Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Amen to that.
What a breath of fresh air!!!
I love that guy.
“Our guys want to kill them, and that?
I love that guy.
“Our guys want to kill them, and that’s the plan.”
Outstanding.
I hope they send every last one of ‘em to hell. Take no prisoners.
Unless Harry Reid hears about the success; then he will cancel all Senate business over the weekend so he can recall Gen Petraeus to fire him.
AQiI is about to receive a deadly lesson, and one I hope they don’t learn from.
Look at the photo on the blog of the two soldiers sleeping. Notice a few details. The hands are deeply tanned, the faces less so, and certainly not red. Those helmets don’t give much sun protection, or much airflow. Notice also the uniforms are tight, no open-neck or sleeves rolled up or towels around the back of folks trying to suffer the heat. Rather, these are men who’ve spent months in the Iraqui sun, they’re tanned and acclimated to the weather rather than hot and exhausted, and they’re grabbing Z’s the way any soldier does – whenever there’s time.
Which sort of makes sense, given “the surge” was to take a few months. You don’t take a soldier from Seattle and plop him on the line in Alaska or Tuscon. You give him time to train, become acclimated, become ready. While not popular with politicians who demand instant gratification, or at least a report prior to the press deadline, this is evidence of leadership focused upon the job and not a time-table.
An enemy thinking the desert heat or the frozen tundra is an ally suddenly finds himself without his expected advantage. That, friends, is when hubris becomes a downfall. The Russians will brag on and on about defeating the Nazi’s in the cold winter. They don’t talk about the lesson the Finns taught them during the winter.
Good luck and Godspeed, men.
– Max
Amen.
“…A positive indicator on the 19th and the 20th is that most local people apparently are happy that al Qaeda is being trapped and killed. Civilians are pointing out IEDs and enemy fighters, so that?
“…A positive indicator on the 19th and the 20th is that most local people apparently are happy that al Qaeda is being trapped and killed. Civilians are pointing out IEDs and enemy fighters, so that’s not working so well for al Qaeda…”
I would imagine the locals are thrilled that AQ is being killed. Having them in their midst naturally makes them targets as well – good for these folks for having the courage to help us.
Locals are routinely co-opted by the bad guys – place an IED or forfeit your family – tough choice.
I am an avid follower of his work.
He brings credibility to reporting.
The Arrowhead Division is in the thick of it. Those Strykers are something to reckon with.
Had my doubts when they first deployed the Stryker, but it has since removed any shadow of doubt with its successes in Iraq.
The sun is fierce enough that you wear sleeves down and your cover even when it feels stifling- to do other would mean you burn and blister in a couple hours, for most fair-skinned types.
You spend as much time as possible out of the sun, even to automatically chasing the shade, and as much time inside air conditioned vehicles and buildings as possible.
You do become acclimated to a much greater degree than you would’ve thought possible on first arrival- sometimes it feels so effing hot it’s like sticking your face in an oven, but you get somewhat used to it. We do better than the locals sometimes and someways about getting things done. “Mad dogs and Englishmen” didn’t take into account a knowledgable person drinking as much clean water as they can hold.
It doesn’t take long to get dehydrated if you’re wearing your IBA and standing/walking out in the sun. You do that kind of thing as little as possible. It’s just not humanly possible for it to take no toll; 110 or 115 F in the shade and carrying 90 pounds of gear and armor means you get tired. Fast. It’s just as well there’s little to do outside of work, because there’s little energy to do it with.
I’m not out in the field, I have a pretty cushy job in an air-conditioned facility. Even that is no picnic.
Bastidge, you speak whereof I speak — acclimation. I know moving about in 115 degree heat isn’t easy after just a few weeks, but the pic indicates to me these troops are used to it, they know how to defend against it, and above all they know how to fight in it.
I was there once, about 20 years ago. It always amazed me that civilization could have started in Mesopotamia given how inhospitable the climate. Then again, the first Byzantine visitors to my ancestors in Norway probably thought the very same thing.
They’re going to give AQiA a serious ass-whuppin, because to my mind there’s no better army than ours, no better, more-educated troops than ours, and one major advantage the enemy had has been taken from him.
That’s all I was opining on.
– Max
I hope so Max. The problem is one that has no easy solution- finding the enemy and distinguishing him from civvies. Particularly in a population which is often not any more fond of us than the enemy, or are at least more afraid of the enemy on an individual level, and culturally not inclined to take positive action for themselves anyway.
The civvies, stupid rumor-mongering aside, know our RoE, and they know that AQiI has none.