These are from someone who was actually on the Joint Staff at one point.
Prologue:

I was the Coalition Finance Officer for OIF at the CENTCOM Coalition Coordination Center. As a result, I worked with all of the coalition governments, our embassies, lots of people in D.C., and the other combatant commanders, especially EUCOM. It was a nice job in that I was the only person doing what I was doing, and my bosses didn’t really want to get involved with the money side of the house, so they pretty much let me do what I wanted, as long as I did it right. (At one point, I was making all these calls, making lots of “drug deals” on how to deal with a several hundred million dollar pot of money where there weren’t really any procedures in place on how to deal with it, and one of my co-workers said, “Why do I have a feeling that Oliver North started the same way you are now…”.) Anyway, I made it out with my integrity intact, and in addition to having a sense in having done a little good in the GWOT, I came out of it with a really great quote log.
I’ve hesitated to use it before, since a lot of the people quoted were probably still in their jobs, but I think most of them have moved on now, so I think I’ll share some of the more interesting quotes. If you haven’t been a staff officer, they probably won’t be as funny to you as they are to me, but trust me: they are funny.

Here’s a few :

“Things are looking up for us here. In fact, Papua-New Guinea is thinking of offering two platoons: one of Infantry (headhunters) and one of engineers (hut builders). They want to eat any Iraqis they kill. We’ve got no issues with that, but State is being anal about it.”
LTC (Joint Staff) on OIF coalition-building

“Our days are spent trying to get some poor, unsuspecting third world country to pony up to spending a year in a sweltering desert, full of pissed off Arabs who would rather shave the back of their legs with a cheese grater than submit to foreign occupation by a country for whom they have nothing but contempt.”
LTC (Joint Staff) on the joys of coalition building

“That was a typo. Instead of ‘pot of money,’ it should have read ‘pot money.’ It refers to money spent by OSD after smoking a joint. We have a similar fund we can tap into for financing many of our own ideas. In fact, that’s how we got the name ‘Joint Staff.’”
LTC (Joint Staff) in an email describing the amount of money available for use on a given project

Today, in Australia, it’s ANZAC day.

Last years post says it all, and I invite all readers to revisit it.

This one though is dedicated to Lieutenant Matthew Goodall, Royal Australian Navy.

I knew him at ADFA, the Australian Defence Force Academy, merely as Midshipman Goodall, in the late 90’s. In the CompSci lab (Universally pronounced Kompski by the students), as with all the officer cadets, I’d peered over his shoulder as he was working, sometimes sitting next to him and explaining a solution, sometimes getting him to write on the whiteboard as the class discussed alternate ways of tackling a problem.

“Well done that man. Next Victim!… Hmmmm…. Midshipman Goodall!”
“Yea!” “Onya Matt!” “Show us how to do it mate!” “Get stuffed the lot of ya!”

Those may not have been the exact words. From memory, he was a pretty laid-back kind of guy, coolly competent, the kind to take banter in his stride. Polite too, a good-natured grin would be more his style, as he did, indeed, show the rest how to do it.

If it was in my power, I’d grant him a Summa Cum Laude, not just for Computer Science, but for something far deeper and more important. Lieutenant Goodall died along with eight others while delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims when the Sea King helicopter they were in crashed in Indonesia recently.

Greater Love Hath No Man…

To me, he’ll always be 19 years old, decked out in his dress whites and shorts, cracking the odd joke with the rest of the class, swearing at the bloody machine and tapping away at the keyboard in the lab.

They shall grow not old
as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them
nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.

Onya Matt.

Though this might fit better under the Publisher’s Desk, I just wanted to note the speed of Command Post.

It came to mind again today that the Command Post is rather swift when compared to the online arms of the MSM. Granted, their broadcast units are what tip us off many times. However, for those away from a television, but near a computer, often the Command Post will lead with the news prior to the online versions of the MSM outlets.

Several times when I have covered breaking news on the Command Post, our missives led the online news environment. With the selection of today’s pope, we beat Drudge, all the MSM websites, and by far the “Breaking News” emails from the various news outlets. The difficulty has always been finding a link to the news story as you’re reporting it.

In any event, I’m proud to be a small part of the Command Post’s efforts to bring news to its readers, quickly, and correctly.

Fellow Republicans, it’s time to be crystal clear in our transparency. We simply cannot endure the ethics whining about Congressman Delay, Governor Fletcher, and Kentucky Senate President David Williams.

How difficult is it to play the game without the APPEARANCE of impropriety? I’m not saying DeLay, Fletcher, and Williams are crooked. I AM saying their behavior hurts the party and we just don’t need that right now when Democrats, local and national, are doing everything they can to stop this national conservative swing. Clean up your acts fellas. Like Senator Santorum said today:

I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves

So come on lads…quit giving the Dems something to crow about.

Originally posted on Confessions of a Pilgrim

As it did in 2004, the Korean government will abstain from this year’s U.N. Resolution condemning the deplorable state of human rights in North Korea. South Korea failed to vote on a similar resolution in 2003. This year’s resolution will express concern about abuses such as concentration camps for political prisoners. Among the resolution’s points which are apparently unworthy of Seoul’s support:

It calls on Pyongyang to ratify the Convention Against Torture and guarantee that the UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea is allowed to operate freely. The special rapporteur was created by last year’s resolution.

You can read the Rapporteur’s full report here. It tells us plenty about the situation in North Korea that we already knew: its declining economy and mass starvation; diversion of food aid from the hungry; imprisonment without trial; pervasive political repression; hereditary class discrimination; public executions; concentration camps; torture; forced labor; repression and killing of repatriated defectors; infanticide; the imprisonment of entire families; the trafficking of women; and most recently, the cancellation of U.N. food aid programs while millions of North Koreans still depend on the food they provide (more on that here). For all of its U.N. gobbledygook, imprecise language, and straining to find “positive” aspects to the North Korean situation, the report calls North Korean refugees “refugees” for the first time. This directly confronts China’s assertion (and South Korea’s developing inclination) that they are in fact “economic migrants” undeserving of the protection of the 1951 U.N. Convention on Refugees.

One cannot say that this report dramatically alters the factual landscape of North Korea’s deplorable human rights record. It merely puts an official imprimatur on a myriad of reports that exclude the possibility of South Korea’s absolution in the eyes of history. For years, we have read published reports that the North Korean regime orders the murder of babies; the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands, including children; the gassing of whole families; and the starvation of millions. This has never affected South Korea’s willingness to tolerate these horrors in culpably acquiescent silence.

While half of the Korean nation and a third of its population are enslaved in such a condition, South Korea chooses to focus its moral outrage on its friends. It has severed a 60-year alliance with the world’s greatest power over a traffic accident and severed fingers and declared “diplomatic war” against Japan over two Godforsaken, guano-encrusted islands where no one even lives. Yet in spite of eight years of endlessly patient South Korean appeasement—some would say, because of it—North Korea has never been more ruthless toward its own people or intransigent toward the outside world.

But isn’t it unfair to say that the rights of the North Korean people are not important to the South Korean government? Not if you take former Unification Minister Jeong Se-Hyun at his word, as The Marmot reminds us:

The official refusal to speak out about the human-rights abuses of Kim Jong Il’s regime was on full display last week during an interview with the South’s minister of unification, whom I met on the day the gulag report was released. For North Koreans, Minister Jeong Se Hyun said, “political freedom is a luxury, like pearls for a pig. The improvement of economic conditions for the North Korean people is the most important issue right now.”

It’s not Monty Python, but he’s really saying, “Let’s not bicker and argue over who killed who. . . .” Contrast this bit of accidental low burlesque with South Korea’s sense of moral indignation on an issue that South Korea does consider to be urgent business for the Human Rights Commission:

“If we don’t learn the lessons from the mistakes of history, we are doomed to repeat them.”

What urgent matter is stirring South Korea’s righteous anger? Japanese history textbooks. I’m the first to agree that Japan needs to drop its ambivalence about its own culpability for its actions in the 1930’s and 40’s, but this isn’t killing people now. Nor can one take seriously the idea that Japan represents a military threat to its neighbors. Indeed, Korea’s actions this week are a perfect illustration of how provincial grievances keep the U.N. from protecting human rights effectively, a failure that even Kofi Annan and some voices from the left are finally admitting.

* * * * *

The South Korean government is on full notice of the suffering of the North Korean people; yet for reasons that are almost certainly related to domestic politics, it chooses to focus its attention elsewhere. History will record this as a betrayal. The forgiveness of the North Korean people will be neither warranted nor forthcoming. Their anger at this refusal to acknowledge their suffering with so much as one intangible gesture will exacerbate the already formidable psychological barriers to reunification. Generations of Koreans will ask themselves how they elected men who could be so ruthlessly cowardly, but the question will not be asked while it is still possible to save some of those who will be dead by next spring.

They know. May shame be upon on them for a hundred generations.

This appeared on Joe Gandelman’s weblog and also on Dean’s World.

Pope John Paul II formally began his stint as Pope on October 16, 1978. And I remember full well the day he was named.

I was living in Spain where I was writing for The Christian Science Monitor as their Special Correspondent (which one editor described to me as being their “full time contributor”) with the title “Special Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor” on all stories (versus “Special To”). I lived in an apartment building in Carabanchel, In Madrid.

The death of the first John Paul who reigned for just 33 days had been a big blow to many Spaniards since the bulk of them were devout Catholics. They didn’t know how anyone could match the unfulfilled potential raised by the late “Smiling Pope.”

One evening I was visiting the manager of my apartment. Her husband was a member of Francisco Franco’s feared Guardia Civil but the dictator was now dead and the country was completing its gradual transition towards democracy. The manager walked out for a minute, looked at TV and came back and said:

“The Pope is Polish.”

I smiled at her, waiting for her to finish the joke because in those days there were jokes about the Pope being Polish. It was assumed every Pope selected was and would be Italian.

“Continue…” I said in Spanish.

“No: the Pope is Polish.”

It was a big surprise in those days: the Vatican powers that be had selected a young (for a Pope), dynamic Polish man who was known to be at the forefront of his country’s drive for freedom. Someone who had written plays. Someone who spoke many languages. Someone who the camera loved as it embraced him during his appearances in front of it. Someone who was photographed skiing — not the kind of image people had come to expect from a Pope.

And, yes, as years went on John Paul II came under fire for many of his specific policies. But what no one could take away from him — even the assassination attempt — was the force of his charisma and how that spark within him (the spirit) burned so brightly.

I like others think that when an assassin’s bullet ripped into him he survived, but his energy level was never quite the same. But his will was. When all is said and done, will history remember his courage the past few weeks, insisting on going to the window to try and talk to the people below? Will people forget not just how frail he looked, but how almost tortured he appeared, his face twisted by suffering — and how, even so, his determination to be there for people was undiminished? Will people remember how he gave every single drop of his energy to communicate with people?

There are people such as myself who may be born into one religion but who greatly appreciate truly spiritual people and realize they’re not just restricted to one religion. I’ve met some of them in places such as Bangladesh, India, Spain and in the United States. I know of some wonderful highly spirtual people (from many religions) here in San Diego.

Little did people realize that when John Paul II was named the jokes about “Is the Pope Polish” would not only stop, but the Smiling Pope would be replaced by someone who will be talked about for many many years. Someone whose spirituality and courage could be admired by all, even those who might not agree with his policies or belong to his religion.

Little did people realize when he was named that the feisty man of the cloth from Poland who loved to go atop mountains for his skiing would take the world to new heights, teach them a lesson in physical courage and dedication — and break their hearts when it was finally time for him to leave.

I don’t know why this infuriates me so. I mean we knew the man was incompetent but his testimony yesterday after pleading guilty just crawls under my skin. His testimony ANY day regarding this is just pathetic.

“I exercised very poor judgment in the course of reviewing the files,” Berger told reporters outside the courthouse after pleading guilty. “I deeply regret it. It was mistaken and it was wrong.”
…
“My motivation was to help prepare myself and others,” he said.

Hmmm…so you “mistakenly” stole documents from the National Archives, took them home, and destroyed them by cutting them up with scizzors? Ya know, I came up with some pretty good tales attempting to get away without doing my homework in grade school but this one would have gotten me a very sore butt.

$10,000 and no jail time for stealing National Security Documents? G. Gordon Liddy was convicted of a felony and served 4 years in prison for attempting to steal campaign material. Sure…that makes sense.

This line makes me wonder how much he was paid by the Kerry campaign/Clinton cabal:

He would not answer questions as to why he decided to destroy three of the documents.

So far this week we have watched a woman starve to death because the Judicial System said it was OK while a Trade Lawyer/former NSA walks for stealing and destroying National Security Documents. Is it just me or is something askew here?

I’ve been torn about the Schiavo Case. The law is what the law is and the Courts had their say which amounts to State Sponsored Torture in my view. No one had the stones to do anything about it…although doing something about it would mean Jeb Bush calling out his “posse” to go liberate Mrs. Schiavo and placing his brother in a terrible position. The laws that put her, and us, in this position need to be changed. The US Senate passed an Unconstitutional Bill of Attainder and folks screamed about the 11th Circuit ignoring what it said. Whatever. The Senate screwed up in a BIG way but I’m growing used to that. The Republican Leadership won’t step up to the plate and stop the unconstitutional actions of the democratic minority for reasons that escape me. So…a woman dies a painful agonizing death and we all pat ourselves on the back because, once again, we have let the Judicial System work it’s magic on a case originating in Florida.

I’m not at all torn about the Burger case. He’s a thief. He stole from MY National Archives. He stole National Security Documents because MY Congress trusted him. He’s a thief of the worst kind. He betrayed the trust MY Country placed in him. Treason? No. IDIOCY? Certainly. But once again we’re faced with allowing the Judicial System to work it’s magic or forming our own little gang of vigilantes and taking care of this problem. Clearly the vigilante approach is out of the question. I wouldn’t touch Mr. Burger for fear of catching something and he’s not worth the bullet or the rope anyway. So he walks.

As I am typing this the Pope is near death in Rome. It’s clear he’s gonna die and has no quality of life right now. Let’s just go ahead and kill him. He can’t eat or drink on his own so remove that feeding tube and watch him dry up and starve. The US Supremes have quoted International Law…why not apply US Law to the Vatican? Put him out of his misery right? That’s what we did in Florida right?

While we pat ourselves on the back for killing Mrs. Schiavo and the Pope I think I’ll go to the National Archives and steal the Declaration of Independence. $10,000 is a small price to pay compared to what I could get for it on Ebay.

Originally posted on Confessions of a Pilgrim

This was also posted today on Joe Gandelman’s weblog.

It’s going to be the ultimate Odd Couple TV show, but political and radio rivals Al Franken and Bill O’Reilly have signed a two-year contract to co-host a program on Fox News. Whoever thought we’d see the day?

The program came about after several unpublicized attempts by the two to bury the political hatchet.

“I have a bad back due to an old high school wrestling injury and when Bill’s assistant called one day to accept my lunch invitation my assistant mentioned that I would have to leave to go home early that day,” Franken told reporters. “Little did I know that Bill is licensed to do massages. He immediately came over and worked on me for an hour. I never had a nude massage before. He’s a very caring person.”

O’Reilly was similarly impressed by Franken. “I was wrong about him and now when I stand back and take a deep breath I understand his use of political irony,” O’Reilly said. “Perhaps it’s a sign of maturity, but in recent months I have come to love the Los Angeles Times editorial page. Maybe this is what made me more receptive to Al and to appreciate his talent and insight.”

O’Reilly said he was particularly impressed with Al “when he invited me into the sauna at his health club.” When reporters didn’t laugh, he gritted his teeth, smiled and explained. “That’s irony, you guys, irony. See? I’m learning..”

Fox News officials say the program is still untitled. “We want to call it Two Airheads,” O’Reilly said. “Hey, that’s irony…”

Can it get the ratings? Time will tell. Meanwhile, in another Fox-related story, another report says ABC News is re-hiring ex-employee Geraldo Rivera now that Ted Koppel is quitting Nightline.

UPDATE: This is very interesting.