Dann Todd's 'Dain Bramage'^**

If He Lives....

....he might just die.

From embarrassment over just how wrong his thinking has been.

Thanks to SaaM.

by Dann 

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Marines In Company E

An excellent article by the NYTimes about Marines returning from Iraq and talking about their substandard hardware and personnel shortages. As I observed a few days ago, perhaps we need to reorient our defense spending around the war we are fighting now instead of one we may (or may not) have to fight in the future.

Jason Van Steenwyk has some thoughts on the subject as well. And given that he was in the unit that was in control of Ramadi before the Marines of company E took over, his thoughts probably are worth considering as well.

by Dann 

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Nepal

Over at Coming Anarchy there is a post about Nepal's governmental problems. They make the historical point that small, underdeveloped countries seem to all follow the same pattern from monarchy to a reign of terror. Typically a reign of terror inspired by the previous works of Josef Stalin and/or Chairman Mao.

They also point out that the United States has followed the advice of Amnesty International and as a result we have lost all influence in Nepal. Of course, that probably was Amnesty International's objective in the first place.

by Dann 

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Remembering Pat Tillman

I still have nothing but respect for Specialist Tillman. He had life by the tail and opted instead to serve our nation in our time of need.

And now they have opened a USO facility in Afghanistan that bears his name.

by Dann 

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I Like This T-Shirt

It says it just right. Click to enlarge.

Click to buy.

by Dann 

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Donald Rumsfeld And Dollie Parton

No surprise here. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visits the Grand Ole Opry and visits with Dollie Parton on stage. He thanks our folks in the military for their service and is warmly received by the audience.

Roughly 60% of CBS' story on the event is devoted to the Human Rights Watch organization and their desire for the government to investigate Mr. Rumsfeld. On the plus side, everything in this story appears to be factual. Human Rights Watch has made allegations and does want an investigation. And Mr. Rumsfeld did visit the Opry and was received warmly.

So we have a story from a demonstrably biased network that should present this event as a positive one. And rather than let things just sit, they feel inclined to devote most of their coverage to Mr. Rumsfeld's critics.

So tell me again about how the media isn't biased?

by Dann 

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Another Marine Making History

Marine General Peter Pace was nominated this week to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Camp Pendleton in California (where I spent a few years as a part of H&MS-39 and later MALS-39 in support of the Broncos of VMO-2) is all excited about the nomination.

NPR's coverage of the nomination was only positive with respect to General Pace. Unfortunately, they don't know how to tell a story without including some sort of "bad news". In this case, they believe that General Pace may not be able to tell Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, when the Secretary is making an error. They even toss in a reference to Robert Macnamara as a subtle and perhaps subconscious reference to our war in Viet Nam.

by Dann 

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