sherpa

This has nothing to do with Ukraine or religious connections. The issue with Afghanistan and the Taliban was that they were harboring terrorists who were planning, funding, supporting and directly responsible for many horrific acts well outside of Afghanistan.

Wrong again. You consistently make these comprehension errors. I absolutely NEVER claimed "he had no resume." I was and am very familiar with his resume and service history. I claimed the "strength" of his resume was that he agreed with Biden That is almost always the most important factor in the decision regarding that appointment.

Don't wonder, and don't assert. I am saying that there were other folks available who had different views re Afghanistan, and the result has been horrible. It has nothing to do with what you are inferring, so give it up.

Preposterous. Tell that to our carrier Navy and Air Force Europe. The "air strike" claim is specious. We are flying crazy numbers in support of the Ukraine.

When you develop a relationship with thousands of people, and then abandum them as a political expedient, there is a result, and it is not good.

I really doubt anyone here will read it, but it is an entirely accurate viewpoint. The problem is systemic. When you have the system we have, which causes the extreme top level military to agree with the political power, you get yes men. It's the best way to do it, but occasionally, like now, you get incompetent leadership. Our Sect. of Defense is a political appointee whose resume strength is that he agrees with Biden, who is a military/leadership illiterate. That extends down to the Joint Chiefs. Below that, the major unified and operational commanders, things get more reasonable and realistic, but that isn't where major decisions on policy are made. Trump screwed it up, but left an out if certain circumstances weren't met, but it was a "sloppy" out. Biden didn't use that out, and the result has been horrible. The withdrawal from Afghanistan was a betrayal and a disaster.

Charter costs. Much cheaper to charter to Detroit, or to Buffalo for the Lions. Less time lost in travel. Years when they aren't playing each other, I'd expect this to continue.

GHOAT. Greatest holder of all time.

The "hold" God......Identified.

The "gamble" is your suggestion. Ii is no gamble on my end, thus my offer of unlimited payment to the charity of your choice.

Continued avoidance. Yes or no. Are you willing to put money on your suggestion that I am lying?

So Tibs. I'm trying to limit wasted time here. Are you willing to put money on the line that backs your claim that I am lying? It's a simple question, offered twice. You have made the accusation, and I have offered to refute it. Yes or no?

I have never claimed "superior knowledge." You post goofy, uninformed crap and I have responded to it. Suggesting that we should deploy two Air Force squadrons to the Ukraine as a deterrent was crazy. Suggesting that the US provide and enforce a no fly zone was crazy. Suggesting that we can launch the current HIMARS derivative from an airplane is crazy. Suggesting that it might be a good idea to provide them with A-10's or any other US tactical airplane is crazy. That is not acting superior. That was pointing out the wackiness of these ideas, and that is supported by links that discuss a few of those issues in detail, by knowledgeable folks who deal in this every day. Regarding the veracity of my background, as you recall, or probably forgot, I offered a significant amount of money to be donated to any charity of your choosing if I was being untruthful, and I can easily prove it. You never responded, and I simply don't care.

If you want to continue this personal vein, message me. I can provide proof of what I stated.

Of course I have proof. Logbook entries, flight jackets with the Topgun patch and US Navy officer fitness reports that mention it. By the way, you didn't accuse me of lying about that school. You accused me of lying about serving on an aircraft carrier. Remember that picture on page 130 of this forum? Guess who that was? Guess where that was taken? Here's a hint. Those are live weapons. You can tell because there are yellow stripes painted around their noses. If you look closely, you can see that the airplane is chained down to an aircraft carrier. I didn't "teach" at Topgun. I went through there as an adversary, one of the "bad guys" who run those air to air sorties, brief and debrief them. I taught at Light Attack Weapons School, while serving in the adversary role, opposing US forces, which you had to be a Topgun graduate to do.. I taught through lectures, US and Soviet air to air missiles, and Soviet surface to air missile systems, then opposed them as they flew their training strikes, using known and postulated Soviet tactics. How to defeat theirs and how to use ours.

People make mistakes all the time. Calling someone who has spent more time efforting against Putin and his lot infinitely more than you ever have a "coward," idiot," "liar," and most recently a "scumbag." is something entirely different. That is not a "mistake." That is grossly insulting, pathetic, and draws attention to crazy notions you post. Years spent on active duty planning to fight his group, teaching others as a Topgun adversary and Light Attack Weapons Scholl instructor makes me cringe when I see crazy stuff posted. To top it off, having my Moscow hotel room gone though in my absences on two separate occasions, as well as other crew members who indicated former military service on their Russian visa applications allows me to dislike that place and regime as much as anybody.

You can't find it? Or it doesn't exist. I've found it for you. Here's the procedure for launching a HIMARS off an aircraft. 1. Select which wing you want blown off. 2. Arm HIMARS on that station. 3. Grab ejection lower handle. 4. Launch HIMARS while pulling ejection handle prior to wing being blown off as result of launch. You are good at this.

Could you point me to this talk? I'd be quite interested.

Not really. Star doesn't show up. Beasley doesn't shut up.

Mid point last season I knew there were two players who would not be on the Sep 2022 team. Star Lotulelei and Cole Beasley.

Best post. Too many people trying to monetize observations on issues they they nothing about.

Technically, this is correct. For the edification of the class though, the UK did not take on "Argentina by itself." Ships passing in the night, things get "passed." Intel on sub locations get passed by a slip of the tongue among friendly nations.

Always amazing to assign monthly economic numbers to political issues. We shut down the economy for over a year. We've spent about three trillion dollars trying to re-stimulate it. These numbers are no sign of achievement. They are to be expected. Labor participation rate is a better indicator than unemployment, but nobody pays attention to it if their focus is on political promotion.

They'd have to deal with significant icing though.

It is way more complicated than simply training pilots. They have no ability to maintain them or arm them. We are already deeply involved in this, draining our own war stock with massive supply of arms. The Harry S. Truman is reportedly flying 80 sorties a day in support of this. That is a massive and unsustainable pace, as well as rapidly using up service life of these airplanes. (That, by the way, was a major issue in enforcing the the Iraqi no fly zone and part of the calculus to inform the decision to invade, though not often mentioned). For what I think is a reasonable explanation of these issues, and certainly describes my view, here is a link to a very recent youtube discussing it. The guys talking are a retired F-14 RIO, (back seater), who is extremely well informed on current military aviation issues and a Reservist Naval Intel Officer. It is well worth listening to for those who do not know what is involved in something like this and just want to "do somethng." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su34D4KnO6s&t=1227s