Target Centermass

Author: Gunner

  • Is Osama’s Location Known?

    Chad at In the Bullpen shows that the chief of the general staff of the Israeli Defense Forces thinks so. Me, I’m not exactly sold. Fine, I’ll believe in a narrowing down to a small region, but that doesn’t mean it is a militarily or politically actionable deal … yet.

    Waziristan is fairly large and is home to several different tribes and warlords. It is believed many of these tribes are friendly to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaida. This is the area of the map where it is known that Osama Bin Laden, rumored that he rode out on horseback, fled during the Tora Bora operation under a cease-fire. It was believed he did not go too far, yet no one has known. How Ya’alon knows is beyond me, however Israel’s intelligence service is one of the best in the world.

    Assuming Ya’alon and U.S. Intelligence are correct and Osama Bin Laden is hiding out in Waziristan, allow me to discuss just a bit on what would need to happen in order to get him.

    Good start. Go read.

    Personally, I don’t care too terribly much about catching bin Laden. Yeah, I’d love it and I would hope that he would suffer horribly and painfully at our hands. And I ain’t talking panties-on-the-head or naked-human-pyramid-Twister suffering. I mean pain.

    That said, bin Laden is really but a pawn in this war. We’re dealing with a conflict of the centuries — the fifteenth versus the twenty-first. The objective is to provide an alternative, a shining city on the Arab hill, to the atmosphere that allowed bin Laden and his murderous followers to be given a sizable say in popular belief in the region. This war is not against one man but one belief — one radical, backward and violent thread of Islam. Chad agrees.

    I contend that even if Bin Laden was either killed or captured it would do little to nothing to win the war on terror. We must attack radical Islam at the root cause and not just the people calling the shots.

    Iraq plays a role in this. They may, if we stay resolute, be the start of the alternative hope of which I speak.

    Yes, I want bin Laden caught … and skinned. However, only at a time when his capture will help and not harm our process, as a bold thrust by Americans into Pakistan currently would do.

  • Man Chops Off Hands of Protester in India

    Just in case you believed violent backwardness was limited to the radical Islamists, there’s this tale of butchery over what is essentially the practice of dealing off minors.

    A man with a sword cut off the hands of a government social worker in central India for trying to stop child marriages, officials said Wednesday. The attack on the woman highlighted the difficulty of ending the centuries-old practice in the region.

    Yeah. Hands chopped off with a sword highlighted difficulty. That, folks, is one heck of a freakin’ understatement.

    Shakuntala Verma, a supervisor with the Department of Women and Child Development in Madhya Pradesh state, was attacked Tuesday night in Bhangarh village, Superintendent of Police H. L. Borana was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India.

    Wednesday marked a Hindu festival in which hundreds of minors are married off.

    No arrests have been made in the attack in Bhangargh, 170 [sic, 170 what?] west of the state capital, Bhopal.

    Child marriage is illegal in India, but the ancient practice is still prevalent in some rural pockets of Madhya Pradesh. However, the number of marriages was down this year as a result of tough measures taken by police, the New Delhi Television News channel reported.

    Verma had been protesting child marriages in the area, officials said.

    In New Delhi, Chief Minister Babulal Gaur, the state’s administrator, said it was not possible to end the practice with legal measures.

    “The (law) to prevent child marriage is so ancient. But even after so many decades of the law coming into being, child marriages continue to take place. We cannot stop it forcefully. What is required is awareness,” he said.

    Awareness of swords in the vicinity would also be of assistance to social workers, or so it would seem.

  • Homeless Man Dies Saving Miami Woman

    He lived a homeless crack addict.

    He died a nobler death than most of us will ever hope to see.

    A homeless man who did odd jobs for a local restaurateur was stabbed to death as he defended her against a knife-wielding intruder, authorities said.

    Kelcy Ruiz, 32, was mourned as a hero for coming to the aid of Melida Murillo during an attack Monday at her Colombian restaurant, Mama Leonor.

    Ruiz, described by relatives as a crack cocaine addict who lived mainly on Miami’s downtown streets, did occasional work for Murillo in exchange for food.

    “Even though he was a forgotten member of society, he acted better than most people who are not homeless,” said Detective Delrish Moss, spokesman for the Miami Police Department.

    Ruiz’s uncle described his nephew as “a lost soul” who had emigrated from Honduras four years ago in hopes of kicking his drug habit and finding work.

    Another homeless man, Tyrone Daniel Clark, 43, was being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and armed robbery.

    Clark was arrested in Miami on drug charges in March but was released, apparently because officials did not realize he had skipped out from monitoring required as a registered sex offender.

    May Kelcy Ruiz sleep well, a troubled life ended forever in honor.

  • Hard Labor for Missing Duty

    Convicted yesterday, leftist peacenik and so-called serviceman Pablo Paredes was sentenced today.

    A military judge ordered a Navy sailor on Thursday to complete three months of hard labor for refusing to deploy with his ship in protest of the war in Iraq, but he declined prosecutors’ requests for time in custody.

    Lt. Cmdr. Bob Klant also reduced Pablo Paredes’ rank from petty officer third class to seaman recruit, the lowest in the Navy.

    […]

    Prosecutors had asked Klant to sentence Paredes to nine months in confinement, three months less than the possible maximum, and a bad conduct discharge.

    “He is trying to infect the military with his own philosophy of disobedience,” prosecutor Lt. Brandon Hale said. “Sailors all over the world will want to know whether this will be tolerated. Sailors want to know whether doing what he did is a good way to get out of deployment.”

    Prosecutors left the courtroom without making any statements, but Sam Samuelson, a Navy spokesman, said Paredes’ guilty verdict sent a message.

    “His actions were in conflict with his duty and taxpayers’ obligations that the Navy maintain good order and discipline,” Samuelson said.

    Paredes got off way too easily. His lawyers know it and consider it a victory.

    Paredes’ lawyer, Jeremy Warren, called the judge’s lesser sentence “a stunning blow to the prosecution.”

    “This is an affirmation of every sailor’s and military person’s right to speak out and follow their conscience,” he said.

    Actually, a guilty verdict is exactly not that, jackass.

    Paredes and his ilk are cancers to the service and our society. Paredes himself is even worse — he’s a publicity whore of a cancer.

    Paredes arrived at the Navy pier that day wearing a T-shirt that read “Like a Cabinet Member, I Resign” and handed over his military ID card, telling a military police officer “I quit.” Paredes has alerted the media to his plans and a crowd of TV cameras was waiting for him.

    The judge seemed troubled by Paredes’ conduct – wearing a “silly T-shirt” with an incoherent message and staging a news conference that upset sailors and Marines who were saying goodbye to their families.

    With all that, I say again this immature little punk got off way to easily. I do wonder, though, how his fellow sailors will treat him in the future.

  • A Look at Looking at MilTech

    Ours on the sand, theirs below the waves.

    I’ve recently shown you articles that take a look at the role the M1-series tank is currently playing in Iraq and have stated the I view the Stryker as a complement rather than a competitor to the tank. Now, columnist Austin Bay examines the continuing need for the beast.

    Like Mark Twain’s death, the demise of the tank has been “greatly exaggerated.”

    Go there. Good read. Ug, me happy tanker.

    Now, in the today’s very early hours I posted of a new Iranian submarine program and hoped for feedback from Chapomatic. He has obliged and generally disagreed with me.

    I’m probably biased because I have been known to be near some of those submarine things, but if I had the industrial base, a small submarine for coastal defense near a strait would be an effective naval choice.

    In my defense, I did not realize at the time that the program in question was for minisubs (such is the hazard of research via dial-up). I will concur that minisubs would have a great value in coastal affairs, but disagree by arguing that, in the highly-trafficked Persian Gulf, the minisub option has probably a extremely limited degree of hope in affecting travel through the Straits of Hormuz.

  • Cowards, Shirkers and Peaceniks Unite!

    Citizen Smash points out that today was declared National Day of Action for GI Resisters.

    YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW that Tuesday was a “National Day of Action for GI Resisters.” Well, it was! Notices were sent out to activists all over the country, urging them to converge on Fort Stewart, Georgia and San Diego, California to support “GI resisters” Kevin Benderman and Pablo Paredes.

    Here in San Diego, people came in caravans from as far as San Francisco to participate in the event. Local activists were asked to host vistors. Army deserter Camilo Mejia and conscientious objector Aidan Delgado both came out to show their support. A banquet hall big enough to hold 700 people was reserved. The media were notified.

    Smash attended the kickoff session and gives us his thoughts of the gathering. Go read.

    Meanwhile, the Navy celebrated the day by convicting one of the speakers, shirker Pablo Paredes.

    A Navy sailor turned anti-war activist was convicted Wednesday of missing his ship’s movement when he refused to board the USS Bonhomme Richard as it deployed to the Persian Gulf in December.

    A military judge deliberated about 40 minutes before finding Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes guilty of the count.

    […]

    Paredes, a 23-year-old from the New York City borough of the Bronx, could receive a year in jail, a forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge.

    […]

    While his shipmates bid farewell to loved ones, Paredes sat pierside and told reporters he did not want to be part of a war he considers illegal and immoral. He said his military training taught him to avoid what he views as a war crime.

    […]

    Paredes says he was a different person when he joined the Navy in 2000, looking for a job and a way to get a college education. The Navy sent him to Yokosuka, Japan and once there, he says he had something of an awakening.

    He began devouring works by writers like Noam Chomsky, the MIT linguistics professor and political activist. He joined political discussions with like-minded friends who criticized the Bush administration.

    Paredes is no coward. Well, he may be, but it cannot be determined from this story as his deployment would have offered little or no personal danger. What can be determined is that Paredes is a pathetic, immature peacenik leftist who would happily trade shoving extra duty onto his supposed brothers in arms for a little publicity.

  • Iran Making First Locally Built Submarine

    An interesting development — I have little doubt that this will end up costing lives … brave Iranian lives.

    Iran on Tuesday officially launched production of its first locally built submarine, a craft that can fire missiles and torpedoes at the same time, state-run television reported.

    Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Imani was quoted as saying “the enemy would not be able to detect the submarine.” He did not elaborate.

    My guess is magic. Either that, or outdated technology acquired from bigger players on the world stage.

    One submarine has apparently already been built and was shown on television Tuesday, cruising at sea level. The Defense Ministry has commissioned an unspecified number of the craft that’s been dubbed “Ghadir.” Ghadir is a site in the Arabian Peninsula holy to Shiite Muslims, the overwhelming majority of Iran’s 69 million people.

    The submarine is capable of operating in the Persian Gulf and Oman sea waters, according to the report, which did not specify the range of its projectiles.

    In December, Iran announced the production of a line of stealth torpedoes that could be launched from helicopters, ships or submarines.

    Iranian officials have repeatedly said the Islamic Republic will defend itself should the United States or Israel initiate any aggression.

    For Iran’s sake, I would suggest that they focus more on areas where they can actually make a difference. While both the air and sea are our domain, this effort is nothing more than a publicity stunt. The sea is not theirs, and they are only risking brave sailors by putting them into the honored Silent Service on a much-disadvantaged basis. When you don’t control the above or the surface and can only pretend to manage a part of the below, you have the makings of a very bad idea.

    I hope that Chapomatic will take a look at this from his own applicable perspective.

  • Paks, Afghans Outraged Over Alleged Koran Desecration

    I have little interest personally in this story of alleged insulting treatment of the Koran at Guantanamo other than to say, if true, well, that’s pretty freakin’ stupid and needs to be corrected. Fast.

    Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the story has some in a state of near-apoplexy.

    Pakistan, a key Muslim ally in the U.S.-led war on terror, has voiced deep concern to Washington over a magazine report that U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Koran.

    Newsweek magazine, in its latest edition, quoted sources as saying that investigators probing abuses at the military prison had found that interrogators “had placed Korans on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the toilet.”

    The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Pakistan conveyed its deep concern to Washington over the reported desecration of the Muslim holy book, which sparked a student protest in Afghanistan and outraged Pakistani lawmakers.

    “U.S. officials have stated that the alleged perpetrators of the reported desecration would be held accountable after the matter had been appropriately investigated and responsibility is established,” the statement said.

    There has been growing public outrage in Pakistan over the report. The National Assembly, parliament’s lower house, on Monday passed a resolution denouncing the reported desecration and Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricketer turned politician, last week demanded an apology from the United States.

    In Jalalabad, Afghanistan, about 2,000 students chanting “Death to America” protested over the reported desecration, some of them holding up an effigy of President Bush and shouting “Death to Bush.”

    […]

    State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the United States took the allegations seriously.

    “Obviously, the destruction of any kind of holy book, whether it’s a Bible or a Koran or any other document like that, is something that’s reprehensible and not in keeping with U.S. policies and practices,” he said.

    Quite counter-productive to our overall efforts. Such tales certainly endanger some of our successes to date if not dealt with properly. Oh yeah, did I already say stupid?

    On the bright side, there is this, the wrath of a particular Pak pol.

    Cricket hero-turned politician Imran Khan joined Pakistan’s parliament in denouncing the alleged desecration of Islam’s holy book, the Koran, by US soldiers at Guantanamo Bay.

    Khan also condemned a US newspaper for publishing what politicians say is a humiliating cartoon about Pakistan’s hunt for Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

    “If the United States does not apologise on these incidents, then they must be asked to wrap up and vacate our bases under their use,” Khan was quoted as saying.

    Khan!!!

    Man, I love any excuse to use that link.

  • Grenade!

    Was this an assassination attempt, and was President Bush the intended target?

    U.S. officials are investigating a report that an apparent hand grenade landed about 100 feet from where President Bush was speaking Tuesday in Tblisi, the capital of Georgia, a Secret Service spokesman said.

    The Secret Service has not yet confirmed whether the object was a real grenade and if so, whether the pin had been pulled, said spokesman Jim Mackin.

    “We have not seen the reported device,” he said.

    No explosion was reported.

    Mackin said Georgian officials alerted their U.S. counterparts about the incident several hours after Bush departed the former Soviet republic, where he received an enthusiastic welcome in a public square in the capital.

    I reckon it’s a safe bet we’ll hear more about this unfinished tale.

  • Voter Fraud Found in Milwaukee

    When there are more votes than registered voters, I feel quite free to remove the hedging “Possible” from the WaPo’s headline.

    About 4,500 more ballots than registered voters were cast in the election last November in Milwaukee, investigators said Tuesday.

    Also, more than 200 felons voted improperly in Milwaukee, and more than 100 instances of suspected double-voting were found.

    No charges have been filed. Investigators found no widespread conspiracy, just isolated incidents, U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic said.

    “I don’t think there’s an election in this municipality or this state that would have been decided differently even with those numbers,” said Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat.

    Democrat John Kerry received more than 71 percent of the 277,000 ballots cast in Milwaukee in the presidential race, and he took the state of Wisconsin by about 11,000 votes.

    The investigation was launched by local and federal authorities after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found, among other things, that more than 1,200 people voted from invalid addresses. The head of the city’s election commission has since resigned.

    Wisconsin allows same-day registration, and those who are already registered can simply show up at the polls without ID.

    Those lax election laws must certainly seem rather inviting to any wishing to steal an election or pad a few extra votes for insurance of a close victory.

    Boots and Sabers‘ Owen, a Wisconsin resident living near Milwaukee, has followed the story diligently for some time now and has today’s news covered here, here and here.