Oh nothing really just wanted to share

A very accurate kit showing her current configuration.

 

“I was a miner and I was a cowboy but mostly I was a hobo. I fought wherever I could, in school halls, outside saloons, any place they were putting up a purse. I once walked thirty miles across the desert to a town called Goldfield in Nevada so I could fight for twenty dollars.
I got beat a lot. I improved. But I remember the beatings I took. Once I got beat so bad they had to take me out of the ring in a wheelbarrow. Later some said I was a killer in the ring. They got that wrong. I killed nobody. But I took out other guys quick. That much is true. I got more one round knockouts than anybody, sixty knockouts in the first round.
I beat a good Heavyweight in New Orleans once in fourteen seconds. I knocked out Fred Fulton, six-foot-four, 250 pounds, in nineteen seconds. How come? Not because I was a killer. Other way round. I was always afraid that I'd be the one who was killed. Get 'em quick and you live to fight another day.'
- Jack Dempsey

 

No risk of tsunami after Darwin, Northern Territory shaken by magnitude-7.6 earthquake - ABC News
I was only snoozing at the time...I thought my GF was having a scratch...I gave her a nudge before it ramped up and we both sat up thinking sh%t!

 

What is the Wagner Group?


The Wagner Group, also known as PMC Wagner, is a Russian paramilitary organization. It is variously described as a private military company, a network of mercenaries, or a de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin.




These outfits stink..! Personal armies should not be allowed...They can operate outside international law. States can avoid responsibility from these groups actions. Even the CIA (once caught) are "owned" by the US Government and they will take the responsibility for the CIA's actions.
Remember Hussein's personal guard? Remember the toll the US put on them?

I can think of an outfit that would make these mercenaries think twice about joining up...


OR



With Russia already at war and ties already cut...the west should declare war on this group. Put a bounty on all heads stating affiliation. They operate all around the world.

For similar reasons, i'm not a fan of this organisation either:


Thoughts?

 

Well, the last picture, le Legion Étrangere, is neither paramilitary nor mercenary. The Foreign Legion is a part of the regular French Military but allow non-French citizens to join. Foreign soldiers serving in European militaries is a centuries old, well accepted tradition. The Legionnaires are excellent, well disciplined, well trained, professional soldiers, and where they go, and what they do are directly sanctioned by the French Government. I served alongside them for a short time in Beirut, and unlike most military units they actually live up to their reputation.
I have no use for Wagner Group, and from what I've read over the years, they're not particularly good. However, the US can't get too indignant over their use by Russia because of our extensive use of private military contractors over the last couple of decades. In fact, during the height of their use in Iraq, depending upon which group they were from, many PMC's were pretty shitty, no better than the foreign fighters streaming into Iraq to fight for the terrorists.
As for the CIA, I have no use for them. Back in the day before they got their own direct-action people, they used to task US military assets for their needs, Navy SEALS, Marine Force Recon, US Army Special Forces and Rangers, were drawn upon for some of their silly assed, often duplicitous games. They have no honor, no morals, no loyalty. Nobody wanted to be tasked to run missions for them, they were never straight forward as planned and briefed, often with some Machiavellian twist or plot involved.

No need to waste the SEALS, or any American forces on targeting Wagner, the Ukrainians seem to be thinning them out just fine on their own. Do you remember the 2018 Battle of Khasham in Syria? Wagner picked a fight with a mixed US/Syrian Kurd force and got hundreds of their people killed for the friendly loss of one Kurd wounded.

That Time US Forces Tore Hundreds of Russian Wagner Group Mercenaries to Pieces in Syria - Coffee or Die Magazine

 

Great answer...
I still have a problem with the Legionaires...I understand that they have been doing it for along time, still doesn't make it right. France seems to have a very "
Ce qui sera sera" attitude to what and who they use for their own gains...(The Anglos and Celts over the ditch don't have the same attitude.) - I should admit Australia is in the process of ramping up OUR arms sales to even countries that have bad human rights records - And for the record this is WRONG. I don't want to see an Austeyr shooting civilians EVER. I dont want civilians havingh their legs blown off by Australia's (or anybody else's) land mines etc etc...Its Wrong.

"I have no use" - Great American term.

Yes i wasn't pleased with the military contractors either...Same thing...Mercenairies. They should be answerable to and trained and jailed by the Military. (Yes i know there were Australian Contractors also - Wrong).

My understanding of the CIA is as you have explained...There are plenty of movies which show the military's dislike for the CIA. I can think of ten off the top of my head...Mission Impossible and Predator come straight to mind. But, they are still beholden to the Government of the day...And the Government will take the blame for their deeds (misdeeds).

And yes, the Ukranians continue to impress. The Cossacks prove again to be the head of the spear...just now against its old boss.
Would you f##k with these mob??

 

Is that actually true? Seems Great Britain is as bad, if not worse than the French, and we in the US getting worse all the time. What of the US fliers in Great Britain's Eagle Squadrons in WWII? What of the US fliers in the LaFayette Escadrille in WWI? Are these any less mercenary and more military than the Legion?
Also, I may be misreading what you wrote but I wasn't just saying that France had been using the Legion for a long time, I was talking about all major European armies having a centuries old habit of using foreign troops in their militaries.

As for the CIA, most movies are a bit over the top or farfetched, but occasionally come really close to the truth. They would almost always send us in sterile, foreign weapons, nothing to identify us as Americans, so they had deniability. I really doubt if Congress, which should have oversight, knows a fraction of the shady shit they do. We'd be better served if they were abolished, I don't think they believe they have any constraints regardless of the law. If they don't get caught, or can deny and obfuscate if they are, they're free to play their games.

 

I don’t want to get caught up with semantics…I think you are right about the CIA…but every country needs a Central Intelligence Agency…Australia’s equivalent is ASIO (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) - Not to be messed with and knows just about everything about everybody.

 

I really don’t care for the CIA either. Methinks we should get ride of them and go back to the OSS.

 

A 16th note????

 

(Prince) Harry revealing kill count.
I was shocked and a little appalled when Harry announced his kill count the other day. My understanding is that there is an unwritten rule one does not tell another their kill count...Pretty much to anyone. Its personal, usually not something the soldier is proud of, indeed something that can cause PTSD.
I've never served, never put my life at risk for my country...So i feel my opinion counts for little. But i'd be interested what others, who have served (I'm looking at you Price and OP) think of announcing a "kill count". Bad form?
And i found this picture...Check out the weapon hes carrying...Well well...



"Former US Navy Seal Rob O’Neill says as long as Prince Harry went through the proper channels there is “nothing wrong” with him talking about his kill count and experiences in Afghanistan."

 

A good place to be OP.

I would have thought that in many cases it would be difficult to know if YOU yourself have done the deed or someone else, or in concert with others...Especially in an Apache it would be difficult to get a precise number??