Well, with all the din created by the news media reassuring us that the FBI just made our lives a little safer by shutting down a group of Islamic “online martyrs,” I wonder how many folks missed the little blurb about Operation Valiant Shield. An annual joint exercise of the US military in the Pacific ocean, this year’s Valiant Shield pitted Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force elements in the Pacific against a fictional enemy capable of air, sea, undersea and nuclear warfare. While it was a great opportunity to stick a not-so-diplomatic elbow in Kim Jong Il’s padded ribs, I couldn’t keep the word “idiocy” out of my mind at the cordial invitation extended to Communist China to sit in on such a pointed dress rehearsal. Less difficult to understand was the smiling, almost smug, acceptance of the offer by the keepers of the dragon. “Sure, yoo geev us all technology, why no queek show us how use? Throw in week of wining and dining too, yes?”
Sure, we’ll be there.
Check it out here:
www.pacom.mil/exercises/vs2006/
