National Defense

Anti-War nuts can’t afford dictionaries

Yes, we’ve all been there: embarrassing spelling errors in our work for all the world to see. Heck, I should be the last person to criticize.

Yet, if you’re Cindy Sheehan, the face of the anti-war movement in the US, in San Francisco, anti-war moonbat central, you’d think you would take extra care before standing in front of this sign:

They will exploit the 4,000 heroes

As of the most recent figures I saw today, the death toll for servicemen and woman in Iraq since 2003 stands at 3,990. That is 3,990 heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Be prepared for when that number reaches the entirely symbolic round figure of 4,000. No matter whether the pace of deaths has slowed or how much has been accomplished, be assured that the mainstream media will play it as a milestone of the long defeat of the United States, the inevitable stagnation of the most powerful military in the world in a new quagmire.

Don’t believe a word of it. It is all political theater designed to exploit those deaths for electoral and ideological gain. Instead, listen to the guys on the ground in their own words, unfiltered by the media. Michael Yon’s site is a good place to start. He’s no Pollyanna, but he’s no reflexive anti-war nut either.

But watch the media storm that will boil up. It’s coming. Mark my words.

A little detour through the police state

It’s getting to the point that traveling by air between two cities in this great, democratic republic of ours requires a brief detour through a police state called “TSA”.

I don’t mind security rules that prevent terrorists from hijacking planes. In fact, I wish they’d use security measures that actually worked instead of the pseudo-security that gives the appearance of deterrence without providing it.

Today’s example: A Boston family flying from Chicago to Manchester, NH, decides to stock up on baby food for the flight, keeping mind lurid tales of hours trapped in airliners on runways as well as the unpredictability of winter air travel. TSA guidelines allow an exception to the “no liquids” rule and let you to carry on a “reasonable quantity” of baby food, but do not provide any specific limit.

The family has about one-third of their child’s food confiscated by a TSA screener because the screener and his supervisor thought it was “unreasonable.” Unbelievable.

According to Dr. Soni, the T.S.A. officers said they would need a “doctor’s note” to bring on all of the food. He said he pointed out that he and his wife were doctors, and then offered to get a pediatrician colleague on the phone. [This was not acceptable, evidently.]

The sensible thing to do in this kind of situation is to file your complaint and move on to make your flight, which is what Dr. Soni said he and his wife did.

The T.S.A. officers confiscated some of the food. “They divided it up. They took a jar of prunes and one of bananas, and I think a bottle of formula,” he said.

This is what really bugs me. The only security-related reason to set a limit on how much food one can bring on the plane is because the TSA thinks a terrorist might be trying to smuggle a weapon disguised as food. So at the point they’re confiscating the food, they must suspect this is not food but a weapon. So why would you allow any of the food on board?

On the other hand, if you’re merely a bureaucrat arbitrarily enforcing a rule, then you are satisfied by the act of bringing them into compliance with the rule, regardless of the ongoing threat. That’s someone else’s problem.

If this little family had in fact been a terror cell in disguise, it looks like the screeners left them with enough “materials” to cause a lot of damage to plane, if not take it down entirely. Happily this family was exactly what it seems and the true victims here are the child whose food was taken, the parents who were embarrassed, and the rest of the flying public who must walk through TSA checkpoints with carefully neutral expressions, carefully watching our step and our words, lest we be singled out for search and/or seizure, maybe making us miss our flights, at best, or in jail on trumped-up charges, at worst.

Ironically, I think this is one area where conservatives, liberals, and libertarians can all agree: Airport security is a danger to our civil liberties, to the airline industry, and to our homeland security. Probably more of a danger than to terrorists themselves.

And now if I end up on a no-fly watch list, it will just be an object lesson in what I’ve just written.

China planting Trojan horses in US electronics?

Computer security experts warn that a very sophisticated computer virus originating in China has been found in US consumer electronics, including some digital photo frames sold during Christmas.

An insidious computer virus recently discovered on digital photo frames has been identified as a powerful new Trojan Horse from China that collects passwords for online games - and its designers might have larger targets in mind. “It is a nasty worm that has a great deal of intelligence,” said Brian Grayek, who heads product development at Computer Associates, a security vendor that analyzed the Trojan Horse.

They say it’s particularly nasty because it hides so effectively from anti-virus software. In fact, the researchers say that this is no “script kiddie” exploit, but a very professional piece of engineering.

So who is behind this? I have to wonder whether it’s the Communist government. Did you know that back in the early 90s, the CIA implanted a virus in a computer printer that was sold to Saddam Hussein’s military in Iraq that when activated took down a major portion of their anti-aircraft defense system?

What if, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union had been our major source of consumer goods. Do you think they would have hesitated for a moment to leverage that advantage? Well, we’ve given China that advantage.

I doubt the Pentagon is sourcing laser printers from China, but it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that a hostile government would want to lay the groundwork for communications and economic chaos in the US, should that become necessary. And don’t doubt for a moment that the People’s Republic of China and its People’s Army see the US as its enemy, regardless of how we view them.

Consider for a moment how much of all the electronics you own are made in mainland China. That new iPhone? China. Lenovo notebook computers are Chinese. Computers, printers, automotive electronics, cameras, iPods, and, yes, digital photo frames, among scores of other products.

Now think about this: What if, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union had been our major source of consumer goods. Do you think they would have hesitated for a moment to leverage that advantage? When Carter cut wheat shipments in response to the invasion of Afghanistan, do you doubt that the Politburo would have considered activating its secret weapon? Well, we’ve given China that advantage. Perhaps this virus is the first glimpse of the result of that decision. Something to think about.

Iraqi Muslims: Christians, come home

Embedded freelance writer and photographer Michael Yon reports from Baghdad that as a Chaldean Catholic church in Baghdad re-opened last week, Muslims filled the front pews as a sign that they wish their Catholic brothers and sisters to come home. They were joined by members of the US 2-12 Infantry and the Iraqi 3rd Division who secured the neighborhood, as well as Bishop Shlemon Warduni, Auxiliary Bishop of the St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Diocese for Chaldeans and Assyrians in Iraq.

Today, Muslims mostly filled the front pews of St John’s. Muslims who want their Christian friends and neighbors to come home. The Christians who might see these photos likely will recognize their friends here. The Muslims in this neighborhood worry that other people will take the homes of their Christian neighbors, and that the Christians will never come back. And so they came to St John’s today in force, and they showed their faces, and they said, “Come back to Iraq. Come home.” They wanted the cameras to catch it. They wanted to spread the word: Come home. Muslims keep telling me to get it on the news. “Tell the Christians to come home to their country Iraq.”

Yon quotes the ranking American soldier, Lt. Colonel Stephen Michael, as saying that when al Quaeda came to the neighborhood to harass and then kill the Christians, the Muslims stood up for them, but eventually many had to flee.

I’d also encourage you to look closely at the photos of the liturgy being celebrated: ad orientem and other clues that tell us that innovations of the past 30 years in the West have not reach the Chaldean Catholics.

On Veteran’s Day

Fr. Richard Erickson, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Boston and chaplain in the US Air Force with the rank of colonel, gave an interview with the a local TV station on the occasion of Veteran’s Day, reflecting on his service in Iraq, whether he would go back, and comparing it to serving in Boston.

And I would like to add a thank you to all Veterans. It is your sacrifices that teach us the cost of peace and freedom because they so often imitate the sacrifice of Christ, especially those who gave their lives in service.

Comrades of Foreign Wars

The ice cream shop across the street has a sign in its window advertising a “military memories” breakfast at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post tomorrow. The breakfast is to benefit the Old Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea, Massachusetts, which is a good and honorable cause.

The poster includes martial images of American military might including a soldier, a warship, and a couple of fighter jets. Being an admirer of all flying things, I looked closer to clarify whether the twin-tailed aircraft was an Air Force F-15 Eagle or a Navy/Marine F/A-18 Hornet. Much to my surprise I realized that it was a Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker, a Soviet fighter. On a poster for an event benefiting US veterans. Oops!

That would be like advertising a brunch for retired priests with an image of an Orthodox monk. Not the same thing at all.

So, I come home and point this out to Melanie and all she can say is: “You’re so weird.” What? Why?

What’s Syria been hiding?

Rod writes about Israel’s recent airstrikes in Syria. which have been virtually unreported and unremarked upon, except in the blogosphere, as far as I can tell.

An ex-Army friend writes this morning with deep unease about the recent event in which Israeli jets attacked a purported Syrian nuke site. He wonders if it’s connected to this week’s assassination of a Christian parliamentarian in Lebanon. We’re trying to figure out what just happened in Syria. It doesn’t make sense to me that Syria is trying to start its own nuke program. Surely they can’t be under any illusions that Israel would allow that. Maybe they were doing precisely that … or maybe, as my friend suggests, the Syrians were planning to get nuclear material to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

What really happened here? Any guesses?

I think it’s quite clear what got attacked: The places that Syria was storing Saddam’s WMD. Other reports I’ve seen said quite a number of Iranian engineers were also killed in the attacks.

How did America form such men and women?

Fr. Paul McNellis, SJ, philosophy professor at Boston College and Vietnam veteran Green Beret, posted the following at the Democracy Project. It’s a letter from an Army reserve chaplain, Maj. Jim Higgins, about an experience he had last May.

I recently attended a showing of “Spiderman 3” here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorioum we use for movies as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going as planned until about three-quarters of the way through the National Anthem the music stopped. Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and call for a movie. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place.

Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward.

The music started again. The Soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. And again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would you expect to happen? Even here I would imagine laughter as everyone sat down and expected the movie to start.

Here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every Soldier stood at attention. Suddenly there was a lone voice, then a dozen, and quickly the room was filled with the voices of a thousand Soldiers:

And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

It was the most inspiring moment I have had here in Iraq. I wanted you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving you here.

They know what they’re over there for. Makes you proud that you have such men and women and serving you in the cause of freedom and defense.

All aboard the USS Constitution

What a fantastic day! I’ve uploaded my set of photos to Flickr. A YouTube video of the 21-gun salute is also available.

For those of you joining me late, my dad gave me the coolest gift, which was to sail aboard the USS Constitution during her annual July Fourth cruise around Boston harbor. He is friends with a former captain of the ship, who gave Dad his own tickets. My dad knows what a nut I am about old ships and so he invited me to go.

I met my dad at the boarding line about 8:30 am at the Charlestown Navy Yard. Everyone in the line as well as the whole crew were very excited. We quickly learned that the day would include an assisted sail (the Constitution does not sail under her own power anymore, but must be assisted by tugs) out to Castle Island in South Boston and back. We would have several admirals aboard as well as several ship captains and a group of people becoming naturalized citizens during a ceremony while underway.

We were pretty much given the run of the ship and explored a bit. The crew was helpful and friendly and snappy in their period uniforms. In a bit of an anachronism, the crew has both men and women, but they all looked very young. (I’m getting so old.)

For the occasion I wore my USS Ronald W. Reagan, CVN-76, hat to honor our nation’s 40th president and the Navy. My dad, a Navy veteran of the Korean War era, had his Navy hat. We calculated that it had been more than 50 years since he mustered out of the service. More than one sailor he talked to thanked him for his service to the country.

The ceremony was properly full of ritual and pomp. The Navy Band played the classics, like “Washington Post” (if you don’t know the name you recognize the tune from the last graduation you attended probably) and others.

Highest honors to our heroes

Technorati Tags: Fourth of July | Independence Day | USS Constitution | Old Ironsides | Boston | US Navy |

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The ungrateful on Memorial Day

While the rest of us were remembering our honored dead on Memorial Day, at Vox Nova, Nate was “grateful for my freedom, but ungrateful for the violence done to secure that freedom.”

The Irish Elk captures my thoughts on the whole blog.

Do liberation theology-reading anarcho-pacifists who quote Dorothy Day while demanding America renounce military force feel that revolutionary movements like the Sandinistas should likewise have laid down their arms?

Were Catholic priests who aided and abetted armed Marxist revolution failing in their Christian duty? Is violence bad when committed by the nursing Sandinista mother above with the AK-47? Or is violence committed by the American military somehow worse?

And if America encourages a national mythology, paraded on holidays like Memorial Day, do anarcho-pacifists rely at least as much on their own myth, of Uncle Sam as reactionary imperialist Monopoly Guy?

There was some angst a couple of years ago that the blogosphere was dominated by conservative Catholic blogs and that there wasn’t nearly as many liberal ones. Looks like they’re making up ground.

Technorati Tags: Memorial Day | Catholic | liberal |

Memorial Day: May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace

Technorati Tags: Memorial Day | St. Crispian | prayer request |

Removed from Old Ironsides

The captain of the USS Constitution was removed from command by the Navy yesterday. What do you have to do to lose your superior’s “trust and confidence” in commanding an 18th century warship that leaves the pier once a year to turn around in the harbor?

To compound the mystery, Commander Thomas Graves was due to hand over command to his replacement in July anyway.

The Navy isn’t giving details, but from my perspective it must be the sort of thing that isn’t criminal, but is a serious breach of conduct or ethics. On frontline warships a captain can be relieved for letting his ship fall out of combat readiness or even for the failings of a subordinate. For example, if the officer on duty overnight runs the ship aground while the captain is asleep, the captain still loses his job. The saying is that a captain can delegate authority, but not responsibility. He’s responsible for ensuring that his ship and crew are always operating within required parameters.

Now the Constitution isn’t going to be running aground or failing combat readiness tests, but she is an historic landmark, a national treasure, and an educational establishment. Still, if Graves had let the ship fall behind in one of those areas, I think the Navy would avoid public embarrassment and let him serve out the last two months of his tour.

Old Ironsides is perhaps my favorite attraction in Boston, a city full of historical attractions, which is why this catches my eye.

Technorati Tags: Boston | USS Constitution | Navy | Old Ironsides |

Tattoo tribute to heroic SEAL

Like Michael Fumento, I’m not usually a fan of tattoos or body art. I had some friends when I was younger who had all kinds of tatts and later regretted all of them. That said, I agree with Fumento that this is very cool.Awesome tattoo tribute to deceased SEAL Mike Monsoor

As a rule I find tattoos and body-piercing (ears on women aside) to be ugly. But this is pretty darned impressive.

Click image for larger view.

Incidentally “This was the guy that Michael saved - the one he received a medal for, I think it was about a year ago,” Mike’s sister Patty wrote me. “Anyway, he said when Michael picked him up after he was shot and lying in the middle of gun fire this is the vision he saw and looked to find a tattoo artist to copy his vision and get the wings perfect. He had this tattoo on his body as a tribute to Michael saving his life and the guarding angel he felt was there with them.”

This had nothing to do with the incident that took Monsoor’s life and made him a candidate for the Medal of Honor, when he threw himself on a grenade to save three more lives.

So to be clear, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor was a US Navy SEAL who died on September 29, 2006 in the second incident mentioned above. The Pentagon is reviewing the recommendation that he be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Melanie was at first put off by the image of St. Michael as a gun-toting Special Ops warrior, but then I said it was no different from depictions of St. Michael centuries ago with armor and a sword. Those weapons at the time were no more out of place than an M-4 Carbine is here.

Plus there’s something comforting about the image of St. Michael kicking down a door and rousting Ole Scratch from his hidey hole in some mountain fastness where he’s gone to ground. Heh.

(Here’s more information about Monsoor’s heroic act.)

Technorati Tags: Navy | SEAL | Monsoor | tattoo | Iraq | Medal of Honor |

USMC military precision

Check out this video of the US Marine Corps' Silent Drill platoon. Not a word is spoken by them during the whole evolution. The video is a little dark, but it is a professional video:

Here's another video. This is not professional, but it's a bit closer view, shot during a Denver Nuggets basketball game: