Contemporary Wars

Posts about present and near-present wars. Think Gulf War to the present

The Evolution of Warfare and the Crimea

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“History” is a problematic concept because it is very much tied to a specific culture. History departments derive from the medieval university culture of Europe and we have to accept that most people, at most of the time, have lived without any notion of it. Perception is a key to understanding this phenomena: in the history of warfare, violent confrontations have in large part been endemic. Two parties confront each other and display a show of brutal force and often the conflict is resolved symbolically by a single dual or one side is hidden behind a fortification, while tribute is discussed. A perfect example of endemic warfare would be the … More after the Jump…

Taliban Capture a War Dog

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The Taliban capture a British dog of war Just before Christmas last year the Taliban in Afghanistan apparently captured a British War Dag and true to form have posted a capture video of it. Now that is going too far.  I wonder if they are torturing the dog and trying to get information out of it.  It would not surprise me if they were.  The dog appears to be a Belgian Malinois, one of the favorite breeds for working dogs because they are smart, diligent, and not easily distracted from their tasks.  There is apparently some confusion as to whether it is a British or American dog. As the article … More after the Jump…

Jihadis must be sodomized – A Fatwa says so

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The truth is really stranger than fiction.  I first heard about this one in a National Review opinion piece then I had to actually watch it.  Apparently, a Muslim cleric has made the claim that repeated sodomy is a requirement for Jihadis who want to commit a suicide bombing with explosives in their colon.  Apparently, that is the only way to ensure the colon is stretched wide enough to comfortably accept the explosives.  This is too funny for words.  If that is not the craziest explanation for sodomy I don’t know what is. Video below; I love the way the announcer pauses at 51 seconds when he gets to the part where the OP … More after the Jump…

Just a fun story from Vietnam (yes, there were a few)

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 FNG meets Lady Hooker

 As much tension, tragedy and mayhem as the war provided it gave a group of crude, vulgar young pilots a fair amount of fun, too. The officer’s club was the hub of our hormonally driven behavior. It was where we drank ourselves silly, releasing the tension and bravado endemic to twenty-year old males, in or out of a war zone. The club was our sanctuary, watering hole, mailroom, our hello and goodbye spot where, as the saying goes, everybody knew my name. But before I could fully partake of the blandishments the club offered I had to pass in front of my fellow pilots. I had to get the secret handshake, to undergo the inevitable ritual without which Kearsley would have been right: I’d always be a new guy. The protocol involved an encounter with a lady named Hooker. (It’s not what you think.)

More after the Jump…

US Secretary of State Announces “Peace in our Time.”

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Obama: Nuclear deal blocks Iran’s path to bomb In an ironic twist showing that the 60+ years since World War II have only fostered institutional amnesia the US and five other powers buckled and agreed to appease Iran in talks about its nuclear program.  Agreeing that sanctions will be eased in return for Iran behaving US Secretary of State John Kerry channeled former British Prime minister Neville Chamberlain by paraphrasing him and tweeting:

 I just wonder if he is going to wave a piece of paper around when he gets home too?

neville-chamberlainHas the world really forgotten that appeasing tyrannical regimes is a recipe for getting heartbroken and sore?  Why would any sane, rational person think for a minute that Iran would give up the nuclear program they have defended so fiercely over the past decade+ in return for access to less than $10 billion dollars of oil revenue?  My guess is that Iran already has enough fissile material for at least one but probably more bombs and thus it suits them to play nice right now in return for concessions.  Remember, Hitler agreed to only take the Sudetenland in September of 1938, because he was not quite ready for war.  But then he turned around and occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia in spring 1939 and kicked off World War II less than a year later.

Should I be worried about being recalled to active duty to go fight in the next world war?

Remember Those who Served both Today and all through the Year

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The following is an excerpt from The Sky Behind Me: A Memoir of Flying & Life. Taken from chapter 14, this piece is dedicated to my fellow veterans, of Vietnam and all wars Americans have been involved in through the years. For non-veteran readers, please keep in mind that returning GIs want nothing more than to be welcomed home, that politics and ideology play no part in that welcome. When I returned from Vietnam all those years ago I was expecting hostility, judgement, interrogation and doubt concerning my effort in that conflict, and my behavior in the war zone. Imagine my pleasant surprise when the following event took place instead. … More after the Jump…

When the Tigers Broke Free – Rape in World War Two

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I am afraid that the top side is not completely satisfied with my work… They are naturally disappointed that I failed to chase the Hun out of Italy but there was no military reason why I should have been able to do so. In fact there is no military reason for “Shingle”. – Major General John P. Lucas     The Royal Fusiliers Company C were not the only men sacrificed for the imbibing hereditary duke beyond the Cliffs of Dover. The Battle of Monte Cassino and its sub theaters were a great multicultural event. The last time so many nations had uplifted and hurled themselves at an object was … More after the Jump…

Ft Hood Shooter Trial starts Tuesday- It’s about damn time

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The Court-Martial of Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan (left) is set to start on Tuesday almost four years after the 5 November, 2009 rampage at the Fort Hood Deployment Readiness Center that left 13 people dead and over 30 wounded.  He has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and military prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.  Incredibly, Hasan has decided to represent himself at trial after numerous conflicts with his court provided attorneys. I have a sneaking suspicion that he chose to be his own lawyer as a sneaky way to sabotage his own defense and try and save his neck when his almost certain conviction goes to appeal. … More after the Jump…

Murder in Iraq

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This is kind of an amusing story, unless of course you are the guy that got killed.  When I was deployed to Iraq in 2004 with C Troop 1/4 Cav we had a platoon of National Guard soldiers assigned to my FOB to assist with Force Protection (Guard Duty).  The Guardsmen pulled duty in the towers ringing the perimeter of the FOB.  Along with the Americans, Iraqi National Guardsmen (ING) pulled duty, supposedly it was some sort of trust building thing although I was never certain of the logic behind that decision.  That set up the circumstances whereby the murder could occur.  I was at FOB Wilson, which is about … More after the Jump…

Support the Syrian Rebels?: How stupid can the West be?

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 Video shows Islamist rebels executing 11 Syrian soldiers:  Yet for some unfathomable reason the Administration is talking about providing support to the rebel groups in Syria.  The video is below (Warning, it is graphic). After watching just contemplate that these are the folks some in the West want us to help.  How they differ from the regime thugs I have no idea. Compare the picture in the linked article with the video.  Notice there is no mention of the cries of Allahu Akbar in the article although they do mention in passing that the group is Islamist.  Now also remember the constant refrain about Islam being a Religion of Peace, which Muslim’s give the lie … More after the Jump…

“Middle War”: The new normal going forward

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The Center for Strategic and International Studies has just released Beyond the Last War: Balancing Ground Forces and Future Challenges Risk in USCENTCOM and USPACOM.  The report makes for interesting reading.  What I found the most interesting aside from the scenarios considered was the realization that air power and spec-ops troops cannot win wars by themselves.  Conventional military forces will be required into the foreseeable future.  That view alone is a breath of fresh air given the Pentagon’s lamentable tendency over the past few years to tour both types of forces while the simple ground-pounders are out there doing Yeoman’s work trying to make an unstable world more stable.  High profile raids and airstrikes do not … More after the Jump…

Deutsche Telekom’s hacker tracker

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Deutsche Telekom has website they recently put up that has a live “radar” like view of where the most hacker attacks in the world are coming from.  It is at their Overview of current cyber attacks.  If anybody thinks that the internet is a safe place they should look at this site, which logs roughly 450,000+ attacks per day just on the honey pot systems Telekom has set up to monitor cyber attacks.  Below is a screen shot of the site The ubiquity of cyber attacks should convince anyone that the US creation of Cyber Command a few years ago was a good idea.  The modern dependence on both computers and the … More after the Jump…

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