The Peninsular War raged in Spain (the Iberian Peninsula) from 1807 to 1814, between the occupying army of France under Napoleon and his brother Joseph (who Napoleon had placed on the Spanish throne), and the forces of the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Spanish insurrectionists (and source of the Spanish term guerillas).
It is this conflict that saw the rise to fame of Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had already gathered a vital military education and experience with campaigns in the Netherlands and Denmark and, most importantly, in India. Though his career was attended by a great degree of good fortune (the first element of a successful commander, otherwise known as survival) and connections, it was his native intelligence and innate sense of leadership that established him as a superb general, and he remarked early on that "At least I learned what not to do, and that is always a valuable lesson."
Sir Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington
Of course, it was Wellesley who went on to establish himself as perhaps the most eminent of British military commanders as the one who defeated Napoleon once and for all at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, doing so as a field marshal under his more recognizable title of the Duke of Wellington that he earned in Spain. (A slight and delightful aside: some years later Wellington attended a reception in Vienna, and some French officers turned their backs to him as he entered.A lady took it upon herself to apologize for the rude behavior, and Wellington replied "It is of no matter, Madam.I have seen their backs before.")
A veteran of some sixty battles, he quickly learned of the vital importance of logistics to the ultimate success of a campaign, and he was one who would not suffer the least interference in his affairs, particularly from a general staff in London, far removed from the immediacy of the battlefield, that would dare question any element of his command.
There are some who may regard bureaucratic excess as a particularly military odium, but having dwelt in both worlds I can assure you that civilian political structures have that malady several magnitudes above that of the military.(I have said before that I will never revert to being a civilian; that is only one of the reasons why and I do not bear that specific burden lightly.)Thus I treasure, and unfortunately have reason to often recall, Wellington's dispatch of his answer to an irksome inquiry:
Gentlemen: Whilst marching to Portugal to a position which commands the approach to Madrid and the French forces, my officers have been diligently complying with your request, which has been sent to HM ship from London to Lisbon and then by dispatch rider to our headquarters. We have enumerated our saddles, bridles, tents and tent poles, and all manner of sundry items for which His Majesty's government holds me accountable. I have dispatched reports on the character, wit, spleen of every officer. Each item and every farthing has been accounted for, with two regrettable exceptions for which I beg your indulgence.
Unfortunately, the sum of one shilling and ninepence remains unaccounted for in one infantry battalion's petty cash, and there has been a hideous confusion as to the number of jars of raspberry jam issued to one cavalry regiment during a sandstorm in western Spain. This reprehensive carelessness may be related to the pressure of circumstances since we are at war with France, a fact which may have come as a bit of a surprise to you gentlemen in Whitehall.
This brings me to my present purpose, which is to request elucidation of my instructions from His Majesty's Government, so that I may better understand why I am dragging an army over these barren plains. I construe that perforce it must be one of two alternative duties, as given below. I shall pursue one with the best of my ability, but I cannot do both.
1. To train an army of uniformed British clerks in Spain for the benefit of the accountants and copy-boys in London, or perchance
2. To see to it that the forces of Napoleon are driven out of Spain.
The common defense of the Obama administration to
unfolding scandals, led by the serial bewilderment of Obama himself when asked
about developments, is that he was unaware of the (fill-in-the-blank) event
until he was informed of it through the news media (even though, despite his
declared ignorance, he labels them all as "phony").Administration spokesmen even go so far as to
remain ignorant of details by their knee-jerk response of referring reporters
to the appropriate federal agency or department because they haven't the time
or interest to actually be informed themselves.
Yet Obama took a moment from his perpetual fundraising tour last night at the first of his two dinners of the evening (the second for
$25,000 a plate), at an "Italianate mansion" that overlooks Lake
Washington and the Seattle skyline, to respond to a question about media
contribution to what Obama called an impending sense of cynicism in the
upcoming election.
Whatever they're reporting about, usually I know.
Where do I start? Professed ignorance about the IRS targeting of
conservative groups and the subsequent slow-roll cover-up, NSA's massive
collection and use of communications of Americans and foreign leaders, the
failure of the launch of his signal accomplishment – ObamaCare, the Veterans
Administration scandal (despite having made it a campaign issue), the crisis in
the Ukraine, the rise of ISIS and steady collapse of the Iraqi government, Fast
and Furious, and so on – he hadn't a clue until told so by the press?Or he already knew?Which is it?
Alian, of the Arabic-speaking Druze community in northern Israel, must exercise the art of leadership in an increasingly artful way, not only to confront and destroy the fanatic enemies of Israel but to maintain a high sense of fighting morale in a brigade known for its 'Dirty Dozen' history.
This, for example, is a window on what such a leader looks like:
"We killed many terrorists, and that is what needs to be done."
Wounded by shrapnel while leading his troops in the fighting in Gaza, he was medevacked to Be'er Sheva but insisted on returning to his troops still engaged with the enemy. Doctors were concerned about a wound to his eye but finally ruled that his eyesight was "not permanently damaged". He left the hospital and returned to the front.
And the injured that I visited in the hospital, may they recover soon. They are lions.
The Israelis have been under the gun, both literally and figuratively, since they seized their country from the diplomatic morass of 1948. The current iteration of their healthy sense of a siege mentality comes from their reaction to the rocket attacks emanating – again – from Gaza.
No matter what iniquities may be visited upon them, they must take into account the wide-spread attitude of the bien-pensant Commentariat, particularly the present Obama administration which consistently warns Israel against over-reacting to provocations.
The current form of their 'play nice' style of counter-attack is called roof knocking, and now we have a recording of an example. The first step involves a phone call to the residence of a terrorist, asking for him by name. "Hello, my name is Moshe from Israeli intelligence. We know that you have women and children there. Get out now. You only have a few minutes before we destroy your house." This is an excellent example of driving home your point by both physical and psychological means.
The warning is punctuated within a few moments by the impact of what is apparently a rocket with an inert warhead striking the house, probably fired by a drone circling overhead and watching. Within 1:10 minutes, the bomb strikes and obliterates the house, followed quickly by another explosion, either a variation on the shoot-look-shoot technique or probably another target nailed close by. If you look closely, you can see that the footage is spliced (or whatever the current digital version of that is), just before the impact, so the actual intervening time is unknown (probably 15 minutes according to the source).
Also, the later images of the battle damage assessment includes the necessary focus on the little dolls amid the rubble. Note, however, that the dolls are pristinely clean despite the cloud of dust that enveloped the scene, and they are lying conveniently on top of the debris. This sort of thing was seen repeatedly in news reports during the last Lebanon incursion.
Note also that many reports refer to "suspected" terrorists. Apparently the fellow who set up his camera equipment to catch the impending attack had little doubt about the terrorist proclivities of the occupants.
Dennis Miller, a comedian by trade, is more importantly a surveyor of the human political condition, and his unique ability at comparisons is perhaps his forte. Take, for example, this introductory pericope:
There are two types of people in the world – those who
are most afraid of terror, and those who are most afraid of global warming. Now,
you can put me in the terror camp. I can't worry about the earth right
now; I'm too worried about the world. And the thing that worries me the most
in the world is Radical Islam, obviously, and increasingly, might I add,
Moderate Islam, because I'm starting to wonder when you guys are going to
declare a fatwa on the assholes within your own organization.
Miller broke into the big time in the mid-80s with a turn on Saturday Night Live, where he had to establish his liberal bona fides. Shaken from his torpor by the 9/11 attacks, he describes himself as a libertarian, open in some of his social views but a steady conservative politically.
Entertain and inform yourself for an enjoyable ten minutes.
Please pardon the prolonged delay between postings. Two close family weddings, within two months of each other, tends to take up a lot of attention and expense, and the focus on my vocation has increased dramatically. As Oscar Wilde said, "Work is the curse of the drinking class." That sentiment can apply equally well to bloggers too (a statement deliberately ambiguous).
I appreciate your patience with my modest attempt to re-start.
Speaking of being besieged by work, allow me to wish you a Happy Bastille Day. Radical Islamists too ought to appreciate the commemoration, what with all the focus on beheadings.
The scene outside my office, an allusion to my in-box
But as to a sentiment not quite so literally sanguine, and approaching it from a different direction, perhaps today is as good as any to refresh our notion in regards to the current régime in Washington, and what may come to pass with this steady accumulation of scandal. Aux armes, citoyens, formez vous bataillons,...
