From The Usual Suspects

National Guard Leader Visits Horn of Africa.

New Multi-Ethnic Afghan Police Force Grows.

‘Grassroots’ will be catalyst for change in Baghdad, commander says.

Iraq violence lowest since ’06 mosque attack – U.S.

U.S. to start accepting 1,000 Iraqi refugees a month.

Coalition airpower supports ground troops.

Iraqi Doctors Get New Medical Books.  A U.S. Army surgeon has established a revolving medical library of sorts, comprised of donations of the latest books and journals to help Iraqi doctors.

Proposed Agricultural Union will aid security, stability.

82nd Sustainment Brigade “grows the future” with Combat Logistics Patrol Academy.

Democrats fail to pass antiwar bills despite unpopular conflict in Iraq.

Osprey tilt-rotor squadron heads to Iraq

Iraq asks Russia to cancel 80 percent of debt.

Violence down in northern Iraqi province.

Iraqis graduate Casualty Treatment Course.

"Keep 'em Clean, Keep 'em Deadly!"

Posted by: raging tachikoma at 01:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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     I have made my choice, I am backing Fred Thompson for the 2008 Republican nomination.  As long time Republican, like since I could vote, I feel like Fred has the best credidentials in all of the important categories, national security, second amendment rights and just general Reagn-esque conservatism.  Sadly my home state of Kansas is not going to have a presidental primary, again.  Not that it matters with everybody and their mother going for front loaded primaries in the first quarter of the year.  Congress needs to step in and put in place a rotating, regioanl primary system that gives all members of each party a chance to shape their presidental ticket.  Basically the sytem that has been proposed would have each quarter of the nation hold a primary one month apart over four months, rather than the all over the map primary sytem that we have now, with the starting region changing every presidental election cycle.

Oh yeah give money to Fred 08 or put up a donate button, or get a bumper sticker etc, you get the idea.

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     Yasuo Fukuda is to be the new Prime Minister of Japan, that comes as no great shock.  He will face a difficult time in office, but hopefully he will be able to garner more public support than Abe managed.

From the Yomuiri Shimbun:

     Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda scored a comfortable victory in an election Sunday to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, which virtually guarantees that he will become the nation's next prime minister.

Fukuda wins LDP race / Will follow in footsteps of father as prime minister.

     I don't envy the job facing Fukuda, but in the end he will likely carry out the same policies as Abe, and hopefully prove rather more adept at doing so.  The first thing he needs to do is scrutinize his cabinet members very carefully.  Continual scandals among Abe's cabinet was one of the prime reasons for his downfall.

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     Sooo, I was saying that lately I have been drifting toward slice of life manga of late.  That is true but I still love a good series that is full of stuff that will simply never happen in this world.  Enchanter is a great example of this, I happened across Enchanter, much like Tetrgramaton Labyrinth by accident, the cover of volume one caught my eye and a I added it to my stack of manga.  After flipping through it a bit I knew that this was winner, with its laugh out loud humor, a fair share of action and nearly but not quite gratuitous fan service.  The main thrust of the story is about a highschool student (imagine that, a manga where the protagonist is highschool student , but I digress) named Haruhiko and the demon Eukanaria, who wants his body, and just his body.  If Eukanaria can sleep with Haruhiko she can extract his soul and replace it with the soul of her dead lover Fulcanelli, an Enchanter.  To keep this from happening happening Haruhiko takes on Fulcanelli's power and becomes an enchanter himself, keeping his soul, but having to continuosly rebut the advances of Eukanaria (who is all hips and tits), who did I mention looks just like the girl he has the hots for.  If that wern't enough there is the occansional demon attack and other stumbling blocks to a normal life being thrown at our somewhat reluctant hero.  On a curious note the distinguishing feature of enchanters is complete heterochromopathy, that is having eyes of distinctly different colors. (Digression #2, partial heterochromopathy is not uncommon, this is when one or both eyes have areas of the iris that are different shades or colors.  Complete heterochromopathy is rare in humans, but less so in certain dog and cat breeds.)  There are currently five volumes of Enchanter out from DMP, which deserves credit for sticking with the larger volume size and the use of color dust jackets, much like most manga in Japan.  I wish that was something that more companies did, but at least one company does it.

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     Sometime ago you may remember that I put up a rambling and admittedly incoherent post about how the EU was bad for the UK's national defence, well this is a hopefully rather more readable take two.

     I stand by the basic and simple premise that the UK must make a choice between being able to influence world events on her own militarily and as a result diplomatically or to subsume herself to being just one more cog in the defective European machine.  The nature of the cosequences of making the wrong choice are readily observable and nearly came to pass twenty five years ago.  The Falklands war proved that the UK was willing and capable of looking after her overseas interests without European assistance, of which none was forthcoming.  The assistance she did receive however was from her one truly reliable ally, the United States.  The help the US provided certainly helped swing the war in Britains favor, but in the end only the Brits themselves could go and take back what was rightfully theirs.  A fine quote from Admiral Sandy Woodward's* book One Hundred Days bluntly warns of the dangers of excessive European integration and entanglements even before the UK became a member of the EU.

     I can not resist a review of this whole affair.  Were I Galtieri I would have observed the Malvinas** negotiations of the last few decades and found little hope of early staisfaction.  I would have also observed that, over the same long period, there had been a progressive withdrawl of , and reduction in, British overseas military capability.  In the General's boots, I would have concluded that at some time in the not so distant future, British policy on the Falklands issue would become all shadow and no substance.

     When the cuts in the Royal Navy were announced recently, the way ahead ust have seemed clear to Galtieri, and he only needed a half reasonable excuse.  Senor Davidoff's scrap dealers and our indignant reaction to them provided just such an excuse.  Galtieri attacked.  His reasoning was as impeccable as his timing was previous.  All he had to do was wait another six months, when Hermes, Invincible, Fearless and Intrepid would all have gone...

     If the Argentinian government, or others similarly minded elsewhere, are to be deterred from this kind of military adventurism, we shall need to provide not only the mark of our resolution on the spot [a flag, a ship, a platoon].  But also the obvious wherewithal to reinforce it [mobile forces, at short readiness].

     We would not again wish to repair our mistakes the hard way.  But it was the last Defence Review that was a problem.  After the needs of the strategic nuclear deterent and the defence of the home base had been met, they decided in favor of the short term, politically expedient, continental European commitment.  This was to the detriment of Britain's long term, long established, worldwide, national interest.  This was plainly evident to Galtieri, and I doubt he was alone.

     Whatever I may have thought before, the Falklands experience has given me a new insight into the capacity of non-democratic governments for immorality and dishonesty.  That capacity is apt to be too common in this turbulent world.  What, if any, should Britain's role in all be in all of this?  It is clear enough that our traditional global policy has long suited our geographic and political interests.  That is a matter of history.  And this war has once again demonstarted that it suits our professional military capability-air, land and sea.

     Our Defence budget, of course can only buy a certain amount. But I am convinced that it ought to be spent where it can influence both European and World affairs.  It must be a mistake to place it where it can affect - and in a very limited way at that - the policies of our European neighbors only.

       The nature of the EU beast is vexingly complex and multifaceted, so much so that the definitive site on the EU, Richard North's EU Referendum has spawned a second blog just for defence issues, Defnce of the Realm check out these to great blogs and their forum for deep background and discussion on pretty much any EU related topic.  As for the topic at hand the needs of Britains distant interests have not been well served by three sucessive governments, one Conservative and two Labour.  They have invested heqavily in often inferior european made hardware that is available form others cheaper, with higher performance and a willingness to let the work be done by and large inside of the UK, creating jobs and the subsequent economic growth and wealth creation that it spurs, plus more tax revenue for the government.  And  some procurement projects that are quite frankly fiasocs of the first order, namely the Cougar Comand Liason Vehicle and the Eurofighter Typhoon, both of which are well nigh unuseable in the curent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

      The fact is that today the UK would be hard presed to recapture the Flakland Islands, while they posess plenty of the major vessels needed for the task the sharp decline of Destroyers and Frigates in the Royal Navy would leave the Phibs and Flattops open to attack, not mention the nightmarishly long fleet train required in such distant waters.  I have great personal respect for the drive and ingenuity of the individual British servicemember, but he has been let down continously since the early nineties by his Government and High Command in the name of European intergration, and sadly the cost has not just been wasted pounds and pence but caskets draped in the Union Jack.  The choice is clear to everyone involved, but no one has the courage to do what must be done to save the military capability of the mother democracy.  The people of the United Kingdom must speak loudly and with one voice, delivering a clear and concise message to their servants in Parliment that the UK free itself of the parsitic usurping European Union before it is too late.

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From the Yomuiri Shimbun:

     Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Taro Aso, who are running in Sunday's LDP presidential race, both emphasized Friday the need to submit a bill on a new law to continue Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean for U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.

     The two candidates in the LDP presidential race to pick a successor to LDP President Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, held a debate forum at the Japan National Press Club in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on the day.

     The current Antiterrorism Law, which allows the Maritime Self-Defense Force to refuel U.S., British and other military vessels in the Indian Ocean, expires on Nov. 1.

Read the whole thing here: Fukuda, Aso urge new law on refueling / Say bill should be passed in current session.

     So in the end the DPJ's intransagence may have toppled prime minister Abe but whoever succeeds him will ram through a renewal of the anti-terrorism law anyway.  The DPJ gained a tactical victory but a strategic defeat, they hurt the LDP but did not, and can not prevent them from accomplishing their goal.  In the end the outcome is the same, but the DPJ can claim that it forced concessions wether they did or not. (since the DPJ will likely regard the resignation of Abe as a form of concesion even though he could have gutted it out and pushed on ahead despite the resistance.  So in the end nothing will signifigantly change in terms of policy at the top, at least as regards the war even though the players may change.

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As you may have noticed things are changing rather quickly around here as mee.nu upgrades from Minx 1.0 to Minx 1.1.  Please bear with me as I try to figure out how to get things as I want them and  generally learn how the new model handles.  Also sorry for the rather sparse postings over the last few days, I am going to try and make up for that with a number of posts over the next three days.

Addendum, from now on all internal links in posts will be Steel Blue and all outgoing links will be either Blue for work safe sights and Yellow for non work safe sights.  All links in the sidebar will remain as they were previously

Addendum to the Addendum, Fresh From the Front links will remain Steel Blue.

Have an ecchi picture for your troubles.

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4 Israeli Air Force F-15I medium bombers, a variant of the F-15E, planes like these participated in the raid of September 6.

     The Isareli Air Force raid into Syria on the sixth has become a much more intriguing story over the last 48 hours. While originally billed as a strike at weapons bound for Hezbolah, it is clear now that the raid was aimed at a high prioity, time sensitive target that had to be destroyed and destroyed right away.  The strike was deep into eastern Syria, only 50 miles from the Iraqi border along the Euphrates river, proving to the world, and in particular Iran that the IAF is more than capable of deeply penetrating a modern intergrated air defense network.  What the actual target was is not yet entirely clear to us but the Israelis thought valuable enough to send in a commando team to recon the target and paint it with a laser designator for LGB's, rather than using JDAMs in a standoff strike.  LGBs are used when only true pinpoint accuracy will do.  While infiltarting Syrian airspace with 8 or 9 jets is impressive the helo carrying the commandos would have been hard pressed to cross from northern Israel that deeply into Syria without being detected and would have been in need of fuel even with auxiallary tanks to make the return trip.  Someone helped set this up for the Israelis, giving them a forward base to launch the ground ellement of the attack.  The most likely nation to provide that help is Turkey, given the short distances involved and the close military relationship between the two middle eastern democracies.  The other possibility is that the US allowed Israel to use a base in western Iraq as a staging point, but the needs of US policy in the region make this rather unlikely, however the Israelis would most likely have been given the OK to use one of the US held airbases in western Iraq as a divert field for any aircraft damaged in the raid. 

     So what was all this effort after, what was worthy of taking the risks and calling favors to pull this off?  While most people point to nuclear manufacturing facillities the time sensative nature of the strike makes me believe that the cash strapped North Koreans may be selling more than nuclear know how, but rather nuclear warheads.  This chilling thought is reinforced by the need for absolute precision, a uranium enrichment facillity or similar manufacturing facillities tend to be rather large and conspicous targets easily destroyed by high accuracy weapons like JDAM.  The reports we have gotten so far seem to suggest that the target was small and highly protected.  But what if all of this is just smoke and mirrors to cover up the real operation.  If the Israelis believed that the North Koreans had moved a viable nuclear weapon to Syria for use against them or transhipment to Iran attacking from the air would not be enough, there would always be the chance that weapon was merely damaged rather than destroyed.  It is my personal belief that the comandos actually went in and seized something and the IAF followed up to destroy evidence of that seizure and to provide a credible and for the Syrians and North Koreans unassailable cover story unless the come completely clean with what was going on there, which is more than highly unlikely.

An Israeli AF F-16C, F-16s likely provided cover for the F-15Is and provided SEAD* support for the raid.

*SEAD=Supression of Enemy Air Defenses

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New York City Firefighters raisng the American flag at ground Zero 9-11-01

Six years, six long hard years have passed since that terrible morning that will forever be etched into my memory, I know exactly where I was when I first heard the news, as I am sure many of you do as well.  This is the only post for today.  Today is reminder of why we fight, to protect against something like this from ever happening again.  Here is why we fight, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 VICTIMS all 2996 reasons.  You are in our hearts and minds, always inspiring us to go froward and do what must be done so you will not have died in vain.

Flight 93 Memorial Stone, Shanksville Pennsylvania

Firefighters and Military Personel unfurling the American flag at the pentagon, 9-12-01

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     Politicians as a group tend to be a rather slimy bunch, no matter what part of the world the hail from, so it is always nice to see one who is willing to stand on principle and do the right thing, even it were to mean the end of their career.  So it is with Japanese prime Minister Abe as the following story and editorial from the Yomiuri Shimbun detail. Abe pledges to continue MSDF mission / Promises Bush he'll fight for refueling issue.(story) and Shirking the war on terror not an option.(editorial)

JDS Karuma, DDH-144

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From First Multi-National Force Iraq, Defend America and Marine Link.

Airmen, Marines Deliver 'Buffaloes'  Ground troops get new Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

Marines, Iraqis Sweep Area for Insurgents.

U.S. Soldiers, Iraqis Re-open Elementary School, Renovated school includes Internet room with 12 computers.

Soldiers Help Iraqis Rebuild Pump Station.

A sobering look at Iraq war’s heroes.

Iraq’s new justice unfolds in a fortress.

Sunni Arab secular bloc returns to Iraqi Parliament.

General honors pioneers of 555th.

In 24-hr battle, Hawr Rajab turns on al-Qaeda.

Soldiers capture car bomb cell leader.

Iraqi and U.S. Security Forces engage terrorists in Samarra.

Coalition airpower supports Coalition ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iraq seeks oil output of 6 million bpd within decade.

Guard your secrets with your life, and in so doing protect the life of another!

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     I find it interesting how my preferences in the genre of reading material has evolved over the years, it paints a picture of a steady but evolutionary change in what I find interesting.  While I still read and enjoy some titles that I first began following years ago I have noticed that over the past year to 18 months my tatses have shifted more toward series driven by carachters and plot than say out and out action or comedy.  I still enjoy those series, and still follow them closely but the stories I seem to enjoy the most are those that are about normal people in normal circumstances.  My favorites in this genre are varried but share the similar thread that they revolve around normal people with normal problems and concerns. They are in no particular order Genshiken, Suzuka, Pastel, School Rumble and Welcome to the N.H.K.

Posted by: raging tachikoma at 11:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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NFL Week One, In the Books, well almost.

     The first week of the NFL season is over, except for the monday night double header, which should be interesting but some things have been learned that paint an intriguing picture for the rest of the season.

1.  The Eagles are not as good as most people thought.  Green Bay has a good team but Philly was the decided favorite coming into todays game, more troubling for than the two costly special teams turnovers was their anemic offensive preformance, scoring just 13 points, that isn't going to cut it from week to week in a tight division like the NFC East.

2.  The jury is still out on the Lions, the beat Oakland today, and they nearly blew the game to the Raiders so I am still sceptical of them winning more than 6 or 7 games this year.

3.  Brett Favre is ageless.  The Packers should just go ahead and give him a lifetime contract, since he apparently woun't retire until he dies at this rate, so save us the offseason drama.

4. New England is still really good, but they may yet have problems with Randy Moss and no one else at wide out and the injuries on the defensive side of the ball.

5a.  The Cowboys have a lot of offense, running up 45 points on the Giants tonight, but the banged up secondary is a problem.  Overall their defense needs to tighten up against the deep ball.  The 'Boys offense will be frightening once Terry Glenn comes back from his injury next week or the week after.

5b.  Tony Romo is a stud, 4 TD passes, 1 TD run, 345 yds of passing, 11 yds of rushing and 1 Int, come on Jerry, give Tony a long term contract already.

6.  Eli Manning is really good, but even that probably won't save Tom Caughlin's job, the Giants need a playoff win or Caughlin is out the door contract extension or otherwise.

7.  The Steelers are back and are looking to prove that last year was in fact an abberation.

8.  The Redskins are better, but by how much? And ditto their opponent today Miami.  Both of them palyed well with Washington wining in over time but questions remain for both teams.

9.  The Browns suck, pick a QB and stick with him, but don't play the savior from South Bend untill next year.  That year on the sidelines is one of the best ways to teach a rookie QB the NFL game.

10.  St. Lois was complacent and believed a little to much of their own hype and failed to take Carolina seriously and they lost as a result, that should not happen again.  For Carolina they need to keep it at a high level all year and not play down to their opponents level like last year, that cost them 4 games and a playoff spot.

11.  Chicago's offense is their achilles heel, they held San Diego to only 14 points, but managed just 3 themselves, this when Rex Grossman gave a good preformance, givimg up a single Int that was more the fault of the reciever than his own.  If Grossman plays well and they still can't score points they will have a long and dissapointing season.

12.  Vince Young just wins, he did it at Texas in collage and he is doing it in Tennesee with the Titans, look for the Titans to make it to the post season this year.

13.  Kansas City was mistaken in letting Trent Green go.  Green was the best of all their QB's and they will miss him for  quite a while.

14.  The Texans seem to be pulling it together after their fresh start, they convincingly beat the Chiefs, showing a smart, aggresive defense that will keep them in games that changes to their offensive should now be better equipped to capitalize on and bring home some wins.

      Overall the opening weekend played out about how one expected, with a lot of close games and a couple of real blow outs.  Now to see how the teams playing on monday fare to get a complete picture of each division and who looks like the likely winner and loser of those races now that we will have had a chance to see all 32 teams play games that actually mean something.  So on a final note I say:

GO COWBOYS!!

Posted by: raging tachikoma at 11:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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