The world is burning news. Kidnapped teens found dead.

via USA Today.

The bodies of three Israeli teenagers, who were kidnapped on their way home from religious school in the West Bank two weeks, have been found shot to death, the Israeli embassy confirmed.
"It's 100% confirmed, they were found in a city called Halhul north of Hebron" in the West Bank, said Jonny Daniels, an adviser to Israel's deputy defense minister, Danny Danon, told USA TODAY.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in an emergency meeting with his security Cabinet to discuss how Israel will respond, Daniels said. "Abu Mazen will have a price to pay," he said, using the nom de guerre of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party rules the West Bank.
The news gripped the nation, Daniels said.

Rest in peace young men.

I wish I could let you know that the animals that did this to you would pay, but the IDF is only a shadow of its former self.

The West parties and gets fat while the Terrorist are hunting and training.

Unless we change this will not end well.

Monday Funny...

The USMC's "Bergdahl" turns himself in...

Thanks Purpleslog for the link...

via FoxNews.

WASHINGTON – A Marine who was declared a deserter nearly 10 years ago after disappearing in Iraq and then returning to the U.S. claiming he had been kidnapped, only to disappear again, is back in U.S. custody, officials said Sunday.
Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, 34, turned himself in and was being flown Sunday from an undisclosed location in the Middle East to Norfolk, Va. He is to be moved Monday to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, according to a spokesman, Capt. Eric Flanagan.
Maj. Gen. Raymond Fox, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Lejeune, will determine whether to court martial Hassoun.
Hassoun disappeared from his unit in Iraq's western desert in June 2004. The following month he turned up unharmed in Beirut, Lebanon and blamed his disappearance on Islamic extremist kidnappers. He was returned to Lejeune and was about to face the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing when he disappeared again.

I call him the Marine Corps' Bergdahl because plain and simple the guy deserted.

On a personal note I've met guys that were translators that were rock solid, quick check of the eyes let you know that they were with you and your spider senses never went off when they were doing the Marine thing.

I've met others that made my skin crawl.

Cpl Hassoun fits the skin crawl category.

If this was the Marine Corps of old, then mercy shouldn't be expected.  We'll see what happens but if he gets away without punishment then I will be disappointed but not surprised.

The World is Burning News. Christians attacked in Africa.

~ “A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men.” ~ Bernard de Clairvaux, c. 1135,

via CNN

Kano, Nigeria (CNN) -- At least 30 people were killed Sunday in raids by suspected Boko Haram Islamists on four Christian villages in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno, residents and a priest said.
Gunmen on motorcycles stormed the villages of Kwada, Ngurojina, Karagau and Kautikari, opening fire on residents and hurling explosives into homes and churches. The villages are near Chibok, scene of the April 14 abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls,
Barnabas Tanko, a member of a local vigilante group in Kwada, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Chibok, said the gunmen, believed to be Boko Haram insurgents, attacked the village around 8:00 a.m.
Witnesses say the gunmen pursued fleeing residents into the bush and shot them dead.
In Kwada, the entire village, including its five churches, was burned by the marauding gunmen.

The State Dept has made persecution of gays and lesbians a top priority but is ignoring the fact that Christians are being systematically exterminated in Nigeria.

Perhaps we need Xe to reform as the New Knights Templar and cut them loose in Africa?

Iraq recieve SU-25's or SU-30's from Russia? UPDATED.

Thanks Mhalblaub for the link...

via Spiegel Online...

Five Russian fighter jets arrived in Iraq, according to media reports. The government in Baghdad has purchased the aircraft to Dschihadistengruppe against the "Islamic State in Iraq and Syria" ( ISISproceed). More Jets were already on the way, it says at the BBC.
There is conflicting evidence as to whether it is combat aircraft of the type Sukhoi Su-25 or Su-30. The Iraqi government will pay according to the BBC about 365 million euros for the Russian military technology.

And another nations falls under the Russian sphere of influence.

Yes.

I know that the Iraqis operate Russian equipment but this appears to be part of a larger issue, especially when you consider that the Iraqi's just received are going to be receiving F-16's (thanks Don) from the US.

UPDATE:  Zebra Dunn informed that the Iraqi's were getting SU-25's and now 1Modeus has gotten us the video....

Open Carry idiots.

Check out the above video.

Ignore the use of the "N" word.  Its used by street vermin and like the video and the news report says here, it wasn't being used in a 'derogatory' way (this is another of those annoying issues personally...I despise the term but its used constantly in rap lyrics...how can it be prohibited when its being used main stream?).

What I do want to discuss is "open carry idiots".

The NRA, Military Arms Channel (where I got this vid from...he also thinks they're beyond stupid) and many others have stated that open carry is working against us.

They are so right.

I'm to the point where I would agree to legislation that banned open carry except during times of emergency....and I'm a staunch 2nd Amendment purist.  This is how the gun grabbers win.  You have idiotic behavior by a few people and it leads to restricts for all.

Spread the word.

Don't open carry.

NOTE:  Once again, racist idiots have appeared on my page to spread there hate.  It will not be allowed.  A common sense discussion is always appreciated.  If you want to make comments that I deem inappropriate then they will be deleted and if I detect you commenting on any  other subject they will be too.  StormFront is available online and they're always looking for new members.

Lexington Institute's Dr. Goure strikes hard at "women in combat"!

via Lexington Institute...

What would be the result of the gender diversity mafia demanding that at least 20 percent of all the slots on the U.S. World Cup Soccer Team be reserved for women? This is basically what they are demanding of the U.S. military: open up positions in combat units, including infantry, to women whether they want them or not and regardless of standards of performance.
If this country did to our World Cup Soccer Team what it is doing to its military the outcry would be deafening. Shame on us all for not treating our service personnel and their institutions with the same respect, care and support as we devote to our sports stars and their teams.

A few things....

First, it is as I suspected...women will be pushed into combat roles despite their not being capable of performing to the same standards as men.  This is the biggest confirmation of what's coming.  Goure wouldn't be going after this unless he knew what was coming down the pike.

Second, sequestration is going to continue and the cuts that we've seen up to this point are going to look like the good ole' days.

Last, read the entire article here.  Pretty sobering stuff if he's even half right. 

Saudi Arabia is next...

Note:  Saudi Arabia falling will be the event that changes everything.  When Saudi Arabia falls so will the current global trade system.  And its coming.  Say what you will about the anger of the average man against the elite, but its real and its growing.  Prep now.  We're looking at a very cloudy future.

The countries already teetering...Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.  The countries facing near term drama...Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, UAE, Qatar, parts of Turkey (near the Iraq border), parts of India (near the Pakistani border) and Israel.

They're fucked.  And I don't care.

Thought for the day...

MPC News. Two more years of testing?

via Defense Daily.

"What we’ve seen right now is that there is a swim capability that the [ACV] has, and we’re going to do some testing over the next two years here when we do the competition to be able to see exactly what the true swim qualities of the vehicles are" to determine whether the connectors would need to bring ACVs all the way to the shore, or whether they could drop the ACVs off a mile offshore, for example.

Glueck said that the four contractors believe their vehicles can handle up to sea state 3, which includes very choppy water conditions, but the Marine Corps will need to confirm that in testing before deciding how to proceed with connectors for ACV.

I was moving into the mode of trying to decide whether going all in on Marine Personnel Carriers instead of a true amphibious tractor was a good idea or not.

I was almost ready to shelve my viewpoint that this would ultimately be a Dunford decision and that Amos was simply spinning our wheels once again.

I should have remained firm.

Two years of testing.

Two more freaking years of testing....as if they don't have all the metrics they need right now for a decision!

The Marine Corps ground side is being played.  The procurement train wreck is still in play and the MPC/ACV 1.1 won't be seeing service anytime soon.  

F-35 News. We're witnessing malfeasance on the part of Marine Air.

via Merriam-Webster..

MALFEASANCE: wrongdoing or misconduct especially by a public official

via The Washington Post...

Marine Corps Capt. Richard Ulsh said in a statement Friday afternoon that the F-35B, the version that is scheduled to appear at Farnborough, would resume flights Friday. He declined to elaborate on why the Marine Corps felt its versions were safe to fly, while others remained on the ground.
“We are continuing with our plans to deploy to the U.K. next month,” he said.

In a sign that military officials are proceeding with plans to show the plane overseas, four jets arrived at Patuxent River Naval Air Station Friday from Yuman, Ariz. in anticipation of the trip to Britain, officials said.
Before heading to Farnborough, the F-35 is expected to fly at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Britain.

The question has to be asked.

How can the USMC continue with flight operations when the USAF and USN has decided that its too risky?

The desperation coming out of the Commandant's office with regard to this airplane is palpable.

Its beyond obvious that the SecDef needs to step in to protect these pilots from Marine Corps leadership. 

Meanwhile in East Ukraine, National Guard Troops are ambushed.

That's right boys and girls.

While the dazed and confused are taking selfies, getting wrapped around the axle over the name of Army Helicopters or the name of an NFL team, forcing gay marriage onto states that don't want it, are seeking to destroy gun rights, is attempting to foster illegal immigration into our nation....and numerous other issues....

The world burns.

ISIS parades captured Iraqi Army (American made) Gear...

Thanks for the photos Mr. T...

So what do we see in the above photos?

A quick glance shows Armored Security Vehicles...the US Army MP's vehicle of choice...I see MTVRs...the prime mover and surrogate APC for the USMC...I see a couple of those airborne light howitzers (forgot what they're called).M 198 Howitzers (thanks John)..and numerous US trucks.

We see this and yet we're now about to arm the Rebels in Syria?

American foreign policy is in chaos.

More here....

The Russian/French Boomerang IFV is official...

Thanks for the article Jonathan...

via Rianovosti...

MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Uralvagonzavod and France’s Renault are jointly developing a new infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) with an increased firing range of up to 16 kilometers, the Russian company said Wednesday.
“We [Uralvagonzavod and Renault Trucks Defense] unveiled today a prototype of a future IFV,” Uralvagonzavod general director Oleg Sienko said at Russian Arms Expo-2013, which opened Wednesday in the Urals city of Nizhny Tagil.
“The French side provided us with the transmission, the engine, the concept and the fire control system,” he said.
According to Sienko, the new IFV will be highly competitive on global markets because it is equipped with a powerful 57-mm gun, instead of the 30-mm variant that is standard for current IFVs.
“With its maneuverability and fire power, we are certain that this product will be in high demand on the market,” Sienko said, adding that a joint Russian-French venture could be formed to set up localized production of the new IFV in Russia.
Renault, France’s second-biggest carmaker, has made the Russian market one of its priorities for international development. Russia is already Renault’s fourth-largest automobile market.
In 2014, the Renault-Nissan Alliance will get a majority stake in a joint venture with the Russian Technologies State Corporation, called Alliance Rostec Auto BV, which will control AvtoVAZ, leader of the Russian car market.

Uh wow.

Jumping up to a 57mm gun on an IFV?  That's huge in more ways than one.  Additionally its a throwback to work the Israeli's did with a 60mm Hyper Velocity Cannon on their upgraded Shermans.

This program deserves watching. 

Political correctness run amok. Now Black Hawk helicopters are offensive?

Thanks Calico Jack for the link...

via Washington Post.

In the United States today, the names Apache, Comanche, Chinook, Lakota, Cheyenne and Kiowa apply not only to Indian tribes but also to military helicopters. Add in the Black Hawk, named for a leader of the Sauk tribe. Then there is the Tomahawk, a low-altitude missile, and a drone named for an Indian chief, Gray Eagle. Operation Geronimo was the end of Osama bin Laden.
Why do we name our battles and weapons after people we have vanquished? For the same reason the Washington team is the Redskins and my hometown Red Sox go to Cleveland to play the Indians and to Atlanta to play the Braves: because the myth of the worthy native adversary is more palatable than the reality — the conquered tribes of this land were not rivals but victims, cheated and impossibly outgunned..... Noam Chomsky has clarified the moral stakes in provocative, instructive terms: “We might react differently if the Luftwaffe were to call its fighter planes ‘Jew’ and ‘Gypsy.’ ”

These people are operating in a totally different world.

I don't quite know what to make of this train of thought.  I do know this....the attack on everything manly, the desire to destroy every thing that points to a proud martial history...and even the honoring of 'vanquished' people is now front and center for the progressives in the US>

Notice that Florida State is never mentioned in these diatribes of indignation?  The reason is simple.  The Seminole Nation rightfully understood that they were being honored by the use of their name by that university.

I've noticed something else.

Progressives thrive on social chaos.  If there is no issue for them to latch onto then they will invent one.  Perhaps I'm a neaderthal but this is another invented issue.  The fact that our borders are wide open, the economy is in the ditch, ISIS is rampaging throughout the Middle East, Africa is on fire and the unemployment rate is waaaaay too high is no where on their radar screens.

Oh and as far as Chomsky clarifying...he did not.  The Luftwaffe didn't call their airplanes Jew or Gypsy because they did not respect those peoples.  The US military does respect the warrior culture and implements of Native Americans.

Why else would we name our fiercest weapons of war after them?

ISIS is about to seize Balad Air Base? The Iraqi Armed Forces are defeated.

via The Daily Beast.

In its march to Baghdad, ISIS seized the heavy weapons of a modern army. Now, the jihadists are attacking Iraq’s biggest air base – and could soon be able to attack from the sky.
The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham is threatening to take control of Balad Airbase, Iraq’s largest airfield and one of America’s most important military outposts during its occupation of the country.
Today, Balad still has plenty of vehicles and aircraft on the base that any terrorist group would covet, including Russian-made transport helicopters, surveillance planes, and a fleet of pickup trucks fitted with heavy machine guns.
Now, that airbase is coming under fire—and is in danger of falling into the hands of ISIS, according to U.S. intelligence officers, internal reports from Balad, and outside analysts. Reuters reported Wednesday that the base was now surroundedon three sides by insurgents and taking heavy mortar fire.

“We assess the group continues to threaten the air base and Iraqi Security Force control of the air base as it moves south towards Baghdad,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told reporters Tuesday.
Of course, even if ISIS were to gain control of Balad, there is no guarantee its fighters would know how to operate or maintain the aircraft that are stored there. But an ISIS takeover of Balad would be significant nonetheless. As NBC News reported Tuesday, Iraqi officers say without air support they are on an equal footing with ISIS fighters.
Jessica Lewis—the research director for the Institute for the Study of War and a former U.S. Army intelligence officer who served in Iraq—told The Daily Beast, “It would mean that ISIS can beat the best that the Iraqi Army can muster, not just the northern units that have been ignored. It would mean strategic defeat for the Iraqi Army.”

I thought I had been keeping up with events in Iraq.

I was wrong.

We're talking about Balad.

Freaking Balad!

The President and US State Dept has not been telling the truth about this situation.  The Iraqi Armed Forces have for all intents and purposes been defeated on the battlefield.

An already unstable Middle East is now going to spiral hopelessly out of control.

Oil prices are going to zoom once the idiots in the stock market put two and two together.  Six dollar a gallon gas will soon seem like a bargain.

Worse?

Jordan, Lebanon are definitely in trouble.  Saudi Arabia is probably in a hurt locker too.  I don't see how a regional war can now be avoided.  The ISIS savages will not stop.  Fanatics don't have off switches.  The only question is whether or not it turns into a world war.

F-35 News. The first fallout from the fire hits the program hard...

Thanks Don for the link...

via The Globe and Mail...

The Harper government is pressing pause on a decision to buy new jet fighters, including whether to purchase Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II without holding a competition, because it feels ministers need more information on other options before selecting a course of action.
There will be no decision this month on the next step – whether to hold a competition for a new plane or purchase the F-35 outright – and it is very unlikely anything will be announced even by mid-July, The Globe and Mail has learned.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper removed the item from the agenda of a recent meeting of cabinet’s priorities and planning committee to give ministers more time to deliberate and gather information, people familiar with the matter say. Priorities and planning is the main cabinet committee that provides strategic direction.
Sources say the government feels it’s being rushed and pressured by the Canadian Armed Forces and parts of the civil service to purchase the F-35 without a competition. The government, which took a serious credibility hit in 2012 over its poor management of the procurement process, is now concerned only one fully fleshed-out option has been presented for review and that it resembled a decision to be ratified rather than a well-developed option.
Ottawa appeared on track to decide before the end of June after Public Works Minister Diane Finley announced in April that cabinet would take the “next several weeks” to review all reports on jet options that had been prepared as part of a “reset” of the fighter procurement process. As recently as mid-June, senior officials were talking privately about a decision in the next couple of weeks, and the government paved the way with a news conference where arm’s-length experts praised fighter option deliberations on a replacement as “rigorous and impartial.”
Now, however, the Conservatives are trying to take it slower, concerned that the civil service was pushing too heavily for a decision to buy the F-35 fighters without competition before Ottawa had sufficiently considered the matter. These would replace Canada’s aging CF-18 jets.
“Cabinet hasn’t decided when they will decide, and haven’t determined what they’ll decide,” a senior government official said. “What has been determined is that they will take the necessary time to review the reports, and make a careful, considered decision.”

Those desperately needed foreign orders...especially from Canada...has failed to materialize.

Consider this the first fallout from the fire (and the earlier grounding).

What does this mean?  It means that they won't be able to "push the cost curve" down.  It means that this expensive airplane will continue to be expensive.

Have you noticed that the planned buy by the Brits has failed to happen?

THIS IS THE DEATH SPIRAL!

The Program Office must be frenzied.  They can see it all slipping away and there isn't a thing they can do about it. 

F-35 News. Hybrid Super Hornet...Boeing is pushing hard!

Thanks to Superrhinoceront for the link....

via FlightGlobal

Boeing is formulating a concept for a hybrid variant of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet equipped with the electronic signal detection capabilities of the EA-18G Growler as it seeks to attract orders for new aircraft and upgrades to older models.
The resulting aircraft would resemble an E/A-18G that lacks ALQ-99 jamming pods for electronic attack, preserves the ALQ-218 electronic receiver and adds weapons now only carried by the F/A-18E/F, says Boeing vice-president Mike Gibbons.
“That hybrid just starts with the simple notion of take the sensor suite of the Growler and move it to a basically strike platform and then you grow that platform to take advantage of the fact that you can now see anybody that’s emitting,” Gibbons says.
The growth capabilities would be the addition of a long-range infrared search and track sensor and new air-to-air tracking modes for airborne systems.

Stick another fork in a supposed F-35 advantage.

What they're really talking about is the ability to conduct electronic warfare across the entire Super Hornet fleet.  Not to the same capability as the Growler but certainly on par with the F-35.

All in a cheaper package.

The Navy is going to bolt this program and Boeing is holding the door open with some factory fresh Super Hornets waiting on the flight line.

Don't believe me?  Remember one word.

Sequestration.

It ain't going away.

ACV News. Whats left unsaid.

via SeaPower Magazine.

The initial models of the wheeled ACV are expected to cost $5 million to $6 million each, compared to the $12 million to $14 million cost projected for the more complex tracked vehicle the Marines had been seeking, said LtGen Kenneth J. Glueck Jr., the deputy Marine Corps commandant for Combat Development and Integration.
And by adopting one of the four commercially available wheeled troop carriers that the Marines have been testing, the service should be able to reach initial operational capability (IOC) with 204 ACVs by fiscal 2020, according to a document Glueck provided.
Talking to the Defense Writers Group, Glueck said later models of the ACV for command and control and logistics could cost more than the basic personnel transport. But he emphasized that the wheeled vehicle would be better able to operate on land, where it would spend 90 percent of its time during an amphibious or expeditionary mission, would be cheaper to sustain and better protect the Marine in it from mines and improvised explosives than the tracked vehicle.
The proposed ACV would have a water speed about equal to the tracked AAV7 assault amphibious vehicles it would replace, which churns through the sea at about 8 knots. (Editors note.  This is the same speed as LVT's used during WW2)
Although the reasons for the shift to the wheeled vehicle have been explained previously, this was the first disclosure of the likely cost and IOC for the new version of the ACV, which started out as a potentially more achievable tracked vehicle than the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), canceled three years ago due to its soaring cost and complexity.
The revised ACV will have only “limited” amphibious capability, Glueck acknowledged, and will have to be transported close to the shore by other amphibious “connectors,” such as the landing craft air cushion, landing craft utility or the joint high-speed vessel.

Read the entire article.  But be warned.  Its nothing but spin, justification for their plan and a bunch of questions left unanswered.

As far as cost is concerned, all I have to say is really?  How is the Marine Corps going to pay for the JLTV, ACV, F-35, CH-53K, reset for the MTVR, and a myriad all programs?

Even ignoring the money issue, what does limited amphibious capability mean when you have an entire service that is based on amphibious assault?

Will this beast be able to swim 3 miles to shore or won't it.  Will it even be able to swim across rivers?  Oh and trust me.  I've seen more than a couple of LAVs end up at the bottom of the Colorado River so I don't buy amphibious just because a manufacturer says so.

With that being said will we need to go Army style and get more bridging equipment.  Will we still have the mobility to keep up with an Abrams tank cross country?  I have yet to see a wheeled vehicle pull off that feat.

These guys haven't thought this through.  Its a pity too because Glueck has a stellar reputation but this is dragging him through the mud.

I still doubt that it matters.  This smacks more and more of a legacy building project.  Amos is trying to save his reputation and he knows that this is a sore point with Marines.  It isn't working.

Really Marines.com? Are you shitting me?

Today is Chesty Puller's birthday.

So what did Marines.com do?

They altered Puller's official photo with a fucking child's birthday hat and all kinds of silly shit.

Really?

Seriously?

Marines.com are you shitting me?

An icon of the Marine Corps gets this type treatment.  Someone needs to get his or her's ass kicked.