Little not enough air?

Posted by lex, on September 24, 2006

At least one British Army officer in Afghanistan appears to think so.

The R.A.F. have been utterly, utterly useless,’’ Maj. Loden was quoted as saying, referring to two instances involving Harrier warplanes during close ground combat.

“A female Harrier pilot ‘couldn’t identify the target,’ fired two phosphorous rockets that just missed our own compound so that we thought they were incoming RPG’s, and then strafed our perimeter, missing the enemy by 200 meters,’’ he wrote, according to British news reports. RPG stands for rocket-propelled grenade.

In contrast to Britain’s Royal Air Force, Maj. Loden said, the United States Air Force had been “fantastic.’’

As you might suspect, that comparison went over like a fart in church up-echelon. Hard to make any general conclusions from one man’s specific observations, but it’s interesting how in this fight, the voices of the troops – for better or worse – are much more likely to pass through the filters, military, civil, media and that once would have held them in check.

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Busy

Posted by lex, on September 25, 2006

Insanely busy. Irrationally so. Firing on all synapses. Every sinew a-twitch.

Busy.

So. Talk amongst yourselves. As though you needed any encouragement from me.

Suggested topic: Close Air Support. How very hard it can be to deliver warheads on foreheads when those forehead are in close proximity to other foreheads whom you are actually trying to protect. And who need it bad, or else they wouldn’t be asking for you to drop 500 pound bombs over the top of them, because really, who needs the stress?

But only they’re locked in mortal combat, like. In the beatin’ zone, but with the roles of beater and beatee not yet clearly defined. But whose situation is not improved if in fact you mid-ID the target or otherwise drop short.

Alternative topic: Raising 15-year old daughters in Southern California – from the parent’s perspective, is attempting to do so a suicidal gesture, or merely self-destructive ideation? Discuss.

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Wigging out over Iran

Posted by lex, on March 24, 2006

 

There’s a powerpoint slideshow burning up the unclas government lines, created by VII, inc. under the name of that company’s president, Chuck Vollmer. The executive summary reads thusly:

Iran appears to be rushing to a conflict with the West. The main question is what is motivating President Ahmadinejad to such recklessness?

• Historical:Confederacy with Shiite Iraq is a historic opportunity after 1,000 years of domination from Sunni Arabs and Ottoman Turks.• Political:Ahmadinejad was hired by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei torevive the declining Islamic Revolution. Creating an external enemy would help galvanize his position over the more liberal pro-reform faction.
• Economic:Control of 50% of the world’s oil reserves greatly benefits Iran
• Military: Iran has tens of thousands of special ops forces in Iraq and a million forces on the border. UK and US forces could be significantly outnumbered and overrun with assistance from Syrian and internal insurgent Iraqi forces.
• Religious:Ultra-religious Shia clerics and Ahmadinejad are dedicated to the near-term messianic return of the 12th Imam via the creation of an apocalypse.

After that, the presentation turns pessimistic. Ah, well: Interesting times.

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Friday Musings 03-24-06

Posted by lex, on March 24, 2006

 

You should read this slowly, because that’s the way I’m typing it. Langorously. Why you might ask?

Well, I’ll tell you: I have finished yet another academic quarter and am, for the space of a week’s time, entirely unencumbered by the need to screw myself into a knot-hole in preparation for some bit of scholastic tomfoolery, silly at the best of times, ludicrous at my age.

Time to lighten up, Francis?

Posted by lex, on March 28, 2006

 

Last month I suggested that Johns Hopkins political science guru and celebrated ex-Neocon Francis Fukuyama had taken counsel of his fears. This month, WaPo columnist (and unrepentant Neocon) Charles Krauthammer reports that Fukuyama has also taken certain liberties with the truth:

The search for the truth

Posted by lex, on March 28, 2006

Interesting article today in the NY Times, dealing with the on-going release of 48,000 boxes of previously classified, pre-war documents – only lightly skimmed by intelligence agencies – from the files of Saddam’s regime. The effort is sponsored by Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and is designed to let Glen(n)’s “Army of Davids” go to work doing the heavy lifting of translating them. This is work that the national intelligence agencies – more interested in shooting alligators closer to the canoe than in going over “ancient” history – haven’t the resources to attempt.

Neptunus Lex – Guest Blogger asm826

Editor’s Note: A few years ago, when we had reposted most of the posts that neptunuslex reader advocaat had archived for his personal use (which, once Lex’s site went down proved invaluable), I started to comb the Wayback Machine archives to catch any additional posts we missed. Most of them were small, but many funny and a few gems, such as Bones, were retrieved from here.

GB – VMFA XXVII

Posted by asm826 on September 17, 2006

Tom wandered slowly up MagSaySay. The carrier and her escorts had been gone for two days. The squadron was gone. The rain and cold had driven everyone off the street. It felt like walking up the midway after the carnival had closed. He moved slowly, taking some of the pictures he had been meaning to catch for weeks.

Chief Santiago stopped by

Posted by lex, on September 18, 2006

Diego’s dad. Dropped a note of thanks in the comments box that I thought you might like to read:

BROTHERS AND SISTERS
I want to thank you for your wonderful comments. I would like to say that reading this blog makes me proud of the large family I have in you, Our Nations Armed Forces(active or retired). As the father of such an incredible child. i must say that you the military were the sole inspiration in my son’s heart any time he saw a jet,tank,ship or grunt pounding the pavement,he smile that angelic smile of his. I thank you all for bringing happiness to his heart even in his days of pain. God speed….

Thank you, Chief. Thanks for reminding us all what’s really important. You’re still in our prayers, you and Diego and Cookie and all the rest.

We’re so very sorry for your troubles.

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A Comment from Cookie Santiago

Cookie Santiago Says:

August 18th, 2006 at 11:25 pm

Jizno,

Thank you for your words of comfort…so timely, as tonight has been the worst of all in the past 2 1/2 weeks since Diego left us.

I desperately desire genuine prayers for my family. We are in terrible pain…struggling to find our “place” and our way back to “family.” It’s centered around cancer for so long that we struggle to adjust to the absence of Diego and all that has surrounded us because of this illness.

I can’t describe this ache and emptiness…but, I do know that we’re not alone. I choose to believe that God is with us and loving us through this, although we question the amount of anguish that has been permitted to fall upon us…our marriage…our children.

I’m so deeply moved by the response from this web-family. Thank you…there is comfort and strength in being surrounded with love, prayers, and support. I am struggling to hold on to hope…I’ll have to rely on matters of “faith” and “trust” and “believing.”

Sincerely,
Cookie
(Diego’s mom: www.carepgaes.com / DiegoLand)

Taken from Lex’s old website, neptunuslex. Linked from his post/ – Ed