We’re not quite at the stage of dropping poodles and bleeding ketchup, but, getting there!
At the nightly “hot wash” debriefing on the Dwight D. Eisenhower, a pilot from the Pukin’ Dogs squadron was explaining how he dropped a 500-pound bomb on a Taliban target in Afghanistan — and why.
The pilot, a Naval Academy graduate with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, would face two such cross-examinations before he could get some sleep after his 12-hour mission.
“It’s very professional but very gloves-off,” said the 34-year-old lieutenant commander, who asked that he be identified only by his call-sign, Thurman.
Pilots have always undergone intense debriefings after combat missions, but the questions focus now on whether they were certain that no civilians were endangered before they dropped a bomb or launched a missile. One Super Hornet pilot aboard the Eisenhower off the Pakistani coast says the grilling is a bit like defending a master’s thesis, with professors trying to poke holes in your explanations.
“They ask very pointed questions and you best have the answers,” Thurman said.
It’s hard to be a mud-mover — slang for a pilot who aggressively supports ground troops — when the bosses won’t let you push the button.
You just have to love it. Barry increases the troop levels for 1 whole years, and he will barely allow them to be protected. Remember when the Dems screeched about body armor and up-armored Humvee’s? Remember when they (falsely) claimed they cared about the safety of the troops?
Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, says mission No. 1 is to avoid civilian casualties, even if it means letting suspected Taliban fighters escape. Civilian casualties, he said, are undermining Afghan support for the U.S.-led effort coalition.
Call me silly, but, shouldn’t job #1 be to kill the enemy?
As the saying goes, read the whole thing. If your blood pressure can take it.
Speaking of Ann Coulter, remember when she said
Liberals become indignant when you question their patriotism, but simultaneously work overtime to give terrorists a cushion for the next attack and laugh at dumb Americans who love their country and hate the enemy.
Oh, come Ann, that was just mean……..? (via Hot Air)
According to the Wall Street Journal, a district judge has ordered Mohamedou Slahi – a known al Qaeda recruiter who worked for Osama bin Laden – freed from Guantanamo. The Journal’s account does not explain the judge’s reasoning and the decision was not immediately available online. But the decision is inexplicable in light of Slahi’s notorious track record. There is no doubt that Mohamedou Slahi is one of the worst terrorists held at Gitmo…
Say, didn’t Holder and Obama say the prosecution of KSM was a slam dunk, and there was no way that the really bad AQ guys would get off? How’s that working out? Does it make people (excepting liberals) a bit nervous about trying them in civilian courts now?
OK Teach you are silly. If the main point was solely to kill the enemy why we would just nuke every country that had suspected Taliban or al Qaeda within its borders. If a Taliban terrorist runs inside of a school would you consider it OK to bomb the school to kill the single Taliban enemy ? How important is it to protect women and children in combat ?As for Slahi his last 2 military prosecutors including LtCol Couch USMC withdrew from the case as they said that they could not ethically prosecute him because of the serious violations of the UCMJ that had already occurred. What has happened in the past has now made it very difficult to prosecute anyone from Gitmo And that Federal Judge that made that ruling: he was appointed to the FISA court by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts.
The ROE are not determined by the POTUS they are determined by the area and theater commanders. So save your criticism for McChrystal and Petraeus.
As many have said for a long time, the mistakes that Bush made in the GWOT (including torture) will come back to haunt us. But as I am sure you would agree the US Constitution and the rule of law is the more important issue here.
And Kerry ? he volunteered in time of war when his country needed him. Perhaps YOU should remember that.
KSM has already agreed to plead guilty AND he wants to be executed. The civilian court system has MUCH better track record of convictions than does any military court and the military has not executed a non Negro in over 50 years. Do you remember that Australian al Qaeda Hicks ? The military gave him time served and 6 months. The military tribunals will have a tough time convicting anyone who has not been treated according to the USMJ Ifnthe could have, they would have already done so, they have had how many years ?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/world/asia/23afghan.html
Care to defend this ?
Greetings:
“OK, LCDR, why did you drop that 500-pound bomb on those Talibunnies?”
“Well, sir, I had already dropped all my 1,000-pounders.”
Or, as my favorite Platoon Sergeant used to tell me, “As many as you can, as often as you can, anywhere and any way you can.”
The ROE are not determined by the POTUS they are determined by the area and theater commanders.
The ROE are determined by civilian authorities. Guess who heads up that list?
And Kerry ? he volunteered in time of war when his country needed him.
And have the North Vietnamese not thanked him enough?
Care to defend this ?
Sure. In times of war, mistakes happen. It is silly loons that think that shooting people or dropping bombs on what is believed to be legitimate targets will will always mean no civilian casualties.
The trick is to try and limit such mistakes, but only idiots think they can be totally eliminated.
Hence Johnny-Cakes’s response above.