A detailed look at how the military has attempted to rise to the challenge of the deadliest component modern urban warfare. For once, WaPo impresses.
Precursor to the Terminator series? Who's to say? But what was once saving lives as a bomb disposal robot has been retooled to 
carry weapons for combat. Pictured is a SWORDS* bot, 3 of which have been deployed to Iraq. None have fired a shot to date, but expect that to change.
They are designed to be used in high-risk situations, like scouting narrow streets infested with snipers before a foot patrol is sent in. Major Saitta, a consultant for the program, nails it when he says:
Anytime you utilize technology to take a U.S. service member out of harm’s way, it is worth every penny.
Although these metal soldiers were ready to go in 2004, they had a tendency to spin out of control from time to time. As this isn't exactly desirable during a firefight, they were kept at home while work continued. But now, according to Danger Room:
So the radio-controlled robots were retooled, for greater safety. In the past, weak signals would keep the robots from getting orders for as much as eight seconds -- a significant lag during combat. Now, the SWORDS won't act on a command, unless it's received right away. A three-part arming process -- with both physical and electronic safeties -- is required before firing. Most importantly, the machines now come with kill switches, in case there's any odd behavior. "So now we can kill the unit if it goes crazy," Zecca says.
Danger Room also has a video from Future Weapons, while Gizmodo has additional pictures. Via Digg.
* special weapons observation remote reconnaissance direct action system
Four days ago, Michael Yon covered an al Qaeda massacre in a small village in Iraq:
Soldiers from 5th IA [Iraqi Army] said al Qaeda had cut the heads off the children. Had al Qaeda murdered the children in front of their parents? Maybe it had been the other way around: maybe they had murdered the parents in front of the children. Maybe they had forced the father to dig the graves of his children.
Yon's latest dispatch addresses the fact that the MSM has studiously avoided reporting the tragedy:
But for those publications who actually had people embedded in Baqubah when the story first broke and still failed to cover it, their malaise is inexplicable. I do not know why all failed to report the murders and booby-trapped village: apparently no reporters bothered to go out there, even though it’s only about 3.5 miles from this base. Any one of the reporters currently in Baqubah could still go to these coordinates and follow his or her nose and find the gravesites. . . .
If much of mainstream media does not recognize barbarity, clearly their readers can and do. Readers throughout the world might consider contacting their local papers and favorite websites with the link to this update. The story is very important in that it is well-documented with photos and video, and the Iraqi and American soldiers who were present are named and easily reachable. Those mainstream reporters currently in Baqubah could readily take up the baton.
The UK Daily Mail prints an article written by a Muslim that was at one time an actual member of the network that planned and attempted to execute the recent bombings in London and Glasgow:
When I was still a member of what is probably best termed the British Jihadi Network - a series of British Muslim terrorist groups linked by a single ideology - I remember how we used to laugh in celebration whenever people on TV proclaimed that the sole cause for Islamic acts of terror like 9/11, the Madrid bombings and 7/7 was Western foreign policy.
By blaming the Government for our actions, those who pushed this "Blair's bombs" line did our propaganda work for us. More important, they also helped to draw away any critical examination from the real engine of our violence: Islamic theology.
As we celebrate our freedom in this country, it is important to remember that there is evil in this world whose objective is to destroy us, that we have young men and women fighting that evil as they help rebuild a nation that is experiencing that evil every day.
Support Michael Yon as he brings us the truth.
Support those who sacrifice by giving to these charities rated A+ by the American Institute of Philanthropy:
Memorial Day grew out of the horror of the great Civil War which ripped this nation asunder. It is a day that has been set aside that we may remember our fallen heroes, those that have died while defending our noble experiment, the greatest nation in the history of Man.
This is the sixth Memorial Day in a row in which we find our nation confronting a great evil. While liberals moan about keeping Islamofascists locked up on a Caribbean island, our soldiers are kicking down doors in Iraq to find torture chambers.
A recent raid on an al-Qaeda safe house turned up crude instruments of torture and an instruction manual that graphically depicts how they are to be applied, such as using a power drill to drill through a hand or applying a hot iron or even a blowtorch to the skin. The instructions do not tell captors to provide religious materials, legal counsel or cultural-specific meals. They do show how to break limbs and gouge an eye from its socket.A month ago five people were rescued from just such a torture house, one of them a mere boy and all of them beaten daily with chains and cables. This is the evil that the enemy brought to our shores.
Makes "waterboarding" look like a walk in the park, doesn't it? Makes getting your picture taken with a collar on and girl holding the end of a leash a little tame, doesn't it. The media is virtually ignoring the story of the al-Qaeda torture manual and victims rescued. It does not fit their agenda the way that months of Abu Ghraib coverage furthered their cause.
Similarly, the media is under-reporting the freeing of 42 Iraqis, one as young as 14, from an al-Qaeda prison. Some had been held as long as four months, suspended from ceilings, beaten and tortured. Some had broken bones.
Our troops are doing good things in Iraq.
On this Memorial Day we should remember all our soldiers, active and retired, alive and deceased. We should be grateful to those who have given their all and support those currently facing the horrors of war.
I encourage you to fly an American flag in memory of soldiers no longer with us, and open your hearts and wallets to support today's soldiers and their families. Some suggestions:
Disabled American Vets
Operation Gratitude (Read a news story about Operation Gratitude)
Adopt a Platoon
Treats for Troops
Operation Top Knot
Fisher House
Operation Hero Miles
Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund
USO
Alternatively (or in addition to), you can support former Green Beret and current photojournalist Michael Yon as he publishes the most unbiased truth about the situation in Iraq.
On 21 March 2007, the Queen of England awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross to two unusual recipients.
Pictured is Private Michelle Norris of C Company, 1 Bn the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment. She is the first female to ever receive the be awarded the Military Cross.
Last year she braved sniper fire to administer life saving first aid to her vehicle commander.
This is Major William D. Chesarek Jr. of the United States Marine Corps. He is the first US soldier to receive the United Kingdom's Distinguished Flying Cross since the Second World War.
Although he trained to fly a Super Cobra helicopter for the US Marines, Major Chesarek is serving as an exchange officer assigned to Royal Air Force's 847th Naval Air Squadron, Commando Helicopter Force. These days he is flying the RAF’s Lynx Mk7 helicopter.
During the action that had Private Norris' unit under attack, Major Chesarek flew his helicopter low over the "insurgents" to disperse the crowd. Instead, he drew fire. But when he heard that someone on the ground had been hurt and that a casualty evacuation was necessary, he took action:
Chesarek made the unconventional move – what’s considered an “implied mission” in military parlance -- to conduct a medical evacuation with the Lynx to help a British soldier with a life-threatening head injury. As the only aircraft available to assist, he landed the Lynx near the company in distress as his door gunner and another crew member jumped out.
"My door gunner jumped out and picked up the injured soldier and put him in the helicopter," Chesarek said. "My other crew member had to stay, or we would have been overweight to fly."
Heroes. God bless 'em!
Glenn Reynolds has a few links that should put a stake in the heart of the revisionist claims that returning Vietnam vets were never spat on.
Hat Tip to non-blogging Advised by Wolves.
The NRA is offering a free year of membership for anyone on active duty. Just go here to sign up:
On behalf of the nearly four million members of the National Rifle Association of America, thank you for serving our country! We deeply appreciate your sacrifice, and would like to offer you a complimentary one-year membership in the NRA as a token of our gratitude and respect.
The NYTimes printed pictures and posted video of a US soldier dying in Iraq, even before the family was notified. The reporters involved have lost embed status because they violated their contract with the military.
Gateway Pundit is following the entire story.
The blogosphere is in full uproar over the response to a simple request (it's already made it to Snopes). An American GI in Iraq wanted some floor mats to make sleeping on the cold, bug-infested ground a little easier, so he emailed a Wisconsin mattress company asking if they would ship to his location:
"Do you ship to APO (military) addresses? I'm in the 1st Cavalry Division stationed in Iraq and we are trying to order some mats but we are looking for ships to APO first."
On the same day, Hess received this reply:
"SGT Hess,
We do not ship to APO addresses, and even if we did, we would NEVER ship to Iraq. If you were sensible, you and your troops would pull out of Iraq.
Bargain Suppliers
Discount-Mats.com"
The registered owner of the website, American Muslim of Pakistani descent Faisal Khetani, claims that the person responsible for the email reply had been fired. The Web site, meanwhile, has been temporarily taken down:
The "web-based" company can put up a static page but doesn't put either phone or email on the page? The public's reaction must have been swift, decisive and quite negative.
Stop the ACLU: How can anyone say something like this to a soldier in a war zone? Oh, right it was a Muslim, or someone of middle eastern heritage, where do the American Muslims/middle easterners actually stand on the war on terror?
Riehl World did a quick WhoIs and found the contact information for Mr. Khetani.
But Blackfive found that co-owner Khetani and other employees of the company have been getting threatening emails and phone calls to the point where they fear for their and their family's safety.
I wouldn't even send an email or you might get labeled as anti-free speech. And please don't send unprofessional emails to these folks. Believe me, I get plenty of those and I don't read them (except for laughs every once in awhile).
Ironic isn't it?
Some clerk in Wisconsin gets defended on the basis of free speech but you can't respond?
Typical.
The always insightful Victor Davis Hanson writes about our military successes, throws in a little history, and calls on a military leader to step forward with a plan. Read it all, but I couldn't resist extracting this:
What then is the problem since we are still fighting in both Afghanistan and Iraq after brilliant victories over the Taliban and Saddam Hussein?
Most obvious is the inability of our conventional forces to translate amazing tactical success in Afghanistan and Iraq into rapid strategic victory, a transition of establishing a stable postbellum government that requires everything from winning hearts and minds to inspired counter-insurgency. These questions about the transition from conventional to asymmetrical warfare always have nagged—why did the armies of Sherman and Grant who crushed nearly half-a-million Confederate soldiers in a little over a year from summer 1864 to spring 1865, not secure Reconstruction in 12 miserable years of failure, in the face of a few thousands Klansmen, and assorted night riders?
Hat Tip to InstaPundit.
Pictured is the F-35 Lightning II, a truly remarkable aircraft currently under construction, funded primarily by the United States, United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands.
It's a strike fighter, capable of attacking ground targets and engaging in air-to-air combat.
Further, it will be produced in three different configurations: a conventional aircraft for the Air Force, a carrier variant for the Navy and a Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) version for the Marines and Royal Navy (watch a vertical takeoff). The fact that all three configurations will have 70 and 90 percent commonality keeps costs down.
A pre-production model flew in 2000 but the military won't be taking delivery until the turn of the decade.
Possibly the most advanced feature of the aircraft is that a single processor fuses information from all the aircraft's sensors into a "single, coordinated view of the battlefield."
That capability is being leveraged by Lockheed-Martin, the primary designer on the project, to create a pilotless version of the aircraft. Lockheed-Martin devotes a third of R&D funding to developing unmanned vehicles, and has earmarked some of the funding to the F-35:
Creating the F-35U is made easier by the fact that all the controls are already electronic, and contain a lot of automatic (robotic) flight control software. Engineers probably noted how close, in design and purpose, the innards of an F-35 were to the various combat UAV designs going around. A robotic F-35 is envisioned as an unmanned bomb carrier, although there is nothing to prevent the F-35U from being able to fight other aircraft. . . .
Both the F-35U and F-22U would have a major advantage over manned fighters, in that a robotic aircraft could perform rapid maneuvers that the human body could not tolerate.
Cool! Unmanned fighter planes. When do I get my flying car?
Pictured is a throw-n-go UAV, from VeraTech Aero, called the Phantom Sentinel.
The rotorcraft sends back video footage of whatever you send it over. And because the center of rotation is outside of the fuselage, it becomes virtually invisible to the naked eye once it gets up to speed.
It folds up and weighs only four pounds so it is easily transported, and comes in sizes from two to ten feet across.
HT to Engadget, who notes:
We're assuming that those crazy goggles the other G.I. is wearing in this photo are able to translate that dizzying number of spinning images to something that a human brain can make sense of.
Update: New Scientist Tech has a covers this with Invention: Invisible drones
Speaking of cool gadgets, how about a high-tech throwback to dirigibles?
Lockheed Martin just picked up a $10 million contract to further develop the next-generation hull material for DARPA's Integrated Sensor Is Structure (ISIS) program. DARPA intends to integrate sophisticated sensors directly into the structure of stratospheric airships, designed to operate 70,000 feet over the field of battle.
The planned capabilities of the ISIS project are straight out of a sci fi film – ISIS will provide a dynamic, detailed, real-time picture of all movement on or above the battlefield: friendly, neutral or enemy – a big picture map showing everything moving for hundreds of kilometers.
Let's put lasers on about ten of them and put them along the border. Try to jump across the river and we'll fry your ass. We'll see how many terrorists and criminals walk in to our country then.
Sondrak has news:
In recent exercises over Alaska, the F-22 has been put to the test. The results have been staggering.
The following is a true story, verified by Snopes.
The Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant in the picture is Michael Burghard, part of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team that is supporting 2nd Brigade 28th Infantry Division (Pennsylvania Army National Guard). I heard the below story first hand last Saturday during a video teleconference between his Brigade Commander and the 28th Infantry Division Commander. I thought that others should hear it as well, as I think it demonstrates the true spirit of most of our troops on the ground.
Leading the fight is Gunnery Sgt Michael Burghardt, known as "Iron Mike" or just "Gunny". He is on his third tour in Iraq. He had become a legend in the bomb disposal world after winning the Bronze Star for disabling 64 IEDs and destroying 1,548 pieces of ordnance during his second tour. Then, on September 19, he got blown up.
He had arrived at a chaotic scene after a bomb had killed four US soldiers. He chose not to wear the bulky bomb protection suit. "You can't react to any sniper fire and you get tunnel-vision," he explains. So, protected by just a helmet and standard-issue flak jacket, he began what bomb disposal officers term "the longest walk", stepping gingerly into a 5ft deep and 8ft wide crater. The earth shifted slightly and he saw a Senao base station with a wire leading from it. He cut the wire and used his 7in knife to probe the ground. "I found a piece of red detonating cord between my legs," he says. "That's when I knew I was screwed."
Realizing he had been sucked into a trap, Sgt Burghardt, 35, yelled at everyone to stay back. At that moment, an insurgent, probably watching through binoculars, pressed a button on his mobile phone to detonate the secondary device below the sergeant's feet. "A chill went up the back of my neck and then the bomb exploded," he recalls. "As I was in the air I remember thinking, 'I don't believe they got me.' I was just ticked off they were able to do it. Then I was lying on the road, not able to feel anything from the waist down."
His colleagues cut off his trousers to see how badly he was hurt. None could believe his legs were still there. "My dad's a Vietnam vet who's paralyzed from the waist down," says Sgt Burghardt. "I was lying there thinking I didn't want to be in a wheelchair next to my dad and for him to see me like that. They started to cut away my pants and I felt a real sharp pain and blood trickling down. Then I wiggled my toes and I thought, 'Good, I'm in business.' As a stretcher was brought over, adrenaline and anger kicked in. "I decided to walk to the helicopter. I wasn't going to let my team-mates see me being carried away on a stretcher." He stood and gave the insurgents who had blown him up a one-fingered salute. "I flipped them one. It was like, 'OK, I lost that round but I'll be back next week'."
Copies of a photograph depicting his defiance, taken by Jeff Bundy for the Omaha World-Herald, adorn the walls of homes across America and that of Col John Gronski, the brigade commander in Ramadi, who has hailed the image as an exemplar of the warrior spirit. Sgt Burghardt's injuries - burns and wounds to his legs and buttocks - kept him off duty for nearly a month and could have earned him a ticket home. But, like his father - who was awarded a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action in Vietnam - he stayed in Ramadi to engage in the battle against insurgents who are forever coming up with more ingenious ways of killing Americans.
More at Snopes, including a larger image and this wonderful quote:
"I don't know how my anger turned into a motivational picture," Burghardt said.
Technorati Tags: USMC Gunnery Sergeant Michael+Burghard, War on Islamofacism, War on Terror, Iraq, Semper Fi, Warrior Spirit.
Ballistic missile defense is a growing business as far as the numbers and capability out there.Sounds like an investment opportunity to me.
This has attracted more than a little attention from eco-terrorists in the past, as employees and thier families have been harrassed and assaulted. The domestic terrorists have turned their attention to companies that have anything to do with HLS:
The letters, sent to the homes of directors at 17 companies, said: "The company you work for is working with Huntingdon Life Sciences. This is a disgusting and cowardly act. You have a choice. You can walk away from those sick monsters or you can personally face the consequences of your decision. Not only you but your family is a target. Sever your links with HLS within two weeks or get ready for your life and the lives of those you love to become a living hell."The subject of these violent threats even included the workers of Leapfrog Day Nurseries because the chain gave vouchers for child care to HLS employees.
Feel what you want about animal testing. Personally, I don't think I could do it but am grateful that there are those who can every time I take my daily meds.
But those who would threaten the children of working people are beneath contempt.
Unfortunatly, all 17 companies caved to the demands. I don't blame them, but it will only encourage the low-life terrorists. Our prices will go up (do you know how many thousands of dollars it costs to have one little test conducted in order to satisfy governmental regulatory requirements?). And terrorism will be encouraged.
Perhaps it's time we turned our attention away from the failed War on Drugs and expanded the War on Extremism? W, are you listening?
Yesterday he was found guilty of missing his ship's movement. Today he was sentenced to three months hard labor and busted down to seaman recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy.
The maximum sentence that could be given was one year prison, a forfeiture of pay, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge.
Paredes refused to do his duty in a time of war and the Navy didn't even kick him out. Moreover, there is no mention of forfeiture of pay. He is still on the taxpayer payroll.
Prosecutors had asked for nine months in prison and a bad conduct discharge. The defense is almost crowing over the light sentence:
Paredes' lawyer, Jeremy Warren, called the judge's lesser sentence "a stunning blow to the prosecution."Indepundit is unimpressed with the sentence:"This is an affirmation of every sailor's and military person's right to speak out and follow their conscience," he said.
This is disappointing. "Hard labor" is what most military personnel do every day. Pablo's former shipmates are five months into a six-month stint of "hard labor." I would think that an appropriate punishment would be at least as long as the deployment he skipped.Update: Further details on the sentence have come out:
US Navy Judge Robert Klant sentenced Paredes, 23, to a reduction in pay to the level of a basic recruit and ordered him to spend two months restricted to base followed by three months of hard labour.Two months of freedom and three months of "hard labor" — drawing a paycheck all the time.
But wait, it's not even that bad!
The sentence of hard labor normally involves extra duty. For two of the three months, Paredes also will be restricted to his naval base, but he will not spend time behind bars.Sentenced to hard labor and still free to walk around town at night. This certainly doesn't fit with the old movies of convicts breaking rocks!
My source (retired Army Major Advised by Wolves) assures me that being around other sailors won't be a picnic. How do you think his "band of brothers" will treat him? Probably less charitably than the Swift Boat Vets treated Kerry.
Also, upon completion of sentence he will undoubtedly receive an administrative discharge — probably a "general discharge" which is not as bad as a BCD but certainly not as good as an honorable discharge.
Which means he will never have a civil service job. Big deal.
Much of Halliburton's work for the U.S. military, ranging from building bases to delivering mail, is on a cost-plus basis, which means the company can earn up to 2 percent extra depending on its performance.Liberals, of course, blame Cheney. Awww, see the next post.Bonuses are awarded based on, among other factors, how efficient and responsible the company is to requests from the Army and is an indicator of how the Army views KBR's performance in the field.
Major Mark Bieger found this little girl after the car bomb that attacked our guys while kids were crowding around. The soldiers here have been angry and sad for two days. They are angry because the terrorists could just as easily have waited a block or two and attacked the patrol away from the kids. Instead, the suicide bomber drove his car and hit the Stryker when about twenty children were jumping up and down and waving at the soldiers.Read it all, as well as this post from John of Castle Argghhh!.
It turns out that the building also houses the offices of Caterpillar, which has lately been the target of pro-Palestinian demonstrators and activists.
The latest news is that a U.N. staffer found loitering in the area has been questioned and is regarded as a "person of interest". But police are reviewing tapes from security cameras and searching for eye witnesses. It is still unclear as to exactly what happened as it appears that one of the homemade grenades was thrown from across the street.
A Marine corporal captured on video shooting an apparently injured and unarmed Iraqi did not violate the rules of engagement and will not face a court-martial, the Marine Corps announced.
It was a first in Iraq to have female Marines embedded at the lowest levels of infantry companies and working alongside their male counterparts, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jill St. John, 39, an embark officer with CLB-8. ...Favorite quote:While female Marines were used in similar fashion during missions in Afghanistan, they were not fully integrated with line companies, St. John said.
“I’m so sick of hearing females can’t do this and females can’t do that. Blah, blah, blah,” said Cpl. Rachel Bergstrong, 20, of Cumming, Ga. “We’re in it as much as the grunts, and we love it.”
After piecing together the shrapnel, police determined the devices were toy grenades that had been filled with gunpowder. Officers estimated that one was the size of a pineapple; the other the size of a lemon.The British consulate is housed on the 9th and 10th floors of the building, but no one has claimed responsibility. And although the Brits go to the polls today (and will surely result in a Labour landslide), British citizens do not vote at consulates so any connection would be tenuous.
On the subject of the British vote today, EU Referendum holds out hope for some surprises today.
Terry Nichols has "found God" and, in a letter to Kathy Sanders (who lost two grandchildren in the bombing), is implicating a third man: Arkansas gun collector Roger Moore.
Moore was previously investigated by the FBI, but claims that he passed a lie detector test and was cleared.
The possibility that Nichols is lying cannot be ignored. He was an anti-government extremist at the time of the bombing and ten years in prison hasn't really changed that. He could just be out to throw doubt on the ability of the FBI to conduct an investigation (as if we need more reasons). On the other hand, prison often makes people talkative.
I thought at the time that it was a mistake to execute Timothy McVeigh, and not just because I am anti-death penalty. There were too many questions that only McVeigh could answer. With him dead, getting the answers will only be that much harder.
[You read it right. I'm a neocon from Texas and I'm against the death penalty. Get over it.]
Update: On the subject of the effectiveness of the FBI comes this headline: FBI mistake let suspected serial killer go free.
Jerry Vlasak, who operates a Web site in California that posts "communiques" from ALF, confirmed Thursday that the group has made claims in recent weeks that some of its members followed a Forest executive's wife to her job, entered her car, stole a credit card and bought $20,000 in traveler's checks that it then donated to four charities. ...What do you know — the FBI has decided to investigate.the group has also claimed responsibility for vandalizing a Forest plant in Inwood, on Long Island, last June.
It also claims it used a bullhorn at night for a week last October to harass a Forest Laboratories executive; glued the locks on the homes of other company executives in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and spray-painted their homes and cars with graffiti such as "puppy killer" and "murderer."
Meanwhile Senate Democrats are worried that the FBI is concentrating on the tree huggers and Islamofascists and ignoring "right wing groups":
A recent internal Homeland Security document lists the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front with a few Islamic groups that could potentially support al-Qaida as domestic terror threats.To review: we have a group of extremists that have caused millions of dollars in damage to facilities and vehicles and is bragging of their latest exploits of terrorizing white collar workers. The FBI is investigating. The Democrats want to investigate other people too.The document does not address threats posed by white supremacists, violent militiamen, anti-abortion bombers and other extremists that Mississippi Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson calls "right-wing hate groups."
This is why nuns and children are being singled out for intrusive searches in airports.
The investigation found the car was about 130 yards from the checkpoint when the soldiers flashed their lights as a warning to stop. But the car kept coming and, at 90 yards, warning shots were fired. At 65 yards, when the car failed to stop, the soldiers used lethal force — a machine gun burst that killed Calipari and wounded Sgrena and the driver.Senior U.S. military officials say it took only about four seconds from the first warning to the fatal shots, but insist the soldiers acted properly under the current rules of engagement.
The investigation failed, however, to resolve one critical dispute: The Americans claim the car was racing toward the checkpoint at about 50 miles per hour, the Italians say it was traveling at a much slower speed.
Today I am headed west of Baghdad for several days to do technical evaluations on captured enemy equipment. As I prepare to depart I'm thinking that this action is truly a non-linear (asymmetric) conflict. We have to destroy enemy fighters while quelling an insurgency and not alienating the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people are a good folk who want stability and a prosperous future for their families. Technology has allowed us, to a high degree of success, to attack the insurgent and minimize collateral damage. Human Factors Engineering is critical to ensuring we improve Soldier performance, readiness, safety and TRAINING. This is lost on the science and technology community.
Young said he dreams about combat every night, and his wounds remind him of what happened – especially on long runs or while doing pull-ups. The pain makes him wonder whether he should stay in the Marines when his hitch ends in December.If he does leave, Young has a Purple Heart and a chunk of bullet cut out of his back for souvenirs. He has also been nominated for another award based on his actions that day, according to a Marine Corps spokesman.
Even if he gets out, and puts his degree in design engineering from Eastern Kentucky University to use, Young will never forget how he got to be a sniper, medic, ammunition supplier, weapons coach, and communications specialist – all on the same day.
Said Young: “I’d always wanted to be a Marine.”
If today's campaigns do, it is primarily because the world – and Russia and America above all – has taught the terrorists that murdering women and children is an effective way to advance political goals.Most of the tactics now being used by Iraqis and Chechens were invented by the Palestinians. It was the PLO that invented airline terrorism, with a wave of hijackings in the 1970s; it was Hamas that turned suicide bombings into standard practice; even the grisly Chechen takeover of a school in Beslan this month aped the PLO's takeover of a school in Ma'alot in 1974. But such acts, far from discrediting either the perpetrators or their cause, turned Palestinian statehood into an international cause celebre....
Forty years later, a Palestinian state in every inch of the West Bank and Gaza has become an international consensus. And this achievement was not in spite of Palestinian terror but because of it: Many peoples with equal or better claims to statehood, from Tibetans to Iraqi Kurds, have sought independence without resorting to terror; yet their aspirations at best elicit lip-service support from the world, and often outright opposition. The Palestinians' success lay in persuading the international community that peace depends on meeting their demands.
