Schooled

Professional historian Victor Davis Hanson schools Tom Hanks. 

Much has been written of the recent Tom Hanks remarks to Douglas Brinkley in a Time magazine interview about his upcoming HBO series on World War II in the Pacific. Here is the explosive excerpt that is making the rounds today.

“Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as ‘yellow, slant-eyed dogs’ that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what’s going on today?”

Hanks may not have been quoted correctly; and his remarks may have been impromptu and poorly expressed; and we should give due consideration to the tremendous support Hanks has given in the past both to veterans and to commemoration of World War II; and his new HBO series could well be a fine bookend to Band of Brothers.  All that said, Hanks’ comments were sadly infantile pop philosophizing offered by, well,  an ignoramus.

Lt. Gen. James Hollingsworth Dies

RIP.

Lt. Gen. James Hollingsworth, the most decorated officer in the history of Texas A&M University, died Tuesday in San Antonio at the age of 91.

Hollingsworth was born March 24, 1918, near Sanger, Texas. He attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas from 1936 to 1940 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.

Upon graduation, Hollingsworth was commissioned into the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. This marked the beginning of a military career that spanned 36 years (1940–1976).

Hollingsworth was honored by A&M in 1980 when he was named Distinguished Alumnus, and again in 1994 when he was inducted into the Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor.
Lt. Gen. James Hollingsworth, the most decorated officer in the history of Texas A&M University, died Tuesday in San Antonio at the age of 91.

Hollingsworth was born March 24, 1918, near Sanger, Texas. He attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas from 1936 to 1940 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.

Upon graduation, Hollingsworth was commissioned into the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. This marked the beginning of a military career that spanned 36 years (1940–1976).

Hollingsworth was honored by A&M in 1980 when he was named Distinguished Alumnus, and again in 1994 when he was inducted into the Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor.

Project Azorian

Awesome.

In 1974, far out in the Pacific, a U.S. ship pretending to be a deep-sea mining vessel fished a sunken Soviet nuclear-armed submarine out of the ocean depths, took what it could of the wreck and made off to Hawaii with its purloined prize.

Now, Washington is owning up to Project Azorian, a brazen mission from the days of high-stakes — and high-seas — Cold War rivalry.

After more than 30 years of refusing to confirm the barest facts of what the world already knew, the CIA has released an internal account of Project Azorian, though with juicy details taken out. The account surfaced Friday at the hands of private researchers from the National Security Archive who used the Freedom of Information Act to achieve the declassification.

[...]

Despite the declassified article, the greatest mysteries of Project Azorian remain buried three miles down and in CIA files: exactly what parts of the sub were retrieved, what intelligence was derived from them and whether the mission was a waste of time and money. Despite the veil over the project, its existence has been known for decades.

“It’s a pretty meaty description of the operation from inception to death,” said Matthew Aid, the researcher who had been seeking the article since 2007, when he learned of its publication thanks to a footnote he spotted in other documents. “But what’s missing in the end is, what did we get for it? The answer is, we still don’t know.”

Operation Moshtarak

Pray for our Marines and the soldiers of our allies. 

Nato-led forces say they are making good progress hours after launching the biggest offensive in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.

There were clashes as more than 15,000 US, UK and Afghan troops swept into the Helmand districts of Marjah and Nad Ali in a bid to secure government control.

The Afghan regional commander said 20 militants had been killed. Two Nato soldiers are confirmed to have died.

A Taliban commander reportedly said his men were retreating to spare civilians.

Operation Moshtarak - which means “together” in the local Dari language - is being led by 4,000 US Marines, supported by 4,000 British troops, with Canadians, Danes and Estonians.

Gays in the Military

There’s a push on right now to do away with “don’t ask don’t tell” in the military.  It’s an issue that leaves me conflicted.  On the one hand, I see nothing wrong with gay folks serving their country.  In fact, I think it’s a bit ludicrous to exclude people from military service based on their sexual preference.  The military is a very merit-oriented profession where their job is to blow up stuff and kill people.  If they do that well, why do we care how they want to tickle their unmentionables?

On the other hand, being in a military unit isn’t like other jobs.  They sleep together, shower together, eat together, etc.  If a dude is sexually attracted to other men, how is it any more appropriate for that guy to shower with other men than it is for a heterosexual woman to shower with them?  If we are going to allow gay folks to openly serve in the military, why no go all the way and break down all of the gender distinctions? 

I also look to other countries that have allowed openly gay folks to serve.  Frankly, there haven’t been many major issues in the combat effectiveness of the units.  So in the end, I lean toward doing away with “don’t ask don’t tell” and just letting everyone serve regardless of their sexual preference. 

Panel Recommends Keeping Some Gitmo Detainees Detained

FYI.

A recommendation by the Obama administration’s Guantanamo Detainee Review Task Force to continue holding nearly 50 detainees indefinitely without charges sparked fury among civil liberties groups Friday.

The recommendation, confirmed to CNN by two government sources not authorized to release the information, was completed by a task force under the direction of Attorney General Eric Holder and sent to President Obama for final approval.

The confidential review recommending a disposition for each of the 196 remaining Guantanamo detainees was first reported by the Washington Post.

The review proposes that 47 detainees be held without charges or trial because they are considered too dangerous to release, and because trials could jeopardize intelligence and harm national security, government sources said.

Welcome Home

Yea!

Spread out among seven major locations and several smaller bases around Iraq since arriving in May, the 3,200 soldiers of the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team have guarded most of the detainees held in the country, overseen staging lanes for convoys departing from a forward operating base, handled administration and security of U.S. bases, trained Iraqi security forces, operated quick reaction forces that conducted security patrols and turned over many U.S.-run facilities to the Iraqis.

“There’s a great sense of accomplishment,” said Col. Steven Bensend, commander of the 32nd. “Soldiers have a deep sense of pride when they can see they’re helping someone else, and they see that when we turn over to the Iraqi people these facilities.”

The unit is scheduled to return home this month - the first flight is expected to land at Volk Field on Tuesday - after the largest overseas mobilization of the Wisconsin National Guard since World War II. After national elections in March, all U.S. combat forces are scheduled to leave Iraq by August. However, some U.S. troops will remain in the country to continue training Iraqi security forces.

General Forbids Pregnancy

Maybe they should just distribute condoms for free.

The Army general of U.S. forces in Northern Iraq has banned pregnancy among military personnel in his command, NBC News reported on Friday.

Anyone who becomes pregnant or impregnates another servicemember, including married couples assigned to the same unit, could face a court-martial and jail time, according to an order issued by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo.

Stephen King Pays for Soldiers to Be Home for Christmas

That’s pretty cool.

Author Stephen King and his wife are donating money so 150 soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard can come home for the holidays.

King and his wife, Tabitha, who live in Bangor, are paying $13,000 toward the cost of two bus trips so that members of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit can travel from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to Maine for Christmas. The soldiers left Maine last week for training at Camp Atterbury. They are scheduled to depart for Afghanistan in January.

Julie Eugley, one of King’s personal assistants, told the Bangor Daily News that the Kings were approached about giving $13,000.

But Stephen King thought the number 13 was a bit unlucky, so the couple pitched in $12,999 instead. Eugley chipped in $1 to make for an even $13,000.

KGB Destroyed Hitler’s Remains in 1970

This was probably for the best. 

Gen. Vasily Khristoforov told Interfax in an interview published Monday that previously secret documents show that KGB chief Yuri Andropov, with prior consent from the Soviet Communist Party leadership, ordered a top secret operation to destroy the remains of Hitler, his wife Eva Braun, Nazi Germany’s propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels; and Goebbels’ entire family.

Khristoforov said according to the documents, Andropov’s decision to destroy the remains of the Nazi leaders and their family members was motivated by the fears of the KGB and Soviet Communist Party leadership that Hitler’s burial site could become a place of worship for supporters of fascist ideas.

Neither the FSB nor Khristoforov were immediately available to comment on the secret documents, when asked by CNN.

The operation, code-named “The Archives,” was carried out by a group of special KGB agents in Magdeburg, East Germany, where the bodies had been secretly buried February 21, 1946, on the territory of a Soviet military facility, Khristoforov said.

Two protocols were compiled after the operation was carried out on April 4, 1970, the general said. The first documented the opening of a grave that contained the remains of the Nazi leaders and their family members, and the other one detailed their physical destruction.

“The remains were burnt on a bonfire outside the town of Shoenebeck, 11 kilometers away from Magdeburg, then ground into ashes, collected and thrown into the Biederitz River,” the second document reads, according to Khristoforov.

Studying Up

A U.S. Army cadet reads a book entitled “Kill Bin Laden” as he waits with other cadets for U.S. President Barack Obama to deliver an address on U.S. policy and the war in Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York December 1, 2009.

Sometimes the Fact That Nobody is Happy Does Not Equal a Good Solution

I listened to the first half or so of President Obama’s speech before I had to head into my kid’s basketball game.  I finally got around to reading the rest of it.  Overall, I was highly disappointed.  I saw no definitive objective or plan other than to start withdrawing our forces in July of 2011.  If that’s the case, we might as well withdraw now.  Power Line has a good analysis.

Earlier today I wondered whether President Obama’s speech about Afghanistan would sound more like a description of a war plan or a structured settlement of a legal dispute. What I heard tonight tilted decidedly in the latter direction. To be precise, the speech sounded to me like a slick lawyer trying to sell a dubious settlement to a skeptical client or, in this case, set of clients.

Consistent with slick salesmanship - as well as the president’s character - the speech was quite self-referential. Providing a potted history of our military efforts in the war on terrorism, Obama took shots at his predecessor and attempted to cast himself as the hero throughout. Thus, he patted himself on the back for opposing the war in Iraq, on which he blamed the current difficulties in Afghanistan.

Obama also patted himself on the back for bringing the war in Iraq to a “responsible end.” But he failed to mention the surge in Iraq, which was instrumental in turning the tide to the point that it became possible to speak of a responsible end.

The omission was odd inasmuch as Obama was pitching a similar surge in Afghanistan. This meant that the Iraq surge was more relevant to tonight’s speech than any other element of Obama’s potted history. Yet he was too partisan, and too embarrassed by his own opposition to the surge, to mention this vital decision.

It was therefore rank hypocrisy for Obama latter to decry the partisanship that has plagued the war on terrorism.

[...]

More importantly, Obama set July 2011 as the target date for beginning our withdrawal. Although he did add that conditions on the ground will be taken into account, it is difficult to understand how the U.S. will secure the support and commitment it needs from a critical mass of Afghans when they know, or have strong reason to believe, we will be starting to pull out only about a year after we have ramped up.

Indeed, Obama’s timetable threatens to undermine not just the first prong of his strategy (military) but also second and third prongs (civilian and Pakistan). With only a short-term commitment, we’re not likely to exert much influence on civilian behavior. Nor are the Pakistanis likely to be impressed by an America that’s more interested in a prompt exit, so it can save money and focus on domestic issues (points Obama emphasized near the end of his speech), than in defeating its enemies.

Change of Course in Afghanistan

After months of dithering, our President will tell us our new national policy in Afghanistan tomorrow night.  I, for one, am hopeful.  Here’s what I will be looking for:

1) A definite objective.  Stabilizing, a stable regime, containment, occupation, kill the most bad guys, whatever.  I realize that I may not agree with Obama’s objective, but I’d like to see one defined.

2) A change in strategy.  Throwing more troops into the mix without a plan to use them is folly.  Remember the The Surge in Iraq was accompanied by a definite shift in strategy and tactics.  Of course, the change in strategy will have to depend on the objective.

From the pre-speech press, it looks promising.  I’m just hoping that Obama lays it out in plain language and doesn’t drown any meaning with lawyerese (sorry, Jed). 

Board Fires VA Secretary

Ouch.

The Wisconsin Veterans Affairs Board has fired Department Secretary John Scocos just two months after he returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.

The board fired Scocos during a special meeting in Madison after spending 90 minutes berating him for a series of missteps and miscommunications. They complained Scocos had kept them in the dark about key decisions.

Scocos said he was given the option of resigning but declined. He said his firing was unfair and he planned to take legal action against the board and its members alleging they violated a federal law that protects returning military members.

If he was fired for cause, I don’t think that the law protecting returning soldiers would protect him. 

Call of Duty

It’s funny because it’s true…