This Week in American Military History
From the King’s Proclamation to Richie’s MiG (from W. Thomas Smith, Jr.’s series at Human Events):
Aug. 23, 1775: Less than two months after the Second Continental Congress issues its “Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms [against the British]” in which the Congress resolves “to die free men rather than live as slaves,” King George III issues his own proclamation declaring the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion.
The king adds, “not only all our Officers, civil and military, are obliged to exert their utmost endeavours to suppress such rebellion, and to bring the traitors to justice, but that all our subjects of this Realm, and the dominions thereunto belonging, are bound by law to be aiding and assisting in the suppression of such rebellion, and to disclose and make known all traitorous conspiracies and attempts against us, our crown and dignity.”
Aug. 23, 1864: Union Naval forces under the command of Adm. David Glasgow Farragut – best known for purportedly uttering the command, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” – take Fort Morgan, effectively ending the near-month-long battle of Mobile Bay.
Aug. 24, 1814: British forces under the command of Maj. Gen. Robert Ross close-with and defeat a mixed American force of Continental Army regulars, Marines, sailors, and militia under overall command of U.S. Army Brig. Gen. William Henry Winder in the battle of Bladensburg, Maryland on the road to Washington, D.C. during the war of 1812.
The disastrous defeat of the Continentals at Bladensburg will enable the British to march on, sack, and burn the nation’s capitol within a few hours. But according to legend, the British are so impressed by the indomitable stand of the American Marines and sailors – who “broke two British regiments” during the fighting – that the commandant’s house and the Marine barracks will be spared the torch when Washington is burned.
In: Military History
No fun in Islam
“Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.”
- Ayatollah Khomeini
In: In Their Own Words · Tagged with: Ayatollah Khomenei, Islam
Great Muslim composers
Although our president tells us that Muslims have a rich history and have made wonderful contributions to human civilization, there is no great Muslim composer. Ever wonder why?
Because Muslim fundamentalists despise music. To Sayyid Qutb – a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood – the purpose of life is death through jihad, not enjoying music. But it’s not just founding fathers of terrorism saying this stuff. Here’s what one Islamic legal manual has to say about those who listen to music: “On the day of Resurrection, Allah will pour molten lead into the ears of whoever sits listening to a songstress.”
In: In Their Own Words · Tagged with: Islam, Shariah law
Music: enemy of Islam
“Music corrupts the minds of our youth. There is no difference between music and opium. Both create lethargy in different ways. If you want your country to be independent, then ban music. Music is treason to our nation and to our youth.”
- Ayatollah Khomeini
In: In Their Own Words · Tagged with: Ayatollah Khomenei, Islam
Iranium
Coming this fall. Visit the website.
Ignorant and free?
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
- Thomas Jefferson
In: Quotes · Tagged with: Thomas Jefferson
Did you know?
In: Religion · Tagged with: Ground Zero mosque, Islam
Ahoy Raiders!
On August 17, 1942 the Marine Raiders struck Makin Island in the Gilberts. This photo is taken nearly two years later at Bougainville.
January 1944: These U.S. Marine Raiders, with the reputation of being skillful jungle fighters, pose in front of a Japanese stronghold they conquered at Cape Totkina, Bougainville. (AP Photo)
In: Images, Military History · Tagged with: Marine Raiders, US Marine Corps, World War II
The ‘stunning decline’ of Obama
A friend sent me a link to an article in the U.K.’s Telegraph about the “stunning decline of Barack Obama.” Nile Gardiner lists ten key reasons why he expects why Obama’s presidency is in “serious trouble.”
- The Obama presidency is out of touch with the American people
- Most Americans don’t have confidence in the president’s leadership
- Obama fails to inspire
- The United States is drowning in debt
- Obama’s Big Government message is falling flat
- Obama’s support for socialised health care is a huge political
- Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill has been weak-kneed and indecisive
- US foreign policy is an embarrassing mess under the Obama administration
- President Obama is muddled and confused on national security
- Obama doesn’t believe in American greatness
Gardiner also states that Obama’s extravagant and out-of-touch presidency resembles the Ancien Régime, which was overthrown during the French Revolution.
It is unfortunate that we must turn to foreign sources for truly objective news. I saw that a recent study on news coverage found that the majority of Obama’s news coverage is positive.
In: Politics · Tagged with: Barack Obama
Cyber War
While doing some unrelated research, I came across an article written by Dr. Dave Pearson exposing how tenuous our cyber security situation really is.
In July 2009, thousands of “zombie” computers awoke at once and launched a massive attack against multiple U.S. targets, including the network-heart of the U.S. Department of Defense. The goal of the attack was to overwhelm the target networks with excess internet traffic, thus forcing a total shut down.
The attack raced through the Internet, hitting the National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the White House, the New York Stock Exchange, the Treasury Department, the Federal Trade commission, the Secret Service, and the Department of Transportation.
According to the article, indications point to North Korea as the likely source of at least one of the attacks, but we have seen lately that pinning something on the Norks can be about as easy as convicting Rod Blagojevich of corruption.
And speaking of Chicago Democrats, it sounds like our hacker enemies merely applied the Cloward-Piven strategy — whose tactics are currently hard at work overwhelming and dismantling American capitalism — to our sensitive DoD networks. In fact, the 2009 attack did shut down several sites. As vulnerable as we are, it could have been much worse.
Each hour, the Pentagon’s computer networks are probed over a quarter million times by unauthorized users. In fact, if a deep weakness was found, the ensuing digital battle could be lost within seconds.
This is where an over-reliance on technology gets us. DoD can have all the firewalls, anti-virus, and other protections in place, but our enemies only have to be right once. U.S. Cyber Command – actually a sub-command under U.S. Strategic Command – has around 1,000 members working to secure the DoD’s seven million computers and 15,000 networks. USCYBERCOM became operational in May, but won’t be fully functional until October.
[...] the resources needed to initiate a devastating attack on the U.S. information infrastructure are no longer out of reach of terrorists. Cyberspace is the ideal realm for cyberterrorism, including terrorist networks and organizations like Al Qaeda and Hezbollah. And the Internet is the ideal tool by which to attack the U.S. on a massive scale, both militarily, as well as the entire U.S. civilian infrastructure, including the U.S. financial centers, electrical grid, telecommunications, air traffic control, and multi-national corporations.
If al Qaeda and Hizballah can conduct crippling attacks simply by pointing and clicking a mouse, we are in trouble.
In: National Security
