Archive for the ‘war’ Category

The most telling video on the net

Posted: September 15, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news, war
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Via Tim Blair and Legal Insurrection we have this video of troops preparing to strike the bad guys planting an IED.

The importance of it is not what is done in the video but what Isn’t done:

But listen to the video, don’t just watch it. The American soldiers watching the scene unfold repeatedly hold fire as a child carrying supplies to the bombers enters the target area, “My only concern is that child right now” one of the soldiers says (at 2:20 descending).

After the child leaves, the soldiers move towards the firing sequence, but the child reappears: “Is that a kid, damn it.” (at 1:15) Then “go away kid, go away kid.” Not a shot is fired.

This is the reality of the US. It’s why we ARE better than our foes.

The key question for the middle east: “Which Troubridge is Israel?”

Posted: September 9, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news, war
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As my wife noticed every year I re-read the Guns of August. I think it’s very important to not only remember the lessons of Vietnam and World War 2, but the lessons of wars before that. Particularly World War 1 because it came at the end of a long period of general peace between the great powers , just like we have now.

As I’m a bit of a navel fan one of the most interesting stories to me is the pursuit of the Goeben and Breslau, two German ships in Mediterranean Sea at the very start of the war. British ships were ordered to intercept him including some commanded by Rear Admiral Ernest Troubridge.

Troubridge following a strict interpretation of his rules of engagement considered the ships a superior force and declined to engage. Accused of cowardice and court martialed he was acquitted but his career ended at that moment.

That would have been quite a shock to his ancestor Sir Thomas Troubridge who served with Nelson at St. Vincent, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and Aboukir Bay and was the first Baron of the Troubridge Baronets.

It was likely a big shock to the Germans as well. The Kaiser had a healthy respect for the tradition of the Royal Navy and after a single battle of Jutland kept it pretty much in port.

It wasn’t fear of the reality of the early 20th century Royal Navy of Ernest Troubridge. It was fear of the memory of the early 19th century Royal Navy of his ancestor Thomas Troubridge and Lord Nelson.

And that’s how we get to Israel and the Middle east today. It hasn’t just been the fear of Israel’s nuclear power it has been the memory of each Israeli Victory in 1948 , 1956, 1967, 1973 and the willingness of Israel to do what had to be done to win.

The question on Iranian nukes really comes down to one thing: When the UN and the US under president Obama “fail” (assuming they are actually trying) to restrain Iran will today’s Israel act differently than the Israel of 40 years ago. Will it be Thomas Troubridge or will it be Ernest Troubridge? Iran, Europe and President Obama are betting on Ernest. I think it will be Thomas.

Zulu is my favorite movie ever…

Posted: September 3, 2009 by datechguy in hobbies, war
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…and Kurt Schlichter gives it the credit that it is due:

Understand that Zulu is a true story. In January 1879, a column of about 1500 poorly-deployed British troops was overrun at Isandhlwana by the 20,000-man Zulu army of King Catshweyo. After that slaughter – the Zulus did not bother with niceties like taking prisoners – the Zulus turned their attention to the nearby mission station at Rourke’s Drift, defended by about 100 Welsh infantrymen and their English officers. The desperate battle against overwhelming odds that followed became a legend.

Zulu is one of those films that just clicks. The story, of course, is compelling, but at the center are the characters. Stanley Baker, who also directed, plays Lieutenant Chard, the engineer who happened to be at Rourke’s Drift building a bridge when the Zulus arrived and who took charge of the defense. Baker’s subtle portrayal counterpoints the character’s tactical skill in planning the battle with his evident fear of failing his men.

He brings up an interesting point, one of the reasons why I have a soft spot for the men of the Edwardian and Victorian ages:

Caine, a Korean War veteran, is fantastic – a nobleman at first more concerned with hunting and horsemanship than leading his men, but who also demonstrates bravery and aplomb under fire. And there’s a larger truth there about such men even today – for example, Prince Harry is a London party boy yet he pulled every one of his many strings to get himself sent into combat in Afghanistan.

It didn’t hurt that actual Zulus played the Zulus either.

Here is my choice for a clip form the movie:

It is very much worth your time and even more so is to look up some of the actual men who fought. My favorite is Color Sgt. Frank Bourne who also was the last survivor of the battle, dying on VE day May 8th 1945. A transcript of his account of the battle from 1936 is here.

Where are men like that today in the British Isles? They still fight for England and still use cold steel in the 21st century:

Prepared by the U.S. Urban Warfare Analysis Center:

Executive Summary:

In May 2004, approximately 20 British troops in Basra were ambushed and forced out of their vehicles by about 100 Shiite militia fighters. When ammunition ran low, the British troops fixed bayonets and charged the enemy. About 20 militiamen were killed in the assault without any British deaths.

The bayonet charge appea More..red to succeed for three main reasons. First, the attack was the first of its kind in that region and captured the element of surprise. Second, enemy fighters probably believed jihadist propaganda stating that coalition troops were cowards unwilling to fight in close combat, further enhancing the element of surprise. Third, the strict discipline of the British troops overwhelmed the ability of the militia fighters to organize a cohesive counteraction.

The effects of this tactical action in Basra are not immediately applicable elsewhere, but an important dominant theme emerges regarding the need to avoid predictable patterns of behavior within restrictive rules of engagement. Commanders should keep adversaries off balance with creative feints and occasional shows of force lest they surrender the initiative to the enemy.

What? You never heard of it? Mark Steyn wasn’t surprised you didn’t:

Here’s a story no American news organization thought worth covering last week, so you’ll just have to take it from me. In the southern Iraqi town of Amara, 20 men from Scotland’s Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders came under attack from 100 or so of Muqtada al-Sadr’s ”insurgents.” So they fixed bayonets and charged.

It was the first British bayonet charge since the Falklands War 20 years ago. And at the end of it some 35 of the enemy were dead in return for three minor wounds on the Argylls’ side.

The army report above analyzes why a bayonet charge by troops out of Ammo can work against men with 21st century weapons but Steyn puts it plainly:

When a chap’s charging at you with a bayonet, he’s telling you he’s personally willing to run you through with cold steel.

That speaks volumes.

Vietnam Vets against the War and Cindy Sheehan (Breaking News)

Posted: August 26, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news, war
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Must Credit: DaTechGuy

According to a national officer of Vietnam Vets against the war, the group will decline a request from Cindy Sheehan for an enforcement of her protest of President Barak Obama

A couple of days ago I posted on the whole Afghanistan Quagmire business. I followed up with an e-mail to Vietnam Veterans against the War to see if there was any change to their positions with a different administration in office.

I sent the e-mail to all 15 contact names available on the site. Only one person responded.

John Zutz is a national officer of Vietnam Veterans against the war. He very graciously answered the questions of a total stranger and only asked that his e-mail response in full be reprinted:

His reply to my e-mail follows His answers to my questions are in blue:

Whoever you are,

I’ll try to answer your questions below.

John Zutz
Milwaukee

Hello:

I was writing a blog post concerning attitudes about Iraq and Afghanistan since the election. To this end I checked out your web site and noted that it had been over a year (June 2008) since you had a press release.

Considering the attention or lack thereof by the media over Cindy Sheehan’s activates on Martha’s Vineyard I was curious what you guys thought so I have the following questions:

Do you still oppose the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? If not why not?

We oppose the war, and now the occupation of Iraq. We found that Afghanistan is an operation on which reasonable people can differ. Since we couldn’t come to a consensus, we didn’t take a position.

Presuming you still oppose one or both wars what public events have you had over the last 6 months to publicize this opposition?

Guess you haven’t been reading The Veteran – our national newspaper. The last issue came out for Memorial Day, and the next issue will be out for Veterans Day. They are available on our web site. We’re even getting a bunch of the old (and some of the really old) issues on line.

If the number of activities is significantly smaller then during previous years why is that?

I don’t know. Have you counted? Perhaps we’re forgoing quantity and emphasizing quality.

Why have you had no press releases over the last year?

Guess we didn’t feel we had anything new to say.

Does VVAW have a position concerning Ms. Sheehan’s current activities?

The National Office is discussing her request for endorsement right now. I voted in favor of endorsement but it looks like I’ll be in the minority and we’re not going to endorse her actions.

Does VVAW agree with Charlie Gibson who when asked about Ms. Sheehan’s current activates said “Enough Already”

VVAW doesn’t have a position, as I pointed out above. And just why would anyone give a flying f— what Charlie Gibson says? Where did he serve?

I personally remember how she was a leader in rallying people to end the war. She had her 15 minutes and it would be real easy for her to fade away, but she’s coming back for more. Sure, some of her ideas are pretty flakey, but then again she’s doing something – when nobody else is doing much of anything. I say it’ll be enough when the troops come home. Go Girl!!!

Any information on these questions would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Datechguy

Datechguy.wordpress.com

P.S. a FYI when I clicked on Robert Gronko on the e-mail list my anti-virus went nuts so he might want to check his yahoo account and run a good anti-virus.

I was surprised that the vets didn’t have an official opinion on Afghanistan although if you look at the latest issue of their magazine there is certainly a lot of unofficial feeling against it. It appears there have been some activities including at least one march in Washington since the election but they seem (like Cindy Sheehan) to have fallen under the national radar, certainly there were no press releases to promote them. Their newspaper appears very happy with the election of President Obama, but that might be more a function to their dislike of President Bush

As for Cindy Sheehan, I wasn’t aware a formal request was made for support. Mr. Zutz certainly supports her (and has choice words for Charlie Gibson’s statement) but it appears he is going to be outvoted. One can only speculate as to why.

So here is what we DO know:

VVAW still opposes Iraq and has no position on Afghanistan

They are still active but have not put out any press releases, nor has the media seemed interested in covering their events.

Cindy Sheehan has officially requested enforcement of her protest against President Obama but apparently the majority of the board will decline to endorse it.

One final note: A search for “Vietnam Vets against the war” in Google News produces one result. If you look at the search results from 2005-2009 the graphic is very interesting.

Results of Google search for "Vietnam Vets against the War" 2005-2009

The news stops at January 2009. Nothing beyond.

In closing I want to thank Mr. Zutz for answering my questions so promptly and forthrightly.

Oh we also know it is possible to actually break news from the couch at your home.

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