Rumsfeld undercut by his own subordinates

Transcript from NBC Nightly News 10/26/06
(from Lexis-Nexis database, my emphasis added below)

MIKLASZEWSKI: When Rumsfeld questioned the tone from reporters, reporters questioned back.
Can you blame us for the tone, expressing some skepticism, because...
Sec. RUMSFELD: Well, no. That's your job. You can--you can express all the skepticism you want.
MIKLASZEWSKI: A benchmark has been laid down in terms of security forces and the like, the Iraqis have been unable to meet them.
Sec. RUMSFELD: That is just false. We should...
Offscreen Voice #1: You have no leverage...
Mr. RUMSFELD: Just a minute. Just a minute.
That is false. I mean, that is--there's people ranting like that up on the Hill, but that is just wrong to say that. It's not even--it isn't even close to being true.
MIKLASZEWSKI: In terms of their ability to provide for their own security, there are many times when the US has called upon them where they just haven't stood up.
Sec. RUMSFELD: Anyone who runs around denigrating the Iraqi security forces and minimizing their capability is making a mistake and doesn't understand the situation. Thank you.

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So, apparently, Maj Gen JD Thurman, Commander, 4th Infantry Division, and Multi-National Division, Baghdad, "doesn't understand the situation"
From NY Times (scroll down for article link in earlier post)
“Part of our problem is that we want this more than they do,” General Thurman said, alluding to the effort to get the Iraqis to put aside sectarian differences and build a unified Iraq. “We need to get people to stop worrying about self and start worrying about Iraq. And that is going to take national unity.”
“Until we get that settled I think we are going to struggle,” he added.

military regalia

Kids wearing military clothing don't bother me; we all play dressup sometime.
Adults who have not earned the military regalia they walk around in - even just combat boots - should be ashamed of themselves. Especially when people are dying to earn their stripes right now.

Why Iraq is falling apart

To Stand or Fall in Baghdad: Capital Is Key to Mission - New York Times

“Part of our problem is that we want this more than they do,” General Thurman said, alluding to the effort to get the Iraqis to put aside sectarian differences and build a unified Iraq. “We need to get people to stop worrying about self and start worrying about Iraq. And that is going to take national unity.”

A very trusted friend in Baghdad pointed me to this article as an accurate reflection of what's going on there on the ground. I think this quote sums it up quite well.

C4ISRJournal.com - Out of the fog

C4ISRJournal.com - Out of the fog
Out of the fog: Training tools prepare commanders to deal with the unknown

This article makes me sound like a lot more of an expert than I probably deserve, but hey, why not? :)

Fantastic Military Photos

Follow the link to see the photos.
ASK Brown Military Collection: Photographs of Napoleon's Veterans

Some of the earliest photographs of veterans are a series of fifteen original sepia views of members of Napoleon's army taken when these old soldiers were well into their 70's and 80's. It is not known how Mrs. Brown acquired them. They measure 12' tall by 10' wide and are mounted on stiff card. At some time in the 20th century, the name of each veteran and his regiment was inscribed in pencil on the verso of each.
These remarkable photographs provide probably the only surviving images of veterans of the Grande Armee and the Guard actually wearing their original
uniforms and insignia, although some of the uniforms have obviously been recut by tailors of the 1850's. Each is a formal portrait of an individual gentleman photographed in a studio. Some of the men stand in front of a blank or paneled wall on a elaborately decorated carpet, while others are seated. One old veteran who appears to have lost his right eye, Monsieur Loria of the 24th Mounted Chasseur Regiment and a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, stands against a piece of furniture that appears also in other portraits by a curtain. It is not known who the photographer was and the blurring on one or two suggests the difficulty aging subjects had in standing still for several seconds while the plates were exposed.

bomb 'em all...

Murphy's Law: The USN Notes The Passing of an Era

There are a lot more nations out there in need of a good bombing, than can protect their own air space.