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"Poor wording on his part when he likely meant what you are advocating." Unlikely, considering the way other issues are approached by the administration. "It is a gross exaggeration to say that a region of the country is 'controlled' by gangs," Slight exaggeration, NOT gross. The Mexican...

I disagree - I think it shows that a large enough number of monkeys at a large enough number of typewriters will eventually write a large amount of crap. I do have a suggestion for the plot of the movie - Tom Cruise could team up with Sylvester Stallone as Maverick and Rambo kick some serious...

Maybe they could cut out desserts on board ship. That would save money and be healthier.

There is a lot of value in tradition; that does need to be considered in this discussion. However, I would say that during my time in the Navy, I did not see a difference in the quality of the officers I served with that correlated with their commissioning source.

By "incorrect/misleading" I am referring to what the mainstream media puts out, not what the military puts out. I fully realize that the military does not control the media, and can't do whatever it wants to do as far as putting news out. And that is the way it should be. It sounds like you have...

The incorrect/misleading information outweighs the information that presents an accurate picture. Our military has done a poor job combatting that (yes, that is an appropriate term), much to the detriment of the mission. The media can't be controlled, but a better effort should be made to make...

The media can be "used" to a higher degree than we currently do. IMO, they aren't aggressive enough with the press releases, and make it more difficult than it needs to be for embeds. I have the impression that they would be better off giving military bloggers more freedom, but there is a very...

Another analysis of the lack of public affairs awareness http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/rolling-stone-the-mcchrystalites-deserve-each-other/

In general, we sure don't use the media very effectively in this struggle against Islamism.

Rolling Stone author misled the military? http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/25/pentagon-official-rolling-stone-made-mcchrystals-staff-think-they-were-speaking-off-the-record/ ROE being relaxed? http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/25/report-petraeus-to-relax-rules-of-engagement-in-afghanistan/

That depended on the timing. In 1996 no one that I am aware of was allowed to stay in after being passed over the second time. That was only the second year of the program, though, so they were still being pretty aggressive in cutting the numbers down.

He wasn't a helicopter pilot.

Analysis of what Petraeus is facing compared to Iraq http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/24/AR2010062402982.html

How badly do you want to finish college? How badly do you want to be an officer in the Navy? How badly do you want to fly? What would you feel about being a non-aviation, non-SEAL officer? How badly do you want to be a SEAL? Would you rather take a chance on being an enlisted SEAL...

I think a reasonably stable Afghanistan, which doesn't provide significant support/oases for the Taliban, is definitely possible. Not so sure about Pakistan, though.

It gives the President an opportunity to get rid of the deadline, and Eikenberry, if he wants. This would provide him at least limited cover with his base, which he seems very hesitant to cross.

Another good column on this: http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2010/06/23/last-chance-saloon/#more-9543 A follow-on comment by the author of the column: "Some wag wrote that the President can spare 10 minutes for Afghanistan, 20 minutes for the oil spill and maybe an hour for the...

Interesting observations by VDH: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTMyZWI5NmYzYmIxZmZlYWM5Y2JiYjRlZmQwYzRjYWU= The closing paragraph: It is one of ironies of our present warped climate that Petraeus will face far less criticism from the media and politicians than during 2007–8 (there...

I wonder if SecState is having a willing suspension of disbelief that President Obama put Petraeus in charge of Afghanistan.

It could end up reasonably well, if Petraeus gets personally involved (at least for awhile), Eikenberry and Holbrooke get replaced with people that support the program, and the President uses this as an excuse to remove the deadline. I'm not sure that he is willing to stand up to the left third...

I doubt they would, especially if a McChrystal resignation is the catalyst for other resignations on the civilian side (i.e. Eikenberry).

http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/mccain-mcchrystal McCain's thoughts

Some more thoughts on this: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTQ4YWZkNzY4YTE1NDE1NGM2NGViNDZjMmJjMTViZmU= http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/22/did-obama-reap-what-he-sowed-with-mcchrystal/

Admiral Fowler does a very smooth job of talking around the points Prof Fleming made, which is to be expected. From my observations (as a USNA grad), I didn't see a difference in the fleet between commissioning sources. Clearly Academy grads had a head start when it comes to general military...

I don't think so; mere mortals can't comprehend what goes on on Mount Olympus. Just trust them!!

It seems that either McChrystal is an idiot, which I don't think, or he is intentionally forcing a confrontation. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/mcchrystal-an-accident-waiting-to-happen-96878494.html http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38842.html...

The upper leadership in the military gets put in an impossible position - they often have to support and implement policies they don't agree with, without acknowledging their actual feelings, even though they repeatedly asked for their opinion. So should they resign, and let someone else who is...

I agree that he would benefit from doing that; I don't think it would have a direct effect on the polls, though. That would come from more effective policies (which might be the result of someone other than Emanuel being the COS; but would also require a change in priorities from the rest of the...

Good analysis of this story and the potential effects (positive and negative) if it is true: http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/21/rahm-on-the-way-out/

"shows your animosity to athletes as 2 of 13 are being separated that had anything to do with Navy football, the vast majority had none. So who is more culpable ? Regular Academ grads or 2 footballers." You might want to look at the number of football players vs total number of graduates; I...

Fantastic opportunity - taking family aspects into account, was the best tour of my time in the Navy. And proved VERY beneficial in my post-Navy career.

No snide comments about A4S, please.

If someone is willing to cheat, they are probably willing to lie, too.

But there is no such thing as a hangar queen!!

"The goat is old and gnarly and he's never been to school ..." (I paid attention plebe summer!!)

Forwarded to you? I thought this was from your fitrep during your tour as her supply officer!!

Yes, it does matter. They will put more effort into opposing our efforts, and will be able to convince at least some of the non-Taliban that our efforts are simply a cover for us to control the mineral wealth. In the near term Pakistan is interested in influence over the region, not "control"...

Good column on this issue: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/iran-cannot-be-contained-15462

This will probably increase Taliban and Pakistani interest in maximizing their areas of influence.

They fear them getting the bomb. Period. And they are (apparently) willing to antagonize them if necessary to stop that. If Iran gets a bomb, the result will be an arms race in the MidEast or Iran using the threat of their nuclear capabilities to bully the rest of the region. And their proxies...

You said it yourself - they fear Iran more. Apparently the Saudis are irrational, too. Supposedly they will temporarily deactiavate that portion of their air defenses to allow Israel to use their airspace, and then they will activate it again, and claim that they didn't know what was going on.

Increased military capability from Russian and Chinese sales of military equipment to Iran, as well as the re-arming and growth of Hezbollah. The probable consequences of an Israeli attack on Iran would be Hezbollah actions against Israel; but that is going to happen anyway. It's just a matter...

What a strike will do is give the Iranians a taste of what will come if they continue with the program. That may or may not deter them, but it is clear to Israel that the U.S. and Europe support for them is weakening, while Iran is getting stronger militarily, Hezbollah is growing in strength...

ANd those who have been saying not to be concerned about the potential for an Iranian bomb show their cluelessness.

Well, at least not the 25 foot stone kind.

It's amazing how adaptable the human body is.

"One large squat processing facility, ornate in its “spend-it-or-lose-it” military financing."

Well, if having a paper route actually helped my career, I shudder to think what it would have been like had I not had the paper route.

There's a lot more that goes into not being a pussy than athletic skill. And the sooner the Academy realizes that, the better.

4 AM, in some not-so-nice areas of town. Got really good with throwing papers, though, and riding my bike with no hands, while I took papers out of my baskets, folded them, and put them in the sack. (The route was about 3/4 of a mile from my house, so that cut down on the number of trips back to...