Home Wreckers

LEATHERNECK, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Marines with Delta Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division (Forward), fires the main cannon of an M1A1 Abrams tank during a range at Camp Leatherneck, Jan. 13, 2011. The Marines are the first tank unit to deploy to Afghanistan (Official US Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ned Johnson)
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"Former Vice President Dick Cheney says
he believes he'll have to make a decision on
whether to have a heart transplant ..."
--Cheney says he may have to have heart transplant

RAW comment: Doesn't it seem a bit late?
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On the avenue, Fifth Avenue,
The photographers will snap us
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure
--Easter Parade, Irving Berlin

Clank, clank
I'm a Tank
--Infantry barb

Something is always happening,
but when it happens, people don't always see it,
or understand it, or accept it
--Fallen (1998)

You ready to be fucked, man?
[W]e're gonna fuck you up
--The Big Lebowski (1998)
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A belated commentary on the U.S.'s latest bad-boy entry into the Afghanistan melee: The company of M1 Abrams tanks rolling down an avenue near you, that is if you have the misfortune to be Taliban (U.S. Deploying Heavily Armored Battle Tanks for First Time in Afghna War.)

One must know that developed nations (a designation which still includes the U.S.) share combat doctrine that tanks fight tanks. Infantry supports the tanks. Tanks do deep objectives, religiously avoiding fighting in channelized environments like cities and built up areas.

No matter. Gushes the WaPo : "They can destroy a house more than a mile away"!

Wow -- that sure is great: A tactic to destroy slow-moving houses a mile away. Our ardor was a bit extinguished when contemplating the question: "Why destroy a house if it is a mile away?" Is the metric to win this war or the ability to fuck up houses in Afghanistan? When have hearts and minds ever been won by house-wrecking?

Do we have a clue how stupid and disconnected this violence has become? Will destroyed houses lead to victory or even democracy?