Richard Disney

When Major General Jeffrey Hammond said last week, “In a most humble manner, I look into your eyes today and I say ‘Please forgive me and my soldiers,’” he may not have begun a new era of weak American leadership, but he certainly signaled how submissive the U.S. military leadership has become.

MG Hammond supplicated to Sunni tribal sheiks in Iraq because an American soldier used a copy of the Koran (Qur’an) for target practice on a rifle range shared with an Iraqi police unit. General Hammond went further to say that the actions of the American rifleman when shooting the copy of the Islamic holy book were, “nothing more than criminal behavior.” I question what part of shooting any book is criminal unless Hammond is ordering his soldiers to abide by Islamic Sharia law. Was the decision by the U.S. soldier to shoot a Koran an example of bad judgment? Yes. Is shooting an inanimate object, whether it is a book or not, a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice? Absolutely not!

The Jihadists must be howling with laughter knowing that one of the senior American military leaders in Iraq, dutifully bowed his head in submission to Islam. If a U.S. soldier right after World War 2 had been caught shooting a copy of Mein Kampf, would a new copy of that book have been given to our West German allies with a public apology from a senior general? Hell, no. Mein Kampf was a book that helped drive the National Socialist (Nazi) ideology to attack other countries and commit mass murder against “undesirables.” In the past and now, the Koran drives the Jihadi ideology to attack all countries and advocates mass murder against all “infidels”.

American military generals used to be known around the world for powerful quotations and actions in the face of adversity. When an apology was demanded from Iraqi sheiks, General Hammond should have replied using a pithy remark similar to the reply Brigadier General McAuliffe gave to the Nazis demanding his surrender at Bastogne…”NUTS!” If Hammond had come up with a strong reply he may have gone down in history as another steadfast American General who kicked ass and took names. Instead, General Hammond will be remembered as “The American General who begged forgiveness.”

The motto of the 4th Infantry Division, which MG Hammond commands, is “Steadfast and Loyal”. Hammond has given the impression that the motto includes being steadfast and loyal to Islamic Sharia Law. Islam means “submission” and the Islamic leadership must love the image of an American General submitting to Islamic sensibilities.

MG Hammond’s last foray into national news was when he chided a large group of junior officers at Fort Hood for having the audacity to agree with an article written by Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling called, “A failure in generalship.” By chiding the junior officers and telling them in essence that nobody can judge a general except other generals, Hammond was proving LTC Yingling’s point. Now with MG Hammond’s supplication to Sharia Law, Yinglings points are being proven further.

Because of the recent Obama Appeasement Kerfuffle, this video deserves another view. This Zucker video parodies Republican James Baker on his willingness to negotiate with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (محمود احمدی‌نژاد). Substitute Barack Obama for James Baker in this video and you see what an Obama presidency would look like in reference to Middle East policy.

President W Bush gave a speech in Israel a few days back where Bush said,

“There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. It’s natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously. Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

In response to Bush’s comments, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama took offense at the comments even though Obama wasn’t mentioned by name. In fact Obama was so forceful in his denunciation of Bush’s words it seemed that Obama took ownership of the appeasement position and felt a great need to defend it. It is indicative when Obama and other Democrats are so touchy when a general reference to appeasement is made during a Presidential speech. As Shakespeare might have put it, “…[Obama] doth protest too much, methinks.”

If you have ever read the novel by Robert Heinlein titled Starship Troopers, you will see that this new suit could be a step in that fictional direction.

From Breitbart.com

May 15 01:44 PM US/Eastern
By MARK JEWELL
AP Business Writer

Rex Jameson bikes and swims regularly, and plays tennis and skis when time allows. But the 5-foot-11, 180-pound software engineer is lucky if he presses 200 pounds—that is, until he steps into an “exoskeleton” of aluminum and electronics that multiplies his strength and endurance as many as 20 times.

With the outfit’s claw-like metal hand extensions, he gripped a weight set’s bar at a recent demonstration and knocked off hundreds of repetitions. Once, he did 500.

“Everyone gets bored much more quickly than I get tired,” Jameson said.

Jameson—who works for robotics firm Sarcos Inc. in Salt Lake City, which is under contract with the U.S. Army—is helping assess the 150-pound suit’s viability for the soldiers of tomorrow. The suit works by sensing every movement the wearer makes and almost instantly amplifying it.

The Army believes soldiers may someday wear the suits in combat, but it’s focusing for now on applications such as loading cargo or repairing heavy equipment. Sarcos is developing the technology under a two-year contract worth up to $10 million, and the Army plans initial field tests next year.

Before the technology can become practical, the developers must overcome cost barriers and extend the suit’s battery life. Jameson was tethered to power cords during his demonstration because the current battery lasts just 30 minutes.

But the technology already offers evidence that robotics can amplify human muscle power in reality—not just in the realm of comic books and movies like the recently debuted “Iron Man,” about a wealthy weapons designer who builds a high-tech suit to battle bad guys.

“Everybody likes the idea of being a superhero, and this is all about expanding the capabilities of a human,” said Stephen Jacobsen, chief designer of the Sarcos suit.

The Army’s exoskeleton research dates to 1995, but has yet to yield practical suits. Sarcos’ technology sufficiently impressed Raytheon Co., however, that the Waltham, Mass.-based defense contractor bought Sarcos’ robotics business last November. Sarcos also has developed robotic dinosaurs for a Universal Studios’ “Jurassic Park” theme park ride.

Jack Obusek, a former colonel now with the Army’s Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center in the Boston suburb of Natick, foresees robot-suited soldiers unloading heavy ammunition boxes from helicopters, lugging hundreds of pounds of gear over rough terrain or even relying on the suit’s strength-enhancing capabilities to make repairs to tanks that break down in inconvenient locations.

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Hat Tip: First Friday Collective

A funny item for Friday.

Remember not to drink and drive, but given the choice, it is now cheaper to drink.

There should be more coverage of stories like this one in the Main Stream Media (MSM).

BY Sgt. Daniel Love

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Army News Service, May 1, 2008) - A 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Soldier was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross during a ceremony here Wednesday for valorous actions during Operation Enduring Freedom.

A 20-year veteran, Master Sgt. Brendan O’Connor, formerly a senior medic on a 2nd Battalion, 7th SFG (A) Operational Detachment Alpha, was presented the award while he stood before family, friends, and fellow Soldiers.

“For the men who were with him that day, Master Sergeant O’Connor is a savior,” said Adm. Eric T. Olson, commander of United States Special Operations Command, who presented the award to O’Connor.

“For all Americans, he is a hero, and for all members of special operations across the services, he is a source of enormous pride,” he said.

O’Connor was instrumental in keeping his team alive during an intense battle with more than 250 Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan on June 22, 2006. While making a temporary stop during a patrol, his team and their attached Afghan National Army soldiers were attacked from all sides with small-arms fire, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, recoilless rifles and mortars.

During the 17 1/2 hours of sustained combat that followed, O’Connor and his team fought off wave after wave of Taliban attackers from a group of small compounds, fighting for their lives against insurgents who were intent on killing or capturing the beleaguered defenders. Much of the combat was so close that the defenders of the compounds could hear cursing and taunting from the enemies who swarmed the perimeter.

After hearing two Soldiers were wounded at another location, O’Connor removed his body armor and low-crawled under heavy machine gun fire to treat and extract his wounded comrades. O’Connor then carried a wounded Soldier back to a safer area, again passing through intense fire. One teammate commented that as he was crawling, machine gun fire “mowed the grass” around him.

“I don’t think that what I did was particularly brave,” said O’Connor. “My friend needed help and I had the opportunity to help him, so I did. I think I’m lucky to get this sort of recognition; there are so many other Soldiers who do similarly brave things overseas and are happy with just a pat on the back when they get home.”

O’Connor is the second Soldier to be awarded the DSC for actions taken in Operation Enduring Freedom. The first was a 5th Special Forces Group Soldier, Maj. Mark Mitchell in 2003. Before Mitchell there had been none since the Vietnam War. The DSC is the second highest award for valor, surpassed only by the Medal of Honor.

“I’ve never been more honored, but this medal belongs to my whole team,” said O’Connor.

“Every member was watching out for the other, inspiring each other, and for some, sacrificing for each other. We all fought hard, and it could just as easily be any one of them standing up here getting it pinned on; every one of them is a hero,” he said.