Anti-Semitic semantics

Socialist Alliance candidate, Pip Hinman, has sparked a debate in the comments section of her piece in the Drum which is all too familiar to those who follow these sorts of online debates. The article defends the stance of Marrickville Mayor and state Greens candidate Fiona Byrne on a boycott of Israeli goods and firms. The comments thread has been derailed by the ubiquitous debate on the definition of anti-Semitism. Without having to go through subscription sites like Macquarie, the first definition available from the online dictionary is this:

–noun a person who discriminates against or is prejudiced or hostile toward Jews.

Common usage of the term would support its general meaning as being applicable only to Jews. The confusion comes in when the word is broken into its constituent parts, which gives actual racists a semantic escape clause. The same online dictionary provides this definition of Semite:

–noun 1. a member of any of various ancient and modern peoples originating in southwestern Asia, including the Akkadians, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs. 2. a Jew. 3. a member of any of the peoples descended from Shem, the eldest son of Noah.

Therefore, by being pro-Palestinian precludes them from being anti-Semitic on the basis that the Arabs are Semites too. In the aforementioned comments thread, commenter GRAYAM made the following point:

Anti-Semitism is a word constructed in Germany in the late 19th century as a more acceptable substitute for Judenhass (Jew hatred).

Intrigued by that assertion, I looked up the etymology for anti-Semitism, and found this. It states:

anti-Semitism also antisemitism, 1881, from Ger. Antisemitismus, first used by Wilhelm Marr (1819–1904) German radical, nationalist and race-agitator, who founded the Antisemiten-Liga in 1879; see anti- + Semite. Not etymologically restricted to anti-Jewish theories, actions, or policies, but almost always used in this sense. Those who object to the inaccuracy of the term might try H. Adler's Judaeophobia (1882). Anti-Semitic (also antisemitic) and anti-Semite (also antisemite) also are from 1881, like anti-Semitism they appear first in English in an article in the "Athenaeum" of Sept. 31, in reference to German literature.

It made no mention of Judenhass, so I looked further. I found this at another site which provides some more enlightenment:

The political writer Wilhelm Marr is credited with coining the German word Antisemitismus in 1873, at a time when racial science was fashionable in Germany but religious prejudice was not. This term was offered as an alternative to the older German word Judenhass, meaning Jew-hatred. The aim of the effort to rename "Jew-hatred" into Anti-Semitism, was to give "Jew-hatred" a more scientific basis, however, it was never intended to eliminate the concept of hatred towards Jews based on the Christian conspiracies and legends so popular with the general population. In his book, "The Victory of Germanicism over Judaism" (1879), Marr took up secular racist ideas of Arthur de Gobineau's "An Essay on the Inequality of Human Races" (1853, though direct influence is debatable). Marr's book became very popular, and in the same year he founded the "League of Anti-Semites" ("Antisemiten-Liga"), the first German organization committed specifically to combating the alleged threat to Germany posed by the Jews, and advocating their forced removal from the country.

German has provided the English language with many useful words which succinctly distil concepts. In the true fashion of the English language to import words from other languages and make them our own, I propose that Judenhass join Blitzkreig, Schwerpunkt, and Schadenfreude in the greater English lexicon. It is appropriate to disarm a deceptive word coined by a German racist with the use of the German word it replaced.

Targeting Gaddafi

Like most things in the military, planning is structured. The planning process is known the MAP – the Military Appreciation Process. It is a systematic and structured process that aims to ensure that all elements have been considered and that a plan meets the test of being feasible, acceptable, suitable and distinguishable enough from other plans to warrant consideration on its own. One of the first steps is to create a Centre of Gravity Construct. This allows the planner to shape a plan to target an opponent's weaknesses. General H. Norman "Stormin'" Norman wrote extensively about it in his autobiography. The Centre of Gravity has a long-winded doctrinal definition, but essentially it is the "thing" that, if you kick it out, will cause your opponent to topple. I have had a quick bash at creating a CoG construct for the first phase of any operation to topple Gaddafi. If the war in Iraq taught us anything, it is that subsequent planning must be focussed on winning the peace as comprehensively as winning the war. This idea, which I bashed out on a slow Saturday night over a couple of beers, is not aimed at a "Phase 2" plan, but at removing a dictator to facilitate a transition into something else. I am not a General, or a politician, or even a planner on a staff HQ. It is just the ousting of Gaddafi according to Sharpe.

Centre of Gravity Gaddafi's ability to crush dissent and control the population.
Critical Capabilities
Combat Power	Traditional Loyalties	Finance	Propaganda
Critical Requirements
Air Power Land Forces Weapons/ Consumable munitions Moral authority to employ force	Tribal supporters Chain of Command Reputation Ability to portray the opposition as a threat to traditional values	Oil revenue Offshore funds International funding	Control of domestic media Information operations/ dissemination of information Religious leaders
Critical Vulnerabilities
NATO/UN forces have considerable capability overmatch to his Air Force, which is vulnerable both to destruction on the ground and interdiction in the air. Land Forces can be functionally dislocated from the rebel elements by forcing engagement with a coalition land force – not necessarily of sufficient mass to conquer Libya, but sufficient to draw Gaddafi's land forces away from the popular revolt. Weapons/Consumable munitions can be targeted through embargoes as well as direct strikes against munitions storage facilities. Moral authority to employ force can be targeted through Information Operations – see column 4.	Military and political embarrassment of Gaddafi will erode the loyalty of his tribal supporters. Gaddafi's Chain of Command can be targeted by isolating his command structure through targeted destruction of his communications. His reputation as the tribal "strong man" is vulnerable to attack both physically through decisive military defeats, and politically by international refusal to acknowledge his legitimacy. His ability to portray the opposition as a threat to traditional values can be undermined by tying him to international terrorism – see column 4.	Isolation of Gaddafi's finances has already begun, through the quarantining of offshore funds etc. This will need to be expanded and targeted to deny him funds to prosecute his continued defiance.	Control of domestic media can be targeted both physically and through the EM spectrum. Destruction of broadcast facilities would constitute a short-term solution, but would deny friendly elements the ability to use those in the future. Denial through the disruption of bandwidth is a better long-term solution. His ability to influence the Information Operations battle can be targeted through a comprehensive counter-IO plan, using traditional media as well as social media to tie Gaddafi to the Lockerbie bombing and support for various terrorist agencies etc to undermine his recurrent theme of branding the protesters as terrorists. In addition, a positive campaign to tie the protesters to a democratic future for Libya will undermine his supporters and deny him legitimacy. Religious leaders can be targeted by isolating the political struggle from religious orthodoxy. IO campaigns need to differentiate between political and religious identity.

Murphy’s Law of Combat Operations

I pilfered this list from Military Quotes.

In light of Tony Abbott's comments aired today on Channel 7, I think it is safe now to add "Shit Happens" to the list. For the record, nothing sums up "sometimes, no matter what resources you have at your disposal on the day, the Gods of War are just not smiling on you" than "Shit Happens".

Some of these are dated, some are American-centric, and some repeat themselves. It is also a much longer list than I remember taped to the wall of the B Coy Q Store at 8/9 RAR in the early 90s. Enjoy.

1. Friendly fire - isn't.

2. Recoilless rifles - aren't.

3. Suppressive fires - won't.

4. You are not Superman; Marines and fighter pilots take note.

5. A sucking chest wound is Nature's way of telling you to slow down.

6. If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid.

7. Try to look unimportant; the enemy may be low on ammo and not want to waste a bullet on you.

8. If at first you don't succeed, call in an air strike.

9. If you are forward of your position, your artillery will fall short.

10. Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself.

11. Never go to bed with anyone crazier than yourself.

12. Never forget that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.

13. If your attack is going really well, it's an ambush.

14. The enemy diversion you're ignoring is their main attack.

15. The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions:

a. When they're ready.

b. When you're not.

16. No OPLAN ever survives initial contact.

17. There is no such thing as a perfect plan.

18. Five second fuses always burn three seconds.

19. There is no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.

20. A retreating enemy is probably just falling back and regrouping.

21. The important things are always simple; the simple are always hard.

22. The easy way is always mined.

23. Teamwork is essential; it gives the enemy other people to shoot at.

24. Don't look conspicuous; it draws fire. For this reason, it is not at all uncommon for aircraft carriers to be known as bomb magnets.

25. Never draw fire; it irritates everyone around you.

26. If you are short of everything but the enemy, you are in the combat zone.

27. When you have secured the area, make sure the enemy knows it too.

28. Incoming fire has the right of way.

29. No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.

30. No inspection ready unit has ever passed combat.

31. If the enemy is within range, so are you.

32. The only thing more accurate than incoming enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.

33. Things which must be shipped together as a set, aren't.

34. Things that must work together, can't be carried to the field that way.

35. Radios will fail as soon as you need fire support.

36. Radar tends to fail at night and in bad weather, and especially during both).

37. Anything you do can get you killed, including nothing.

38. Make it too tough for the enemy to get in, and you won't be able to get out.

39. Tracers work both ways.

40. If you take more than your fair share of objectives, you will get more than your fair share of objectives to take.

41. When both sides are convinced they're about to lose, they're both right.

42. Professional soldiers are predictable; the world is full of dangerous amateurs.

43. Military Intelligence is a contradiction.

44. Fortify your front; you'll get your rear shot up.

45. Weather ain't neutral.

46. If you can't remember, the Claymore is pointed towards you.

47. Air defense motto: shoot 'em down; sort 'em out on the ground.

48. 'Flies high, it dies; low and slow, it'll go'.

49. The Cavalry doesn't always come to the rescue.

50. Napalm is an area support weapon.

51. Mines are equal opportunity weapons.

52. B-52s are the ultimate close support weapon.

53. Sniper's motto: reach out and touch someone.

54. Killing for peace is like screwing for virginity.

55. The one item you need is always in short supply.

56. Interchangeable parts aren't.

57. It's not the one with your name on it; it's the one addressed "to whom it may concern" you've got to think about.

58. When in doubt, empty your magazine.

59. The side with the simplest uniforms wins.

60. Combat will occur on the ground between two adjoining maps.

61. If the Platoon Sergeant can see you, so can the enemy.

62. Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can sleep.

63. The most dangerous thing in the world is a Second Lieutenant with a map and a compass.

64. Exceptions prove the rule, and destroy the battle plan.

65. Everything always works in your HQ, everything always fails in the Colonel's HQ.

66. The enemy never watches until you make a mistake.

67. One enemy soldier is never enough, but two is entirely too many.

68. A clean (and dry) set of BDU's is a magnet for mud and rain.

69. The worse the weather, the more you are required to be out in it.

70. Whenever you have plenty of ammo, you never miss. Whenever you are low on ammo, you can't hit the broad side of a barn.

71. The more a weapon costs, the farther you will have to send it away to be repaired.

72. The complexity of a weapon is inversely proportional to the IQ of the weapon's operator.

73. Field experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

74. No matter which way you have to march, its always uphill.

75. If enough data is collected, a board of inquiry can prove anything.

76. For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism. (in boot camp)

77. Air strikes always overshoot the target, artillery always falls short.

78. When reviewing the radio frequencies that you just wrote down, the most important ones are always illegible.

79. Those who hesitate under fire usually do not end up KIA or WIA.

80. The tough part about being an officer is that the troops don't know what they want, but they know for certain what they don't want.

81. To steal information from a person is called plagiarism. To steal information from the enemy is called gathering intelligence.

82. The weapon that usually jams when you need it the most is the M60.

83. The perfect officer for the job will transfer in the day after that billet is filled by someone else.

84. When you have sufficient supplies & ammo, the enemy takes 2 weeks to attack. When you are low on supplies & ammo the enemy decides to attack that night.

85. The newest and least experienced soldier will usually win the Medal of Honor.

86. A Purple Heart just proves that were you smart enough to think of a plan, stupid enough to try it, and lucky enough to survive.

87. Murphy was a grunt.

88. Beer Math --> 2 beers times 37 men equals 49 cases.

89. Body count Math --> 3 guerrillas plus 1 probable plus 2 pigs equals 37 enemies killed in action.

90. The bursting radius of a hand grenade is always one foot greater than your jumping range.

91. All-weather close air support doesn't work in bad weather.

92. The combat worth of a unit is inversely proportional to the smartness of its outfit and appearance.

93. The crucial round is a dud.

94. Every command which can be misunderstood, will be.

95. There is no such place as a convenient foxhole.

96. Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last and don't ever volunteer to do anything.

97. If your positions are firmly set and you are prepared to take the enemy assault on, he will bypass you.

98. If your ambush is properly set, the enemy won't walk into it.

99. If your flank march is going well, the enemy expects you to outflank him.

100. Density of fire increases proportionally to the curiousness of the target.

101. Odd objects attract fire - never lurk behind one.

102. The more stupid the leader is, the more important missions he is ordered to carry out.

103. The self-importance of a superior is inversely proportional to his position in the hierarchy (as is his deviousness and mischievousness).

104. There is always a way, and it usually doesn't work.

105. Success occurs when no one is looking, failure occurs when the General is watching.

106. The enemy never monitors your radio frequency until you broadcast on an unsecured channel.

107. Whenever you drop your equipment in a fire-fight, your ammo and grenades always fall the farthest away, and your canteen always lands at your feet.

108. As soon as you are served hot chow in the field, it rains.

109. Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.

110. The seriousness of a wound (in a fire-fight) is inversely proportional to the distance to any form of cover.

111. Walking point = sniper bait.

112. Your bivouac for the night is the spot where you got tired of marching that day.

113. If only one solution can be found for a field problem, then it is usually a stupid solution.

114. Radios function perfectly until you need fire support.

115. What gets you promoted from one rank gets you killed in the next rank.

116. Odd objects attract fire. You are odd.

117. Your mortar barrage will put exactly one round on the intended target. That round will be a dud.

118. Mine fields are not neutral.

119. The weight of your equipment is proportional to the time you have been carrying it.

120. Things that must be together to work can never be shipped together.

121. If you need an officer in a hurry take a nap.

122. The effective killing radius is greater than the average soldier can throw it.

123. Professionals are predictable, its the amateurs that are dangerous.

124. No matter which way you have to march, its always uphill.

125. The worse the weather, the more you are required to be out in it.

126. The quartermaster has only two sizes, too large and too small. (or "on order")

127. The only time suppressive fire works is when it is used on abandoned positions.

128. When a front line soldier overhears two General Staff officers conferring,

he has fallen back too far.

129. Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last, and don't ever volunteer to do anything.

130. If at first you don't succeed, then bomb disposal probably isn't for you.

131. Any ship can be a minesweeper . . . . once.

132. Whenever you lose contact with the enemy, look behind you.

133. If you find yourself in front of your platoon they know something you don't.

134. The seriousness of a wound (in a firefight) is inversely proportional to the distance to any form of cover.

135. The more stupid the leader is, the more important missions he is ordered to carry out.

136. When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not your friend.

137 When the enemy is closing, the artillery will always be to long

138 Smart bombs have bad days too.

139 Uncrating and assembly instructions are always inside the crate.

140 If you have a personality conflict with your superior: he has the personality, you have the conflict.

141 If you enter the CO's Presence with an idea, you will leave his Presence with the CO's idea.

Why picking fights in the street is a bad idea

Bwahahahaha! That is all.

TWO drunken yobs tried to start a fight with three strangers - who turned out to be the military's most decorated hard men.

The thugs, who had a Staffordshire bull terrier with them, got a surprise comeuppance after hurling abuse at the smartly-suited trio in a street.

They had no idea their intended "victims" were a hero Royal Marine, an Army captain and a VC-winning SAS hero.

The louts pushed and shoved the three men, attempting to provoke them into a punch-up.

After ignoring polite advice to "walk away" they suddenly found themselves on their backs while their vicious-looking dog fled yelping.

L/Cpl Matt Croucher, 26, and Captain Peter Norton, 47, both George Cross winners, were walking through central London with Aussie Cpl Mark Donaldson, 31, after a reception at Buckingham Palace. Though they were in civilian clothes they were wearing their medals on their chests.

A witness to the incident said: "It was a case of yobs picking on the wrong people.

"After they ended up on the ground the guys just calmly adjusted their suits and walked off."

Award winning Pallywood images

This photo was posted on The Australian's website with the caption:

1st prize General News Singles
Picture: Kent Klich, Sweden
Light enters through a hole in the roof of a house hit by a tank shell, in Tuffah, northern Gaza. The family that lived in the house had fled during Operation Cast
Lead, the Israeli attack on Gaza that began at the end of December 2008.
Mohammed Shuhada Ali Ahmed, 39, had gone back to fetch clothes for his children,
and was killed when the shell struck.

Now, it seems quite obvious that something has gone through the roof, but that something did not explode. There are no shrapnel holes in the walls and the TV and the furniture are still intact. The other glaringly obvious detail is that whatever came through the roof came straight down. Tanks are not howitzers. At a pinch, tanks can be used in an indirect role; that is, that the main armament is used in a similar manner to an artillery piece. Unfortunately for the claim made by this photographer, they are not capable of firing their main armament at a high enough trajectory to drop a round straight through the roof of a building leaving an impact crater directly under the entry hole. Now, it may well be that the place has been cleaned up since the incident happened, in which case they have done a bang up job of cleaning the place up and filling the holes in the wall with spak-filla. Of course, why they put a new TV in a room with no roof remains a mystery, unless whatever it was that came through the roof didn't contain any High Explosive and didn't kill anybody at all.

Update: Below is a picture from the same photographer's website, the same album that contains the photo above. It shows what a wall looks like when it has been hit by shrapnel. Notice a difference?

Three genuine peace activists murdered

No, I'm not referring to the recent tragic news of the three Australian SF soldiers recently killed in a helicopter accident. Accidents will happen when machines and men are pushed to their limits in an environment of threat, and while their deaths are a tragedy, it is hardly worthy of the fury of speculation as to the future of Australia's commitment to the war in Afghanistan. If anything, it is slightly unbecoming for the deaths of three men whose commitment to the objectives of this war can hardly be questioned to be used as a catalyst for discussion of the abandonment of those same objectives. Their sacrifice ought to be honoured and serve as a reminder of the deadly seriousness of the endeavour and to steel the resolve of our leaders to see that their sacrifice was not in vain.

The three genuine peace activists I refer to in the title are the three UN Peacekeepers killed in a random action in the western region of Darfur on Monday. The peacekeepers were providing protection to civilian engineers when they were attacked. This latest attack takes the toll of UN Peacekeepers killed in Darfur to 27 since the UN took over the operation from the African Union in 2007.

In contrast to the agent provocateurs who committed suicide by IDF Commando on the Mediterranean several weeks ago, these genuine peace activists will go unmourned by the world media because they were killed by Islamic bandits and not teh evil Juice.

Why just the officers?

ADF to drug test officers

Half truths, ignorance and lies

I was floating around the net the other day and popped in to Lav Paper, just to see how they could warp perception to suit a narrow worldview – again. There I read a post about a UN report into the practices of the RPNGC linked to the amount of Australian aid money going to PNG, a significant portion of which gets sucked up in consultant fees etc. Wondering how they might turn that extravegent waste into an ideaological issue, I had a look.

There I found, completely to my absolute lack of surprise, various commenters making sweeping statements purporting to be facts that bore only a passing resemblance, if any, to the truth. Of note was this gem from someone called billie:

From what little I know we have a long history of ham fisted actions in PNG probably due to lack of knowledge of PNG & its society. When Bouganville (sic) Copper mine was established the miners did not talk to the land owners. They talked to some men – but in New Britain society land is owned by the women.Get a map of the area. Bouganville (sic) is on New Britain. New Britain is really part of the Solomon Islands. New Guinea is the large island to the south The royalties were paid to Port Moresby. The people of New Britain are ethnically different to the people of New Guinea so money sent to Port Moresby stayed in New Guinea. The people effected (sic) by the mine site were not compensated for the disruption. When the mine closed after a landowner disturbances (sic) the PNG Army went through Bouganville (sic) house by house, street by street shooting
every body (sic). Most Australian ex-pats had left by then so most victims were locals. [A bit like the mining company in Avatar]

There was also this from a resident whacko called Lefty E:

Its (sic) worth reminding ourselves that Australia is the former colonial power here, and equally that we supported the PNG army to the hilt in Bougainville despite abundant evidence of human rights abuses – so let not our outrage blind us to our share of responsibility.

And of course, we also pulled our own police from line positions in PNG when their High Court determined we couldn't have full immunity from any prosecution (leading by example in terms of police accountability there!)

But all that duly noted – yep: any AU funding of the securty (sic) sector at least must be made conditional on transparent action on these human rights abuses.

I did get suckered into a response. My responses are as follows:

Billie is quite right. He/she really does know very little about PNG. It is true that many tribes from New Britain are matrilineal, but that is largely irrelevant because the point was being made about Bougainville, formerly North Solomons Province and quite separate from New Britain. It is true that Bougainvilleans are also a matrilineal society, which is different from a matriarchal society. It was quite culturally appropriate for BCL to speak to the men, they are the figurehead front. It is for the men to then speak to the women, the owners of the land, before they made any agreement with BCL. It would have been a gross imposition of our own cultural mores for BCL to directly approach the landowners.

I was living in PNG when the crisis started, and subsequently served in Bougainville with the Peace Monitoring Group, so you could say I was there at the start and at the finish. There had long been a secessionist bent in Bougainville, although the actual catalyst came from a negotiating failure on the part of the Panguna Landowners Association. The initial compensation figure demanded was, from memory, about twice what the mine had ever earned. It degenerated quickly because it was led by a lunatic, who eventually holed himself in at Panguna, declared himself the President of the Republic of Mekamui and eventually, King. Bougainville, with the financial support of BCL, was far better off than the rest of the South West Pacific prior to the crisis. All that came to a crashing halt when the BRA either blew up or burned down all of the benefits that came with the mine whilst also removing any capability they might have had to repair the damage the mine had done.

Atrocities were committed on both sides, in fact, make that all three sides. The BRA and the PNGDF were busy mauling each other when some of the locals decided that things were a whole lot better before it all started, and sided with the PNGDF. The BRA then retaliated and a nice little three-way fight ensued and civilian casualties were caused by all three groups. Yes Lefty E, Bob Hawke did send ADF elements to assist the PNGDF, although that was before it turned into a Civil War during the early phase of the Counter-insurgency. Our military aid consisted of unarmed helicopters piloted by Australians. They were quickly withdrawn when it became clear that human rights abuses, as well as terms of use violations, were occurring. The ALP Government then turned a blind eye to what was happening while the PNGDF blockaded the islands and let Bougainville sink into the horrific condition it was in when NZ decided to actually do something about it, with the support of the Howard Government.

It is also true that Bougainvilleans consider themselves more closely aligned to the Solomon Islands than PNG, although having served there as well, my own observation is that they have about as much in common with the Solomon Islands as they do with PNG. That didn't stop the crisis in Bougainville impacting on the Solomon Islands. The BRA were using the Solomon Islands as a staging area and safe haven from the PNGDF, running the gauntlet along the narrow strait to Choiseul Island. Although, as the crisis in the Solomons was later to show, they don't play well with their close neighbours, no matter how closely culturally aligned they may claim to be.

As to the issue of the AFP demanding immunity from prosecution, the "nuance" being missed here is that the immunity in question was not from any prosecution, but from prosecution in PNG. In order for the AFP to actually do the job asked of them, they would need to go after some of the big men in the inherently corrupt PNG legal system. They are the sort of people capable of avoiding prosecution by hauling AFP members in front of the PNG judicial system and seeing their problems disappear into the bowels of Bomana Prison. The AFP was still answerable to Australian law.

The rampant corruption in PNG derives predominantly from the Wantok System, whereby a man's principle obligation is not to his office, but to the extended clan – his wantoks. If Fran really wants to find the prima facie culprit for the mess in PNG, she need look no further than Gough Whitlam. In his rush to rid Australia of terribly unfashionable status of being a colonial power, he threw the people of PNG under the bus by abandoning our colonial obligations. Somehow, in the heady days of the "It's Time" campaign, the thought that thrusting Westminster Democracy on a stone age agrarian hunter/gatherer society was going to lead to anything other than what PNG is now, escaped the great thinkers in the ALP. PNG is rapidly on the way to becoming a failed state. The contribution from Australia to fix it is going to be significantly more costly than all the consultants in Canberra and will require a more robust legal framework than immunity from prosecution under PNG law.

Nobody has responded yet. I guess they all got distracted by Tony Abbott's recently announced refugee policy.

Media to blame for Defence secrecy

The Daily Telegraph has run a story on the apparent secrecy around wounded ADF members returning from operations overseas. The thrust of the story is that Defence is trying to keep quiet the wounds that are being received over there. The story leads in with this line:

With opinion polls indicating Australians are divided over our involvement in Afghanistan, the Australian Defence Force's handling of casualties has come under scrutiny.

It has come under scrutiny from whom, the DT? The people getting upset at the lack of blood and gore horror stories coming from Afghanistan are the salivating media. The stories will come out, but rushing that through so that the Australian media scrum can onanate over the tragic circumstances of a wounded digger is not high on the list of priorities.

Wounded Australian soldiers, some having faced amputations and long-term suffering, are recuperating in facilities around the country, but the public seldom hears their stories.

Very true, the primary concern is the treatment and rehabilitation of the wounded. In order to achieve that, Defence go to significant lengths to make sure they are left alone by anyone not from their intimate circle of family and friends, or involved in their administration or their treatment. That includes nosy reporters having a slow news day.

The stories of the wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan will come out. Some already have. The rest will happen when the wounded themselves are ready to tell their stories. Defence won't throw them in the deep end and feed them to the press, no matter how much that infuriates them.

Andrew Bolt is wrong

The title of Andrew's piece today about Comedy Central's alarming double standards [South Park bravely savages the creed that won't say "boo"] is misleading and wrong. South Park has taken a satirical scalpel to Islam a number of times, as well as some of the other religious sacred cows that other comedy shows just won't touch. It is their parent network, Comedy Central, which censored their episode showing Mohamed and is planning a new series to poke fun at Christianity. The double standard is being displayed by Comedy Central, not South Park.

It is a hypocritical stance for Comedy Central to hold. How can they be willing to ridicule one religion, but not another? The short answer is fear. If we in the west accept that our culture can be dictated to by violent extremists, we have already lost. It is fine for Comedy Central to broadcast a series that mocks Christianity. It is not fine that they are willing to do that whilst they are censoring another show for ridiculing another religion. If it is OK to poke fun at one religion, it is OK to poke fun at all of them.

A new Kokoda VC winner?

I was pointed in the direction of this article in the Mt Druitt Standard. From the text:

AN Aboriginal recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC) is unheard of but on Anzac Day, two young Aboriginal boys from Bidwill stood out as they marched from Rooty Hill to Pinegrove Memorial Park, Minchinbury.

True, there have been no Aboriginal VC winners, although I would be pleased to be corrected if I am mistaken. The article goes on though:

Their mother, Bernie, says the medals
belong to her grandfather, Frederick Charles Perry.

Ms Zammit told the Mt Druitt-St Marys
Standard that her grandfather served in the 39th (Hawthorn Kew Regiment) and
53rd battalions in Kokoda.

She said he died in 1974 without anyone
in his family knowing anything about his accomplishments.

She said she only discovered her own
indigenous background 10 years ago and had since fought to be given Mr Perry's
service medals.

She said she had no idea he had received a VC.

"Back then black fellas never got their medals and no one in my family had ever claimed his," she said.

"I had to push to get them and I only got them a week before Anzac Day.

Here's where it gets interesting. There is no Frederick Charles Perry, VC. The list of Australian VC winners is here. In fact, there are only two people of that name on the WWII Nominal Roll. Given the benefit of the doubt that her grandfather ever served in New Guinea, it must have been this Frederick Charles Perry. His service details have him as a driver with the 2/47 Australian Transport Platoon, with no honours or awards that fit the National Archive criteria for display (which would include a VC).

Why would someone make a claim to something so demonstrably refutable?

Legen.........wait for it.......dary!

A BRITISH Army sniper has set a new sharpshooting distance record by killing two Taliban machinegunners in Afghanistan from more than 1 miles away.

Craig Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry, killed the insurgents with consecutive shots — even though they were 3,000ft beyond the most effective range of his rifle.

"The first round hit a machinegunner in the stomach and killed him outright," said Harrison, a Corporal of Horse. "He went straight down and didn't move.

"The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot hit him in the side. He went down, too. They were both dead."

The shooting — which took place while Harrison's colleagues came under attack — was at such extreme range that the 8.59mm bullets took almost three seconds to reach their target after leaving the barrel of the rifle at almost three times the speed of sound.

The distance to Harrison's two targets was measured by a GPS system at 8,120ft, or 1.54 miles. The previous record for a sniper kill is 7,972ft, set by a Canadian soldier who shot dead an Al-Qaeda gunman in March 2002.

More here.

Hat tip: Black Five

Best photo ever

This is so very apt. Every time my peers and I would discuss day to day events while working for the UN in Africa, words like UN-efficient, UN-workable, UN-realistic, and UN responsive would be common.

This photo just adds that motivational .ppt slant to a frequent meme.

Enjoy.

(Disclaimer: I am aware that the antonym of efficient is inefficient. Most of my peers were working in English as a second language, so I forgave them their minor lapses.)

Climate Justice Feast

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posts; since coming home I’ve had more important things to do than blogging. Getting re-acquainted with Sharpe Jr and Mrs Sharpe has been high on the list, as well as a couple of other projects that germinated while I had lots of time to think about things. To really complicate matters, I’ve also just returned home from another extended period away from home, domestic this time thankfully.

Tim Blair, motivated into action by this genius, has declared the duration of the Copenhagen Greeny Love-in the Climate Justice Feast! I wasn’t able to pull something spectacular together for dinner last night, having eaten on the plane home, but I thought I’d share the coming home breakfast I prepared for the Sharpe clan.

You’ll note the secret ingredient for Sharpe’s patented scrambled eggs there on the left.

And this is what it looked like in all its heart attack inducing goodness.

Then followed a day of catching up on all the things that have been missed in my absence, before thoughts of dinner began to intrude. Having lived on mess food for the past five weeks, I thought a nice steak might be in order. It seems that steak is one of those dishes a mess will never get right. I trundled off to the butcher for some nice Australian Rib Eye, and some veggies to go with it.

The steak was then waved over the BBQ long enough to frighten it, before ending up as dinner.

The beer is Draught Home Brew (one of those little projects I mentioned earlier).

Now with a belly full of bleeding steak and homemade beer, I will adjourn to prepare for my last week at work before packing up and heading south for that obligatory instructional job for the next two years.

Peace Convergence Update

Seven protesters from the “Peace Convergence” have knowingly trespassed into the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in an attempt to disrupt Exercise Talisman Sabre 09. While the bulk of the exercise will involve the use of blank ammunition, there are elements that will be live – that is that real bullets and bombs that go bang. I do hope that they don’t get themselves blown into tiny little hippie pieces, because the human being who launched the ordinance in the honest belief that he was firing into a safe area would have that on his conscience for the rest of his life, regardless of any actual culpability for the stupid actions of the morally retarded.

There is a familiar name on the list, and quite frankly I’m surprised he’s managed to haul his quite generous frame anywhere more demanding than the savoury snacks aisle at 7-11.

Guest post at OSK

Kae asked me to write a guest post for Ocean, Sky and Khaki; a site set up to provide information to people interested in sending care packages to deployed soldiers. It is a great idea, and a great way of showing your support for those Australians a long way from home in harm’s way. The post can be found here if you’re interested.

Obama goes to Africa

There has been some talk of Obama’s trip to Africa. I was in Africa when he was inaugurated, and the general feeling was that all their Christmases had come at once. It was about that time that we were having some difficulty with both power and running water.

Sometimes the water would cut out because the ablutions used by the African troops were routinely abused and the broken plumbing would leak all the water out of the tank that supplied our part of the compound. The other time we would lose running water was when we would lose power. When the power went out, so did the pump for the water, so that was a two-for. Now, I realise that not showering for a few days is hardly deserving of a VC out of petty cash, but it was a pain in the proverbial because we were entirely self-sufficient for rationing. Cooking our own food meant that we was some small measure of quality control for what went into our mouths, at least from the point that the ingredients came into our possession. It also meant the usual domestic by-product of meal production – dishes. After a while with no water, we would start to run out of clean dishes to cook and eat with.

After nearly a week of very intermittent water supply, one of the German police I lived with had had enough. He marched over to the camp manager’s office to give him a good old Teutonic performance counselling session. Having delivered his opinion of the situation and the competence of those who were responsible for its remedy, the local just smiled and said “Everything will be OK now, Obama is President and he will fix everything.”

Vale Ted Kenna VC

Edward (Ted) Kenna, the last surviving Australian VC winner from the Second World War has died. I met Ted Kenna once at the Army Centenary Dinner in March 2001. He was a really genuinely nice bloke. I’m sure that night is one that he would have remembered with great fondness. There were 1901 serving and retired officers and soldiers at that dinner. Before the entree was served, the three surviving VC winners were announced. Sir Arthur (Roden) Cutler, Edward (Ted) Kenna, and Keith Payne entered the room to a standing ovation. As the import of the moment hit all those in attendance, the applause grew to a crescendo, and then some. It didn’t just die out either. It maintained its tempo and, if anything, grew as they walked past the assembled diners to take their seats.

In the Canberra Convention Centre that night, the current generation of the Australian Army showed their appreciation for the legacy they had been given. There were some moist eyes there that night, not only on the faces of the three heroes in our midst. I am grateful not only for having met him that night, but for having been present for such an outpouring of admiration, respect, and gratitude to men who had truly demonstrated the ANZAC Spirit. I know that when Ted Kenna left us, he knew that he held a special place in our history and in our hearts.

I’ve mentioned local radio station 4ZZZ before. In preparing to write this piece I went back to that post, and found some lovely little comments that had escaped my attention when they were written. In light of the fact that ladies sometimes drop in here, I’ll remove some of the explicit vulgarity.

Anonymous said...
you are a stupid c**t. I hope you die in the trenches for your sh**ty cuntry you c**k
November 8, 2008 8:25 AM

Anonymous said...
blow sh*t up...
kill people...
nuclear waste everywhere...
yay what a happy world!!
what better things do you have to do? bash queers? do doughnuts in your clean efficient ute whilst yelling abuse at minoirty or fringe groups?
you're a real stand up guy!!
November 8, 2008 5:38 PM

Charming and erudite. Now that we have set the tone, I’ll broach the topic at hand, the upcoming protest against Exercise Talisman Sabre 09 (Ex TS09).
Ex TS09 is the biennial exercise conducted between the ADF and the US Armed Forces. It provides the opportunity to train in a reasonably benign environment in case it becomes necessary to do it for real somewhere else. Aside from the usual collective training benefits that come from exercises of this scale, the opportunity to train with our allies from across the Pacific provides many rewards. Not only does it give individuals the chance to foster personal and professional relationships with personnel from our major strategic ally and to exchange ideas on the profession of arms, it also provides the opportunity to synchronise systemic functions and ensure that when the ADF and the US military are doing it for real, they do so with the advantage of familiarity.

What has this to do with 4ZZZ and the charming fellow who left anonymous droppings on my blog? As I was driving back to work after lunch, I was flicking through radio stations. I paused when I hit 4ZZZ just as the announcer for their “Anarchy Hour” show was introducing their (wo)man on the ground in Shoalwater Bay. It seems that after their little “workshop” (I still hate that term) in Brisbane last year, they have managed to follow through and are planning a series of protests over the next few weeks. A number of things struck me as particularly ill informed throughout the interview, which was just about as hard hitting as Kerry O’Brien with Kevin Rudd.

Firstly, the talking head kept referring to Operation Talisman Sabre. Now, I’m only a lowly servant of the Australian people who goes where he’s told when he’s told, but if I was going to devote a month of my life to opposing a particular activity, I would at least find out what it was called. As I mentioned in the last piece on this topic, words have meanings. That may not seem important when you are just regurgitating Uni Co-op talking points, but it is. An operation, in the military sense, is real. In the least threatening scenario, it means providing aid to people who have just lived through a natural disaster (Op Sumatra Assist, Op Larry Assist etc) or just a lifetime of neglect (Op Outreach). In the conventional sense, it means real bullets, real wounds and real dead people. An operation therefore, should not be confused with an exercise. An exercise is just that – practice. At the end of it, everybody packs up and goes home. I guess operation just sounds cooler when you’re dealing with perennial adolescents.

The main pitch seemed to be against “warmongering”. The rationale seems to be that by hampering this exercise, they can promote peace. This is a fairly naive position. Look at it this way, what happens if they achieve their goal and the exercise is cancelled? Will that end the war in Afghanistan? Will it prevent another Iraq? No. All they will have achieved is to deny an opportunity for all involved to learn some valuable lessons that may one day save their lives. Because that is what an exercise is for, to learn. If they were to achieve their aims, all they would be doing is to ensure that Australian servicemen and women who do end up in Afghanistan or some other theatre of operations, are not as well trained and prepared as they should be, and any death or casualty should then upon their conscience be.

There was also a point made about how abhorrent it was that the Army had conducted an Open Day in Rockhampton and exposed children to the equipment of the ADF. No link is provided for a transcript at 4ZZZ so I can’t quote verbatim, but there was a statement that ran along the lines of “these things are killing machines, not toys”. In fact, they are neither. They are tools. A tank is an inert object. Without a human in it, it is a lump of very expensive metal. What it does depends entirely upon the crew. It can be used for great good, to shield civilians from sniper fire, or to blow the hell out of a protected fire position from which said sniper is engaging his targets. It can also be used to run down a lone protester defying leftist tyranny. It has no soul or conscience or self awareness. It is a tool. Exposure to hardware and the people who operate it is the first step in de-mystifying it and hopefully mitigating the visceral response like that which the interviewee demonstrated.

There was also concern expressed about the fact that the military would be using civilian infrastructure. Well knock me down with a feather, really? What else are they going to use? We don’t have large scale military ports, certainly not anywhere near where the exercise is taking place. Both the Port of Brisbane and Port of Gladstone are government owned. Why then would another government agency (admittedly in this case a Federal Department) be denied access to the infrastructure, particularly when the Qld Govt will be sending the bill to the Federal Govt? Somehow though, the military is imbued with such evil menace, that the very use of civilian infrastructure will somehow contaminate it. It is all very sad really.

The last part of the interview concerned the environment. Now, admittedly, an M1 will make short work of a Lesser Known Purple Spotted Bandicoot, should it be silly enough not to run away at the sound of gas turbine engines, but hey – isn’t that what Darwin was talking about? On a more serious note, Shoalwater Bay Training Area has been a military asset for over 40 years. In that time, the areas around it have been developed and altered. SWBTA has been recovering from mining and cattle farming since Army took possession. It is now a pristine wilderness area. It is pristine because the only people that use are the military. The ADF has very strict regulations about the use of the range and the minimisation of damage to the environment. It is quite a pain really, but that is what is required to maintain the range as a training area for years to come. The ADF is accountable for any environmental damage that occurs in SWBTA. The same cannot be said for Parks and Wildlife. How culpable are environmental vandals in National Parks once they have left? What recourse do Park Rangers have to prosecute offenders once they are safely back at home with no-one the wiser who set fire to the Lesser Known Purple Spotted Bandicoot’s log? Defence maintains permanent Range Control Officers who live in the training area. They are directly responsible for the maintenance of the environmental integrity of the range. They also know which unit was where and when. This means that should there be any damage to the range, they know who to go and find. This is quite a strong deterrent to anyone thinking they might get away with bending the rules and ignoring the regulations. The SWBTA Environment Report 2008 contains all of the details. Read it if you’d like.

Finally they got to the nuclear angle. Concern was expressed as to whether nuclear powered vessels would utilise the same civilian infrastructure mentioned earlier. Now, I don’t know how familiar these people are with nuclear powered naval vessels, but one of the great advantages of that particular type of propulsion is that they don’t have to refuel. The US, aware of the fact that berthing an aircraft carrier at Brisbane Wharf would likely incite these people to random acts of stupidity, is unlikely to drop the crew off for shore leave. If they do, it will likely be done by “Liberty Boat”, a tender that will ferry them to and from the ship anchored well away from the crowds of smelly hippies.

In the end, I wasted ten minutes of my life that I will never get back again, listening to the ill-informed ranting of a middle-aged petulant adolescent. I am therefore not surprised that a like-minded drone dropped such infantile droppings in my comments section.

No sh*t Sherlock!

Hands up anyone who didn't see this coming. If course the media will be all over this as another example of Rudd's pointless, knee-jerk, symbolic, but ultimately useless gestures.........waiting......waiting.......