Ich bin kein Clausewitz aber...

Carl von Clausewitz, Prussian General, Military Theorist

I was just a lowly (sic) Master Sergeant in the Air Force, I was not some great theoretical strategist. But I did know a thing or two.

My captain and I had a bet on how the Gulf War would open when we decided to cross the line of departure and kick some butt. I won the bet.

I'm no genius but I'm not exactly wet behind the ears either.

Von Clausewitz is kind of famous amongst the cognoscenti for saying "War is a mere continuation of politics by other means," ("Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln"). The current crowd in DC (on Capitol Hill, the White House and across the river at the Five-Sided Puzzle Palace) are all about the politics.

As regards military strategy, I think a group of really smart first-graders might give the current crowd a run for their money.

Again we're launching Tomahawk missiles into "sand land" - by the way we plan to stop building those in 2015 from what I hear (see McGrath). Use 'em fast they'll be all gone soon! (Then what do we do, throw rocks at them?) Do the bad guys stand still so we can get a good position on them? Or are we going after truck parks and such?

Yes, we also have aircraft dropping bombs on ISIS. How do you know who's with ISIS and who's not? Or do we just bomb everyone wearing black? (I think I've heard that music before.)

What happens when one of our birds goes in? If you support this business would you want your son or daughter in one of those jets inbound? I don't.

What's the goal? What's the frigging objective? Kill a bunch of AK-toters, declare "victory" and go home? (Worked really well in Libya didn't it?)

In other idiocy, my old service is looking (again) to dump the A-10? The Air Force Chief of Staff thinks the B-1 can do that job now and the F-35 pick it up later. That's a guy wearing the four stars of an Air Force general. A fighter pilot! He actually has flown the A-10. (See JQP.)

To hear him talk, you'd think we were re-fighting WWII. Quick someone tell Al Qaeda and the Taliban to buy uniforms and tanks. Oh wait, they'll have all that crap once we pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Free of charge, courtesy of us, the taxpayers! Then General Welch can play 8th Air Force and bomb Remagen, actually that would be it's sand-land equivalent. Wherever that is.

Check out the Greenie Board as well. Not only are we providing the bad guys with tanks apparently, but we're going to leave behind something like 1200 MRAPs! (MRAP = Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, think armored truck. Expensive armored truck.)

Yeah, why should the Taliban have to walk to war? Let 'em drive, courtesy of Detroit. (Hhmm, where do they build MRAPs?)

Of course, the maintenance and upkeep of those vehicles is probably a bit much for a bunch of tribal types. But with the money they make from opium, they can probably hire all the mechanics they need. Doesn't Pakistan have trouble employing all of its citizens?

The argument for leaving the MRAPs in Afghanistan is that it would cost 50 grand (each) to ship them home, 10 grand (each) to destroy them in place.

You could buy an MRAP for something north of one million bucks. Oh wait, you already did.

Holy crap! To you and me, that's some serious change. But I guess to Uncle Sugar it's chump change.

Did anyone think about this nonsense when they shipped the stuff over there?

I think not.

Here's an idea, give each member of Congress (House and Senate) an M-4, 200 rounds of ammo and the keys to an MRAP. Let those sorry sumbitches drive them home. But wait, that's not nearly enough personnel to drive 1200 vehicles home. I know, we'll send all the GOFOs* with the Congress critters and give them the same deal: M-4, 200 rounds and a set of keys. (Gee, I don't think military vehicles actually have keys, do they? Ah well, it's a metaphor, yeah that's what it is, a metaphor.)

One more thing. We have 3000 of our folks, our sons and daughters, going to Africa to help fight that Ebola epidemic. Are you scared now? What if it was your son or daughter? (What caliber weapon do you use to "fight" Ebola? - Personally I'm thinking napalm would work. But gee, someone might get hurt. Better let our own folks go in harm's way so everyone will like us. Right? Bueller? Bueller...)

Yeah, some days I read too much and get all worked up. But my word, does anyone in charge have clue one about anything?

Term limits is my mantra, "one and done" should be our cry. We can haggle over the length of a term, but this would sure remove that "campaign finance reform" problem. (On the down side, it would put the Political Action Committees out of business. Oh wait, that's a good thing, right?)

Beats "same clowns different circus" year after year after...

Sigh, I think I'll go lie down for a bit.

DAMMIT!

/end rant






*GOFO = general officer, flag officer, the men and women who wear stars on their shoulders. Generals and admirals, oh my.