Logistics and Martyrs
David Ignatius writes in the Washington Post today about military truck drivers, road convoy operations in Iraq, and the critical importance of logisitics. Every general worth his stars knows that logistics is indispensable to successful military operations. General Eisenhower was outspoken about the importance of good logistics, and his attention to detail in that regard is legendary. The truth is that no one military capability can guarantee victory. Without beans, bullets, water, and gas the finest infantry, tankers, artillerymen, and aviators in the world (which we have) can't prevail. As Ignatius says,
War is about breaking the enemy's will and imposing your own. America's success in managing logistics won't win the Iraq war, but it has allowed the United States to stay in the fight.
If Ignatius had stopped there, his column would have been outstanding. But, alas, being a liberal, he just had to throw in this final line:
We've seen so many mistakes in the Iraq war that it's nice to see something America is doing right.
E.J. Dionne, Jr., also writing in the Washington Post, discusses the efforts of some law schools to ban military recruiters from their campuses because of military policy toward gays. Under federal law, universities which ban military recruiters cannot receive federal funds. However, a federal circuit court has just ruled that the schools can enforce such policies without losing losing their liplock on the federal teat. Dionne's point, filtered through typical disdain for the military, is:
The best way to change the military and to create greater fairness in sharing the burdens of defending our country is to embrace the call to service, not reject it. By opening their doors to recruiters, our universities can strengthen our democracy.
He's right, in the backasswards way common to liberals. If he thinks the military needs changing, then participate. Encourage the privileged children of elites to serve their country and, if they can, change things liberals don't like. Fine with me.
Larry Elder's column in the Washington Times today reports interesting statistics that indicate most Americans are not at all in step with the mainstream media regarding President Bush.
Finally, the CBC reports that Muslim crazies are at it again, this time in Iran. They held a ceremony this week in which young would-be martyrs pledged "their willingness to carry out suicide bomb attacks against Americans in Iraq and Israelis." The report went on,
Thursday's ceremony included the unveiling of two-meter (6-foot) stone column commemorating a 1983 attack on U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon as "the biggest suicide bombing operation against global blasphemy."
The report includes a touching photo of a proud, smiling father adjusting a scarf across the face of his happy young daughter, apparently a martyr-in-waiting. I've long wondered how it works. If boy martyrs get 72 virgins in heaven, what do girl martyrs get? Perhaps Muhammad never envisioned future generations of brave Muslim men sending out their pretty daughters to explode their guts all over the terrain, so he didn't include 72 studs for the girls.
War is about breaking the enemy's will and imposing your own. America's success in managing logistics won't win the Iraq war, but it has allowed the United States to stay in the fight.
If Ignatius had stopped there, his column would have been outstanding. But, alas, being a liberal, he just had to throw in this final line:
We've seen so many mistakes in the Iraq war that it's nice to see something America is doing right.
E.J. Dionne, Jr., also writing in the Washington Post, discusses the efforts of some law schools to ban military recruiters from their campuses because of military policy toward gays. Under federal law, universities which ban military recruiters cannot receive federal funds. However, a federal circuit court has just ruled that the schools can enforce such policies without losing losing their liplock on the federal teat. Dionne's point, filtered through typical disdain for the military, is:
The best way to change the military and to create greater fairness in sharing the burdens of defending our country is to embrace the call to service, not reject it. By opening their doors to recruiters, our universities can strengthen our democracy.
He's right, in the backasswards way common to liberals. If he thinks the military needs changing, then participate. Encourage the privileged children of elites to serve their country and, if they can, change things liberals don't like. Fine with me.
Larry Elder's column in the Washington Times today reports interesting statistics that indicate most Americans are not at all in step with the mainstream media regarding President Bush.
Finally, the CBC reports that Muslim crazies are at it again, this time in Iran. They held a ceremony this week in which young would-be martyrs pledged "their willingness to carry out suicide bomb attacks against Americans in Iraq and Israelis." The report went on,
Thursday's ceremony included the unveiling of two-meter (6-foot) stone column commemorating a 1983 attack on U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon as "the biggest suicide bombing operation against global blasphemy."
The report includes a touching photo of a proud, smiling father adjusting a scarf across the face of his happy young daughter, apparently a martyr-in-waiting. I've long wondered how it works. If boy martyrs get 72 virgins in heaven, what do girl martyrs get? Perhaps Muhammad never envisioned future generations of brave Muslim men sending out their pretty daughters to explode their guts all over the terrain, so he didn't include 72 studs for the girls.
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