September 2009 - BlackFive - The Network of Care

Two Days to 250 Years

Arthur's Day is September 24th. In 1759, Arthur Guinness put pen to paper and signed a 9,000-year lease on the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin. It costs him an initial £100 with an annual rent of £45 – this crucially includes water rights. The...

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 5:36 AM by BLACKFIVE

One more Post about Afghanistan - Charles Krauthammer Speaks

Really, with the posts from Uber-Pig, DeeBow, McQ, and Jimbo, we have a quorum. Here is what Charles Krauthammer has to say about the lack of a strategy - and it's important to watch to get an understanding of RECENT history: <

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 5:06 AM by BLACKFIVE

A Call to ALL YOU FORMER CHINA POST GUYS!!

I'm a bit remiss in getting some good posts up, but given where I've been and up to the past few weeks, I hope you'll forgive. As many of you may recall, I had been blogging/covering the American Legion national convention in Louisville while...

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 3:54 AM by BLACKFIVE

Filed under: Current Affairs, Humor, Caring For The Defenders, Bust Their Chops, Pop Culture

I Know What Gen. McChrystal is Trying To Say....

I know that some in the blogosphere don’t really understand what General McChrystal was saying when he was speaking about the development of our “Fortress” mentality in our prosecution of the war (oops, “contingency operation”). And it was something that...

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 2:18 AM by BLACKFIVE

Let Me Add My Two Cents To The "McChrystal To Resign" Chorus

Uber Pig and Uncle Jimbo have more than adequately covered this, but like Uncle J said, sometimes you just have to vent. One of the things military officers do more regularly than they like to admit is play "you bet your bars". The 'bars'...

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 1:37 AM by BLACKFIVE

Filed under: Current Affairs

Kagans release plan for Afghanistan

Fred Kagan of AEI and Kim Kagan from the Institute for the Study of War have just released a plan that tracks with the expected call for an additional 45,000 troops.

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 1:33 AM by BLACKFIVE

9/12 video w/ slick effects

h/t TB

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 12:31 AM by BLACKFIVE

A brave Corpsman

But that's redundant isn't it. Up north of here, it was probably a little bit warm last week. Those old valley oak trees tower over the landscape, and their leaves are probably hanging on. The farmlands surrounding it are being prepared for another...

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 12:30 AM by BLACKFIVE

McChrystal to resign if not supported

Another reason to like the guy. Not only did he used to be President of the Pipehitters Union, but he is standing up for the troops. Within 24 hours of the leak of the Afghanistan assessment to The Washington Post, General Stanley McChrystal's team...

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 12:20 AM by BLACKFIVE

The Best Phone Call

There was a hospital corpsman a few years ago who was hit while saving Marines in Iraq. He covered the body of a patient to protect the Marine under fire. He was hit in the face, shoulder, legs...it was bad. I had very little to do with helping him recover...

Published Tue, Sep 22 2009 12:14 AM by BLACKFIVE

True War Crimes

We all see and even know people who feel our troops are doing bad things. Let's face it, some of the people we meet every day are bigots, no better than klansmen and neo-***, who feel that people in the military really are dumb, can't get a job...

Published Mon, Sep 21 2009 10:40 PM by BLACKFIVE

Filed under: Bust Their Chops

The Good War, The Necessary War.

I supported Obama last year because, among other things, I believed he was committed to finishing the war in Afghanistan successfully. As an opponent of the Iraq invasion, he had a kind of immunity from the left that McCain, sadly, would have been lacking...

Published Mon, Sep 21 2009 9:27 PM by BLACKFIVE

Silver Star awarded to SGT Israel Garcia

In a woefully under-reported ceremony SGT Israel Garcia's wife was presented the Silver Star for his heroic actions in Afghanistan. The Tanker Babe has the full story. SGT Israel Garcia was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, our nation's third...

Published Mon, Sep 21 2009 6:23 AM by BLACKFIVE

Return to Operation Market Garden

A group of WWII vets of the airborne assault Operation Market Garden have returned to the Netherlands for the 65th anniversary of the event. Memorialized in the movie a Bridge too Far, Market Garden was a massive effort to pull an end run on the German...

Published Mon, Sep 21 2009 2:21 AM by BLACKFIVE

Afghanitan - It Is "Fish Or Cut Bait" Time

Uncle J touches on it below,but as someone who just said goodbye to his son this weekend as he deploys to Afghanistan, I'm much more interested in that war than I might otherwise be. As it happens, General Stanley McChrystal's assessment has been...

Published Mon, Sep 21 2009 1:13 AM by BLACKFIVE