Making a point in Darfur

Two pieces worth reading are out about Darfur, one in the NYT , and the other in its little sister the IHT. Both outline the truth about Darfur: the U.S. has decided to prove a point / give the Europeans and UN an opportunity to put up and shut up. They, are shutting up.

Very much from the, "You think you are so bright and better than everyone else, you do it..” line of thinking – after all the Monday morning quarterbacking and ankle biting from the Europeans over Iraq, with Darfur and Sudan we have decided to do things by their playbook and see how things go. Well, as expected:

When we talk about the genocide in Darfur, the one element that needs far more attention is the disgraceful role of Western Europe. … First, the European Union often presents itself, in alleged contrast to the United States, as the guardian of human rights in the world. Whatever the issue - capital punishment, gun control, avoiding war - the EU seeks to depict itself as occupying the moral high ground. The shamelessness of this posture in light of the inaction on Darfur must be exposed.
…
Now we need to state bluntly to Europe that the balance of the historical record lies in European hands. Europe can either join the United States in an aggressive campaign to place substantial forces in Darfur to prevent an even greater tragedy or continue on its current path and be held accountable for the consequences.

Indeed, given Europe's inaction on Darfur, the question must be asked: Is there truly a new Europe?

This all remind me of when I played Pee Wee football. When I started my mediocre career as a Left Defensive End after a stint as an 8yr old Offensive Lineman, we were scrimmaging one afternoon when the talented (but spoiled) 9yr old quarterback kept yelling at the offensive line and complaining that they were worthless and he was so cool, etc, etc… Well, in conjunction with the defensive line, the offensive line led by the Center (who as an adult is not a Trial Lawyer…go figure) decided to make a point. On the second down I think it was, one he hiked the ball, the offensive line would just stand still and the Backs (also in on the game) would run for the sidelines. That would give the Defence an open shot at the QB. Well, like all 9 yr old boys, we derived great pleasure in making the QB cry, and taught him a lesson about leadership and the value of the Offensive Line. True, when not laughing, the coaches yelled at us and made us run forever afterwards, but I don’t think I have ever had a better memory of Pop Warner football.

Unfortunately, we are doing the same thing to the Europeans, but instead of sweat and tears, the cost here are hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of lives destroyed. This serves a greater purpose: imagine a world without America. I know a lot like to. Be careful what you ask for. From the Left or Right – or both: we are very close to going back to the “hell with you all” attitude of 100 years ago. Think about it; we are. Scoring short term political points can have long term consequences.

Good Canadian Bird Flu plan

Hat tip Big Pharaoh.

Five Inch Friday

While we are doing the anniversary thing - time to talk about NSFS again. Not Vietnam or WWII, but OIF. Three years ago, we have all the info we need to justify both the 155mm and 8", (even though in this case it was all 5") if we want to look at it. There are also lessons here on the LCS tradeoff between questional draft, speed and main gun tradeoff - and just the fundamentals of seamanship and Naval warfare. THIS is littoral warfare.

At 0604 on March 21 HMAS Anzac (CAPT Peter Lockwood), often called the ‘Lighthorse’, began Naval gunfire in direct support of the British-led Royal Marine 40 Commando assault on Al Faw Peninsula in southern Iraq.

Full story here. More info on the OP here and here. And if you really like good gun work....

Old dogs and new books

If you are a subscriber to the WSJ, there was an article about some new and old books that are becoming required reading; one was given to SECDEF Rumsfeld by General Casey when SECDEF visited Iraq recently - Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife : Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam by Lt. Col. John Nagl.

Also on the reading list for Phibian are A Better War by Col. Lewis Sorley, and Andrew Krepinevich's The Army In Vietnam and the book that I should have already read, Dereliction of Duty by Col. H.R. McMaster.

If you think Rumsfeld only surrounds himself with sycophants - then General Casey wouldn't have given him this book.

Being that the Navy leadership is more concerned with dressing us like the folks on Battlestar Galatica, getting jobs with defense contractors after they retire, and chasing down LT's that have a potty mouth that wouldn't even have been noticed on any of the ships they commanded as LCDR, CDR, and CAPT - I am going to have to spend more time watching, and reading, as the Army leadership does some serious intellectual lifting as they build towards the USMC standard.

Yes, that swipe sounded cynical, but I am serious. The Army is being forced to change because it was challenged and found lacking. Good on them. The Navy has not been challenged at sea, yet is not trying to leverage the fundamental failings that the Army has relearned - so that when we are challenged we don't have Sailors die because we wished away the lessons of the past. Damage control. Manning for extended combat operations. Multi-mission capabilities. Weapons reliability in a realistic environment.....to name a few.

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UPDATE: The good folks at The Corner like it too....and they cut and pasted some goodie.

Col. Nagl's book is one of a half dozen Vietnam histories -- most of them highly critical of the U.S. military in Vietnam -- that are changing the military's views on how to fight guerrilla wars. Two other books that have also become must-reading among senior Army officers are retired Col. Lewis Sorley's "A Better War," which chronicles the last years of the Vietnam War, and Col. H.R. McMaster's "Dereliction of Duty," which focuses on the early years.

The embrace of these Vietnam histories reflects an emerging consensus in the Army that in order to move forward in Iraq, it must better understand the mistakes of Vietnam.

In the past, it was commonly held in military circles that the Army failed in Vietnam because civilian leaders forced it to fight a limited war instead of the all-out assault it longed to wage. That belief helped shape the doctrine espoused in the 1980s by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Colin Powell. They argued that the military should fight only wars in which it could apply quick, overwhelming force to destroy the enemy.

The newer analyses of Vietnam are now supplanting that theory -- and changing the way the Army fights. The argument that the military must exercise restraint is a central point of the Army's new counterinsurgency doctrine. The doctrine, which runs about 120 pages and is still in draft form, is a handbook on how to wage guerrilla wars.

It offers Army and Marine Corps officers advice on everything from strategy development to intelligence gathering. Col. Nagl is among the four primary authors of the doctrine. Conrad Crane, a historian at the U.S. Army War College, is overseeing the effort.

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Welcome aboard Army types! Honored to be on the 21 MAR 06 Stand-to. Oh, and your service has a great reading list and writing tradition. Support it. The Navy could learn a lot. (you didn't read that)

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Yep, this is crap

Saw this earlier today and was reminded of it while trolling Bubblehead's blog (re: the title). Saw this coming 10 months ago.

Mentally ill service members are being returned to combat.

The redeployments are legal, and the service members are often eager to go. But veterans groups, lawmakers and mental-health professionals fear that the practice lacks adequate civilian oversight. They also worry that such redeployments are becoming more frequent as multiple combat tours become the norm and traumatized service members are retained out of loyalty or wartime pressures to maintain troop numbers.

Sen. Barbara Boxer hopes to address the controversy through the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health, which is expected to start work next month. The California Democrat wrote the legislation that created the panel. She wants the task force to examine deployment policies and the quality and availability of mental-health care for the military.

If you have not already, you need to read B.G. Burkett's book Stolen Valor. Once you do that, then you can tell me I am full of crap.

ASW for dummies

I don't like to call a Brother out: but this has got to be the worst comment on Anti-Submarine Warfare I have read since, "Flaming datums are good in that you now where the sub is; well a few miles from - awhile ago." (junior officer on qualification board circa 2000)

On Monday, Capt. Thomas Carney, Mobile Bay's skipper, told reporters as he monitored the underwater hunt from his combat information center that since the exercise began on Sunday a picket line of helicopters, P3-Orions and his ship and two frigates had been able to track "some of the submarines."

"We are trying to locate him and keep as far away from the aircraft carrier as possible," Carney said. "The best defense is to keep as far away as possible." Donnelly said diesel electric submarines are "quieter and harder to find. It's a skill that our sailors need to practice in order to maintain proficiency."

He added that the primary target in the Cold War were Soviet nuclear submarines, which were faster and noisier and spent all their time in deeper waters. Perkins said a diesel sub works in shallower waters and needs to poke its periscope above the ocean surface to replenish its air supply and recharge its batteries. He added that time is on their side in the game to outwit their underwater adversaries.

"We don't always know where the sub is," Perkins said, "but we know what their goals are, and we can just sit out there and just wait for him."

Like the sub guys don't have enough to laugh about. I bet he's a AAW guy by nature.

Just a few things here.

1 - The Cold War ended about 15 years ago. Shut up about it, it sounds like we haven't done anything about the submarine threat since.....mmmmm.

2 - OK, it is the Sir Robin ASW tactic. Farragut would be so proud.

3 - And they don't get much experience in conventional submarines...because....WE HAVE NUKES PRETENDING TO BE THEM......

4 - Bubblehead, back me up on this, but: (a) their goal is to sink ships. (b) if you sit out there and wait for them you just made the target motion analysis easier.

OK, if this is part of some INFO OPS or PSYOPS campaign to make the ChiComs too cocky, then all is well. Wait, we can't do that with domestic press. Oops. Sigh.

Apocalypto

The trailer is out for Mel Gibson's new movie, Apocalypto. I have high hopes, it starts with this quote from Will Durant.

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within.

Most info is hard to get to, but the story goes,

When his idyllic existance is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, a man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. By a twist of fate and spurred by the power of the love for his women and his family he will make a desperate break to return home and ultimately save his way of life.

I am - encouraged.