Michael Yon in Basra
Michael Yon witnessed the British incursion into the locality in Basrah where a British Warrior had been destroyed, which was the subject of an earlier post. It's action-packed and full of photos. Here's an excerpt, but read the whole thing.
They opened on us with massive small-arms fire from many directions, and RPGs. One RPG slammed into a British vehicle and exploded in the slat armor, but the vehicle took the hit, and the men inside continued to fight. The enemy pounded at one of the platoons with at least one large machine gun, possibly a 12.7 mm, which can blow a man in half and easily defeat British or American armor. But soldiers in that platoon responded with blistering fire, and silenced the gun.
Nothing follows.
posted by wretchardthecat at 4/12/2007 05:17:00 PM
4 Comments:
meanwhile ...
... in a world where men are men and women will soon be both ...
Creating sperm from women would mean they would only be able to produce daughters because the Y chromosome of male sperm would still be needed to produce sons. The latest research brings the prospect of female-only conception a step closer.
"Theoretically is it possible," Professor Nayernia said. "The problem is whether the sperm cells are functional or not. I don't think there is an ethical barrier, so long as it's safe. We are in the process of applying for ethical approval. We are preparing now to apply to use the existing bone marrow stem cell bank here in Newcastle. We need permission from the patient who supplied the bone marrow, the ethics committee and the hospital itself."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2444462.ece
This is a frightening development far beyond the mere political and military squabbles we've been used to these past billion years or so. While our attention is focused on the ins and outs of the tiny battles in Iraq and the GWOT, the true nightmare is lifting is gigantic head high up and behind us.
What makes this so nightmarish is the complete absence of irony or doubt in the manner of the researcher when he said, "I don't think there is an ethical barrier, so long as it's safe", as if the good professor's saying so makes that a matter of fact. That's absolutely horrifying in the same manner as C S Lewis's depiction of the scientists in "That Hideous Strength". We can only hope that the actual Ethics Committee will discern the massive oulines of the monster looming in the darkness, and shut the door swiftly. Let us bolt it, quickly!
Sorry to digress, but I felt his was important. Now back to the show ...
In this war, America has not been a Paper Tiger. To the contrary, we have stomached years of war.
Perspective: We have lost only 10% more War-caused casualties over the last 4 years in Iraq and Afghanistan - than we lost in those 3 or 4 hours on 9/11/01 in Manhattan and Pentagon and United 93.
And we press on. Demurely. Barely showing a tiger claw, we do the limited mission.
I read his entire post. If the Brits could have the same guts at home, there would be no worries about their freedom. It's almost as if they enjoy or even prefer working at underdog odds. It was an inspiring action.
I have followed Michael Yon, and he is also an inspiration, a true hero.
They need helicopter pilots, and it takes all of a couple of days to identify a natural flyer and get him flying.
He's not an expert, but he will be if he survives.
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