Map of the day.

Hat tip to John Cole.

Have I mentioned lately...

...that I hate what they're doing to my Army? The social engineering in recruiting and force structure, the endless, pointless missions,the impossible standard set by asking every soldier to be a "hero," when soldiers know that most heroes are dead or disabled. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Which is why it's no wonder that we see stories like this...

AP: The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan — about 50 percent more — according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press.

From a far too slightly different angle, most of these suicides could be seen as institutional murders so predictable that they're essentially deliberate.

From the "There oughta be a law…" file.

Lang's Armistice Axiom…

When they close the main PX , the war is over.

Map of the day...

...the Sun never sets edition, via Maddow Blog...

Yep, it clicks a bit bigger.

From the "Just the facts, ma'am" file.

Via WIIIAI...

US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are firing 250,000 bullets for every insurgent killed.

Didn't know they had so many road signs and jackrabbits over yonder.

The stage is set.

63-33.

That's 'just' the cloture vote, of course.

Case closed, though. Looks like history tomorrow.

They didn't wait. Final passage 65-31.

Yeah for us. All of us.

Quote of the day.

Brig. Gen. John Adams...

We have one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand US warriors doing their job over Christmas and the New Year, the U.S. Senate should do its job.

I remember getting 12 hours off for my Christmas in a combat zone. I figure the Senators are entitled to the same deal.

Things that make me go hmmm...

Via CNN...

The top U.S. military officer said that the founder of WikiLeaks was risking lives to make a political point by publishing thousands of military reports from Afghanistan.

The military, on the other hand, risks lives to make a political point by sending thousands of troops to Afghanistan.

Hmmm.

Sometimes the truth…

…isn't so family friendly. Col. Lang...

The US military has convinced itself that bullshit and bullets are equally potent.

Just another of the things I hate about what they've done to my Army.

Yep.

Richard Allen Smith at VetVoice...

Blackwater Xe is not a private security contracting firm. Call them what they are: mercenaries.

Well, that, and a national disgrace. Even with the back door draft and inadequate dwell times, we can't raise and sustain sufficient forces to pursue our so-called "necessary" war without mercs.

Another reason that I hate what they've done to my Army.

From the "Kill people, break things" file.

(CNN) -- The U.S. military did major damage to the site of one of the wonders of the ancient world while converting it into a base, the United Nations said in a new report.

The site of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was converted into Camp Alpha shortly after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

With, of course, the best of intentions...

A military official said she had not seen the U.N. report, but added that one of the reasons troops set up a base at the site was to safeguard it.

Wait, I think I've heard this song before...

Tell you all a story from across the sea
'Bout a little town they call Ben Tre
Set on a river bank, peaceful as you please
Till it got caught between two ideologies…
With so much change everywhere you turn, I suppose it's a bit reassuring that the infantry's preservationist impulses remain pretty much the same.

The right way in Iraq is out.

Colonel Timothy Reese, one of those 'commanders in the field' the politicians like to defer to on matters of deployment...

We too ought to declare victory and bring our combat forces home. Due to our tendency to look after the tactical details and miss the proverbial forest for the trees, this critically important strategic realization is in danger of being missed.

Yep.

It applies elsewhere, as well.

From the "Do as we say…" file.

Via Juan Cole…

As a result of the likelihood that torture will be applied to them, the US military is declining after all to turn 26,000 Iraqi prisoners in its prisons in Iraq over to the Iraqi government.

Good question…

…about DADT from Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA).

“How many more good soldiers are we willing to lose due to a bad policy that makes us less safe and secure?”

At least some, it seems, until somebody does something.

And another thing, Mr. President…

…isn't about time the Commander in Chief started locking some four-star heels? The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has no business doing free-lance punditry...

During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, the head of U.S. military forces said he didn't know where the Obama administration was getting its long-term projections for the money it will save by drawing down the war in Iraq...he did say, on two occasions, that he never had seen that number before, the implicit message -- at least the one pushed by Wallace -- being that Obama had chosen rosy figures to meet its deficit reduction strategy.

The fact that today's general officer corps consists of men and women who were able to advance their careers in the environment of the Rumsfeld regime is sufficient cause for a careful review of their character and qualifications for command. There is a forum for officers like Admiral Mullen to offer their evaluations and critiques of the policies of the Commander in Chief, but that forum is not the public airwaves. Once those policies are announced, the appropriate response is a hearty "Yes, Sir!" (or, as the case may be, "Aye, aye, Sir!").

Tell them that until they promote themselves to civilian, public opinions are above their pay grade. They are every bit as much subordinates as any private soldier. It's time to let them know that if they can't get with the program, it's time to turn in their papers.

From the "No one could have predicted…" file.

A "senior Western policy analyst," quoted by Jerome Starkey...

"Raiding people's houses and snatching people away creates a very negative impression in the communities."

Who'da thunk?