Politics

[geoff rath]

I posted this with respect to the good colonel back in January.

Douglas Macgregor is a pathetic remnant of an American army officer. I should also add that he and I served at the same time. My comments are not an opinion but an informed observation.

During Desert Storm, as a 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) squadron (armor battalion) S3 he performed competently at the battle of 73 Easting where the 3rd ACR destroyed a BDE+ of the Tawalkana Republican Guard mechanized Infantry division. The lead elements initially in contact with the Iraqi division were commanded by then Captain HR McMaster (Trump's first National Security Advisor and retired 3-Star). The battle was orchestrated and conducted by then Colonel Don Holder who would later retire also as a Lieutenant General.

In writings and interviews after the Gulf War, Macgregor took ever more credit for the performance of the the Regiment during the battle. He even eventually published a book further glorifying his heroics. The Army and many of us who were there have a very different view.

In the late nineties as a serving Colonel, he wrote a book called "Breaking the Phalanx." It argued that the Army's organizational model built around brigades and divisions was outmoded and that the whole army should be reorganized around battalion-sized battle groups. The Army leadership found the thesis interesting, but not particularly compelling - particularly since the author had no experience commanding at the Brigade or division level.

Self promotion, particularly at the expense of other fellow warriors, is not a characteristic much admired in my army. Macgregor was never selected to command a brigade or for promotion to general officer. The esteem with which he held himself was incompatible with the Army's view of his qualities. Upon retirement, he created a role for himself as a critic of the institution whose self evident corruption was demonstrated by his failure while less deserving men like Holder and McMaster were rewarded.

Over the years he became a regular on Russian R1 where he provided criticism of the American way of war and lauded Russian reorganization reforms that created the Battalion Tactical Groups that greatly resemble the recommendations in his book. At the start of the war, he was a regular guest on Tucker Carlson where he would intone in his John Kerry voice that Ukraine "had already lost;" that the Russian Army was the most competent in the world, etc., etc. ad nauseum.

Along with his friends in the Russian propaganda studios, he has become an "expert" source for the isolationist wing of the American right.

He is also repeating a classic bit of false history with respect to Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor.

I have no use for him.

Self-praise is NO recommendation.

 

[geoff rath]

On Prizbogzhin's alleged death, a linked Embraer jet landed in St Petersberg 20 minutes before the "death jet" was due; a case of him trying to box clever?

 

[Dirtdart]

Feel the love for Karl Marx with this one

 

[spike.t]

Well even the SADC says the election was suspect...

Zimbabwe opposition alleges ‘blatant and gigantic fraud’ in election

Nelson Chamisa says opposition will challenge outcome as President Emmerson Mnangagwa denies any fraud.

www.aljazeera.com

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I have posted here several times with respect to my distain for Colonel (Ret) Douglas Macgregor. A few days ago Tucker Carlson gave him another quarter hour to spew absolute disinformation that could have been written by Russian state propaganda. Much of it will be incredulous to anyone with experience in the military. He is a bitter, angry man who would rather bring disrepute on his own country and its military than tell the truth. For the last fifteen or twenty years or so, he has made a name for himself in Russia praising their army modernization efforts while denigrating the US military - particularly the army. This segment was especially outrageous in its misinformation.

In spite of contractual access while at Fox to truly informed and experienced senior military minds like GEN (ret) Jack Keane and LTG (ret) Keith Kellogg, Tucker gave this propagandist airtime. He apparently is continuing this charade online to pursue his own narrative for the uninformed.

I had intended to write a detailed response, but Ryan McBeth, who has become a respected analyst with regard to the war, did a better, and frankly fairer job than I would have done. It is worth taking the time to watch.

McBeth does a nice job of surgically dissecting the Carlson/MacGregor interview and debunking it piece by piece.

I use to be a big Tucker fan because he tackled a lot of important issues that the MSM was ignoring. During COVID, Tucker just got weirder by the day.

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

May be a lot of things, but not a troll, just splicing in some rude awakening. I'll vanish for a while, the painful truth won't though...

Yeah that’s not troll behavior at all. Throw some grenades and then retreat so you don’t get banned only to come back later to do it again…

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[Brent in Az]

Zelensky said the Ukraine won't hold elections unless the U.S & EU pay for them.

Pay for your own damn elections, mooch.

 

[cash_tx]

Zeihan on the new truck-mounted Tomahawks for the Marine Corps:

 

[Tundra Tiger]

The Federal Government needs to get the hell out of the States business. i.e. Education and public schools.

Our Refuge (Togiak NWR), for whom I work and am the outreach guy for, bought the equipment for a NASP program, here on the fringes of the world in rural SW Alaska. We trained up some teachers, and we're ready to start this school year, after things settle down. And now there is some question that we'll be able to do things, because of this. I am working at possible workarounds, but this stuff pisses me off.

 

[Red Leg]

Now that the Kremlin has killed Pryzogin, it appears they are determined to erase the organization. Remaining troops are apparently being forced into the the army, and the vast Wagner cemeteries are being destroyed.

Apparently it was annoying to Putin that Wagner publicized such horrific casualties while the MOD worked so hard to hide them.

This is one before the start of the purge.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/12admni

And now

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkrainianConflict/comments/161045q

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/163nssk

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1632dmv

Absolute barbarism. But we shouldn't care that Putin longs to spread this cancer across central Europe.

 

[Brent in Az]

Rumors are swirling that Desantis is going to pull out of the Presidential race, and focus on a Senate run against Tim Scott.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

Rumors are swirling that Desantis is going to pull out of the Presidential race, and focus on a Senate run against Tim Scott.

Desantis is Governor of Florida.
Tim Scott is a Senator from South Carolina.

I don't think one will see these two in any state race.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Maybe it was ment to be Rick Scott??

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Rumors are swirling that Desantis is going to pull out of the Presidential race, and focus on a Senate run against Tim Scott.

Rumors started by Trump? Can’t imagine Desantis dropping out at this point. If he did, it would be tough to be viewed as a serious candidate for anything in the future.

 

[WAB]

Rumors started by Trump? Can’t imagine Desantis dropping out at this point. If he did, it would be tough to be viewed as a serious candidate for anything in the future.

Yep, I’d put zero credibility in that one and write off the source for future intel!

 

[Brent in Az]

Maybe it was ment to be Rick Scott??

Yes. Rick Scott. I typed in the wrong name

 

[Brent in Az]

Desantis is Governor of Florida.
Tim Scott is a Senator from South Carolina.

I don't think one will see these two in any state race.

Typo

 

[Brent in Az]

I hope Desantis doesn't drop out. If Trump gets railroaded in the Kangaroo courts, a strong candidate will be needed. Desantis needs to up his campaign game

 

[Tanner Lee]

DeSantis needs to fire those leading his campaign, in my opinion they are holding him back from being what made him nationally know, personality wise. He just seems to be less like what he was before he announced his run.