The End of DADT

Barbara Morrill from Daily Kos sums it up nicely:

The repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" was passed on a final vote of 65-31. There are unverified reports that John McCain's (R-AZ) legs fell off.

DADT - It's Time

Daily Kos

Marines in Marja and the Battles to Come

C.J. Chivers, writing in the New York Times, lays out what the current Marine battles in Marja tell us about what the short-term future holds:

Is the violence a predictable summer fight for an area the Taliban and those who profit from the drug economy do not want to lose; in other words, an unsurprising flare-up that can be turned around? Or will Marja remain bloody for a long time, allowing insurgents to inflict sustained losses on American units and win merely by keeping the fight alive?

According to Chivers and the Marines on the ground, it's too soon to tell.

Meanwhile, Marines are wounded by bombs or shot each week. The violence in itself does not mean that the campaign is lost. Fighting is normal to war, a concept sometimes played down in discussions about the United States’ counterinsurgency doctrine, which emphasizes developing relationships with the population and helping government agencies gain credibility and provide services.

Those directly involved caution that a few months of fighting is not necessarily a basis for grim forecasts, especially during the first summer in a former Taliban enclave. American commanders have been voicing frustration nonetheless, as was evident last month in Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s description of Marja as “a bleeding ulcer.”

The remark underscores perhaps the clearest conclusion that can be drawn thus far. Even before the last troops of the Obama administration’s surge arrive in Afghanistan, high-level American commanders appear pressed for time, no matter the complexities faced by troops on the ground.

Chivers points out that Marine tactics have changed in the past year, and the new approach means more direct contact with combatants, compared to earlier reliance on airstrikes and artillery. Less collateral damage to civilians means more wounded and dead Marines.

The pace of Marine patrols has also increased as they seek to perform the most basic of combat techniques - seek and maintain contact with the enemy.

As Chivers notes, everyone feels the pressure of time on combat operations. It's unlikely that the Obama administration will commit more troops or delay the planned 2011 pullout from Afghanistan unless there is empirical evidence of progress.

Memorial Day - A Country Distracted

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, details how Memorial Day is often viewed by veterans and their families. Not surprisingly, Rieckhoff believes there are two Americas on this day:

For most Americans, Memorial Day weekend marks the triumphant return of summer: a trip to the beach and a day off of work - barbecues, beers and bargains. Yet, as most Americans head to the beach or the mall, many veterans and military families will travel to a cemetery. For veterans, there is no day of the year when the civilian-military divide feels greater. On Memorial Day, it feels like we are citizens of two different countries.

This holiday should be a solemn day of remembrance for the more than one million American service members of all generations who have given their lives in defense of our country, including the 5,454 men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is a humbling occasion to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. But unfortunately, the significance of the day is often lost under the coolers and beach blankets in the trunk of the car.

It's been over thirty years since I took off the BDUs, and with each passing Memorial Day, I wonder if we will ever again witness the entire nation pay tribute to those who have served and those who have fallen.

With the elimination of compulsory military service, the concept of shared sacrifice in the defense of our country has beaten a hasty retreat from our consciousness. This laissez-faire attitude has been created surreptitiously, as the all volunteer military has shifted the burden to only those who choose to serve (and their loved ones) while everyone else is insulated from what it is the armed forces does in our name on a daily basis that obliges us to spend this one day - one day - honoring and remembering.

President Obama is spending the long weekend in Chicago, rather than in Washington, and I hope that he finds time to publicly pay tribute to our veterans, specifically the brave souls who have lost their lives in the service of their nation.

Paul Rieckhoff implores you:

Take a moment this Monday to pause and pay respect to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation. Every American can pledge to help make Memorial Day the day of remembrance, not the day of mattress sales. Even if you're at the beach, you can take a moment to pause with your family and teach your kids what Memorial Day signifies. You can teach yourself and your family about what it means to serve your family, your community, and your country.

Video: Dutch Marines Capture Somali Pirates

This is impressive stuff. And don't sit there and say you could have done it better because you play Call of Duty. You have no idea what this is like unless you've actually deployed.

Against All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo cuts to the chase:

Looking at the American Patriot Foundation's representation of Lt. Col. Terence Lakin, it occurs to me, what's more patriotic than an active duty member of the military refusing to obey a lawful order?

General McChrystal On Shooting Innocent People in Afghanistan

Via Talking Points Memo:

We've shot an amazing number of people and killed a number and, to my knowledge, none has proven to have been a real threat to the force.

Military Job Breakdown

They forgot picking up other people's cigarette butts.


see more Funny Graphs

4th Grade Girl Surprised by Dad

This 4th grader is about to talk about her dad, who is stationed in Iraq. He shows up by surprise.


EMBED-Tricked On Halloween - Watch more free videos

Sniff...sniff...when did I become such a softie?

The US Military is Afraid of...?

Via Where It Stands

Being A Veteran Sucks

When I received my honorable discharge from the US Army in 1982, having successful completed my enlistment with all of my limbs and most of my sanity intact, I was proud to join the brotherhood (and sisterhood - personhood?) of American veterans.

Proud of my service, prepared to finish out my obligation in the Individual Ready Reserve, I used the pre-Reagan VEAP educational benefits (a very turdy $2 government match for every $1 I had saved) to attend college in preparation for my post-military career.

My first clue that being a vet wasn't all wine and roses came upon my release from service. As Reagan launched into his plan to rebuild the country militarily, one of the first things he did was to end the practice of honorable discharged veterans qualifying for unemployment compensation to ease their transition into civilian life.

That was a bummer, because unlike someone working at their local Wal-Mart, it's a little difficult to write cover letters and schedule interviews when you're deployed in some remote location, eating c-rations and wiping your ass with pine cones. Still, I ventured on, comforted by the fact that I was starting at Penn State in the fall, and I was pretty sure I could pick up a part-time gig to hold me over. I thought it was lousy for them to change the rules like that, but being in the military really prepares you for being screwed personally if it helps accomplish the mission.

The second shot across my bow (go Army, beat Navy) came even before I started classes, when I received notice from the Selective Service that I needed to register with them in order to be considered for need-based financial aid. I was certainly in need, what with no full time job and no unemployment compensation, but I pondered what this meant. I was already deeply rooted in their system as part of the IRR, with their requirement that I keep them posted of any changes to my home address or status, so they would certainly be able to find me in the event the needed a disillusioned E4 who was remarkably out of shape within months of my discharge.

Why did I need to be thrown into the fishbowl with everyone else who had been partying and living a carefree existence while my strapping carcass was freezing in Korea, sweating in the hot Texas sun, and eating sand in the middle of a remote Utah desert? Not to mention the occasional rapid excursions to certain unnamed global hotspots that need to remain, well, unmentioned.

I thought to myself, "God of the dumb, take me quick," and registered, deciding that avoiding jail and collecting a Pell grant were good options for an unemployed 21 year old college student. Between my IRR status and being registered with Selective Service, I was relatively certain that if any crazy world leader so much as farted in the direction of the United States, I would be back in the pickle suit so fast that I wouldn't have time to object. Besides, it was my own fault for signing up in the first place, but I only had two years of IRR remaining before I was free at last, free at last.

Why am I telling this story? There is a point, I promise.

Because of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, quite a few soldiers are getting screwed in ways I never thought possible. From stop-loss to involuntary recall, fine service men and women who had done their duty honorably and completed their service are being forced to continue their military careers against their will. I realize that the fine print points out the Uncle Sam can snatch you back whenever he has the need. That doesn't make it right, or serve to honor the commitment of our brave warriors.

So it was with seething anger that I read today the story of a 50-year old veteran from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, out of the military for 15 years, and the proud recent recipient of an AARP card, who was incredulous when he received notice he will be deployed to Iraq.

What does it say about our military and civilian leadership when things are in such a SNAFU that our country needs to pluck someone out of their safe, comfortable existence almost two decades since they last served?

Paul Bandel, who worked on missile systems during his original enlistment, can't understand why he's needed after all this time. The last missile system Bandel was trained to operate is no longer used by the military.

Perhaps I'm missing a key component here. As part of the coalition of the willing rebuilding the Iraqi military, maybe we're beginning by installing some 1990s antiquated missiles to get them started.

It's like when your parents buy you a guitar or something - they want to make sure you're going to stick with it before they invest any serious cash. There are a lot of expensive Gibsons laying around collecting dust, so maybe Dick Cheney is being all cranky and parental and won't sign off on modern weaponry until those damned Iraqis start getting better grades and stop hanging out after school with anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Regardless, Bandel will see his income drop in half, and everyone in his family with have their lives completely disrupted when he deploys to Iraq in 2010.

There has been an enormous amount of poor planning and execution on behalf of the US Government when it comes to Iraq, and continued instances like this only serve to ensure that the children of our veterans will be deprived of parental guidance during their formative years, in stark contrast to the loud-mouth Conservative movement leaders squawking at every opportunity that a family with a mother and a father gives a child the best chance to succeed.

Wouldn't it be sadly ironic if there were fifty vets who could fill Bandel's billet, but who had been tossed from the military under its draconian "don't ask - don't tell" policy? I wonder if conservatives would consider allowing gays to serve in the military if it could preserve the nuclear family back home.