Ssshhhhhhhh

Don't expect to hear much about this but the cases against Blackwater operators are all falling apart.

Lots of media yak yak yak when charges are filed, not so much when the haters are losing the effort to prosecute.

Restraint & Courage

Elections have grave consequences.

For example... this.

Bad Form Turns Into Grave Insult

Many tongues are wagging about Lordy O deciding against laying the Memorial Day wreath.


It seems more than a bit disrespectful, especially given that he's commander-in-chief of forces who are currently in shooting wars. But Captain Cool has turned bad form into a complete insult by sending Slow Joe in his stead.



Geez, sending The Burger King would be better than Slow Joe. Maybe Joey can bring Walter Mitty Blumenthal in from CT to tell the gathered folks some somber, heart-wrenching stories about his days over in 'Nam.

Honestly, the President of the United States can't bother to haul his frame over to Arlington?

In This, The 11th Hour

Meet Mr. MOP

This particular MOP is a "massive ordinance penetrator" bomb made by Boeing. It' scheduled to be available to the US military in 2010 and would be the largest non-nuclear weapon in the arsenal. The MOP is over 20 feet long, a little less than a yard wide, and tips the Toledos at about 30,000 pounds. 5,300 pounds of that weight is explosive material. Which means that it has fully 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor: BLU-109.

MOP travels to the theater via USAF B-2 bombers. GPS navigation can drop it on, say, oh I dunno, the underground nuke facilities in Iran just as an example.

The story of this big, bad MOP made its way onto the AP news service today. If a US President uses a 30,000 lb bomb to knock out a terror state's nuclear facility does the Nobel Peace Prize magically disappear from around his neck? We'll probably never know.

Anything Big Happening?

News coverage the past couple of weeks has been focused on two main stories. First has been the ongoing saga of the Democrat's push to foist socialized medicine on our nation. The second story has been largely ignored by the legacy media-- the ACORN fraud-- although it has received huge play in the new media.

A couple of years ago the boiling hot topic of attention was illegal immigration. After much acrimony over amnesty President Bush finally backed away from legislation and the topic pretty much disappeared overnight as we moved on to some other outrage. My guess is that by the end of this year Lord Obama will have to admit he can't get anything meaningful passed through the Dem caucus which has gone from flying a triumphant banner in January to waving a tattered rag in September. He'll table it, move on to other outrages, and thus will end "healthcare" as part of the grand national debate for now. Not with a bang but a whimper. Meanwhile ACORN will disband and the same criminal activity will start up under multiple different names.


So what will be the events of this period that will have lasting effect if those two stories go down a cul-de-sac? I assert that the China tire story could be of lasting import if, heaven forbid, it drives us headlong into a worldwide trade war. The second story from this period that could end up being far bigger than "healthcare" and "ACORN" is our surrender to the Russians on missile defense locations in Poland and the Czech Republic. The obvious weakness and appeasement that this overt act reveals was noted not only in Eastern Europe but in North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, and elsewhere. Most importantly, it was noted in Iran and in Israel. Polling of the Israeli populace reveals that less than 4% believe the Obama administration supports Israel. With Lord O selling the security of the Poles and Czechs to Russia for a promise and a grin, that 4% has probably dropped to zero. Israel is alone now against Iranian nuke aggression. If they act unilaterally some will wonder if the action of last week by the O administration hastened their strike at Iran.

Will America reap the whirlwind?

Sold Out Again

Oppose America's interests at every turn and Lord Obama will give you a reward.

Support America's interest at every turn and Lord Obama will give you the back of his hand.

Today it's the Czech Republic and Poland.

Danger Draws Closer

When hearing that the Iraqi government is banning Blackwater operators from their country many good folks here in the US will call the Iraqis ingrates and worse. It wouldn't be the first time that a country, having been liberated by force from a brutal regime, turned on their liberators. But it's a little more complicated than that. The Iraqi regime wouldn't do this if they hadn't been given a clear signal by the Obama/Biden/Hillary team that they should. Or, put another way, the new administration sees our protecting warriors, whether military or contractor, as a bigger threat than Hamas.

It isn't a coincidence that this happened after January 20, 2009. In the nine days since then the world has gotten quite a bit more dangerous as America is no longer forward-leaning. We are back to the repose of the pre- 9/11 years.

10 Big Stories

Just to be contrary I waited until 1/2/2009 to do my Top 10 stories. I'm not real concerned about the order of these and I'm even less concerned about any arbitrary rules. Here's a list of 10 big stories.

1. US & coalition partners win Operation Iraqi Freedom, commonly called The Iraq War, and nobody notices because it doesn't fit the conventional wisdom and it could cause people to question the idea of voting for an anti-war candidate when the war he was "anti" has already been won.

2. A harsh market correction caused by needed de-leveraging in the home lending sector is turned into a global financial crisis through government intervention. And... the intervention is just getting started.

3. A rookie, freshman US Senator from Illinois beats the Democrat field in proportionally awarded primary sweepstakes. Barack Obama then goes on to beat a Republican whose name escapes us.

4. Governor Sarah Palin, heretofore little known outside of Alaska, bursts onto the national scene and scares the crap out of Democrats and their handmaidens in the legacy media. Their vicious attacks on her are assuring to Conservatives since the Republican candidate for President, old whatzhisname, was a long-term darling of the same media and anathema to Libertarian-leaning Conservatives.

5. The bull market in oil trading ends just when "experts" are predicting confidently that oil will continue up to $200 pb. and gasoline to $10/ gallon. Before year-end oil will break under $40 pb and draw a chart that looks like someone fell in a mineshaft. And... a gallon of regular goes for $1.34 in my neighborhood where last August it was $3.97. Nobody seems happy about it-- at least not to the extent they were angry about it in August. Curious.

6. The UAW pimps out the CEO's of GM, Ford and Chrysler and the Detroit 3 go beg the US Congress to hand over taxpayer money to them. A handful of Conservative Senators block Congress from doing that so the President of the US whips out the people's wallet and drops the T.A.R.P. Visa card on the table--- with big strings attached. The UAW swipes the card, says a brief thanks to the POTUS and a loud prayer for the coming of Obama (a half billion dollars from unions making for a nice I.O.U.) and then says there will be no strings as far as they're concerned.

7. Russia invades Georgia and the West yawns. Before year-end Russia tells the Ukraine that their nat gas supplies will be cut off during extreme cold. Meanwhile, Israel responds to Hamas provocation and the world howls.

8. Mumbai, India is attacked by Islamic terrorists. Tension with Pakistan, already high, is ramped up.

9. Scandals: Liberal Democrat Bernie Madoff is nabbed for running a Ponzi scheme and most of his victims are other LibDems and their charities... Democrat Guv Blago of very blue IL is nabbed for running a pay-for-play scheme to fill Obama's old seat... Republican pork king Ted Stevens is nabbed for taking a bit of free work from a contractor without pay... Liberal Democrat Gov. Spitzer of deep blue NY is nabbed for fiddling with a pay-for-play call girl... Liberal Democrat John Edwards is nabbed for fiddling with a girl who isn't his wife-- but he seems to have been paying for his play too... Dodd, Schumer, & Barney Frank are up to their ears in causing the financial meltdown, yet are now the guys presiding over Congress's efforts to "get to the bottom of this scandal." I'm sure I missed a hundred or so other scandals. Oh yeah, the Chinese gymnast girls were only 14 years old and that mattered more to most Americans than any of the others just listed.

10. China hosts the Olympics and the world press attends and meekly peddles the Chinese government's PR packets to their home countries. The opening ceremonies are breathtaking and a bit unsettling.

Job Security Is #1

There will be lots of discussion today about a poll in the Army Times about how US military folks view the incoming Commander-in-Chief. In the same poll the respondents were asked to give their reasons for staying in the military. Here's the chart:
Job security, patriotism, and health care for the family rank 1,2,3. I reckon that sounds about right to anyone who knows people in the military.

Merry Christmas

We are, of course, spending Christmas on our private mountainous island retreat as Da Blade at Chattering Teeth surmised. If you intend to row up unannounced be aware, our highly trained monkeys fire darts at all strangers. They continue firing until we call them off.

Meanwhile, thanks to the men and women who keep us safe every day. Merry Christmas to you all.

Clandestine Operations

Merry Christmas!

I hope the next Commander-in-Chief is up to this sort of commitment.

Camp Victory, Baghdad, December 14, 2008

It is an odd thing to win a war and then turn over the oval office to a fellow who made his opposition to that now-won war the launchpad for his campaign. President George W. Bush dropped into Iraq over the weekend and saw the men and women who won the war.

You didn't know about this? You thought that President Bush went to Iraq this weekend so a disgruntled Saddam Sympathizer ("journalist") could throw his wingtips at him? No. He was visiting the troops before Christmas. But you'd be hard-pressed to see much coverage of that.

If you don't think that the Iraqi shoe-flinger gave an unintended endorsement of the great success President Bush has had in Iraq, just imagine what would have happened to the guy if he had tossed two shoes at Saddam... or Uday... or Qsay.

Obama's presidency will never have to worry about what Saddam and his pathological offspring are up to, thanks to President Bush and the men and women of the US military.

Czar Vladimir the Great

Ralph Peters gives the devil his due today in The Post:

Want a straightforward indication of what the Russians intend? Putin's code-name for this operation is Chistoye Polye. Literally translated, that means "clean field." In military parlance, it means "scorched earth."

Also in the column Peters points out how well Putin has managed the international media. Vlad realizes that the Western elites hate the quaint notion of right & wrong-- good & evil. They embrace moral relativism, so he feeds them what they like and they lap it up. Along those lines this morning, Steve Harrington, reporting from Gori for FNC, told of how he was standing just a few feet away from a Russian tank in the middle of Gori when his Blackberry went off. He checked and it was a NEWS ALERT-- the AP was reporting that the Russians had left Gori. This while he was standing next to Russian soldiers and armor. I wonder where the AP and the BBC got that idea?

How Does Russia v. Georgia Change the Iranian Issue?

A provocative question: Does the move by Russia against Georgia make a US/ Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities more likely? Today Arnaud de Borchgrave ponders this and many other things about Georgia, Russia, the USA, Israel, and Iran here. One of the bugs in Putin's knickers has been the desire by the US to add Georgia to NATO, but another is that we are pushing hard to put missile defense sites in former Soviet bloc locales. Ostensibly those facilities would be there to defend Europe and the USA from Iranian launched nukes. If Russia's move on Georgia makes it less likely that we can get those built, does it then increase our need to remove the problem instead?

For what it's worth, futures trading on the proposition, "USA and/or Israel to execute an overt airstrike on Iran before September 30, 2008" has NOT spiked since the Russian bear growled. That proposition traded at over 40 last November but now is at 11.6 as September 30 draws closer. However, the same question for Q4 2008, a strike before the end of 2008, trades at 22.2 and an overt airstrike on Iran before the end of March 2009 trades at 31.0. There are many people who believe that the time to strike will be after the election and before the inauguration.

What If?

What if we* won a war and nobody in the country reported much about it?

What if you won your political party's presidential nomination largely because you were the most "anti-war" candidate and then, by the time the general election campaign came around, you were suddenly the guy who was against a war that we'd already won? What to do, what to do?

What if you were commander-in-chief and had won victories in two major campaigns in a long war, been vindicated in all respects, and were six months away from leaving office with conditions remarkably better than they were on September 12, 2001. Would you talk about it... at all... ever? Would you count on the media to tell the story correctly and in full? Would you leave it to history?

What if we fling a few darts this morning and see who screams?

*- by "we" I mean the US and coalition forces. I'm fully aware that part of the country is made uncomfortable by American exceptionalism. They can pound sand.

Moving Tons of Saddam's WMD

Saturday 1.2 MILLION POUNDS of yellowcake uranium arrived safely in Canada after being shipped secretly from Saddam's Tuwaitha nuclear complex in Iraq. Everyone who thinks Operation Iraqi Freedom was a terrible mistake should at least have to explain how the world would be better off with Saddam, Uday & Qsay having 1.2MILLION POUNDS of yellowcake uranium, among many other things, today.

The American Thinker weighs in here. You probably missed this story over the Independence Day weekend. It doesn't fit the Democrat and handmaiden media storyline. Better that we spend our time on Madonna, ARod et al.

Don Surber just comes out and says it: "George W. Bush saved the world." The Gateway Pundit points out how bad it is to be a fat liar gettin' punked from the grave by Hussein.

Prez Obama, Attack On Iran Both More Likely Now

Prediction markets are worth a look from time to time even for people who aren't particularly interested in futures trading. There's been a great deal of press attention on the notion that Iran will be attacked by Israel before President Bush leaves office. Well, it so happens that there are prediction markets for this very event. At Intrade the proposition, "USA and/or Israel to execute an overt Air Strike against Iran by_______" is currently being traded with end dates for this quarter and the next two quarters.

So, how does it look for this event? The trade is currently 17.0 by September 30th, 30.0 by December 31st, and a pretty large 49.9 by March 31st. Given that Intrade shows the election of Obama as President to be increasingly likely (Obama futures up to 65.0 now versus 30.0 for McCain) it's pretty interesting that the idea that Israel will take action after Obama is elected and before he is inaugurated is taking hold. Pretty much what John Bolton opined the other day as I recall.

Perspective time-- The US Congress lifting the ban on offshore drilling before the end of 2008 is trading at 20.0 while lifting the ban on drilling in ANWR is trading at a lowly 10.0. Yes, that means an airstrike on Iran is far more likely than the Democrats in Congress allowing the US to exploit her own oil reserves. Related? Beats me.

The government of Iran seems to want to promote the idea that they would close the Straits of Hormuz if they are attacked. They might very well try that. But the Straits wouldn't be closed for long.

In the picture from the space shuttle above, Iran is at the top, Oman is the point into the straits and the UAE is the land by the wing. This view gives one the sense of what a chokepoint it is.

Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor

Up the road from here at Fort Bragg a 47 year old Special Forces Sgt. received the Army's second-highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, for his actions during a 17-hour battle in Afghanistan. He was humbled by this award presentation last week and his local paper over in Fayetteville, NC has the story here. By the way, this presentation came 40 years after Sgt. O'Connor's father was killed in Vietnam when American hero Sgt. Brendan O'Connor was 7.

When you hear some politician or TV thumb-sucker going on about the "kids" in our all volunteer force-- an attempt to make them sound like helpless victims-- think about Sgt. O'Connor. He was a "kid" 40 years ago when his father gave the last full measure of devotion for his country in Southeast Asia. He was a man serving us all as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

And guess what, the 20 year olds serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, OEF, and elsewhere are men and women too. They are somebody's children, sure as hell, but they ain't little kids.

UPDATE: I use the term "all volunteer force" above because, well, that's what today's US military is. But in "Moment of Truth In Iraq" by Michael Yon he writes about our senior-enlisted soldier in Iraq, Command Sergeant Major Jeffrey Mellinger. If you use the term "all volunteer army" in Mellinger's presence he'll respond, "Like hell it is." You see, CSM Mellinger has been in the US military continuously for over 35 years and entered as a draftee. Learning that knocked me out. See, I'm pretty old and the draft ended before I turned 18 years old-- although we still had the selective service lottery just in case. To this day I remember my lottery number. By the way, CSM Mellinger has done about 2 and a half tours in OIF.

Michael Yon- Moment of Truth in Iraq

For anyone interested in the truth about Operation Iraqi Freedom Michael Yon's website has been the number one source for information for years. Michael is in the US currently doing a bit of promotional activity for his book, "Moment of Truth in Iraq". He points out on his website that Amazon is out of stock right now as the book heads into a second printing right out of the gate. However, Michael reports that Barnes & Noble stores have it in stock and B&N's online store is running a great deal on it right now. (Subject to change at a moment's notice.)

Book Blurb Reviews:

Monkeydarts- "Nothing you can do today will be more important than ordering Michael's book. Nothing you can do in the next two weeks will be more important than reading 'Moment of Truth in Iraq.'"

Joe Galloway-"Yon covers soldiers . . . the old-fashioned way: He goes down the back alleys and the bad roads"--(Joe Galloway, author of We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young)

David H. Petraeus-"He's fearless . . . provides a candid, soldier's-eye view . . . from the very unique perspective of being there with them for weeks and months at a time . . . delv[ing] deep into the human component."--(General David H. Petraeus, commanding general, Multi-National Force, Iraq)

Brian Willams-"Michael Yon's voice is the voice of the soldier, often unfazed by what he sees, mission-focused and battle-hardened. These guys don't scare easily and they never let up, and Michael tells the story from their point of view."--(Brian Willams, Anchor, NBC Nightly News)

Clifford May-"His readers have learned what most Americans would not know from NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS and NPR"--(former New York Times foreign correspondent Clifford May)

OK, that first one isn't on the book jacket, but you get the idea.