YouTube Tuesday

Because it's easier than actually writing something...



And for those who haven't caught on: Everything I know I've learned from a ninja.

Saturday Roundup

March numbers show jobless rate lowest in six years.

According to Hot Air, Speaker Pelosi could be prosecuted under the Logan Act for meeting with President Assad in Syria. Interesting noodle exercise.

Liberal bloggers get punked with a fun Karl Rove April Fool's joke. Really, it's worth reading the back story.

Michigan State House Democrats are pushing to "invest" in children's future by giving them what they really need: iPods. They save lives, and that may be helpful in Detroit. Just an idea.

Wondering how I feel about the cold and Global Warming? The photo says it all ... So does the movie The Day After Tomorrow. The increase in Earth's temperature has decreased the Earth's temperature!

In D.C., people tie wishes to the cherry blossoms. Here's a list of what people are actually hoping against hopes for. Fun read.

• I wish for large amounts of peach pie and ice cream. Oh, and not to be so pale and to get a tan. Also, I'm rather hungry.
• I wish I was a superhero like Captain America. Except he's dead. So I guess Thor.
• I wish I could get a beautiful wife
• I wish www.freelaptop.com is real so that I can get a free laptop.

Screaming Match

I'm a fan of Billo, but this [the screaming, not the content] is out of control...

Caldwell Interview

Real Clear Politics has up an interview with General Caldwell.

Here's a quick overview:

Regarding a possible lack of funds: "I can tell you from over here, it's going to have an immediate impact in the sense that the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq element that we have is charged with building, equipping, helping to develop the Iraqi security forces, and that is going to have an impact on them. Now to what degree? You know, we can get into a lot more specifics, but they are already starting to feel the effects of not having this funding." Also, "at the current moment, because of this lack of funding, MNSTC-I is unable to continue at the pace they were in the developmental process of the Iraqi security forces."

Regarding the ISF: "I've been here almost a year now. And I can tell you that from a year ago when I first got here to now, and I'm out, you know, every week someplace, having the ability to get out and go around the country -- that, you know, they continue to get better all the time."

Sounds to me the leadership on the ground is pessimistic and ready to redeploy its forces.

"Stretched Thin"

Crooks and Liars is complaining that 12,000 National Guard members are planned to deploy to Iraq. They ask, "How far can we stretch the military before it breaks," and answer that they don't know, "but that point is fast approaching."

Here's a fun fact: Two thirds of the Guardsmen to be deployed to aid in General Petraeus' surge have not served in Iraq. Of the remaining one third, only small percentage have served two tours.

If this is stretched thin, with one tour for every two to three years, I just don't know how we pulled off previous wars with deployments lasting two to five years without the technological advances we have today.

Pre-War Intelligence

Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has released a declassified report of the DOD Inspector General on the review of some pre-war activities. Very interesting.

Pages 5 and 6 lay out the high-level contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq between 1990 and 2002.

"Basis of [enemy] Operation: The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend" ... along with motives and a quid pro quo.

Want to remember why we entered the fight without the war-for-oil conspiracy nonsense? Take a trip in the way-back machine. Unfortunately, some of the good stuff is still blacked out.

Pre-war intel findings:

• More than a decade of numerous contacts
• Multiple areas of cooperation
• Shared anti-US goals and common bellicose rhetoric; i.e. Unique in calling for killing of Americans and praising 9/11
• Shared interest and pursuit of WMD

Well worth the short read. Be aware: some of the claims made pre-war were later discredited.

OIF SITREP

General Petraeus and his boys are kicking ass in the fight of our lives.

Despite the New York Times' attempt to discredit the work of soldiers in the field, Representative Mike Pence writes about his visit to Baghdad with Senator McCain:

"From the moment of our arrival, I could sense that things were different. Gen. David Petraeus met us at the airport, and, instead of boarding helicopters to the Green Zone, we drove into town. I hadn't done this since my first trip several years ago.

"We were briefed on the progress of the surge of U.S. and Iraqi forces into Baghdad. For the first time, U.S. and Iraqi forces have set up dozens of joint security stations throughout this city. They live at these stations and patrol together for weeks at a time. While the fight is far from over, violence is down in large parts of Baghdad. We saw the progress for ourselves."

And here's something that blew me away:

"While we were instructed to leave our bulletproof vests on, Gen. Petraeus took off his helmet and urged us to leave our helmets in the vehicles."

That's a line between confident and crazy I may be hesitant to cross.

Kimberly Kagan has posted the third installment of The Iraq Report. She discusses the rise of al Qaeda in the al Anbar Province and how their presence is dwindling due to successful counterinsurgency efforts, even pre-surge. The importance of a joint mission has led to locals ratting out the enemy for the safety of their neighbors, along with that of Iraqi Security Forces and U.S. troops. As well:

Due to the latest Baghdad Security Plan, a "Ramadi sheiks' recruitment drive had ... produced 4,500 new policemen, where previously there had only been 300." And "the major police recruiting drives forced al Qaeda further out of Ramadi."

More on al Anbar; The Wall Street Journal notes the success of the sheiks' recruitment drive and explains how the new civil war in Ramadi is between AQI and Sunni tribes. A tidbit:

"Anbar is like the American West in the 1870s. Security will come to towns in Anbar as it came to Tombstone--by the emergence of tough, local sheriffs with guns, local power and local laws."

Good News Quick Hits:

• Deaths in Baghdad are at the lowest rate in more than a year.
• "al Sadr's ... absence [from Iraq] has encouraged subordinates and earlier rivals to move in on his turf ... It's clear that he does not control the organization."
• EFP attacks (possibly the most dangerous type of IED) are down and a joint effort nabbed an EFP maker.
• The Sunni insurgent group Iraqi Islamic Resistance Front is whining because al Qaeda's ISI is "aggressively muscling in on their territory and resources." (The enemy is finally showing a rift in their alliance, much as America has divided over the last few years.)
• Troops are winning the hearts and minds with humanitarian aid in an al Salaam neighborhood.
• General Caldwell says that Iraqi Security Forces are becoming "more capable literally almost every week as they continue their operations" in Operation Enforcing thee Law. "Caldwell pointed to a decrease in the number of sectarian murders and assassinations, a reduction in the number of car bombs, and a diminished capability for insurgent elements to move within the city."

Read Iraq The Model's story about a nightly check of his house when he had company over. It's quite contrary to the typical "kicking in doors" reports you hear about. Winning the hearts and minds.

iPod, 1. Terrorist, 0.

Apple isn't great only because it makes products that piss off Greenpeace. It's products are saving lives in the War on Terror.

A soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division was shot in the chest by an Iraqi insurgent's AK-47. Luckily, he had a 20gb iPod in the way of his body armor, possibly preventing the round from shattering his IBA plate. The enemy was eliminated.

Photos here.

Perhaps Congress should include some pork in its next supplemental bill to accompany peanuts and spinach - iPhones for every service member!

300

I have been looking for a way to spice up my workout routine and was stoked to hear about the training stunt men and actors endured in the run-up to the new movie "300". Here is a simple, yet horribly difficult routine I have incorporated into my workout two to three days a week. It is measured in the time it takes to accomplish it as opposed to how many repetitions of a certain excerise at a certain weight you can do. I finished in under 25 minutes on my first run at it.

25x Pull-up
50x Deadlift @ 135#
50x Push-up
50x Box Jump @ 24” box
50x Floor Wiper @ 135# (one-count)
50x KB Clean and Press @ 36# (weight must touch floor between reps)
25x Pull-up
300 reps total

USA Today said the training was "not recommended for the public."

For meatheads that have more brawn than brain, the invitation-only Gym Jones is a place to check out. I have a feeling they eat steel for breakfast and bricks as a post-workout snack.

No More "Global War On Terror"

I don't exactly know what to do with my Global War On Terror Expeditionary Medal and Service Medal, but perhaps according to the Democratic Congress, they need to be revoked.

The Military Times is reporting that in the 2008 defense budget, the "catch phrase" "global war on terror" is not to be used. Instead, "the war in Iraq," "the war in Afghanistan," and "ongoing military operations" should be used.

This may have two consequences: In future defense budgets, they may alot specific funds for certain wars, i.e. 250 million for the war in Afghanistan and 1 million for the war in Iraq, as opposed to giving a specific amount to be used generally in the War On Terror. As well, Democrats who commonly say we "need to fight the real War On Terror in Afghanistan" may have to find a new catch phrase of their own if they want to appear hawkish or troop-supportive in any regard.