The Belmont Club is one of my regular reads. This analysis illustrates why so many people are turning their backs in disgust at the “mainstream media”. The two NYT reporters mentioned didn’t seem to know they were being used. That’s forgivable under the circumstances.
The bigger question – when reporters on the ground become an integral part of the enemy’s strategy, are the editors who approve the reports aware of what is being done? If they aren’t, are they incompetent – and if they are, is it complicity? Too storng a charge? I don’t think so.
Judging by the frequency that the media outlets places negative headlines over content that is tilted towards the positive for the Bush administration – my suspicion is that the more likely answer is the second.

In hindsight, it was possible that CENTCOM arranged for its troop “rotations” in Iraq with the end in view of increasing the available forces under the cover of regular replacement. When the Blackwater contractors were murdered in Fallujah, an operation some speculated was organized by Syrian Special Operations, US commanders probably saw it for the signal that it was. They had arranged media coverage of the outrage for a reason. It was followed by Shi’ite attacks on coalition bases, one attack per ally and a wave of kidnappings. Then Moqtada al-Sadr conveniently seized one of the holiest sites in Shi’ite Islam, the Golden Mosque and proclaimed he was going to die there. Two New York Times staffers were kidnapped and conveniently held in the Golden Mosque, an incident described in Belmont Club’s The Time Traveller. There, they were allowed to glimpse preparations for the final stand. The script written for CENTCOM to follow was probably this (what follows is speculation). Small Marine units would rush into Fallujah to recover the Blackwater corpses and trapped themselves. The Marines would mount a desperate rescue which would create heavy civilian damage. In the meanwhile, Sadr would attack the coalition partner’s bases and flee to the Golden Mosque, where his presence would be confirmed by newsmen who just happend to be to imprisoned there and later released to tell the tale. CENTCOM would destroy the mosque from which he had ‘just left’ or perhaps only occupied by a double. Catastrophe would follow on catastrophe, necessitating the postponement of the June 30 transfer of power.
But CENTCOM refused to sing from the sheet. Sanchez lagged the Fallujah operation and then when the traps had staled, attacked on his own terms. With a keen awareness in the operational limitations of Sadr’s men, he let them strike their impotent blows, then picked them up piecemeal. Within 72 hours, CENTCOM had essentially deflected the Syrian/Iranian offensive and regained the initiative. In the coming days, it will be important to see whether Sadr and the Hizbullah lackeys can maintain their tempo. If they cannot, then the next moves are CENTCOM’s. It seems that Sadr rapidly went to Plan B, leaving the Golden Mosque for Najaf� without finding any takers at CENTCOM. He must be looking at Plan C. President Bush has been on the telephone with key coalition heads of state, bringing them up to speed on the current situation. Syria and Iran have dished out their best shot and landed it on CENTCOM’s arm. Now it’s our turn.

and further down the page:

The pitiful accounts of the battle of Fallujah should put paid to the silly press suggestions that the US military is “overwhelmed”. The problem is that the terrifying combat efficiency of the Marines may in fact lead to the literal extermination of enemy forces. US authorities, with a longer term end game in mind, are balancing the political outcomes of letting the Marines continue, even in their restrained mode, and taking more US casualties from holding back. When the media learns the full extent of enemy casualties in Fallujah, Kut, Ramadi, Saddam city and elsewhere, the image of the US military will be switched from “hapless” to “bullying” in a millisecond.

Hapless to bullying? Try “Tet” to “Guernica”.

Eh… don’t bother with Drudge or the local airwaves if you want any insight into what’s really going on in Fallujah.

The Marines are currently trying to evacuate the town, using leaflets, loudspeakers and taking over the airwaves. Expect a fairly extended period in which no apparent progress will be made. The progress will be positional but the stresses will built up progressively within the enemy position which will be continuously undermined. From here on in, the ability to maneuver based on information dominance will be everything. The strategic goal of the enemy will be to inflict as many casualties on Americans as possible, behind a barricade of women and children.
They will succeed to some extent. The basic goal of American forces will probably be to annihilate and capture the cadre of gangs which infest Fallujah, a town which is a byword in terror even to the Iraqis.

Check out the rest at the Belmont Club.

Sadr blinks!
…
This is interesting because Sadr must have been convinced in his heart that the Americans would not stick at putting a JDAM through the roof. The decimation of his men may have convinced him that the US was playing for keeps. No wonder the Arab League won’t even meet. It’s getting hard to sit on a fence in the Middle East.

Fallujah – the anti-Mogadishu – “the strung up bodies were bait”.

The Marines have long studied Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT). They will put snipers in dominant overwatch; use the road network to divide up the town into zones by posting the intersections; they will build EPW cages outside the town; they will put persistent aerial surveillance aloft; there will be a blanket of electronic surveillance and electronic jamming over the town; they will map out the operation to a room-by-room detail. Then they will lop off bits of Fallujah one slice at a time.
The biggest danger, as Kimmitt knows, is that the Anti-coalition Forces will use civilians, particularly children, as human shields by sheltering and firing from houses. Unfortunately for the enemy, the cordon ensures that Kimmitt will be in no particular hurry. The enemy can shoot it out with Marine snipers who have plenty of match grade ammunition. The presence of Iraqi policemen will allow Kimmitt to direct civilians into processing areas. Then the evacuated houses will be searched individually until the entire leadership structure is taken apart.
The deliberate, even cold-blooded approach by the Marines makes this incident the anti-Mogadishu. The tactics employed against the Rangers in the Blackhawk Down incident relied on the belief that Americans could be reflexively trapped into defending unfavorable positions in attempts to recover bodies. The Anti-Coalition Forces probably felt sure that taunting Americans over the media would produce the desired impulsiveness. As the minutes lengthened into hours and the Marines responded with icy professionalism, the enemy may have come the unpleasant realization that this was not the former administration and that other still more unwelcome surprises were in store for them.

An international showdown is brewing. This time, it’s Canada staring down Denmark in a dispute over ownership of Hans Island.

Canada may be pulling back from overseas military commitments, but is planning to “flex its muscles” with an exercise on home soil by sending a warship, a squadron of helicopters and 200 troops to the high Arctic this summer.

Hans Island is like the Falklands…

The operation, code-mamed Narwhal, is the first time the military will have a joint naval, air and land force operating so far north.

without the sheep…

Colonel Norris Pettis, commander of the Canadian Forces northern area, told The National Post that the operation is about “sending a message that this land is important to us…that we can put troops, and aircraft and ships, on the ground to respond to whatever we might be called upon to deal with.”

or the people…

Both countries claim ownership of the barren and uninhabited island.

it’s about the size of a Home Depot parking lot.

A Danish warship sailed past Hans Island in 2002 and a group of soldiers disembarked and reportedly hoisted the Danish flag, an act Canada claimed was a violation of its sovereignty.

The bastards!

Canada has launched a five-year plan to increase its military presence throughout the Arctic, including satellite surveillance and far-reaching patrols of soldiers on snowmobiles.

A sleeping giant awakes.

A friend who was serving on the USS Nimitz last year related a story today. Before being allowed on shore in Singapore, they were convened and advised of the consequences of poor behavior – Singapore’s intolerance of even minor crimes (singing in public, for example) is legendary.
With this caution in mind, sailors in a hotel bar noticed someone they thought was a tech support guy from the ship, completely enebriated and close to causing trouble. To save him from himself, they tried to escort him quietly back to the ship, but he resisted, and the situation deteriorated. A broken beer bottle and bloodied scalp later, military police arrived on the scene, and the drunk was handcuffed, thrown on a stretcher, and carried back on board.
The drunk continued to be disruptive, and was giving medical personel a difficult time, when someone thought to check his identity.
They’d kidnapped an American tourist.

Our allies in the WOT are going to be rocked back on their heels by the military spending increases in today’s 2004 budget.

An additional $250 million over two years for peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism.

$50 million for the peacekeeping force in Haiti.

That’ll have them sucking in their breath.

Exemption from tax of the income earned by Canadian Forces personnel and police while serving on high-risk international missions.

Woo-hoo! and all this time they were thinking helicoptors! new ships! eh… bullets?

“An additional $605 million over five years for the security contingency reserve.”

“Reserve” means that it doesn’t get spent unless the Peace Tower comes crashing down.

Building on the 8-per-cent increase for 2004-05, an additional $248 million for international assistance, or an 8-per-cent increase, for 2005-06.

Something tells me this doesn’t mean rounding up the 36,000 missing deportees in the country.
update – others are noticing.
added to the Snark Hunt

New Listing Prime location southwest of Kabul, within marching walking distance of downtown attractions. Beautiful mountain vistas.
Distinctive character home, ideal for the “fixer upper”. Outbuildings in good repair, suitable for moving, plenty of parking. Many upgrades, including an open air gymnasium and running track. Nightly fireworks. more

Subdivision potential. Owner has over $90 million invested, open to offers.

.

They volunteered to serve their country. They had no idea what their country had in mind.
Winnipeg Sun

Friesen, who’s now 77 and lives in Winkler, was pulled from training at Camp Shilo in 1945. He was among more than 2,500 young recruits who took an oath of secrecy to participate in a top secret mission — most at a military base in Alberta, others at the National Research Council in Ottawa.
They didn’t know their mission would entail being exposed to poisonous gases, and that they’d be denied medical care for days so scientists could study the horrifying effects.
The soldiers were marched into a field at what is now CFB Suffield near Medicine Hat where they were exposed to mustard gas vapours. Fifteen minutes later they were taken back to the base where they were put in a cold chamber for three hours, Friesen recalls.
“We were still wearing our contaminated clothing sitting in there.”
But that wasn’t the end of it. They were then taken to a hot chamber.
“We were made to perspire which opened our pores. That’s when the fireworks started,” Friesen said. “The vapours trapped in our clothing got into our skin and we got huge blisters all over, including the most tender parts of our bodies.”
…
“We didn’t know what we were going into,” said Tanner, now 77 and living in Kelowna, B.C. “They didn’t tell us what we’d be doing — they said it was top secret. It sounded like something from James Bond.”
After being gassed, the soldiers were taken to the base hospital where they assumed they’d be treated but that didn’t happen despite their cries for care.
“They didn’t give us anything for the pain and they didn’t treat our blisters,” Friesen said. “They just kept us under observation so they could see how our bodies reacted to the gas exposure.”
Many of the men who were gassed in Suffield have not been able to have children, others have been plagued by lung ailments, and other have battled cancer. It’s unknown how many are still alive.

They were paid an additional dollar a day as compensation. Ottawa refused to acknowledge the testing even took place until 1988. Today, defense minister David Pratt announced a $50 million tax-free payout to the estimated 2000 soldiers who were affected.
About damned time.