GunmenTerrorists Rat bastards have apparently taken students and teachers of a Pakistani school in the village of Wali Dar hostage. Security forces have surrounded the school. This immediately brings to mind the massacre at Russia’s school in Beslan in 2004. I shudder at remembering the atrocities committed on the students and teachers by the Chechen separatiststerrorists rat bastards. If you haven’t read John Giduck’s Terror at Beslan, you ought to. My veins are chilled by this news from Pakistan and my heart is in my throat. Sgt Hook out.
I am too. Thanks to AWTM for bringing this to our attention, I’m taking her advice and sending off a note to Hasbro describing my outrage as both a Soldier and a Dad (oh yeah, and a consumer). Sgt Hook out.
From Greyhawk we learn about Bobby The Gallivant, a reporter for McClatchy Newspapers and NOT to be confused with Michael (or Kit for that matter) from the famed Knight Rider. Bobby the reporter reports from the Green Zone in Iraq.
I encourage you to take a minute to read Bobby’s latest dispatch from the Green Zone and form your own opinion. Personally, I think Bobby comes off as an arrogant prick, but I could be seeing things from a warped perspective laced with an understanding of just how difficult a task it is to provide security in a place where a very determined and clever enemy constantly attempts to breach said security and kill us.
I’m sure it was a tremendous inconvenience to Bobby to have to endure the meticulous checking of his credentials by the Soldier as he fulfilled his duties to protect and defend (part of an oath he swore to by the way). I also imagine that life as a reporter for the McClatchy (aka Knight Ridder) Company can be stressful, but for the life of me I cannot understand why Bobby isn’t just a wee bit thankful his ass is alive because of the inconvenient security measures implaced and enforced throughout the Green Zone?!
I also find myself wondering if the good folks at McClatchy condone such arrogant behavior from their reporters and if they think they are getting their money’s worth from the security officers they’ve hired?
“When you’ve got nothing to lose,” I told my security officer, “you do what it takes.” He nodded in agreement.
For what it’s worth, Bobby you arrogant prick, I’ve stopped reading the Kansas City Star.
The Sunni Arab insurgent leaders said they disagreed with the leadership of Al Qaeda in Iraq over tactics, including attacks on civilians, as well as over command of the movement.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, on his last day in Iraq, said Monday that American officials were actively pursuing negotiations with the Sunni factions in an effort to further isolate Al Qaeda.
“Iraqis are uniting against Al Qaeda,” Khalilzad said. “Coalition commanders have been able to engage some insurgents to explore ways to collaborate in fighting the terrorists.”
Insurgent leaders from two of the prominent groups fighting U.S. troops said the divisions between their forces and Al Qaeda were serious. They have led to skirmishes in Al Anbar province, in western Iraq, and have stopped short of combat in Diyala, east of Baghdad, they said in interviews with the Los Angeles Times.
While I wouldn’t classify this as a signal to start packing bags and loading ships, it certainly is indicative of a shift in priorities for many of the insurgents. Perhaps the notion of Iraqis fighting for Iraq isn’t such a far fetched one. Sgt Hook out.
Security operations in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq are targeting anyone who is acting against the government of Iraq, whether it be Sunni or Shiia, whether they live in Sadr City or Ramadi, whether they live in Mansour. They will be targeted.
-Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, in an interview with reporters in Baghdad Feb. 27.
“Today, in a loud voice, the Congress of the United States said to the president: ‘We need a new direction in Iraq,’” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., after the 246-182 vote.
I agree. And I believe that the President himself recently said the very same thing and after consulting with his top military advisors, is indeed pursuing a new direction in Iraq, one headed towards victory. I suspect that many of the aforementioned esteemed elected representatives are thinking of a different direction, however; the word retreat comes to mind.
And oh by the way, the escalationsurgereinforcements change in tactics seem to be already paying dividends in Baghdad. Imagine what will happen if when we get the 21,000 more troops over there.
While my opinion of the French government and French wines is for the most part not very positive, I do have good things to say about the French military. When I was stationed in Italy several years ago, flying CH47 helicopters across Europe and the Balkans, I often found myself in France for a RON (remain overnight), usually enroute to another destination. I recall on several occassions landing at a French airbase just outside Dijon where we were always met with professional Soldiers, eager to refuel our aircraft, secure our weapons, and provide us with transportation to a hotel in the heart of the city (not to mention suggestions as to where we ought to spend our evening enjoying the local culture).
There is a certain kindred spirit among Soldiers, regardless of the flag under which they serve, and I never once blamed our French hosts for the horrid food we suffered while passing through their AO.
CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti (American Forces Press Service, Feb. 8, 2007) - Soldiers, Sailors and Marines from the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) recently graduated from a grueling five-day French commando’s course at the Commando Training Center in Arta, Djibouti.
The servicemembers trained on everything from hand-to-hand combat to short range marksmanship and beach assault.
Maybe Heinlein was onto something with his notion that only veterans could be elected to public office. Sgt Hook out.
Bill Roggio has an outstanding piece up suggesting that Iran’s Republican Guards may have executed the January 20th attack on Karbala.
The American Forces Information Service provides the details of the attack in Karbala. Based on the sophisticated nature of the raid, as well as the response, or cryptic non-responses, from multiple military and intelligence sources, this raid appears to have been directed and executed by the Qods Force branch of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps. My sources agreed this is far to sophisticated an operation for the Mahdi Army or Badr Corps, while al-Qaeda in Iraq would have a difficult time mounting such an operation in the Shia south. “The Karbala Government Center raid the other day was a little too professional for JAM [Jaish al-Mahdi, or the Mahdi Army],” according to a military source.
I agree with Bill’s assessment, and my sources have been warning me for quite some time now to beware the Persians. Sgt Hook out.
This site is a collection of my writings, thoughts, and ramblings and in no way reflects the official positions of the United States Army or the Department of Defense. OPSEC trumps everything.
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In view of a recent tendency to identify characters in fiction with real people, it seems proper to state that there are no real people in this volume: both the characters and their names are ficticious. The names or designations of any military units are ficticious. There are no living people nor existing military units presented in this book.
-Ernest Hemingway
Halfway down the road to hell,
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler's Green.
-Author Unknown
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