Mad as Hell and We’re Gonna Take It

Here’s a striking review of a new book by the premier Bin Laden hunter, Michael Sheuer:

Critics of that enterprise have questioned whether Muslims are socially equipped to manage democratic, secular institutions. But Scheuer doesn’t condemn Islamic governance. Instead, he excoriates the American “governing elite” for supposing that eight centuries of democratic evolution can be swiftly unpacked abroad, or that the citizens of Afghanistan really want “100 bars in Kabul,” or that Muslims place women’s liberation as high in their political hierarchy as we do. “It would take an odd mind-set indeed for any parent to be able to take comfort in knowing their child was killed so Mrs. Muhammad can vote, vamp and abort,” Scheuer writes.

Beijing Working to (half-kill) Visitors to Olympics

From the VOA:  But just how long do they expect Chinese blood to last anyhow? 

Zhu Ruiquan of the Beijing Red Cross says he needs extra supplies of the blood to cover the increase in visitors expected in the city during the games.

"We need to get prepared for them in case there are some accidents or some problems, so we are ready to handle them," he said.

Zhu’s organization has set up mobile blood centers across Beijing to help to collect 16 liters of Rh-negative blood that he wants to have on standby for the Olympics.

VOA News – Beijing Working to Improve Health Care for Foreigners Ahead of Olympics

In america, blood only lasts 37 or 42 days after it hits the bag, depending on the anti-coagulant used.  So if they’re collecting blood now and expect to use it in August – wow!  Recently, some scientists are saying that if the blood collected isn’t transfused in the first two weeks after collection, then the patient’s risk of heart attack and other problems increase.  If you are RH negative and visiting Beijing during the Olympics then stay away from sharp stuff!

China Didn’t Check Drug Supplier

I kind of expect China to screw it up and I guess it should be no suprise by now that the FDA does too:

China Didn’t Check Drug Supplier, Files Show – New York Times
Because the plant, Changzhou SPL, has no drug certification, China’s drug agency did not inspect it. The United States Food and Drug Administration said this week that it had not inspected the plant either — a violation of its own policy — before allowing the company to become a major supplier of the blood thinner, heparin, to Baxter International in the United States.

A Death Reconsidered

May be a bit wild for IAVA ground but this article is in line with my thoughts on reading the orginal.

A Death Reconsidered by Robert Bryce – The Texas Observer
But in December, I talked to a source in the Department of Defense who met Westhusing in Iraq about three months before his death. The source, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, was investigating claims of wrongdoing against military contractors working in Iraq. After a short introduction, I asked him what he thought had happened to Westhusing. “I think he was killed. I honestly do. I think he was murdered,” the source told me. “Maybe DOD didn’t have enough evidence to call it murder, so they called it suicide.” I contacted the source through Larry C. Johnson, a former employee of the CIA who specializes in terrorism and security issues, and who writes the “No Quarter USA” blog. Johnson and other bloggers have written extensively about Westhusing’s death.

Not a Great Week in Headlines

Just check out these headlines pulled from the Government Executive digest

1. Analyst warns of third Islamic terrorist wave, enabled by Internet

2. Military services launch projects to beef up data sharing and security

3. Administration budget shortchanges ‘urgent’ security needs, Lieberman says

4. Officers say military weakened, not broken, by Iraq and Afghanistan

5. Appropriators skewer Army over contracting abuse

6. Air Force: More troops needed, despite planned cuts

7. Bush targets contract oversight provisions

8. Senate Armed Services chairman: Army funding requests might fall short

9. House panel probes quality of Army recruits

Quote of the week

Looks like the admin is doing a “heckuva job.”

Bout Time

CQ Politics | Justice Department Says Its Probe Will Address Waterboarding Advice
The department’s Office of Professional Responsibility is looking into “circumstances surrounding” the drafting of an August 2002 memo from the department’s Office of Legal Counsel to Alberto R. Gonzales, then President Bush’s White House counsel, regarding standards of conduct for interrogations, wrote H. Marshall Jarrett, the OPR counsel, in a Feb. 18 letter to Sens. Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., and Sheldon Whitehouse , D-R.I

War in the Blood

One wonders how the Chinese might sneak software trapdoors and such into our electronic weapons components that they build.  How about all the other stuff they supply to us?

Chinese maker of heparin ingredient not certified, records show
Documents and interviews revealed that Changzhou SPL — the Chinese plant that makes the active ingredient for Baxter International’s blood thinner heparin — has not been certified by China’s State Food and Drug Administration because it is considered “a producer of chemical ingredients.” Scientific Protein Laboratories, the U.S. majority owner of the factory, has released a statement saying that although its facility has no license from Chinese regulators, it obtains raw ingredients from a licensed supplier and observes proper manufacturing procedures.  New York Times, The (2/16)

I don’t want to appear too paranoid here, but I’m just sayin’.

Denial in the Corps

“Denial in the Corps”

Filed under: Iraq — Perry Jefferies @ 11:18 am

The Nation magazine carries a long article on the clash of Marine culture and PTSD awareness and treatment in their February 18, 2008 issue. Despite the somewhat lurid headline, author Kathy Dobie doe a good job of trying to present both sides fairly and in doing so, asks the question “should bad behavior exhibited as a symptom of a mental injury be reason for denying treatment of that injury?”  This is a problem that often confronts time-overwhelmed chains of command in the rush to redeploy, refit, reset, and begin preparing for the next mission.

I think that much of the work we’re doing this week on Capitol Hill, the great response from legislators who want to work to de-stigmatize mental health injuries, and our upcoming Ad Council campaign will combat this problem but, as a Senator told our group yesterday – we’ve got to drive a change in the military culture itself – a process that will take years or decades.

Meanwhile, click here to read “Denial in the Corps” in this week’s Nation and let someone you know that it’s okay to get help.

Denial in the Corps

Dina Rasor: The Audacity of Hope and Iraq Contracting: Dare I hope that something will be done? – Politics on The Huffington Post

Dina quotes my blog from IAVA on the recent Senate hearing. 

Dina Rasor: The Audacity of Hope and Iraq Contracting: Dare I hope that something will be done? – Politics on The Huffington Post

Have I mentioned how well I was treated by Senator Carper and his staff, especially the intrepid Ms. Anderson?  They really made it a pleasure to provide information to the committee.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Whether it is the headline grabbing obsession of that part of the media with Dame La Spears or Sir Ledger, or the country’s focus on one of the fastest Tom Petty concerts ever (surrounded by some sort of athletic activity), it always seems to be a simple target for critics to remark about the lack of attention paid to our servicemen and women working in far-flung environments, most notably Iraq and Afghanistan.  We who do (and I do) might forget that every “Joe” who could probably disrupted their sleep to catch the Superbowl and that the mindless entertainment of celebrity paparazzi might just be a welcome break for some “in the box.”  Each year too, it seems like I want to write a post about “Groundhog Day” (suck result, with 6 more weeks of winter – good thing it’s 75 here in Texas) but that’s been done before so I hesitate. 

But wait – here we are again – another year, another rotation taking place, fresh stories about the lack of services in Baghdad and their impact on the population, the “government in absentia” still dithering, and the troops continue to die with no final strategy in sight.  CBS even replayed its great story of the 1-133 Infantry Battalion of the Iowa National Guard.  It’s Groundhog Day again and it sure feels like Groundhog Day again.