Two blogs in one week.  A record for me, driven by two news articles I recently read that really struck my funny bone, despite their serious nature. 

The first story was about Iran celebrating the creation of an unmanned bomber in which Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, proudly proclaimed it his “ambassador of death”.  Really, I’m not making that up.  It’s like he watched a bunch of cheesy 1960s James Bond knock-off movies and decided to emulate the evil-doers on screen.  All that was missing was him saying, “And unless Israel pays me one millliiiooon dollars, I will unleash it’s wrath on the earth.”

Could you imagine if the President of the United States, or any sane national leader for that matter, had said something similar about a new piece of military armament?  President Obama: “The Air Force today just launched its new fighter, the F -34, but I’d like everyone to know it as the ‘rip out your eyeballs and skull f**k you to death’ aircraft.”

The story doesn’t do much to enhance Ahmadinejad’s credibility when he says his new nuclear reactor is for peaceful purposes.

The other news story was Afghanistan’s President Karzai standing by his stance that all private security contractors must leave Afghanistan by year-end.  But wait, the protective security detail that keeps him – and all of the top-tier leaders in Afghanistan – alive is comprised of private security contractors hired by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.  Is Karzai really putting his money where his mouth is?  Letting everyone know he’s damn well serious? 

Uhhh…no.  As reported by Rueters, “However, Karzai said security contractors who protect diplomats and aid workers would be allowed to operate.”

I’m making fun of him here, but in truth he has a valid point.  He’s not hammering contractors who are US citizens per se, which is what comes to mind when anyone in the US hears “military contractor”.  He’s hammering the security firms that have hired scores of Afghani local nationals, bleeding talent from the police force and army because the Afghanistan economy can’t compete with overseas money.  In this case, he might be on to something.