Paging Harry Levins

If the Post-Dispatch’s resident military matters writer is scanning the web, I hope he notes and comments on this take on Iraq by a group of grunts - two staff sergeants, three sergeants, and an Army specialist - in a NY Times oped. While there’s much in the article that should give everyone pause back [...]

Dr. John Johnson speaks on LaVena’s death at VFP event

The father of PFC LaVena Lynn Johnson, Dr. John Johnson of Florissant, Missouri.

Dr. Johnson spoke last Friday at the Veterans for Peace speakout on sexual assault in the military outside the Robert A. Young Federal Building in downtown St. Louis. This was just one of many events and workshops comprising the 22nd annual national convention [...]

Postings to come on Veterans for Peace events

Just returned from the Veterans for Peace addresses on sexual assault in the military. I’ll be posting on the remarks made by LaVena Johnson’s father, Dr. John Johnson - as well as some other material - over the weekend.
Incidentally: Today marked my first face-to-face meeting with Dr. Johnson. We chatted for a brief while before [...]

Withdrawal now or draft later?

Sounds like the war czar has provided the correct frame for viewing our choices in Iraq: withdrawal now, or a draft later. Awfully obliging of him, eh? You begin to wonder if this is the reason why the position of “war adviser” was created - to deliver precisely this part of the narrative. Lt. General [...]

“Northern Iraq”

This “error 13″ message is evidence of just a wee bit of hubris, though not without humor:
“Northern Iraq” is only used by the enemy of the Kurds. If you are an enemy, please contact the nearest American Marine and ask for the directions to Saddam’s palace.
I imagine the government in Ankara finds this knee-slappingly funny.

Having my say

Waiting to take part in a BBC Have Your Say radio confab on the O’Hanlon/Pollack Iraq wankery. Me and a hundred other ordinary Joes and Janes. The invite came out of nowhere, otherwise I’d have worn my good shirt…oh, wait, it’s radio. Okay then.
Update: Didn’t come off after all; bumped like a passenger on standby! [...]

Quid pro quo

No one should be surprised by George Bush’s exposed scheme to have Delta Black Ops Team Bravo Commando Force take out selected PPK leaders in exchange for Turkey not sending waves of troops across the border into Iraq. This was inevitable, given Bush’s predilection for military solutions - when your only tool is a hammer, [...]

Wheels up!

Thus endeth the debate over U.S. troops in Iraq, as Prime Minister al-Maliki has cleared them for departure:
Iraq’s leader says U.S. can leave any time it likes
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government’s military and political progress Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave “anytime they want.”
I [...]

Troop reduction or reshuffle?

Bad enough that this NYT headline - “Mixon: U.S. Troop Reduction Could Begin in Jan. 2008″ - is thoroughly misleading, as Maj. Gen. Mixon is describing only the possibility of reducing the number of troops assigned to northern Iraq, but reporter Ann Tyson seems strangely incurious about just where those reassigned troops are going.
Mixon’s announcement [...]

Better, or worse, or perhaps the same

The Republican plan for Iraq goes something like this:
The better things are, the longer we get to stay.
The worse things are, the longer we get to stay.
Well. It feels good to have a plan, eh?