What with all the hoopla over the Washington football team and their racist name, “Redskins”, what aren’t these feel good social activists gunning for the military, so to speak?

For probably the last 50 years the Army has named every one of their helicopters after either an Indian tribe or an Indian chief. The only one not so named was the AH1 Cobra. And why? The Army worried about insulting the native American community by naming an aggressive, life-taking gunship after a tribe.

Here’s a list of at least what I can remember.

Uh-1 “Huey” Iroquois.

AH-64 Apache (guess we got past that aggressive life-taking gunship stigma)

CH47 Chinook

UH72 Lakota

AH56 Cheyenne

UH60 Blackhawk (named after the chief of the Sauk tribe)

UH58 Kiowa Warrior

OH6 Cayuse

RAH66 Comanche (canceled 2004 by SECDEF Rumsfeld–not being advanced enough)

Then there is the AGM/BGM 109 series Tomahawk missile.

Apart from sounding masculine and simply badass, these names never were attached to these weapons and flying platforms in order to be racist or to “rub their noses” in it for having been conquered. Yet, we will likely see the activists set their sights on the military once they believe it is safe to do so without bearing a public backlash for targeting the military.

The Pentagon should head them off at the pass, to coin a singularly western cliché meant to denigrate Indians. They should name all current and future weapons platforms after flowers.

UH1 Hydrangea

AH64 Aster

CH47 Carnation

UH72 Lilly

AH56 Chrysanthemum

UH60 Begonia

OH58 Kingcup

OH6 Crocus

RAH Calendula

We should be safe here–until the botanists get upset we’ve attached names of their plant studies to weapons of war. We might be better off just doing away with the helicopters and missiles entirely. We don’t want to offend anyone anymore than we want to hurt them.

Oh and the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis?  You’re going to have to be reflagged as another unit.  That “Mutual of Omaha” looking patch with the Indian head at the center has to go.  Maybe we just disband the unit entirely and save some more of the defense budget and redirect it towards hiring some medicine men for all the illegals streaming north from Mexico.

Did I just say that?

B. Hussein and his police state Environmental Protection Agency and ilk have denied permission to build the Keystone XL pipeline, then when it became an election issue promised to relook at it.  Then when the heat simmered down, pushed off the decision again citing it is a State Department and Interior Department issue to decide.

Well, of course John Kerry is going to deny “big oil” any government assistance even non-financial.  So, the decision is back into proposal and study phase.  Keystone XL was a means of transporting domestic oil (produced n Canada from shale) to the US for refinement and consumption.  It would continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

Well, the Canadians decided for us.  In the absence of any action from the foot-draggig US government, they are going to build the pipeline to the west where they can then ship the oil to China.  China, needing and craving ever more and larger energy sources is all too eger to accept.

It would be different if we accepted the oil, then finding we had a glut in production and reserves SOLD the oil to China ourselves.  Now we are just letting it be sent directly to the Chinese, “our stategic partner” in trade.

Bullshit.  The polcies of this administration are designed to hamstring, hobble, and cripple our economy.  B. Hussein WANTS us to continue our decline as a world power and presence.  A look at the revised first quarter GDP numbers prove it.  No, we did not grow at an abyssmal .01 percent.  We actually contracted 2.9%.

Nice job.

275 troops to protect the embassy, the largest in the world, which if (ever–it wasn’t when I was there) fully staffed would house 5000 people.  No support for these 275.  Just the small arms they carry.  Probably not allowed to walk around with a magazine in the well either.  Fire only with an imminent threat and all those other Soldier-killing ridiculous rules of engagement.

I can hear the pep talk sppech now though hardly an Eisenhower moment on the eve of D-day.  “Men, think of yourselves as the 300 Spartans sent to the Hot Gates to hold of the hordes of Xerxes.  Of course, you aren’t really 300.  We believe in you so little that we don’t even give you 300.  Oh, and we are not giving you any heavy weapon support whatsoever, nor will we have air extraction assets available when they finally breech the walls.  Do what you can, and we expect nothing short of success.”

Now B. Hussein is talking about sending in Special Forces (undefined) into Iraq but (telling point here) has ruled out airstrikes. By airstrikes, one has to believe this include drone strikes.   When we sent SF into Afghanistan, airstrikes were what made them successful in driving the Taliban out of cities and subsequently power.  Without air power, what else to SF have?  Certainly better small unit tactics, but this pits them man to man and removes their force multiplier status by taking away their largest battle space shaper.

Think about this.  Special Operators were able to go into Libya and snatch up that Benghazi prick Khatalla.  They were able to enter, plan, prep, execute, and extract all without losing a man, or firing a shot (as reported).  Why?  No one knew they were there.  Now, B. Hussein is telling the world we are considering sending in Special Forces.  So much for being anonymous–in the spotlight AND disarmed.

Perhaps that is by design (again).  Special Operators does not have to mean just Green Berets.  It also includes Delta, Seals, even Rangers.  So, let’s send them in to a foreign land where the enemy is itching to capture them and video their beheading.  Let’s televise to the world we are sending them in.  Then let’s take away the best chance they have at being successful quickly.  This is a culling program by B. Hussein.  He intends to thin the herd of the best we have by sending them in without the means to succeed.  Those who won’t be killed will leave when their term of service is up.  Either way, his goal of weakening the US military is achieved.

I’m so glad I am out of this military already.  It has to suck donning the uniform daily knowing that your commander in chief wakes each day thinking of new ways to send you to your death–hog-tied, ham-strung, hand-cuffed, and hobbled.  But to your death all the same.

Fast & Furious–a ridiculous scheme to allow guns to flow from the US across the border into the hands of drug cartels. Border Patrol Officer Brian Terry is killed by one of these guns.

Fast & Furious II. Attorney General lies to Congress about when he heard of the gun running scheme.

Lois Lerner and the IRS scandal targeting conservative groups against their being able to achieve tax exempt status. (Oh and those crucial documents have suddenly gone missing from a mysterious computer crash announced right at the end of the news cycle week on 6/13/13.)

Attorney General Eric Holder lies to a Congressional committee in the James Rosen connected surveillance scandal of the administration targeting the emails and calls of “conservative” journalists.

The Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is caught soliciting money from agencies her department will regulate. The appearance of a payoff is overwhelming.

The government pays a half billion taxpayer dollars to Solyndra, a shot in the dark green company to make solar panels. The money was paid even though agencies knew they had a faulty business plan and could not produce panels at a cost effective rate.

The New Black Panther Party is not investigated for voter intimidation charges despite clear cut video showing exactly that. The Attorney General Eric Holder makes that decision.

Libya was an illegal war, conducted without Congressional approval and violating the War Powers Act.

The illegal immigration flood across our borders this month and the government overt activity to transport illegals to states far from the border while also muzzling and threatening the protection agencies against speaking out.

Bowe Bergdahl for five high ranking Taliban prisoner swap. Five terrorist for one deserter and likely “Manchurian Candidate” deserter.

Yet the thing most important to B. Hussein at his recent graduation commencement address? Climate change.

Out of touch doesn’t quite cover it. Tone deaf insults people who can’t carry a tune. No, this guy is hell bent on weakening this country that we collapse from within. He promised to fundamentally change the country. He has three more years to finish us off. The media is helping him.

The US leaves Iraq in 2011. Obama was determined to put a “responsible end” to the war. The Iraqi military was not fully trained. The enemy within the country had not been destroyed, disrupted, or really even defeated. (There is a military definition for each of these objectives…and they are NOT all the same thing.)

Now, less than three years later, the militants are back on the rise, and faster on the move. Fallujah has fallen. Mosul, once a Kurdish strongpoint now flies the black banner of Al Qaeda. Kirkuk, also a Kurdish enclave has been bypassed. Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown is now in Islamist hands. They are making their way to Bagdad. Iraqi security forces, trained by the US, financed and armed by the US, are fleeing in droves at the first sign of conflict. They have no stomach for the fight. Not just against their own “countrymen” or “other Muslims”, but against anyone pointing a gun in their direction. One has to wonder how this rabble held their own against the Iranians in their decade-long war.

Prime Minister Malaki has requested US military assistance, primarily in the form of airstrikes. He doesn’t want US boots on the ground again, but doesn’t mind the intrusion of their airspace or the dropping of lethal ordinance onto his soil. After all, it is surgical, sanitary, and over very quickly. If we drop a bomb in the wrong place, which is very likely since we have none of our own highly trained ground controllers talking to the planes, he can then blame us for our blood thirsty incompetence.

Malaki spoke with the feckless and eternal foreign policy boob Joe Biden in May. A formal written request soon followed. But so far we’re content to lose in a matter of weeks what it took 10 years of blood, sweat, and treasure to win. Why? We don’t like the way Malaki runs his government. We want him to be more “inclusive” to the Sunni sect. For now we are letting them fend for themselves. And they are not fending well.

The leading administration response is to supply the Iraqis with whatever military hardware they need (that they are capable of handling–so no stealth fighters).  That’s just great.  Fill the country with more small arms and ammunition that will merely fall into the hands of the Islamists when the country implodes.

Let’s picture why, just for a few minutes.

The typical Iraqi soldier is poorly trained and equipped. He has no solid chain of command, and his first line leader is there based on bloodline and family lineage rather than skill, tenure, or military prowess. Sent to man a post, he probably carries his poorly maintained AK47, that is fondled, dropped, and mishandled by the guy before him on shift. He has but a single magazine of ammunition. His pay is sporadic and rarely in full based on the kickbacks he has to pay to the same superiors that fail to really lead him, or the outright theft of the funds before he is even paid. He has no solid identity, no morale, or reason to fight.

His enemy is well trained, well equipped, and has been indoctrinated into why he is there. He has been convinced of his moral superiority based on a warped interpretation of his religion. But barring anything else to hold on to, he follows, sure in the knowledge that his comrades would kill him if he chose not to. Fighting, killing, pillaging, and dying are all they know. His is a profession, not a pay check. He believes in the prize of paradise if he dies. To gain entrance, he need only to die for Allah, convert his enemy to Allah, or kill his enemy. It is difficult to fight that deep of an ideology.

There is a scene from the movie 300 that fits here. The Spartans are on their way to the Hot Gates. They come across a band of Arcadians larger in number. The Arcadian leader is shocked that Leonidas would bring only 300 while he brought many more. Leonidas points at one and asks his profession. “Blacksmith” is the answer. He quizzes another. “Potter” he is told. Leonidas looks over his shoulder and asks, “Spartans! What is your profession?” In unison they all cry out with a hearty “AAAHHHOOOOO!” Leonidas looks at the Arcadian and says, “You see, friend, I brought more soldiers than you.”

This is what the Iraqis face. A determined, equipped, motivated, and capable force of people better trained in the military arts. And as anyone forced into position and then not supported, they flee.

Iraq will cease to be a functioning state within 60 days. ISIS will join with the Syrians. The Kurds will make a move towards independence which will infuriate the Turks. Iran will scoop up what is left. Our greater than 4500 war dead will weep from their graves.

***Update from 6/16/14 ***  Iraq burns.  Mosul has fallen.  Tikrit is in Islamist’s hands.  Tal Afar is now in enemy hands allowing the Syrian and Irqi contingents of terrorists to join territories.  Washington response?  SecState kerry talks about the real national security issue–climate change.  Obama gives a similar speech to a college class, thelling them to “take on” doubters.  He then jets off to Palm Springs to golf–without his National Security Adviser.

Iraq is yours, Iran.  If you but take it.

I waited a few days to write down my thoughts on the Bowe Bergdahl situation.

A few scenarios:

1. I guess it is a good idea that B. Hussein never shut down Gitmo. He’d have never had the juicy temptations to offer up for single Army Sergeant. Now the enemy knows we will negotiate with terrorists—a fundamental shift in America foreign policy. And it IS negotiating. Be it directly or through a proxy nation/government/agency, it is still negotiating. Susan Rice, (the Life Cereal “Hey, Mikey” of the administration–“Let’s get Susan, she’ll say anything.”)  your deflections are as insulting as they should be demeaning—to you. But you always make yourself available to the administration to push piss up the rope. He served with honor and distinction?!? Really?!? You must like the enmity. With nearly 150 detainees remaining, we can look forward to at least 20 more kidnappings. It took us five years to get this one guy back. How fast would we move that mountain if say, a member of Congress or the administration were abducted?
2. Was he kidnapped or did he just walk away? It is sounding more and more like he threw a little ideology tantrum and decided he’d had enough. The other members of his unit were ordered to keep their mouths shut about the whole ordeal. It was to protect Bergdahl, of course. His captors might take out their frustrations on him if we talked to the press. Now that he is free, and the five highly trained, high-ranking terrorists are on their way back to the battlefield, members of that unit are speaking up. Little Bowe did not fall behind on a patrol and get snacked up like one of the Washington State troopers in Rambo, First Blood. No, he ended a shift of guard duty, stacked his shit neatly by his cot and walked away. He was going to walk to India—a trek of nearly 400 miles (as a crow flies) straight through Pakistan. Yup.

No, it sounds more like he was a deserter. He planned it, and moderately prepared for it. He’d sent emails to his father professing his dissolution with the Army and their treatment of the Afghanis. “The title of US Soldier is just the lie of fools.” he wrote. “The horror that is America is disgusting.”

His father, who altogether too much resembles a Taliban member now, told him to “obey his conscience”. Great advice, Pops. Don’t be a stern father and deliver some tough love. Don’t tell him knuckle down and grit through it. Don’t tell him to man up, suck it up, or keep a stiff upper lip. No, obey your conscience. You sir, are as much to blame for his being held captive as Bowe himself was, and for the deaths that followed in the search for him. If I didn’t know better I’d swear he was raised by some uber-liberal left-wing loon from California.

People died in the wake of his midnight stroll off the FOB. Operations basically halted. Patrols planned were canceled and redirected to search for him. Other higher level assets, like drones and choppers were redirected to look for him. People were killed in the ensuing operations drawn up to find this petulant child in uniform wanting to take his ball and bat and go home.

He should be tried and if he is, he’ll be convicted. It is his word against the established evidence and the word of hundreds from his unit. Knowing this administration he won’t be. He’s gone through enough we’ll be told. Guilt is relevant to his state of mind. We should be thankful he didn’t mow down unit members like others who decided to not fight, we’ll be told. Or if he is charged and found guilty, they reduce his sentence to time already served. And then we’ll pay for his miserable existence for the rest of his life through the VA medical care system. What do you bet this guy does not fall onto a list requiring he wait months?