A Modest Proposal

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Saturday January 10, 2009 · 1:28 PM PST

2009/01/10 · 13:28

Kossacks,

Earlier this week I asked for your generous click-power in the 2008 Weblog Awards in the Best Military Blog category. Once again, I come to you for help.

ThisDudesArmy

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Tuesday January 06, 2009 · 6:59 AM PST

2009/01/06 · 06:59

There has been a disconnect between the progressive movement and the military for some time now. That was evident when I spoke on the military blogging panel at Netroots Nation alongside Brandon Friedman and we whipped up a crowd of about fifteen people, mostly convention-goers trying to find the coffee stand. Among many progressives there has been the deeply held belief that only right wing conservatives join the military, leaving little to identify with. While a good portion of the military tilts toward the right, it still has a great deal of moderates and liberals who are pretty unhappy with the Bush misadventure in Iraq.

ThisDudesArmy

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Thursday December 25, 2008 · 12:58 PM PST

2008/12/25 · 12:58

Not many Kossacks are familar with the backdoor draft policy of the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve) in the military. After leaving the service, thousands of soldiers have been plucked right out of civilian life to be thrown back into Iraq. Every soldier that leaves the military lives with a foreboding that degrades even the strongest will. This is a story of that degradation.

ThisDudesArmy

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Monday September 01, 2008 · 5:19 PM PDT

2008/09/01 · 17:19

This November will mark the second time that I have been eligible to vote in a presidential election. I was barely nineteen years old when it came time to cast my ballot in 2004. Like any other teenager, I was clueless about the world of politics. I read only the front page of newspapers. I didn't know what a blog was, much less read them. It's safe to say that I was in the realm of the uninformed but not undecided; my parents were voting for George W. Bush. I shook his hand at a 5K in Dallas when he was still my governor. I figured that was good enough.

ThisDudesArmy

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Monday July 28, 2008 · 6:11 PM PDT

2008/07/28 · 18:11

Don't tell the pathetic non-serving members of the old media (and new media), but the surge wasn't wholly responsible for the drop in violence seen in Iraq over the last year. I have outlined the three main reasons violence has subsided, but one of the more important aspects is still largely misunderstood and mischaracterized by the punditry across the country.

ThisDudesArmy

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Tuesday June 17, 2008 · 6:23 PM PDT

2008/06/17 · 18:23

Ugh:

President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House.

Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source.

The last year in a president's term is always the legacy year, a twelve month countdown to leave on a high note and look good for the history books. But this redoubled effort to bag Osama bin Laden is a pitiful stretch to rescue what is already a writhing abortion of American stature, both home and abroad.

ThisDudesArmy

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Tuesday March 25, 2008 · 3:17 PM PDT

2008/03/25 · 15:17

I want you to close your eyes for just a moment (not now, please keep reading!). Sit back, relax and clear your mind. Think about the purported success in Iraq and what it means. Do you think it's the surge? A new strategy? Why the sudden lull in violence? Sort them out the best you can.

Now, imagine this success as a tripod, supporting the base with three legs:

The surge/fifteen month deployments

The Sadr Ceasefire

Awakening Councils (The 'Concerned Local Nationals')

Any good tripod cannot stand unless all of its legs are strong and sturdy. Let's briefly look at each to check on their current situation.

ThisDudesArmy

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Wednesday March 19, 2008 · 12:24 PM PDT

2008/03/19 · 12:24

Media outlets are bursting at the seams with hard numbers this week: five years of war in Iraq and nearly 4,000 soldiers killed since March 2003. But for the few Americans that have seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a number that is more somber and reflective than any body count: one.

ThisDudesArmy

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Thursday March 13, 2008 · 1:18 PM PDT

2008/03/13 · 13:18

If you're reading these exact words on Daily Kos, then congratulations, you're probably more informed than most of society on current events. You're part of an exclusive club. Only one in four Americans can proudly say they belong to it. The prerequisites, though, aren't very difficult to maintain. The only requirement? Knowing how many of your fellow countrymen have died in a five year old war.

That was a question in a survey of 1,508 adults between February 20-24 conducted by the Pew Research Center:

Since the start of military action in Iraq, about how many U.S. military personnel have been killed? To the best of your knowledge, have there been around:

A. 2,000 deaths
B. 3,000 deaths
C. 4,000 deaths
D. 5,000 deaths

In a month or so, the number will reach 4000 Americans killed. Of course, only 28% of Americans know that.

ThisDudesArmy

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Friday March 07, 2008 · 3:34 PM PST

2008/03/07 · 15:34

This past week, members of VoteVets.org spent a fews days in Washington, D.C. to meet with key senators on issues that affect active duty soldiers and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. We met with the legislative aide of Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA). We also hand delivered a petition to House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), signed by nearly 17,000 soldiers, veterans and family members of veterans calling for an investigation into the practices of Sioux Manufacturing, caught red handed shortchanging kevlar in 2.2 million helmets for soldiers on their way to Iraq and Afghanistan. They've been contracted to produce armor for the new MRAP vehicles, giving anyone who is riding them at this moment a feeling of doubt and reluctance, I'm sure.

ThisDudesArmy

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Wednesday February 20, 2008 · 6:46 PM PST

2008/02/20 · 18:46

A speech taken out of context has always been fodder for both liberals and conservatives, a way for one side to exlaim "look at what they said!" Sometimes words can show what someone thinks about the other side of the spectrum (Rush Limbaugh's phony soldiers huff and puff), and other times, the tactic is played up for maximum distraction.

Michelle Malkin has been pulling double duty vitriol frothing, proclaiming her hate for John McCain and his 'liberal' stances on issues like immigration and his refusal to spout GOP conservative talking points without thought or reason. If that makes him a liberal, it'd make him the only liberal who recommends a troop withdrawl timetable for the year 10,2008. Malkin simply will not let it go and get behind The Maverick for the good of the Republican Party. She has more in common with Hilary than she thinks.

ThisDudesArmy

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Wednesday January 30, 2008 · 2:16 PM PST

2008/01/30 · 14:16

(Crossposted at Army of Dude.)

I must admit, I've become a little obsessed over the issue of the presently shitty G.I. Bill and the efforts of two Senators that aim to give it an overhaul fitting to the service our military has performed the past seven years. I wrote about the topic yesterday for Vet Voice before I chanced upon another piece. With a hat-tip to Blackfive, who linked to the Army Times.

The money quote:

The Bush administration has remained wary of the bill, because of its $5.4 billion cost and concerns that significant improvements in veterans’ education benefits might encourage people to get out of the military to go to college, which in turn could hurt military readiness.

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Chances Are, You're Uninformed

The G.I. Bill That Could

Michelle Malkin and Those Uppity Obamas

The Courageous Courier