Unpaid Ad (for my own post): While you’re here: Captain B, of the USMC! (OOOORAH!) has a great idea….get a full page ad in a major newspaper for the 4th of July, supporting the troops. Details here!

I struggled last night to determine a way you label the type of information we now deal with on a more and more frequent basis. The “news” items, in the MSM and in more informal forums such as the ‘net, suddenly appear. The little flags in the back of your brain are rasied…something stinks about it, and then the Army of Davids comes out of the woodwork to discredit/disprove the presented “story.”

Examples (because I’m trying to discuss concepts here, at least a few examples are needed to connect the dots):

• Dan Ra^ther’s Texas Air National Guard memo in fall 2004 (C’mon…Word XP in the early 70s?)
• Murder charges leveled at 1st Lt Ilario Pantano, USMC
• The roving bands of murderers in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
• The Duke Lacrosse Team rape case (allegations by the first women are not being supported by the original statements by the second woman to the police that nothing happened and the credit card and phone records for one of the suspects)
• Everyone’s very special friend, Jesse McBeth, the Special Forces Ranger (who served a total of a few days in the Army before being discharged)
• The supposed Israeli shelling of Palestinian families on the beach (Palestinian explosives laid to deter landings on the beach?)
• The faked massacre by US Army troops where MSM outlets used a photo of a group of civilians executed by Islamic terrorists, captioned as thought the Army had sent or had allowed the troops to do that.
• A Variant form, part truth, part lies, but plenty enought to poison the well: The Haji Girl song. It’s really about terrorists killing their own family in an effort to kill US troops, not about US troops indiscriminately killing innocent Arabs

Common thread: Stories, quickly “tossed” at the public in a shrill manner, or with highly energized words. Some have been proven to have been hoaxes, others are looking very much like they will meet the same end….but…not before they are widely circulated around the globe. They are, much like a flashbang grenade, designed to take over your senses to thoroughly and long enough that you do not see the others slipping into position to secure you, hence the title of the post.

In thinking this through, I realized that the blogging community, so powerful in bringing reality to the table in many of these cases, can only react to such a forcible attack on the truth. In the meantime, the horses have left the barn. we are doing a great job of telling how the horses got loose, and that we surveyed the area, assessed the situation and determined, with cold and unflapable logic, that the gate needed closing and we have done that. The good news: No more horses will get loose. On the other side of the issue, we’d have to become omnicient in order to have posts up in advance, and imbedded electronics just aren’t that capable yet.

Impact statement of such tactics:
In the case of the proven to be a fake Army Special Forces Ranger, I wondered how the words of Jesse McBeth, dicussing how they were told to massacre innocent men, women and children were echoed in the days leter major release of the Haditah story about a week ago. I dislike conspiracy theories, but could his video taped interview have been purposely “placed” to add credibility to the soon to some re-reporting of an indiscriminate rampage by American troops? You know, just another little weight on the scale.

Once it hit the street, particularly on YouTube, you can bet those who already believed this type of behavior was happening, and those who never thought about it, but could call it logical when asked, got their hands on the files of the interview, and then forwarded them on to other like minded people and organizations. Same with the Ra^ther TXANG memo. The blogosphere jumped up, within an hour (for the TXANG memo) and called the niche experts to arms, yet the enemy was already racing from the area, the false message, delivered from “credible sources,” was planted. Like the storeis of the anarchy in New Orleans, and the absense of any governmental forces, they placed a perception, taken as truth even now half a year later, in the minds of those who have come to demand instant delivery of everything in society. Our need for instant gratification has driven the methodolgy for the delivery systems (CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc). This format is now the accepted style, so we extrapolate that all reported is correct, we quickly, feeling the need to be “included” in all discussions on all topics, make sweeping judgments, more often than not devoid of any personal understanding and there you have it: “I BELIEVE!”

Taking the deliverer to task is still necessary, but the masses have moved on beyond the Da Vinci Code contreversies, and now are worried about reacting to tropical storms as though they were Category 5 hurricanes, while a state governor declares he’d rather be overly prepared then not doing enough. He, too, is driven by not being “Nagined” an losing his political stature, at the expense of cajoling many millions to leave home, but not before they empty the grocery stores shelves and gas station’s tanks, to then have to use cold hard cash for hotels, camp ground, and the stuff you buy when you get to your friend/relative’s house on high ground, to make amends for your intrusion.

That’s it:

Background Noise: SMASH! “BANG!”
You: “I CAN”T SEE! I CAN”T SEE!” (said loudly over the ringing in the ears)
Reporter/Newscaster: “Don’t worry! We’re here from the MSM to tell you what’s happening while you are temporarily blinded!”
“MARINES MASSACRE IN INNOCENT IRAQIS IN COLD BLOOD”
You: “NO! NOT OUR GUYS!”
R/N: “OH, yes…I know you don’t want to believe it, but…Jesse McBeth said he did it with the Special Forces Rangers, as ordered by his superiors!”
Y: “Sounds fishy to me.”
R/N: “Nope, it’s true. Jack Murtha (who was highly decorated in Vietnam and don’t you dare question him on his patriotism) Said they are MURDERERS! and he was one of them once.”
Uncle Jimbo/Matt/Smash/Bill Roggio/Steve Shippert: “Hey! That R/N is full of crap and besides, we need to let the system run it’s course before we start yelling about firing squads.”
R/N: “Don’t listen to those whining bloggers. They just wish they got our salaries, so they’ll try to make us out as liars.”

I think you can extend and revise without objection where that type of discussion has gone in actual cases.

Some amount of mental energy will go into this this weekend, trying to see what the counter may be. I think a good start will be the full page ad in a major newpaper on July 4th. Putting forth the good done, and real “support the troops” messages will begin to push back, but I’m sure there’s more that can be done.

Comments anyone? (is this mic on?)

Welcome LGF Lizards….You may fire when ready (comments are open).

The comment is buried back in a post I did a while back titled “Survivors of the Battle of Coral Sea – USS NEOSHO.”, Jayna left her comment for information on her Grandfather.

Here’s her comment/request:

“I wish I could find out more on the USS Neosho (AO23). My grandfather died on the 68 man raft, less than 2 weeks before my father was born. If anyone knows of any survivors or has letters from the crew of the AO23, please contact me at [email protected]”

I tossing this up with a prayer that through the “six degrees,” someone reading this will be connected with someone who knows. Do you know a WWII Navy Vet? Pass it along, maybe collectively, the community of bloggers can pass her some valuable leads.

Had enough with a media that trashes everything, even the good done by the US Military?

Captain B of One Marine’s View wants to take out a FULL PAGE AD in a major newspaper for this coming 4th of July, in support of our troops.

Had Enough?” is here….

He’s still open for which paper and what to say in the ad, but…it’s all premised on getting the funds together to pay the freight.

He has a donate button on the right sidebar of his blog, labeled “Donate cigars for troops here!” It will do the job…

Think about it….what better way than to proclaim we believe in the goodness and sacrifice of those young (and not so young in some cases) men and women who are forging the future for not only us, but humanity.

Dadmanly has a post on the recent discussions on the roll over problems with the Up Armored HMVEEs. It is one of many, which I will use for a jumping off point for the discussion of “we’ve been here before.”

Asa recap, it wasn’t all that long ago the MSM was lambasting the Military for not having “enough” armor on HMVEEs, which, were never intended to be patrol vehicles by design. They were cargo carriers to get supplies to the front, but…that’s another entire story in how equipment is developed and fielded by the US Armed Forces, as a function of Defense Analysis, brought to the Pentagon in the early 60s, by a gentleman you may recall named Robert McNamera.

Be that as it may, after the sceeching from the front pages of major papers, and in other forms of media communications, the Pentagon lept into action and got armor on the HMMVVs, sometimes, and at first, by troops scrounging for steel plates and getting out the trusty welding torches. Troops with skills are not always a bad thing, but there are times that well intentioned “local” efforts cause some consequences that can’t be forseen. Conversely, sometimes the “shore based” or stateside development organizations are too stuck in traditional thought to see a good idea, or, they are more often constrained by budget allocations from doing more. That also leads to another discussion, where too much money spet, when it is working to save lives (which is hard to quantify) ends up an issue in the media, where the demands are made to call people on the carpet to explain their “excessive and unnecessary” expeditures. So, once more good, hard working, thoughtful and intelligent people, in uniform, as civil servants, and as contractors, get caught trying to tip toe through a minefield.

On December 10th, 1941, the British battleship HMS PRINCE OF WALES and battlecruiser HMS REPULSE were sunk in the South China Sea by a Japanese air attack. Within a few short days, the Japanese Navy forever changed the face of war at sea. Proving the capability of aircraft launching and attacking from long range as the effective method of projecting power. The sun set on the era of the large captial gunship that day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you remember this picture?

SSG McNaughton is looking to run in the New York Marathon this coming November and is asking for a little help.

Impact a Hero – Walk/Run/Wheel

Click on the picture above to get to the donation page for SSG McNaughton.

I’ve also added a link on the Charities Page of this blog for this donation request.

HT: Gulf Coast Pundit and Black Five

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post!

Well, the boys at the lab have been at work, and this is one of the “fruits” of the fertile minds of our engineers. Boeing just pulled in a contract for $86M to make lots of these….

The pilot just stares at the target and the data is fed to the aircrafts weapon systems. Now any yahoo with eyes and no ADD/ADHD might be able to become aces…

I really think it adds much to the old saying of “giving them the ‘evil eye.'”

Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the Open Post!

Note: Our wounded service members need some help…see details on Valour-IT funding laptops with voice recognition software here.

Thanks for your considertaion of this great project!

The devil is in the details. While some still are wondering why Osma bin Laden wasn’t a target of greater priority, a guest post at Black Five by the resident retired SEAL pointed me to an Army Times article that has some real detail to it.

Thank, Froggy, for cluing me in.

To begin with, it was the SEALs who were having the party for the ZarqMan, bu the DELTA boys had been hot on the trail and the article discusses the near miss of capturing Zarqawi by DELTA, supported by Rangers in a Tom Clancy style read. I bet the Ranger LT is sitting in his quarters, kicking himself in the butt for not letting the M240 gunner do his job, So much for that medal for you, LT….

On the other hand, I’d say when the end did come for Zarqawi, he was well aware that the boys from the Great Satan’s neighborhoods and cities were dead set on being the ones to help him to the hereafter.

Once you get past the story of the capture and the three suicide bombers, then the article discusses Zarqawi’s operational emphasis towards creating a force with the ability to conduct standing maneuver type operations, not merely terrorist style attacks here nad there. The hint that he was soliciting more foreign help and personnel from Iran, particularly at this point in time, is scary indeed. It does indicate he was doing reasonably well as keeping the insurgency alive, and had the possibility of growing it, but….not without caling for resources from outside Iraq. The good news in that is he had lost the support of the Iraqis.

Since the early morning hours of 6/8/2006, the world, and Iraq, are much safer places as a result. How did we get al-Zarqawi? We all did…

Cross posted at: It’s That Time Again, Boys And Girls – OTA

I picked this up on Milblogs.

Valour-IT is a charity that funds laptop computers for wounded service members. These laptops are equipped with voice recognition software, provided by Dragon Software, and it turns the lives around that have been turned upside down.

Check my tab above for “Charities” and not Valour-IT is the top one. A simple click takes you to the Soldier’s Angels Valour-IT donation page. There’s plenty of info there to brief you in.

More detailed info on the work is found at the Project’s website….

I know it’s not Veteran’s Day, but this is a project worthy of regular donations to help those who have given so much to keep us safe.

PS: Hey, all you Milbloggers: How about get this word out? Get a blogburst going….

Cross posted at: It’s That Time Again, Boys And Girls – OTA
Stuck on Stupid Weekend Open Post
Point Five Weekend Open Trackback
Outside the Beltway – Beltway Traffic Jam
TMH’s Bacon Bits – Bacon Break Full Moon Weekend
The Right Nation
Church and State
The Bullwinkle Blog
Common Folks Using Common Sense
Stingray – A Blog for Salty Christians
Mudville Gazette Open Posts

Note: Our wounded service members need some help…see details on Valour-IT funding laptops with voice recognition software here.

Thanks for your considertaion of this great project!

Official CENTCOM video here…

I nominate this movie as the movie of the day.

Thank you, Viper pilots, for your finely honed air to ground delivery skills. I bet you had to confirm/repeat back 493 times that you had the right target….so thanks for your patience.

How ’bout these lyrics: “500 lbs once, 500 lbs twice…I bet that sure made him feel nice!”

Update: Maybe these lyrics: “500 lbs once, 500 lbs twice…so how about the rest of you guys playing nice?”

Also: Throughout the day, there have been hints of someone inside al-Z’s organization ratting him out. I can see a few possibilities that make this credible. ONe certainly could be he was getting too full of himself and from the inside, they weren’t able to have a coup, to let another rise up in his place. So, how do you do it? Like the stories of war from early times, act nice to your enemey and convey to them that you can help them get the “bad guy (of the day).” That leaves the way open for them to move up into the power vaccum.

Or….consider how successful the world has been in cutting off funding sources for the insurgents. Could a conversation have happened something like this:

Osama: “Hello, Zarq-man? It’s me from somewhere on the border of Pakistan.”

al-Zarqawri: “HEY! OBL! What’s happening?”

OBL: “Zarq, you know how we’ve been squeezed for funds lately, with those infidels stealing the money from our bank accounts, right?”

al-Z: “I sure do…you know it sucks when you get unexpected million dollar cuts in operation budget, when some banker gets all righteous.”

OBL: “You’re dead on…and to think I have to deal with all of al-Qaeda cuts, not just the regional ones you have to take…anyhow, I was thinking last night, then I had this dream, when I woke up, jerking around like an epilectic, and I realized I had a vision from Allah. He said since the Great Satan’s boys (and girls) are offering $25M for you, we could really rebound from our current budget crunch if they were to catch you. How’s this sounding to you so far?”

al-Z: “Let me get this straight: One of my boys rats me out, and the infidels catch me and send me to Club GITMO, and you pocket the reward money. Am I understanding this right?”

OBL: “Oh, yeah. Thant’s what I like about you, you catch on to complex issues quickly. So, how soon can we pull this off?”

al-Z: “Well, it sucks to be me right now. Had you considered you being the one turned in? They are offering more for you than me.”

OBL: “You’re been a good friend, but, to be honest, I’m a little concerned about the bad press you got us when you delivered those 17 heads to the hospital. That was really bad PR. I think you’re liking the butcher role too much.”

al-Z: “Yeah, I can see your point. Give me a few days to set up a safe house and a few innocent civilians to hang out with me. I figure you can get another bounce, and keep that Iranian slacker out of the news cycle for a little while, if they find dead babies in the rubble of my safe house.”

OBL: “Good man. And, think of the fact that you’ll get the 72 raisins before me. Heck, at the rate this war is going, you might want to get a head start on me soon.”

So there you have it, the Z Man was killed because of the budget shortages and over runs…a scary thought indeed, and to be realistic, maybe not too far off. I’m sure $25M will help the planning for a few months….

Get to Iowahawk for the post death Zarq Man AAR, and also another one at GM’ Corner!

From a post late last night on Little Green Footballs titled “Progessives Supporting the Troops Again”has comments from an attendee of the meeting with John Kerry at an “off the record meeting” with Daily Kos supporters, where they got to see a new movie “The Road to Guantanamo.”

Extract from the “movie review” by Hollywood Liberal:

This film illustrates in crystal clear detail why the U.S. military needs to recruit very dumb, totally uneducated, and mostly southern cracker soldiers who are already racist bastards who have never left their hometowns and believe all the garbage they are taught in school about how we are the good guys, and everything we do is just and right. The Army can then brainwash them to treat other human beings in such a grotesque and inhuman manner.

Sad…

Contrast this kind of thought process with the recently well written commentary by CDR Salamander on politicizing the military and as further discussed by Chapomatic.