "I'm confident," one of those soldiers replied. An enormous American flag hung on the back wall. A military band lined up in formation. "Ready to go," another soldier said. Outside, snow was coming toward this isolated place. Inside, as the bleachers filled and the doors swung closed against the cold, a 41-year-old soldier near the middle of the floor began clapping his hands in anticipation. And now waved at his wife and children.Full Story |
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Blackwater Language SchoolLearn the language... and the culture... then deploy.Operators, analysts, military and civilian support personnel working with a foreign country have four classes to choose from IRAQI ARABIC - 26 February - 2 March 7 May - 11 May 6 August - 10 August 29 October - 2 November PASHTO - 5 March - 9 March 14 May - 18 May 13 August - 17 August 5 November - 9 November DARI - 12 March - 16 March 21 May - 25 May 20 August - 24 August 12 November - 16 November SPANISH - 19 February - 23 February 27 August - 31 August INTENSITY - Live and breathe Arabic, Pashto/Dari, or Spanish Blackwater Language School provides an intensive language learning environment in which participants challenge themselves and learn at a rate beyond normal limits. This intensive experience has proven to be very successful. Because you and your teammates have limited time to study the language and culture, we substitute time with intensity. Every student is encouraged to communicate as much as possible in the target language during the week-long course. This is no ordinary course of study- it is an endeavor that is emotionally taxing- and rewarding. SURVIVABILITY - Cultural Awareness = Situational Awareness If you don't understand the culture...you can cause real trouble. Our team of accomplished staff is dedicated to helping students survive and thrive in the subject culture. A series of cultural activities will take place throughout the program. Students will be encouraged to use their new skills as they eat cultural meals and engage in situational interviews- in the immersive environment. This highly intensive language environment empowers you to immediately put your language skills into action and test the boundaries of your cultural survival skills. At only $1495 per student, space is extremely limited. To reserve a space for you or your unit call or email us today. (252) 435-2016 languages@blackwaterusa.com | |
| FRANKS REVIEW |
Service Equipment ReviewOtterBox Laptop Carrying CaseSome of the things that I review have a higher "cool" factor than others. Readership is huge when there is a gun review. Readership is pretty good when I review a knife, backpack, hydration system, etc. When I review boots? Maybe it's not so high. Still, all of today's contemporary warriors have use for equipment that protects or supports them in the operational environment, and there are so many different kinds of environments that the equipment necessary is wide and varied. One of the things growing more common in the operational environment is computers. Those computers have to be transported safely; protected. When they are needed they have to be accessible and functioning. This week's review is of a laptop carrying case made by OtterBox. It may not have a high "cool" factor, but it could potentially be a very important piece of equipment.Full Story Can Be Viewed At: http://www.borelliconsulting.com/evals/other/otterbox.htm Recreational Equipment ReviewGerber Silver Trident KnifeLong associated with Navy Special Warfare, and specifically the Navy SEALs, the silver trident is an emblem of excellence. When Gerber started designing a knife, with assistance from "Patches" Watson, one of the original plank holders (founding member) of SEAL Team Six, their goal was to make a knife that would serve that community with that same high level of excellence associated with the name, Silver Trident. Oddly enough, many of us look at tools designed for the military and don't see, for whatever reason, the carryover obvious use they have in the recreational arena. The Gerber Silver Trident plays such a role with aplomb and this week we're going to take a look at the features that add to its serviceability.
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