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 on item 8.
The money quote is here however. Don’t see either side providing the resources to get there from here-no matter who wins in 2008. Accordingly this is should be a matter of deep concern:
“Our recruiting campaign is bringing into the Army thousands of new soldiers (perhaps 10% of the annual input) who should not be in uniform. (Criminal records, drug use, moral waivers, non-high school graduates, pregnant from Basic Training and therefore non-deployable, lowest mental category, etc.)
We are losing our combat experienced mid-career NCOs’ and Captains at an excessive rate. (ROTC DMG’s, West Pointers, Officers with engineering and business degrees, etc.) Their morale is high, they are proud of their service, they have enormous personal courage—however, they see a nation of 300 million people with only an under resourced Armed Forces at war. The US Army at 400,000 troops is too small to carry out the current military strategy. The active duty US Army needs to be 800,000 strong to guarantee US national security.”
Gen McCaffrey writes a similar piece in today’s WSJ; objective & positive. He writes: “The key to winning the war is to massively build Iraqi security forces with the equipment, training & leadership needed to maintain internal order & security as we withdraw.” Much easier said than done (like most things), but if history is any guide, those involved in that effort have more to be concerned about from within than from without.
Thanks, Lex for that succinct summary.
Recruiting has got to be tough when:
1.The economy is going full blast.
2.The MSM barely metion Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Islamist threat.
Far more threatening, in their minds, is the lack of universal healthcare, the Bush budget deficit, and the possibility of a Republican being elected in 2008.
I seem to recall this is the way things began to spiral down for Rome. Couldn’t find any citizens to fight the barbarians. Nah, I’m probably wrong about that.
We spend all that money on nukes and never use the things. Whats up with that?
ELP:
Literally volumes, that’s what. We could cut the current inventory in half, still have more than the Russians and Chinese combined, while maintaining a more current/modernized inventory of weapons (that, OBTW is also less expensive to maintain), take the lead under new START/SORT accords, use the money instead for much needed conventional weapons systems upgrades and developments…but I digress.
This (the nuclear weapons stockpile and US nuclear strategy) will be one of the issues we will be addressing at length in the coming New Year.
- SJS
Oh, and don’t overlook this item under 2(b) of “The Way Ahead”:
We are digging a strategic hole for the US as we mono-focus on counter-insurgency capabilities —while China inevitably emerges in the coming 15 years as a global military power.
…to which I would add a “Most Strongly Concur”
-SJS
Thanks for the summary. I’ll read it in detail as time permits today.
Merry Christmas to all.
I had never been a fan of the former SECDEF since he established the ROG for Beiruit when 220 Marines and 21 other service members got blown to bits. Who ever heard of sentries in a volatile situation not being allowed to load their weapons?
It’s nice to hear the security situation is improving. Perhaps the Iraquis are getting tired of the carnage perpetrated on them by outsiders.
My best to each of you for a Safe and Happy Holiday Season.
And he wants the 13 IA Divs to have 9,000 armored vehicles.
Either he is justifying donating MRAPs when we draw down or he wants to mechanize the current IA.
PS The Real Surge continues…
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/12/measuring_security_a.php