Recently in Military Category

While not exactly my expertise, I thought that this look at the Syrian commandos and the way they are not being trained is interesting. If you want to know more, please go read the rest. Enjoy.

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/Syrian-Commandos-Fade-Away-6-9-2009.asp

Syrian Commandos Fade Away
by James Dunnigan
June 9, 2009
Syria's elite units are falling apart. The total number of elite troops in Syria exceeds 15,000 personnel. This in line with their Soviet era doctrine and tactics that insist on special units in massive numbers. But years of poor funding, rapidly aging equipment (even small arms), and lack of action have turned Syria's special forces into a paper tiger. This is rapidly becoming a crisis for Syria because it is the only remaining frontline Arab state (the other two being Egypt and Jordan) that borders Israel that has not signed a peace agreement with the Jewish nation. Syria still harbors ambitions of eventual armed conflict with Israel to regain the Golan Heights. As ludicrous as this goal is, the Syrians have remained recalcitrant and stubborn in their relations with Israel. Secondly, the Syrians rely on their best troops maintain order and put down potential threats to the regime.

During the Cold War, Syria's elite units were considered, by Arab military standards, to be well-disciplined, thoroughly trained, and armed with the latest Russian (then Soviet) equipment. They had extensive battle experience against the Israelis on the Golan in 1973 and Lebanon in '82 and, according to most accounts, these units acquitted themselves well.

When NBC first ran with a story about this, I laughed and cheered. Now that the story is changing and there are three reported strikes, I am having a harder time believing it.

Not that either the US or Israelis are incapable of this, except politically, but it is very unlikely that this is the results of either airstrikes or drones. One strike might work, but three?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2009/03/exclusive-three.html

ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: Israel has conducted three military strikes against targets in Sudan since January in an effort to prevent what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments from reaching Hamas in the Gaza Strip, ABC News has learned.

Earlier this week, CBSNews.com was the first to report that Israel had conducted an airstrike in January against a convoy carrying weapons north into Egypt to be smuggled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

But actually, since January, Israel has conducted a total of three military strikes against smugglers transporting what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments destined for Gaza, a U.S. official told ABC News.

The information matches recent reports from Sudanese officials of two airstrikes in the desert of eastern Sudan and the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea carrying weapons.

Jonathan Peled, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, would only say, "No comment," when contacted by ABC News on the matter.

Sudanese officials initially said this week that 39 people riding in 17 trucks were killed in a mid-January airstrike conducted by an unidentified aircraft in a desert area north of the Red Sea port of Port Sudan.

Today, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry representative said there were two separate bombing raids against smugglers in January and February. The Sudanese minister for highways was more specific, saying the airstrikes took place Jan. 27 and Feb. 11.

Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera also reported today a Sudanese official's claim that Israel had sunk a ship carrying weapons.

Israeli officials continue to refuse to confirm or deny the reports of airstrikes, but Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, "Israel hits every place it can in order to stop terror, near and far."

In January, the United States signed an agreement with Israel to stop arms smuggling into Gaza. At the time, Israel was conducting a military operation in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas' firing of rockets on Israeli towns.

Shortly after the agreement was signed, the U.S. Navy twice boarded a Cypriot ship in the Red Sea that was traveling from Iran to Syria and believed to be carrying Iranian weapons bound for Hamas.

After the boardings were inconclusive, the United States asked Egypt and Cyprus to search the vessel when it made ports of call. Cypriot authorities ultimately found material that could be used to manufacture munitions, which they described as a violation of the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports.

After the Media have tried to make the story about the Israelis and the US, it would be a shame not to elaborate upon the malfeasance of the Iranians and their lackeys.

A better report is at Report: Israel Attacked Sudan 3X Near Egyptian Border

So who did bomb the Iranian arms trucks in Sudan?

and also:

Sudan: Questions on an Airstrike
STRATFOR Today » March 26, 2009 | 1357 GMT

Reports emerged March 26 of an airstrike on a convoy of suspected arms smugglers in Sudan in January. Information is still sketchy at this point, and the story has unraveled with each new statement, but the report appears to have originated in Sudan, with Sudanese officials pointing fingers at the United States. (This comes after the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, who has maintained a defiant position despite the pressure.) A CBS report then emerged citing U.S. officials that in turn placed responsibility in Israel's lap.

At the moment, these reports raise more questions than answers.

These reports have already been circulated across various media outlets, and most reports read identically. Where did they come from, who leaked them and why now?

Are the reports accurate? At this point, the reports suggest that a 17-truck convoy was attacked north of the Sudanese city of Port Sudan (near the Egyptian border) by aircraft, killing some 39 people. The convoy was supposedly carrying arms bound for Hamas in Gaza -- weapons that originated from Iran. (STRATFOR has noted connections between Iran and Sudan.)

If accurate, what weapons were being smuggled? Small-arms ammunition, mortars and the occasional Grad artillery rocket? Advanced anti-tank guided missiles?

Who pulled off the reported attack and why? If reports of the scale of this attack are accurate, it would have taken more than a single unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to pull it off, even the more heavily armed MQ-9 Reaper. The U.S. military operates out of Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, the base of operations for counterterrorism efforts in the Horn of Africa. Aircraft as large as the AC-130 gunship are thought to operate from there, though most of the presence there is thought to consist of CIA and special operations force elements. The Pentagon certainly has the assets in place to accomplish an operation like this.

It is a 600-mile flight down the Red Sea and the coast of Egypt before Israel planes could arrive at the Sudanese coast, and then get further inland for the actual strike. But Israel has aerial refueling capability and strike fighters capable of the inland leg that could then be refueled over the Red Sea before returning to base. Israel thus also certainly has the capability to do something like this.

Were any other countries' airspace violated?

Why were the Egyptian authorities not notified? The decision to proceed with a direct strike that would take significant planning suggests that it was more important to destroy the convoy immediately than to trust the Egyptians with the intelligence.

Finally, this was not a strike of opportunity carried out by a UAV that happened to be in the area. As mentioned, if reports of the scale of the attack are accurate, refueling aircraft had to be in place and manned strike aircraft armed and briefed on the mission. Even on a contracted timetable, that takes actionable intelligence with significant longevity.

What was this intelligence and where did it come from?

All of this leads me to believe that the Israelis are not to blame. I can easily picture the Jew-haters in the current White House and their Media butt-boys salivating at the chance to blame the Israelis for dead terrorists, especially if they know better. I can also picture a small group of Israeli commandos doing this with drones and direct fire missiles,

If you can think of a better idea, let me know.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/03/25/report-obama-administration-backing-away-global-war-terror/

The Obama administration has ordered an end to use of the phrase "Global War on Terror," a label adopted by the Bush administration shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

In a memo sent this week from the Defense Department's office of security to Pentagon staffers, members were told, "this administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.'"

A spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, from whom the direction reportedly came, told the Post there was no guidance given from the agency and that it was merely the "opinion of a career civil servant."

The Obama administration's rhetoric has paralleled this idea, having used the "Global Contingency Operation" phrase for a month prior to the e-mail being sent.

Craig W. Duehring, assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower, also used the term last week.

"Key battlefield monetary incentives has allowed the Air Force to meet the demands of overseas contingency operations even as requirements continue to grow," he said in congressional testimony.

Critics have pleaded with the Obama administration to abandon the use of "Global War on Terror" because they say it mischaracterizes the nature of the enemy and its abilities.

Hey! Finally we have a lawsuit that might work. Now that the judges have decided that mere citizens have no standing on enforcing the Constitution, maybe having a soldier deny The Ones legality will force the truth to be revealed. Unless the courts will decide that soldiers have no standing to challenge the Law.

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89837

A U.S. soldier on active duty in Iraq has called President Obama an "impostor" in a statement in which he affirmed plans to join as plaintiff in a challenge to Obama's eligibility to be commander in chief.

The statement was publicized by California attorney Orly Taitz who, along with her DefendOurFreedom.us Foundation, is working on a series of legal cases seeking to uncover Obama's birth records and other documents that would reveal whether he meets the requirements of the U.S. Constitution.

"As an active-duty officer in the United States Army, I have grave concerns about the constitutional eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama to hold the office of president of the United States," wrote Scott Easterling in a "to-whom-it-may-concern" letter.

I do not understand why people do not label the War in Mexico as a Civil War and not as random violence. Mexico needs to declare this a war and treat it as such this will allow them to round up Prisoners of War who can be processed and held indefinitely. It would be a way to get these criminals off the streets and into prisons.

I advise all my friends to avoid Mexico at all costs. It is not safe any more. Not that it has been that great.

We need to seal the border to keep this from overwhelming our country!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,493784,00.html

TABASCO, Mexico --

Gunmen killed a state police officer and 10 members of his family, including five children, during a violent weekend that left at least a dozen Mexicans dead in separate events.

The shooting late Saturday also killed a street vendor in front of the house of state police officer Carlos Reyes, said Tabasco deputy prosecutor Alex Alvarez. Among the five children killed was a 2-year-old boy.

Reyes was a member of a special unit of high-level officers who investigated organized crime and kidnappings, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported.

Police hadn't determined a motive for the attack but Reyes directed a car chase and raids on two homes on Wednesday that led to the death of three suspected gang members and the arrest of seven others, Alvarez said.

"It is confirmed that [the assailants] wanted to kill the state police officer but they killed his whole family," Alvarez said.

At least a dozen gunmen in three SUVs sprayed the house with bullets, leaving police to find 11 bodies scattered inside three houses, the Latin American Herald Tribune reported.

An official from the Tabasco Attorney General's Office told the newspaper the killers "had no mercy" and were taken by complete surprise.

I guess when you declare the fighting over and your opponent has vowed to keep fighting, then these kind of attacks go with the territory. It is past time to bring true relief to the Palestinian peopleso that they won't need to turn to terrorism for jobs.

What kind of jobs can be safely brought in? I have no clue! They tend to destroy any help except for weapons.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,489804,00.html

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- A Palestinian fighter died in a clash with Israeli troops and Israeli aircraft struck two targets in Gaza early Monday as mediators tried to firm up a long-term Gaza cease-fire a day before Israelis go to the polls in a national election.

The militant group Islamic Jihad said in a statement faxed to reporters that one of its fighters was killed overnight in an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said troops spotted an armed militant trying to cross the Gaza-Israel border late Sunday and opened fire, after which a bomb belt he was wearing detonated.

Israeli aircraft struck two militant positions in the territory early Monday, in what the military said was retaliation for rocket fire from Gaza on Sunday. No injuries were reported in the aerial attacks.

Follow the link and watch the videos. They are very informative.

http://honestreporting.com/articles/45884734/critiques/new/Media_War_Crimes.asp

Click on the images below to view IDF combat footage documenting an anti-aircraft gun and heavy weapons cache in a local mosque in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza, and a video presenting humanitarian actions by the IDF.

Also see this downloadable Powerpoint presentation: IDF: Limiting Harm to Civilians

This is just way too cool! I think we can expect something like this to show up in 24 or some other show or movie now that reality has exceeded even the crud we see out of Hollywood.

Watch this over and over. It is totally cool!

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/195865.php

A video so awesomely awesome, that one must recalibrate the awesomeness scale after seeing it! Here's the synopsis:

IDF officers get attacked by Hamas. One Hamas bad guy gets popped right off the bat. The other Hamas guy throws a grenade. He must have thrown it like a girl, because it's way off. IDF now aware of second Hamas guy who prepares to throw second grenade.

Instead of running away, the Charles Atlas of the IDF runs toward the Hamas guy, picks him up, and shields himself from the blast with the unlucky 90 pound wimp's body.

The score? Two Hamas terrorists dead, one bad ass mo-fo from the IDF slightly wounded.

I love the Royal Marines! They have been favorites of mine since I was a kid and they keep proving they are worthy of my devotion. When I was in England I met a few of them and visited some of their bases, and they impressed me even more.

This is how to fight this war - take it to the enemy and chase them until they are broken.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htinf/articles/20090114.aspx

British Marine Commandos (all British marines are commandos) recently conducted an 18 day operation against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. This operation, involving 1,500 marines and a few hundred Danish and Afghan troops, serves as a model for the kind of operations possible as several additional brigades of American troops enter the area over the next year.

The British marines killed over a hundred Taliban, and lost five of their own. More importantly, they also killed a key Taliban leader in the area, seized $3 million worth of opium (such drugs are a major source of income for the Taliban) and an IED workshop. The British marines chased down the Taliban, who tried to flee. Staying on the Taliban day after day, the marines ultimately shattered the local organization. The operation disrupted the ability of several hundred Taliban to operate and crippled their support and command network. The operation also had a bad effect on Taliban morale, and the willingness of locals to support, or simply tolerate, the Taliban.

The British made it very clear that they could decisively defeat the Taliban, and go after the enemy wherever they were, and no matter how hard their fought back. The British, in effect, dominated the battlefield, and the enemy. Multiply this several times, and run these operations constantly, and the Taliban military capability will be broken. This is nothing new. It's been done before to the Afghan tribal warriors, and accounts of such disasters are among the less popular tribal legends throughout the region.

I am tired of how the Media and Liberals, is there a difference?, are whining about "torture" that is in reality just trying to embarass bad guys until they can't take it anymore. That is not that bad! From the sounds of it, most frateraties haze worse than this. Military bootcamp, except maybe air force, is tougher than this. Even police training is tougher!

The reason that Liberals think this is torture is that they are pussies who think that having to climb stairs, away from the gym, is torture. They think that it is torture having to take a cab to pick up their government check. They think it is torture to have to bathe more than once a week. Well, except for the gays who tend to be very clean.

Another thing that Liberals find to be torturous is acting like Americans. It is very easy for them to move to a country they might like, but that is too much like work. Pussies.

The Lord knows I am tired of Liberals. Their constant whining is a torture to me and I am sick of it!

End the real torture!

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/195846.php

Defining Torture Down

The new definition of "torture:"

"For 160 days his only contact was with the interrogators," said Crawford, who personally reviewed Qahtani's interrogation records and other military documents. "Forty-eight of 54 consecutive days of 18-to-20-hour interrogations. Standing naked in front of a female agent. Subject to strip searches. And insults to his mother and sister."

At one point he was threatened with a military working dog named Zeus, according to a military report. Qahtani "was forced to wear a woman's bra and had a thong placed on his head during the course of his interrogation" and "was told that his mother and sister were whores." With a leash tied to his chains, he was led around the room "and forced to perform a series of dog tricks," the report shows.