Stop Using That Varmint Cartridge
At a Vietnam Special Forces base during 1964, I watched a U. S. soldier fire 15 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition into a tethered goat from an AR-15 rifle; moments after the last round hit, the goat fell over. Looking at the dead goat, I saw many little bullet entry-holes on one side; and when we turned him over, I saw many little bullet exit-holes on the other side. Over time, those observations were confirmed and reconfirmed, revealing that the stories we were told on the lethality of the .223 caliber cartridge were fabrications. Those false reports drove the adoption of the .223 caliber cartridge as the 5.56mm NATO cartridge and, ever since, Americans have been sent to war with a cartridge deficient in combat lethality; a deficiency that has recently caused the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.Only problem I have with the quote above is that the M14 does not have a "mean recoil". My son has been shooting my M1A since he was eleven, and he has no problem with the recoil. Yes, it has recoil, unlike the poodle-shooter AR-15, but it ain't mean by any stretch of the imagination.
What is efficient combat lethality? The book Black Hawk Down quotes SFC Paul Howe's description of SFC Randy Shughart, a soldier who elected to carry the 7.62mm M-14 into the urban battlefield of Somalia in 1993 rather than the 5.56mm CAR-15 (M-16-variant):"His rifle may have been heavier and comparatively awkward and delivered a mean recoil, but it damn sure knocked a man down with one bullet, and in combat, one shot was all you got. You shoot a guy, you want to see him go down; you don't want to be guessing for the next five hours whether you hit him, or whether he's still waiting for you in the weeds." [1]With the wisdom of a combat veteran, Howe describes the lethality necessary for a cartridge in combat--one-round knockdown power.
# Lorne Strider - A Threatening Letter - Mr. Strider informs the clerk of the local small town court of a threatening letter received by a friend of his. The clerk took this information seriously until she found out that it was a jury summons from her office. [saltypig]
This example of government hypocracy is so typical that I like to use it to illustrate the problem. Why is there a double standard for people who are in "government service?"
Normal people in private endeavors wouldn't dream of doing the things they would readily do as agents of the state. It is sad that most of us accept this mystical and irrational arrangement without contemplation.
How is it that some among us can order others around? What is the basis for this special power and how is it assumed?
# GeekWithA.45 - Kerry's "New Soldier" - the Geek calls Kerry to task over going back on the thesis of his book, The New Soldier. I posted the following comment: [geekwitha.45]
Too bad Kerry is so flawed in other ways, communist gun grabber that he is. Had he remained true to the convictions he expressed in the book, those of us who consider this war to be a crime against humanity might have someone to vote for. As it is we can pick statist war-monger A or statist war-monger B, and wait with our battle rifles for the midnight knock on our doors.
The war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terror, and every other war against an imagined horror wholely created by government are all really just part of the war on freedom, the war on the Bill of Rights, the war on America's soul. I pray that Americans will wake up to this truth, but I won't hold my breath.
# Colin Perkel of AP via officer.com - Canadian Police Sniper Ends Hostage Situation With Head Shot - yesterday in Toronto, one Canadian policeman did his job well. Bravo! [saltypig]
# Publicola - South Carolinian Does His Civic Duty - shot and killed a varmint who had just broken his door down. It is doubtful that he will be charged with any crime. South Carolina, unlike England and some of the blue counties, is still rational about proper treatment of home invaders. [publicola]
