WORLDS SUPER SOLDIER

Pakistani Super Soldier

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:02:00 +0000

COLLECTION OF WORLD BEST

ALL IN ONE

NOW VIST

SOLVED PROBLEM OF HUMAN WORLD

before the advent of radar

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:53:00 +0000

before the advent of radar

COLLECTION OF WORLD BEST

ALL IN ONE

NOW VIST

SOLVED PROBLEM OF HUMAN WORLD

Ancient Weapons

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:33:00 +0000

Pictures of antique weapons present in Lahore Museum.

Bow and arrows

Swords

Knives and daggers

Guns from early British period

Pistols from early British period

Watergate -- srirangapattana

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:37:00 +0000

Sally port where Tipu fell

Water gate 1938

May 5, 1799: He was still trapped in the courtyard with a handful of faithful followers and surrounded by the British soldiers. They fought for a long time.Three horses were shot from under Tipu. He, along with four other bodyguards, killed a record 4,500 British soldiers-about fifteen British were left alive and Wellesley was thinking about surrendering when a British bullet hit Tipu on his arm. Another hit his temple and the Tiger of Mysore, the hope of Indian freedom, the great nationalist who sacrificed every thing for his dream of British-free India, fell. And along with him, shattered the dream of Indian independence-one that will not be able to be achieved till 150 years later by the endless efforts of Ghandi and Nehru and Jinnah-just because some greedy men sold their soul for a few gold. Tipu's body was given a military burial and he was buried by his father's side in Lal Bagh.

The following text is borrowed from:
http://www.angelfire.com/co/begumnoor/tipu2.html
On the evening of May 3rd, British guns breached the ramparts, and at half past one on the following afternoon, General Baird led the forward storming party.

The fighting was fierce. The Sultan himself stood with those who were attempting to hold the breach, firing with his own hand. When it became evident they could not stem the invasion, he turned abruptly, and attempted to force his way through the press on horseback, toward the Zenana. According to Rajah Khan, the only person to have been at his side the whole afternoon, the thought of the ladies of the household had been in his mind since the moment when he realised the fort was going to fall, and he had considered it his duty to put them to the sword with his own hand, lest they be exposed to outrage in the tumult.

The great gateway, when the Sultan and Rajah Khan reached it, presented already a scene of carnage. Trying to push his way through a melee, in which British soldiers and his own were closely mingled, the Sultan was wounded, first in his breast, then in his right side. Rajah Khan, seeing how heavily he was afflicted, cried out to him that he should make his identity known to the British soldiers, who would surely treat his person with respect.

"Are you mad?" shouted Tippu. "Be silent!" Rajah Khan attempted to disengage him from the saddle and they both fell to the earth together. Rajah Khan, wounded in the leg himself, was yet able to drag the Sultan a little to one side, and so prop him up under the relative shelter of a the arch of the great gate. An English soldier, catching sight of the rich gold buckle with which the Sultan's belt was fastened, stooped and tried to take it off him. Tippu, however, was not dead yet. So many bodies had fallen across his own that he could not get to his feet, being pinned amongst the dead and dying; but he reached out with his hand, laterally, plucked a sword from one of those who had fallen, and struck upwards, slashing the grenadier across the knee. The grenadier, incensed, raised his musket, put it straight to the Sultan's temple, not knowing who he was, and shot him.

Death of Tipu at the taking of Srirangapattana

Death of Tipu by Henry Singleton

Even in death, wrote one present, he carried such a vivacity of hatred that Arthur Wellesley, standing over him in the flickering torchlight, could not believe him dead till he had felt the heart and pulse.

He was dressed in a white linen jacket, and loose drawers of flowered chintz, with a crimson cloth of silk and cotton round the waist. He was of small stature, a trifle corpulent, very dark of complexion, with aqualine nose, bold eyes and prominent chin. His brows were finely arched, and his hands and feet remarkably small and delicately shaped.

Finding body of Tipu -- coloured engraving by Samuel William Reynolds London 1800

Sir David Baird discovering the body of Tipu Sultan; by Sir David Wilkies

The following day, four companies of Europeans marched with his bier. It was borne by his personal attendants, and accompanied by the Kazi, chanting verses from the Koran. Thousands of the faithful prostrated themselves as the Sultan passed on his last journey through the streets toward Lal Bang, where they laid him with his father; the occasion of the last obsequies being rendered more awful by the bursting of an almighty thunderstorm.

The foregoing was quoted from the book:
"Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan, GC, MBE, CdG, by British Author,
Jean Overton Fuller.

There are several stories as to how Tipu was defeated. One version of the story portrays Mir Sadiq as the traitor who sold his mother land while another version portrays Purnayya as the traitor who negotiated the life of his Muslim ruler with the British.

The British promised Mir Sadiq that in return for helping them, they would make him the ruler of Mysore. Also involved in this plot was Pandit Purnia, Tipu's Secretary of Treasury. He was promised the post of prime-minister. They tried various things on Tipu. During a highly important conflict, Purnia told the soldiers to come collect their wages. The soldiers left the cannons and went for their pay and the British were able to destroy parts of the fort wall. Also, empty cannonballs were provided to the soldiers. In the fort, Mir Sadiq declared that Tipu had abducted. However, one of Tipu's loyal followers attacked and killed Mir Sadiq.

In actual fact, Tipu's minister of finance, Mir Sadiq, who was a muslim, informed on Tipu to the British. Tipu did have a confidant, a Brahmin minister named Purnaiah, who remained loyal to him until the very end and who was appointed by the British to rule Mysore after Tipu's death until the legitimate Hindu King of Mysore came of age.

According to historical facts, Tipu did inded suspect Mir Sadiq of treason and intended to hang him before the fortress fell, but did not succeed. Forrest confirms that it was Mir Sadiq who betrayed Tipu to the British. He also believes that Mir Sadiq was killed by his own troops as a traitor and his corpse savagely mangeled.

The following text is borrowed from:
http://www.ourkarnataka.com/Articles/starofmysore/sadiq07.htm

Ordinary soldier:
When we speak of traitors or betrayers, the name of Mir Sadik comes to our mind instantaneously. He was an ordinary soldier in the army of Hyder Ali. By hard work and courage he attained superior position in the administration. Mir Sadik showed the same courage during Tipu's regime. Unsuspecting Tipu promoted him and made him the chief of revenue and finance. He remained faithful to Tipu till 1792. When British gained an upper hand, Mir Sadik understood that Tipu was not a winning horse and that there is no use in supporting him any longer. Overnight he changed his loyalty to the British but kept it as a secret and pretended loyalty to Tipu. He selected his own men and sent secret information to British Governor Cornwallis. He used code words and if by chance the messenger was caught, he would be killed immediately.

Evil designs:
Tipu was a sharp and shrewd Sultan and he came to know of the evil designs of Mir Sadik. He was arrested and kept in prison. But Mir Sadik explained that this was the work of some other soldiers and he was following them to find out the truth. Thus he pleaded his innocence and took an oath to be faithful and obedient to Tipu. Unfortunately Tipu believed him and released him from prison.

Breach of trust:
As soon as he came out of the prison, he continued his breach of trust against the Sultan with greater caution. He told the Sultan that he would be freely moving with the British officers and soldiers only to find out their secrets. Actually he was acting on the contrary. The British promised him wealth and the headship of the Mysore kingdom if Tipu was defeated. Again Tipu came to know of this treachery and prepared a list of persons to be hanged. The first name in this list was that of Mir Sadik. One of his friends informed this to Mir Sadik. He immediately became alert and before Tipu could act, the British were made to attack and Tipu could never come out of the fort of Srirangapattana.

On 22, May 1799 when the battle was going on, Mir Sadik invited all the soldiers of Tipu Sultan who were guarding the fort of Srirangapattana, to come out for a negotiation regarding the increase in their salary as per the order of Tipu. The soldiers believed it and left the fort and went out for negotiations. Now the British had no opposition except for Tipu and some commanders. Tipu was taken aback by this development. Immediately Mir Sadik as planned earlier gave the signal through a white handkerchief to the British soldiers to enter the fort. Immediately the British entered the fort.

Tipu look – alike:
As a strategy many soldiers were dressed like Tipu to confuse the British. It was difficult for them to identity the real Tipu and were struggling to find out the truth. At this juncture Mir Sadik told the British officers that he would go near the real Tipu in the battlefield and bend before him as if showing respect to the Sultan and the British should take the clue from this. He did like this and the British had no difficulty in recognising Tipu Sultan on the battlefield and killing him. Thus Mir Sadik fulfilled his desire of helping the British to eliminate Tipu, his own master who trusted him and promoted him, and even released him from prison, and saved his life. But Mir Sadik showed his gratitude in this way!

But the soldiers of Tipu and people came to know of the treachery of Mir Sadik, attacked him and killed him when he was on his way to join the British. British intervened and buried his body in Srirangapattana itself. But the people were so furious against Mir Sadik and decided that this treacherous person should not be allowed to rest in peace even after death. They exhumed his body from the grave and showed their indignation by throwing human excreta on the body. At this juncture the British intervened and reburied the body at the same place. This is how contemporary people showed their anger and contempt against Mir Sadik who symbolized treachery and betrayal against his own kingdom, master and mentor.

Mir Sadikism:
Even today when tourists go to Srirangapattana to see the Palace of Tipu and his tomb, the guide who explains the history of Tipu Sultan shows the tomb of Mir Sadik and vividly describes the betrayal of Mir Sadik in a highly emotional way. Some tourists even throw stones on his grave and feel justified in doing so. Thus Mir Sadik has become a symbol of treachery or betrayal in our history.

Mir Sadik is dead but his character “Mir Sadikism” still continues in various forms. If a friend or a relative behaves in a treacherous way and betrays the trust deposed in him or her, such a person is referred to as Mir Sadik. Thus Mir Sadik has unfortunately become immortal in history for his notorious character. That is the defect of history. The betrayer is dead but betrayal continues just like the demon Raktabijasura of our puranas!

Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy,
Former Head,
Department of Ancient History & Archaeology,
University of Mysore.

Top Ten Intelligence Agensies in the World...

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:33:00 +0000

Top Ten Intelligence Agensies in the World...

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Number 1

CIA

Location: United States

Founded in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has three stated functions: 1) Obtaining and analyzing information about foreigners; 2) Propaganda and public relations; and, 3) Covert operations at the direction of the president. The CIA was given enormous leeway to operate during the Cold War, as the American government felt that such free reign was necessary to successfully combat the USSR's agency, the KGB. As a result, the CIA was engaged in many coups and assassination attempts overseas, both successful (Chile, Congo) and unsuccessful (Cuba).

Claim to fame: The Bay of Pigs invasion may be more notorious, but Project BLUEBIRD is more shocking. From 1951 to 1953, the CIA conducted mind-control experiments in order to explore the creation of new identities, multiple personalities and false memories. The research entailed placing brain electrodes in people and controlling their behavior with remote transmitters, administering daily dosages of LSD-25 to children for extended periods of time, and using electroconvulsive therapy to erase memories.

Number 2

MI6

Location: United Kingdom

MI6 or, as it is known formally, the Secret Intelligence Service, was created just prior to World War I primarily to keep a close eye on the activities of the Imperial German government. Since then, MI6 has been heavily engaged during the major conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries. Even before the 9/11 attacks, MI6 actively collaborated with their American counterparts in order to share intelligence and carry out particularly dicey covert ops. The MI6, in conjunction with the CIA, effected the toppling of several regimes, most notoriously in the Congo in 1961 and Iran in 1953.

Claim to fame: Aside from the time Bond bedded xxxxx Galore, MI6's most successful solo mission in recent years was the quelling the hostage-taking of Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Specifically, MI6 agents triggered an internal conflict between Lebanese paramilitary groups, effectively distracting them from further hostage-taking.

Number 3

GRU

Location: Russia

When one thinks of Russian intelligence, they usually think of the KGB. But the KGB was disbanded by Boris Yeltsin in 1995, while the even older Glavnoje Razvedyvatel'noje Upravlenije (GRU) -- which means "Main Intelligence Directorate" -- has continued on, unaffected by the fall of the USSR. The GRU was created in 1918 by Vladimir Lenin, and given the task of handling all military intelligence. Since then, the GRU has taken part in significant anti-nationalist activities in Eastern Europe and according to a former agent, has infiltrated the U.S. to the extent that secret-arms caches are available for use in America by Russian agents, if necessary.

Claim to fame: The GRU doesn't cop to much, but they were purported to be behind the assassination of formerChechen President Zelimkhan Abdumuslimovich Yandarbiyev, who was living in Qatar in 2004 and was accused of having links to Al-Qaeda by Russia and the United Nations. The former president was assassinated when a bomb ripped through his SUV in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Number 4

DGSE

Location: France

The Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) was formed only recently, replacing the older Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (SDECE) in 1982, and was quickly made responsible for gathering intelligence, as well as preventative work detecting and finding external espionage activities directed against French interests. The agency has generally kept a low profile, but that was not the case with 1985's Greenpeace protests against French nuclear testing, which involved the bombing of the Greenpeace fleet. New Zealand law enforcements uncovered the plot and arrested two DGSE agents who plead guilty to manslaughter in the death of a journalist who drowned in the incident.

Claim to fame: The DGSE quickly proved its worth in the early 1980s, when they revealed a Soviet spy network that allowed the USSR to gather info about important Western technical advances without the knowledge of Western intelligence agencies. It's still the most extensive technological spy network ever uncovered in Europe and the United States.

Number 5

ISI

Location: Pakistan

The weak performance in the sharing of intelligence between the army, navy and air force during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 led to the creation of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) by the Pakistani government in 1948. Since then, the agency's influence has waxed and waned according to the whims/powers of Pakistani leaders. Since 9/11, ISI has actively worked with the CIA in engaging in counter-terrorism against both Al-Qaeda, Taliban militants and tribal/sectarian terrorists in Pakistan (though they have been somewhat stifled by domestic factors). The ISI is a deceptively active and powerful agency and is known for operating in an "invisible" fashion.

Claim to fame: In 1980, the ISI intercepted a plot to assassinate the President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, during a national parade. The plotters, which included high-ranking military officials, planned to launch a bloody coup to depose the government and install an extreme Islamic government in its place. The ISI arrested the would-be assassins and their backers prior to the date of the planned assassination.

Number 6

BND

Location: Germany

The Bundesnachrichtendie nst's (BND) predecessor agency was created prior to World War II in order to spy on the Soviet Union. Today, it allegedly acts as an early warning system to alert the German government of threats to its interests from overseas, depending very heavily on wiretapping and electronic surveillance of international communications. The annual budget of the BND is very big, exceeding 430,000,000 Euros. The BND has been embroiled in several recent domestic scandals relating to the alleged wiretapping and surveillance of journalists, and the use of reporters as spies against other journalists.

Claim to fame: In the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003, the German government resisted President Bush's efforts to get Germany to provide troops to the coalition. But the BND scored for the U.S. when two German agents in Baghdad managed to obtain a copy of Saddam Hussein's plan to defend the Iraqi capital. A German official passed the information on to American commanders one month before the invasion.

Number 7

Mossad

Location: Israel

Israel's extremely active intelligence agency, Mossad, is responsible for intelligence collection, counter-terrorism and various covert operations. Its director reports directly to the head of state, the Prime Minister. Mossad is a civilian service, and does not use military ranks, although most of its staff have served in the Israeli defense forces as part of the country's compulsory draft system. Mossad's most notorious wing is the "Special Operations Division" or "Metsada," as it's also known. The Metsada has been involved in several assassinations, paramilitary operations, sabotage, and psychological warfare.

Claim to fame: In 1960, the Mossad discovered that Adolf Eichmann, a notorious Nazi war criminal, was living in Argentina under the name of Ricardo Klement. He was captured by a team of Mossad agents and smuggled in to Israel where he was tried and executed.

Number 8

R&AW

Location: India

India's external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) was created in 1968 as a response to the country's poor intelligence performance in recent wars against Pakistan and China. Unlike most Western agencies, the R&AW is installed as a wing of the federal cabinet and is not answerable to the Indian Parliament in any way. Much of the R&AW's recent energies have been focused on its neighbor, Pakistan. During the Kargil War in Kashmir in 1999, the R&AW was able to unearth links between Pakistani intelligence and terrorist groups, and to infiltrate militant groups in the Kashmir valley.

Claim to fame: The R&AW had a big hand in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. The agency helped sow discord among the disgruntled populace of Bangladesh (then called East Pakistan), which led to the creation of a guerrilla Bangladeshi army. Under its cover, R&AW operatives infiltrated into East Pakistan for covert operations, helping defeat the Pakistani army.

Number 9

ASIS

Location: Australia

Created in 1952, the Australian Secret Intelligent Service (ASIS) agency is responsible for collecting intelligence, undertaking counter-intelligence activities and, especially, coordinating with other agencies overseas. The Australian government recently passed a controversial bill which allowed ASIS to work with other organizations like the CIA in paramilitary operations, provided ASIS agents were not personally involved in carrying them out. ASIS has been the subject of some sensational exposes over the years, including one in 1994 which claimed that the agency was secretly holding thousands of secret files on ordinary Australian citizens.

Claim to fame: In 1983, the normally low-profile agency garnered some unwanted attention during a training operation held at the Sheraton Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. What was intended as a mock surveillance and hostage rescue of foreign intelligence officers turned into an overzealous free-for-all, as trainees used considerable force, distressed hotel staff and guests, and physically assaulted the hotel manager while carrying out their "mission.

Number 10

CSIS

Location: Canada

The Canadian Security Intelligent Service (CSIS) was created in 1984, previous to which Canadian intelligence was handled through the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). CSIS is patterned after the CIA and MI6, in that it is a civilian agency which is unconnected to the military or police. Canadian intelligence agents work both domestically and internationally in an effort to monitor and counter threats to Canadian security. CSIS came under enormous criticism from the Canadian public for their investigation of the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, a tragedy that claimed the lives of 280 Canadians. CSIS officials reportedly erased key wiretaps and made several strategic investigatory errors. To this date, no one has been held responsible for the bombing.

Claim to fame: From 1988 to 1994, CSIS agent Grant Bristow infiltrated the Canadian white-supremacist movement, becoming security chief of the Heritage Front, the most prominent white-supremacist organization in Canada. Bristow's activities led to several arrests and prevented certain incidents of planned violence. His cover was blown by a Toronto journalist in 1994.

Future weapons of warfare and mass destruction

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:08:00 +0000

This post should give a small idea of how the future weapons of warfare are going to be.

Metal Storm - Future Weapons Breakthrough Technology - 1 million rounds per minute!
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The British Accuracy International AS50 BMG Sniper Rifle
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The XM-307 Advanced Crew Served Weapon - ACSW
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The OICW - Objective Individual Combat Weapon - the M-29
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NLOS Cannon - NLOS-C - The New Artillery of the FCS Future
Combat Systems

Source:futurefirepower.com
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Tommorow's soldiers Us military robotic vehicles
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Barrett REC7 - M468 - Future Assault Rifle

Apparently, the M4 Carbine or the M16 platform have been improved by Barrett's Firearm’s.The M16 hasn’t exactly been everyone’s favorite assualt rifle. In fact, it has been regarded by some as a killer of US troops, leaving them stuck in firefights without effective stopping power and jammed rounds.

Greater range, 50% increased stopping power, ability to fit into the current modular makeup of existing M16 component parts. Basically,Barrett knows how to get an invention considered by a buyer. Hearing the voice of the GI, military procurement officers sit around and think, “What can I do about this problem, and is it going to cost me an arm and a leg?” These posed questions are answered in the design of theBarrett REC7 assault rifle. This rifle hasn’t reached operational status yet, but Barrett firearms took into consideration some key aspects of rifle design and selling points with the development of this rifle (conveniently mentioned in the opening sentence of this paragraph). All key aspects overlooked by other ambitious projects with the aim to replace the M16. Rifles such as the OICW and the Heckler and Koch XM-8 are examples of attempts to completely redesign the rifle, which also come packaged with enormous costs and long-run expenses for spare parts.
Barrett said, “Hey, I can make a rifle that is built on existing parts already used in the M4 and M16, and deliver the results the military wants.” Now, we can only wait and see if this bad boy will ultimately be chosen as the next generation rifle for the armed forces, but until then, we can watch Mack talk about the Barrett REC7 assault rifle and demonstrate it’s superb capabilities.

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These dealings in death, the fine line between reality and the ability to play god with the lives of lesser men, are made possible by the ubiquitous ATK M230 Chain…Carbon 15 Pistol - Bushmaster

The Carbon 15 pistol is a firearm similar in design to an ArmaLite AR-15 or the Colt M4 Carbine. The main differences between the Carbon 15 “pistol” and actual M4 is the absence of the shoulder stock and the fully automatic option. You don’t really want or need full auto though, because theCarbon 15 is not designed for suppressive fire, likewise, the red dot sight fitted on the accessory rail optimizes this weapon for close quarter personal defense-ideal for confined spaces.

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V22 Osprey - Hybrid Helicopter Aircraft of the Future
V22 Osprey
Manufacturer: Boeing [NYSE: BA]

Obviously, getting troops to the battlefield as quickly as possible is a paramount concern for military planners. Choppers can carry many troops, but really can’t fly very far or fast. Planes can get troops there quickly, but where can you launch transport planes without a runway? Aircraft carriers are too small, nevermind the deck of an amphibious assault ship. Clearly, a solution is needed for high speed troop transport in a scenario of limited runway space. Necessity is the mother of all…

Hunter UAV Airstrike - Viper Air Attack on Vehicle
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Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

The Viper is a standoff munition guided by GPS and laser-guidance. The Viper is primarily used in missions that require a flexible angle of attack, either steep or shallow. The weapon is produced by Northrop Grumann’s Land Combat Systems Facility in Alabama. This particular Viper Standoff munition requires a man to lase the target either from the UAV itself where the missile is fired from, or from the ground. The Viper is similar to the Hellfire missile used in the Predator UAV by the US air-force. The Vipers warhead is smaller than the Hellfires and the Vipers platform is the Hunter RQ-5A UAV. The Hunter is similar to the predator although its functionality is more limited.
Hunter UAV airstrike with Viper Munition
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Father of All Bombs?

Father of all bombs

Have heard of the MOAB or Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, coined the Mother of All Bombs. The MOAB is an eight ton non-nuclear weapon with a 450 foot blast radius. What you might not have heard is that Russia has recently unveiled the “Father of All Bombs” which is said to have a 900 foot blast radius, double what the MOAB boasts. Until the Russian military unveiled the FOAB the MOAB was the largest non-nuclear bomb in the world. The center of the explosion created by the Father of All Bombs is reported to be twice as hot as MOAB as well. The Russianmilitary apparently created a weapon roughly the same size as the MOAB with twice the power! So it looks like the Russians have one-upped the Americanmilitary’s largest non-nuclear weapon… or have they? There are a lot of skeptics that believe the Father of All Bombs may just be a big hoax. The Russian military claimed the bomb was dropped from a Tupolev 160 bomber although the bomb and the aircraft where never seen in the same video. Recall that the MOAB is usually dropped out of a much larger C-130 or equivalent. “You’ve got to approach Russian claims with skepticism,” says John Pike, an analyst at the think tank GlobalSecurity.org.
Wired has a great article regarding inconsistencies in the video and the claims made by the Russian military. Psychological warfare?

X-51 Hypersonic Cruise Missile - Fastest Cruise Missile

Imagine having the ability to strike anywhere in the world within one hour. The X-51 is an amazing hypersonic cruise missile that travels 600 miles in just ten minutes (approximately 3600 MPH or Mach 5).

Compared with the Tomahawk Missile which travels at a mere 550 MPH, the X51 gives the US the ability to strike enemies quickly before they can evade. As U.S. Strategic Command’s deputy commander Lt. Gen. C. Robert Kehler puts it, the goal of the X51 is “to strike virtually anywhere on the face of the Earth within 60 minutes.”

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If Looks Could Kill - The Sukhoi SU-47 Berkut

The SU-47 is an amazing looking aircraft, especially while in flight. Nicknamed the Golden Eagle, the SU-47 has a reduced radar signature, thrust vectoring, advanced fly-by-wire technology, and most notably a very unique forward swept wing design. The Sukhoi SU-47 is extremely maneuverable at subsonic speeds and has a maximum speed of mach 1.6. The SU-47 can carry a variety of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.
Many sources try to compare the SU-47 to the F-22 Raptor. In reality, the F-22 Raptor is in a class of its own.

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F-22 Raptor Maneuvers - Vertical Flight F-22a Raptor

Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT]
The following video of the F-22 shows some of the maneuvers that this Jet is capable of.
The F22 is capable of vertical flight and very high angle of attack maneuvers. Although the F22 boasts some incredible maneuvers:
The F-22 can’t maneuver as well as the Su-37, but it is stealthier, since you can’t have both stealth and maneuverability. Our commanders (US) and generals think that stealth is infinitely more important than maneuverability.

Su-37 Terminator - Experimental Soviet Acrobatic Jet Fighter

This is a video displaying the acrobatic ability of an experimental Soviet jet fighter, the Su-37 Terminator. The Su-37 is designed to be able to outmaneuver any adversary in close combat dogfighting. With it’s reinforced frame, vector thrust, and aerodynamics, the Su-37 can perform dogfight moves unlike any other plane built, including the F-22 Raptor, or F-35 Lightning, the Su-37’s closest competitors. However, the Su-37 has not entered service into any military, and for now remains a demonstration of the limits of human piloted aerial acrobatics.

F-35 Lightning II - Lockheed Martin - Future Fighter JSF - “World Standard”

The stealthy F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role, 5TH Generation fighter designed to replace a wide range of existing aircraft, including AV-8B Harriers, A-10s, F-16s, F/A-18 Hornets and United Kingdom Harrier GR.7s and Sea Harriers.
“The first flight of the F-35 Lightning II is an historic moment because, for the first time ever, we are seeing the dawn of an aircraft with all the 5TH Generation attributes - including advanced stealth, fighter agility, sensor fusion and greatly improved supportability - combined in an affordable package,” said Ralph Heath, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. “The F-35 will be the most advanced and most capable multi-role fighter on the international market for many, many years to come.”

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The Fleet of NATO

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:30:00 +0000

Here is the fleet of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which aims to maintain peace and order in the world. Very powerful and really impressive

Pictured: The scars that show how miracle soldier escaped sniper's bullet that passed through his helmet and back

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:15:00 +0000

A British soldier serving in Afghanistan has told how he cheated death when a sniper's bullet passed through his back, neck and helmet - but miraculously avoided all his vital organs.

Lieutenant Paddy Rice was described as 'the luckiest soldier in Afghanistan' after he was passed as fit to return to active duty only two weeks after being shot in Helmand province.

Lt Rice, of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was kneeling on the roof of a British compound in the Chah-e'Anjir area of central Helmand when a Taliban sniper opened fire on him.

Lt Rice went back to his duties just two weeks after a bullet entered his back whilst leaning over a radio, skimmed along under the skin above his spinal cord, exited just below his skull finally penetrating and exiting his helmet

The 25-year-old officer said: 'I climbed on to the roof of Compound 23, where my soldiers and I were based, and was trying to move a radio into a sangar (a defensive bunker).

'It was an exposed position so I was wearing my body armour and helmet.

'Then I felt a thump in the back, as though I had been kicked, and I knew immediately I had been shot.'

Lt Rice's hunched kneeling position meant that the bullet, after entering his body, tracked along his back, into his neck, before blasting out through his helmet.

Stitch marks on his body clearly show how the round travelled upwards, alongside his spine, before coming out just below his left ear.

He told the Sunday Telegraph: 'I put my hand up to the back of my head and I could see blood and I think I said something to my platoon sergeant, Gert Botha, such as "I've been shot".

Lt Paddy Rice of 1 Grenadier Guards miraculously avoided death after a bullet narrowly missed his spinal cord and skull

'I was helped down from the roof and I radioed company headquarters, gave a contact report and said, "There is one casualty and it's me - I've been shot".

'I wasn't panicking. I had considered how I might react if I was shot or injured but because everything seemed to be functioning normally I think I realised I would be OK.'

He said he phoned his girlfriend in Clapham, South London, who was shopping at the supermarket.

'She was a bit startled to hear me saying I had been shot while she was buying her supper, but after I assured her that I was fine she relaxed a bit.'

After the attack on October 26, Lt Rice was flown to Camp Bastion where he received 29 stitches.

He was described as the luckiest soldier in Afghanistan by Captain James Swanston, who was in charge of the operations room when the attack happened.

The captain said if the bullet had hit a millimetre either side of where it did, Lt Rice would be either dead or seriously injured.

Google Earth during the Second World War: Amazing aerial images taken by the daring Allies which revealed Hitler's weapons

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:14:00 +0000

Precise as a hole punch through a sheet of paper, craters surround a Nazi doodlebug factory in an extraordinary image showing the devastation wreaked by an Allied bombing raid.

The date is September 2, 1944 and the place Peenemunde, a village on the Baltic, where the terrifying weapons Adolf Hitler hoped would win the war for Germany were designed and tested.

The image is astonishing enough, but how it was taken is even more startling.

Craters surround a site at Peenemunde in Mecklenburg-Vorpommem, Germany on September 2, 1944, following an Allied bombing raid on the site where the V weapons were designed and tested

For it comes from an archive of aerial photographs snapped by daring pilots - sometimes flying as low as 50ft - during secret reconnaissance missions in the Second World War.

Others in the collection convey the human suffering experienced amid the fighting, including rare shots of a Nazi slave labour camp and of the notorious Colditz prisoner of war camp.

Devastation: An unidentified urban part of Germany, pictured on May 7, 1945 .

Bombs descend during an airfield raid at Berck Sur Mer, Pas-de-Calais in France.

Colditz Castle (circled) in Saxony, Germany on April 10, 1945, just three days before U.S. forces overran the area.

In the close-up , prisoners can be seen in the courtyard of the high security prison

Until now the pictures have been kept behind closed doors. But they are revealed to the public for the first time today via the internet amid a painstaking cataloguing process.

Alan Williams, manager of the National Collection of Aerial Photography which houses the photos, said: 'The archive literally shows the world at war.'

Long before the days of Google Earth, the highly skilled airmen who took them flew alone, by day and night, in unarmed Spitfires relying on their wits as they risked their lives to capture the images on their plane-mounted cameras.

Targetted: This image of Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France was taken by daring pilots during secret reconnaissance missions in October 1944

Sometimes their planes were painted pink, as the unusual colour proved very good at hiding the aircraft against a background of low cloud. For high altitude missions, the planes were painted a dark shade of blue.

But often they still found themselves targeted by anti-aircraft missiles. Hundreds of them never returned home.

Those that did brought with them photos vital to the war effort.

Central Caen in Normandy in France on October 2, 1944. While the pilots were all men, a large proportion of interpreters were women, including Winston Churchill's daughter Sarah

Expert photographic interpreters studied the pictures using optical instruments such as stereoscopes to view them in 3D to build up detailed information for intelligence reports and models used in military planning for operations such as the D-Day landings.

The 'detective' teams, who were headquartered in a stately home in Buckinghamshire at RAF Medmenham - MI4's Allied Central Interpretation Unit - included Oxbridge academics, geographers and archaeologists.

A small part of Operation Market Garden in September 1944 - the largest airborne operation of all time. Gliders are visible on the ground

While the pilots were all men, a large proportion of interpreters were women, including Winston Churchill's daughter Sarah.

Other famous names attached to the unit included actor Dirk Bogarde.

Peenemunde was a key strategic site where the doodlebugs - or V1s, as they were called by the Nazis - were built. The 2,000lb bombs were pilotless planes powered by a jet motor.

The Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany on March 14, 1941

on the Bundesautobahn 7 near Hessen in Germany on April 17, 1952

First launched from ski-slope ramps by powered catapults in northern France, they killed more than 6,000 people in south east England.

Winston Churchill ordered Operation Crossbow - a plan to destroy V1 production and launch sites - and some 36,000 tons of bombs were dropped on

Bridges over the River Mae Klong (later renamed Kwa Yai in 1960) and Tamarkan POW camp, at Tha Ma Kham in Thailand. The picture was taken by 684 Squadron, Royal Air Force, on January 2, 1945

The photo of the destruction this caused at Peenemunde comes from the Aerial Reconnaissance Archives (Tara), which contains more than 10million photographs, including pictures taken by the RAF up to the 1990s and by the Luftwaffe.

The photo of the slave labour camp near Mainz in Germany, taken on June 2, 1945, is one of only a handful of images that remain of the factory site because it was dismantled quickly after the war.

Slave labour camps were concentration camps where interned inmates had to do hard physical labour under inhumane conditions and cruel treatment. This one provided workers for a heavy machinery company.

A raid on an airfield at Berck Sur Mer, Pas-de-Calais in France

D-Day on June 6, 1944, vehicles can be seen as they disembark from the landing craft

In the photos of Colditz - the high security castle where Allied officers who had repeatedly escaped from other camps were held - prisoners can be seen in the courtyard of the high security prison on April 10, 1945, just days before US forces took over the area.

Other images show vehicles disembarking from landing craft on D-Day, and the so-called bridge over the River Kwai, part of the Thai-Burma railway project that cost the lives of thousands of prisoners of war.

A Zwangsarbeiter, slave labour camp, at Gustavsburg near Mainz, Hessen in Germany

The camp provided workers for the neighbouring heavy machinery company

Mr Williams said: 'The skill of the photo reconnaissance pilot was incredible - they were among the best pilots in the air force.

'As so many of them lost their lives, the archive has become a memorial to them and the events on the ground they photographed.

'How they could take the photos they did is astonishing. When you remember they were taken in combat, and often being shot at - it's astounding.'

Mulberry B created by the British at Arromanches, Normandy in France taken on October 2, 1944

All the photos were stored for more than 50 years at Keele University before Tara was moved to Edinburgh last year to join The National Collection of Aerial Photography.

Specialist staff are continuing the lengthy task of researching, cataloguing and digitising the images, which is expected to take many years.

Around 4,000 images from the archive will go online initially with more to be added.

The archive can be viewed at aerial.rcahms.gov.uk

Port Said, Egypt on 17 November 1956 during the Suez Crisis. The image was taken by the French Air Force during Operation Musketeer - the Anglo-French-Israeli plan for the invasion of Egypt to capture the Suez Canal during the Crisis

Is this the legendary lost Persian army? Compelling remains found in Sahara Desert

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:42:00 +0000

The legend of the lost Persian army has survived over two and a half millennia - despite a blatant lack of hard evidence.

But now two Italian experts believe they have found its remains.

Twin brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni uncovered hundreds of human bones, weapons and jewelery in the Sahara desert, west Egypt, that they believe belonged to the 50,000-strong army.

Historic discovery? A mass grave of hundreds of bleached bones and skulls believed to be Cambyses' lost army

‘We have found the first archaeological evidence of a story reported by the Greek historian Herodotus,’ Dario Del Bufalo, a member of the exhibition from the University of Lecce in Italy, said.

Herodotus wrote that Persian King Cambyses II and his men were ensconced by a huge sandstorm in 525 B.C. – and never seen again.

Uncovered: The Castiglioni brothers found these desiccated water sources and artificial wells made from hundreds of water pots

He wrote: ‘A wind arose from the south, strong and deadly, bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand, which entirely covered up the troops and caused them wholly to disappear.’

The army was sent to the Oasis of Siwa - an oasis in the Libyan Desert in Egypt - to destroy the oracle at the Temple of Amun.

In action: Twin brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni uncover the historic remains in the Sahara desert with the help of a metal detector

Ancient Egyptians held oracles to be manifestations of the gods that could see into the future.

They were often consulted before to big decisions. According to the story, the oracle would have foretold the demise of King Cambyses II.

Compelling evidence: Relics of ancient warfare, including this bronze dagger dating to Cambyses' time

Twenty years ago, brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni made another incredible find, with Berenike Panchrysos, the Egyptian ‘city of gold’.

This time, the pair stumbled on the remains after noticing a pot, some bones and a fascinating rock formation.

Destination: The temple of Amun, also known as the Temple of the Oracle, which Cambyses' army had set out to destroy

The rock, which was about 35m long, 1.8m high and 3m deep, was the only formation of its kind in the vicinity.

‘Its size and shape made it the perfect refuge in a sandstorm,’ Alfredo Castiglioni told Discovery News.

Legend: An image shows the supposed destruction of Cambyses' Army by a sandstorm

Nuclear Weapons the U.S. has Lost

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:56:00 +0000

During the Cold War the United States military misplaced at least eight nuclear weapons permanently. These are the stories of what the Department of Defense calls “broken arrows” -
America’s stray nukes, with a combined explosive force 2,200 times the Hiroshima bomb.

STRAY #1: Into the Pacific

February 13, 1950. An American B-36 bomber en route from Alaska to Texas during a training exercise lost power in three engines and began losing altitude. To lighten the aircraft the crew jettisoned its cargo, a 30-kiloton Mark 4 (Fat Man) nuclear bomb, into the Pacific Ocean. The conventional explosives detonated on impact, producing a flash and a shockwave. The bomb’s uranium components were lost and never recovered. According to the USAF, the plutonium core wasn’t presen

STRAY #2&3: Into Thin Air

March 10, 1956. A B-47 carrying two nuclear weapon cores from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to an overseas airbase disappeared during a scheduled air-to-air refueling over the Mediterranean Sea. After becoming lost in a thick cloud bank at 14,500 feet, the plane was never heard from again and its wreckage, including the nuclear cores, was never found. Although the weapon type remains undisclosed, Mark 15 thermonuclear bombs (commonly carried by B-47s) would have had a combined yield of 3.4 megatons.

STRAYS #4&5: Somewhere in a North Carolina Swamp

January 24, 1961. A B-52 carrying two 24-megaton nuclear bombs crashed while taking off from an airbase in Goldsboro, North Carolina. One of the weapons sank in swampy farmland, and its uranium core was never found despite intensive search efforts to a depth of 50 feet. To ensure no one else could recover the weapon, the USAF bought a permanent easement requiring government permission to dig on the land.

STRAY #6: The Incident in Japan

December 5, 1965. An A-4E Skyhawk attack aircraft carrying a 1-megaton thermonuclear weapon (hydrogen bomb) rolled off the deck of the U.S.S. Ticonderoga and fell into the Pacific Ocean. The plane and weapon sank in 16,000 feet of water and were never found. 15 years later the U.S. Navy finally admitted that the accident had taken place, claiming it happened 500 miles from land the in relative safety of the high seas. This turned out to be not true; it actually happened about 80 miles off Japan’s Ryuku island chain, as the aircraft carrier was sailing to Yokosuka, Japan after a bombing mission over Vietnam.
These revelations caused a political uproar in Japan, which prohibits the United States from bringing nuclear weapons into its territory

STRAYS #7&8: 250 kilotons of explosive power

Spring, 1968. While returning to home base in Norfolk, Virginia, the U.S.S. Scorpion, a nuclear attack submarine, mysteriously sank about 400 miles to the southwest of the Azores islands. In addition to the tragic loss of all 99 crewmembers, the Scorpion was carrying two unspecified nuclear weapons – either anti-submarine missiles or torpedoes that were tipped with nuclear warheads. These could yield up to 250 kilotons explosive power (depending which kind of weapon was used).

Great US Civil War Photographs

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:37:00 +0000

If you ever saw Ken Burns’ “The Civil War” documentary, you might recall it mentioned during the final episode how many photos, daguerreotypes and tintypes were destroyed after the war. Some were used as glass for greenhouses. Among those that survive, though, are some pretty startling ones. (At least for nerdy historians like me.) This is, of course, a subjective list. Hopefully, for the majority of readers here, it will be an insight into one of the most significant events in the history of the United States of America.

General Grant and officers

Lookout Mountain

This picture looks like it could be just an ordinary touristy snapshot. But it actually shows General Grant (left) and five officers on Lookout Mountain, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, after Grant whipped the Confederates in November 1863. Sticking out of Grant’s mouth is one of his ever-present cigars (which would eventually give him the throat cancer that killed him).

Ruins of Charleston
1865

A quartet of black children wearing Army hats (at least they look like children) sit in the ruins of Circular Church on Meeting Street in Charleston, birthplace of secession.

Battle of Nashville
1864

If the dating of this photo is correct, then it was taken during the Battle of Nashville, Dec. 15-16, 1864. It shows the outer edge of the Union lines.

Black soldiers

Men and noncoms of Company E, 4th U.S. Colored Infantry, at Fort Lincoln, Washington D.C. The bottom rail is on top, as these soldiers were among the 180,000 black men who served in the Union army during the war—and helped deliver ultimate victory.

Trench warfare

It looks like a scene from World War I, but this photograph shows dead Confederates in the trenches at Petersburg, Va., 1865.

Freedom dash

Fugitive slaves crossing the Rappahannock River toward the North, August 1862.

Burned train
1864

This photograph shows what happens when an ammunition train goes BOOM! George Bernard saw the results when he photographed the remains of CSA General Hood’s 28-car ammunition train, which Hood’s retreating army burned after loosing Atlanta to Sherman, September 1864.

Three Confederate prisoners
July 1863

This was the late Shelby Foote’s favorite photograph because it “shows three Confederate soldiers who were captured at Gettysburg, You can see exactly how the Confederate soldier was dressed. And one of them has his arms up—like this—as if he knows he’s having his picture taken but he’s determined to remain the individual that he is. There’s just something about that photograph that strikes me as an image of the war.” (This remark appears during the episode on Gettysburg in Ken Burns’ The Civil War.)

Amputation being performed
Gettysburg, July 1863.

At first, it seems like something of a happy scene, with many people standing around and what looks like garland decorating the tent. But that’s a surgeon’s saw the man at center is holding, and the original caption says the photo is showing an amputation.

Lincoln and McClellan

Alexander Gardener photographed Lincoln and General McClellan on the Antietam battlefield, October 1862. Notice how much taller Lincoln is compared to McClellan and his staff, and also notice McClellan’s strutting pose. McClellan styled himself the savior of the nation, but a couple of weeks after this picture was taken—and more than a month after the battle—Lincoln fired McClellan for good.

Damaged Atlanta
1864

Peachtree Street, Atlanta, after Sherman captured that city in 1864. Looks a far cry from the glorious Technicolor splendor of “Gone with the Wind,” doesn’t it.

General William T. Sherman

Most pictures of generals are stuffy and stiffly formal because of the nature of photographic technology at that time but George N. Bernard managed to capture this image of General William T. Sherman on his horse at Fort No. 7 before Atlanta, August 1864.

General Grant and staff
May 21, 1864, at Massaponax Church, Va.

Timothy O’Sullivan took this and several similar pictures from the church, whose pews the generals are sitting on. At left, General Grant looks over the shoulder of General George Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac. In other pictures in the series, Grant is sitting on the pew facing the photographer. Put these pictures together and you have the closest thing to a movie that came out of the Civil War. Significant also because during this pause in the campaign, General Lee was getting ready to pull Grant into a trap at the North Anna River. But Grant sensed the trap and disengaged, sidestepping once more to the South.

Burned-out Richmond
May 1865

It looks like a European town destroyed by artillery or bombers during either of the world wars. But this picture shows the devastating results from the fire that swept Richmond when the Confederate government retreated.

Lincoln at Gettysburg
Nov. 19, 1863

Lincoln’s remarks were very short, as the photographer had barely gotten ready when Lincoln was finished. Hence, the blurry nature of this historic event.

Yankees
General John Sedgwick’s corps, early 1863

This remarkable photo of Union soldiers waiting to advance is usually misidentified as being taken during the siege of Petersburg, 1864-1865. The Library of Congress has it labeled as such. But according to James McPherson, it was actually taken a year earlier, before the Chancellorsville campaign.

Hospital
1862

James Gibson took this photo of a field hospital at Savage’s Station, Va., during the Seven Days campaign east of Richmond.

Confederate dead
Starke’s Brigade, battle of Antietam

Alexander Gardener photographed these dead rebels of Starke’s Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia where they fell along the Haggerstown Turnpike. Gardner took this picture two days after the battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg to the CSA). Gardener’s boss, Matthew Brady, took his photographs and made them into a display for the public—one that shocked people who had never before seen war dead (which was practically everyone).

Ulysses S. Grant
After 40 days of continuous combat

This picture was taken a few days after his unfortunate assault at Cold Harbor. The strain on his face is palpable. By the time this photo was taken, Grant and Lee had lost a combined 80,000 men (50K Union, 30K Confederate) at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna and Cold Harbor.

Confederate troops on the march
Frederick, Maryland, Sept. 12, 1862

This is one of the most historically valuable photos ever taken of the war because it is the only known photograph that shows Confederate soldiers on the march in enemy territory. (Maryland was indeed enemy territory to them, because slave-holding Maryland elected to remain in the Union.) What’s haunting about this photo is that, statistically speaking, before the end of the month one-third of all the men in that picture would be dead, wounded or missing. The photo is the property of the Historical Society of Frederick County (Maryland)

Top 10 Battles for the Control of Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:03:00 +0000

This fragment from the Stele of the Vultures, erected by Eannatum of Lagash, now at the Louvre Museum, Paris depicts the battle of Umma with Eannatum of Lagash defeating the king of Umma.

1 2525 BC - Battle between Lagash and Umma

By 3000 BC, the Sumerians had developed into the earliest civilization of Mesopotamia. The societies were organized into city-states, which warred constantly over the control of water. Two of these, Lagash and Umma, sat 18 miles apart and feuded for generations over the fertile region known as Gu'edena. In 2525, King Eannatum of Lagash defeated Umma using armored soldiers in phalanx formations, and also chariots pulled by onagers (wild asses), an invention frequently credited to the Sumerians. How do we know of this battle? It was recorded by the king on a stone monument, "the Stele of the Vultures."

Sargon overthrew the Sumerian king at Nippur and established what became known as the first empire in human history, becoming the king of Akkad.

2 Around 2300 BC - Military campaigns of Sargon the Great

Sargon of Akkad may have been the world's first empire-builder. Legend states that he was found floating in a basket and brought up by a gardener. Later it is known he became a cupbearer to King Ur-Zazaba of Kish in Sumer. Sargon rose from obscurity to overthrow Lugalzaggisi of Uruk, famously forcing the defeated ruler into a yoke and leading him to the gate of Enlil, a god, at Nippur. Sargon also attacked 34 Sumerian cities. In the process, he tore down the walls of the vanquished, imprisoned 50 ensis (city-state rulers), and "cleaned his weapons in the sea" (Persian Gulf). Thus the Akkadian empire rose and the Mesopotamian military tradition was born.

Shalmaneser I was the king of Assyria. He restored the temple at Assur, established a royal residence at Nineveh, and removed the capital from Assur to Calah, just south of Nineveh.

3 Around 1263 BC - Assyrian King Shalmaneser I defeated Shattuara II of Hanigalbat

Assyria developed around the city of Ashur on the upper Tigris, weaker than other states appearing after Hammurabi's dynasty, including the Kassites and the Hurrians/Mitanni. Assyria was long ruled by the Mitanni, but regained autonomy during the Middle Assyrian Empire. In his second year of rule, Shalmaneser I attacked the breakaway state of Uruatru in southern Armenia. Shattuara II of Hanigalbat, leading the rebellion with the aid of the Hittites, blockaded the mountain passes and waterholes. With a desperation born of thirst, the Assyrians pounded the Mitanni kingdom into submission. Afterwards, Shalmaneser claimed to have blinded 14,400 men, a nasty bit of psychological warfare. His inscriptions mention the utter devastation of nine fortified temples, 180 Hurrian cities, and the Hittite and Ahlamu armies. Obviously, the Assyrians were not well-liked.

The last Persian Great King of the Achaemenid dynasty, Darius III Codomannus, is remembered in history for being defeated by Alexander the Great.

4 331 BC - Battle of Gaugamela

In 334 BC, Alexander III ("The Great") crossed the Hellespont (Dardanelles) with 7000 cavalrymen and over 30,000 infantrymen. During this expedition, Alexander defeated the king, Darius III, at the Battle of Issus. Darius retreated to the Plain of Gaugamela, near Arbela (Irbil). There he massed a enormous army and ordered the plain cleared for his scythed chariots and war elephants. Darius' army stood in a massive line. Alexander's outnumbered Macedonian forces attempted to draw the Persians away from the prepared ground. In countering, the Persian cavalry opened gaps in their own line, into which Alexander led his personal cavalry. The Persian chariots charged the Macedonians, which yielded and then decimated their drivers with projectiles. Alexander's elite cavalry turned and attacked from the rear. When Darius saw his troops in disarray, he fled, prompting a full retreat. Alexander had ended the Persian empire founded by Cyrus II.

Marcus Licinius Crassus, a Roman businessman and politican, was infamous for ordering the mass crucifiction of more than 6000 of Spartacus

5 53 BC - Battle of Carrhae

Marcus Licinius Crassus became governor of Syria in 55 BC. A triumvir with Pompey and Julius Caesar, he sought to increase his reputation by invading Parthian Mesopotamia. With seven legions, about 44,000 men, he crossed the Euphrates. However, he strayed from the river into the open desert. Near Carrhae (Harran), the Parthians approached with 10,000 mounted archers. The Romans held a theoretical advantage, but lacked desert warfare experience (fighting at midday in June?), and staggered before the Parthian arrows, fired from compound bows. Also, the Parthian commander, General Suren, had thoughtfully brought 1000 camels to re-supply his archers with arrows. Surrounding the Romans, the Parthians turned the battle into dusty target practice. Only 10,000 Gauls were reported to survive. In attempting to surrender, Crassus was killed. Roman prestige plunged in the east.

Once viewed as primitive and unorganized, the Arabs, united by Islam in the mid-600s AD soon conquered the Persian Empire.

6 637 AD - Battle of Al-Qadisiyah

The Persian Sasanians ruled Mesopotamia from 224 AD. They thrived for centuries, but eventually became distracted by fighting the Romans and amongst themselves. Ultimately, an unlikely outside force would topple them. The Arabs had been tribesmen, unorganized and militarily primitive. The new religion of Islam, founded by Muhammad, united the tribes. In 634, the Arab campaign against the Sassanians began. 18,000 Arab tribesmen, led by General Khalid ibn al Walid ("The Sword of Islam") reached the Euphrates delta and began battling the Iranians (Persians), who were rallied by their hero, Rustam. A decisive battle occurred at Al-Qidisiyah, a village south of Baghdad. Though outnumbered six to one, the Arabs defeated the Iranians, exhausted by many battles against the Byzantines. Rustam was killed. The Arabs shortly captured the Sassanid capital at Ctesiphon, ending their dynasty and introducing Islam to the region.

16th Century representation of Hulagu Khan

7 1258 AD - Mongols besiege Baghdad

Mesopotamia had become known as "Iraq," the center of a large Muslim caliphate. The Abbasid ruling family established a new capital at Baghdad, which prospered. Early in the 13th Century AD, the Mongol leader, Temujin, organized the Mongol tribes into a marauding army over 700,000 strong, and began conquests of China, Persia, and Eastern Europe. He renamed himself Chinggis (Genghis) Khan ("World Conquerer"). A generation later, his grandson, Hulagu, was dispatched to capture the remainder of southwest Asia. In 1258, Hulagu besieged Baghdad, then sacked most of it, slaughtering as many as 800,000 of the inhabitants. He killed the scholars, erecting a pyramid of their skulls, and executed the caliph, al-Musta'sim, the 37th and final Abbisid ruler of a line that had lasted 500 years. Iraq was reduced to tribal culture, never to regain world prominence.

During his reign, Suleyman the Magnificent, led the Ottoman Empire into its golden age, making it one of the world

8 1534 AD - Capture of Baghdad by Suleyman the Magnificent

In the early 1500's, the Ottomans began their rise to power as the next great Islamic state. The first ruler was Sultan Selim I ("The Grim"). His victory in 1514 at the Battle of Chaldiran over the Safavids of Iran paved the way for Ottoman expansion into northern Iraq, as the Safavids had conquered Iraq in 1509. Son of Selim, Suleyman I ("the Magnificent") succeeded to the throne in 1520, and by 1522 turned his attention to the Safavids, first negotiating a truce with Archduke Ferdinand of Hungary, leaving himself free to wage the first of three major campaigns against Persia. In 1534, he took the cities of Baghdad and most of Iraq from the Persians, an enormous success, leading to almost four centuries of Ottoman rule in Iraq.

Ctesiphon is an ancient city on the Tigris, founded by the Parthians. It was here that British troops first engaged Turkish forces before Kut-al-Amara.

9 1915 AD - Siege of Kut-al-Amara

In World War I, England realized it must protect its Iraqi oil production interests against the German-Turkish alliance. In 1914, British forces began the Mesopotamian campaign at Al Faw. After several easy victories, an attempt on Baghdad was launched. However, the Anglo-Indian forces, commanded by Sir Charles Townshend, were undermanned and their supplies overstretched. In November, 1915, the British approached the ruins of Ctesiphon, on the Tigris 20 miles SE of modern Baghdad. The Turks, under Nur-ud-Din, had positioned about 18,000 experienced men in two trenches on either side of the river. The better-prepared Turks fended off the British, who dragged themselves back to occupied Kut-al-Amara. The Turks besieged the city for 143 days, ultimately forcing a British surrender. 10,000 men went into brutal captivity. The following year, the British finally took Baghdad, but the Siege of Kut-al-Amara was the army's greatest military defeat.

Will McDermott from Phoenix, Az., provides security as Marines from the 1st Battalion 5th Marines break down a door while searching buildings for weapons in Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, April 19, 2004.

10 2003 AD - Operation Iraqi Freedom

Saddam Hussein's presidency of Iraq included a failed invasion of Kuwait in 1990 that precipitated the Persian Gulf War. Following the war, US officials suspected Iraq of cease-fire violations, including the production of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In dealing with United Nation arms inspectors, Hussein proved intractable for more than 12 years. On March 20, 2003, a combined military force consisting of 300,000 primarily US and British troops entered Iraq through Kuwait. The reported pretext for the invasion was to locate and destroy chemical, nuclear, and biological WMDs, and depose Hussein. To date, no WMDs have been found. Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003. President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1, however, coalition forces remain to stabilize the country, experiencing frequent insurgent attacks. Hussein was eventually captured near his home town of Tikrit. Coalition fighters continue to encounter fierce resistance. By March 11, 2008, more than 4300 American and coalition troops had died in Iraq with the civilian casualties estimated at about 90,000.

Top 10 Terrible Issues Facing Children Worldwide

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:08:00 +0000

Children are the future and it is the responsibility of adults to protect them and ensure that they get the best footing in life. Unfortunately this is not always the case in many nations around the world – including our own! This list looks at ten of the worst situations that children today are forced to face. It is hard to believe that these situations still occur, but learning about them is a good way to start trying to help.

Violence through Indoctrination

Palestinian children are taught to hate Jews, to glorify “jihad” (holy war), violence, death and child martyrdom almost from birth, as an essential part of their culture and destiny. As captured on an Israeli video documentary produced in 1998, a “Sesame Street”-like children’s program called the “Children’s Club” — complete with puppet shows, songs, Mickey Mouse and other characters — focused on inculcating intense hatred of Jews and a passion for engaging in and celebrating violence against them in a perpetual “jihad” until the day the Israeli flags come down from above “Palestinian land” and the Palestinian flag is raised.

In Madrasas, Islamic schools for study of pure Islamic religion, the culprits are the religious teachers; and the victims include helpless innocent underage students. The sacred teacher-student relationship is given a new definition in these Islamic schools. Following is the bitter experience of a 12 years old madrasa student from Kenya who was rescued during January 2003.

“It was a terrible place, they chain both legs and both arms, sometimes hands and feet together, They beat us at lunch time, dinner time and grab both legs and hands and give us lashes on the buttocks. We sleep in chains, eat in chains, and go to the toilets in chains. Sometimes we are hooked on the roof in chains and left hanging. We have to memorize the Koran and get punished if we cannot recite the Koran in the classroom”.

Chaining incidents are rare in Bangladeshi madrasas. Child torture incidents in madrasas are reported mostly in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan. The number of students are estimated somewhere between eight hundred thousands to one million. They are often run by religious organizations and lure young children mainly from poor families by providing free food and lodging. Some of the schools even provide intensive political and armed training.

Poverty

According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water. Some 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhea. For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are: 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3), 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5) and 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7). 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy.) 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized. Millions of parents in developing countries must daily cope with the fact that their children may not survive the first critical years of life; in many cases, the diseases that threaten their children’s lives are preventable.

Life as Refugees

Of the 50 million refugees and displaced people in the world, approximately half are children. War is the primary factor in the creation of child refugees. It is also a principle cause of child death, injury, and loss of parents. In the last decade, war has killed more than 2 million children, wounded another 6 million, and orphaned about 1 million. Children also flee their homes because they fear various forms of abuse such as rape, sexual slavery, and child labor. Circumstances of birth also play a role in depriving children of a legal home. Each year 40 million children are not registered at birth, depriving them of nationality and a legal name.

The combined ravages of AIDS and war have created a large pool of orphan refugees and displaced children, particularly in Africa. The toll of Rwanda’s civil war, for example, left orphan children to head some 45,000 Rwandan households, with 90 percent of these headed by girls. “Separated Children” are those under age 18 and living outside their country of origin without parents or legal guardians to care for or protect them. Every year, about 20,000 separated children apply for asylum in Europe and North America. Overall, children account for approximately half of all individuals seeking legal asylum in developed countries. Separated children are not often legally recognized as refugees in western countries. In Europe, for example, where there may be as many as 50,000 separated children at any given time, only an estimated 1-5 percent of those who apply for asylum are granted refugee status.

Lack of Access to Education

More than 100 million children do not have access to school. Of the children who enroll in primary school, over 150 million drop out, while user fees, including levies, are still charged for access to education in 92 countries and that such charges have impact on excluding girls. 77 million children worldwide are not able to go to school due to lack of funds. For socially disadvantaged segments of the population like poor inhabitants of cities, AIDS orphans and the physically challenged, any access to education is often particularly difficult to obtain. The consequence of this lack of access to education is that 15 percent of those adolescents between 15 and 24 in third world countries are illiterate.

Location often contributes to a child’s lack of access and attendance to education. In certain areas of the world it is more difficult for children to get to school. For example, in high-altitude areas of India, severe weather conditions for more than 7 months of the year make school attendance erratic and force children to remain at home. Gender also contributes to a child’s lack of access and attendance to education. In 25 countries the proportion of boys enrolling in secondary school is higher than girls by 10% or more, and in five; India, Nepal, Togo, Turkey and Yemen, the gap exceeds 20%. The worst disparity is found in South Asia, where 52% of boys and only 33% of girls enroll; a gap of 10%. Enrollment is low for both boys and girls in sub-Saharan Africa, with rates of just 27% and 22%. Girls trail respectively behind. It is generally believed that girls are often discouraged from attending primary schooling, especially in less developed countries for religious and cultural reasons.

Child Neglect

Neglect is an act of omission, or the absence of action. While the consequences of child neglect can be devastating, it leaves no visible marks. Moreover, it usually involves infants and very young children who cannot speak for themselves. James M. Gaudin Jr., in “Child Neglect: Short-Term and Long-Term Outcomes”, reported that, compared with non-maltreated and abused children, neglected children have the worst delays in language comprehension and expression. Psychologically neglected children also score lowest in IQ (Intelligence Quotient) tests.

Emotional neglect, in its most serious form, can result in the “non-organic failure to thrive syndrome,” a condition in which a child fails to develop physically or even to survive. According to Gaudin, studies have found that, even with aggressive intervention, the neglected child continues to deteriorate. The cooperation of the neglectful parents, which is crucial to the intervention, usually declines as the child’s condition worsens. This shows that it is sometimes not that easy to change the parental attributes that have contributed to the neglect in the first place.

Parental neglectful behaviors include not keeping the child clean, not providing enough clothes for keeping warm, not making sure the child attended school, not caring if the child got into trouble in school, not helping with homework, not helping the child do his best, not providing comfort when the child was upset, and not helping when the child had problems. The prevalence of childhood neglect ranged from 3.2% in New Hampshire, United States, to 10% in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 19.4% in Singapore, and 36.4% in Pusan, Korea.

Child Labor

An estimated 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working around the world, according to the International Labor Organization. Of these, 120 million children are working full time to help support their impoverished families.

There are millions of children whose labor can be considered forced, not only because they are too young to choose to work, but also because they are, in fact, actively coerced into working. These include child bonded laborers — children whose labor is pledged by parents as payment or collateral on a debt — as well as children who are kidnapped or otherwise lured away from their families and imprisoned in sweatshops or brothels. In addition, millions of children around the world work unseen in domestic service — given or sold at a very early age to another family.

Forced child laborers work in conditions that have no resemblance to a free employment relationship. They receive little or no pay and have no control over their daily lives. They are often forced to work beyond their physical capacity and under conditions that seriously threaten their health, safety and development. In many cases their most basic rights, such as freedom of movement and expression, are suppressed. They are subject to physical and verbal abuse. Even in cases where they are not physically confined to their workplace, their situation may be so emotionally traumatizing and isolating that once drawn into forced labor they are unable to conceive of a way to escape.

Child Prostitution

In Thailand, NGOs have estimated that up to a third of prostitutes are children under 18. A study by the International Labor Organization on child prostitution in Vietnam reported that incidence of children in prostitution is steadily increasing and children under 18 make up between 5 percent and 20 percent of prostitution depending on the geographical area. In the Philippines, UNICEF estimated that there are 60,000 child prostitutes and many of the 200 brothels in the notorious Angeles City offer children for sex. In India as many as 200,000 Nepali girls, many under the age of 14, have been sold into red-light districts. Nepalese girls, especially virgins, are favored in India because of their fair skin and young looks. Every year about 10,000 Nepalese girls, most between the age of nine and 16, are sold to brothels in India. In El Salvador, one-third of the sexually exploited children between 14 and 17 years of age are boys. The median age for entering into prostitution among all children interviewed was 13 years.

Internet Child Pornography

The internet is a virtual playground for child predators. It is a place that operates largely outside of the law. While trading in pedophile pornography is illegal, lack of adequate funding means law enforcement officials are able to investigate just two percent of their leads. Also, according to Interpol statistics, only one-half of one percent are ever prosecuted.

On a show that aired September 2, 2008, Oprah Winfrey showed a map that clearly conveyed how fast one pornographic image of a child being molested can spread. From a computer in Washington, DC, the image spread within 24 hours, all across the United States. The demand for new images and videos is so high that authorities report they are tracking increasingly brutal pornography with younger and younger victims.

Trafficking and Slavery

Trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are forced into slavery. It affects every continent and most countries. Currently, children are trafficked from countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sudan and Yemen to be used as camel jockeys in the UAE. Furthermore, Anti-Slavery International also has evidence that children are also being trafficked to be used as camel jockeys in other Gulf states including Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and also internally in Sudan. The use of children as jockeys in camel racing is itself extremely dangerous and can result in serious injury and even death. Some children are also abused by the traffickers and employers, for example by depriving them of food and beating them. The children’s separation from their families and their transportation to a country where the people, culture and usually the language are completely unknown leaves them dependent on their employers and de facto forced laborers.

According to UNICEF, over 200,000 children work as slaves in West and Central Africa. Boys are usually sold to work on cotton and cocoa plantations while girls are used as domestic servants and prostitutes. In some cases, children are kidnapped outright and sold into slavery while in others, families sell their children, mostly girls, for as little as $14.

Military Use of Children

Around the world, children are singled out for recruitment by both armed forces and armed opposition groups, and exploited as combatants. Approximately 250,000 children under the age of 18 are thought to be fighting in conflicts around the world, and hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces who could be sent into combat at any time. Although most child soldiers are between 15 and 18 years old, significant recruitment starts at the age of 10 and the use of even younger children has been recorded.

Easily manipulated, children are sometimes coerced to commit grave atrocities, including rape and murder of civilians using assault rifles such as AK-47s and G4s. Some are forced to injure or kill members of their own families or other child soldiers. Others serve as porters, cooks, guards, messengers, spies, and sex slaves.

Top 10 Worst Military Decisions In History

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:54:00 +0000

The effective prosecution of any war requires a load of decisions at all junctures. Many times, commanders will blunder through misinformation, faulty intelligence, or a misreading of the tactical or strategic situation. We, safely ensconced here in the future can play Monday morning quarterback with the decision of the past often without acknowledging the fact that the commanders in question lack our brilliant hindsight; however, some decisions are simple unconscionable. One has to think that someone, somewhere had to look at this choice and say “God, this is stupid!” This list represents, in chronological order, ten of what I consider to be the dumbest decisions anyone ever made. Each of these decisions either resulted in tremendously unnecessary loss of men and material or it resulted in the ultimate loss or needless prolonging of the war in which it took place.

Invading Russia
Napoleon Bonaparte (June 1812)

The only motivation I can fathom behind this idiotic blunder by a military genius is sheer boredom. To this point in his military career, Napoleon has known nothing but victory after victory. He’s conquered pretty much all of Europe that refused to ally with him and suddenly he was sitting around with the largest army ever gathered in Europe up until then with nothing to do. So Napoleon looks west, to Mother Russia.

We all know how it turned out but you have to think someone in that huge army knew it was a bad idea. In any event, he didn’t say anything and the rest is history. Napoleon invaded Russia with three quarters of a million men and didn’t fight much of a battle. The Russian retreated into the vastness of their country and burned everything in their wake. Result? Napoleon gets to Moscow only to find smoking ruins. Dejected at not getting to move his toy soldiers around on his big map, he turns the Grand Armee around and begins for home.

But then the real trouble began. Constant harassment by tiny, mobile Russian units. Constant hunger because the supply lines are cut in more places than Danish lace and, worst of all, winter sets in and the soldiers start freezing to death in droves. Three quarters of a million went in, but less than one in three would made it out.

The Alamo
Gen. Santa Anna (February 1836)

Someone has remarked that the Alamo seems to show up on nearly every military list. Well, it’s a great story. Not the least great part about it was it was so totally unnecessary. All the Alamo consisted of was a tiny adobe walled mission in the middle of a prairie. Basically, Santa Anna, aka Napoleon of the West, decided the tiny garrison in the tiny fort had to be taught a lesson about Mexican politics by his great big army.

One just has to think that someone, some hard campaigning Sergeant in the Mexican force had to look around at the wide open prairie on both sides of the Alamo and think to himself, “Why don’t we just go around? We can even shoot at them as we go by, but let’s get to the rebel capital and put down the rebellion.”
Instead, mainly as a result of Santa Anna’s pride, the main Mexican army spends days and days held up attacking this insignificant little outpost. This needless delay gives the Texas government time to get organized, gives people time to flee, and gives the main Texan army time to get reinforced and into better position. The end result was the Battle of San Jacinto where old Santa Anna got caught napping – literally – and the Republic of Texas was born.

Add Lard to Rifles
Some British Bureaucrat (May 1857)

This one will be a little obscure to some, but in the grand scheme of things, it was a world-changing event. The cartridge in question was for the new Pattern 3 Enfield rifle that was to be issued to all the Empire’s troops and replace the older, less efficient models. On the surface this doesn’t seem like a big deal and to us, it probably wouldn’t be. However, in 1857, cartridges weren’t brass, they were paper, and to load them, one had to first BITE the end off the cartridge and pour the contained powder down the barrel of the muzzle loaded weapon. Again, no big deal, until one realizes one singularly important fact. The lubricating lard smeared on the cartridges was made from animal fat. This fat could be obtained from either pigs or cows. In and of itself, that doesn’t present a problem until one realizes that the vast majority of foreign troops in the British Empire were either Muslim or Hindu, especially in India. Now, pigs are unclean to Muslims and cows are sacred to the Hindus so the thought of putting a cartridge with lard into their mouths was anathema to both parties. It didn’t help matters much that the political climate in India was becoming a powder keg, but the lard cartridges proved the final straw – the match that blew the keg, so to speak.

What resulted is known to history as the Sepoy Rebellion or the Sepoy Mutiny. Basically, without going into the very involved, tense and delicate political situation, the Sepoys or Indian soldiers, refused to touch the cartridges which constitutes mutiny. When the first few were seen being punished by the British colonial overlords, the rest rose up and began a bloody rebellion that lasted 13 months and saw tremendous bloodshed and cruelty on both sides. The British severity in putting down the revolt – many leaders were tied to the mouths of cannon and blasted to bloody vapor — remained in the minds of the Indian people through the rest of the 19th century and through two world wars in the 20th. In many ways, the Indian Independence Movement lead by Gandhi can trace its roots to this one monumentally boneheaded decision.

Losing Your Battle Plans
Unknown CSA Officer (September 1862)

During the American Civil War, one of the qualities that made General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy so effective was the mysteriousness with which he moved and operated. His troops seemed to appear, fight, and melt away with uncanny speed. Now in reality, this was nothing more supernatural than very detailed and well-executed battle plans. Imagine what the Union generals could have done if they had only possessed a copy of one of Lee’s battle plans. In a wildly providential moment, that is exactly what happened on the eve of the Battle of Sharpsburg in September of 1862.

Union General George McClellan’s 90,000-man Army of the Potomac was moving to intercept Lee, and occupied a campsite the Confederates had vacated just a few days before. While setting up their tent, two Union soldiers discovered a copy of Lee’s detailed battle plans wrapped around three cigars. The order indicated that Lee had divided his army and dispersed portions, intending to bring battle near Antietam Creek. Everything was there in writing. It was a colossal blunder by some Confederate officer.

The outcome would have been even more disastrous for the Confederates had not McClellan waited about 18 hours before deciding to take advantage of this intelligence and reposition his forces. As it was, the Battle of Sharpsburg (or Antietam) would be the single bloodiest day of combat in American history with 23,000 killed and countless wounded before the sun set.

All that saved Lee was McClellan’s indecision. Still, the battle sapped numbers of soldiers that the Confederacy could ill afford to lose. More importantly, though, was the fact that England had been teetering on the fence of coming into the war to aid their cotton supplying Confederates, but with the outcome of Antietam, they decided to sit back for a little while longer, thus robbing the Confederacy of help it desperately needed. A different choice of wrapping paper could have made all the difference in the world to the history of North America.

Not Following the Enemy
Gen. George Meade (July 1863)

It sometimes looks like Lee did have some sort of guardian angel; either that or the Northern generals before Grant were all monumentally stupid. The former is more romantic, but the latter is easier to prove. In any event, Meade’s decision to let Lee slip back to Virginia is another example of Lee’s luck and an opposing general’s horrendous decision making ability.

The Army of Northern Virginia was done. Three days at Gettysburg had reduced the proud rebels to a shell of their former strength. Devil’s Den, Little Round Top, the Peach Orchard, and, at the last, Pickett’s Charge up Cemetery Ridge had produced the High Water Mark of the Confederacy. With all his reserves spent, Lee was gathering his badly mauled forces and trying mightily to make it back to the relative safety of Ol’ Virginy.

In his way was the rain swollen Potomac River. On his flanks were the persistent if largely ineffectual Union cavalry pickets. The roads were a quagmire of mud. In all, the stage was set for the final crushing blow to be delivered by the Army of the Potomac, which had several reserves that had seen little if any fighting. They would sweep down on the defeated boys in grey like an avenging blue tide. The Army of Northern Virginia would be crushed and the Civil War would be all but over. All that remained was for General Meade to give the order to attack.

Well, the order never came. For reasons that, to this day, are unclear Meade was reluctant to follow Lee. Instead, he gathered his forces in strength and waited. No one is quite sure what he was waiting for, but when President Lincoln found out that Meade had literally allowed the end of the war to slip through his hands, Honest Abe was incensed. It was largely Meade’s indecision that resulted in General Grant being called east from Vicksburg and placed in command of the Army of the Potomac. Had Meade attacked the defeated rebels at that opportune moment, the Civil War probably would not have drug on in a morass of attrition for nearly two more years. Countless lives, Union and Confederate alike, could have been spared and the Reconstruction Period would likely have looked much different.

Ignoring the Gatling
George A. Custer (June 1876)

It is generally held to be a good idea among most military men that, when the latest and greatest weapons are available, they should be used. The newly patented Gatling Gun was the earliest machine gun and had completed its trials. Custer had two to four of the guns and abundant ammunition available when he set out to uproot a “small Indian village” on the bank of the Little Bighorn River. Custer’s reasoning behind not using them was that the Gatling guns would impede his march and hamper his mobility. More importantly, he also is said to have believed that the use of so devastating a weapon would “cause him to lose face with the Indians.” Considering reports of Custer’s vanity, this is not hard to believe.

These problems do not change the fact that the Gatling guns would have been a decided equalizer in the face of what turned out to be overwhelming Indian superiority, and that elsewhere in the Indian wars, the Indians often reacted to new army weapons by breaking off the fight. Instead, Custer led more than 250 doomed men of the famous 7th Cavalry into the Montana hill country. If he had taken the then greatly improved machine guns with him the outcome of the much-discussed Last Stand would surely have been very different.

What could have been going through Custer’s mind as he stood, the breeze whipping his famous golden hair behind him, his loyal men dead all about him, and several hundred Sioux warriors galloping towards him intent on making him a human pincushion? Could it possibly have been, “I really could use those Gatling guns right about now.”

Invade Gallipoli
Winston Churchill (April 1915)

By the start of 1915, the Great War had ground to a halt. The trench lines stretched from Belgium through Italy and neither side was making progress. The war had devolved into mad suicide rushes across no man’s land into the teeth of the new Maxim guns. Predictably, casualties were mounting daily and the war that “will be over by Christmas” seemed to have no end in sight. To make matters worse, Russia was getting their mess kits handed to them all up and down the Eastern Front and the tsardom was beginning to look shaky. The German navy had cut all the usual supply lines to accessible ports and any port safe from the German fleet was either icebound or entirely too far away to be of any practical use. Something had to be done and quickly.

Enter Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. Now Churchill is well know for his personal bravery as well as his usually keen mind. He is also known for being a fan of a good stiff drink and apparently, he’d had several when he thought of this plan. Churchill proposed that a third front be opened up in the western Mediterranean. Specifically, he planned an attack on the Ottoman Empire held Dardanelles. The attack on what he termed the “soft underbelly of the Central Powers” would open up a warm water resupply depot for Russia and effectively turn the flank of the vast trench network. It was a great idea in theory and on paper.

The Gallipoli Campaign took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916. The intent was for a joint amphibian attack by British Empire and French forces up the peninsula to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. To put it mildly, the attempt failed miserably with heavy casualties on both sides. The whole operation was botched from the beginning. The planned invasion was tipped off to the Turks who reinforced the peninsula with heavy guns and additional troops. Once the invasion began, it quickly stalled on the beachhead, thwarted by the Turkish occupation of the high ground.

To make a very detailed and long story short, the allied forces, the bulk of which were Australians and New Zealanders (who ultimately had the highest number of dead per capita of all nations in the war), were essentially trapped on the beaches in the open for months. No real progress was ever made inland despite several dogged attempts all around the peninsula. Promised naval artillery support was cut short as soon as the Admiralty found out – by the sinking of two battleships – that German U-boats were in the waters. The whole event was an unmitigated disaster. Conditions were unreal. In the summer, the heat was atrocious, which in conjunction with bad sanitation, led to so many flies that eating became extremely difficult. Corpses, left in the open, became bloated and stank. The precarious Allied bases were poorly situated and caused supply and shelter problems. A dysentery epidemic spread through the Allied trenches. Autumn and winter brought relief from the heat, but also led to gales, flooding and frostbite.

In the end, Churchill was sacked as Lord of the Admiralty, several generals saw their careers ended but most of all; tens of thousands of men on both sides were killed for absolutely no gain whatsoever. To this day, Gallipoli is remembered as ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand in honor of all the brave ANZACs who gave their lives for a stupid decision.

Soviet Invasion
Adolf Hitler, (September 1941)

Honestly? See item 10. Replace “Napoleon” with “Hitler”, “Russia” with “Soviet Union”, and “Le Grand Armee” with “Wermacht” and you have the gist of the story. Operation Barbarossa was, without a doubt, the worst case of someone who failed to learn from history being doomed to repeat it. Adolf Hitler proved that it’s not only teenagers who think, “It can’t happen to me.”

Micromanaging the War

Lyndon B. Johnson (August 1964)

Wars are best run by the professionals. Lyndon B. Johnson was President, but he was not a professional soldier by any means during the Vietnam War. That did not stop him from blowing what was a small insurgency with American “advisors” into an all out “police action” that would claim the lives of nearly 60,000 American soldiers, sailors, and airmen before it ended two Presidents later.

Johnson expanded American involvement on the ground in Vietnam as soon as he took office after JFK’s assassination. Unfortunately for the troops, LBJ watched opinion polls and it is hard to fight a war if you watch opinion polls. Basically, field commanders couldn’t attack certain high value targets without Johnson’s say-so and, given the distances and the time it would take to brief the President on each given situation, the men were fighting one step behind at all times. He also took fire from the press who said he was too cozy with the defense businessmen and the war was justification for increased defense spending to make these businesses rich. That speculation, like Johnson’s supposed involvement in JFK’s assassination, is better left to the conspiracy theorists.

What is a fact, however, is LBJ’s insistence on being a hands-on Commander-in-Chief seriously handicapped American efforts in the jungles of Vietnam. Ultimately, his decision to try running a war based on opinion polls proved his undoing and he dropped out of the 1968 Presidential elections.

Invading Afghanistan
Yuri Andropov (December 1979)

For centuries, countries outside of Afghanistan – from the Indian Mughals, to the British Empire, to the Islamic fundamentalists – have tried to impose their will upon the Afghan people. As a result, the Afghans are a hardy bunch and they can fight like devils. The are experts at guerilla warfare and it is always a safe bet to assume that whoever is invading them has enemies all to willing to supply the natives with effective weaponry. That is over 1200 years of history totally lost on the Soviets in 1979 when they sent in a massive number of troops to prop up the unpopular communist government in Kabul.

What followed was a ten year blood bath of death among the rocks. For years, Soviet Hind helicopters would hunt in the valleys for any of the Afghan fighters. Upon finding them, the guerillas would be mown down by cannon fire from the craft they called “The Crocodile”. Then the CIA saw a chance to return the favor the Soviets had played on the United States during its involvement in Vietnam and began supplying the Afghan fighters with Stinger surface to air missiles. So much for Soviet air superiority. Stingers shot down 333 Soviet helicopters in the course of the ten year war.

The saddest part is the Soviets had just witnessed the USA’s horrific ten year quagmire in Vietnam, but, like other groups in history, they figured it couldn’t happen to them. They were wrong. The Soviets lost 15,000 men and billions of rubles worth of equipment to Afghanistan and they got nothing in return. For the Afghans, the country was left devastated and ripe for a group called the Taliban to take over.

Girls in Columbia military school

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Girls in Columbia military school

Pearl Harbor Bombing - 7th December 1941

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:21:00 +0000

Pearl Harbor Bombing - 7th December 1941

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Today - See here

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:16:00 +0000

And Now ...

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Today - See here

Thought Provoking [Touching]

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:36:00 +0000

You stay up for 16 hours
He stays up for days on end.
You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a 'headache', and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.
He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your 'buddies' that aren't with you.
He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is.
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn't get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.
He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.
You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.
You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.
If you support your troops, send this to Ur Friends

Showing posts with label Force. Show all posts AMERICAN VICTORY (Iraq) Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:34:00 +0000

Showing posts with label Force. Show all posts AMERICAN VICTORY (Iraq) Pictures

Pearl Harbour - Invasion of

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:31:00 +0000

THESE ARE PHOTOS FOUND IN AN OLD BROWNIE CAMERA

Thought you might find these photos very interesting. What quality from 1941!

These Pearl Harbor photos were found in an old Brownie camera stored in a foot locker.

THESE PHOTOS WERE APPARENTLY TAKEN BY A SAILOR WHO WAS SERVING ON THE USS QUAPAW ATF-11O. THEY'RE SPECTACULAR!

Pearl Harbor: On Sunday, December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . By planning his attack on a Sunday, the Japanese commander Admiral Nagumo, hoped to catch the entire fleet in port. As luck would have it, the Aircraft Carriers and one of the Battleships were not in port. (The USS Enterprise was returning from Wake Island, where it had just delivered some aircraft. The USS Lexington was ferrying aircraft to Midway, and the USS Saratoga and USS Colorado were undergoing repairs in the United States.)

PEARL HARBOR - December 7th, 1941

World's Smallest Hand Gun

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:16:00 +0000

World's Smallest Hand Gun

Machine Gun Factory

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Machine Gun Factory

Anniversary of attack on Pearl Harbor

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:37:00 +0000

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, a World War II medal of honor recipient, salutes during the 67th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Commemoration in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008

Members of the US military salute while commemorating the 67th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. The White House hailed the service of World War II veterans on Sunday, the 67th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan

A member of the Japan Religious Committee for World Freedom prays along side Edward Borucki, a Pearl Harbor bombing veteran during a Pearl Harbor Commemoration in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008. With an eye on the immediate aftermath of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of World War II veterans and other observers are expected on Sunday to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the devastating Japanese military raid.

A line of Pearl Harbor survivors salute during taps while participating at a Pearl Harbor Commemoration in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7, 2008. With an eye on the immediate aftermath of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of World War II veterans and other observers are expected on Sunday to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the devastating Japanese military raid.

Everett Hyland of Honolulu, a Pearl Harbor survivor, talks with Eileen Martinez before participating in a Pearl Harbor Commemoration in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. With an eye on the immediate aftermath of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of World War II veterans and other observers to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the devastating Japanese military raid.

Edward F. Borucki, of Southampton, Mass. salutes during a Pearl Harbor Commemoration in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. With an eye on the immediate aftermath of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of World War II veterans and other observers commemorated the 67th anniversary of the devastating Japanese military raid.

Woody Derby, 90, participates in a Pearl Harbor Commemoration in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Herb Weatherwax, 91, salutes during a Pearl Harbor Commemoration in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, American ships burn during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, the battleship USS Arizona belches smoke as it topples over into the sea during a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. With an eye on the immediate aftermath of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, thousands of World War II veterans and other observers to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the devastating Japanese military raid.

In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, a small boat rescues a USS West Virginia crew member from the water after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

President George W. Bush gestures in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 5, 2008, prior to signing the Presidential Proclamation Designating the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument and the Presidential Proclamation in Honor of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2008. From left are, Navy Secretary Donald Winter; Joint Chief Vice Chairman Gen. James Cartwright; the president; and Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake.

President George W. Bush signs the Presidential Proclamation Designating the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument and the Presidential Proclamation in Honor of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2008, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. From left are, George Sullivan, Chairman of the Arizona Memorial Museum Association; Navy Secretary Donald Winter; Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. James Cartwright; the president; Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake; and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.

LOT #1307 - 1929 FORD 4-AT-E TRI-MOTOR AIRPLANE - This historically important aircraft has been restored to an extraordinarily high standard. Survived the attack at Pearl Harbor, used at the TWA 20th Anniversary celebration, carried Smoke Jumpers in Montana and has been part of Wings and Wheels museum.

U.S. veterans who survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are honored before the start of the San Diego Chargers-Kansas City Chiefs NFL football game in San Diego, California November 9, 2008.

US Army Canteen In Iraq

noreply@blogger.com (Imran Malik) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:36:00 +0000