Note to Iraqi People: Freedom's Reward

Today I was driving almost all day. During the morning I listened to the local National Public Radio station. One of the show was "The Connection" with Dick Gordon as the host. Because I was in and out of my car, I didn't catch the whole show and only heard fragments of an interview with Tyler Hicks, a New York Times photographer who has both been embedded with the US forces and also spent time with the "insurgents" (although he had a habit of referring to them as "the Iraqis"). You can listen to the show here.

Toward the end of the show, as I recall it, Mr. Hicks was talking about how the Iraqis would like to see the US troops leave Iraq - sort of like guests that have overstayed their welcome. Then, he said something to the effect that some Iraqis kind of miss the old days under Saddam. "A lot of people would take Saddam Hussein back now.." Mr. Hicks hastened to add that the people he was talking to didn't mean the mean, nasty Saddam who killed "hundreds of thousands" but rather the "clean city" Saddam who had in place so much law enforcement that there was "little crime" in Bahgdad and one could walk the street in safety.

Seems like we've been down this path before. Mussolini made the trains run on time. Hitler brought order out of the chaos of the Weimar republic (a chaos that he helped seed). Caesar, Napoleon...

Dictators are the easy answer to troubled times because they will make all the decisions and then enforce them. Not much work on the part of the citizen is required, however, the cost is very high. The price is total submission. A wrong word, a wrong glance, the wrong family member, the wrong this or that and you end up in a pit somewhere.

Freedom has a high price, too. But for those willing to help pay the price, the rewards include those that the Americans remember from World War II: Freedom from Fear, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion and Freedom from Want.

When your towns and cities are under attack by forces who want to reimpose a dictatorship, freedom from fear seems like an illusion. But if you surrender now, and take the easy path, fear will always be with you. Fight the "insurgents" and you will have paid the price that freedom demands.

And you will never live in fear again.

Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941

It's been 63 years since the Pearl Harbor attack. I still see the occasional "Pearl Harbor Survivor" license plate, but even the youngest sailor, Marine, soldier or airman of those days is an octogenarian by now.

World War II marked the true emergence of the United States as a major power involved in the world. While we still have our isolationist tendencies, we are engaged in the world because we learned lessons from our experiences in both the world wars.

When I was a child, it was often recited that "major wars happen every twenty years." However, since the end of WWII there has been no repeat of total world war. To be sure there have been wars, both cold and hot (surrogate and not), but nothing that engaged virtually all the nations of the world in shooting wars fighting for or against global domination. The most powerful weapons ever created have been used only twice - 59 years ago.

The power of the U.S. has helped prevent another major war during those 59 years. And much of the credit goes to the men who learned the lessons of Pearl Harbor - that the oceans, so long a barrier to attacking United States and which allowed isolationism as an option - had been shrunk by modern technology and rendered isolationism no longer viable.

So here's to the veterans of Pearl Harbor who endured that hard wake up call delivered on December 7, 1941. And here's to the men and women who learned its lessons.

North Korea-It's all about Taiwan?

Here's an eye-opening look into a mind molded by the Chinese government as published by the Asia Times:

Most amazing quote:

Clearly, ending North Korea's nuclear crisis or even eliminating "evil" is not the ultimate goal of the US. What the US really wants, and is exploiting the North Korea "crisis" to achieve, is to deploy sufficient military forces and resources in the western Pacific (especially close to Taiwan) so as to encourage Taiwan independence, thereby checking China's growth as a power that might compete with the US. Not long ago, the US and Japan were talking about using Japan's Shimoji Island as a military base. Only about 200 miles from Taiwan, Shimoji has a "runway capable of safely handling a fully loaded F-15C fighter jet", observed James Brooke in the New York Times.

If some day Taiwan becomes independent (or rather the 51st US state), it would not surprise the world. ..

If Taiwan becomes the 51st state, it would surprise the heck out of me.

Hope the 7th Fleet has the Taiwan Strait patrol ready.

Here's an area map to help:

North Korea Tells of "Trigger" for War

North Korea, in what amounts to an unsurprising announcement sets out its unhappiness with any limits being set on its nuclear program. Instead of holding its breath and turning blue, it once again threatens war over the suggested restrictions.

A senior State Department official said in a statement in Seoul that North Korea must play by international rules.

The countries need to encourage the North "to honor international agreements, such as the NPT and its safeguards agreement with the IAEA," Director of Policy Planning Mitchell Reiss said, referring to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the United Nations nuclear agency.

North Korea unilaterally pulled out of the NPT in January 2003 after expelling IAEA inspectors.

"North Korea cannot expect to be treated as a normal state unless and until it behaves like one," Reiss said.

North Koreans Fail to Measure Up

This report says the North Korean populace is suffering from "chronic growth retardation." This means that while improving nutrition has allowed the South Korean population to grow taller, an NK male is an average of 2.3 inches shorter than his ROK contemporary, according to research by anthropologist Sunyoung Pak.

Her studies, to be published in the international journal, Economics and Human Biology, this month, suggest that North Koreans must have suffered severe malnutrition problems virtually since Korea split into two states in 1948.

Her research shows that the only ages at which the average North Korean in her sample and the average South Korean share about the same height is from 50 to 69 years. Since height is determined during the early teenage years, this suggests that North Korea began to suffer food shortages at least by the 1960s.

'According to the economic statistics distributed by the North Koreans, the country experienced economic development up to the 1970s. But according to my data this is simply not true,' said Pak.

Once again the citizens of the DPRK get the short end of things.

How to Win Wars

The Fourth Rail has a nice piece that sets out how we are prevailing in the wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, contrary to the reports in the MSM.

In Iraq the Iraqis are beginnning to carry more of the load. But it is the ability of the Coalition forces to keep the pressure on the "insurgents" that is paying dividends. In the American Civil War, once U.S. Grant took over the Army of the Potomac, it was his relentless pressure on Lee's forces that finally made the difference. When lesser generals were in charge, Lee was able to exploit their pauses to regroup his own forces. Grant gave the South no such respite. In Iraq, after some pauses to get Iraqi forces organized and to get the logistical chain in order, the pressure has begun to be seriously applied. Fallujah was just the first step. Operations in Mosul and in the Sunni Triangle have been on-going. The enemy cannot keep up the pace the Coalition is forcing. The ability of the Coalition to handle more than one problem at a time is a surprise to the enemy as is the ineffectiveness of his Improvised Explosive Devices. Further, as Iraqi forces take over control of more areas, the other Coalition members will have more combat power to apply to the reeling enemy.

A similar approach is being taken in Afghanistan. The Fourth Rail points to a winter offensive.

[Maj. Gen. Eric] Olson said the offensive -- which will cover the entire U.S.-led force of about 18,000 -- would attempt to disturb militants in their "winter sanctuaries" so that they will be in no shape to move against the parliamentary vote slated for April. The military will be "attempting to attack him in those sanctuaries while he's resting and refitting, staging and planning," said Olson, the operational commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

To reinforce the frontier, Olson said the U.S. military would establish several new camps close to the border. He said Afghan forces would also reposition "along and astride" routes used by militants. And he promised to strengthen cooperation with Pakistani forces across the border.

The Islamofascist enemy is given no respite...

Relentless pressure from different directions is how wars are won. The enemy is given no time to rest, regroup or rearm.
He can only lose.

Update: Corrected some typos and straigtened out some phrasing.

ACLU Sues to Allow Atheists in Foxholes

The ACLU has brought suit to prevent military personnel from praying in foxholes or during other stressful times of combat. "We're seeking to reverse the trend so long expressed as 'there are no atheists in foxholes,' said ACLU spokesperson, Ain Tigotta Klew. "We think that all persons, regardless of their religious convictions, or lack thereof, should be welcome in foxholes or other fighting locations. We are also looking into allegations that prayer is being conducted by these government employees during their working day in clear violation of the policy of separation of church and state."


When this reporter attempted to contact a Pentagon spokesman, an odd sound, somewhat like muffled laughter, prevented this reporter from hearing the military's initial reaction to this suit.

The ACLU is fresh off a success in having the Pentagon to agree to cease any military sponsorship of Boy and Cub Scout troops or Packs.





File under "satire" or "coming soon to a courtroom near you."

Update: Well, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) declares that there are already atheists in foxholes. And they resent those who say that there aren't. So there.

An early UAV: DASH

The Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter was an early UAV and was deployed in large number throughout the US fleet starting in the 1960s. I served in destroyers with DASH hangers, but never got to see one in action. There were lots of rumors about how hard they were to control and how they would just occasionally just decide to fly over the horizon, usually with a destroyer madly chasing after trying to regain radio contact.

This website has a lot of photos and some interesting stories about this precursor to the modern UAVs. Here's photo from that site of a DASH in the air.

Rumsfeld to Stay as SecDef

Newsday reports
Rumsfeld to stay at President Bush's request.

Excellent.

Hat tip: Outside the Beltway

Kosovo: It just gets better and better

BBC reports the new Kosovo Prime Minister is a former KLA commander and a "controverial figure."

Since he was just questioned by investigators for the International War Crime Tribunal, there may be some fire with that smoke. Mr Haradinaj's party is the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, described as "an offshoot of the political successor to the KLA."

Mr Haradinaj is facing a difficult task.
He's got six months to prepare for a planned UN review that will establish how far Kosovo has gone along the road of meeting the required standards of democracy, rule of law and minority protection before talks can begin on Kosovo's long-term status.

It's the fervent hope of Kosovo's Albanians that they will get a positive assessment because they are hoping that subsequent talks will lead to Kosovo's independence.

Meanwhile, Mr Haradinaj's job is being complicated by the fact that the Serb minority overwhelmingly boycotted the October elections - and most of the Serb representatives elected at the time are now boycotting the assembly.

The KLA and it successors want full independence from Serbia. They are ruthless in their efforts to drive the remaining Kosovar Serbs from Kosovo. As I have noted before there are about 28,000 people whose job it is to maintain order in Kosovo, including NATO forces and UN police. Electing a guy from the KLA who is being talked to by investigators is not going to make their jobs any easier.

Why Politicians Make Lousy Strategists

Drudge links to this article from My Way News about Tommy Thompson's announcement of his resignation from the cabinet. It contains this gem:

"For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do," he said.

For giving ideas to the bad guys, who already have plenty, I award Secretary Thompson an EagleSpeak Dodo award. It was easy to do.

Update:I see Patterico has picked up on this,too.

Russia's Putin Calls U.S. Policy 'Dictatorial'

Yahoo News has a Reuters' story
Russia's Putin Calls U.S. Policy 'Dictatorial'

Well, he ought to know.

Hat tip: Drudge

Philippines Typhoon Disaster

About 1,000 Dead or Missing in Philippines Floods says the NY Times.

More than 1,000 people have been killed or are missing after mudslides and flash floods
devastated three coastal towns in the Philippines, a military spokesman has said.
Residents of towns hit by floods have now fled to higher ground to escape an approaching powerful typhoon whipping them
with rain and wind and threatening more destruction.

Swissinfo article

Prayers for those still in peril.

Rwanda Denies Army in Congo

In a Reuters article on Yahoo News
Rwanda Denies Army in Congo, Threatens Only Rebels. This is in direct contradiction to the reports of UN troops in Congo who have stated that they have seen elements of the Rwandan army in Congo territory.

The United Nations said its peacekeepers in Congo could help disarm Hutu rebels threatening Rwanda. The Security Council said it would issue a statement strongly condemning Rwanda for any military action and urging Congo to disarm the rebels quickly.
Diplomats in Kigali said they had also been told earlier by Rwandan officials that there were Rwandan special forces in Congo carrying out reconnaissance missions.

Somebody's lying. And if the "Hutu rebels" get disarmed, who will be protecting them from Rwandan forces? One of the last UN "safe havens" I remember was in Srebrenica, in the former Republic of Yugoslavia when up to 7000 Muslim men were executed.

"Moneyball" Theory Finds Support

Outside the Beltway has an article that appeals to people who read Michael Lewis's excellent book, Moneyball. Moneyball Confirmed says that two economists agree (now there's a headline in and of itself) Mr. Lewis got it right, the on base percentage of a player is a key statistic. For Oakland A's fans (like me) it just adds arrows to my baseball arguing quiver.

Now, will the new Washington, DC franchise pay attention or will they follow the normal path of paying way too much for "sluggers?"

Whoops. Dodo Awards Already Exist. Even if Dodo Doesn't. Still...

In a rare moment of perceived cleverness this morning, I thought I had invented a good idea, the EagleSpeak "Dodo" award. It is a clever idea, but one such award already has been created. Over at ParrotParrot site they already award the "Dumb as a Dodo Awards." ParrotParrot is a site devoted to parrots, not political or military commentary. And it looks like their award page hasn't been updated in 5 years.

So, I'm keeping the Dodo Award idea, but promise not to use it for upbraiding bird owners who do stupid things like sleeping with them.

Perle of non-Wisdom

Alec Rawls at Error Theory posts on some comments made by Richard Perle on the O'Reilly factor and reproted on Newsmax. The essence of these odd comments is that the U.S. should have turned Iraq over to an Iraqi government in exile right after we beat Saddam and that our failure to do (1) is the leading cause of the current insurrgency and (2) is Colin Powell's fault.

Perle's remarks places significant distance between postwar policies and neo-conservatives like himself who have backed the war and have been championed in the Bush administration by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, his deputy Paul Wolfowitz, and Vice President Cheney.

Perle told O'Reilly the idea of a military occupation was not the Pentagon's original plan.

Alec:

Perle's claim is that if we had not stayed on as occupiers, the insurgency would never have taken place! How is that different from blaming 9/11 on America? ...If we had left, Iraq would simply have been overrun. This idiot has been an architect of U.S. policy? Brrrrrr.

Perle's intent is to exculpate Rumsfeld and the Pentagon (and himself) for the condition of Iraq, while blaming Powell and State.(Why would any sane person want to escape "blame" for one of the great successes and good deeds of all time?) I am certainly sympathetic to blaming State for bad things and crediting Defense with good, but in this case the "bad" thing isn't bad, and if Perle is to believed, it looks like we owe Powell and State some credit for keeping us fully committed in Iraq.

Sounds right to me. It hard to fathom Perle being silly enough to spout this nonsense in public. Let's give him the newly minted EagleSpeak "Dodo" award.

Because it's Funny

Most of North Korea Neighbors Agree to Cooperate on North Korea

The Daily Times of Pakistan reports here that China, Japan and South Korea have vowed to cooperate in resolving the North Korea crisis.

A flurry of reports have hinted at the likelihood of stalled six-party talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States resuming soon, but no specific date has been set for a fresh round of discussions. On Saturday, foreign ministers from China, Japan and South Korea expressed hope that talks could be held by the end of the year and agreed to boost efforts to bring Pyongyang back to the table.

Good.

'I get to serve my country'

In another answer to the question "Where do we get such men?" Consider this 'article.

"I suppose you could say that one defining moment was Sept. 11 and the nightmare at the World Trade Center. I had flown into New York the night before because I had worked there for Bear Stearns. But I was frustrated, I didn't know how I could help. I didn't know what I could do, so I gave blood and volunteered at a hospital.
"But it was really last fall when I decided I wanted to serve my country by joining the military. It wasn't that anything special was happening. I was still in graduate school. But it had always been in the back of my mind. And before I knew it, it was in the forefront. I graduated from the University of Chicago in June and could have gone into investment banking or private equity, but it didn't surprise anyone when I told my close friends I wanted to join the military...
In the end, Patrick Daley found a way to fulfill his view of public service. "There are many paths of service -- policeman, fireman, political and the military -- but it's an all-volunteer era. I've always wanted to find a way to serve . . . just like my grandfather and my father. Think of it. It's amazing. I get to serve my country."

His father is Mayor Daley of Chicago and his grandfather was Mayor Daley of Chicago.

Godspeed, Patrick!

Hat tip: American Thinker

A New and Improved (?) UN Proposed

The NY Times has an article describing the proposals made by a commission appointed after"after bruising division over the Iraq war left the United Nations feeling ill-equipped to meet modern challenges represented by terrorism, failed states, nuclear proliferation, poverty and violence."

Highlights: Increasing the Security Council from 15 members to 24. Veto power would still be limited to the 5 original permanent members. The Wall Street Journal reports "The panel also said pre-emptive military attacks are legitimate if authorized by the council." (WSJ, What's News, 12/1/2004)

NYT:

The panel also urged a more aggressive approach to interventions when states fail in their primary responsibility to protect their own citizens. "There is a collective international responsibility to protect, exercisable by the Security Council authorizing military intervention as a last resort in the event of genocide and other large-scale killing, ethnic cleansing or serious violations of international humanitarian law which sovereign governments have proved powerless or unwilling to prevent," the report said.

Other proposals include streamlining the bureauracy and retiring some "dead wood" to make room for advancement for younger UN bureaucrats.

Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters posts "UN Proposes New Paths To Greater Irrelevancy" and has this take on the "pre-emptive strike" issue:

In other words, bring your case to the Security Council, where we will take your time-critical situation and debate it endlessly. If you're still alive when we finally get around to a vote, we'll authorize the use of force, as long as France, Russia, and China don't veto it. If they do -- well, it sucks to be you.

His conclusion:

The fundamental problem with the UN comes from its constituency of oppressors and kleptocrats. Any structural changes in their committees and regulations only amount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

This is essentially what The Truth Laid Bear's said about the UN, with which I agree, as was set out in an earlier post. As TTLB wrote:

The U.N. is a grand shell game. It looks like democracy; it acts like democracy. It has all the trappings of democracy; votes and debate and all those wonderful, wonderful procedures. But at its very heart, the votes come from member governments, and many of those aren’t democracies at all. And there, the system breaks down.

"Collective international responsibility" means that some countries have to step forward to volunteer to take action (and provide troops, money and logistical support - because the UN doesn't have any of its own). Otherwise, just more words.

Annan -Oil for Food- It's my story and I'm sticking with it

An AP story carried on Yahoo news,Annan Unaware of Son's Oil-For-Food Link, contains a few gems (in addition to Annan's denial - probably accurate- that he didn't know his son was still getting $30,000 year from OFF funds) but the best part is this:

U.S. Ambassador John Danforth discussed the oil-for-food investigations with Annan Monday and was asked afterward whether the United States still has confidence in the secretary-general.

"I don't think the U.S. government rushes to judgment until all the facts are in," he said.

Ho.Ho. Ho.

Hat tip: GeoPolitical Review

Vio Con Dios, Tom RIdge

HoustonChronicle.com - Homeland security secretary Tom Ridge resigns.

I don't blame him. Getting a handle on the merging of all the agencies that fall under the new Department of Homeland Security would wear anyone out. He did an excellent job in trying to put together some of the most difficult agencies...

Whether or not there ought to be a DHS? It's too late to worry about it.

Thanks for your service, Mr. Ridge.

Update: The Diplomad take is in their headline "Homeland Security's Ridge: Doing A Great Job That Should Not Exist."

They also caution (I think) against moving too fast on the Intelligence bill:

The creation of DHS is not unlike the current rush to "reform" the intel agencies and create a Spy Czar. All too often the demand to do "something" results in redesigning the wiring diagram, moving boxes, and creating new jobs with new titles. At times that is needed, rarely, however, is that the "solution."

(See my earlier discussion on the intel bill here)

More Patriot Batteries Deployed to South Korea

The US continues its deployment of Patriot PAC-3 missiles to South Korea as described here in the Chosun Ilbo.

The shoring up of Patriot missiles is one of the U.S Command's 150 projects to invest US$11 billion (W11.53 trillion) in upgrading regional capabilities by 2006 in preparation for the reduction and relocation of U.S. forces stationed in Korea.

North Korea Won't Come to Six Party Talks- Yet - Still Assessing US Position

The Washington Times has a UPI story that says North Korea not ready for six-party talks.

Seems they're a little stunned (along with so many US Democrats) by the Bush re-election.

North Korea "still wants to assess U.S. policy toward the country," a source said, adding North Korea is particularly interested in President Bush's State of the Union message in January, as well as personnel changes in the State Department following his re-election.

News flash to DPRK: Things are not going to get better for you. Time to meet.

Keeping the Bad Guys on the Run

National Review Online has a good article by W. Thomas Smith, Jr. about the chase by US and Iraqi forces of "insurgents." This is a logical follow-on to the Fallujah action. Going into Bad Guy land keeps momentum on our side and gets the enemy off balance. There must be no save havens for him to operate.

Col. Ron Johnson, commander of the 24th MEU, tells NRO that the operations have been seamless and effective. "We can tell by the reaction of the enemy," he says. "We can tell by the increase in their activity, for example the fever pitch at which they're laying IEDs [improvised explosive devices]. We're starting to suffocate them, and they're panicking. We have a large target list, and we're going to continue to stay after them."

The risks are high, but the risks of not doing this are even higher.

Boom! A Nuclear Sea of Fire

The North Korean are always threatening their neighbors (and pretty much anybody else) with a "nuclear sea of fire".

It reminded me of an old picture I had seen of the USS Agerholm (DD-826) (fondly known as the "Saggy Aggy") when she shot a nuclear depth charge using an ASROC (anti-submarine rocket). Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I was able to track down that photo:

Man, that makes a big hole in the ocean!

More photos at this site. Scroll down to find them.

UAV Doing Scouting for the Marines

The splendid UAV Blog reports that in Iraq the Marines Aided by Robotic Airplane in Iraq. The UAV has the excellent name of "ScanEagle". ABC story cited by UAV Blog is linked here.

"It travels above insurgent positions and sends real-time video images to Marines on the ground. The unmanned device can relay facial expressions on enemy soldiers, and can transmit in such detail that it shows steam rising from their coffee."

Check out the Boeing ScanEagle site. And some info from UAV World here.
Here's one being launched in Iraq.

Oh, Boy, a New Piracy Report!

The latest Weekly Piracy Report is on the International Chamber of Commerce site.

Let's see: Nigeria (2), Malacca Straits(2), Jamaica, Guyana, India(2), Brazil, Indonesia.

More reports of automatic weapons being used. Hmmm.

Those Intelligence Reforms

Patterico has a short post on the lousy PR performance of the GOP in which the conservative side always seems to be blamed for anything bad - the example he uses involves the press assigning responsibility to the Republicans for the government shutdown some years ago. His main point is focused on the Intelligence Bill that the 9/11 Commission is trying to drive through Congress and how, once again, the "blame" for its failure to gain quick passage is being laid on a couple of GOP congressmen.

I agree with him that the Republicans do a lousy job of being proactive in what should easily portrayed (because it's true) as a principled stand against rushing into law "reforms" that may, in fact, make matters worse.

Patterico cites to Cori Dauber's posting which correctly states:

The way the stall on the intelligence reform bill is being reported is really quite striking. Essentially it's all being put on two Republicans, Rep. Hunter, and Rep. Sensenbrenner, and by far Hunter is getting off with the lighter treatment of the two here, since he's being portrayed as wrong-headed (perhaps even as a tool of the Pentagon in its defense of turf), but since his motivation is generally explained as rooted in the fact that his son has served in Iraq, and therefore he wants to protect the troops (what, no one else does?) he's just a tool. Sensenbrenner's argument is never explained, nor is his motivation.
... And now, of course, the 9/11 Commissioners have gotten back in the game. These guys play for keeps when it comes to political rhetoric, and they just aren't going to let some congressman get in the way of a bill based on their recommendations. As before, the commissioners seem interested primarily in structuring their rhetoric in such a way as to preclude debate: if you are interested in debate you are interested in unconscionable delay in a self-evidently good bill: standing in the way not just of progress but of defending the American people.

One of the comments to this piece quotes from Judge Richard Posner's review of the 9/11 Commission report from the New York Times

Much more troublesome are the inclusion in the report of recommendations (rather than just investigative findings) and the commissioners' misplaced, though successful, quest for unanimity. Combining an investigation of the attacks with proposals for preventing future attacks is the same mistake as combining intelligence with policy. The way a problem is described is bound to influence the choice of how to solve it. The commission's contention that our intelligence structure is unsound predisposed it to blame the structure for the failure to prevent the 9/11 attacks, whether it did or not...

At least the commission was consistent. It believes in centralizing intelligence, and people who prefer centralized, pyramidal governance structures to diversity and competition deprecate dissent. But insistence on unanimity, like central planning, deprives decision makers of a full range of alternatives...

The tale of how we were surprised by the 9/11 attacks is a product of hindsight; it could not be otherwise. And with the aid of hindsight it is easy to identify missed opportunities (though fewer than had been suspected) to have prevented the attacks, and tempting to leap from that observation to the conclusion that the failure to prevent them was the result not of bad luck, the enemy's skill and ingenuity or the difficulty of defending against suicide attacks or protecting an almost infinite array of potential targets, but of systemic failures in the nation's intelligence and security apparatus that can be corrected by changing the apparatus.

That is the leap the commission makes, and it is not sustained by the report's narrative. The narrative points to something different, banal and deeply disturbing: that it is almost impossible to take effective action to prevent something that hasn't occurred previously. Once the 9/11 attacks did occur, measures were taken that have reduced the likelihood of a recurrence. But before the attacks, it was psychologically and politically impossible to take those measures...

After Pearl Harbor, in typical American fashion, the search was made to, as we used to say in the Navy, "identify the guilty and punish the innocent." The two innocents punished, Admiral Kimmel and General Short, were at the end of the information chain farthest from the intelligence czars of their day. I saw recently that 60+ years later, Congress has finally
undertaken to exonerate these men. See here for a short history of the Kimmel and Short story (and another argument as to why we shouldn't rush to implement changes post-9/11).

Conservatism is defined by me as a reluctance to make changes unless and until the need has been clearly identified. Someone has to be in charge of worrying about consequences of passing such a bill, whether those consequences be intended or unintended. Now, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has raised some concerns about the consequences of taking away his intelligence assets and assigning them to some "czar." This has been portrayed by some as "money and power" issue, but I know the end users of intel would like to have what they want when they want it and not have to submit a request in triplicate that another agency gets to prioritize.

That there may be a tremendous amount of seeming redundancy in the current structure bothers me not at all. The intelligence gathered by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, and Navy, Army and Air Force intelligence all have different focuses. I have seen no evidence that the existence of these perhaps parallel systems played any role in 9/11.

Instead, everything I have read and seen points to a problem of coordination between information gathered by the FBI and the CIA. In fact, our intelligence was pretty good - it just never got connected. Some of this problem was caused by an artificial "wall" between them as far as the sharing of domestic and foreign intelligence. The "cure" of the 9/11 Commission may address that issue but it may also cause more harm. It's time to ignore the 9/11 commissioners and take a hard look at what this bill might really do.

I note that the Wall Street Journal has a piece on its editorial page (11/30/04) by John Lehman and Bob Kerrey, "Safety in Intelligence." (available on the web to subscribers only). These gentlemen attempt to make the case that military commanders ought to be happy with the new bill for 3 reasons:
(1) they'll get even better tactical intelligence because the current "balkanized and stovepiped structure" will be streamlined when "a single authority able to focus the unified efforts of our entire intelligence community upon the most urgent needs of combatant commanders and civilian decision makers;"
(2) the bill "ensures that the person responsible for national intelligence will have the authority to do the job," and
(3) with better intelligence available to the civilian authority, it will be "less likely that our armed forces will need to be sent into armed conflict. Good intelligence can prevent wars in the first place. And the best war is the one that a strong military, capable diplomats and timely intelligence have made unnecessary."

I'm not a senior military commander but I am not impressed with this. A "single authority" can also decide that you don't need what you ask for, or as in the case of Kimmel and Short, decide to keep information from you and still not be held accountable when your mission goe awry because of it. No. More study is needed.

Go to the link and read "A Small and Often Tragic World"

Read this.

North Korea Long Range Missile Update

North Korea Zone quotes a CIA document (relax, it's unclassified) that says Taepo Dong-2 Ready for Testing.

The multiple-stage Taepo Dong-2- potentially capable of reaching parts of the United States with a nuclear-weapon-sized payload-may be ready for flight-testing.

How's that drill go again? Duck and...

Update: Need specification on the TD-2? Try this.

The Taep’o-dong 2’s major use is as a weapon of international blackmail. Easily equipped with a nuclear weapon, it is the first direct threat to the United States from North Korea. It will likely be used as a threat of nuclear escalation in response to any American intervention during a second Korean war. Just as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Lt. Gen. Xiong Guang Kai stated that Americans “care more about Los Angeles than they do Tai Pei,” North Korea will likely rely on American unwillingness to lose cities rather than withdraw from Korea. In addition, it will likely be used to blackmail wealthier countries for energy and food, similar to how the North Korean nuclear program has been used. It is also a major income generator as an item for export.

In an earlier post I offered up a link to Nicholas Eberstadt's excellent Policy Review piece on the North Korean economy. Here's the part most relevant to the TD-2 in light of the above:

In most of the world today, a country’s defense outlays are regarded as a weight that must be shouldered by the value-adding sectors of the national economy (hence the phrase “military burden”). North Korea’s leadership, however, evidently entertains the concept of a “self-sustaining” defense sector — implying that Pyongyang views its military activities as generating resources rather than absorbing them. In the enunciated view of Pyongyang’s leadership, the dprk’s military sector is the key to financing the recovery of the national economy.
It does not require a great deal of imagination to spell out the operational details of this approach. While forswearing any appreciable export revenues from legitimate commerce with advanced market economies, North Korean policy today seems to be banking on the possibility of financing state survival by exporting strategic insecurity to the rest of the world. In part, such dividends are derived from exports of merchandise (e.g., missile sales, international transfer of wmd technology). But these revenues also depend heavily on what might be described as an export of services: in this case, military extortion services (or, perhaps better yet, “revenue-sensitive threat reduction services”) based upon Pyongyang’s nuclear development and ballistic missile programs.

One man's nuclear blackmail is another man's national economic strategy.

North Korean Rumors

It Makes a Difference to the Sheep: LATEST RUMORS on November 22 cites to a NY Times article reporting:

After weeks of reports from North Korea of defecting generals, antigovernment posters and the disappearance of portraits of the country's ruler, the leader of Japan's governing party warned Sunday of the prospects of "regime change" in North Korea.

However, the Marmot Hole revives the "Psych warfare" theory first raised by the DPRK as noted in my earlier post. The Marmot points out a number of inconsistencies with this theory, including

What does make it unusual however - and the Chosun Ilbo points this out - is that on Nov. 20, the Choson Sinbo - the mouthpiece of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan- ran a dispatch from Pyongyang claiming that the portraits were in fact taken down in international venues, complete with quotes from an official from the People's Palace of Culture explaining how the removals were carried out on orders from Kim Jong-il himself and a touching tale of the younger Kim's undying fidelity to his late dad.

Marmot goes off on a theory of a disinformation campaign by the US...but when he ran this theory by one of his guest bloggers

he pointed out that the removal of the portrait from the People's Palace of Culture was an incontrovertible fact-there are pictures to prove it. Fair enough. But that still leaves us with a large pile of other stories - mostly of dubious credibility - all getting leaked at once. You also have the North Koreans issuing contradictory explanations in less than a week, which might be simply Orwellian "We at war with Eurasia and have always been at war with Eurasia," or it could mean ... that they are genuinely confused by all that's being reported about their little gangster kingdom.

A "disinformation conspiracy" against the DPRK sounds like fun, but it violates the guidelines of Occam's Razor.

I think that, at best, there seems to be whole lot of confusion going on in North Korea, but I doubt that the source is primarily external.
Update: Actually, Nomad has the post that got me started on rumors - he linked to a bit that reported that "China hedges on talk of Dear Leader's Death":

Chinese officials hedged a bit yesterday when questioned about a rumor that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, had died.
Speculation swept Seoul's stock market yesterday afternoon that Mr. Kim had been shot and killed.
At its daily press briefing yesterday in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Zhang Qiyue, said she had not been informed about such a report and did not know if the rumor was true.
Ms. Zhang said no abnormal signs had been seen in the North, citing a remark by Wu Dawei, the vice foreign minister in charge of Asian affairs.

"Kim" reports that the rumors of his death are exaggerated.

So many rumors, so little time.

If you were missing Kim Jong-Il...here he is!

Lose your Kim Jong-Il? This site says they've got him! Hat tip: NK Zone

Here's to One of the Good Guys!

Power Line introduces us to one of the quiet heroes.

I like Mike, but Command Sgt. Maj. Jordan, I salute.

Getting Not So Far Away from it All

Every now and then I feel the urge to get away from it all and go sailing in a small boat.

Apparently, the people who buy toys like this feel the need to carry the kitchen sink and more when they get underway. The one pictured is 100 feet long.

U.S. Navy Osprey (MHC-51) class coastal minesweepers are 188 feet long.

But they don't have Master Bedroom suites and hot tubs.

Update: Make that a "Master Stateroom" suite. Oops.

Yacht Piracy Info Center

Arrgh! Here's Yacht Piracy - Info-Center for Blue Water Sailors.

Just in case you were wondering if it was safe to go to sea in small boats.

North Korea Accuses U.S.of Psych Job

Here's an interesting story from the Daily Times of Pakistan: "North Korea accuses America of waging psychological warfare."

Seems to be working so far.

A Timely Golden Oldie: The Problem with the UN

Long before the current UN discussions at the Diplomad and the Belmont Club, Truth Laid Bear was exposing the fundamental problem with the UN:

So what’s wrong with it? The layers of useless bureaucracy? The seeming inability to do anything constructive without U.S. assistance? The latent (and not-so-latent) anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism?

These are all symptoms, but they’re not the problem. No, the problem with the United Nations is that second word: nations.

Supporters of the U.N. worship the ideal of “international consensus” and “international law”, speaking of these concepts in hushed and reverent tones. The core belief is a simple one: the actions of any single nation are by definition less proper and less moral than actions that arise from a consensus among nations.

This seems reasonable on its face to most enlightened types who’ve come to think democracy is a good idea over the centuries. One man, one vote; one country, one vote, right? The ideals of democracy are the heart and soul of free societies the world over; by applying them to the international stage, we create a framework for ensuring that tyranny between nations does not occur, just as democracy defends against tyranny between men. Therefore: international consensus is by definition a good and moral thing, to be sought after wherever possible.

Right?

Wrong.

There’s a crucial piece missing in this formulation, and in the reality of the United Nations: that the nations in question must all be free, democratic societies. Otherwise, all moral bets are off.

U.N.-philes use the idea of international consensus as a synonym for morality; for justice. But in our present world, it just isn’t so. Ask any “peace” protester opposing our coming action against Saddam whether having a Security Council member state vote in favor of a course of action makes it a moral thing: betcha they say “yes”.

Well, what if the member state is Syria? What then? Do you truly sleep better at night knowing that particularly tyranny blesses your actions?

The U.N. is a grand shell game. It looks like democracy; it acts like democracy. It has all the trappings of democracy; votes and debate and all those wonderful, wonderful procedures. But at its very heart, the votes come from member governments, and many of those aren’t democracies at all. And there, the system breaks down.

Older thoughts, but still valid.

Rwanda

Most interesting post on how things go bad in the international scheme of things Rwanda Ten Years after the Genocide

Hat tip: Belmont Club

Containing Saudi Arabia or Iran?

Professor Bainbridge offers up a quote from a review of George Freidman's (Stratfor) book America's Secret War that asserts that one of the goals of the Iraq invasion was to complete the encirclement of ...Saudi Arabia. I think this may have been a consequence of the war, but not the main goal. In short, although I haven't read Mr. Friedman's book, I disagree with the conclusion as set forth by the good Professor.

As I have argued before, the invasion of Iraq, coupled with the invasion of Afghanistan and the turning of Pakistan completes what is essentially an encirclement of Iran. Further, as a look at a topographic map will tell you, Iraq provides far easier access to Iran's interior than other alternatives.

Saudi Arabia may contain sources of funding and even human assets for terrorism, but Saudi Arabia itself is not, in my view, a hard target to attack if American protection is removed. There is not much need to encircle it. Iran, however, is a much tougher nut to crack, from every direction except the west.

Further, the fact that some Saudis have provided financing of terrorism and for Islamic fundamentalist schools does not mean that they are enthralled with Iran becoming the biggest dog in the neighborhood. Underneath it all, they are realists. At some point the Saudi royals will have to rein in the more extreme of their brethern (literally). The removal of U.S. forces from the Kingdom should help quell anti-American resentment among the more moderate elites. Saudi Arabia has enough internal problems to keep it busy for the foreseeable future.

Update: Here's a link to a relief map of Iran.
Update2: Lots of good comments at Professor Bainbridge's site, but here's good quote from The Owners Manual

Most of the 9/11 perps were Saudis, providing legitimacy to reacting against Saudi Arabia.  But we didn't because... they have too much oil.  Instead, we attacked Iraq... who only has a whole lot of oil. 
Remaining steadfast in the task of cramming democracy down on people who increasingly resist it at the cost of a thousand of our finest countrymen is difficult enough without asserting that it is all about containing an erstwhile ally.  That sounds like war by State Department. 

Whatever happened to Pierre Bunel?

Remember Major Pierre Bunel? He was assigned to NATO headquarters in Brussels and was accused of leaking bombiong plans to the Serbian government during the Kosovo hostilities. He was arrested and tried by a French military court. The result of the trial as reported by the World Socialist Web Site France: Former intelligence officer Bunel jailed , Bunel got perhaps a few weeks of detention. As those wacky socialists tell it:

The verdict itself and the trial’s proceedings can only deepen suspicions of a high-level cover-up, for fear of exposing the fact that Bunel was not acting alone but on behalf of a section of France’s state apparatus.

You think?

Reading North Korea teas leaves? Wishful thinking or reality?

Express India poses the fifty cent question about the various rumors floating around the DPRK: Change in North Korea, or does news expand in vacuum?

The Lowest Possible Low Life

This news story about a women stealing toys from Toys for Tots shows how low a person can slide on the "low life" scale.

Hundreds of kids who could have benefited from the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation charity may have to do without because this piece of human debris stole their toys. Toys which will probably now be sold on Ebay or at a flea market. I hope some video gets her license plate number because she deserves jail time.

If you like to help make up for the losses, here's a listing of North Carolina Toys for Tots coordinators. Ms. Connie Lashmet, the Toys for Tots coordinator for Wayne, Duplin and Sampson counties (the affected areas) is on the list. Please help.

Here's a photo of the slimeball.



Update: I note that a Wal-Mart spokesman says they'll help replace the stolen toys. Thanks, Wal-Mart! Despite this kindness, there is still a huge need for toys to meet the need and I encourage you to contirbute.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks to Russ Vaughn for his poetic work and to Mrs. Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette for her fine collage. And thanks again to our soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors! God bless you all!

Kim Jong-il's Brother-in-law purged?

The Chosun Ilbo reports rumors intel reports to that effect.

In a report to the (South Korean)National Assembly's Intelligence Committee on Thursday, the NIS (South Korean National Intelligence Servcie) said, "We understand that Chang Sung-taek was purged for sectarian behavior such as creating his own clique within the military ... We know that seven or eight generals who were part of Chang's faction were removed from command".

EU, Iran Clash Over Terms of Nuclear Freeze

Headline:
Yahoo! News - EU, Iran Clash Over Terms of Nuclear Freeze.

So soon?

Thanksgiving

My daughter-in-law has arrived for Thanksgiving. Her husband, my older son, is deployed as a Navy helicopter pilot to the Middle East. I hope he is enjoying the day with friends.

We are enjoying his wife.

One of the things I'm thankful for is the vastly improved ability of our deployed troops and sailors to communicate with their loved ones while away from home. My son and his wife chat by instant messages and using some sort of VOIP (voice over internet protocol).

When I deployed we wrote letters and sent them in batches, carefully numbering them so that the sequence was understood. When my first child was born, I got news of it through a Red Cross message routed through Radio Central on the destroyer I was serving in. When we got to Subic I spent a small fortune trying to call my wife's family to learn important details. I spoke to my mother-in-law's maid several times (because my wife's family were all at the hospital), but it took a couple of days to talk to anyone else. I got the first photos several weeks later. Now, I guess digital pictures zip through the ether at near light speed and proud new dads get to see their new responsibility pretty quickly.

I'm thankful for anything that makes life better for our warriors and the huge support team behind them.

And I'm thankful for this great country that produces such men and women and supports them.

Fear of Impending Famine in North Korea

North Korea Zone posts on Impending Famine in NK? This despite the fact that "North Korea enjoyed a bumper crop this year, the best harvest in 10 years."

I'm not impressed by the "best harvest" info. If you have in the past only produced 60% of what you need to feed your people, a 25% increase only gets you to being able to feed 75% of your people. World over-producers of food will soon be called on to provide low cost/free food aid to prevent famine while North Korea continues to act in ways contrary to the best interests of those over-producers, such as developing nuclear weapons and, apparently, chemical weapons.

Something has got to give.

Maybe more than you wanted to know about string theory

Now that the U.S. election is over, it may be time to broaden your cocktail party conversation (or perhaps your beer and bar nuts conversation) by learning something new to impress your audience with. The Official String Theory Web Site provides just what you need to start using terms like "Planck length" and "excitation modes" or "fermionic repulsion pressure" in ways certain to interest the object of your desire...hey, you might engage in some "strong" or "weak" coupling if you explain your "M theory" just right. Good luck!

North Korea Tested Chemical Weapons?

GW North Korea is a George Washington University student site that cites here to a New Zealand site reporting the

North Korea conducted lethal chemical experiments on humans until 2002 as part of a programme to develop weapons of mass destruction, a human rights group said yesterday, quoting former scientists from the communist state.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre said the scientists gave first-person testimony describing gassing of political prisoners in the North from the 1970s until 2002.

The GW students are properly skeptical of the source, but also properly concerned about the ramifications if true.

Dan Rather to Step Down as CBS Anchor

Dan Rather to Step Down as CBS Anchor says the headline. He's going to leave the position he abandoned earlier this year.

Clemson, South Carolina Official Negate Bowls after Fight

In a move in keeping with what used to be the traditions of college athletics, officials at Clemson Univerity and the University of South Carolina won't let their teams accept bowl bids as described here.

Good for them!

Kosovo Albanians Protest War Crimes Trial

Reuters reports a protest in Pristina over the war crimes trial of three Kosovar Albanians.

Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority sees the 1998-99 guerrilla war as one of liberation from Serb forces.

Anger at the U.N.-sponsored trial has coincided with rising bitterness against Kosovo's U.N. administration, which remains in control five years after a war which Albanians believed would lead swiftly to independence.

"If this continues we will find other ways to prevent the dignity and blood of the martyrs from being trampled on," Sherif Krasniqi, a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veterans group which organised the protest, told the crowd

The Incident in Fallujah Updates

There has been more posting and other events impacting this event. Click here to see updates to my original post.

Chrenkoff reports the good Iraqi news

Quick! Read Chrenkoff.

It's the other side of the coin.

North Korea May Sell Plutonium to Terrorists

In light of some interesting blog discussion going on over at Froggyruminations and at Citizen Smash on the possibility of some sort of nuke terrorist attack on the U. S., this report might raise some eyebrows.

Impoverished North Korea might resort to selling weapons-grade plutonium to terrorists for much-needed cash, and that would be "disastrous for the world," the top U.S. military commander in South Korea said Friday.
Gen. Leon J. LaPorte said the communist state may have harvested plutonium from 8,000 spent nuclear rods, which experts say could yield enough material for several atomic bombs.

(Hat tip: North Korea Zone)

It raised mine.

In Case We Forget Who Has the Most at Stake

Sometimes we get caught up in events and lose a little perspective. Strange Women Lying in Ponds has this post to help us regain the right focus.

"Look at the future of the city without terrorists." Yes!

A Gathering of Eagles

Blackfive asks "What Do You Think Of When You Hear The Words "Marine Rifle Platoon"? and offers up a good thought, indeed.

Update: Okay, I confess. I'm a Navy guy and my original thought was more along these lines

Kim Portrait Removal? It's a U. S. Plot, of course

Make room for this in the I can't believe what I'm reading pile. The movable portraits of Kim the Disaster were all part of a U.S. plot to overthrow the DPRK.

Reports that portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had been removed were a US plot to overthrow the government and a “groundless fabrication”, Xinhua news agency quoted a North Korean official on Friday as saying.

Some diplomats in the North Korean capital and experts in the South said this week that portraits of Kim had been removed from some public places, starting as far back as August, in what may be a bid to soften the personality cult surrounding him.

“It didn’t happen before, and will never happen,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry official, Ri Gyong-son, was quoted as saying.

“The words are an intrigue that the United States and its attaching countries want to overthrow the DPRK,” he added, referring to the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Unbelievable. I mean really. If I read next that the newest fashion trend in North Korea is aluminum foil lined hats, I won't be too surprised.

Kosovo is Still a Mess

Strategy Page update on the mess that is Kosovo here.
There are 21,000 military and police trying to protect 150,000 Kosovar Serbs. Might as well just get a bodyguard for each of them...

Background: Ivory Coast and the French Scuffle

BBC backgrounder on the France-Ivory Coast to do here.

U.N. Staff: 'No Confidence' in Top Leaders

Fox News says that a UN union voted and the result was U.N. Staff: 'No Confidence' in Top Leaders.

Why should they be any different than the rest of us?

Update: I'm confused. Drudge has a link to a site that says the vote hasn't happened yet...hmmmm.

Update2: Doesn't matter - There is still no reason why they should be any different than the rest of us...

The Incident in Fallujah

The Diplomad have a posting on the Fallujah Shooting Video (as does nearly every other blog on the internets). Up to now, other than providing some citation to the Law of War/Law of Armed Conflict, I have stayed on the sidelines. But more and more I have seen calls that the "messenger" - the MSM - be barred from reporting what happened or that the reporter should have been more "patriotic" or something akin to it and have self-censored. The good people at The Diplomad blame the military censors:

Why did US military censors allow NBC to run the tape? It should have been seized as "evidence" in any legal proceeding or investigation that will follow the shooting incident, or simply as posing a danger to lives and future operations.
Some military PR flack should lose his job over this...

And they ask to be told if they are wrong...I commented on their site that I think they are wrong, but space limitations prevented a fuller response, which is what follows:

When the decision was made to embed reporters with the troops, the decision was also made that the "truth" of combat might be revealed and that risk was deemed acceptable. War is hell and that hell includes having to make split second decisions based on insufficient information that result in permanent change of life condition for someone involved.

If the military had attempted to censor the video or suppress it, the outrage would have been even greater. My view is that the military should have engaged in a full court PR press explaining that the Marine had the absolute right to act in self defense against an enemy who has continuously violated all law of war and humanity and detailing such abuses. It was good to announce the removal of the Marine from combat and commence an investigation, but a clear and concise explanation of how "playing dead" constitutes a violation of the Laws of Armed Combat by some sharp young JAG would have been great. This stuff needs to be treated like a a corporate PR disaster (think the poisoned Tylenol case) and not as a purely legal matter. But it should not have been (and probably couldn't have been) stifled. If you have nothing to hide, I say hide nothing. But explain it well...

I do find fault with the PR shops that did not anticipate that such an event might be captured on film and have to be explained. There should have been a planned response that could have immediately been launched, complete with videos, charts, photographs and anything else that would have established the context for the world media that may have made the Marine act as he did. I believe the Commander of the Marines involved could and should have stood up immediately and announced something along the lines of :

"PFC X has served in Fallujah for the past 72 hours and has been under fire almost that entire time. He suffered a slight wound but asked to be returned to combat.

Yesterday, in a similar situation, one of his friends discovered the hard way that the enemy has booby trapped corpses and others have discovered that the enemy sometimes feigns jnjury to create an ambush. Both of these are in violation of the laws of armed conflict.

This type of action by the enemy plants a doubt, in any reasonable person's mind, that the enemy can be trusted in such situations. As a result, the proper and prudent behavior of any soldier concerned with self defense, which is an absolute right under the laws of armed conflict, would be to place the burden of showing absolute surrender or capitulation on the enemy.
In other words, if there is doubt as to the status of a wounded or allegedly surrendering enemy, the wise course is to shoot first and sort the facts out later.

If an enemy soldier intends to surrender or is wounded and wishes to be treated humanely, he had better make damn sure his intentions are unmistakeably clear.If it means stripping naked to show you are unarmed, so be it.

Based on my personal review of the video in question, there is no doubt in my mind that PFC X acted well within the law of war and there will be no further investigation.

We will not make any changes to our policy of allowing reporters to be embedded with our troops. One of the fundamental beliefs of the American people is having a free press. The press has shown the bravery and honor of our Marines and soldiers and if it also occasionally catches a glimpse of how hard war is, then so much the better.

Captain T, our JAG officer will now discuss in depth the violations of the law of war which have created the atmosphere under which PFC X was acting."

The truth shall set you free. I, as an old Navy guy from the Vietnam days, remember all too well the effort to shade the truth and which created a massive amount of mistrust between the military and the press. Let's not revisit that experience.

Update: Alec Rawls at Error Theory weighs in on The Diplomad question with some excellent thinking and some terrific links to Jawa, Ace, Cold Fury and to an excellent essay by Dale Franks. Read Alec first, then work through the links. It's worth the trip.

Update 2: I hadn't seen this before, but here Donald Sensing captures the difference between those who have served in the military ( or even those who have given war some thought) and those who have never troubled to move out of their comfort zones.

Not understanding the intentional lethality of battle is a very common misperception among people of the comfortable classes such as Mrs. Joel - for example, the graduate students I had dinner with one night just after the air campaign began against the Afghan Taliban. They apparently thought that our bombing was a form of posturing, a symbolic display, intended to yield psychological, not lethal, effects on the enemy.

One guest said that the bombing "wouldn't intimidate" the Taliban.

"We're not trying to intimidate them," I said.

"Then why are we bombing them?" came the question.

"To kill them," I answered. There was a long silence at the table. The concept seemed not to have occurred to them.

War is about killing people and breaking things until one side can't go on any more, either physically or psychologically. If more of our citizens understood this, as they might if we don't shield them from reality (including the reality of what the enemy is doing to the Iraqis, other innocents they find along the way and to our troops), then the less ill-informed criticism of our men doing their professional best we will hear. And I am not suggesting that our troops have not ever done wrong. Abu Ghraib, though a relatively minor situation, was flat-out bone headed. But it wasn't government sponsored genocide like we have found was practiced in Iraq under Saddam. And it wasn't setting up IEDs with complete indifference to who the victims will be. And it wasn't executing CARE workers or disemboweling women or beheading truck drivers, either.

Update 11/22/04: The Diplomad has issued part 2 of their Fallujah shooting post. I still think they are wrong for the reasons set forth above. Wretchard at Belmont Club weighs in with two posts on the topic: first and second. In the first, Wretchard asserts, "...we need the truth, however ugly. There is due process to protect the innocent from arbitrary punishment." I think that agrees with my position. In the second, he notes an AP article that appears to slant remarks posted by Kevin Sites about the incident into an assertion that the Marine "acted without provocation" and worries, "Sites may now even regret that his explanatory web posting is being used by the Associated Press in ways that he did not originally intend. His story might indeed "further inflame the volatile region"; now his well-meant comments might bear on a political atmosphere that may send a man to jail. We can accept his sincerity, but who will accept the consequences?" We know the answer is not the AP. Frankly, I think passions are most inflamed among people who already hate the U.S., including those who support the insurgents no matter how much evil they do and many of our own "Bush-hating" left who are blinded by their rage. As one of the comments below demonstrates, our openess about this sort of issue works to our benefit. Trying to suppress the story would have made it much worse.

I stand by my original premise - this is a primarily a public relations problem (yes, a legal problem is part of that). In a situation where context is everything, there needs to be a major PR effort to set the stage of what the young Marine was facing and why it was perfectly reasonable for him to have powerful, self-presevation concerns about what any given "insurgent" was up to, regardless of whether that "insurgent" was wounded or not. And there should be a warning given, loud and clear that it may happen again, for the very same reasons. As may have already happened, see here (hat tip; Drudge.

Update: Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette makes some outstanding points in his post that draws on Sites' own post.

For those accusing Sites of various anti-American crimes I offer the same admonition I'd give to those who accuse the young Marine of atrocities: "You weren't there."

The gist of which was drawn from an misunderstood, sometimes misquoted, and often ignored post I offered up a more in-depth defense, noting the fact that in Fallujah only one side was fighting for freedom of the press - among other noble causes - and that those who would call for the end of embedded reporters were dishonoring the sacrifices of a lot of GIs.

Now I'll dispense with subtleties and add this: I've seen a number of people claim that Sites "wasn't fit to accompany those Marines" yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah but the one inescapable fact is this: He was accompanying those Marines, he did go through that door, and I'm not sure the loudest whiners in this entire episode would have the guts to do so.

"...only one side was fighting for freedom of the press..." Yep.

Dems not only one's in need of therapy after George W. Bush Wins Re-election

In a piece titled Fear and Loathing in Pyongyang North Korea Zone ( a really good blog, by the way) relays a Times of London report:

Hardliners have tightened their political grip on North Korea while Kim Jong-il, the Stalinist state’s dictator, has retreated into virtual seclusion after the death of his favourite consort from cancer. . . . Chinese and western sources say the regime has prepared for a state of siege as it confronts a re-elected US administration determined to break its will and disarm it of nuclear weapons. . . . “The loss of this woman was a blow,” said a foreign diplomat. “But John Kerry’s loss in the US election was a harder one. These are now very worried men." [Kim’s] prestige suffered a blow after he gambled and lost on a Kerry victory. The North Koreans played a waiting game through three rounds of nuclear talks in the belief that Kim could cut a better deal with a Democratic administration.

Another good reason to celebrate the victory. Now we should announce additional funding for bunker busting nukes...Kim the Obscene may instantly turn to Jello.

Korean American to Become NSC Asia Director?

The Chosun Ilbo reports Victor Cha, a Korean American professor at the Georgetown Univerity School of Foreign service, will be appointed Asia Director of the National Security Council.

Prof. Cha, a Korea and security expert, drew attention in 2002 when he introduced the concept of "hawk engagement" calling on the U.S. administration to intervene and resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. He has supported Bush's policy of not compensating North Korea, which has breached its promises in the international community. Along the context of the Bush administration's Asia policy, he asserted that the U.S. should maintain friendly relations with China and Japan in Asia, resolve Pyongyang's nuclear issue through the six-party talks, and utilize multilateral forums like APEC and ASEAN as a debate arena on security matters.

Prof. Cha has maintained a friendship with Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice, then academic affairs dean of Stanford University, when he was a researcher at the university's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). Associating with foreign policy and security officials of the Bush administration like Green and outgoing Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Cha has provided advice to the administration from the outside.

North Korea Undergoing Change?

Roger L. Simon asks if there are signs of a A North Korean Freedom Movement?

North Korea Zone asks "Just How Dear is He? here noting the absence of "Dear Leader" from his usual litany of titles...Also see here.

The NY Times notes monitors noting the decrease in "reverence" for Kim here.Excerpt:

As reports filter out of North Korea that portraits of the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, have been removed from their honored spots, official news outlets are dropping the honorific "Dear Leader" from reports on Mr. Kim, according to Radiopress, a Japanese news agency that monitors North Korea's radio.
Regional analysts are debating whether Mr. Kim is losing his grip on power, or, more likely, quietly orchestrating the downsizing of his own personality cult.

Whack-an-Insurgent?

The Commissar offers up a stunningly good assessment of the situation in Iraq at The Politburo Diktat: Hearts and Minds or Whack-a-Mole?.

The insurgents, beheaders, terrorist, and their broader Sunni supporters have to wage a PR guerilla war. Unable to defeat America militarily; they must drive us out in other ways. They have to make it too expensive for us, too dear in blood and treasure. But now they have a problem. George W. Bush is an irrational, "non reality-based," war-mongering, Crusader who ignores public opinion and thinks he has a direct line to God. That's a problem for them.
This is not to ignore, nor understate the problems of the government/occupation. Allawi and the Americans have to uphold their authority everywhere in Iraq. By definition, no city can be surrendered to the rebels, at least not permanently. Thus Fallujah. Thus Mosul. In every one of these cases, we must kill, capture, or dishearten as many insurgents as possible, fully aware that most survivors will slip away and fight again.

There is no simple way out. We must the resist the PR battle and win this one on the ground, one dead former Baathist or foreign fighter at a time. The Iraqi government and the US must make the price of insurgency too high for anyone to want to pay.

Kosovo Albanians to stand trial

Kosovo Albanians to stand trial. This is a first.

The war crimes trial of three former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army begins at the UN Yugoslav tribunal today, marking the first time ethnic Albanians face charges stemming from the Kosovo war.
Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala and Isak Musliu will be tried for their alleged roles in the murder, torture and imprisonment of Serb civilians and Albanian dissenters during the 1998-1999 conflict.
The arrest of the trio in February set off protests in Kosovo's capital Pristina, where many Albanians view them as heroes in a war for independence. All have pleaded not guilty.

War crimes cut both ways. Finally.

Roh Says NK Will Give Up Nukes If Given Compensation

The Korea Times says
"Roh Says NK Will Give Up Nukes If Given Compensation".

President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday stressed North Korea will give up its nuclear weapons program if it is provided with enough compensation.

He rebuffed the claim that the North has deliberately delayed the nuclear talks to buy time for nuclear development.

``We do not agree with the assertion of some hard-liners that the North is showing no intention of resuming the nuclear negotiations, seeking only to protract the dialogue,’’ Roh said during an interview with Portuguese-language newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo.

He urged North Korea to come to the six-party dialogue table. ``Trust among the relevant parties is the most important thing in negotiations. Utilizing dialogue itself as tool for negotiations will not help build trust, a fact which North Korea should bear in mind,’’ he said.

You know, I watched a PBS Frontline show on North Korea's "Nuclear Gamble," and my impression was that the ousted Democrats felt that the U.S.had tossed away the chance to "make a deal" with the DPRK when President Bush took over in 2001. Whereas the incoming administration felt that if we jumped every time Kim Il Goofball acted up, we faced a never-ending blackmail scheme.

Gosh, I wonder who was right? Hmmm.

Portraits of Kim Gone Missing - well, maybe not

MSNBC says "Some portraits of N. Korea’s Kim said removed"

Portraits of Kim Jong-il have been removed from some public meeting halls in North Korea, a Pyongyang-based diplomat said on Tuesday, but others said the leader’s picture remained prominently displayed.

In the weird world on Pyongyang, we sometimes have to rely on such goofy symbols to get a feel for what is happening inside North Korea. Too early to tell if it means anything. Now, if Kim's used body was found in the gutter - that would be a sign of change. Positive change.

U.S. plans to sneak tiny radios into North Korea

U.S. plans to sneak tiny radios into North Korea for its information-starved citizens says KnightRidder.

Intent is to get information to the North Koreans.

Good idea, but you probably shouldn't let it be known in advance.

Wonder if this is really a Madonna ploy to boost her career again? May well be, judging by this quote from the article: "North Korea's Kim Jong Il regime says the tiny radios will air 'rotten imperialist reactionary culture' to undermine the country."

"Nuclear sea of fire" threat to follow soon...

Update: Getting small radios to North Korea is not a new idea as seen here. Hat tip to North Korea zone, an interesting site devoted to, uh, North Korea.

Law of Armed Conflict and Feigning Injury or Surrender

Well, of course there are going to be questions. Just as there were when Dennis P. Chapman wrote a fine piece entitled "Treachery and its consequences: civilian casualties during operation Iraqi freedom and the continued utility of the law of land warfare". Some tidbits:

The law of war seeks to limit or restrain the social costs of war in three ways: by protecting "both combatants and noncombatants from unnecessary suffering;" by "safeguard[ing] certain fundamental human rights of persons who fall into the hands of the enemy, particularly prisoners of war, the wounded and sick, and civilians;" and by "facilitat[ing] the restoration of peace." In pursuit of these aims, international law imposes certain standards on all combatants in armed conflicts. These include requirements to wear uniforms or distinctive insignia and to bear arms openly; prohibitions against abuse of flags of truce or equivalent symbols, and against the misuse of symbols such as the red cross or red crescent; and roles concerning the status of cultural and humanitarian sites during wartime.
During the course of Operation Iraqi Freedom, fighters loyal to Saddam Hussein violated all of these. The most common such violation--and the one attended by the most tragic results--attacking U.S. forces while under civilian disguise. Protecting civilians from the evil effects of battle has long been a fundamental goal of the law of armed conflict. To that end, international law has long sought to "maintain the distinction between combatants and noncombatants with as much clarity as possible."

(quote is from page 2 of the article, found here. References to notes have been omitted).

What about feigning injury or surrender? An interesting analysis can be found here. Scott Silliman, of Duke University's Center of LAw, Ethics and National Security, spoke at a Conference on Strategic Deception in Modern Democracies: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Challenges, Chapel Hill, NC, 31 October -1 November 1, 2003, sponsored by the Triangle Institute for Security Studies, The United States Army War College, The United States Naval Academy, and Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics. Money quote section:

Now, as far as what the law requires and what it prohibits, let me suggest to you that you can remember one principle. In a nutshell, the law prohibits perfidy. It allows legitimate trickery and strategies. At this point, I could almost sit down and say, “And that is all you need to know.” There is, in fact, no other codification in treaty law and there are no other principles of customary international law that have a bearing on the issue. What we will discuss here over the next two days will have little to do with the law, but has everything to do with the ethics and policy consequences of what we do and why we do it. Now let me give you some examples of acts of perfidy. They are few, but do in fact constitute violations of international law. You find them either in treaty or customar international law.

First, it is illegal for a soldier to pretend to be a civilian while committing hostilities. This may be the most important of all the prohibitions because it gets at what lies at the very heart of what we call international humanitarian law – the distinction between combatants and non-combatants. .. So that is act of perfidy number one. It is, as I said, the first and probably the most important prohibition because, whatever we do by way of deception at whatever level –tactical, strategic, or any other – we must always respect that bright line separating civilians from combatants.

The second prohibition in international law is against wearing the uniform emblems or insignias of the enemy again during combat operations. Now there are notable exceptions to this rule. A downed aircrew in distress may don the uniform of the enemy. But it may do so only for the purpose of escape and evasion. Under the current state of international law, were this downed aircrew to go into an attack mode or even go so far as to gather intelligence, it would be engaging in a prohibited act.

Probably the most easily recognizable proscription against types of deception is the raising of the white flag. I have a cartoon that I use in my classes. It shows a cavalryman with a flag behind his back and the flag has the words “fake” written on it, suggesting that it could be being used as a ruse. Well, if it is used as a ruse, then it is a violation of international law, because the white flag of truce is recognized as the means of surrender, so whoever holds it is no longer seen as a combatant.

Feigning wounds so as to gain an advantage in an attack is also a violation of international law. However, feigning injuries or even death to stop an attack is not. You see the difference. There is a clear thread running through all of these examples. For deception to be considered perfidy, perpetrators must intend to use the advantage gained in order to attack, to kill, or to wound. If they use these tactics in order to survive then it is not illegal in any since of the word. Indeed, not only is it not illegal, it is probably prudent.

Feigning protected status by using signs emblems or uniforms of the United Nations, of neutral countries, or of countries that are not a party to the conflict, is also a violation of international law. Again there are exceptions. I did not know until I started to look at some of the literature that there is an exception in naval warfare. A ship may in fact fly the colors of the enemy up until the time that it commences an attack. Then it must strike its true colors. Now that is not an exception that the Air Force can make use of, simply because it is very difficult to step outside one’s airplane, and change its markings!

Feigning protected status by using internationally recognized signs like the Red Cross, or the Red Crescent is also a violation of international law. You can get into the weeds here. There is a sign in treaty law, by the way, recognizing hospital zones. It is a rather obtuse red band set across a white shield. There are also some recognized symbols: you’ve got “PW” for prisoner of war. You’ve also got a “PG” which is also another version of the same thing. It is a violation of international law to use these signs for the purpose of gaining an advantage in an attack.

Similarly if one were to broadcast an “S.O.S,” which is an internationally recognized distress symbol, or a “Mayday” for the purpose of gaining a tactical advantage in an attack, that would be a violation of international law. And, folks, that is really the entire list.

Aren't you glad you asked?

Update: MSNBC says the investigaton into the mosque shooting is "expanding". It also contains this tidbit:

Another Marine in the man's unit was killed the previous day by the booby-trapped body of an insurgent, a fact that international legal experts said could provide the Marine with a defense if charges are filed against him. A key issue was whether the injured man was a prisoner at the time, they said.

Update: Belmont Club has a interesting piece on "perfidy and treachery."

UN seeks probe into Falluja war crimes?

Al Jazeera says UN seeks probe into Falluja war crimes. Oh, goodie!

Top United Nations human rights official Louise Arbour has called for an investigation of alleged abuses in Falluja including disproportionate use of force and the targeting of civilians.
Those responsible for any violations - US-led forces, Iraqi government troops or fighters - should be brought to justice, the former UN war crimes prosecutor said in a statement on Tuesday.
"There have been a number of reports during the current confrontation alleging violations of the rules of war designed to protect civilians and combatants," Arbour said.
She gave no specific examples. But on Monday, Amnesty International accused both sides of breaking rules designed to protect civilians and wounded combatants during conflict.

Let's see, kidnappings, beheadings, using improvised explosive devices on civilians, torture, using civilians as shields, occupying hospitals. Makes a good start against the "fighters." Of course we have to find some live ones...too bad we don't have reporters embedded with them to capture their actions on video.

Of course, we know who they'll really go after.

Thank goodness President Bush didn't fall for the International Criminal Court fraud.

Update: Here is a Heritage Foundation article that alleges some violations by the Iraqis in the early stages of the current war, including:

On March 23, Iraqi soldiers and Fedayeen fighters killed 10 U.S. soldiers and injured 40 in an ambush after feigning surrender by waving a white flag and then opening fire on the U.S. soldiers preparing to accept their surrender.

Numerous reports have detailed how Iraqi soldiers have violated the “principles of distinction” by disguising themselves as Iraqi civilians and concealing their weapons and military status, attempting to draw U.S. soldiers into an ambush.

An embedded reporter traveling with Marines on the road to Nasiriya reported taking fire from Iraqi soldiers dressed as civilians on a bridge outside the city of Nasiriya. By disguising themselves as civilians, Iraqi soldiers blurred the distinction between soldier and civilian in an effort to limit the force of the American military response. As part of this effort, the Iraqi soldiers stockpiled weapons and other heavy military equipment in several houses and moved freely among the houses disguised as civilians.

Iraqi officials have sanctioned the use of terrorist tactics to kill coalition forces. In several instances, Iraqi soldiers have disguised themselves as Iraqi civilians and then detonated concealed explosives. In one case, a pregnant woman pretending to be in distress lured three American soldiers guarding a checkpoint to her, and then the driver of the vehicle detonated an explosive device killing all three soldiers, the pregnant woman, and the driver.

On April 3, a non-commissioned Iraqi Army officer posing as a taxi driver detonated an explosive device in his car at a checkpoint, seriously wounding four American soldiers.

Meanwhile, Back in North Korea

Here's some cheery news from the Scotsman North Korea Threatens to Increase Nuclear Deterrent.

Minju Joson, a state-run newspaper, accused the United States of preparing for war on the Korean Peninsula instead of pursuing a peaceful solution to the dispute over the North’s nuclear weapons program.

“No matter what the others say, our People’s Army and people will further strengthen our nuclear deterrent force for self-defence,” the newspaper was quoted as saying in a commentary carried by the North’s official news agency, KCNA.

North Korea has 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods which could yield enough plutonium for several bombs, when reprocessed with chemicals. North Korean diplomats have recently claimed the country had “weaponised” the material.

Not quite as good as their "nuclear sea of fire" threat as noted here- but they just keep trying to get someone to take them seriously.

As I've said before: Note to NK: Do you own a map? Have you noticed your geographic location? Here's some help: you've got water on two sides and states you don't want to irritate on your north and a strong country to your south that has all sorts of alliances to help come to its defense. You produce exactly nothing that the civilized world would miss (no oil, no gas, no gold, no food). Do you think making friends with Iran will help you? They've got their own problems...You may need to re-think your strategy soon...very soon.