A Crisis of American Generalship

“As matters stand now, a private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war.”

From A failure in generalship, by Lt. Col. Paul Yingling. RTWT — this officer probably just jettisoned his career to write the truth as he saw it, so take a look at what he has to say. It is a convincing denunciation of the leadership in the current war in Iraq. Interview with Yingling, here. discussion of the article on Small Wars Council. Hat tip: Zenpundit.

Shariah by stealth

Immigrant Aydarus Yusuf, who has lived in Britain for 15 years says, in effect, that he does not feel bound by British law. “Us Somalis, wherever we are in the world, we have our own law.” According to the BBC, the 29-year old youth worker wants to ensure that other members of his community remain subject to the law of their ancestors, too. To this end, he helps convene an unofficial Somali court, or “gar”, in southeast London. This group tries both civil and criminal cases, without reference to the English police or England’s 1,000 year old legal infrastructure. This news simply confirmed what many in Britain already suspected. Muslim immigrants and their offspring, who constitute around 2.5% (according to Labour government figures) of the population, are running an underground parallel legal system operated along tribal lines by “elders”.

Episcopalian canon Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, himself a convert from Islam, whose own family immigrated from Guyana and who heads the Institute for The Study of Islam and Christianity, confirms that shariah courts now operate in most larger cities and operate according to their own traditions.

Dr Sookhdeo said, “The government has not been straight about this.”

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IEDs, Back in the Day

Everything old is new again. Via Richard North comes this interesting discussion of innovative mine-detection and -clearing techniques used by the white Rhodesians against Mugabe’s insurgents.

See also this post and this post for an insightful and much broader discussion of British military capabilities and political/military errors in the Iraq war. (These posts are not recent but remain highly relevant.)

Miniter Reports

Richard Miniter’s “Made in Iran: A Traitor’s Tale” is the story of a sad, bitter and not very competent 21-year-old, who was still able to spread death & chaos. This small and empty man is used by powers larger but no less empty. His petty grudge is put to the service of evil. From the beginning, many of us here saw a pattern (and purpose), first in Afghanistan and then Iraq. Thinking globally does not come easily to me – but Miniter captures the drama of a place where the unconscious and heartless are sent out to kill and maim, used by those who understand how big the game is as they move these pawns on the great board of which Iraq & Afghanistan are but small parts. And if Henry Reid smugly believes this game is lost, I doubt he sees how big the game is and how much and how many that loss will affect. Of course, he should resign in shame, but he won’t; if he felt shame, he could not feel the smugness he so casually embodies. But that seems to be because his imagination can not conceive of the fierce battles and death that will follow loss.

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