Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • An Analysis of al-Sadr’s Uprising

    A tip of the CVC to USS Clueless for this look at al-Sadr’s uprising in Iraq and an interesting tie-in to Michael Moore.

    The military response to his uprising ultimately has to be considered a victory by the only standard that really counts: achievement of political goals. al-Sadr hoped to inspire a general uprising and to prevent us from transferring power to an Iraqi government. We hoped to avoid a general uprising, and to transfer power to said government on schedule, without the transfer being seen as us cutting and running.

    Whose hopes were fulfilled?

    You have to keep your eyes on the true goal, and you have to be willing to be patient. Sometimes slow-and-steady wins the race, even though it looks as if you are falling behind at the beginning.

  • World Court to Rule Against Israel’s Barrier

    Surprise, surprise. It seems the World Court is set to rule against Israel’s security fence and demand it be dismantled.

    The paper, quoting documents it had obtained, said the barrier infringed Palestinian rights.

    “The construction of such a wall accordingly constitutes breaches by Israel of its various obligations under the applicable international humanitarian law and human rights instruments,” Haaretz quoted the documents as saying.

    And even less surprising:

    Israel has said it will not accept what is expected to be among the most watched rulings in the 58 years of the World Court, based in The Hague.

    The Jewish state says the network of fences, ditches and walls has already improved security, but Palestinians call it a land grab.

    First, I’m confused as to what “rights” are being infringed upon here, just as I am confused by the constant comparisons of the security barrier to the Berlin Wall. The inability to comprehend to simple difference of the fundamental purposes of the security fence and the Berlin Wall (the former’s being protection of citizens and keeping terror at bay, the latter’s being the trapping and subjugation of the East German citizenry) astounds me.

  • AP: Iraq Insurgency Larger Than Thought

    U.S. military officials are saying the size of the insurgency in Iraq is possibly much larger than previously thought, reports the Associated Press.

    Although U.S. military analysts disagree over the exact size, dozens of regional cells, often led by tribal sheiks and inspired by Sunni Muslim imams, can call upon part-time fighters to boost forces to as high as 20,000 — an estimate reflected in the insurgency’s continued strength after U.S. forces killed as many as 4,000 in April alone.

    4K KIA (killed in April). I haven’t seen that figure anywhere else. Actually, I haven’t seen much at all on the numbers of bad guys whacked.

  • Ridge Warns of Election Terror Plot

    The AP is report that al Queda hopes to disrupt the Presidential election with terror.

    A steady stream of intelligence, including nuggets from militant-linked Web sites, indicates al-Qaida wants to attack the United States to disrupt the upcoming elections, federal officials said Thursday.

    I’d just like to insert a special, heart-felt thanks to the invertebrates of Spain who have encouraged this.

    Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the Bush administration based a decision to bolster security on credible reports about al-Qaida’s plans, coupled with the pre-election terror attack in Spain earlier this year and recent arrests in England, Jordan and Italy.

    “This is sobering information about those who wish to do us harm,” Ridge said. “But every day we strengthen the security of our nation.”

  • Mediators Tell Palestinians to Reform or Lose Aid

    Middle East mediators threaten funding and support of the Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority unless true reforms are implemented, according to Reuters.

    Sapped by years of corruption and disorder as well as Israeli raids, Arafat’s Palestinian Authority needs foreign help to fill a power vacuum when Israel quits the Gaza Strip next year or if it hopes to revive peace talks with the Jewish state.

    But envoys from the United States, United Nations and European Union and Russia told Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie that the world had run out of patience with Arafat’s “empty promises” of reform.

    “If security reforms are not done, there will be no (more) international support and no funding from the international community,” a senior diplomat close to the talks in the West Bank city of Ramallah told Reuters.

    Arafat’s removal from the Palestinian Authority would, ideally, be the best reform possible and the best step towards peace. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if these are just empty threats, as I see no reform of any consequence occurring under Arafat.

  • Marines Want Companion for Osprey

    The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the Marines are interested in an armed tilt-rotor escort for the V-22 Osprey.

    The Marine Corps’ top aviation officer has asked Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. to study arming its executive jet-sized BA609 tilt-rotor aircraft as an escort for the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor troop transport.

    The request by Lt. Gen. Michael Hough, deputy commandant for aviation, is a striking vote of confidence in the V-22 and in the future of tilt-rotor aircraft. The V-22 program was nearly canceled after two crashes in 2000 killed 23 Marines.

    “I would have done this earlier, but I didn’t even know if I had a V-22,” Gen. Hough said, referring to the Osprey’s near-cancellation.

    Per the report, this could potentially result in millions of dollars for Bell Helicopter. However, with the checkered story of the Osprey’s development, I predict this will be a rather interesting approval process.

    The V-22 and the BA609 both use wingtip rotors to take off and land like helicopters. But they tilt their rotors forward to fly like airplanes, giving them far greater speed and range than helicopters. Critics still regard the revolutionary method of flight as highly risky.

    Much work would have to be done, and many hurdles cleared, before Bell could produce an armed BA609 derivative.

    The gunship would have to be designed, approved by the Pentagon, funded by Congress, prototyped and tested.

    There is no guarantee any of that will happen.

    But Gen. Hough said the V-22 will need some type of armed escort to carry Marines into combat zones, and only a tilt-rotor will do. Helicopters are too slow for the job, and jets are too fast.

  • The Cowards’ Approach to War

    For over a year now, the media and the leftists have demanded for the Bush administration to voice an exit strategy from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many on the right, sans media, have wondered about the exit strategy from Bosnia for years.

    What is our exit strategy from the Korean conflict? Did Truman ever voice one?

    What is our exit strategy from our bout with the Axis powers of Germany and Japan? Surely FDR announced an exit strategy to the American public in World War Part Deux.

    Well, yes, he did. Speaking almost a year before Pearl Harbor, FDR spoke of “no end save victory” in the defense of liberty and freedom. This is how he led the American and Allied efforts in WWII, demanding the unconditional surrender of the Axis countries of Germany, Italy and Japan. He did not fight for a stalemate. He did not settle for a return to pre-war boundaries. He fought to win.

    It is my belief that the very concept of exit strategy is a self-defeating idea. To have any strategy other than victory as the objective is a mistake. A stated and accomplished list of milestones may insure a “peace with honor,” but it in no way guarantees a desired outcome in the long term. War is not the end-all be-all solution to the world’s problems; however, when war must be waged, it must be waged to win. American lives should not be tossed aside for the sake of a tie or, worse yet, an honorable defeat when victory could have been attained had we, as a people, had the stomach for it.

    I have been unable to find any military or political usage of the phrase “exit strategy” prior to the Viet Nam War. Certainly, this is the conflict that popularized the term.

    Stated bluntly, exit strategy is a planned way of disengaging short of victory. Contingency planning in the event of defeat is needed and understandable; planning a withdrawal, based on milestones and dates decided by political needs and not long-term requirements, without defeat but before victory is achieved is indefensible. And yet, this is just what has been demanded by the media during practically every American military involvement of the last thirty years.

    Yes, in the short term, this does have the effect of reducing casualties within a given conflict. Unfortunately, it serves to set the stage for greater loss of life in the next conflict. It is the cowards’ way of waging war, deferring the losses to those fighting later.

  • Iraqi Group Threatens to Kill Zarqawi

    FoxNews.com is reporting that a video of a group of Iraqis threatening Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been send to al-Arabiya television.

    A group of armed, masked Iraqi men threatened Tuesday to kill Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search) if he did not immediately leave the country, accusing him of murdering innocent Iraqis and defiling the Muslim religion.

    The threats revealed the deep anger many Iraqis, including insurgent groups, feel toward foreign fighters, whom many consider as illegitimate a presence here as the 160,000 U.S. and other coalition troops.

    I would rather see such threats coming from the Iraqi security forces, but vigilante justice is preferable to al-Zarqawi’s injustices until the security forces are capable and reliable enough for the task. Also, it is encouraging to see some practitioners of Islam standing up for the tenets of their faith violated by these Islamist terrorists.

    In the video, three men, their faces covered with Arab headscarves, were flanked by rocket propelled grenades and an Iraqi flag. The man speaking had a clear Iraqi accent.

    “We swear to Allah that we have started preparing … to capture him and his allies or kill them and present them as gift to our people.” the man said. “This is the last warning. If you don’t stop, we will do to you what the coalition forces have failed to do.”

    Al-Zarqawi, said to be connected to Al Qaeda, is believed to be behind a series of coordinated attacks on police and security forces that killed 100 people only days before U.S. forces handed over power to an Iraqi interim government.

    His followers have also claimed responsibility for the beheading of American businessman Nicholas Berg (search) and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il (search).

    Hopefully, this is a sign that the Iraqis have had enough and are reaching the point that they’ll fight for their own future.

  • France, Iraq to Re-Establish Relations

    The AP is reporting that France and Iraq will renew diplomatic ties shortly.

    After a 13-year interruption, France and Iraq (news – web sites) intend to re-establish diplomatic relations within the next few days, the French Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday.

    Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi met Monday with Bernard Bajolet, France’s highest diplomatic representative in Iraq, and discussed restoration of ties that Saddam Hussein (news – web sites) broke off in 1991 during the Gulf War (news – web sites), a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

    “Mr. Allawi said he wanted to do it as fast as possible so that France can participate in the reconstruction of Iraq,” the spokesman said. “We welcomed that very positively.”

    France, always there for the Francs. Nevertheless, this is a good move for the fledgling Iraqi government and its efforts to establish legitimacy.

  • Wash. Post: No Sarin in Rounds Found by Poles

    Just back from my Independence Day weekend in Amarillo, Texas, and I find the Washington Post has stated the artillery rounds claimed by the Poles to have cyclosarin (see my entry on July 2) were not , in fact, chemical rounds.

    Sixteen rocket warheads found last week in south-central Iraq by Polish troops did not contain deadly chemicals, a coalition spokesman said yesterday, but U.S. and Polish officials agreed that insurgents loyal to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and foreign terrorist fighters are trying to buy such old weapons or purchase the services of Iraqi scientists who know how to make them.

    The Coalition Press Information Center in Baghdad said in a statement yesterday that the 122-millimeter rocket rounds, which initially showed traces of sarin, “were all empty and tested negative for any type of chemicals.” The statement came just hours after two senior Polish defense officials told reporters in Warsaw, based on preliminary reports, that the rocket rounds contained deadly sarin and that actions by the Polish unit in Iraq kept them from being purchased by militants fighting coalition forces.

    I find it interesting that FoxNews and BBC, where I originally read the story, have printed no such correction. I also find it interesting that what the Washington Post and the Coalition Press Information Center refer to as “preliminary reports” were described by the Poles as “Laboratory tests …. done by U.S. experts” only hours earlier.

    However I may wonder about both sides of the story, I felt I had to post it.