Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • Nothing Tonight but Work and Wedding

    Sorry, folks, but I drew pager duty this week, my last before my wedding and honeymoon. Tonight, it bit me.

    As to the wedding, I am now roughly seven days and nineteen hours away from being married. Alas, there’s still a few details to be worked out before things are set.

    • Marriage license … check
    • Beer brands and quantities … check
    • Wines and quantities … workin’ on it
    • Rehearsal and reception dinner menus … check
    • Attire decisions … check
    • Ceremony music … workin’ on it
    • Reception music … workin’ on it
    • Reception order (cake, first dance, toasts, dining, etc.) … workin’ on it
    • Song for father-bride dance … check
    • Song for first dance with my wife … workin’ on it … and could use any suggestions y’all have

    Oh well, that’s it for tonight. I promise more blogging, or at least some tasty links that I’m currently digesting, tomorrow.

  • Dear MilSanta

    OpFor‘s Charlie Munn has compiled an interesting wishlist of ten miltech developments he would like to see. While some of them almost seem to border on science fiction, like really good sci-fi they maintain an air of believability.

    Go give it a read and feel free to chip in on the comments. Charlie’s post certainly has given me something to ponder — not exactly an unusual occurence for OpFor readers.

    Hmmm … now just how could we improve tanks, increasing their relevance in our current efforts against our Islamist enemies while keeping an eye on future threats like the massive Chinese numbers?

  • Sci-Fi Announces BSG Prequel

    Sci-Fi channel has announced plans for a new prequel series to the best show on television today, Battlestar Galactica.

    Caprica would take place more than half a century before the events that play out in Battlestar Galactica. The people of the Twelve Colonies are at peace and living in a society not unlike our own, but where high technology has changed the lives of virtually everyone for the better.

    But a startling breakthrough in robotics is about to occur, one that will bring to life the age-old dream of marrying artificial intelligence with a mechanical body to create the first living robot: a Cylon. Following the lives of two families, the Graystones and the Adamas (the family of William Adama, who will one day become the commander of the Battlestar Galactica), Caprica will weave together corporate intrigue, techno-action and sexual politics into television’s first science fiction family saga, the channel announced.

    Okay, I’m intrigued in the Caprica concept … a bit. Hat tip to Dean, who greets the news with even less enthusiasm.

    Trapper at the Unofficial Battlestar Galactica Blog, a great resource for news, episode reviews and commentary, has a mixed reaction on the news.

    I am really trying to figure out if this is good or bad. Sure more sci-fi is a good thing, but three seasons in? It seems a tad ambitious… Sure I will watch the hell out of both shows, but still… I can’t help but think it is a bit premature. I don’t think I have ever heard of a show that split its time lines being on the air at the same time. Stargate is parallel. Star Trek was parallel. This is going to be crazy!

    At least Trapper will probably have a little bit more material to work with for a while.

  • Betrayal Within

    Cal Thomas opines very strongly on the developing Mary McCarthy leak story.

    What do you call someone who, in violation of her oath, reveals government secrets to a reporter, who then prints them and exposes a clandestine operation designed to get information from suspected terrorists that could save American lives?

    Here is what one dictionary says about that word: “One who betrays another’s trust or is false to an obligation or duty.” The word so defined is traitor.

    Ah, the dreaded T-word.

    All too often it has been bandied about, usually of late in the form of pre-emptive defensiveness much like unfounded claims of attacks on the patriotism of leftists and defeatists. Still, though facts may eventually show otherwise as much is yet to be known, it really is probably time for the T-word to at least enter into the media dialogue, as everything revealed so far seems to paint the picture of at least one rogue individual in our intelligence community, perhaps for personal or political reasons, deciding unilaterally and without legal authority what classified material should be exposed.

    If the accusations are shown to be true, the T-word is accurate and the actions are criminal. Mr. Thomas presents the key question.

    The Washington Post’s Dana Priest won the Pulitzer Prize for printing secrets allegedly leaked to her by Mrs. McCarthy. Miss Priest also won a George Polk Award and a prize from the Overseas Press Club. Leonard Downie Jr., The Post’s executive editor, said people who provide citizens the information they need to hold their government accountable should not “come to harm for that.”

    Would Mr. Downie have felt the same if Americans were leaking information to the Nazis or the Japanese during World War II? Imagine this scenario: A terrorist has information that, if revealed, could save tens of thousands of American lives. But interrogators cannot question him because leaks to the media prevent them from engaging in practices that would pry loose the critical information. Would Mr. Downie be defending the “right” of government employees to undermine the security of his country in the aftermath of a preventable attack?

    Former CIA operative Aldrich Ames went to prison for selling American secrets to the Soviet Union. Mrs. McCarthy allegedly gave hers away. If she is prosecuted and found guilty, her fate should be no less severe.

    This isn’t a political game in which a Clinton administration official serves as a mole for the Democrats within a Republican administration and then leaks information that may benefit her party; this is potentially harmful to the nation.

    Has politics come to this: that the national security of this country can be compromised for political gain?

    In-freakin’-deed.

    If you didn’t catch the McCarthy story at the beginning, feel free to go here for links to an intro and some advanced coverage.

  • Vandals Hit UNC, N.C. State ROTC Buildings

    EagleSpeak brings us the story and images of cowardice and criminality in North Carolina. As Eagle1 acknowledges, this one strikes at his heart for a reason.

    Over the decades, thousands of outstanding young men and women have passed through the doors of the ROTC buildings at Chapel Hill and in Raleigh. Men and women of character, courage and conviction. The slimeballs who marred the exterior of those buildings will never be able to lay claim to any of those honorable adjectives.

    And, yes, I have a personal stake. I graduated from the UNC Naval ROTC program in 1971 and my older son graduated from the UNC Naval ROTC unit in 2001. And we were just part of the long Carolina blue line.

    Go see the images [UNC images courtesy of Blackfive] and realize that our military, serving honorably and professionally on a scale unprecedented in military history and policing its own members who fail to do so, is already enduring the acts of a disgusting campaign against it at home.

  • ANZAC Day

    April 25, ANZAC Day.

    Doesn’t ring a bell? John at Argghhh!!! does an amazing job of explaining a treasured day of some of our staunchest friends and allies, those blokes in Australia and New Zealand.

    As for me, I’ll mark the with the haunting Gallipoli-based tune “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” by the Pogues.

    And now every April I sit on my porch
    And I watch the parade pass before me
    And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
    Reliving old dreams of past glory
    And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
    The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
    And the young people ask, “What are they marching for?”
    And I ask myself the same question
    And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
    And the old men answer to the call
    But year after year their numbers get fewer
    Some day no one will march there at all

    [full lyrics can be found here]

  • Sources: Snow to Be Named White House Press Secretary

    While not a zero-sum game, there’s certainly a downside to this apparent addition to the Bush administration.

    Tony Snow will be named new White House press secretary on Wednesday morning, FOX News has learned. Snow is expected to be at the White House for the announcement. He has been mulling the offer for the last several days.

    Long before the announcement, oddsmakers were banking on Snow, host of FOX News Talk’s “The Tony Snow Show,” to be tapped for the highly visible White House post.

    “I expect to see him at the podium in just a few days, in the press room at the White House,” Fred Barnes, editor of The Weekly Standard and a FOX News contributor, said Tuesday.

    The talk radio host was given a clean bill of health by his oncologist Tuesday, following a CAT scan and other tests that were undertaken last Thursday. Sources said Snow was President Bush’s first choice, but he needed the all-clear from his doctors before he takes the job. Snow is recovering from colon cancer.

    “He would like to do it. If he gets an OK from his doctor, I expect it will be Tony Snow and the press will welcome him with open arms,” Time magazine columnist Margaret Carlson said during the day.

    Loss: my radio, which usually brings me about an informative hour-or-so of the Tony Snow show each weekday. I’d probably go to the effort of catching more if it was carried live on the DFW airwaves.

    Gain: a talented, intelligent and well-spoken frontman for a White House beaten down by a disgustingly-adversarial media. Snow is an informed individual, comfortable in front of the camera, who does his research and has often called out the Bush administration for doing a poor job of rallying support for our military and the administration’s own efforts. If anything is missing, perhaps it was time someone was brought in with a little more willingness to actually confront the White House press hounds when the situation practically begs for it. That said, I probably place a higher value on bitter but well-deserved sarcasm than the average American. On the other hand, just how much does the average American pay attention to press briefings by the White House press secretary? I’ll wager it’s less than I check the nutritional information before doubling the tasty, greasy, strangely-orange chili beef on my beloved Steak ‘n Shake chili mac.

  • McCarthy CIA Leak 101

    Have you fallen behind in the Mary McCarthy story and need to play a little catch-up? Allah, writing over at Hot Air, Michelle Malkin’s new endeavor, has put together a great CIA leak primer.

    This is one of those stories where, if you miss the first 48 hours, you end up feeling so far behind the curve that you tune it out and never bother with it again. So here’s a round-up of news and blog coverage which, while longish, will bring you up to speed.

    Hat tip to Ace.

    Over the last few days, this story has continued to throw chum into the water, and several bloggers appear to be on the verge of a feeding frenzy. Keeping a calm head but happily tearing into the mess, Protein Wisdom‘s Jeff Goldstein adds his thoughts to those of two heavyweights in the political opinion arena, James Taranto and Christopher Hitchens. I highly recommend you start with Allah’s primer before venturing into the world of Goldstein, whose work will be considered extra credit for this intro course.

  • Quote of the Week, 25 APR 06

    Our warfighting concept has to take account of the fact that almost nothing ever works right. As with the game of golf, our only real hope is to make smaller mistakes.

    —General Merrill McPeak

  • Osama Tape: Reactions and Rejections

    A new tape from terrorist-mastermind-in-hiding, Osama bin Laden, surfaced yesterday.

    Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden urged his followers to prepare for a drawn-out conflict with the Western world in a new audiotape broadcast Sunday, blaming what he called “a Crusader-Zionist war” for a long list of attacks on Islam in places from Darfur to Denmark.

    “Your aircraft and tanks are destroying houses over the heads of our kinfolk and children in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Pakistan. Meanwhile, you smile in our faces, saying: ‘We are not hostile to Islam; we are hostile to terrorists,’ ” bin Laden said, according to excerpts of the audiotape attributed to him and broadcast by the al-Jazeera network.

    It was the first time bin Laden had been heard from since Jan. 19, when he offered “a long-term truce” if the United States and its allies withdrew their forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and allowed Islamic fundamentalists to rebuild those countries instead.

    Before that, the 49-year-old Saudi had been publicly silent for more than a year. His face has not been seen since he appeared in a video recording broadcast a few days before the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

    The Counterterrorism Blog‘s Walid Phares does a solid job of narrowing Osama’s ramblings down to ten key bullet points. Of course the overblown Islamist talking point of the Danish Mohammed cartoons is on the list, as are the following:

    1. Hamas: Despite the fact that we (including Ayman Zawahiri) warned (Muslim Palestinians) not to take part in elections in general, the victory of Hamas shows that there is a “Crusader Zionist War against Islam.” Cutting foreign aid to the Palestinians because of Hamas victory proves that war.

    […]

    3. Sudan: The Bashir Government is failing in stopping the Crusader War in Sudan. The Crusaders (Britain) has pushed the southerners (Blacks) to separate. The US has armed them and is supporting them. And now, because of tribal tensions in Darfour, the Crusaders are planning on intervening there. We are calling on the Jihadists to fight them in Darfour and Southern Sudan.

    Today, Sudan and Hamas rejected Osama’s accusations.

    The Sudanese Government and Hamas have rejected Osama bin Laden’s criticism of the West for waging war against Islam.

    In a tape broadcast on al-Jazeera TV, which US intelligence believes is authentic, bin Laden criticised the Sudanese Government for agreeing to a US-backed peace deal for the troubled south of the country.

    He also inveighed against the Palestinians’ Hamas-led Government for breaking what he said was a taboo against “joining infidel assemblies” and entering Parliament.

    Despite moves taken by Sudan and Hamas that might be seen as in step with Washington’s stated goal of peace and democracy for the region, bin Laden said the US was planning to send troops to southern Sudan “to steal its oil”.

    The West’s rejection of Hamas showed it was waging “a Crusader-Zionist war” against Muslims.

    […]

    A Hamas spokesman said: “We are interested in good relations with the West.” In Sudan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Sudan was not concerned with mujahideen or any crusade.

    Polimom, Too‘s Daryl Hooper looks at these and other negative reactions from the world of Islam after making the following observation:

    Perhaps Polimom’s missing something (won’t be the first time), but from where I’m sitting this morning, the biggest reaction to Osama bin Laden’s latest tape is from the West. Polimom wonders whether Osama has spent just a tad too long in his cave – because he’s looking somewhat out of step.

    Besides the obligatory Crusader references and unsurprising cartoon squawking, Osama had to mention Israel. I mean, he just had to — it’s in the radical Islamist handbook. This time, though, Chad Evans over at In the Bullpen fears there may be more than just hot air and checking off an Osama-tape requirement behind this Israel reference.

    This latest audio tape is in a long line of Al Qaida communications that speak about Israel, but the group has always treated the Israeli situation like a red headed step-child only pulling it out when it needs support. As I have stated in regards to previous communications pertaining to the increased rhetoric over Israel, I think Al Qaida is making inroads into attack Israel and I think their first real hit will be a large one. We already know Al Qaida is in Gaza, and AQ in Iraq did launch a rocket into Northern Israel. Because the Hamas-run government won’t do anything about it, AQ will likely hit Israel. The group needs the support such an attack would garner.

    Here’s hoping Chad is wrong about this, though unfortunately it does pass the sniff test. And that dovetails in nicely with my initial reaction to the tape — Osama has seen the focus in the war against radical Islamist expansionism shift away from him as events of late have elevated the stories of Hamas’ attempt to take the political reins of the Palestinian Authority and Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Iraq recently appears to have been a break-even, as the terrorists, Saddamites and insurgent Sunnis plod along (hat tip to the western media who have facilitated this appearance) against the fledgling Iraqi government, its Coalition military allies, a determined American president and an majority of the Iraqi people growing sick of the bloodshed.

    As I have often stated, our war is against far more than Osama bin Laden; rather, it is against the twisted aspects of his civilization that allowed his likes to fester. Osama, however, needs the concentration to be on him, meaning the both attentions of the West and the world of Islam, for the war to be the brand of jihad he desires. Of late, his organization has been unable to pull off anything of substance, and even the lesser accomplishments have only been small but bloody strikes by affiliates such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that, while effective in many western news reports, may be actually backfiring locally. No, bin Laden built his biography on fighting the great fights, be they as part of the efforts against the Soviets in Afghanistan or dramatic strikes against the United States. A large stab at Israel might suffice to rekindle Osama’s importance in the Islamist world and return the war to the jihad of his choice … until Iran counters.