This is the face of the enemy:
A 7-year-old boy was murdered by the Taliban in an apparent act of retribution this week. Afghan officials said that the child was accused of spying for U.S. and NATO forces and hanged from a tree in southern Afghanistan.
Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand, said that the killing happened days after the boy’s grandfather, Abdul Woodod Alokozai, spoke out against militants in their home village.
Ahmadi said: “His grandfather is a tribal elder in the village and the village is under the control of the Taliban. His grandfather said some good things about the government and he formed a small group of people to stand against the Taliban. That’s why the Taliban killed his grandson in revenge.”
Behold, the fearsome and mighty warriors of Islam. Their cause is so just and their path so pure that they kill a completely innocent, non-combatant child because they were worried that someone disagreed with them. God must surely be soooo proud.
God will have his say to these cowards, I have no doubt, and it will not be a conversation they’ll enjoy. When your position is so weak and twisted that killing a boy you snatched out of his yard while he was playing is your idea of a good option then you’ve officially dropped into rabid vermin category. There’s a reason civilized communities hunt down and kill creatures that prey on their children. Such creatures cannot be tolerated near where the community lives and sleeps. It’s a matter of survival. But you go after the predators, not the creatures who aren’t posing you a threat. The story says that under the Pashtun honor code, this action is likely to provoke vendettas and bloodletting. I can imagine it will. I would suggest to the Taliban responsible that their best bet it to find the nearest US troop position and surrender to the Americans. It’s about the only option that’s going to save your lives, now.
June 12th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
GWOT, Politics |
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I got this from the Facebook page of Ed Levine, a local 2nd Amendment advocate, and my reaction to it was the same as his. A local police department in Nevada decided to “test emergency procedures” by putting an off-duty police officer in the role of a terrorist and having him stage an attack on a hospital intensive care unit.
An off-duty cop pretending to be a terrorist stormed into a hospital intensive care unit brandishing a handgun, which he pointed at nurses while herding them down a corridor and into a room.
There, after harrowing moments, he explained that the whole caper was a training exercise.
The staff at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals-Siena Campus, where the incident took place Monday morning, found the exercise more traumatizing than instructive.
Hospital employees would have been justified in fearing for their lives.
Indeed they would. Here’s something I’d like to ask the imbeciles responsible for this fiasco: had there been a concealed handgun permittee on the scene and he had interpreted this situation as a real terrorist attack – something they went to great pains to make sure people did do, by the way – and had opened fire, killing the off-duty cop would you be attempting to prosecute the guy for defending himself and his family from the perceived threat? And would that prosecution, pressed or not, do much for the wife/kids/family of the dead cop?
There are ways to train for this kind of emergency that do not require putting uninformed civilians literally in the line of fire. The chances of a mistake being made are just too high. I spoke of an armed citizen counterattacking the cop. Please note that it needn’t require a concealed handgun. Had there been a member of, say, our military’s special forces in the ICU and he’d been able to find the equivalent of a baseball bat lying around… well, the off-duty cop would have been fortunate that he was already in a hospital. I’m betting he’d be staying in there longer than he thought, either in the ICU or in the morgue.
Any disaster drills being performed in the public space need to be rigidly controlled in scope and who’s included in the scenario. This stunt at the hospital did neither and it’s a classic example of how not to do these things.
June 1st, 2010
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ricjames |
2nd Amendment, GWOT, Human Interest |
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Today as most of us enjoy the day off I urge you to take a moment to recall the meaning of this day. We have all enjoyed the benefit of the actions of those fallen soldiers we honor. It is in thanks for those actions that we should pause, remember, and offer up a prayer or two.
And then, as I have done in years past, I would urge you to get out there and enjoy the day. Almost every member of the military I’ve ever spoken with on this has agreed that what they’d like to see on Memorial Day is Americans doing the things they’d like to be doing with us: grilling up some tasty, gathering with family and friends, and washing it all down with something cool. (And, likely, at least 6% alcohol!) So offer up that work over the grill and knock one back in honor of those fellow Americans who served and laid it all down to see our freedoms remain.
Ad perpetuam rei memoriam, milites.
May 31st, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
GWOT, History, Human Interest, Military, Politics, Religion |
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Stupid, crass, insulting… That’s what I think of President Obama’s decision to take off on his vacation and not attend the Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknowns. It’s a clear sign that, in spite of his rhetoric, our military men and women just don’t rate very highly in his priority list. In short, whenever he’s mentioned his high regard for and support for our military, it’s just words.
I’m hardly surprised that he’s decided to blow them off after just 1 year in the White House. But I am disgusted at him. The Commander-in-Chief should have more class and more care for the troops he commands.
May 27th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
GWOT, Human Interest, Military, Politics |
3 comments
A key first step – and I do mean first – to fixing our immigrations system is to effectively control our borders. As I’ve been saying here on this blog for years no other part of “fixing” immigrations here in America will do anything but make the problem worse if the border is still so porous that illegals cross by the hundreds or thousands daily. We must get control of the border and stop the flow of people crossing illegally for whatever reason.
One of the time-honored methods of securing a border dates back literally thousands of years – you put soldiers in forts along said border. Tardy (as usual) to the party President Obama has recently announced that he’s going to actually do something about securing the border. To the southern border of the United States, a line almost 2000 miles long, he’s going to send 1200 National Guardsmen. Whoop-dee-do.
Patrick Dorinson at Pajamas Media has an interesting take on what the President should be doing instead of useless cosmetic moves:
In the late 19th century, the U.S. government built a series of forts in the American southwest with full complements of U.S. Cavalry. Some, like Fort Huachuca, established in 1877, are still active military posts. Huachuca was home to the famed all-black 10th Cavalry Regiment, better known as the “Buffalo Soldiers.” American icon Douglas MacArthur spent some of his youth in one of these forts — his father Arthur was the commanding officer.
The forts were designed to protect settlers from Indian actions and they were largely effective. Dorinson notes that if you go to the border today you’ll note that the border patrol is stationed not at the border but 20 miles north of it. He calls that pretty much ceding 20 miles of American territory to drug traffickers and illegal aliens jumping the border. He’s right. He goes on:
Currently the Border Patrol behaves like cops in a city. They meet each morning at headquarters, receive their assignments, and then go out for the day to patrol. The Border Patrol also conducts night operations, but there is no 24-hour presence in force at the actual border.
One current effective tactic is the utilization of Forward Observation Bases (FOB). These stations are situated right along the border and staffed with Border Patrol agents, who live at the bases for days at a time, using horses and ATVs to patrol the area.
Human traffickers and drug smugglers avoid these places. It works.
Requests by AZ and NM congressmen to have more FOB’s built along the border have been basically ignored. An association of ranchers, the Arizona Cattle Growers, have a plan for securing the border and part of that is a proposal to built FOB’s every 12 miles along the border, fully staffed year-round. They have committed to supporting these FOB’s by providing the water necessary to provision them. Dorinson also notes the difficulty in movement in some of these areas. The terrain is extremely difficult on vehicles. The best suggestion appears to be – use horses.
But how about horses? The Arizona cowboys use them in the area, just like the Buffalo Soldiers did over 100 years ago. Think it’s a crazy idea? Read Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton.
He writers [sic] that the U.S. Special Forces used horses and mules to great effect in 2001 to topple the Taliban during Operation Enduring Freedom.
If we could make horses work in Afghanistan, we surely could do it at home in cowboy country. Time to sound the bugle call, “Boots and Saddles,” and bring back the U.S. Cavalry.
(Link provided by me.) One of the things several of my customers are usually surprised to hear me say is that advanced technology isn’t always the best answer. I like my Blackberry and my laptop’s a tool I literally couldn’t do my job without but there are times when a notepad and a pencil are not only sufficient, they’re actually the best tool for the job at hand. Horses have been harnessed to extend our mobility for as long as we’ve been putting forts up at borders. Dorinson’s got an excellent point: if it’ll work in the badlands of Afghanistan, it’ll work in Arizona.
These are serious folks with serious suggestions that have great merit but they’re being dismissed out of hand by the Obama administration. Sending a token force of even the best soldiers on Earth is a waste. We need to send more – lots more – and we need to be building them the facilities to actually secure that border once and for all.
May 27th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
GWOT, Military, Politics |
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As anyone who’s read this blog for a while knows, I’m not a big fan of eminent domain. The fact of the matter is that it’s a necessary process, at times, but it should be the absolutely, positively last resort taken. And it should only be considered in the case of a true public good that can’t be provided in any other reasonable manner.
Case in point would be a road to connect communities that are not served by any other roadway and there’s no way to do so without building a road that would go a hundred miles out of the way. Or if the road that existed already needed to be turned from an intersection to an interchange to handle critical regional traffic. Those are examples of a true public good but they are not reasons, unto them themselves, to use eminent domain right off the bat. Every reasonable attempt must be made to buy the land and the government should not expect to get that land at below market value prices.
The issue that came to my attention today is that of the Rainville family of Vermont, specifically of their farm nestled right up against the border of Canada.
The Rainville farm sits on the Morses Line border crossing, a sparsely used two lane blacktop with an aging Customs and Border Protection building that the Department of Homeland Security wants to modernize and expand. The agency plans to use stimulus funds to build a new $8 million dollar, multi-lane complex, and says it needs the nearly five acres of the Rainville’s farmland to complete it.
The Rainvilles say the project will put their farm out of business. With the farm losing money, every inch of land is needed, especially the land they use to grow hay to support their cows for the production of milk.
…
The crossing is lightly used. Government statistics from the Customs and Border Protection agency show just over 14,800 vehicles cross the border every year. That works out to about 40 cars a day, or roughly two and a half an hour. The crossing is not even open 24 hours a day. Brian thinks it should be closed completely, and the traffic moved to larger crossings nearby. But the government is intent on upgrading the facility, which includes the small customs building built in the 1930′s, that sports a small bench with handcuffs.
“The Morses Line Port is more than seventy years old and has dilapidated infrastructure and outdated technology,” said Customs and Border Protection spokesman Rafael Lemaitre in a statement to Fox News.
OK, so we have a border crossing that needs to be updated but that’s getting the cart before the horse, frankly. The 1st question that should be answered is whether we need that crossing at all. Based on the rate of use, I’d say we’re getting along fairly well using other crossings, but how far away are those? Well if you look to the east, you see the crossing via Vermont Highway 108, just 10.6 miles away from the Morse’s Line crossing near the Rainville farm. If you drove from the farm to that crossing, it’s going to take an estimated 18 minutes to make the drive. Hardly a serious burden. Looking to the west, however, you see the even larger crossing at I-89. That’s 16.8 miles from Morse’s Line, just 22 minutes away. In short, there are perfectly good crossings within a 30-minute drive in either direction and those drive times assume you’re already up there at the crossing when you start. If you start at points significantly to the south, the diversion over to one of those alternates would likely only add a few minutes to your drive.
I do not see that the Morse’s Line crossing is so critical to our nation’s commerce and mobility that keeping it is work taking 5 acres of private property from a citizen who’s only wish is to farm it in peace. This is a bad call by DHS and they should reverse course. Close down the crossing, take that money and spend it updating the other 2 crossings I mentioned instead.
May 20th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
Eminent Domain, GWOT, Human Interest, Politics |
one comment
After seeing that video sources had possibly identified the terror bomber in the failed NYC attempt this past weekend I had some hope that they might actually be able to nab the guy. Seems they did, and by a whisker:
A Pakistani-born U.S. citizen accused of trying to detonate a bomb-laden SUV in Times Square was minutes away from fleeing the U.S. when his Dubai-bound flight was returned to its gate at New York’s Kennedy Airport and U.S. officials escorted him from the plane.
The suspect, Faisal Shahzad, will appear in court Tuesday to face charges that he tried to set off a massive fireball and kill Americans after parking his car on a street lined with restaurants and Broadway theaters, federal authorities said.
There seems to be some contention about whether Shahzad was caught before boarding or whether the plane had to return to the gate but the end result is that they managed to get him. Of course, it’s still very early in the case and we need to make sure we’ve gotten the right guy.
The bomb was packed into an SUV that Shahzad apparently bought for cash from a Connecticut man. It consisted of a box of fireworks that was intended to light off gas cans which would then cook off propane tanks. There was also a metal container of fertilizer in there although there’s some doubt that the grade of fertilizer used would have been explosive enough to have done anything. Considering the SUV was parked near a theater and other tourist attractions, the intent to kill as many civilians as possible is clear. I’ll post more as more becomes known.
May 4th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
GWOT |
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Hmmm, let’s see. Suspicious, unattended vehicle parked in, arguably, the busiest section of downtown New York City is packed with propane tanks, gasoline, and explosive powders, all hooked up to a timing device and they think it could be, just maybe, an “act of terrorism.”
Ya think?
I’ll tell you this: I’m not thinking it was someone headed home to fire up a barbecue. Of course it was a terrorist act. There’s no military target in Times Square, no robbery that could make use of such a weapon. This kind of weapon is designed to do massive damage to people and cause casualties, directly and indirectly as a result of the fires and structure damage that results. And since there’s no large military or law enforcement target in the area, the target may be safely assumed to be civilians going about their daily business. That, folks, is the definition of a terrorist act. BY all means, investigate it and let the investigation take you were the evidence leads. But assuming a terrorist motive, here, isn’t hurting anything.
The assessment that the bomb was “amateurish” is a non-sequitur. Just because the device isn’t using military-grade explosives and detonation devices doesn’t mean it wouldn’t do the job. And getting the job done is all terrorists care about, not the assessment of their “amateur” status by their enemy. Here’s hoping the administration remains serious about this one.
May 2nd, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
GWOT, Politics |
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Word is coming out that the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, is making noises about holding peace talks with “western politicians.” According to the reports, Omar no longer wants to rule Afghanistan:
In an interview with The Sunday Times, two of the movement’s senior Islamic scholars have relayed a message from the Quetta shura, the Taliban’s ruling council, that Mullah Omar no longer aims to rule Afghanistan. They said he was prepared to engage in “sincere and honest” talks.
…
At a meeting held at night deep inside Taliban-controlled territory, the Taliban leaders told this newspaper that their military campaign had only three objectives: the return of sharia (Islamic law), the expulsion of foreigners and the restoration of security.
Oh, is that all? So, he’s offering peace so long as everything goes back to the way it was before we kicked his tin-plated ass out for harboring Al Qaeda. Gee, what a deal. Omar’s spokesman – a man who goes by a pseudonym to protect his identity – says Omar is “no longer interested in being involved in politics or government.” Considering he’s wanting to dictate his terms and enforce certain behaviors on the nation, sounds like he’s still wanting to be involved in politics and government to me. Sounds like his idea of “peace talks” is that we give him everything he wants and then get lost. Which is another way of saying that we’d surrender.
I have a counter-proposal for Omar and his team. They can surrender. If they honestly want no part of politics or government then this can be a piece of cake. Omar and his men turn over their arms to the Afghan government, pledge allegiance to the same, and stop blowing crap up. They completely remove all of the explosives they’ve placed, turn in all of their weapons, and work to repair the sabotage they’ve inflicted on the country. I guarantee you they will be utterly amazed at how fast American troops start to withdraw if they actually do all of that. We Americans may not like sharia law, but if they can peacefully convince their fellow Afghans that that’s the way to go, we’ll leave them to it and come home. Let them work with the Afghan government to keep terrorists from using their country as a resupply and training base and they’ll never hear from us, militarily, again.
So, Mullah Omar. How bad do you want it?
April 18th, 2010
Posted by
ricjames |
GWOT, Military, Politics |
no comments
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