Nibras Kazimi reports on the sniper propaganda some Iraqi insurgent groups have been putting out recently. The “Islamic Army of Iraq” (i.e. a chapter of NOIA) claims a large number of dead US soldiers, shows its sniper team preparing for action, using a US Marine Corps manual (nice touch), and then shooting various people. Interestingly,…
Read More Sniper at workMaps are nice, aren’t they? So let’s have a look at a few maps of Iraq. This one shows Iraq’s administrative divisions, its roads and its rivers. Note especially that there are essentially two major roads between Baghdad and Basra. One runs along the Tigris valley parallel to the Iranian border. The other runs just…
Read More Talk to Iran. Now.Iraqi parliament votes to revoke an MP’s immunity. Details: Earlier this year he was caught at Baghdad airport carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars in a suitcase, reinforcing the belief of many that he was engaged in illicit profiteering. During the debate on lifting his parliamentary immunity, the head of the integrity commission said that…
Read More A quick Iraq round-upOver at Slugger, they are discussing an alleged proposal from the UDA that the government give it £1 billion to end its campaign of violence and convert itself into a legal organisation. At one level, you’d be forgiven for spitting coffee on your keyboard at such shameless blackmail. But there is a valid point here.…
Read More Ending an armyMy thoughts on the Thai coup, free signup required. Which will explain the title. Interesting to see the classic model coup in action again. Turkey in 1997 had the so-called “virtual coup”, when the army didn’t actually leave barracks but did cause the government to fall by indicating its displeasure. But this was your Bolivian…
Read More Thax lossYgelsias suggests that the US Army is historically hopeless at counter-insurgency because of the strong Southern influence in the officer corps. His reasoning runs as follows: the Confederates chose to fight an all-out war with the Union, and when it went to ratshit they decided against fighting on as guerrillas and gave up in a…
Read More A Southern strategy?For a start, which second world war army are you? You scored as Finland. Your army is the army of Finland. You prefer to defeat your enemy by your wit rather than superior weapons. Enemy will have a hard time against your small but effective force. Finland 88% Poland 88% British and the Commonwealth 69%…
Read More Stupid web things of the dayIn the middle of this Dan Nexon post lies this nugget of astonishing stupidity. One note about this number, 275,000. I had lunch with my uncle today, in town for a conference from his duties as Sgt Maj for the 1 MEF (the whole MEF) in Iraq. He works rather closely with the Iraqi forces…
Read More Still incredibly stupidIt seems that, after a week’s bombing to get in the mood, the Israeli army is going back into southern Lebanon. What are they trying to achieve? A question that could have been asked all week, but one that gains force with this escalation. Everyone’s talking about either “clearing a one-mile strip” along the border…
Read More Another dip in the quagmireSoldiers in Iraq, dissatisfied with the limited and censored Internet service available officially, build their own. It’s impressive, even though the main demand is to download filthy pictures and order foodstuffs forbidden by the chain of command – which, I suppose, gives it a sort of charm. As one of Robert Graves’ comrades said, marching…
Read More The trench art of networking