Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Dennis Rodman was a useful idiot for the N. Koreans.
via Reuters.
An American university student held prisoner in North Korea for 17 months died at a Cincinnati hospital on Monday, just days after he was released from captivity in a coma, his family said.Full disclosure. I am not a Dennis Rodman fan.
Otto Warmbier, 22, who was arrested in North Korea while visiting as a tourist, had been described by doctors caring for him last week as having extensive brain damage that left him in a state of "unresponsive wakefulness."
"Unfortunately, the awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today," the family said in a statement after Warmbier's death at 2:20 p.m. EDT (1820 GMT).
His family has said that Warmbier lapsed into a coma in March 2016, shortly after he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea.
Physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he died, said last Thursday that Warmbier showed no sign of understanding language or awareness of his surroundings, and had made no "purposeful movements or behaviors," though he was breathing on his own.
There was no immediate word from Warmbier's family on the cause of his death.
Having said that it doesn't cloud my take on this situation. This visit to N. Korea came out of nowhere. The idea floated that he could possibly get a hostage released was preposterous on its face and to see it happen raised all kinds of alarm bells.
Now just days after the young guy's release we find out he dies after being tortured (my belief...no evidence...no statement from intel agencies) by the N. Koreans.
Rodman was a useful idiot for the N. Koreans.
In a just world he would be sanctioned by the US govt, forbidden from traveling to N. Korea in the future and a govt spokesman should make the rounds explaining on TV news shows how the N. Koreans used him to get the kid back home before he died in an attempt to cover their barbarity.
It won't happen but it should.
Monday, June 19, 2017
SU 22 shoot down and how Trump is boxing in the Pentagon...
via Military.com
A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian Su-22 on Sunday after the Soviet-era fighter-bomber dropped munitions near U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighters, U.S. Central Command officials confirmed.This is where some of you will roll your eyes and call me a Russia sympathizer or idiot.
The strike was believed to be the U.S. military's first air-to-air kill involving manned aircraft in nearly two decades. The last known such instance was when a U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon shot down a Serbian MiG-29 in 1999 during the Kosovo campaign.
"A Syrian regime SU-22 dropped bombs near SDF fighters south of Tabqah and, in accordance with rules of engagement and in collective self-defense of Coalition partnered forces, was immediately shot down by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet," the command said in a release.
The attack comes after pro-Syrian forces attacked SDF fighters in Ja'Din, wounding a number of SDF fighters, officials said. The town is south of Tabqah and a known area where U.S. works with Russia to deconflict the airspace.
Ok. I can live with that, but consider the US policy in Syria and Afghanistan now. Trump is taking a hands off approach and allowing the Pentagon to do their thing in both areas.
Sounds lazy don't it?
It ain't! It's positively brilliant. Why? Because the Pentagon will have no excuses. We've heard back channel bitching (and I engaged in it too) with regard to how the Bush Jr and Obama administration handled both problems.
While I doubted the planning from both administrations one thing was true throughout. They both said that the military backed the planning. Anytime we heard of doubts from within the Pentagon with the plans, we would see the Joint Chiefs trotted out to say how wonderful everything was and how this would take a long time.
In steps Trump with his idea of building up a weakened military AND to end these useless wars in far off lands so what did we see? A defense budget that started down that road and a new push to work with the Russians.
Just a week ago we saw that the Pentagon actually asked the Russians for assistance on the Jordanian border and the Russians DID IT!
Now? Now some out of control cowboy orders a Super Hornet to shoot down an SU 22.
Someone in the Pentagon is on crack. Someone has lost their damn mind and is wrecking the chance to finally kill ISIS.
This war will drag on longer than it should and it will be the blame of the Pentagon. This was the bridge for better relations between the US and Russia and some undercover neo-con in the Pentagon...some cold warrior wrecked it with this stupid action.
Trump is getting slammed for turning over the war to the Pentagon but the plan is perfect politically. This will be a loss for the generals and they don't even see it yet.
The Mattis fanclub should be aware though. This is shaping up to be the final act of a great career. Trump has been sloppy as hell but he's lining up Mattis, Dunford and company as fall guys for the wars in Afghanistan and against ISIS.
In light of the Fitzgerald, those 10K Ton Chinese Coast Guard ships are bit more ominous...
Just a quicky.
Cdr Salamander has been railing about those 10K Ton Chinese Coast Guard ships and to be honest I thought the dude spent a long weekend drinking something that he shouldn't have.
Not anymore.
Size matters at sea and those Chinese Coast Guard ships will be bullies against most ships...even warships (outside of open hostilities). Their size alone will ensure that. Kinda hard to bump hulls when the other guy is several tons heavier.
I thought the lack of weapons made them just big targets.
I was wrong.
The Pacific is gonna be a whole new kettle of fish that I don't recall seeing in the history books. When its the beginning rounds of the beginning of the fight we could see a few crumpled hulls that we were counting on when the shooting war begins.
Amazing isn't it? A relatively minor incident at sea (don't get me wrong the loss of life is tragic) is turning into a lesson of future warfare at sea (is this 4th gen warfare?)...low grade warfare, possibly guerilla warfare, maybe even a type of undeclared insurgency (the investigation should get to the bottom of the cargo ships erratic behavior) but however its classified the Navy will have to develop new protocols.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
US Destroyer almost foundered...major damage gives opportunity for wartime repair schedule...
via Reuters.
The bodies of missing sailors were found in flooded compartments of the USS Fitzgerald, which came close to sinking after a collision with a container ship off Japan tore a gash under the warship's waterline, the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet commander said on Sunday.Story here.
Vice Adm. Joseph P. Aucoin declined to say how many of the seven missing sailors had been recovered, but Japanese media said all had died. “Out of concern for the families and the notification process, I will decline to state how many we have found at this time,” Aucoin told a news conference.
The search at sea had ended, Aucoin said.
The USS Fitzgerald could have foundered, or even sunk, but for the crew's desperate efforts to save the ship, he said.
"The damage was significant. There was a big gash under the water," Aucoin said at Yokosuka naval base, home of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, the docked Fitzgerald behind him.
"A significant portion of the crew was sleeping" when the destroyer collided with the Philippine-flagged container ship, destroying the commander's cabin, he said.
The Fitzgerald is salvageable, he said, but repairs will likely take months. "Hopefully less than a year. You will see the USS Fitzgerald back," Aucoin said.
The crew apparently acted heroically but that was never in doubt. The afteraction will involve answer the question of why this happened in the first place, and I have to admit I am curious about that.
But we can't lose focus.
We must take advantage of this tragedy to test several concepts.
One of them is doing a wartime turnaround on one of our damaged ships. A Burke Class Destroyer could honestly be characterized as a modern day battleship in importance and certainly one of the US Navy's capital ships.
If we were ever to cross swords with China we can expect them to get hit and hit hard.
How fast could we take a damaged ship and get it back into service?
I propose a two pronged repair schedule. The first to determine what damage can be repaired in the shortest amount of time to get the ship back into combat. Take it out, kick the tires and see how the repairs measure up in a solo ship mock exercise.
Once that is done then you send it back in, do whatever it takes to get it show room new.
Of course during the "combat repair" and mock exercise evolution we will sail with additional crew, and of course have whatever rescue ships necessary to ensure the crew is protected from mishap and to make sure no additional damage is done. BUT WE GET TO SEE HOW IT WILL PERFORM IN EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES!
This is too important an opportunity to let slip away. I'm sure my Navy brothers and sisters will recoil at this idea but I believe its necessary in order to prepare for the future fight. As unsavory as this might seem it is indeed necessary.
Saturday, June 17, 2017
The Destroyer crash is tragic but we can learn some things...
The Destroyer crash is tragic but its also an opportunity to determine how well our ships will perform after suffering almost catastrophic damage.
A good review will determine how the crew reacted to this sudden event. Emergency procedures can be reviewed and enhancements/corrections made. We can reorganize and figure out what optimum manning is for a ship that takes a hit.
This is a terrible incident but we shouldn't waste the chance to learn a few things.
In every tragedy there is opportunity.
As bad as this is we shouldn't waste it.
31st MEU’s Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon Helocasts From CH-53....photo by Lance Cpl. Stormy Mendez
Ok, now I'm showing my age. I thought these guys had went away and were replaced by Maritime Raid Force. So will one of you young jacks tell me the "new hotness"?
Force Recon I thought got absorbed by Marine Special Operations Force. But then I was told that portions of Force Recon remained with the fleet and formed the Maritime Raid Force. Recon is still doing the old thing but I thought also made up part of the Maritime Raid Force.
Now I'm seeing an old skool Amphibious Recon Platoon?
Yeah.
Someone skool me...get me up to speed...tell me what's what, caused I'm obviously lost like a duck.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)