It just doesn't work:

The Washington Post points to rapidly increasing violent crime in D.C. as a reason to prevent efforts to reduce gun control.

So on one night last week, violence struck with a vengeance: Five women and three men were shot outside a Northeast Washington nightclub, two women were shot on Oates Street NE, a man was shot on Atlantic Street SE, two men were shot on Kenilworth Avenue NE, and a man was found shot to death on 13th Street NE. In all, the five unrelated shootings in three hours produced 13 injuries and one death.

Those statistics demonstrate the absurdity of Utah Republican Sen. Orrin G. Hatch's proposal to legalize gun possession in the District of Columbia. The city needs fewer, not more, lethal weapons in homes and on its streets. It could, however, use more officers, especially tactical and undercover officers working crime-ridden neighborhoods, as well as a uniformed presence in targeted communities to work with public-spirited citizens. Most of all, nothing short of the apprehension, prosecution and conviction of violent offenders will bring District residents the sense of security and safety that they deserve.

Now, maybe I'm reading something into this, but it sounds like all these people were shot in the streets, not in their homes. Five unrelated shootings--there must have been a lot of lead flying around the nightclub to drop eight people (mostly women!).

What this means is that the D.C. police have lost control of the streets--a fact I find easy to believe, as I almost never see a police officer in D.C. except when they are escorting some dignitary somewhere, or if I go to the Mall. The Post's answer is more cops and tight gun control, in the town with already the strictest anti-gun legislation in the country. Well, let's analyze that.

The cost of hiring lots of new police is very high: officers must be found, trained extensively, supplied with lots of expensive equipment, monitored by a bureaucracy, and provided with a pension and health benefits in addition to, of course, salary. The cost of reducing gun control is very low: an officer to run background checks, another to handle the applications. And what do you get for your money?

With the police officers, you get a few extra police on the streets, whose presence may delay crimes for a few minutes until the police pass on. With liberalized gun policies, you get thousands of armed citizens everywhere in the district, inclined to obey the law and unwilling to endure barbarity. Which gets results, to say nothing of results per dollar? You bet.

Besides, what is this nonsense about nothing making us feel safer except more prosecutions and arrests? Reading about people being arrested for murder does nothing to make me feel safe--it makes me remember that I live in a violent city. What makes me feel safe is a loaded .44 Remington Magnum revolver, and a wife watching my back with her 10mm Automatic. Jeffersonian Democracy at work--let the brutal beware.

Let them beware of us, citizens.

US Marines V. Pirates of Niger Delta

Yet another African deployment looms for the US Marines. This time it is all about oil, some 300,000 barrels of which are lost daily:

THE Federal Government is under pressure to deploy United States Marines to the troubled Niger Delta region to protect American oil companies' installations. Gov. Diepreye Alamieyesegha of Bayelsa State, who dropped the hint in Yenagoa at a meeting with stakeholders on sea piracy and oil pipeline vandalisation, said the Federal Government had lost patience with the spate of crises in the region and was getting frustrated with measures introduced to curtail the scourge.

The Marines were founded in part to battle pirates on the high seas, of course. And there is some good news: at least these aren't Space Pirates:

[Gov. James Ibori] "The perpetrators of these heinous crimes against the society are not people from outer space."

That's good to know.

A Second Raid:

Just hours after the raid mentioned in the last item, a second attack involving hundreds of Taliban hit another police station in Afghanistan. The raiders took hostages before withdrawing in apparently good order.

Unlike the guerrillas in Iraq, the Afghan fighters have all the cards that have historically made guerrilla fighting successful. They waited to start their resistance until the US was distracted elsewhere, and most US forces withdrawn. Whereas we have nearly a hundred seventy thousand fighting men in Iraq, in Afghanistan the number is closer to ten thousand. The Afghan fighters can withdraw into secure areas--the lawless tribal areas of north and south Waziristan, Kurram, Kyber, Mohmand, and Bajaur, which serve as buffer states with Pakistan. We can send people after them, but there they have a secure base with devout popular support. And, if the frequent rumors of ISI support are true, they even have the backing of a regional power--or at least some rogue elements in it.

Iraq will sort itself out--we've got the men and the commitment to make it work. Afghanistan is in danger of being lost. We need to get serious about counterinsurgency, and fast. My plan is below: who has another?

Today in Afghanistan:

The Guardian has an AP report on a major attack in Afghanistan:

Insurgents attacked a police headquarters in southeastern Afghanistan, sparking a battle Sunday that killed at least 15 fighters and seven Afghan police, a police chief said. It was part of a disturbing new surge of violence in the country.

The siege began shortly before midnight Saturday when about 400 guerrillas attacked the police headquarters in the town of Barmal in Paktika province, about 125 miles southeast of Kabul, said provincial governor Mohammed Ali Jalali.

The fighters, firing rockets, grenades and heavy machine guns, took over the office and held it until 5 a.m. Sunday before destroying the building and retreating amid a gunbattle with police, said police chief Daulat Khan.

This is large-scale guerrilla action. It argues for a new counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan, at the same time that we're fighting one in Iraq. This is one reason I argue for a Texas Rangers model--see below--in which mixed companies of US Army Rangers and Afghan soldiers are given martial-law authority and tasked to patrol the countryside.

Recruiting for the army is expanding in Afghanistan, though, even in the troubled areas:

One of the keys to Afghanistan restoring stability is believed to be the strengthening of its national army, which now numbers just 5,000 soldiers. The government wants it to have 70,000 troops over the next several years.

U.N. spokesman David Singh said Sunday that the army opened its first recruiting center in the east of the country. Other recruiting centers are due to open in at least five other regions, Singh said.

It's not just numbers, it's training. Those 70,000 men need to be trained in mountain-fighting and counterinsurgency, in how to stage an organized ambush and how to fight out of one. They also need to be trained as lawmen, and given the authority to execute the law on a moment's notice, as they will be the only arm of Kabul likely to reach the border areas for many years to come. That is to say, they need to be Rangers, not soldiers.

New Governor in Southern Afghanistan:

'Kandahar Shuffle' sounds like a particularly exotic dance. In what must be the best news from Afghanistan this month, the new governor for Kandahar, Yusuf Pashtun, took power from the former governor in a simple ceremony. It's not stability--but it's a bloodless and orderly transfer of power between men who would recently have been called warlords. That looks to me like a major step forward.

The Heroic Life:

Two articles today on masculinity and the heroic life. This is of course one of the prime reasons for the existence of this blog, so I'll link to both of them. The first one is from National Review, and the other, via ParaPundit, is from FrontPage Magazine. I'll have more on these later this weekend.

Ahem:

Remember that post about military pay?

Mr. Bush spoke yesterday at Miramar Marine Corps Base to thank the troops just back from Iraq. You might consider thanking them by paying them, or rather their replacements. I'm sure it would mean more.

But where would we ever get the money for such a thing? Oddly, the same article mentions this:

The president raised more than $1 million for that campaign last night at the San Diego Convention Center, telling supporters, "You're laying the groundwork for what will be a great victory in 2004."

A million bucks, eh? Taranto estimates that the cost of the continued pay bonuses will be rather more than that--$423 million. Still, if money is that tight, doesn't it seem that the President ought to be out there raising money for the troops instead of himself?

Napping:

A lot of readers may not know that I am married, but I have a beautiful wife and a fine, strong son who is now a bit more than a year old. For your reading pleasure, a scene of domestic tranquility:

I decided to take a nap...
�

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
�

"Baby boy, quit beating on the bedroom door.� I think your father is trying to take a nap.� We don't want to disturb him."
�

[five minutes pass]
�

"OK, I need to go talk to your father for a moment--if he's still awake."
�

[door opens]
�

"Dear, are you still awake?"
�

[SCREEEEEEEECH! of JOY from Baby Boy at seeing his father.]
�

"Ah, good.� I was hoping you would be.� I need to talk to you about this grocery list.� We're just heading out the door, and I need to know if you want anything."
�

[five minutes later]

"OK, good, I'll get that stuff.� Now, bye.� Oh, wait.� I haven't had a shower or changed clothes or anything!� Watch the baby for me, will you?"
�

[twenty minutes pass]
�

"OK, now we're really ready to go!� Come on, baby boy!� Daddy will finally get some peace and quiet!"
�

[sound of family trundling down stairs]
�

"But you'll need a binky, won't you?� Well, I'll find one.� Don't follow me upstairs!"
�

[ten seconds pass]
�

"What did I just say?"
�

[more sounds of wrestling with baby]
�

"Now we're really going!� Daddy can get his nap!� GOODBYE DADDY!"
�

[sound of door slamming shut]
�

[ten seconds pass]
�

[DOORBELL!� DOORBELL!]
�

"Um, hi dear!� I don't know where I put my keys.� Could you find them and bring them down?"
��

*growl*
*snarl*

Grrr...

The Corner has this story on how the cuts in military pay, for our soldiers on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan, are coupled with increases in social spending. It's hard to say anything about this except, if only this were an election year. Well--don't forget.

Update on Afghan Warlord:

The Voice of America has a longer story, with pics.

Counterinsurgency:

Here's a good article from the archives at Winds of Change, which I missed the first time around. It's a program for counterinsurgency written by one John Boyd. The best bit comes right at the end: several very good ideas about reducing corruption and making sure the government you were backing was serving the people had asterisks by them. When you get to the bottom of the document, you see this:

*If you cannot realize such a political program, you might consider changing sides.

Well said.

Diamonds, Made to Order:

Blog Junky has a link to an interesting story out of Wired, which argues that we will soon be able to mass-produce gem quality diamonds.

"This is very rare stone," he says, almost to himself, in thickly accented English. "Yellow diamonds of this color are very hard to find. It is probably worth 10, maybe 15 thousand dollars."

"I have two more exactly like it in my pocket," I tell him.

He puts the diamond down and looks at me seriously for the first time. I place the other two stones on the table. They are all the same color and size. To find three nearly identical yellow diamonds is like flipping a coin 10,000 times and never seeing tails.

"These are cubic zirconium?" Weingarten says without much hope.

"No, they're real," I tell him. "But they were made by a machine in Florida for less than a hundred dollars."

Weingarten shifts uncomfortably in his chair and stares at the glittering gems on his dining room table. "Unless they can be detected," he says, "these stones will bankrupt the industry."

Outstanding. Fashion predition for 2019: Women will be wearing long skirts, long because they will be sewn entirely with glittery diamonds. Since diamonds have always been about showing your wealth, our celebrities will wear longer and less revealing garments until "showing ankle" is just as scandalous as it was in the 19th century.

A Classical Education:

I have been reminded that I argued during the war in favor of classical education as the best way of preparing for the clashes of the modern war. The diaya link to wergeld, which students of Beowulf and the Norse Sagas understand entirely, is one such example. It happens that Arts & Letters Daily recently linked to a piece on a similar subject, on literature.

New "Saddam" Tape:

Al Jazeera seems to have the run on Saddam tapes, doesn't it? Here's today's, in which "Saddam" calls for a Shi'ite jihad against the Coalition forces.

Fat chance, "Saddam." A Shi'ite jihad is certainly possible in the long run, if the Coalition doesn't handle Iraq with cultural respect. However, the evidence is that we're doing so: consider our adoption of the Iraqi wergeld custom (subscription required: the Financial Times charmingly refers to it as "blood money," rather missing the point of the wergeld, which is called diaya in Arabic), or the rough and ready use of "Cajun Arabic" by the US Marine provincial governor of Wasit province, Lt. Col. David Couvillon. We've got serious trouble in the Sunni areas which were loyal to Saddam: but in the Shi'ite areas, all will be quiet at least until they are sure Saddam is dead and can never return.

After that, who knows? The figure to watch as the anti-Coalition, anti-Governing Council Shi'ite leader is al-Sadr. Yet he seems not to be looking for more trouble than he can handle: calling for a grand army of Shi'ites, for example, but then asserting that it will be an army without arms.

Saddam, if he were the one behind these messages, would of course know that. What to make of this show of support for a Shi'ite leader, then? One possible thought: it's an attempt to discredit that fellow, perhaps by Saddam, but equally possibly by anyone else with an interest and a line to al Jazeera.

Afghan Militia attacks Pak Army with Rockets in Zabul:

I don't know what to do with this yet. Let's call it developing. The story is here.

Karzai:

I don't have a link for this yet, but AFP is reporting that Karzai has stripped a warlord of his post:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has
stripped powerful warlord Ismail Khan of his post as military commander
of western Afghanistan in a major reshuffle of provincial governors and
officials, the official Bakhtar news agency said on Wednesday.
The National Security Council decided Khan could not retain
his post as military commander while governor of Herat province it
said, citing a decree by Karzai who said earlier this year that
officials could not hold both military and civil posts.
A new Herat military commander would be named shortly, it
said.

Score one for the rule of law in Afghanistan. It's a small point, but it's a start.

UPDATE: Still no link to the AFP story, but here is the AP version.

And Speaking of That...

It's time for another Boneheaded Congress update.

As a Classical Liberal, I believe that the legislature, being most immediately responsible to the public, is meant to be the most important branch. That position is harder to maintain when the Congress carries on behaving, during wartime, as if national defense was of no importance.

Today's example: Congress has decided to restrict the use of Special Operations. Henceforth, in order to deploy commandos, the President will have to write and sign a finding, and send it to Congress. The increase in turnaround time between recognizing a threat and acting on it is immense: now no one in the Pentagon or SOCOM will have authority to send commandos to address a threat. It has to go to the President himself.

This is exactly the opposite direction that Congress should be going. Congressional oversight is important and proper. It shouldn't be constructed in a way that detracts from our ability to respond to threats. Let's say we find a Qaeda camp in Pakistan and, thanks to a UAV, determine that bin Laden or some other ranking figure is there. Can we send the Delta Force, or the SEALS, or the new Marine Commandos? Yes, once the military has contacted the President, the President has written a finding, the finding has been sent to Capitol Hill... and then, once that's been done, we can tell the commandos to start on their way.

As this comes right after the DARPA business, where Congress shut down a great program they didn't understand without even attempting to understand it or have it explained, I am reconsidering the Congress. I frankly think that the problem is gerrymandering.

Congress was meant to be responsive to the people, especially the House. Because of gerrymandering, however, the number of Representatives who have competitive districts is incredibly small. As a result, Congress is free to engage in this kind of foolishness even during wartime without fear of voter reprisals.

The solution: legislation requiring that districting be done by nonpartisan contractors, who will be forbidden by law from considering party affiliations of members when they do it. I favor a system wherein districts are drawn by figuring lines drawn outward from a central point in the state, so that the only consideration is making sure each "slice" has the right number of people in it. In that way, districts become competitive, Congress is brought back to the heel of the public, and--coincidentally--problems like the one in Texas are avoided.

Bloody Afghanistan:

Sixty-one dead overnight in Afghanistan. Hear about it on the news today?

The news is not all bad. Some of the violence is provincial feuding among the Afghan warlords, which is background noise that can be ignored. The bus bombing is bad news, but--as we have seen in Saudi Arabia and Morocco--terror bombings on the old home ground are of negative utility for the force using them. It'd be like the USAF bombing a mosque in St. Louis: no one would see it as a great victory or a show of strength.

Two pieces of news are good from a warfighting standpoint. The first is that two students were killed while making bombs in their dormitory. It's always sad when young people die... well, no, not always.

The second piece of good news comes from this account of an ambush near Shinki. The American-trained Afghan army responded valiantly in a firefight that spanned several hours, and in spite of being ambushed, managed to kill eight of their attackers and captured two foreign jihadi:

The violence began late Tuesday when a group of suspected Taliban fighters attacked government soldiers in Shinki, a small village in Paktia province about six kilometres from the Pakistani frontier, said Khial Baz, an Afghan commander in Khost.

After several hours of fighting, about 50 Afghan troops forced the attackers to retreat. They later found eight bodies.

Baz said troops also captured one Pakistani and one Arab, though his nationality was not known.

Troops also seized a cache of Kalashnikov assault rifles, a telephone, radios and ammunition used by the attackers, Baz said.

Afghan officials have repeatedly said Taliban rebels are using bases inside Pakistan to launch cross-border attacks.

We've discussed before on this page the relative successes of the US military in dealing with guerrilla warfare. One of the best things we have going for us is the counterinsurgency training that the US Special Forces provides, which includes things like dealing with ambushes. I think it's worth saying that SOCOM is doing great things in Afghanistan, especially the Green Berets. De Oppresso Liber!

Rumsfeld's Top Ten:

The lads over at Winds of Change have obtained what they say is a copy of Donald Rumsfeld's top ten priorities. Do take a look, as it makes for interesting reading. My own thoughts are that WoC is right on when it comes to USMC helicopters v. Ospreys. I never liked the Osprey. The Marines have a long history of relying on proven technology, and making it work better than the newer stuff the USAR gets. There's something to be said for knowing your kit really works before you haul it into battle.

Afghanistan Update:

The Taliban have been killing pro-government Muslim clerics. Why would a group that is devoted to the glory of Allah slay Allah's devoted servants? In order to avoid pro-government fatwa being issued by the clerics. Unlike in the Catholic or Anglican churches, but much like a Baptist church, any Muslim can issue a fatwa if they dare. These fatwa, which is often mistranslated as "religious ruling" or "command," is really meant to be an educated opinion. This is why there are often multiple fatwa on any given question, sometimes in direct opposition to each other. Muslims must decide for themselves which ones represent Allah's true will, which they do in part by considering the age, wisdom, and reputation of the issuing cleric.

A group that claims the exclusive mantle of God must suppress any suggestion that God himself thinks otherwise. By eliminating the most respected clerics in the opposition, the Taliban not only silences opponents. It also changes the fatwa balance, if you like, so that the eldest and most respected surviving clerics are all pro-Taliban. Younger clerics may rise to replace their fallen elders, but they will have neither the age nor the reputation of the dead.

The only major-media news in Afghanistan is the NATO takeover of ISAF. This prompted MSNBC to print a list of major attacks in Afghanistan that have happened since 2002. The list is not impressive, certainly not impressive enough to explain the loss of a strategic province given the strength we have in the area. Read into that what you will.