My arrogant opinions about politics, culture, science fiction, and whatever else I feel like talking about.

Some Interesting Ideas on the Military

        Jerry Pournelle points to a rather interesting op-ed in The New York Treason.  I have some comments, but first, you should go read the piece.  I'll wait.

        OK, now that you've seen what Mr. Kane has to say, my thoughts.  On the first point, we need to ask 'Just why was the Air Force created in the first place?'  Answer: to do three things — 1)take all aircraft away from the other military services; 2) to fight all wars as independent air campaigns, completely divorced from the other services' efforts; 3) to fight wars as independent air campaigns, striking directly at the enemies homeland.

        The first goal is long since lost.  There's no reasonable prospect of prying the helicopters and airplanes from the grasp of the Army, Navy, and Marines.  And while the Air Force continues to cling to "close air support," they don't really want to do it.  The Army should have it's own close support airforce, as the Marines do.

        The second goal is pernicious, and anyone advocating it should be expelled from the military without further ado.  The military services are instruments of policy, and all should always be integrated in their efforts.  To describe this would-be institutional agrandizement as treason seems too strong, but nothing else seems strong enough.

        But the third goal has a lot of point.  There are times when striking directly at the enemy's home can be tremendously effective.  The main problem with the idea at the moment is that we just won't do it.  The entire "air war" in Viet Nam was predicated on the idea of making sure we didn't really damage the enemy much.  Such strategies can't succeed.  If we're never going to use independent air attack again, there's not a lot of point in having an Air Force, but if we might do it again, the capability is worth keeping.  I'd say the possibility that we might want to do it means the Air Force should stay.

        Which brings us to the second point.  Should we revise the promotion system?  I am inclined to think yes.  The system we have at the moment gave us a set of Joint Chiefs that knew we couldn't win in Viet Nam, yet went along with a futile strategy, as a way to protect their positions.  We need to do something to make it harder for such careerists to succeed.

        But as for his third point, universal national service — fuggedaboudit!  In the first place, there's no need to make military experience universal.  Throughout the history of the U.S., most civilians have had no military experience, as the armed forces were very small.  Because WWII, Korea, and the peacetime draft are relatively recent and very important, we think of the last half of the twentieth century as normal for the U.S., but its not.  And making all teens do whatever makework some bureaucrat thinks of won't give people military experience.  It will just corrupt the Armed Forces, worse than the draft did in the fifties.

        One thing I agree with Pournelle on: we need to think hard about what we want the military to do.  But man plans, and God laughs.  Flexibility and adaptability will always be key.

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        And the angel said unto them, "Be not afraid!  For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is inaugurated this day in the city of George a Saviour, which is B. Hussein Obama the President."  And since then, everything has been perfect.   (The Gospel According to CNN, Chapter 2, verses 8-11.)

Posted by: saintonge at 01:10 | link | comments
citizenship, war with jihadism, military affairs

Here's a Daring Prediction

Tom Maguire writes:

        I expect that security will be lock-down tight at the next Dem convention, that we will see DHS-inspired threat assessments about disgruntled vets and racist militia to justify it, and no one from the left or the MSM will have anything to say about it except to compare it favorably to the dark Bush years.

        In the same spirit, I'd like to predict that the sky will be blue, water will be wet, and fire will be hot.  I'm offering you two to one odds money if you'd like to bet against me.

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        And the angel said unto them, "Be not afraid!  For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is inaugurated this day in the city of George a Saviour, which is B. Hussein Obama the President."  And since then, everything has been perfect.   (The Gospel According to CNN, Chapter 2, verses 8-11.)

Posted by: saintonge at 09:06 | link | comments

Obama's Amnesty Attempt

        I'm beginning to sympathize and agree with the Marxists.  And no, I didn't ever expect to type THAT line.

        But how else could I feel?  It used to be that the Republicans were the party of "big business," and the Democrats the party of "the little guy."  No longer.  As the commies claim, they're both the party of big business, now at least.

        Consider this story from the New York Treason.  It tells how the Obamessiah is going to push for amnesty for illegal aliens, and more illegal immigration.  Of course, it doesn't say Obama's in favor of amnesty and illegal immigration, but that's what it means.  The illegals will pay "fines", and border enforcement will be "stepped up", and employers who employ illegals will be "cracked down" on.  Yeah, right. 

        The vast majority of the country is against open borders.  But we have them, effectively, and we'll continue to have them.  Welcome to our democratic republic, where every adult citizen who isn't a felon, or of unsound mind, has an equal right to vote for politicians who ignore what we want.  Happy now?

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        And the angel said unto them, "Be not afraid!  For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is inaugurated this day in the city of George a Saviour, which is B. Hussein Obama the President."  And since then, everything has been perfect.   (The Gospel According to CNN, Chapter 2, verses 8-11.)

Posted by: saintonge at 06:49 | link | comments

Sometimes, They Just Make It Too Easy

        One of the reasons I haven't blogged much for the last year or two is that feels like I'm solemnly assuring people that two plus two equals four.

        Consider my two latest Museum Exhibits.  The first story tells us that the death penalty is expensive.  Except that it isn't.  It's sentencing people to death and then not executing them, while providing years and years of appeals that's expensive.  And the reason we have this delay is because death penalty opponents use the tactic as a weapon against execution.  The dishonesty of the story is transparent.  I'm embarrassed to point it out, because it feels like I'm insulting you, Constant Reader.

        Meanwhile, the Prez is all in a tizzy because the N. Koreans launched a missile.  He said that a strong response is necessary.

        The Money quotes:

        Washington, Tokyo and Seoul regard the launch as a clear violation of Security Council resolution 1718 adopted in October 2006, which bans North Korea from carrying out ballistic missile activity.

        Correspondents say the likeliest outcome is a presidential statement - an official expression of the council's will, of which every line has to be agreed.

        Wow!  We're going to wag our finger and say "Bad doggie, no biscuit."  Except that we won't, because the Russian and the Red Chinese govts. won't agree on anything too harsh.  Well, that will fix Kim Jong Il's hash, won't it?  We've all seen how he just falls apart when the UN tells him not to do something.

        Somebody wake me when something real happens, OK?

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        And the angel said unto them, "Be not afraid!  For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is inaugurated this day in the city of George a Saviour, which is B. Hussein Obama the President."  And since then, everything has been perfect.   (The Gospel According to CNN, Chapter 2, verses 8-11.)

Posted by: saintonge at 17:26 | link | comments
crime, asia, insanity, foreign affairs, blowhards, dishonesty, stupidity springs eternal, the un, bad hair kim, our new messiah™