Pakistanis Deal Severe Defeat to Musharraf in Election - New York Times

Pakistanis Deal Severe Defeat to Musharraf in Election - New York Times: "ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistanis dealt a crushing defeat to President Pervez Musharraf in parliamentary elections on Monday, in what government and opposition politicians said was a firm rejection of his policies since 2001 and those of his close ally, the United States."

Funny how that works... arrest a few judges... declare marshal law... monkey with the constitution and suddenly people want a new government.

The word still isn't out

One of my classmates, M, has a brother in the USMC who just returned from Iraq. I believe his tour was 18 months but honestly, for anything over 7 months what I hear is "way too long." So I don't remember exactly what M said.

So when M mentioned this to me in the hallway outside class I switched into sergeant mode for a few minutes. I gave M a quick list of reintegration issues that most returnees face. I could see M's eyes glaze as I prattled on. I kept going because I believe that even a little forewarning is better than no forewarning. M's a smart kid. I figured if her brother did have reintegration issues she'd be able to dust off my pocket sermon and apply it.

Well M's brother is in town. We were waiting for class to start the other day and she related how her brother had blown a fuse talking to some kid at a McDonald's drive-thru. M is beginning to understand what I was talking about.

Put your seat backs a tray tables in the upright position. It's gonna get bumpy.

What the heck???

My Kaspersky antivirus software is showing my own blog as a phishing site. What the heck?

Makes me wonder about what else is wrong with Kaspersky...

History of Combat Trauma Bibliography (SWJ Blog)

History of Combat Trauma Bibliography (SWJ Blog): "The history of combat trauma is one which draws fire every time. It is a topic wrapped in politics, both conventional and those internal to both the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and history. I hope this brief annotated bibliography will help some come to understand the foundations, the arguments, and the various issues in play on this topic. This list is rank-ordered in what I believe is their utility to those interested in the study of war, particularly my fellow historians and journalists, but also my peers in the military."

I don't believe we're actually going to find a fix for combat trauma/PTSD/Jungle Jitters/Shell Shock or whatever the next generation of warriors chooses to call it. There are things that cannot be done without paying a psychological price and going to war is one of those things. I do believe that if the military changes its attitude toward combat trauma then more folks will get the help they need and end up leading happier lives.

It would be a huge cultural change for the military and it may not even be possible, but education is a good first step.

In From the Cold: What Happened at Minot--an In From the Cold Special Report

In From the Cold: What Happened at Minot--an In From the Cold Special Report: "A “perfect storm” of failed leadership, lax supervision, ineffective internal communication, inexperienced personnel and poor career field management led to last year’s nuclear incident at Minot AFB, North Dakota, resulting in the unauthorized transfer of six-nuclear tipped missiles to an installation in Louisiana."

A decent post that fills in some of the holes in the mishandling of six nuclear warheads.

My little rant on this is here.

For those of you with bad memories...

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Bhutto killing blamed on al-Qaeda: "Pakistan says it has intelligence that al-Qaeda assassinated opposition politician Benazir Bhutto at an election rally on Thursday."

Pervez "after me, the deluge" Musharraf's government is blaming the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on al-Qaida. The problem with this is that Musharraf's government has had ties to al-Qaida. The Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence agency has actually used al-Qaida training camps in Afghanistan to prepare personnel for use against India. Musharraf's finger pointing raises more questions than it answers. He should have stuck with the "some other guy did it" defense.

Does the US really need Pervez Musharraf as an ally? Should we really be supporting yet another tin pot dictator whose only demonstrated capability is suppressing lawyers and judges?

If anyone out there has an example in which the doctrine of "my enemy's enemy is my friend" hasn't come back to bite us in the butt I'd love to hear about it.

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated in Pakistan - washingtonpost.com

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated in Pakistan - washingtonpost.com: "RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec. 27 -- Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday at a political rally, two months after returning from exile to attempt a political comeback."

President Musharraf, it looks bad when your political opponents are assassinated.