Oboe.

This is coolbert:

Borneo! WW2. 1945. Was it worth it?

    "Any rational strategic judgment would have left them [the Japanese] to their own devices screened by token allied forces until their nation's defeat enforced their surrender". - - M. Hastings.

This was the Borneo campaign (1945). A sideshow of a sideshow in the Pacific theater of war. To the extent American involvement in what is normally seen as an Australian affair I was not aware of.

"The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area during World War II. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, attacked Imperial Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and air forces, centred on the U.S. 7th Fleet under Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, the Australian First Tactical Air Force and the U.S. Thirteenth Air Force also played important roles in the campaign."

THOSE MOST SENIOR AMERICAN AND AUSTRALIAN MILITARY PLANNERS NOT PRIVY TO THE EXISTENCE OF THE ATOMIC BOMB AND THE DECISION TO USE SAME AS A WAR WINNING MEASURE.

Use of Australian conscripts during the Borneo Campaign also controversial in Australia?  Conscripts "compelled for service in the South-West Pacific Area" beyond what was traditionally and ordinarily considered as a boundary beyond which only military volunteers permitted!

coolbert.

La Legión.

This is coolbert:

Troops of the Spanish Legion noted for their ostentatious marching style, form-fitting uniforms complete with risque low-cut shirt now facing an internal enemy much more difficult to combat.

Overweight and obesity!

Thanks to the article from the English version of El Pais.

"The Spanish Legion declares war on obesity"

La Legión, an elite army unit with a history of combat in foreign missions, is now battling love handles

Spain’s La Legión is facing an internal enemy. Trained for combat, these elite soldiers are now forced to fight their own collective weight problem.

That Spanish Legion similar to the French Foreign Legion. Spanish citizens and Spanish-speakers from all over the world allowed to enlist. [Cubans at one time predominant in the ranks of foreigners.]

As goes Spain so goes La Legión? Two-thirds of the Spanish citizenry current over-weight or obese. As in American so is it now so in Spain and the La Legión. 

Overweight and obesity also not confined merely to America or Spain. A phenomenon of global proportions.

THE SOLUTION QUITE SIMPLE. EAT LESS AND EXERCISE MORE! SO EASY! JUST TRY! EASIER SAID THAN DONE. GOOD LUCK!

coolbert.

Eighty.

This is coolbert:

Consider this to be the first world war? A world war as fought by the combatants on a world-wide scale at least, hardly confined to strictly the European political and cultural domain!

The Eighty Years' War. Dutch versus Spain. Holland as a nation-state political not existing at the time but as rather as a collection of provinces with a unified [?] Dutch culture under foreign rule.

Too in a very vague fashion was I even aware of any of this. Thanks to Lew for the tip.

A war consisting of distinct stages. 

* First forty years. (1566–1609). Dutch revolt.
* Twelve Years' Truce. A hiatus but with much tension.
* Resumption of the war. Thirty Years War with Dutch participation.

"The Eighty Years' War . . . or Dutch War of Independence (1568–1648) was a revolt of the Seventeen Provinces of what are today the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as well as the French region of Hauts-de-France against the political and religious hegemony of Philip II of Spain, the sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands . . . An end was reached in 1648 with the Peace of Münster (a treaty part of the Peace of Westphalia), when the Dutch Republic was recognized as an independent country "

By Velasquez one of the "Ten Famous Representations of Military History in Western Art". "The surrender of Breda"! Click on image to see a larger view of high quality. The man in brown in the center of the image is presenting the keys of the city to the victor.

A WAR TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WAGED ON A WORLD-WIDE SCALE. SPANISH COLONIES IN BOTH HEMISPHERE SUBJECT TO SUDDEN ATTACK BY DUTCH NAVAL INSURGENTS. THE HISTORIANS I WOULD THINK HOWEVER HARDLY RECOGNIZE THIS PHENOMENA AS DESCRIBING A WORLD-WAR.

coolbert.

Vasilek.

This is coolbert:

That New Year's eve jihadi attack on the main Russian military airbase in Syria [Khemeymim] quite successful. It has been confirmed that seven warplanes destroyed on the ground!

Here with some details:

1. "Khemeymim under attack: why did the Russian airbase in Syria comes under fire"

"The Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Russian airbase Khemeymim in Syria before the New Year was subjected to mortar shelling. The saboteurs attacked from the de-escalation zone, and the air defense system could not protect the airmen"

2. "The weapon behind attack on the Russian airbase in Syria identified."

"The Russian airbase in Syrian Khmeimim was fired upon with the 82-millimeter automatic mortar Vasilek . . . Among its advantages is a light weight (just over 630 kilograms), which allows placing the gun, for example, in a camper van and high rate of fire (up to 120 rounds per minute). The edition specifies, that 'Vasilek' is charged by cassettes [four mortar rounds per cassette] and fire in bursts. One detonated ammunition can disintegrate into 600 fragments."

CAN FIRE IN EITHER THE DIRECT OR INDIRECT MODE!

 A Vasilek with troop nearby. The devoted reader to the blog can get some sense of scale. The Vasilek can be towed or mounted on a vehicle [such as a flat-bed truck] for rapid movement. All parties in the Syrian civil war seem to have Vasilek in their inventory and use the weapon effectively.

See at this Internet web site an embedded video showing Russian troops training with the Vasilek

THE COST EFFICIENCY RATIO OF THIS ATTACK MUST BE SEEN AS STUPENDOUS. THE VALUE OF THOSE RUSSIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT LOW-BALL AROUND $100 MILLION USD. THE VALUE OF THE VASILEK AND ROUNDS FIRED EXCEEDINGLY SMALL IN COMPARISON. THE RUSSIAN HAVING THEIR OWN WEAPON USED AGAINST THEM VERY GALLING!!

coolbert.

Mattis.

This is coolbert:

Without any excessive elaboration or discussion this entry thanks to the Daily Caller and the tip from Freeper:

"Mattis Asked What ‘Concerns’ Him In 2018 – His Seven Word Answer Defines The American Military"

". . . Mattis is also known for his colorful quotes on and off the battlefield, which is why no one was surprised when he gave the world another classic quote today at the Pentagon."

"While speaking with a gaggle of reporters this afternoon, Mattis was asked what his biggest military concern of 2018 was."

    “'I don’t have concerns. I create them'”

To quote George S. Patton:

* Make the other guy wonder where you are coming from.

* Make the other guy keep his head down.

* Make the other guy bleed.

coolbert.

Resurgent?

This is coolbert:

The combatants of the Islamic State [ISIL] continue to wage war. These guys were finished so it appeared and seemed to all. But now they are back?

From the latest edition of the DEBKAfile:

1. "Iraq gripped by fear of ISIS resurgence after new attacks"

31 December.

"Islamic State fighters attacked two towns in central and northern Iraq on Friday and Saturday, raising fears that jihadists on the run from Syria are surging into Iraq. They trained automatic gunfire fire and explosives on crowd centers in Farahiya, a town between Balad and Tikrit 90km north of Baghdad, and Hawija near Kirkuk. After that, the jihadists attacked the Iraqi security forces and responders arriving on the scene. A number of soldiers and civilians were killed."

2. "A German suicide bomber causes 100 Syrian rebel and Kurdish casualties"

1 January.

"A German member of ISIS drove a vehicle packed with explosives into the al-Bahra village in Deir ez-Zour, eastern Syria, Monday. He then blew himself up with the vehicle against a concentration of US-backed SDF and Kurdish fighters. At least 30 were killed and 70 injured in the worst suicide terror attack in recent months in that part of Syria."

These are die-hard loyalists to the ISIL cause their effort last-gasp as they say? Stay-behinds maybe. You may have these type of attacks and incidents for some time to come! Insurgencies hardly if ever with the enemy 100 % defeated. In body quite often YES but in mind often NO! Any time, any place, everyone beware and alert!

coolbert.

Khalid.

This is coolbert:

ANOTHER ALEXANDER THE GREAT? A MILITARY COMMANDER WHOSE NAME IS WORTHY OF INCLUSION AMONG THE TEN GREATEST GENERALS?

Khalid bin al-Waleed.

"The Sword of Allah: Discover Islam’s Greatest General"

"While Islamic history is replete with extraordinary examples of military prowess and feats of arms, the majority of military historians tend to focus on the more familiar masters of the art of war. Historians usually count the likes of Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, and even the feared Mongol steppe warrior, Genghis Khan, among the lofty ranks of the world’s Great Captains."

"Clearly these are all highly accomplished men of war and rightly deserve their recognition as some of the most gifted battlefield commanders and strategists in history, there are yet others who deserve to be held in similarly high esteem. Chief among these is Khalid bin al-Waleed, Islam’s first great general and a man so accomplished in war and personal combat that the Islamic Prophet Muhammad himself gave him the title of 'The Unsheathed Sword of Allah'."

A most senior commander as in the style of an Alexander not eschewing personal battlefield combat, leading from the front.

THAT MOSQUE AS DEDICATED TO KHALID SADLY HAVING SUSTAINED DAMAGE DURING RECENT FIGHTING IN SYRIA. AND TO THIS KHALID WOULD SAY?

coolbert.