Happy Memorial Weekend Sale At The Mattress Barn Day!!!

Realizing that I'm out of the country trying to find various combinations of Thai food that don't give me the shits, I figured I had to do something for Memorial Day besides a half-assed blog post. So I headed out towards the Burmese border and visited the infamous Thailand-Burma railway. Here's the most famous span (which has been rebuilt) known as the Bridge on the River Kwai.

During WWII, the Japanese used forced labor of enslaved Asians and Allied POWs in its construction in what were the most brutal methods since the Pyramids were built. From the Wiki:

About 180,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) worked on the railway. Of these, around 90,000 Asian labourers and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of the project. The dead POWs included 6,318 British personnel, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch, about 356 Americans and a smaller number of Canadians.

Nearby is the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery which is the resting place for many who died, and I was surprised to see that, unlike Arlington, many of the headstones had personal inscriptions. I thought this one was worth sharing.

I wonder if the people working under these miserable conditions could've predicted that the Allies would prevail and Japan would morph from psychopathic imperial power to one of the strongest economies and most stable societies in the modern world. It's strange how history works, but these men didn't have the luxury of seeing it pan out for the better.

Here's some other bloggers with Memorial Day posts:

• Greta with a poem at Hooah Wife and Friends
• David M has a letter from a gold star Dad
• Ranger Against War with a Vietnam-era Photo
• Bad Dogs and Such (in Iraq) with a Motivator
• Miserable Donuts with a video
• Persistent left-wing whiner Susie Madrak at C&L with some shitty, anti-military Dylan video from the 60s sparking the question "How Bad Can These People Suck?"

And since Flopping Aces is going with the Gettysburg theme, here's the Battle of Little Round Top sequence, be sure to check it at 1:25 for a classic line:

Metallica Video Hits Hard on Cost of War

There's always a lot to be upset about if you're a Metallica fan. Cutting their hair short, the band's misguided war against MP3s and Napster, and of course that abominable turd of an album St. Anger. So naturally, I was fairly cynical about their new single "Day That Never Comes" when it started getting radio play.

But, that was before I saw the video. It goes great with the song, and the futility of war theme that did them well in great tunes like "One" and "Disposable Heroes" works in its modern day context. The battlefield looks suspiciously like the Mojave Desert in California, rather than Iraq or A-Stan, but it's cool they did a video on modern day vets. No wonder Suspect liked them so much. The song doesn't have the tone of death as well as the legendary "Orion" (aka The Greatest Song Evah!) but, hey, we'll take what we can get sans Cliff Burton.

Veteran Celebrity J.R. Martinez Kickin' Ass on The View

J.R. Martinez is a former 101st soldier, wounded in Karbala in 2003, and is leading the way in being a veteran celebrity by starring in the daytime soap "All My Children". He had a pretty sharp appearance on The View yesterday as well. Having a small population of veterans means they don't leave the same cultural imprint on mass media. It was different in the period after Vietnam when veterans were responsible for award-winning faves like Platoon, Born on the 4th of July, and Hamburger Hill. The unintended consequence of a smaller number of vets in Hollyweird is having the zeitgeist (who've never served) push abominable trash like War Inc. and Redacted to discuss such a significant event in modern history. Hopefully we'll see more JRs in the future to bridge being a veteran to popular culture and less bozos like Mark Cuban who think they know everything about the Iraq war...but don't know shit.

I Want my MTV

White Rose's son, Kenny, will be on MTV's True Life to talk about PTSD. One might be turned off by ridiculous MTV shows like "Sex with Mom and Dad", but the network that once played music videos has a knack for debunking stereotypes about veterans. Check it out on Dec 6th.

Veterans Day...Today!

Nothing much to say that hasn't already been said, but did you notice that even Teh Google gave a shout out to veterans after notably neglecting Memorial Day the past 3 years. Nice.

IAVA has a new website and accompanying 30 second advertisement to encourage veterans to have an easier transition into civilian life. The cultural differences between civilian and military are vast, and it's not like previous wars where there was a large number of vets to hold serious cultural influence. So this has become a bit of a problem, especially with a shit economy that is unforgiving towards people without perceived "real world" experience. The new GI Bill that will be implemented (in'shallah) by August 2009 shows some promise though, and I always encourage sailors getting out to go to college to open their minds or to one of the trade schools if that's not their thing. An interesting group to be part of, and I hope to see great things from them in the future.

Happy Birthday to Our Beloved Marine Corps

If you worked at the embassy in Baghdad, and the only thing preventing you from being turned into a shrapnel sandwich by whichever thugs wanted to blow you up that day was a bunch of well-trained Marines, you'd be wishing them happy birthday too. Semper Fi!

Bonus: Gateway Pundit has a neat story about Sgt. Tyson Two Two being honored by his tribe (Northern Cheyenne) after coming back from Iraq. Kind of reminds you of the legendary Ira Hayes, who is seen in the above picture at Iwo Jima.

Vets Sound Off on Obama as CinC

Interesting round up of what people in the military (or who served in the military) have to say about Obama as the Commander-in-Chief. A bit more diverse in political commentary than the stereotype that we're staunch repubs:

A Soldier's Perspective: The fact of the matter is that whether we like it or not, Barack Hussein Obama will be this nation's 44th President of the United States. Like Bush before him, he deserves the respect that the office commands. The fact that Obama has won an office that only 43 people before him have ever held is an achievement that we must recognize.

The Sniper: I don’t like you because I don’t trust you. I think you’re a socialist, I think you’re a media whore, I think you’re a flash in the pan… but you won. So congratulations… you now own the most powerful office in the world. Everyone in the world is looking at you as an example of America and more importantly, an example of an African-American. Little black kids across America are lloking up to you. Try not to eff it up.

Tough Girl 101: Obama is President and America will not crumble beneath our feet. Fire will not reign down from the sky. America tomorrow will be very similar to what it was today and any economic disasters that happen next month, next year, the next four years are likely to be just another part of the natural cycle of the economy. On that same token, GW isn't solely to blame for the current state of the economy either.

GI Kate: Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! I'm excited, I'm nervous, I don't believe it yet...I might cry (tears of joy.) My friend just called me. I answered the phone, "I know!!" Then we just started screaming.

Blackfive: I see that John McCain has called Senator Obama -- now President-elect Obama -- to concede defeat. Our country has made a horrible mistake; that much is clear. We will raise taxes in a recession, and cut military spending during a war.

Jarhead Online: I guess I didn’t get my information out quick enough. Now just like the girl who gets sweet talked and bought with a couple drinks and a flashy smile we are going to get screwed.

No Angst Zone: There won't be rioting in the streets, there won't be endless lawsuits, and there will be an orderly transition of power. Far be it from me to suggest that certain elements of our society may be predisposed toward these actions (it was, after all, a Republican who sued in 2000), but it would behoove all of us to remember and be thankful of these facts. And while you're at it, help certain fellow citizens off their knees; it's been a long campaign and I think they need a break before the inauguration.

Me: While I am deeply disturbed by the fact that America picked this guy as prez, it's a historic moment that we have a black president after our shameful past of racial violence. And even though I think his policies are going to be a complete disaster, I hope that he can turn things around in Afghanistan and finish our military involvement in Iraq. In other words, America First, Obacalypse second.

The Military Goes Political

When I joined the Navy back in 2002, talking politics seemed to be a little taboo. It's an understandable policy as the military is subservient to civilian leaders that are democratically elected... and no one in America wants some Generalissimo seizing the White House in a violent coup. But that policy seemed to trickle down to where military personnel didn't even want to think about politics because of some "unspoken rule" I never really understood.

Well, I'm proud to say that times are a-changin' based on my own personal observations. My boss asked me if I was an "Obama guy" the other day (yeah, I know, thanks for nothing, sir), Joe in Iraq talks about who he's pulling for this election, The Left Captain talks about terrorist thugs being even worse than *gasp* Darth Cheney, and Uber Pig at Blackfive makes valid points for scrapping the War on Drugs (something the candidates won't even talk about). Being completely ignorant of politics gave us a bonehead Secretary of Defense that completely undermined sound military advice that resulted in disastrous policy decisions early on in the Bush era. I say we can't afford to remain apolitical, and it's heartening that this taboo is going by the wayside.

Throwing in Your Buck-oh-Five

Normally, I'm a huge fan of Reason and Nick Gillespie, but I think he totally bricks on this post about service to one's country in response to the McCain/Obama forum on 9/11. Libertarian principles have always been critical of government excess and about the importance of the individual, but they generally aren't anarchists, and recognize that a government that enforces the rule of law and provides for national security is a necessity for a functioning society to exist without the Beyond Thunderdome aesthetic. Mr. Gillespie writes:

As Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has put it, "The richest men and women possess nothing of real value if their lives have no greater object than themselves." Which often (though certainly not always) means suiting up to fight a stupid elective war or, far less gruesome but still frustrating, putting an upper-middle-class career on ice for a coupla-three years while punching the clock at a public-sector sinecure of dubious policy effectiveness.

Certainly fighting in trench warfare as a German soldier in WWI might be a lousy cause, but volunteerism in America has a pretty good track record of being successful in keeping the King of England out of our affairs, ensuring the country wasn't fractured in two, and preventing worldwide devastation under the boot of the very non-libertarian Axis. And that's not just the much touted fellas in uniform doing their part, but includes massive sacrifices made here in America to ensure the troops weren't shipping out in some cobbled together schooner. National service is an abstract concept, because it doesn't necessarily involve a tangible benefit towards one's well-being. Indeed, the overall monotony of actually serving can even be detrimental to one's own psychology. But at least at the end of a lousy 14-hour day in the desert, a soldier can say "At least I'm putting my time in, man".

If that's too odd a concept to grasp, maybe I can put it another way that relates directly to an individual's self-interest. Some fall into the trap of trying to exploit their service to elicit sympathy from the general public, but really, we're the ones that should be pitying the general public. Spending your twenties sipping lattes and going to wine n' cheese parties with your phony girlfriend to talk about who has got the newest iPhone app. C'mon, there's an entire world out there beyond the confines of your carefully choreographed and boring existence. What the hell is the matter with you fuckin' people! Seriously.

Be A Phony Vet for Fun and Profit

Baron Munchhausen, the original Phony Vet

2 Dinar writes of an awkward relation between the younger veteran community and the American public. They state that politcos are using shameless plugs for the military to obscure the real policy issues at hand. Judging by the color guard and fake military funeral that was at the RNC, I'd say there is some pretty compelling evidence of this behavior in Washington. But the bizarre infatuation of politicians of utilizing the troops for political theater can generate a lot of sympathy in the American mindset for those poor troops. The shouts of "baby-killer" and "ROTC Nazi!" are pretty much gone from the granola-loving college campuses, but a strange sense of pity exists where most people think military personnel do what they do because they have no other choice. Like a 12 year-old prostitute makin' a living in Bombay, people would only go off and die in Iraq or Afghanistan out of sheer economic desperation...so the misguided logic goes. That's why it is profitable to dress yourself up like a phony vet to cash in on people's collective guilt. From military.com:

A man posing in a military uniform while shopping at local businesses who was afforded tax-free and soldier discounts has bilked mom and pop convenience store owners and other retail outlets out of thousands of dollars and today is jailed in Cumberland County.

This young punk's scheme is nothing new, and it was a serious problem for Vietnam vets, which you can read about in the book Stolen Valor. There have been many others who have done the phony vet thing. Many are like the chap who tried to score free crap from unsuspecting merchants. Others have odd psychological issues where they need copious amounts of attention, like college student Lisa Jane Phillips, who claimed she was flying combat missions in Iraq on the weekends while she was attending a liberal arts school. The historic precedent for phony vetdom is Baron Munchhausen, who told elaborate tales of traveling to the moon and killing scary monsters in 18th century Europe. These folks exploit the graciousness of others in an awkward time for civilian-military relations and deserve whatever's coming to them...

Money Talks, Bullshit Walks

Just throwing in my two-bit commentary on the thing no one is talking about: The Obama speech! (full transcript here)

Dispelling Criticism: I've never doubted that Obama and his family are swell people, so the fact that he spent the better part of his speech talking about how he feels the pain of an average schmoe to diffuse the "elitist" label bestowed upon him from the right was pretty lame. Oooo, average Americans working jobs in flyover country are decent people, what a provocative statement! Who gives a fuck if the future president is Mr. Rogers or a raging asshole. Obama's not going to come over and pass out on my couch when he's too drunk to drive home, so why is he so hung up on convincing America that he's a good person. We don't need a president to be a buddy, we need a leader to deal with pressing crises, and Obama wasn't convincing me of that during the first part of his speech by acting like some lefty blogger dispelling McCain camp rumors. Zzzz!

Throwing a bone to vets: "The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America." Very inspiring, indeed. Obviously, I'm a little interested as to how any politician deals with the military and veterans, and I thought he had some decent things to say about military sacrifices. But he still gets caught in the trap of not supporting the mission in Iraq, where many of our personnel have spent time, and many have had some misgivings about someone who thought what you were doing for your country was a "mistake" or a "foreign policy blunder". Recent polling on the political leanings of military members seems to suggest that many share my sentiment. But, on the flip side, I doubt Obamamaniacs are going to be featured on C.H.U.D. Busters anytime soon, and GI Kate loved the speech.

Bin Laden: "John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell – but he won't even go to the cave where he lives." Does this mean that Obama wants to send troops into the FATA in Pakistan? Uh...there might be some problems with that. But along with the Brooks and Dunn lyrics at the end of the speech, this sounds like empty, fist-shaking rhetoric. I would've liked to see him spend a bit more time focusing on the details of policies as a wartime CinC, because some of the Dobbs-esque red herrings, like toys from China, aren't high on the priority list right now.

Government Working For You: In 10 years we'll have independence from foreign oil? Cutting taxes for 95% of Americans (booyah, I'm in that lower 95th percentile!)? Slashing bureaucracy? Free health care if you don't have the cash for it? Solving global warming and having a polar bear epidemic? We've been burned by these people and their promises many times before. These are some pretty lofty goals, and I'm not going to whine, sulk, and moan if Obama gets elected in November, but don't think that maintaining a non-cynical attitude about government is wise. Vote for the best...prepare for the worst.

Zeitgeist and the Military

Shazzam! It Should Not be a Surprise that the Military is all Gomer Piles

Lela directs our attention to an account of two recent Dartmouth grads who got commissioned in the USMC. A faulty perception that people who only enlist or join the officer corps out of some kind of financial destitution conjures up a thought process that people in the ranks are somehow less patriotic because they didn't have any choice in the matter. The two Dartmouth Marines blast this line of reasoning in their article:

But when we did divulge our secret, it often felt as if a sheet had descended, separating us from our insouciant classmates. First came a brief stare, and then we were met with some variation of “Why are you doing that?” in a tone either brusque or reverential. We soon learned to size up our audience and respond appropriately. To people who we felt deserved an explanation, devoid of bravado or humility or caustic humor, we would start by saying, “Lots of reasons.”

The notable absence of America's elite class in the military, which The Onion once did a parody of, is a troubling sign of the times. Despite the fact that people like General Petraeus and his COIN cadre have many PhDs amongst them, the perception that the military is chocked full of rubes is evident in popular culture references like the horrendous movie Stop Loss.

So what to do about this quandary? The consortium of milbloggers seem to be (hopefully) making a dent in American public opinion that military members are capable of independent thought. This article from the Dartmouth grads will hopefully dispel rumors that everyone in the military was swindled into some morbid Ponzi scheme by their recruiter. And, it is important to note that, regardless of a servicemember's financial/genealogical background, they all wear the uniform and perform the same duty to their country.

Something Good On MTV...Yes, Really!

Usually when you think of MTV, it's all about the crass commodification of culture and stupid teeny boppers getting new BMW SUVs. But IAVA put out an email alert for a show called "Homecoming" , which has rapper Kanye West visiting with Iraq vets suffering from PTSD. The picture above is Tirann Laws, who is having trouble adjusting to normal society in OKC, but isn't running around the woods like Rambo as the press often depicts vets with PTSD. Pretty powerful stuff (I'm watching it right now) that shows a younger audience the face of veterans. Read more at from the NYT here.

Agitprop on Active Duty

The Army Captain that penned the email heard round the blogosphere about Obama blowing off the troops in Afghanistan is currently in the shits because he made a bunch of it up to flex his political leanings. The rules for talking agitprop in uniform and on the blogosphere can be found here, but it's pretty much taboo in the officer corps to discuss politics at all. Taco from The Sandgram outranks the Army CPT in question, and has first-hand knowledge of what really happened at Bagram. He sums it up pretty well:

I read the message, thought about it for a minute and then emailed back, “This guy will be in deep “do-do” soon”, and he will have learned the first major rule of this war; anything you email back home will be forwarded to hundreds if not thousands if you have something interesting to say. See, emails have the half life of an Atom, thus, you must have a second set of eyes review what you say, because guess what cyber world…we as military members are not free to say whatever we want.

That's right. The military is a unique organization and the Bill of Rights is null and void. The running joke in the service is that we protect freedom and democracy by use of a totalitarian system bogged down in senseless bureaucracy.

If not engaging in political debauchery on the blogosphere is the standard for the military, I am certainly in the wrong, along with many others. But the Army Times hasn't written an article about me, because I've managed to follow a few simple rules. Some advice to the CPT Porter from the rest of us:

• When writing a hit piece, ensure that it is somewhat believable. Obama is probably not going to blow off the troops with camera crews everywhere. Say something like he thought the Afghans spoke Arabic, which he did once previously.
• If blogging/emailing from a government computer, tell your superiors that you are engaged in a statistical study to gage public opinion on your organization. After hours of goofing off on the internet, say that no one knows about your unit in the public, and that you told the PAO to "Get On It".
• Don't use your freakin' real name and unit when you publish bullshit on teh internets. What are you? New?

Aces High Redux

You see a lot of pictures of the military these days and it's always some guy hugging his wife/kid or some other cutesy crap. Not really my thing and you can save that for the rubes. So here's an Iron Maiden video with some aerial weapons video spliced in.

Bad Blood Abound

Like the time I wore the "No Fat Chicks" shirt to the Take Back the Night rally, it's getting ugly with a whole lot of emotion being flung like feces. Sometimes it's good to be a moderate and to sit on the sidelines. Also, Laura Ingraham is deeply aggravating the problem, IMHO. This is difficult to watch, what do you think?

Veterans Coming To The Negotiating Table

These are bad days for the vetpolitik as pundits are all over the controversial remarks that General (retired) Clark made on PBS yesterday about McCain's war record. I would agree with the assertion that McCain's stellar service as a Naval officer doesn't necessarily qualify him to be Prez. I don't think that is very controversial and a lot of people are making mountains out of molehills in our hyper-partisan atmosphere of the election year (although the obscene comments on some lefty blogs about McCain "not excelling" in the military were asinine) . However, I do believe that ex-military personnel are well-suited for politics due to their knack of seeing the bigger picture and the selflessness inherent in the service. Vetvoice, where I write sometimes, is seeking to defend the retired General and Vets For Freedom is demanding an apology from Clark. Here's the superb VFF spokesman, Pete Hegseth, speaking on Fox (h/t Gateway Pundit):



This whole situation sucks ass. The media is merely exploiting vet groups as they see them as the only ones with enough moral authority to criticize any politician's military service. This does not help the overall dialogue. After the dust from the election settles, the hypothetical situation where people start treating Iraq/A-stan vets like shit for the excessive costs of the wars could become a reality. We need to stick together and realize that political operatives on both sides of the aisles are beneficial. I know some of you guys with the DC connection occasionally read this blog, and I'm gonna take the Rodney King narrative and beg for us all to get along.

Also: Predictably, Obama chucks out Clark like a moldy bag of tangerines. Gee whiz, no one saw that one coming.

More Womens In The Military

GI Kate has more up on the project she's working on.

Cool Quotes:

• "I've had a lot of women suggest that because we have a menstrual cycle, we couldn't possibly survive in a combat zone."
• "In my own experience, there are so many women in the military who have more balls"
• "Women are a little more intellectually flexible than men, and that can be beneficial"
• "Get out of my way or I'll take you out"

VetVoice is publicizing the project as well. This has the potential to be a very interesting documentary as the concept of women in combat has yet to be digested by mainstream society. But I'm a guy, and it would be very difficult to explain this complex reality, so click on the links and get educated, damnit.

Marines Get The Sieg Heil Treatment in Berkeley

The Fun Never Stops In Berkeley (photos from ZombieTime)

Zombie covers the ideological sewer that was the 21 June World Can't Wait protest in Berkeley, and these confused, idiotic youngsters choose to give the nazi salute during the Star Spangled Banner. Whether or not this was directed at the Marine Recruiting station, the Pro-America bikers, or just society in general is as unclear as where these people are getting their free time and money from. However, if this crass display was directed at our beloved USMC, then it should be noted that the last 3 Sergeant Majors of the Marine Corps (the head enlisted Marines) were not white, ergo you probably aren't going to see any Marine recruiting ads at Stormfront in the near future. Truth be told, the U.S. military was lightyears ahead of the rest of the country in race relations. They were fully integrated in 1948 by President Truman, while the land of fruits and nuts (i.e. California) didn't have their racist policy of "restrictive convenants", which ensured neighborhoods remained lily white, ruled unconstitutional until 1954.

Of course, I have no idea why I'm drawing from history or constructing this post, since these protestors clearly used no reason to arrive at their conclusions and are only out on the streets to start trouble like the stray dogs that they are. Sometimes you just have to step away from the computer and punch a hippy in the face.

Oh wait, except leave this young lady alone. She's attractive, so she gets a free pass on this blog (yeah, I'm a dumb guy, whatever). Also, this furthers the commonly-held axiom that all good-looking women are crazy.

Petraeus Guidance And Application in the Punditsphere

Multi-National Force Iraq has released COIN guidance from General Petraeus. The directives are nothing new to people who follow counter-insurgency doctrine or soldiers with boots on ground. But two bullets of interest are applicable to bloggers following events while in our underwear back stateside:

• Be first with the truth. Get accurate information of significant activities to your chain of command, to Iraqi leaders, and to the press as soon as is possible. Beat the insurgents, extremists, and criminals to the headlines, and pre-empt rumors. Integrity is critical to this fight. Don’t put lipstick on pigs. Acknowledge setbacks and failures, and then state what we’ve learned and how we’ll respond. Hold the press (and ourselves) accountable for accuracy, characterization, and context. Avoid spin and let facts speak for themselves. Challenge enemy disinformation. Turn our enemies’ bankrupt messages, extremist ideologies, oppressive practices, and indiscriminate violence against them.
• Fight the information war relentlessly. Realize that we are in a struggle for legitimacy that in the end will be won or lost in the perception of the Iraqi people. Every action taken by the enemy and United States has implications in the public arena. Develop and sustain a narrative that works and continually drive the themes home through all forms of media.

Petraeus is speaking of countering the enemy's information war which seeks to portray the U.S. as bloodthirsty savages (frequently seen in Iranian media) or uses simple, emotional messaging about complex issues to incite indiscriminate violence (as seen with Al-Qaeda messaging). These information apparatuses are fair game under current military doctrine, but domestic media and DC politics remain off-limits for the military. This policy is designed to prevent military subversion of democracy, and even the superb COIN-themed Small Wars Journal steers clear of politics like a teenage couple from a prom night dumpster baby. Most high-ranking officers may harbor their own opinions, but are terrified of having their politics being broadcast...even to the point of not sharing them with subordinates during dinner at the chow hall. With this lack of engagement through mediums such as the blogosphere, a certain willful ignorance of the nation's punditry class is fostered. This has had terrible consequences over the past five years due to our apathy:

• Incompetent Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld fails to listen to Gen. Shinseki's recommendations of having a much larger invasion force for Iraq, which would have crushed the Fedayeen and hindered the immediate outbreak of chaos. "Speaking Out" from former military leaders may have prevented much of the carnage and suffering the Iraqis have had to bear due to the destruction of infrastructure and the beginning of the insurgency.
  
• The American left continues a campaign of misinformation and propaganda to denigrate military achievements for the purpose of electing "anti-war" candidates. Today's example is Juan Cole saying the U.S. has killed 310,000 Iraqis since 2003, despite complete lack of evidence. He even suggests an equivalent in America would be the total firebombing of Chicago...creepy! This Kos-like rhetoric mirrors propaganda in our enemy's media designed to subvert public support in the West.
• A saber-rattling campaign against Iran exercised by the American right, despite overlooking any sort of "soft" options to isolate or remove the Iranian theocracy and not acknowledging that the current structure of the U.S. military would have immense difficulty supporting this mission.

Ignoring the political forces stateside that result in our foreign policy has negatively affected our country's military and ability to carry out the mission (see Admiral Mullen on Afghanistan). Career-driven military officers may fear reprisal from their civilian masters for speaking their mind, but the blogosphere provides a unique outlet, which most importantly can be done in anonymity.

And the rest of the world was ignorant, Because they weren't told more