Shorter desperate Whitehall spin: but the rest of you will be just fine, honest, even if you’re not in a tank unit, and of course the COW is totally winning in Iraq. [news story] ———————————————————- Chris Heyman, an ex-military editor… Read More ›
war
River leaving Baghdad
I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn’t know what our neighbors were- we didn’t care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni… Read More ›
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them. Lest We Forget. The Dawn Service observed on ANZAC Day has its origins in an operational routine which is still observed by the Australian Army today. The half-light of dawn plays tricks with soldiers’ eyes and… Read More ›
How dare those Limeys not give us more martyrs?
Crossposted at Larvatus Prodeo This is the frothing, eye-bulging reaction from some of the screeching warmonkeys pounding their keyboards in the US to the peaceful resolution of the British sailors’ hostage situation in Iran. Michelle Malkin, who has described the… Read More ›
Quip of the week: journalist division
crossposted from Larvatus Prodeo “[With that level of military protection] even Paris Hilton could ride a bicycle in a bikini through Anbar province.” That was NBC Iraq correspondent Tom Aspell’s summary of the PR stunt from Republican presidential candidate John… Read More ›
Hugh Thompson Day
Today is the anniversary of the heroism of Hugh Thompson and his helicopter crew as they saved noncombatant Vietnamese villagers of My Lai from murderous US soldiers engaged in a massacre. I posted about Thompson last year: Are you a… Read More ›
Just more politics, not a “clash of civilisations”
The Guardian: a global survey released on Monday showed that most people believe the current clash between Islamists and the West is primarily political rather than genuinely based on religious and cultural differences. (NB: update appended – debunking the talking-point… Read More ›
Are we allowed to disagree with Uncle Sam?
Tim Dunlop over at Road to Surfdom analyses the Australia-US alliance and the growing rift between the PM and the electorate about how we handle ourselves in that alliance. This is basically handing our foreign policy decisions to the United… Read More ›
We know war is hell, but don’t expect any help when you come back
From August, this collaborative post on PTSD-denial between Respectful of Otters and Idealistic Pragmatist dissects a scornful Canadian columnist’s hatchet-job on veterans with ongoing mental trauma problems arising from their military service. The columnist concerned is joining an increasing number… Read More ›
So, it has come to this
There’s been a sense of dispiritedness in most of my favourite blogs this past weekend. I’ve shared it. Despite several times in the past few years pointing out signs of incipient fascist tendencies in the Bush administration, I always wondered… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 