Reports & Returns

Last week when I stated I had to drop off the grid; well, I meant it. Since a week ago I have been without newspapers, TV, Internet, radio, mail; nor have I had a conversation with anyone about anything that might be happening in the wider world. Let's call it "Active Avoidance."

My info-fix as I departed was last week's Sunday paper, the last three months unread Proceedings (more on that next week), the last two National Reviews, and the outstanding book, Last Flag Down. You will hear more about that book soon as I think it needs its own post sometime soon and I gleaned a few FbF from it.

I don't think I have done that pure a departure since - well - in memory. For an information addict, it was both a step into the dark, and - in the end - a very clarifying week. With each passing day, the moment to moment tinnitis of my information soaked life and hobbies faded to the point they were well outside my concern; the 24-hr news cycle side tracked to the don't-give-a-d@mn zone.

In a word; peace. Especially during the flowing talk from the results of "Super Tuesday" (more on that later next week).

So, I'm back. I haven't even had a chance to - YIKES - look at the 90+ comments on the Open Thread from last week. Gal says there's some good stuff there, so I will read and comment there Sunday.

Thanks for keeping things going; good to be back in formation.

One week open thread

Folks, I have to drop off the grid for about a week. Should be back a week from Sunday.

You kids behave yourselves and don't take and wooden nickels. Please come back in the 10th or so - I get so pouty when my StatCounter numbers collapse. Sniffle.

An open post is an open post, so it is all up to you guys and gals .... but let me get it started.

Subject: Shipbuilding.

Question: Ponder the proven/evolutionary AFCON. Should we buy the F310, the Corvette or both? If we do both (Salamander choice), can and should we make the Corvette a LCDR Command (Phib says yes)?

Discuss this if you want - if not, whatever comes up around the bar; and see 'ya!

Displacement (tons) 9,217 5,800 5,120 2,600 Length Overall (m/feet) 155.5/510 146.7/481.3 133.2/437.0 102/334.6 Beam Max (m/feet) 20.4/67 18.6/61 16.8/55.1 13.9/45.6 Draft Full Load (m/feet) 6.4/21 4.84/15.9 5.0/16.4 3.75/12.3 Crew 380 229+21 120+26 60+20 Propulsion 4 Gas Turbines CODOG, 2 Diesels, 2 Gas Turbines CODAG, 2 Diesels, 1 Gas Turbines CODAD 4 Diesels Shafts 2 2 2 2 Electric 3 GT Generators 4 Diesel Generators 4 Diesel Generators 4 Diesel Generators Flight Deck 2 Helo Hangar 1 Helo Hangar 1 Helo Hangar 1 Helo Hangar Speed 30+ kts 28.5+ kts 27+ kts 27+ kts Other Active Fin Stabilizer Active Fin Stabilizer Active Fin Stabilizer AFCON

PS: did you notice I am stealing their bandwidth for the pic? Heh, heh....wonder how long they will let me; though it is free advertising to their target market.....

Thanks to Ken T for the idea.

OK, don't take it from me...

Take it from the immediate past SACEUR, General James L. Jones, USMC (Retired).

NATO forces in Afghanistan are in a "strategic stalemate," as Taliban insurgents expand their control of sparsely populated areas and as the central government fails to carry out vital reforms and reconstruction, according to an independent assessment released yesterday by NATO's former commander.

"Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan," said the report by the Atlantic Council of the United States, chaired by retired Gen. James L. Jones, who until the summer of 2006 served as the supreme allied commander of NATO.

NATO is just not, as an Alliance, stepping up to the plate.

Jones said several steps are needed to "regain the momentum that appears to have been lost" in Afghanistan: a comprehensive campaign plan that integrates security and reconstruction work; the appointment of a United Nations High Commissioner to coordinate international efforts; and a new regional approach to stabilizing Afghanistan that would include conferences with neighboring countries such as Pakistan and Iran.
...
"The United States and the international community have tried to win the struggle in Afghanistan with too few military forces and insufficient economic aid," the report said. It highlighted the lack of a clear strategy needed to "fill the power vacuum outside Kabul and to counter the combined challenges of reconstituted Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a runaway opium economy, and the stark poverty faced by most Afghans."

That is about right. He also mentions something I have been bringing up both here and professionally - it is well past the time to take AFG away from CENTCOM and give it to EUCOM - a COCOM who is very used to working with NATO and the Russians.

The study group said the United States should "decouple" Iraq and Afghanistan to establish a clear distinction between the funding and programs underway in the countries, which, it said, face different problems. It also called on Washington to appoint a special envoy for Afghanistan.

The Canadians are so fed up - they are ready to take their ball and go home.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper escalated diplomatic pressure on Canada's NATO allies yesterday, warning Britain's Gordon Brown that Canada will end its combat mission in Afghanistan next year unless the military alliance supplies 1,000 more troops for southern Afghanistan.

They aren't bluffing. They have been more than pulling their load, and we know it and thank them for it.

We are putting more and more pressure on NATO; but don't hold your breath.

The United States has written a strongly-worded letter to Germany and other NATO members urging them to send combat troops to dangerous areas in southern Afghanistan, the German defence ministry said on Thursday.

A spokesman for the ministry confirmed a newspaper report which said U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had last week written to his counterparts in NATO countries asking for 3,200 extra troops.

"We confirm that we received the letter," said a spokesman for the ministry, noting that he had written to other NATO partners as well as Germany.

The spokesman also said NATO defence ministers would discuss the alliance's activities in Afghanistan at a meeting in Vilnius in February.

That is Gates playing bad cop again, but even our good cop is a bit miffed.

The next three to five years will be crucial for the people of Afghanistan, for the NATO alliance and for the community of democracies. The Afghanistan mission is an investment in our collective security; it is also the catalyst for the 21st-century transformation of our democratic alliance. If we can get it right in the Hindu Kush, we will also be stronger the next time we are called to defend our security and values so far from home.

Yep, we are thinking about the car keys.....

Fullbore Friday

If this picture doesn't give a Sailor even a brief moment of Zen, then he is truly lost.

Soak her in, but behind her beauty is a warrior through and through. I'll let Old Ironsides speak for herself.

Behold, the USS CONSTITUTION - Fullbore to the core.

Hawaiian Commissariate

Ungh. This whole thing remind me why I was so happy to leave Hawaii.

A government department of the State of Hawaii is demanding the retraction of a political cartoon published Jan. 18 on the satirical web site http://www.zeroshibai.com/ and reprinted Jan. 21 on http://www.hawaiireporter.com/ The demands come in response to images and text ridiculing the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' Kau Inoa campaign as "Cow Inoa." Kau Inoa, Hawaiian for "place your name" is building a roll of Hawaiians to participate in a Hawaiian tribal government. Haunani Apoliona, writing in her capacity as "Chairperson, Board of Trustees, Office of Hawaiian Affairs" (OHA) in a Jan. 24 statement demands: "The cartoon should be pulled and the secret author publicly identified."

Read it all over at The American Thinker.

As for you racist, bigoted, PC, Marxist, hypocritical, Diversity Bullies - bite me.

Private First Class Jacobs; departing

There was more than one flag raising on Iwo Jima. The second team got all the fame. One of the members of the first, Ray Jacobs, passed. See The Castle Argghhh!!! for details.

Every day, more and more of that generation pass.

Shifting my flag

This did it for me last night, know why?

Answer at lunch.