majrod
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20+ yr Infantry Officer. You'll find my commentary on foreignpolicy.com, DoDBuzz, KitUp, Military.com. Smallwarsjournal Twitter: MajR0d
@JPWREL Just because most terror acts are rightfully criminal in nature (because they are planned, resourced and conducted domestically) doesn't make supranational terror that crosses various nations' sovereignty justify or warrant a primarily law enforcement approach. It would be like arguing that since most homicides are criminal in nature, deaths in war are a law enforcement issue.
Agree that intel is critical in defeating terror. Organizations that share intel even more so than law enforcement are the intel agencies charged with gathering it for a nation overseas (the CIA and the military). Creating a partnership between intel organizations and law enforcement with law enforcement in the lead vs. the military is backwards and is contrary to the spirit of the constitution. It's also a ready recipe for degradation of our civil liberties as we have seen with the employment of the Patriot Act, drone strikes against Americans. THOSE are lessons we've learned over the past decade.
Not saying law enforcement should be totally isolated from fighting supranational terror but it should be subordinate to a military/ intelligence lead. Law enforcement waits for crimes to occur and then builds a case. A definite weakness in fighting supranational terror or do you propose law enforcement that proactively looks for terrorists? A sure way to put our liberties at risk E.G. the Quarles statute can be used to justify capturing the rest of a gang onthe grounds that they may still pose a threat to the public using the logic employed for the Boston bomber. Not good and an incredibly controversial approach..
Finally, we aren't bad at wars of occupation though I would give you it's not in our national character (we much prefer "crusade" type wars) . That said ask the Indians, Filipinos, Dominicans, Nicaraguans, Haitians. Panamanians/Columbians etc. if we didn't achieve our aims when we occupied their countries? The difference in being successful was national will, appropriate goals and the strategy to achieve them and the dedication of resources. That said, some wars still can't be won. That fact ,doesn't make us bad at wars of occupation.
@Virginstateofmind Thanks guys. I just write and submit. The SOFREP staff posts my stuff as quickly as possible and while it looks like a duck gliding across the pond you don't see those legs paddling a mile a minute under the waterline.
Lions and sharks are cool but I like the Eagle.
It's beautiful, majestic, a symbol of our nation's majesty and freedom.Roman Legions used them as their symbol and often topped their battle standards with a golden likeness.Over a millenium later the 8th Wisconsin carried a live eagle into battle on a perch.That Eagle was named “Old Abe” in honor of Abraham Lincoln.Today the 101st wears the eagle on a black shield background in homage to the Civil War Iron BDE’s stovepipe hats.The eagle is a solitary bird known for its fierceness and great vision.Eagles have been known to have ranges of 100 square miles far in proportion to its physical stature.
The Eagle’s prey doesn't even know it's there until it feels its two inch talons bite into its flesh and is helplessly borne away to later be eviscerated by the Eagle’s hook nosed beak and talons.To defend that territory or attract a mate, EagIes have been known to participate in fierce and spectacular aerial battles immortalized in poetry by none other than the great American poet, Walt Whitman.The Eagle has fascinated and inspired man throughout history since he graced the walls in cave paintings and is considered the nobility of the avian world.
I like the Eagle.
BTW folks, bill passed the Senate unanimously Wednesday.
@Aelove Yeah, I guess Gen Wainright was a crappy general. He didn't command a BDE/Regiment in combat either.
Let's get Congress to rescind that MOH.
@Kriegsakademie I meant "haters" in the colloquial vs. literal sense.
It doesn't necessarily mean someone has a "hate" for something. From the urban dictionary "A person that develops a strong dislike for another, solely basing their own opinion on personal judgment rather than objective merit. The formation of a hater's contempt commonly arises from jealously and/or resentment."
Personally, I don't think you "hate" the academy(s) but I don't know you. You have gone to great lengths to make a point about West Point when the article was about sexual harassment and an alleged climate.
Can we get back to Princeton since that was your original comparative institution or did that comparison fall flat? What about areas of comparison that have to do with defense?
@Tango9 @JackMurphyRGR @HOGKLA Explain that a bit. The winning part that is...
@Kriegsakademie You brought up Princeton but never mentioned how many Presidents had a Princeton diploma? (Ans: One)
Granted that is one measure.
Nobel Prizes? Arafat was given a Nobel Prize.
One can bounce around and cherrypick an institution that has produced more of ________ but to find one that has stood out in so many endeavors and areas? That's a challenge and considering the blog is supposed to be "Best Defense" maybe we should focus on those categories?
West Point isn't perfect and the best in everything but if I had a nickel for every detractor I could easily fill the tank in my Corvette :)
You may not be a hater but you sure sound like one.
This dirtbag deserves everything he has coming to him but much of the static about the sexual assault climate in the military is caused by a media blowing the problem out of proportion. (For instance in this case we have a seedy peeping tom as the poster child for sex abuse. Aren't there worse incidents of abuse out there? Not to make the case that this case should be ignored but to show how an incident is almost desperately blown out of proportion. Note: who jumps on the badnwagon...)
One assault is too many but civilian women have a roughly 20% chance of being assaulted in a population generally evenly split between the sexes. In the military ,where women are under represented 5 to 1 by men they suffer a 1 in 3 assault rate. If military men committed sexual assault as often as their civilian counterparts the assault rate in the military would be 100% (over 300% in the Corps where there are almost 20 men for every woman) . It's not. It's way below that yet there is an almost myopic focus by the media on portraying the military as a rape free zone. Why?
Because that's how they want America to view the military. It's in their DNA. That's why the press reports negative events in the military in a far greater proportion than positive news. Who was that last living Medal of Honor winner and what did he do?
Go back and look at how many Best Defense articles have to do with the same narrative...
No bias here...
@Kriegsakademie " All of this is consistent with the case for USMA as a middle-tier undergraduate college which excels in aspects of character building and leadership development." maybe but why is its contribution to the nation so much greater than one would expect of a middle-tier school? (BTW, middle-tier? Really? Yeah, half of college students could go to West Point.)
You keep saying this but cannot present a case based on results or contributions to the nation that support your position. If USMA (and by extension other Academies)is just another middle-tier undergrad institution how do you explain that its relatively PUNY numbers of graduates have had such an impact on the nation and not just its military? How many Presidents had Princeton undergrad degrees?
Not to pick on Princeton but it has over 80K living grads about twice the number of West Pointers.
The Academy has plenty of blemishes, (an attitude of elitism being at the top IMO) middle tier undergrad school with strong character/leader programs is a huge understated description of the institution.
@Another Opinion @DHMazur They mix apples and oranges because there is an agenda. Any evidence supporting that agenda gets a seat front and center in the bashing of the military.
@BillKeller These NCOs are hand picked (and a big mistake was made with this one, it happens). Exposing cadets to NCOs is a GREAT thing in helping them understand the role of the NCO in the Army. The Army has always had a much more egalitarian culture (congruent with the American ideal) than the other branches (Marines are pretty close). One typically sees less officer hating and looking down on the enlisted than in the other branches that feature things like an officer's mess.
@JPWREL Supranational terrorism isn't a law enforcement issue.
Yemen and Pakistan loved the speech. What's to be worry about? Maybe Iran, N. Korea, Syria, China and Russia will give it their stamp of approval? We can always count on them for "collective and cooperative international policing against assorted terror franchises."
Sounds great! What could go wrong?
@RVN SF VET Good points. I always raise an eyebrow over the "we" line. "We" is a misnomer. The overwhelming majority of money and weapons went to the Pakistanis who picked who to support.
It's no wonder that most of the Taliban, a Pakistani invented organization to exert control of Afghanistan, were also given aid by us THROGH the Pakistanis.
Hey, no excuse. We did it to maintain plausible deniability and not have to invest in a region we didn't think would be strategically important in the future. We deserve some blame but the narrative that "we supported the Taliban" is an often repeated obfuscation started by the "blame America first" crowd and absently repeated by others who don't know "the rest of the story."
@Tango9 @majrod @ArcticWarrior You're joking with me right? I understand it was adrenaline. LOL
It's not normal (or good) to not be afraid to a certain degree in high stress situations. It's actually a good thing. I'm sure you know the physiological and psychological advantages. Personally, it was such a strange incident I believe it had a spiritual aspect. SOFREP isn't about religion either and I keep my faith to me unless asked but you can probably figure where I'm going.
@ArcticWarrior@majrod@Tango9"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet" Mattis
There's a lesson there... I've told this story before but it bears repeating.
Had a store once next to Ranger Joe's on Victory Dr. (ROUGH neighborhood). Someone came in one day and for no reason and to this day I cannot explain, gave me a bad vibe. Engaged him in chit chat from behind the counter, turned my weak side to him and placed my hand on the butt of my P10 (under a vest). IMPOSSIBLE for him to see my right arm let alone my hand on my pistol. Out of the blue in a break in our cordial conversation he asks, "You going to shoot me?" (which totally confirmed my gut)
My answer: (with a smile) " I don't know, do you need to be shot?"
He walked out of the store.
I got the shakes later but up until that point I felt no fear. TOTALLY weird.
@Tango9 Doesn't work for me. I get asked all the time if I'm a cop (and I'm way out of shape). When asked they tell me I look like one because of my mannerisms. I sit with my back to a wall facing the door, stand where you can't get behind me and am looking at people etc.
My buddy who's a retired CID agent (GREAT stories, e.g. undercover with Hell's Angels) shares a lot and explains that hard core criminals pick out who's the potential cop/threat in a crowd before they execute. The amateur might not pick you up but that's why those idiots are so dangerous. They are unpredictable.
@StormR @majrod @ArcticWarrior @Virginstateofmind been in effect on the mainland since at least the early 80's.
It's why 1st aid kits are mandated inside cars by most European nations
and I couldn't stand myself not doing something when I should have. People shoot themselves over that stuff.
@Tango9 @majrod @HM1 (FMF) Ret. @shooten We'd have likely fought like cats and dogs but that's OK. I "stretched" the best of NCOs as they "stretched" me. :) Iron sharpens iron.