11 August 2007

Worldwide Web War on Mufsidoon

via SWJ

While we have a few Americans who take similar action against mufsidoon (evildoers) web sites, why don’t we encourage Americans/western “geeks” to go after these websites? Exploit them, disrupt them, shut them down, post false information, and create distrust. This will not be a government controlled or directed effort. Essentially, I am suggesting a leaderless effort that allows Americans to use their creativity, technological skills, and the rabid dedication some people will apply to such a project. The mufsidoon are coming after all American citizens; this is a way some Americans can fight back.

10 August 2007

Stone and Sharratt Cleared in Haditha Case

All charges dropped against 2 Marines in Haditha killings

All charges were dropped against a captain accused of failing to investigate the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, the Marine Corps announced Thursday. Also, all charges were dropped against Marine Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt, who had been accused of killing three Iraqi brothers in response to a roadside bomb attack in Haditha in 2005.
Statements from Gen. Mattis on the Capt. Stone and LCpl. Sharratt decisions

Murtha: Mum's the word.

Pundit Review:
Making this nightmare even worse, Murtha is the Sharratt’s congressmen. It took Darryl Sharratt 53 phone calls over 18 months to get Murtha on the line.
More at Gateway Pundit and memeorandum.

Previous: Haditha Roundup

07 August 2007

Not Blogging About Beauchamp

Initially, I had zero motivation to blog about Scott Thomas Beauchamp.

As the story developed, I started having negative motivation to write about him. Not a motivation to write negative things about him, mind you, but an increasing determination not to write about it at all.

I did follow the story for two reasons: the military component and the blog/journalism component.

I still don't feel motivated to write about the military component of this story.

I do want to say a few things at this point about the blog/journalism component.

  1. I thought Michael Goldfarb's Fact or Fiction? post was good blogging.
    But we believe that the best chance for getting at the truth is likely to come from the combined efforts of the blogosphere, which has, in the past, proven adept at determining the reliability of such claims. To that end we'd encourage the milblogging community to do some digging of their own, and individual soldiers and veterans to come forward with relevant information--either about the specific events or their plausibility in general.

    Does anyone who has served at FOB Falcon remember hearing about or seeing the humiliation of this woman? Do they know her name and how we might get in contact with her to confirm the author's account of the events that day?

    Is anyone familiar with a combat outpost a few miles south of the Baghdad airport where a mass grave of Iraqi children was discovered? What about the other parts of the story? And does anyone else know of Bradleys careening wildly through the streets of Baghdad?
  2. I think early on, many milbloggers did a good job of trying to answer those questions and the story pretty much peaked (for me, anyway) around July 21, three days after Goldfarb's initial post, when Major Kirk Luedeke, PAO for FOB Falcon, responded to the story. Determining the identity of "Scott Thomas," and the veracity of his claims, was just a matter of time from that point on. I certainly thought the military chain of command at FOB Falcon was then in a better position than anyone else (including TNR and WWS) to report back what they found.

  3. My "negative motivation" was a reaction to much of what I read about the story from July 21 until now.

  4. Today I read BLOGS MISSING THE REAL STORY AS USUAL by Rick Moran:
    I only know a growing sense of unease elicited by the notion that by overhyping stories like the Beauchamp caper, the credibility of the medium suffers. For that reason alone, it may be time to put down the blood stained hatchets and begin to seriously examine just what we should be doing that will increase our influence rather than make us look like a bunch of one dimensional attack dogs.
Bingo! The Lippman-Dewey Blogosphere.

UPDATE: For those that consider Beauchamp a "victory" for the blogosphere. I'd rank it right up there with James Dale "Jeff Gannon" Guckert.

There's always tomorrow...

James Fallows

The problems with the media are the same as I tried to describe 11 years ago -- just worse, and with new technology. But there's always tomorrow...

06 August 2007

Kickin' Back Guitar

CANdyRAT records has a YouTube channel that is a "must see" if you enjoy great acoustic guitar.

05 August 2007

NBC Dateline Reporter flees Defcon 15

Bloggers' Roundtable: PRTs in Iraq

Small Wars Journal
MountainRunner
wretchard at Belmont Club

Transcript is at FNS but not yet at DoD's Bloggers' Roundtable archive.

Related:



Iraq Briefing August 1
Brinkley, Reeker, Bergner Brief Media
Paul Brinkley, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Philip Reeker, US Embassy, Baghdad, and BG Kevin Bergner, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman, speak with reporters in Iraq, August 1, 2007

Why Jon Soltz Blew It

Jon Soltz led a panel session at YearlyKos called, "The Military and Progressives: Are They Really That Different?" (reg. req.)

At the end of the session, during the Q&A, a Sergeant [David D. Aguina] in his "Class A" service uniform stood at the floor microphone to ask a question and Soltz immediately attacked him for being in uniform and warned him not to make a political point (watch video).

I also question the propriety of wearing the uniform to YearlyKos. I seriously doubt the Sergeant [Aguina] was there on official business. If he was, then he was in the right uniform. If he wasn't, he should have worn civilian clothes.

It would have been appropriate for Jon Soltz to wait until after the session to inform the Sergeant [Aguina] of the uniform policy and regulation. It would also have been appropriate to ask the Sergeant [Aguina] his name and unit when he approached the microphone or after the session if Soltz intended to report a possible violation to the Sergeant [Aguina]'s chain of command.

What was not appropriate was to "pull rank" while a YearlyKos moderator from the session's stage. The moment Mr. Jon Soltz announced himself as Captain Jon Soltz and threatened the Sergeant [Aguina] from a position of military authority - by virtue of his rank - from the stage of the YearlyKos session, he may have put himself in a deeper predicament than the Sergeant [Aguina] faced (see 5 C.F.R. 2635.807(b) Reference to official position.).

I also find it incredibly hypocritical that Soltz uses a picture of himself in uniform on his YearlyKos webpage (with his Captain's rank clearly visible) and his VoteVets bio webpage, and yet is quick to admonish - as "Captain Soltz" and YearlyKos panelist and moderator - a Sergeant for being in uniform as an attendee of YearlyKos.

UPDATE: I'm heartened to read this from Brandon Friedman (aka The Angry Rakkasan):

I've talked to Jon several times since Friday morning, and if he had it to do over again, he would have handled it a little differently.