Category Archives: Foreign Policy
Padre Steve’s Arab Spring Articles: Tahir Square to Sirte
It is hard to believe that Moammar Gaddafi is dead and that the people of Libya have thrown off the shackles of his tyrannical dictatorship which caused them and the world so much grief. These are links and brief descriptions … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, middle east, Military
Tagged as arab spring, bahrain protests, egyptian revolution, hosni mubarak, libyan revolution, middle east, muammar gaddafi, nato, operation odyssey dawn, revolutionary era, saif al islam gaddafi, sirte, syria protests, tahrir square, tripoli, yemen protests
Why the Libyans were able to Overthrow Gaddafi and what We can learn from It: A Lesson from the work of T E Lawrence
T E Lawrence “Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, middle east, Military
Tagged as al faw peninsula battle 1988, al kut amara 1916, arab revolt 1916, barak obama, bedouin, british mandate of mesopotamia, david cameron, Emir Faisal hussein, first world war, general allenby, Hashamite kingdom, Hejaz Railway, iraq, iraq revolt of 1920, iraq revolt of 1941, Iraqi Arabs, irq insurgency, king faisal hussein I, king faisal hussein ii, kingdom of iraq, kingdom of syria, libya revolt, Mesopotamia, muammar gaddafi, nato, nato libya air campaign, nicholas sarkozy, ottoman empire, paul bremer, Sherif Hussein, Sykes-Picot Agreement, t e lawrence, Western Imperialism, wwi
Gaddafi is Dead so what happens Now?
“We announce to the world that Qaddafi has been killed at the hands of the revolution. It is a historic moment. It is the end of tyranny and dictatorship. Qaddafi has met his fate.” Abdel Hafez Ghoga, spokesman for the National … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, middle east
Tagged as Abdullah al-Senussi, Abu Bakr Yunis Jabr, Al Arabya News, Ali Abdullah Saleh, arab spring, Bashar Al-Assad, la belle disco bombing, libya, libya national transitional council, libyan revolution, misrata council, muammar gaddafi, Muatassim Gaddafi, nato, pan am 103 bombing, revolutionary era, saif al islam gaddafi, syria, yemen
Why History Matters: The Disastrous Effects of Long Insurgency Campaigns on the Nations that Wage them and the Armies that Fight Them
French Mobile Group in Indochina “Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,’ as General [Douglas] MacArthur so … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, iraq,afghanistan, middle east, Military, Politics, vietnam, world war two in europe
Tagged as 5th fleet aor, 9-11 attacks, a bridge too far, a savage war of peace, about face, abu ghraib, afghan army, afghanistan, afghanistan casualties, air ground base concept, al qaida, algeria, alistair horne, Andrew Krepinevich, arvn, barak obama, bernard fall, carrier requirement for 5th fleet, chinese communists, COIN, combined action platoons, combined arms army, cost of war, counterinsurgency, david galula, david hackworth, democratic republic of Afghanistan, dien bien phu, erwin rommel, Frants Klinsevich, french army, french indochina, french wwii defeat, GCMA/GMI forces, General David Petreus, general giap, general harold "hal" moore, gerd von rundstedt, great britain, group mobile 100, intelligence and psychological warfare, iraq, iraq casualties, iraq war, isaf, jean lartenguy, jules roy, marcel bigeard, martin winslow, mcchrystal assessment, meu, middle east, mohammed karzai, na son, nato, north vietnamese, oef casualties, ostraciztion of vietnam veterans, Pacification in Algeria 1956-1958 and Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, paul assaresses, pieds-noir, pleiku, RAND corporation, roger trinquier, secretary of defense robert gates, south vietnam, soviet casualties in afghanistan, soviet union, soviet veterans of afghanistan, soviet-afghan war, stanley mcchrystal, steel my soldiers hearts, strategic depth, street without joy, sun tzu, taliba, taliban, the army and vietnam, The Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Manual, the battle of dien bien phu, The Battle of the Casbah, the centurions, the last valley, the siege ofdien bien phu: hell in a very small place, The Soviet Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost”, torture, us army, US Marine Corps, veterans administration, vichy france, viet cong, viet minh, vietnam, von rundstedt end the war quote, war on terrorism, we were soldiers once and young
The “Comfortable” Experts and the Real Soldiers
“Too many people learn about war with no inconvenience to themselves. They read about Verdun or Stalingrad without comprehension, sitting in a comfortable armchair, with their feet beside the fire, preparing to go about their business the next day, as … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, iraq,afghanistan, middle east, Military, Politics
Tagged as afghanistan war, dwight eisenhower, gettysburg film, guy sajer, iraq war, joshua chamberlain, libya war, media and entertainment industry, michael shaara, military industrial complex, politicians, september 11 2001, the forgotten soldier, the killer angels, us air force, us army, US Marine Corps, us military, US Navy, war, war video games, yemen
Living in the Bizzaro Post Osama Bin Laden World: Another Denny Crane Moment for Padre Steve
Note to readers: Another of my Denny Crane moments which seem to be coming more likely, must be the Mad Cow “Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don’t you dig how beautiful it is out … Continue reading →
Filed under faith, Foreign Policy, History, iraq,afghanistan, middle east, Military, national security, philosophy, Politics
Tagged as 9-11 2001, 9-11 attacks, abortion, abu ghraib, adolf hitler, afghanistan war, arab spring, arab world, bin laden killed, bizzaro world, blackwater, christian reaction to bin laden death, christmas time in hell, cost of iraq afghanistan wars, death penalty, halliburton, iraq war, kelly's heroes, kill team, navy seals, nazi germany, osama bin laden, political spin, president barak obama, president bill clinton, president george w bush, reactions to bin laden killing, saddam hussein, south park, twin towers
Thoughts on the Well Deserved Death of Osama Bin Laden and some Christian’s Crocodile Tears for his Soul
Note: This is one of my Denny Crane moments indulge me Osama Bin Laden got his just deserts yesterday at the hands of the Navy SEALS of Seal Team Six known simply as DEVGRU to those that have served in … Continue reading →
Filed under christian life, Foreign Policy, History, iraq,afghanistan, middle east, Military, national security, philosophy, purely humorous, US Navy
Tagged as 1960s liberals, 9-11 2001, 9-11 attacks, a few good men, bin laden killed, che guevara, christians, colonel nathan r jessup, cultural revolution, david wilkerson, denny crane, devgru, english separatists, evangelical christians, god's judgement, god's judgment on america, imprecatory prayer, jack nicholson, jerry falwell, navy seals, osama bin laden, pat robertson, pilgrims, president barak obama, psalm 137:9, red china, rhode island colony, roger williams, seal team 6, vietnam war protestors
Bin Laden Dead: Navy SEALS Kill Terrorist in Pakistan
DEAD! His name is associated with brutal attacks on attacks on Americans and others for over a decade the Embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, the USS Cole, the Khobar Towers, Madrid Spain, Mumbai and most infamously the dastardly attack … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, iraq,afghanistan, middle east, Military, national security, Politics
Tagged as 9-11 attacks, adolf hitler, afghanistan war, al qaeda, bin laden killed, iraq war, kenya and tanzania attacks, khobar towers bombing, navy seals, obama speech on bin laden death, osama bin laden, pakistan, president barak obama, uss cole bombing
The Disdain of American Business for Military Personnel and their Benefits
“What are you going to trade off — a rich entitlements program, or boots and bullets for the troops?” Richard Spencer Defense Business Review Board (quoted in the Navy Times 2 May 2011 print and internet edition) The Federal Government … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, leadership, Military, national security, Politics
Tagged as afghanistan, banking industy, barney greenwald, big business, blackwater, bosnia, combat wounded, defense business review board, defense contractors, defense department budget, entitlement programs, federal debt, federal deficit, federal government, gettysburg film, halliburton, iraq, john buford, kbr, kosovo.somalia, medical retirement, medicare, military pensions, military retirement, miltary deployments, navy times, paul ryan, richard spencer, smedley butler, social security, taxpayer bail outs, the caine mutiny, tricare, veterans administration, wall street, widows pensions
Padre Steve’s Primer on the Muddle East
“When you are up to your arse in alligators it is hard to remember that your mission is to drain the swamp.” Old British Colonial Saying During the dark days of World War Two when Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was … Continue reading →
Filed under Foreign Policy, History, middle east, national security
Tagged as 2008 israel hamas war, 9-11 2001, afghanistan, afghanistan government corruption, algeria, alqaeda, anbar awakening, arab despots, arab spring, arab-israeli conflict, “When you are up to your arse in alligators it is hard to remember that your mission is to drain the swamp.”, bahrain, ben ali, britain, british use of poison gas in iraq, collapse of soviet union, egypt, egypt-israeli peace settlement, erwin rommel, european colonialism, fatah, france, george h w bush, gulf war, hamas, hezbollah, hosni mubarak, iran, iran influence in lebanon, iran-iraq war, iranian revolution, iranian revolutionary guard, iraq, iraq civil war, iraq insurgency, israel, israeli hezbollah war 2006, italy, jordan, khobar towers bombing, lebanon, libya, middle east, middle east uprisings, middle east wars, muammar gaddafi, muddle east, mujahedeen, oil companies, operation desert storm, operation iraqi freedom, osama bin laden, ottoman empire, pakistan, palestine, palestinian authority, saddam hussein, saudi arabia, shah of iran, soviet union, syria, taliban, tango uniform, tunisia, u s policy in iraq, united nations, united states, us foreign policy in the middle east, uss cole bombing, warsaw pact, world trade center attack, world trade center bombing 1994, world war i, world war ii, yemen
