Adding Insult to Injury

Does anyone else find it odd that the US Army names their helicopters after Native American tribes and chiefs?

AH-64 Apache
UH-60 Black Hawk
CH-54 Tarhe
OH-58 Kiowa
OH-6 Cayuse
CH-47 Chinook
H-13 Sioux
UH-1 Iroquois
AH-56 Cheyenne

Are we displaying the names of the fallen like heads on spikes?

It would be one thing if these war machines were named for Natives Americans that were proud members of the US military but that doesn't seem to be what is happening here. Almost all of these chiefs and tribes are famous for resisting American dominance. The most famous contribution of Native Americans to the US military were the code talkers used largely in WWI and WWII. These men came from the tribes such as the Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw and Comanche. Many Seminoles and Crow tribesmen worked as scouts in the 1800's. Funny that these tribes seem to have been left out of the great name parade.

I'm surprised that I've never noticed this before. Apparently, a lot of people are upset about the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Redskins but this thing goes by the wayside. It's about as appropriate as if the Germans unveiled that their new line of fighting vehicles with names like the Wiesel, the Anne Frank, the Levi, and the Cohen.

Military Intelligence Quote of the Day

I really didn't want to approach the topic from a partisan angle except to the extent that the administration [which was republican] fostered an environment where politics is what drives intelligence rather than intelligence driving policy so people [in the intelligence community] of all political persuasions from left to right recognized that and understood it...We would hear all the time, "this is not in line with administration projections." Well, we're supposed to be creating administration projections with our analysis. We'd hear, "that's too pessimistic."

- A.J Rossmiller (Former DIA intelligence officer)

These quotes are from an interview by Glen Greenwald concerning Rossmiller's book: "Still Broken: A Recruit's Inside Account of Intelligence Failures, from Baghdad to the Pentagon." This is a guy who spend a couple years in Washington and a couple years in Iraq collecting and analyzing military intelligence. The main point of the book is summarized by Rossmiller in this quote from the interview:

"The problems that led to the Iraq weapon's of mass destruction debacle not only aren't improved or fixed but are in fact becoming institutionalized."

Smedley, Take Me Away

In honor of the 4th o' July, here's a tribute to a great american hero, Smedley Butler.


Even though his real name was more retro than hula hoops, his nicknames go even further to prove the man as great: "old duckboard", "old gimlet eye", and "the fighting quaker". And what a fighting quaker he was. He fought in Mexico, Cuba, China (the Boxer Rebellion), Honduras, and Haiti. He got the medal of honor twice and actually tried to give it back once because he didn't believe that he earned it. Now, that's a mensch.

Old Duckboard became director of public safety in Philadelphia during prohibition and did such a good job of cracking down on corruption that he was fired. Although I haven't found any mention of angry yelling, the rest of the story sounds like vintage Phili.

He also exposed an attempted coup by business interests which plotted to overthrow FDR. There's a bit of exciting history I don't remember seeing in any school books. Basically, in 1933, a bunch of wealthy industrialists unhappy with FDR's populist New Deal policies like social security and the WPA tried to enlist Old Gimlet Eye to become a military dictator and rule with their interests in mind. They chose Butler due to his immense popularity among veterans and service men at the time. The Fighting Quaker would have none of it. He turned them in and to no one's surprise no the whole affair was investigated enough to show that Butler was probably right and then dropped.

A lot that aforementioned popularity came from his support of the marches of the Bonus Army which in and of itself is a fascinating chapter in American history.

And of course, Smedley spent his post military years advocating for peace, exposing the collusion between foreign policy and American industrial interests, and speaking out against the military-industrial complex.

Here's a famous quote from his book, War is a Racket:

I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested.

What Kind of Peace

Thanks to a dream that I had about a month ago I got a desire to watch Oliver Stone's JFK. Now, I feel that the dream was a message by whatever force it is that conjures dreams. I have a lot to say about it but it's late. I'll just quote from a speech that Kennedy gave and a University commencement that's in the beginning of the movie and was given about 6 months before Kennedy was shot.

...what kind of a peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, and the kind that enables men and nations to grow, and to hope, and build a better life for their children -- not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women, not merely peace in our time but peace in all time...

...It is discouraging to read a recent, authoritative Soviet text on military strategy and find, on page after page, wholly baseless and incredible claims, such as the allegation that American imperialist circles are preparing to unleash different types of war, that there is a very real threat of a preventive war being unleashed by American imperialists against the Soviet Union, and that the political aims -- and I quote -- "of the American imperialists are to enslave economically and politically the European and other capitalist countries and to achieve world domination by means of aggressive war."

I just want to note two things about these quotes from the speech. First, a Pax Americana could be thought of as the foundational principle of the neoconservative movement. Second, many high ranking officials in the military and government did indeed plan on using aggressive war and first strike attacks to subdue the Soviets and achieve domination. The most overt and outspoken of these people was Curtis Le May. Kennedy certainly knew of these people and their views at the time of the speech.

He Loved Mother Russia

I've been reading a bit lately about one of the most complex and brilliant figures of the 20th century, Andrei Sakharov.Besides his achievements in the field of Russian hat wearing, Sakharov played an important although complicated role in nuclear proliferation. He was instrumental in both designing bombs and movements to limit their use. His scientific and engineering genius pushed the Soviet nuclear program to great heights in the 40s and 50s but then in the 60s the guy turned around and became a leader of the peace activists and internal critics of the Soviet system. He was an outspoken advocate of intellectual freedom as well as a strong opponent of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. For his work along those lines, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the West and was imprisoned in the closed city of Gorky for six years by the Soviet government (While I'd like to talk about "closed cities" here, this post is getting long enough as it is.).

Anyway, Mikhail Gorbachev released Sakharov from his "internal exile" in 1986 partially to get his scientific opinion on the planned US missile defence shield. Sakharov's main advice, by the way, was that the shield could be largely ignored as it would easily be fooled and effectively nullified (a fact which is most certain known by Putin and most certainly been told to and fogotten by Bush). What really interests me though is that Sakharov continued to advocate for reform but was also willing to give military advice to the Soviet government. I can understand the man's confusion since I used to drink Miller Lite because it tastes great but then I find out it's less filling. DILEMMA!

His scientific achievements include two of my favorite nerd fantasy level ideas. The first one being the invention (worked on in conjunction with Igor Tamm) of the Tokamak, a machine that attempts to use a toroidal magnetic field to contain a plasma and produce fusion energy. Now that's the kind of science a geek can chip a tooth on!

The second idea is that gravity is not a fundamental force but instead is an emergent quantum property. That one makes a person feel smart just saying it. So, what the hell does that mean? Well if you're a physicist you can just read this paper. But here's the layman's cliffnotes: Basically, the idea is that if you looked at the fundamental rules of how things behaved at a quantum level, gravity wouldn't be in there. Gravity only looks like a rule when you put together a large group of quantumy things. This theory is called induced gravity and has some proponents even today.

If you still don't understand emergence, just think of traffic. If you look at the local traffic laws, you won't find the rule that you must slow down as you go into a tunnel or as more and more cars get on the road. But, if you look at the behavior of cars on the road this might as well be a law. That's how the concept of emergence works.

(Photo of Sakharov via Gulag)

Big Boy the Sepoy

The King of Saudia Arabia has called the US war in Iraq an occupation. So, is the US effort a form of colonization or not? A show on Open Source Radio brought up some interesting ideas concerning this question by investigating the so-called Sepoy Mutiny (Indians call it the First War of Indian Independence) which led to the undeniable colonization of India by Britain. I'm not going to discuss my conclusions about the Britain in India and the US in Iraq in this post. Maybe later. I will say that a complete evaluation of the US occupation of Iraq should compare it with not only the British colonization of India but also the British colonization of Iraq.

I recommend a listen here: http://www.radioopensource.org/the-first-neo-cons-and-the-last-mughal/

and for those of you that are "readers" check this out: http://www.newstatesman.com/200610160035

"It was literally murder . . . The women were all spared but their screams, on seeing their husbands and sons butchered, were most painful . . . I feel no pity, but when some old grey bearded man is brought and shot before your very eyes, hard must be that man's heart I think who can look on with indifference . . ."

-Edward Vibart, a 19-year-old British officer

Indian Soldiers Being Executed by British Canons

(picture via indhistory)

Problems with Gender in the Military

Helen Benedict is writing a book on woman in the US military based on her interviews with 20 some female veterans. I've never been in the military myself but what these woman had to say is a bit disturbing. Benedict describes her findings in an article in Salon this week. Read it here. Here are some quotes:

"the Defense Department put up a Web site in 2005 designed to clarify that sexual assault is illegal "

"A 2003 survey of female veterans from Vietnam through the first Gulf War found that 30 percent said they were raped in the military."

"I was sexually assaulted by a superior officer when I was 19, but I didn't know where to turn, so I never reported it."

"you can't fit in if you make waves about it. You rat somebody out, you're screwed. You're gonna be a loner until they eventually push you out."

I'm just wondering how the military can protect Iraqi woman if it is having a hard time protecting female soldiers. Again, not having been in the military myself, or having done any of the research myself I can't say that this represents the majority of woman in the military but even a minority with this kind of experience is more than enough.

One particularly insidious aspect of how the culture of the military can deal with these situations is that woman are isolated and pressured if they report an incident while the perpetrators are better protected. There is no problem if it's not reported.

I would certainly doubt that this is a universal experience but unfortunately, there is plenty of evidence to support Benedict and her interviewees statements that it is a widespread problem. I believe the strongest source is a study by AG Sadler and others of female veterans. That is the study mentioned in the first quote about 30% of female veterans having experienced sexual assault. Not available online but citation is at the bottom of this post...

Second, the Department of Defense Task Force Report on Care for Victims of Sexual Assault from April 2004 does not paint a pretty picture either. You can download the pdf here. It is a fairly detailed document which supports, describes, and validates many of the findings of other studies. I also find few motivations for Department of Defense to exaggerate this problem as opposed to sweeping it under the rug of doubt. It is interesting to compare this Report on Care with the DoD's Sexual Harassment Survey of 2002 (again pdf). In light of the later Task Force Report, the Harassment Survey seems too weak because it ignores problems with under reporting.

I'm trying not to bore with a list of studies but here's another available online. And then there's the Denver Post articles.

Sadler, A.G., B.M. Booth, B.L. Cook, and B.N. Doebbeling. 2003. Factors Associated with Women’s Risk of Rape in the Military Environment. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 43:262–273.