B2 Bombers

We have used B2 bombers to launch an attack against Libya's air forces. This is all well and good so we have blown holes in some concrete and destroyed some planes. Apparently Libya's air force has been grounded since yesterday's shoot down of a Mig23/27 over Benghazi. So the no fly zone is working.

Now we have other issues:

Qatar is sending planes but they will not drop bombs.

Some of the Arab League countries whose support we need are wavering because we are having to launch air to ground attacks against targets. Was how to impose a no-fly zone not explained to them?

China and Russia are already not happy about the ground strikes (hopefully this is just noise they have to do politically as they do not want to be seen backing anything the West does).

Let me be clear I do not agree that with Gaddafi when he says it is al-Qaeda leading the rebellion against him. However Libyans are well represented in Islamic terrorist groups including al-Qaeda and I think are very much involved with this rebellion. According to the link I added our military thinks the same thing as well. We are getting played by the rebellion and are providing close air support for a group that will not be any better than Gaddafi.

I still want to know what the end game is are we trying for regime change? Are we just going to keep Gaddafi's air force on the ground and let the rebels try to do everything else themselves (if this is the case they will lose)? Or like I said above are we going to try and shape the battlefield so the rebels can overcome Libya army and mercenaries.

To our counter-terrorism people be prepared Libya can still strike soft targets and if he cannot himself he has paid terrorists before he can again. Do not be surprised if some terrorist groups start seeing offers to fill their coffers in exchange for attacks to be launched.

Say a prayer

The men and women of our armed forces are about to be put in harms way yet again. The opening salvos of our involvement are already on the way into Libya. Also please take time out to do the same for our allies.

In saying this I sure hope we know who we are backing. The eastern part of Libya is full of AQ sympathizers and terrorists it would be something if these folks were duping the West and other Arab nations into setting them up with their own country to hate us from.

I would still like to know what the end game is going to be are we removing Libya's air power to make it more of an even fight or is the UN and the world looking at regime change? No one has yet explained this is a clear matter.

Buildings

When infidel armies damage a mosque people riot in the streets world wide. However when Muslims destroy a mosque no one seems to care.

"Many buildings have been destroyed including mosques. About 40 to 50 tanks are taking part in the bombardment. But they could not reach the centre of the town, which is still in the control of the revolutionaries,"

People do not realize the huge double standard used by Muslims and their sympathizers in the West. Here is a clue everything they do is to fight the imperialists everything we do is crusading against a peaceful religion. I would sure like to see rioting in Islamic countries about this incident but I doubt it is going to happen.

Broken Rifle Weekend

I have an Olympic Arms Heavy Barrel AR 15 from the assault weapons ban period which means that it does not have a bayonet lug on the rifle. I would not use the bayonet anyway that is why I have the Kukri machete. Speaking of that I have the zombie weapons at the tool sharpening place as I do not have a belt grinder to get the edge started. I was told that both machetes ( I also have a regular machete) will come back nearly shaving sharp from there I can keep maintained. There is something about a good carbon steel blade that once you get a working edge on it they will hold it forever (the dull machete from last summer is a funny story).

Anyway I digress I have started to feel better and thought I would get the rifle out and make sure it would pass inspection. So I begin to field strip it and the recoil spring buffer retainer and spring go shooting out of the weapon. This is an issue I thought I had corrected uh guess not. So I take the butt stock off and find that the buffer tube is loose (well there is your problem). So I tighten that down but since I do not have a torque wrench I just get it as tight as I can. I then get the weapon field stripped and notice that one of the bolt key screws is gone. CRAP then as I am taking the bolt apart the firing pin retention pin looks like it has seen better days. If I was braver I would also fix the ejector as well it looks rough but it seems to be working well. Then as I am putting the rifle back together a spring I have never seen before falls out of a hole that I have never seen before. Turns out that the take down detent and spring have fallen on hard times as well. This spring has seen way better days for sure and the detent is just gone. I did not think I was that hard on the rifle as I only usually put a magazine a month through it. Thankfully I have been around the Black Rifle for most of my adult life so I know my way around one a bit. Besides what I do not know the instructions are easy enough to find.

So I start getting on line to get the parts I need. First I hit Midway (they are sometimes pricing but usually have everything you need) and they have most of what I need (but not the take down spring and detent) then I remembered a company called Del-Ton who I was looking to buy an upper receiver from for a great price. They had the parts that Midway did not and for cheaper and when I mean cheaper it is hard to be much cheaper than the $1.99 I spent on a spring but they were and their shipping was also cheaper. I am looking forward to using them for parts in the future.

That gets me to another topic. My Queen has just about talked me into going to an online Gun smithing school and while I will not learn how to do the machining I will get everything else for mounting scopes and doing accessories.. Then Midway has a "How to Gunsmith an AR-15" course as well and Brownells has even more stuff. I could be done in year and have a way to earn a little money on the side for my projects.

How tyrants remain in power

With all the trouble brewing in Northern Africa and the Middle East I thought it might be worth a go to mention how tyrants in history have remained in power in the face of determined opposition. The tyrant in question either gives such a show of force or threat of violence they back down Napoleon's famous "give them a whiff of the grape" when he stopped a group of rioters in France. Hitler had his "Night of the Long Knives," Idi Amin just ate everyone that got in his way. Qaddafi has chosen to fight to stay in power and it looks like he is pulling out all the stops. If we want the rebellion to succeed we are going to have to help and I do not mean boots on the ground. Once we get a carrier group back in the Med (I have spoken on this and cannot believe we do not have one there anyway like we usually do.) Then we sweep the skies clear of Libyan air power. It would be better actually if the Egyptians did it but they are in such a mess as it is the U.S. will probably have to since NATO has already stated they are not messing with Libya at all.

Oh and the U.S. government has still not declared the attack and murder of our airmen in Germany as an act of Terrorism.

Great New Book

I am currently reading a great book call "Grunts" by John C. McManus. Here is a Paragraph from the chapter on Marine Combined Action Platoons (CAP) in Vietnam. For a little background on this program Marines and Corpsman were sent at first to local villages around the Marine base at Phu Bai. These Marines were sent to augment the PF (think village militia) at these villages. The Marines would eat, live, patrol, go on ambushes, and protect the villagers from the Viet Cong. Does any of this sound familiar? This is Counter Insurgency warfare something the Marine Corps has been doing for a very long time. I am going to add somethings to this paragraph so that it will be relevant to today's conflicts.

"The average Vietnamese (Afghani) peasant was caught in the middle of a vicious struggle that raged among the PFs, ARVN (South Vietnamese Military), the NVA (North Vietnamese Army, the V.C. (Taliban) and the American. This meant that most of the people simply wanted the security to be left alone and live their lives in peace. 'Its not that so many people in Vietnam are Viet Cont,' one CAP leader explained as the combined action program was just starting to grow. ' Its that most of them will swing with... whoever's got the strength. Because they don't have anything to lose by going over to the Viet Cong (Taliban) are in their village; or going back to the government when the government comes in the village. But now you've got a ville that's go khaki (a CAP) in it its got medical attention there, its got people that care and people that show some friendliness and some interest. So the villager like any other human being begins to develop loyalties(McManus, 2010)."

No do not get me wrong the Marines were not there roasting marshmallows they were killing VC and NVA alongside their PFs. They were defending their new homes and the homes of the villagers. Currently we are in the COIN fight of our lives and now that we are re-learning the book turns out there was already one written. Yes the new COIN operations are loosely based on what the Marine Corps has done in the past we still though have a penchant for large scale search and destroy missions they failed in the 60s I just hope we will get it right this time.

Terrorism in Germany

I have have written several times small gunfire attacks such as the one in Germany can be more successful than the big explosions. It seems that the Wahabi influence is spreading to Kosovo which is an area that while Muslim is not known for making their women wear the hijab and enforcing the usual hard core Muslim laws. However the influence of Saudi petro dollars, mosque building, and missionary work is starting to pay off for potential terrorist cells.

What I can see happening is that a group of young men started going to the mosque and learning how America is evil etc. Then someone says they need to take up arms against the infidel and they went for the soft target ie off duty airmen.