Clancy Indirectly Predicted Green-On-Blue Attacks

     About a 2 years ago I bought a copy of Tom Clancy's The Cardinal of the Kremlin, which revolves around the story of an American mole high up the Soviet chain of command (I won't spoil it for those who have not read it). But that is beside the point, a good chunk of the book was devoted to the Soviet war in Afghanistan. 

    In Chapter 17, the main Afghan character, The Archer (so named because of his use of Stinger SAMs) leads an attack on a Soviet battalion at it's base. At about the time the unit was eating lunch, the CO was the first to get killed. In Chapter 3 a Afghan sergeant attempeted to kill a Soviet captain and an Afghan LT loyal to the Soviets, just prior to an attack by the Muj.

     Clancy is generally a good read, and is generally solid on the technical end of things, but here he not only told what was happening to the Soviet in A-Stan, he also told us what would happen when if we ever went in to A-Stan. A warning we would have been wise to heed.

Chinook Hit With An RPG In Afghanistan

    Everyone made it back OK. That is a well trained pilot and crew right there.

Hat tip to CDR Salamander.

MSNBC Host Loses It: Claims Race Responsible For War On Terror

    

Some quotes from Melissa Harris-Perry:

• “Americans of course responded in very typically American ways to [terrorism], something that many people in the rest of the world had already experienced.  We began with a kind of nationalist fervor that was justified as reasonable patriotism.”

• “I’d like to point out that we clearly must have been having post-traumatic stress disorder because for about a year after September 11th, there were African-American men walking around the city of New York with N.Y.P.D hats on– that can only be explained as a P.T.S.D. response.” 

• “The other thing that happens in that moment, I don’t want to miss this, is that a new version of what America typically needs emerge, and that is a racial enemy.  Americans in part identify who we are, and who deserves what, through our notions of whiteness and of the racial enemies that are the non-whites.“

• “And in this moment, the new racial enemy became not so much Reagan‘s ’welfare queen,’ who was imaginary, but instead this imagined other that is somehow Muslim, or Arab, or Sikh, or something else.”

• “We became willing to stomach a kind of horrific racial violence in the name of national security.  It is something that we have been willing to stomach as a people over and over again in our history.”

• “The Patriot Act was not an act of a Republican president acting alone.  The Patriot Act was a bipartisan decision by both parties.  It was not bought and paid for by corporations; it was bought and paid for by our fear.”

     I am not going to waste my time refuting this point by point, it would a waste of good bytes. But to say race is the reason for the War on Terror, what is that? Naivete? Stupidity? Race-baiting?  Hat tip to The Blaze for spotting this.

Afghan cop: Marine killings were ‘God’s will’

     From the Marine Corps Times:

An Afghan police officer accused of killing two Marines and wounding four others during an attack last year in Helmand province told investigators he was motivated by “God’s will,” according to a report outlining the incident.

Second Lt. Mohammad Daoud was a member of the Afghan National Civil Order Police when he opened fire May 12, 2011, on Marines assigned to an ANCOP training team, the report says. Lt. Col. Benjamin Palmer, 43, died after being shot in the chest from about 8 feet away as he ate dinner. Sgt. Kevin Balduf, 27, was killed moments later.

Daoud survived the firefight and was taken into custody shortly after the shooting.

The report, dated June 1, 2011, was obtained by Marine Corps Times through the Freedom of Information Act. The report highlights an ongoing threat in which Afghan troops or those wearing Afghan military uniforms turn their weapons on the coalition troops tasked with training them.

The case remains under investigation, according to a June 4 letter accompanying the report, compiled by Marine Corps Forces Central Command.

The incident occurred at a police training compound in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. The shooter fired on Marines with an AK-47 assault rifle while they were eating dinner, Marine officials determined.

“Completely surprised by the vicious attack, the Marines began returning fire with their M9 service pistols,” the report said. “The enemy shooter immediately withdrew while continuing to engage the Marines, wounding yet another Marine.

“The Marines fired and maneuvered on the enemy shooter, who had moved to a covered position. Eventually, the Marines wounded him enough that he collapsed and stopped returning fire.”

Daoud, the alleged shooter, later told investigators with the Naval Criminal Investigation Service that he is not connected to Al Qaida or the Taliban, and shot the Marines as part of his own personal “Jihad,” or holy war.

“He stated it was ‘God’s will’ to kill the Marines because they kill women and children,” the report said. “Further, he stated that those who sent the ‘Colonel that died by my hand’ are responsible. Additionally, Lieutenant Daoud stated it was just ‘luck’ which Marines he shot and that he felt lucky that he killed and wounded so many.”

    Cut off his nuts and put a 9mm slug in the back of his head.  This SOB killed 2 Marines, and wounded 4 more, and there is no mention of punishment in the article. WTH? How much more before before we realize we need to get out?

A-Stan Headshot

Heads up, brains at 0:23. Not pretty.

A Strategy For The 21st Century Part 3: The Middle East

     The Middle East (the Middle East in this blog post is defined as Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the U.A.E., Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan).
In the last few months the Middle East has begun to heat up with Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya, Iran allegedly having an intact RQ-170 Sentinel, Israel getting hit with rockets more frequently, and President Bashar Assad massacring his own people in Syria. So, here is what is necessary for the U.S.' national security as it relates to the Middle East:
     1. Pull out of Afghanistan. We have been in Afghanistan since late 2001, and 10 years later we have allegedly killed Bin Laden, established a democracy, pushed Taliban back into the mountains, and have avenged the 2,600 Americans who died on 9/11. Now it is time to pull out. We have reached a stalemate where no side can truly win, the Taliban can't beat the U.S., and the U.S. can't beat the Taliban. This more or less is what happened to the Soviets during their war in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The Soviets got bogged down in a guerrilla war against the Taliban, after a few years the war got very unpopular back home. Thus, with folks back home becoming unhappy, and the collapse of the USSR beginning, the Soviets were forced to pull out of Afghanistan in 1989. This is exactly what is happening now 21 years later, Americans are beginning to wonder why we are still in Afghanistan, and we cannot afford to continue to fight this war with the debt at 14 trillion.
     2. Prepare for war with Iran. Since the mullahs took over Iran in 1979, they have been hell-bent on wiping the U.S. (known to them as the "Great Satan") off the map. In the last 10 years the mullahs have actually gotten serious, with their nuclear program kicking into high gear, attempted purchase of SA-10s, and the development of more advanced missiles (Shabab series).  On top of this, Iran claims they have an RQ-170 Sentinel in their possession, if true it probably means one of two things: 1) Iran has a better cyber-warfare capability than we give them credit for, 2) Iran has a better air defense capability than we give them credit for. We need to be ready to hit hard in a first strike. We cannot afford to let the Iranians get the first punch in if we go to war. We always have a carrier battle group (CVBG) in the Persian Gulf, and there is no place to run, especially if you are in shallow water. Honestly, it would be better to have an SSGN in the Persian Gulf as a deterrent rather than a CVBG, as an SSGN can hit hard and would be hard to find. Both of which are qualities needed when fighting in the Persian Gulf.
     3. Be ready to support Israel in the coming war. Back in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War, Israel came within 72 hours of running out of ammunition, and almost resorted to nuclear weapons. However, the U.S. began an airlift the likes of which had not been seen since the Berlin Airlift. This airlift was named Operation Nickel Grass, and airlifted everything from M60 Pattons to 155mm artillery rounds to Israel over the span of one month. We must be ready to this again, as Israel is our only true ally in the Middle East. Furthermore, war is coming to the Middle East, Bashar Assad continues to massacre his own people, and the U.N. will at some point step in with it's R2P (Responsibility 2 Protect) doctrine, and stop the Syrian military. When that happens all hell will break loose, as Assad has threatened to start an "earthquake", this translates to: bombard Israel with thousands of rockets ranging in size from large Estes rockets to 20 SS-26s. When this begins the U.S. will probably be Israel's only supporter in the world, and we must be prepared to help our one true ally with military supplies.
     4. Remove all bases from the Middle East. Since Operation Desert Storm in '91, the U.S. has had several hundred bases in the Middle East, ranging in size from FOBs to full fledged Air Force bases. Most of these have been closed, but many still remain in operation. These bases have served their purpose, and we have gone about as far will can ever go in defeating the Muslims (we could do more if we had decent ROEs, a decent president, and actually knew who our enemy is). And with the debt climbing ever higher it is time to pull out of the Middle East, as we have gone as far as we can, until we realize our enemy is not just Al Qaeda, but Islam itself.
     The points above are in my opinion the beginning to winning in the Middle East. However, the key to winning is to realize that the enemy here is not just Al Qaeda, the Taliban or the Muslim Brotherhood, but the true enemy is Islam and everything it stands for.

Hellfire Missile In Action

Video Credit: YouTube

Last Week's Helicopter Crash Wasn't Caused By An RPG

     Last week a CH-47 Chinook carrying 22 SEALs, 3 Air Force Air Controllers, and 7 Afghan Army troops was shot down by the Taliban over Afghanistan. Defense News reports that the Taliban shot down the helicopter with an RPG that struck the helicopter.

     The report also says that the attack took place late August 5th, at night in other words. However, you have a better chance of finding Flight 19 with a fishing net than hitting a moving helicopter with an RPG, and there it is more likely that the Taliban used a MANPADS ( MAN Portable Air Defense System).

     A MANPADS is a a small rocket similar to an RPG, but with an infrared guidance system that locks on to the exhaust from an aircraft engine. A MANPADS that most people might have heard of is the FIM-92 Stinger. The Stinger is the standard issue MANPADS of the U.S. military and several other countries.

     The Mujaheddin (now known as the Taliban) who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 1980s, received among other things Stinger MANPADS to shoot down Soviet helicopters with.  By now the batteries in those missiles are long dead, and the equipment needed for their upkeep is impossible for the Taliban to get their hands on. Thus, this would point toward a new outside source for these weapons.

     The first suspect to come to mind would be Iran, Iran has been caught before giving the Taliban weapons in the form of 122mm rockets that have a range of 13 miles. On top of this Iran is known to produce a MANPADS under the designations Misagh-1 & 2. Another possible source for MANPADS would be China, they are known to produce several types of MANPADS, and also shares a border with Afghanistan. Russia is also another possible supplier of MANPADS, but has no motive for this. Libya might also be the source for these missiles due to the fact that MANPADS have been stolen from Gaddafi armories several times, and no one knows where they are. Other more unlikely sources could be Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, or even India, but these countries with the exception of Pakistan, have no reason to provoke the U.S. like this.  

     Until the military comes clean and admits that the Taliban is using MANPADS this is all pure speculation, but if true this poses an enormous risk to civilian and military air travel all over the world.

     

Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force

JDAM In Afghanistan

Video Credit: YouTube

MRAPs For China?

     Recently there have been reports that China is going to be purchasing MRAPs (Mine Resistant Armor Protected), from a South African company named Mobile land Systems.

     Ever since the U.S.-led coalition went into Iraq in 2003, coalition forces encountered many roadside bombs, and the bombs were causing heavy casualties. Thus, there arose a need for a vehicles that could withstand roadside bomb blasts, which led to the development of the MRAP family of vehicles.

     What is strange about China purchasing MRAP type vehicles is that there is no major fighting anywhere in the country. However, China might be purchasing these vehicles because of the fact that the population in western China which is mostly muslim, and might catch the "Arab Spring fever", and revolt. On top of this, Tibet is not exactly happy about the Chinese occupation, and who knows what Tibet might do. 

     As this story progresses it will be interesting to see how many MRAPs China purchases, and what China does with them.

     

      

     

     

Photo Credit: U.S. Navy, Defense Tech

Iran's Impenetrable Missile Silos & All The Other Doomsday "Weapons"

     During the last few years Iran has unveiled a stream of new weapons and facilites, ranging from copies of Germany's V-1 flying bomb to ship killing flying boats that look like they were made in the 1920s to missile silos that are supposedly impenetrable. So, here are some examples of Iran's newest weapons.

     This year during the Great Prophet 6 exercises Iran showed off it's new missile silos that the say can withstand direct attack (just not the nuclear kind), and can handle Shahab-3 and Sajjil-2 Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs).

     Next up is Iran's fleet of flying boats, Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmed Vahidi stated concerning the boats "Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the few countries which managed to design, build and use flying boats in a short time.". The flying boat is designated the Bavar 2 and is supposedly armed with 1 machine gun and a camera. Defense Tech reported that Iran also claimed that the Bavar 2 cannot be seen by any radar because of it's hull's advanced design.

     Moving on we come to Iran's "Ambassador of Death" which is a V-1 flying bomb with a range of 1,000 kilometers, a max speed of 560 MPH, and can be armed with 2 113.4 kilogram bombs or a single 450lbs bomb.

     Stephen Trimble spotted this gem apparently showing a model of a stealth fighter, which looks somewhat like a YF-23.

     While most of this stuff is extremely low tech, if deployed en masse it could drive the price of oil sky high, and shut down the Strait of Hormuz 

Photo Credits (top to bottom): U.S Air Force, Federation of American Scientists, CNN, Fox News, The DEW Line

       

     

     

     

Helmet Camera Records American Soldiers Being Ambushed In Afghanistan

     Thanks to Kit Up! for spotting this video.

Predator Drone Nails Terrorist Car

New Predator Drone Footage

Video Credit: LowellGuy

You To Can Rename Al-Qaida

     When Osama Bin Laden was nailed about a month ago, he was working on a new name for Al-Qaida, as the Danger Room reports.

     The best Osama had come up with so far was "Monotheism and Jihad Group", it's pretty obvious that Osama needed a advertising advisor. So, to help fix this problem the Danger Room is holding a contest to find a new name for Al-Qaida, some of the most popular names right now are "League Of Extraordinary Beards", 

"Kandahar Ardent Brotherhood Of Orthodox Muslims" (KABOOM), "Dr. Bin Laden's 100% Natural Good Time Terror Band Solution", "Bad News Beards", SEAL bait, "These Aren't The Beards Your Looking For", etc. 

     So, if you think you have the new name for Al-Qaida hop on over to the Danger Room and enter your suggestion.

Note: This is just a joke, and vote for the name Muslims & Guns.

  

   

Apache Video

Thanks to Weasel Zippers for finding this video.

Video Credit: Weasel Zippers

Osama Bin Laden Is Dead!!!!!!!

He is finally dead! The Danger Room reports that Osama  was nailed in northern Pakistan near Islamabad by a group of U.S. special ops people. Bravo Zulu to whoever was involved.