James R. Rummel

I am a self defense instructor who lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Look! Up in the Sky!

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This post at Murdoc Online reports that the Philippines have retired the last of their fighter aircraft. As of October 1st, the Philippines are without any dedicated air defense planes. Some trainer aircraft have been modified to act as makeshift fighters, but I don’t think anyone expects them to do any good if a shooting war starts.

But the prospects of actual combat are very remote, and the reasons for that have much to do with the defense umbrella provided by the United States and Australia. Any foreign power looking to make war on the Philippines would essentially have to get permission from the Anglosphere, and I just don’t see that happening in the foreseeable future.

The stated reason for the decision to junk their fighters was economics. The Philippine government has to concern itself with two serious internal threats: Communist guerrillas in the back country and Islamic terrorists in the South. In both cases the enemy is dispersed, desperate to avoid a direct battle, and difficult to eradicate. Fighter aircraft are of little use in this sort of conflict, and the limited defense budget could be better spent on forces that are better suited to dealing with insurgents.

This decision by the Philippine government isn’t unprecedented. New Zealand decided in 2001 to disband their own air combat wing, and their reasons for doing so are also economic in nature. But, unlike the Philippines, New Zealand doesn’t face any internal threats. They wanted to use the cash to fund social welfare programs.

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Fourth and Counting

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Today is the fourth anniversary of 9/11. People occasionally ask me if I’ve “come to terms” with my anger over the taking of innocent lives.

I dunno. Let me check.

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We are, right this minute, engaged in a global war. The struggle will last decades. Defeats will be documented by the world’s media while many victories will never be discussed until long after this war is over, if ever. Many of our best, our brightest, and our most noble will pay the ultimate price.

But there is one certainty. Our enemy can never defeat us as long as we have an unshakable resolve. That is both our most precious and most delicate resource. We must husband it by remembering what terrible acts were performed upon innocent people, and always consider that worse will happen if we falter for even a moment.

Today I find my thoughts turning to the only time I ever broke down and openly wept in public. I wonder what happened to those kids I met on that day, what turns their lives took, and I hope that they fared well.

But, no matter what happened, I’m sure that they did their best.

Tearing up the Constitution in New Orleans

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The big news amongst civil libertarians (and Libertarians in general) is the order issued by the Mayor to forcibly evacuate New Orleans.

The reasons why the authorities want people to leave are commendable. The sewage system has broken down, and the water choking the streets is little cleaner than what you’d find in a clogged honkytonk toilet on Saturday morning. There is a very real possibility of various plagues breaking out, cholera being the chief suspect. This could stretch relief efforts to the breaking point, as medical supplies and facilities simply aren’t adequate to handle such a disaster.

The methods being used are somewhat less noble. Police are going from door to door, heavily armed and always in a sizable group, ordering residents out of their homes. I can’t find any reliable reports that force has been used yet, but that will probably change by tomorrow. (The live webcams available through this blog show the police staging area for the effort.)

So far these heavy-handed tactics have worked, as individuals are rather loathe to tell the 5 or 6 guys crowding into their living room while toting assault rifles to get bent. But eventually there’s going to be someone who’s going to do exactly that, and then there will be what is referred to as “an incident”.

The Mayor may have spoken, but not everyone is very comfortable with it. The military say they won’t take part in forcibly removing anyone from New Orleans, the LA National Guard said that they don’t take orders from the Mayor, and the police are very leery about the whole thing.

It’s possible that, if everyone isn’t very careful, a homeowner could take a potshot at the police trying to get him out of his house. Then what?

In an effort to reduce the chances of this looming news story, the Mayor has also decreed that all privately owned firearms are to be confiscated. (The place to go for the skinny is Publicola, who has the lowdown and the links.)

My take on all this is that the Mayor is probably right to order the police to get as many people out of the city as possible, but he’s wrong to order a forcible evacuation. He’s also crashingly, loudly, agonizingly wrong to order the police to confiscate legally owned private property.

Eugene has an interesting post about the legalities of the order, and he points out that private security guards are allowed to openly carry military weapons without fear of police. This comment by Robert Lyman outlines a dilemma for those who are on the Left side of the political fence.

It looks like the Mayor is creating a huge problem for both himself and his administration, something that only makes sense if he is either a drooling incompetent or that he has come to the conclusion that his political career is doomed anyway. As far as this goes, though, I’m more interested in the legal and political fallout to come in the years ahead.

And I hope that no one pulls a trigger, although the Mayor’s posturing has certainly increased the chances of something like that happening.

Pie in the Sky

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Like most of you, I’ve been following coverage of the relief efforts in and around New Orleans. But, unlike most of you, I’ve felt a great deal of pride from those efforts. It appears that everyone is doing the best they can with what they have. I certainly don’t want to offend anyone, particularly fellow Chicago Boyz ken who wrote a post that inspired this one. But it seems to me that while some criticism of the government response is warranted, the majority is not only unjustified but unrealistic.

Why would I feel this way? Because I once had a job in law enforcement, and I have a little inside knowledge of the difficulties that present themselves when preparing for disaster.

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