Interesting Items by Alex Gimarc, February 25, 2008

1. B-2. We lost a B-2 yesterday. The aircraft had just taken off from Guam on the last flight of a four month deployment from Whiteman AB in Missouri. Both pilots ejected successfully. One was transported to a hospital in Hawaii for treatment of spinal compression. Much will be made about the billion dollar price tag of these stealth bombers in upcoming weeks. When the B-2 was rolled out in 1988, it was the product of two separate design and development efforts, one of which was cancelled before anything flew. The pubic price tag for the B-2 includes the costs of both aircraft. The crash does remind military procurement people that any weapons system too expensive to use with impunity will have real problems getting the mission done. We must field weapons systems that we can afford to lose. The B-2 is at (or way above) the upper end of that spectrum, and may be too expensive. It is a superb weapons system, but its replacement ought to be much, much less expensive.

2. BMD. The Navy successfully splashed a derelict satellite last Wednesday over the north Pacific. The target was about 150 nm in altitude and struck by a Standard missile armed with a special warhead. The target was non-maneuvering, large, and not electronically active. The hit and breakup was filmed by the Pentagon and released to the general public Thursday. Whomever in the Pentagon came up with the very real concern about reentry of hydrazine used in the satellite’s reaction control and maneuvering system as the rationale for the shot ought to be congratulated, as the American media – the drive-bys – picked up that story and ran with it. They downplayed the notion that the test was a real message being sent to the bad guys around the globe – including Iran, the ChiComs, Russia, North Korea and anyone else that wants to come out and play with the Big Boys. I expect the real reason for the shoot down had a lot more to do with an available target of opportunity and the desire not to allow sensitive hardware to land in the hands of people who we don’t want to have access to it. The test also demonstrated the shoot down capability of the AEGIS ballistic missile defense system being outfitted on 18 ships. This was a big deal and accomplished what it was supposed to accomplish. Congratulations to all involved.

3. Cut Cables. Interesting story out of the Middle East is that of the cut fiber optic transmission cables on the floor of the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Over the course of the last few months, five cables have been mysteriously cut. These cables carry most of the internet traffic between the Middle East and the rest of the world. One of the cuts in the Med appears to have been an accident. The others may be something else. Dr. Jack Wheeler of To the Point believes the cables were cut deliberately by either the Israelis or the US, both of which have the naval assets in place to do the deed. He believes someone is isolating Iran, Syria and other less friendly players in the Middle East as a preparation to some sort of action. AJ Strata holds the other opinion, that the cuts are the result of terrorist action aimed against Iraq. I tend to side with Wheeler on this one, as the terrorists simply do not have the technical expertise, training or equipment (that we know of) to ch arter and / or operate a couple subs to do the deed. If Wheeler is correct, there are some interesting times afoot for the Iranian Mullahs.

4. NYT. Well it only took the New York Times two days after their chosen Republican presidential candidate all but sewed up the nomination to launch their first slime job against him and his campaign. Last Thursday the NYT ran their typical hatchet job against McCain accusing him of sexual involvement with a telecommunications lobbyist. McCain himself went public and expressed his disappointment with the NYT. Conservative talk radio and bloggers were far harsher, as were some McCain campaign staffers. Apparently the paper has been working this story for months and decided to drop it on the public after it was too late to select another Republican presidential nominee – which makes the political component of the hit piece pretty obvious to anyone who bothered to pay attention. The NYT is well on its way to joining NBC news, CBS news, and Sixty Minutes as former news organizations. They are completely in the tank for the democrats and will stop at nothing to get their guy or gal elected. We are on the verge of returning back to the good old days of non-objective journalism practiced 100-200 years ago – which is not such a bad thing. The only thing many conservatives are wondering is why they didn’t wait until the weekend before the election like they normally do? Given that this one has been released, expect many, many other slime jobs out of various leftist-friendly news organizations from now until November. This single act of hatchet-job journalism will do more to shore up conservative support behind McCain than anything he could do reaching out to them, as an enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my enemy any longer.

5. Public Funding. Both McCain and Obama have interesting decisions in the very near future regarding how to fund their campaigns. Will they accept public funding, which will put limits on what they are able to spend? Or will they forego public funding and raise money without limits? McCain is on the hook as the champion of McCain-Feingold, which really garbaged up the ability of candidates to raise money. Obama has raised and spent over $100 million, mostly on the Internet, in his campaign for the democrat presidential nomination. On the other hand, a year ago he made a public deal with McCain that should either become their p arty’s candidate; they would accept public financing and the spending limits for the general election campaign. McCain has been short of money throughout the entire process, and apparently has the ability to run and win via insurgent, grass roots, low-cost campaign as he has for the last year. Obama has demonstrated that his rock-star routine will raise large quantities of money easily, money that he spends like water down a drain. If Obama changes his mind, McCain has yet another opening to slam him as simply another politician that says one thing while doing another. Obama has a decision in front of him – one that will be uncomfortable either way he goes. CQ, Tues.

6. Michelle. Senator Obama (D, IL) is yet another democrat presidential candidate with an in-your face, pushy, mouthy wife. Much like Hillary in 1992 and 1996, Theresa Heinz in 2004, Michelle Obama is going to make a name for herself. She has had some most interesting comments over the last couple weeks. The first was at UCLA earlier in the month, where she made that argument that the collective souls of Americans were broken and the only one who could fix them was her husband, Barack, should he be elected. Imagine the reaction from the drive-by media should Mitt Romney’s wife or Mike Huckabee’s wife had made the same argument. Apparently a theocracy is only bad when someone who believes in God wants to impose it. And it is quite all right if followers of radical Islam or leftist presidential candidate wives want to impose it. Michelle’s other statement was in a campaign appearance in Wisconsin last week when she said the following (from Captain’s Qu arters, Tues):

CQ and Michelle Malkin then proceeded to tear into Michelle Obama, noting that she and her husband are both millionaires, graduates from Ivy League schools, and sit at the upper crust of power and influence in this nation. Yet she has never seen anything in her 40+ years of living here in America that she was proud of until here husband st arted running for El Presidente. This is a quotation that reveals her actual view of the United States and outs her as simply another in a long line of black, liberal victim mongers.

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."
- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776.

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