Canibalized Mechanics
The Press Herald is running coverage of John Libby's presser. Maj. Gen. Libby was a battery commander (redleg) in Vietnam, and Director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency in 1998, the Winter of our Bitterest Discontent. He's just back from the base just north of Baghdad International Airport where the 152nd Maintenance Company is now deployed in towers, doing perimeter defense, and was previously deployed in gun trucks doing convoy defense. The one thing the 152nd Maintenance Company is not doing is working as mechanics on vehicles. He called this "inexcusable".
I concur. In fact, I've been beyond uncomfortable with the exposure of the logistical tail and the assoiated defensive tasking since Tommy Franks obeyed the unlawful order of Donald H. Rumsfeld via Richard B. Myers via Peter Pace to surge Marines and the 3rd ID into Baghdad on 4/3/2003, and invert the battlefield from convergence maneuver from safe rear areas towards a battle area foci, with an intact oppfor C3I structure, capable of entering into an effective armistice, to an afocal, no safe rear, C3I structure-free oppfors, incapable of entering into an effective armistice, and locked into a war of attrition.
Inverting the situation transfered control of all reserve materials, e.g., the bunkers at the al Qa'qa Governmental Enterprise facilities, from US forces, which abandoned them in situ, to the oppfors. It also transfered the lines of support, MSR Tampa in particular, from the rear to the front.
Orders to prevent Congress from accepting the surrender of a state which Congress has declared war against, or declared the existance of a state of war with, or has authorized specific war powers to the Executive, or to interfere with the exercise of the War Powers of Congress, are not presumptively lawful, even when issued directly by the Commander in Chief.
Instead we got parades, speaches, promotions, medals, Bremer's dismissal of the Iraqi Army, and ... what looks like 1916, without the trenches. Time for some Mainiac to run on a "Return the Guard" platform, since John Baldacci (D-Iffy) won't. Its more likely that Peter Mills (R-Sane) would, and I've no idea who the Greens will run -- and I get the SC minutes.