Two LAR and CAAT 1&2

2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Platoon, and Combined Anti-Aircraft Teams 1 and 2, conduct a combined arms live fire weapons training Djibouti March 13, 2010 . photo Lance Cpl. David J. Beall

Time To Pick Up the Shitty End of the Stick

Caroline Glick

So much for US President Barack Obama's famed powers of persuasion. At the UN's Nuclear Non-Poliferation Treaty review conference which opened this week, the Obama administration managed to lose control over the agenda before the conference even started.

Obama administration officials said they intended to use the conference as a platform to mount international pressure on Iran to stop its illicit nuclear proliferation activities. But even before the conference began, with a little prodding from Egypt, the administration agreed that instead of focusing on Iran, the conference would adopt Iran's chosen agenda: attacking Israel for its alleged nuclear arsenal.

Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that US officials were conducting negotiations with Egypt about Egypt's demand that the NPT review conference call for sanctions against Israel for refusing to join the NPT as a non-nuclear state. The Journal quoted a senior administration official involved in the discussions saying, "We've made a proposal to them [Egypt] that goes beyond what the U.S. has been willing to do before."

Among other possibilities, that proposal may have included a US agreement to appoint a UN envoy responsible for organizing a UN conference calling for the Greater Middle East to become a nuclear-free zone. In diplomatese, "Middle East nuclear-free zone" is a well-accepted euphemism for stripping Israel of its purported nuclear capability while turning a blind eye to Iranian, Syrian and other Islamic nuclear weapons programs. Egypt's demand, which it convinced more than a hundred members of the Non-Aligned bloc to sign onto, is for Israel to open its nuclear installations to international inspectors as a first step towards unilateral nuclear disarmament.

On Wednesday the US joined the other four permanent members of the Security Council in signing a statement calling for a nuclear-free Middle East and urging Israel, Pakistan and India to accede to the NPT as non-nuclear states. Following the US's lead, on Thursday Yukiya Amano, the new Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote a letter to IAEA member states asking for their suggestions for how to convince Israel to sign the NPT.

So as Iran -- an NPT signatory -- makes a mockery of the treaty by building nuclear weapons in contempt of its treaty obligations, the US has actively supported Iran's bid to use the NPT review conference as yet another UN forum for bashing Israel.

It bears recalling that the primary goal of the NPT is to prevent nuclear proliferation. From the amount of attention Israel is receiving at the NPT review conference, you could easily get the impression that Israel's purported nuclear arsenal is the gravest proliferation threat in the world today. But history shows that this is nonsense.

Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal, which it has reportedly fielded for four decades, has not led to a regional nuclear arms race. Notwithstanding their protestations to the contrary, Israel's neighbors fully recognize that the purpose of Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal is to guarantee Israel's survival and consequently only threatens those who would attack the Jewish state with the intention of annihilating it. This is why although it is four decades old; Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal has never caused a regional nuclear arms race. It has never harmed or called into question the relevance or usefulness of the NPT's international non-proliferation agenda. Moreover, as a non-signatory to the NPT, Israel has the right to develop a nuclear program.

Iran on the other hand gave up that right when it joined the NPT regime. So too, in sharp contrast to Israel's alleged program, it is clear that Iran's nuclear project is aggressive rather than defensive. Consequently, it is universally recognized that if Iran becomes a nuclear power, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other states will begin developing their own nuclear arsenals in short order. That is, it is absolutely clear that if the NPT is to have any relevance in the coming years, if there is to be any hope that counter-proliferation regimes can be useful; preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons must be its signatories' chief aim.

But due to the Obama administration's diplomatic fecklessness and ideological blinders, administration officials were incapable of making these points. And so, instead through its actions, the administration has advanced the cause of nuclear proliferation. The US has now joined the ranks of fools who claim that nuclear weapons in the hands of states like the US and Israel are as problematic as nuclear weapons in the hands of states like Iran and North Korea.

BUT THEN, in the end it makes no difference that the US has followed Iran's lead at the NPT conference. Even if the administration had managed to make Iran's nuclear weapons program the focus of debate, it wouldn't have mattered because diplomacy is no longer a relevant tool for preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Appeasement has failed. Sanctions are dead in the water in the Security Council.

And even if the Security Council passes a sanctions resolution, they will have no impact on Iran's behavior. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made that much clear in his speech on Monday and in subsequent remarks to the media. As he put it, "While we do not welcome sanctions, we do not fear them either. Sanctions cannot stop the Iranian nation."

What all of this demonstrates is that the diplomatic track - from appeasement to sanctions - is irrelevant for contending with Iran's nuclear program. The only way to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear bombs is to use military force to destroy or severely damage its nuclear installations.

And this of course is something Obama will not do. His begging-to-shake-hands policy towards Iran and the one hand and his iron fist policy towards Israel on the other makes it absolutely clear that Obama will do nothing to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Rather than correct his abysmal failures, Obama seeks to hide them by minimizing the seriousness of the threat.

In remarks to the media this week, a White House official downplayed the Iranian threat. He told the Financial Times that Iran's "nuclear clock has slowed down. They are not making dramatic technical progress given the difficulties they are facing in their [uranium] enrichment program and the fact that their efforts to build secret facilities have been disclosed."

The fact that the US's published intelligence estimates of Iran's nuclear program contradict this claim didn't seem to faze the official.

The US's abdication of its responsibility as the leader of the free world to prevent the most dangerous regimes from acquiring the most dangerous weapons means that the responsibility for preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has fallen on Israel's shoulders. Only Israel has the means and the will to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. And the message the NPT follies convey is that Israel must develop contingency plans for attacking Iran as quickly as possible.

Daily reports of weapons build-ups and military exercises in Iran and among Iran's clients Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas expose the contours of their war plans.

Syria and Iran have armed Hizbullah with some 40,000 missiles and rockets, including hundreds of Scud missiles and guided surface-to-surface solid fuel M600 missiles with a 250 km range and. This week Hizbullah threatened to attack Israel with non-conventional weapons. Syria itself has a formidable chemical and biological arsenal as well as a massive artillery and missile force at its disposal.

As for Hamas, since Operation Cast Lead Iran's Palestinian proxy Hamas has expanded its own missile arsenal. Today it reportedly has projectiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and beyond.

As for Iran, as its seemingly endless military exercises make clear, the mullocracy has the capacity to use conventional weapons to imperil global oil shipments from the Persian Gulf. So too, this week's report that Osama Bin Laden may have decamped to Iran in 2003 merely served to underline Iran's ability to utilize jihadist terror forces throughout the world.

From the open preparations for war that Iran and its clients have undertaken, it is clear that if they initiate the next round of fighting they will fight a four front war against Israel. That war will be dominated by missile attacks against the entire country aimed at breaking the will of the Israeli people while forcing the IDF to divert vital resources away from Israel's primary target - Iran's nuclear installations - to contend with Iran's proxies' missile stores.

AS THEY CONSIDER Israel's options going forward, Israel's political and military leaders have to take two considerations into account. First, the side that initiates the conflict will be the side that controls the battle space. And second, there is a real possibility that the Obama administration will refuse to resupply Israel with vital weapons systems in the course of the war. The fact that Israel will be roundly condemned by the UN and its component parts is a certainty regardless of who initiates the conflict and therefore is irrelevant for operational planning.

Armed with these understandings, it is apparent that Israeli contingency plans for war must have limited goals and should be guided by the overarching aim of beginning and ending the war quickly. Luckily, Israel excels at limited, swift campaigns.

Responding to one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's recent threats, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman promised last month that if Assad attacks Israel, Israel will bring down his regime. While bringing about the utter defeat of Iran's regional proxies is a reasonable goal, it cannot be Israel's goal in the coming war.

In the coming war, Israel will have only one goal: to destroy or seriously damage Iran's nuclear installations. Every resource turned against Iran's proxies must be aimed at facilitating that goal. That is, the only thing Israel should seek to accomplish in contending with Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas is to prevent them from diverting Israeli resources away from attacking Iran's nuclear installations.

This means that Israel must launch a preemptive strike against Hizbullah's missiles and missile launchers, Syria's missiles, artillery and launchers, and Hamas's missiles and launchers. As for their short-range rockets, Israel should do its best to intercept them and otherwise hunker down to weather the storm of Katyushas and Qassams. Life of the homefront won't be easy. But it won't be impossible either, as we saw in 2006.

Almost every assessment of a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear installations has assumed that Israel will use its air force to strike. All that can be said of that analysis is that, just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, so there is more than one way to destroy Iran's nuclear installations. An Israeli strike should utilize all of them to keep the Iranians off balance and on the defensive.

These are dangerous times. Iran, which seeks to position itself as a regional superpower, has been emboldened by the Obama administration's abdication of US global leadership. Only Israel can prevent Iran from endangering the world. But time is of the essence.

HEH....Never AsK a Barber If you need a Haircut....

GATES TO NAVY:"Do we really need 11 carrier strike groups for another 30 years when no other country has more than one?" Gates asked the annual conference of the Navy League, a supporters' group.

NAVY TO GATES: Hell YES!

(Reuters) - The U.S. Navy told Congress it wants to keep 11 aircraft carriers through 2045, just days after Defense Secretary Robert Gates called into question the need for that many.

"The Navy remains firmly committed to maintaining a force of 11 carriers for the next three decades," Sean Stackley, the service's warship buyer, told the Senate Armed Services Seapower subcommittee on Thursday.

The 11-carrier force structure is based on "world-wide presence requirements, surge availability, training and exercise, and maintenance" needs, he said in an opening statement.

Gates stirred the waters on Monday with a speech in which he asked whether the United States could afford "a Navy that relies on 3- to 6-billion-dollar destroyers, along with 7-billion-dollar submarines and 11-billion-dollar carriers."

Makes you wonder just WTF the sub titles look like-don't it-I mean as the least among bill payers aka taxed paying American-I would like to know just why would GATES stir up the hornet's military-industrial nest NOW when the PRC Navy is getting or going to get their very own aircraft carrier. Humm. Good luck with that one. (growing pains will be called Major Factor) This will be the second time the Chinese will have had a ship with a rudder that big. The first was before Columbus.

Lance Cpl. James McGhee, 4th LAR AFG

Date Taken: 05.06.2010
Posted: 05.07.2010 11:28
Lance Cpl. James McGhee, of 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Bn., in Afghanistan, response on the Toby Keith United Service Organization Concert. Video Location: Helmand Province, AF

a moment for prayer

1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance, Haditha Dam, Iraq, May 10, 2008. photo Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus

Abby's In

Abby, 16 years old, and yead, apart from scouring the web for news of our War Pigs, I follow the perilous adventures of Abby; Abby was forced to pull into port because of a failed auto pilot 100 days out on a circumnavigation of the globe. Columbus eat your heart out. Hey, OBL and yead Obama. This! Is. A. 16 year old American.That's what I'm talking about... Abby's Blog

Djibouti Terrain

TWO LAR platoon and Combined Anti Aircraft Teams 1 and 2, conduct a combined arms exercise using their ground forces and air assets during a simulated attack through the mountainous terrain
of Djibouti March 13, 2010.
USMC photo Lance Cpl. David J. Beall

Today-War Pigs At Work-NaTGEOTV 6PM

National Geographic Explorer series will rebroadcast Camp Leatherneck at 6PM Wed. Set your TiVo's. This time I have mine set for catch. Except for a short bit that had the War Pigs at work, I have yet to see the entire hour. Check out their website for Two LAR War Pig photos. Some from the Castle, also.

"In January 2009 it was a patch of lawless Afghan desert, riddled with Taliban fighters. Today, Camp Leatherneck is home to more than 10,000 troops. Go inside the epicenter of the war in Afghanistan and meet the men and women who work in and pass through the camp. Learn what daily life is like for the people who find themselves in this place. How violence, boredom, excessive heat, separation from family and cultural differences affect the mind-set of the warriors."

Read NATGEO TV:

Two LAR Pfc. Mathew J. Daniels

Pfc. Mathew J. Daniels from 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Task Force Mechanized on guard as fellow Marines conduct a meeting in the Salad Ad Din province of Iraq on May 20, 2008. USMC photo Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus

Grandson At COP Sher

This for the Grandmother reader who just found us and left a note that she has a grandson who is a Navy Corpsman at Combat Out Sher. Digging thru the D. I. files I found a recent photo of COP Sher. Many good lucks to y'all. "Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier on guard outside Combat Outpost Sher in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 11, 2010. The ANA stand guard during construction."(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Joshua T. Greenfield

Barnett, Bravo Co., Weapons PLT

Lance Corporal Barnett, of Bravo Company, Weapons Platoon, carries an M-220 E/4 TOW 2 rocket during the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Re-qualification at Fort Pickett 03/30/1998 . (LAR-REQUALEX) '98. USMC photo LCPL Timothy A. Pope

If You See Something-Say Nothing-US Army

Patrick Poole at Pajamas Media:"Willful Blindness- US Army Unprepared for another Jihadist attack" has the distressing analysis that pinpoints the reason why more base massacres are inevitable. See something-say something at the risk of your career. Disgusting. How many more body bags need to be filled before serious Higher ass kicking takes place.

Immediately following the Ft. Hood massacre, I offered some initial thoughts here at Pajamas Media (“Why There Will Be More Military Base Shootings”) on where the problems lie. Chief among those was the long-institutionalized culture of political correctness that allowed Maj. Hasan’s full display of his hostile intentions to his fellow soldiers to be willfully ignored — his now-infamous PowerPoint presentation. Had any one of those who protested his open hostility and violent ideology pressed the matter beyond their immediate chain of command, they would have seen their military careers come to an abrupt end. That remains true today.

Having been privy to some of the internal discussions since the Ft. Hood massacre, some additional interrelated problems need to be addressed. The first is what I call “classified blindness.” Not just in military circles, but throughout law enforcement there is a widely held belief that if information isn’t classified in some manner, it isn’t worth their attention. And if the information isn’t classified as at least top secret, it certainly isn’t actionable intelligence. Even though ninety-five percent of what they need to know is available through open sources.

Admittedly, there are important snippets of information only available through classified collections. Having seen some of this “classified” material, I have to admit that I’m not impressed. The fact remains, however, that both Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, the Little Rock killer, and Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Ft. Hood killer, were already known to law enforcement before their attacks and still nothing was done to diffuse the threat. So there must be other forces at work.

Another culprit is what I term “analysis blindness.” As I speak with military anti-terrorism and force protection officials, I’m finding that many, if not most, don’t have the subject matter proficiency to even be able to understand what they are reading.

One real world example was a discussion I had with a senior analyst for a top military anti-terrorism group. This well-paid analyst, who is no doubt dedicated to the job and trying to do it to the best of his ability, could not tell the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah. And yet this individual is daily analyzing intelligence required to keep our military forces safe and secure.

As my colleague Lt. Col. Joseph Myers has repeatedly observed, the military’s force protection staff are rarely well-read in the field of Islamic terrorism, though many have graduate degrees in national security studies and the like.

An additional problem I have identified is “bureaucratic blindness,” meaning that the military force protection leadership spends the bulk of their time engaged in paper shuffling, budget requests, and staffing issues. Not to discount the necessity of planning and stewarding scarce resources, but when our force protection leaders are required to be little more than administrators and bureaucrats we shouldn’t be surprised when the focus on protecting the troops falls to the wayside.

Finally, there is a larger systemic problem at work. At its root, our military leaders do not understand the threat they are facing. Officers who have been trained in counterinsurgency tactics and exemplified courage in the face of a lethal enemy in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere seem completely unprepared to deal with the same enemy at home.

Senior Pentagon commanders have labored to define the threat out of existence –see the Department of Defense’s Ft. Hood report. Rather than acknowledge the proliferation of jihadist ideology and the threat it poses to our U.S.-based troops, these officials describe the problem as random, and ultimately unknowable, “violent extremism” (the favored term of the Obama administration).

Pretending that the threat is random and unknowable gives them license to do nothing. The fact is that the jihadist threat can be precisely defined, studied, and identified. It is the ability to understand the ever-evolving problem and the will to do something about it that is sorely lacking.

What my first-hand experience has taught me these past few months speaking with and to our military leadership concerning the domestic jihadist threat confirms that the status quo with respect to force protection has cost soldiers their lives. By doubling-down on those failed policies, our troops are now more vulnerable than ever.

And by ignoring the need to counter the jihadists’ tactics and targeting, many

more will die.

Katrina II Gulf Oil Disaster-WH: President Obama's reaction was swift and sure. AAHH...SURE

America's first Kenyan President is trying to cover all bases to reassure you all that his finger was on the pulse and have no doubt: Mr. Wonderful is on the case. OK. What ever. Powerline has great analysis of did POTUS have his pants on or not. NOT. You read. You decide. From my corner. Dude-POTUS Kenyan baby. You are so SOL. This bad boy is 5000 feet down under water. I know that means dew-dew-lee to a paper cut refugee from Harvard but let me give you the bottom line. Ixtoc I, remember Ixtoc I, yead I know you do, Ixtoc I was the last blow out we had in the Gulf aka 100 km north west from Ciudad del Carmen in Campeche June 3, 1979, damn thing blew out. Lost circulation. Bad. Blow up your kids balloons for their birthday party and you have the delicate chemistry of a well. Your air pressure keeps the kids balloon inflated. As long as the balloon stays intact--hey everything is copacetic. This is the same as a well. You hit a porous shale( kid's balloon hits a pin)--there goes your well drilling circulation mud and there goes your balloon and well. Nature abhors a vaccumn and here is where that explosive gas goes to take the place of the missing mud and blows up. Ixtoc took a year to cap off in 169 feet of water. This sucker is 5000 feet deep. Five thousand. That's 280 feet short of a mile. SOL

Sgt. Michael J. Beaver, Two LAR

Michael J. Beaver, Task Force Mech Operations Chief Alpha Company, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Salah Ad Din, Iraq, May 2, 2008, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Jason W. Fudge-USMC photographer

"I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money."

So what else is new?

We’re not, we’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that’s fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or providing good service. We don’t want people to stop, ah, fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow our economy.

President Obama uses his aggression and arrogance for his own agenda against the will of the American people-Voight

A LETTER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

April 10, 2010

by Jon Voight

In one year the American people are witnessing the greatest lie that is cleverly orchestrated by Pres Obama and his whole administration. The lie is a potent aggression that feeds the needs of people who either have not educated themselves enough to understand the assault upon us all, or the very poor and needy who live to be taken care of. President Obama feeds these people poison, giving them the idea that they are entitled to take from the wealthier, who have lived and worked in a democracy that understands that capitalism is the only truth that keeps a nation healthy and fed.

Now, the lie goes very deep, and president Obama has been cleverly trained in the Alinski method, and it would be very important that every American knows what that method is. It is a socialistic, Marxist teaching, and with it, little by little, he rapes this nation, taking down our defenses, making new language for the Islamic extremists.

The world who looked up to us, as a symbol of hope and prosperity, now wonders…“What will become of the entire world if America is losing its power?”

The American people who understand exactly what is taking place have come together in the thousands, vowing to try to stay together as a unit of love and freedom, for all men and women, from all walks of life, shivering to think that this once great nation will be a third world country.

This will be the first president to ever weaken the United States of America. President Obama uses his aggression and arrogance for his own agenda against the will of the American people, when he should be using his will and aggression against our enemies. Every loving American for peace, and truth, and the security of our nation, must come out and join the Tea Parties in their states. The opposition will continue their tactics: they will lie and plant their own bullies amongst us. Everyone must pay close attention to who stands next to them. We can weed out the liars and agitators.

Let us all stay in God’s light.

Let no man put us under.

We can and we will prevail.

God bless us all!

Colors

Lance Cpls. Edgar Ramirezcastro (left) and Brian Johnson (right) assist Sgt. Nathan A. Goodland, platoon sergeant, Security Platoon, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, in lowering the American flag, April 21. USMC photo Sgt. Shawn Coolman

Sgt. Ajab Han Holds Record 177 IED's Uncovered

DIVIDS-Ajab Han, a sergeant in the ANA working with British troops from the 1st battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland at a patrol base in the Sangin valley, has found 177 IEDs during his three years in Helmand.

"I know where they put them now," says Ajab. "It helps to know the terrain. I can also think like the insurgents, stay one step ahead of them, and keep my soldiers, and ISAF soldiers safe."

While detecting equipment is very useful, he says just staying alert can be equally effective.

"I can just see them," he says. "There might be a tell-tale trace, or something just not quite right, or a piece of wire or wood showing - and that is when I know I have found another one. IEDs often come in many parts so we have to find all the bits in the ground."

His successes are etched on a beam on a watchtower next to the place where he sleeps, along with his army number and the description "IED TEAM Sangin Special Force," written in English.

When asked if British soldiers are getting better at finding IEDs too, he smiles and nods his head, "Yes, they are very good. But they are still very happy that we are here to help them."

The allied forces have awarded Ajab for his efforts with a certificate which he prizes.

"I always have it on me," he said. "They know how much I am doing for them. And I am very pleased they are here, helping Afghanistan, too."

Capt. Will Wright, the platoon commander from 1 Scots mentoring team, working alongside Ajab and his soldiers said, "Patrolling with the ANA gives us such an advantage. They see things we sometimes don't, they are brave beyond words, and we learn so much from them every day. Ajab's skills are definitely much valued within this patrol base."

Ajab is due to end his tour with the ANA in the next few months, but he says he is not ready to go home just yet.

"Now I have so much information about IEDs I want to be a teacher. I want to share my experience with the new soldiers joining the army. I want to teach them all they need to stay safe."

4th LAR Helmand River Open

Lt. Col. Mike Martin, Battalion commander, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion, and 4th LAR Marines hitting golf balls for a bit of R & R outside FOB Payne. Produced by Sgt. Shawn Coolman.

Longball 97

Corporal Taylor, Charlie Company, 1st Light Armor Reconnaissance (LAR), 1/25/1997 Operation LONGBALL 1-97. photo LCPL C.S. CLINE,