Wampum

The Times of India is reporting that the "Iraqi government" today made an open invitation to broad classes of former officers to rejoin the armed forces. All officers up to the rank of Major ("Junior Officers") are eligible.

Since the organization of the Iraqi Army was along Corp lines, which consisted of several divisions and support units, with each infantry diviison consisting of three infantry brigades and a tank battalion, the ranking officers are two removes from Iraqi corporate memory on the basics of maneuver and co-ordination. Where they are going to get senior officers from is ... and none will have had staff experiece.

In "Smoke Signals" Adam Beach's character sings this:

Paul Bremer's boots ya ho, ya ho. Paul Bremer's boots ya hey, ho!

Cole and Billmon are drinking together. I'm pleased to see that the idea that the Opfors are ... the Opfors and not some exotic bunch of inscruitable fanatics is catching on. If the RMA theologians were right, after the targeteers worked down the fixed and mobile assets list, the survivors of the attrited Iraqi Army would have the sense to self-liquidate or take up farming or rug weaving, not burn almost a half-billion dollars a day in continuation of war by other, non-targetable means.

Yesterday's AH-1W Super Cobra shootdown is now reported to have been engaged with an SA-7 GRAIL (Strela-2) man-portable, shoulder-fired, passive infrared guidance, low-altitude SAM. Wicked difficult to target, even with the Revolution in Military Affairs raga running full-auto.