Oh no, John Warner is a little testy with Jesus 2.0 – call it fact-checking the parables — you know, considering he was chairman and ranking member of the Senate Arms Services Committee in 2003, it seems he takes issue with sloppy political points being made on nothing more that a very holey anecdote — by a Captain of a PLATOON (humm, someone check that).

Note to Jesus 2.0 – maybe a story like this should be vetted some other place than a national debate. Oh, but somethings are so tempting they can not be resisted…like maybe a Dukakisan tank ride. Please Jesus 2.0 get in a tank…

If they don’t cooperate, then shenanigans may be called. The Blackfive bloggers, as well as the QandO guys, all military veterans, seem to think something is fishy.

These stories are timeless; you’ll see similar ones in the narratives from WWII, Korea and Vietnam vets too. Anyone who’s dealt with the Army supply system – particularly at the pointy end of the spear – ought to be able to sympathize.

But then,

Sen. Obama is also absolutely right to use this anecdote as a critique of the administration’s decision to go to war in Iraq. It is incontrovertible that the war in Iraq diverted scarce military resources (manpower, equipment, etc.) from Afghanistan to Iraq. <blockquote)

Well, which is it? The military supply system or the diversion of scarce resources to other theatres of war. I suspect that Carter would answer it is both.

Also, several commentators have pointed out, particularly SF, prefer using local guns as they there is more ammo available and they are fighting along side locals. So it is easier in terms of getting parts and ammo rather going through the military system. Obama is misrepresenting this situation as a pure result of over-exention. A point that Carter points out:

The answer is that we’re not smart about the way we divvy up and distribute what we’re purchasing with all that money. I can’t tell you how many times I saw a Fobbit walking around with a Gucci’d out M4 carbine – despite the fact that many never, ever left the FOB. (To “Gucci” a weapon means to outfit it with all kinds of extra gear, i.e. close-combat sights, infrared aiming lights, extra grips, etc.) Or how many staff officers I saw driving brand-new up-armored HMMWVs around their FOBs, which were never used for a single combat patrol.

Okay, well that doesn’t sound like an over-extension. That sounds like mismanagement. Well, he does have a point though: Under an Obama administration we would have to worry about mismanagement, because we’d just pack-up and come home.

I also am skeptical when someone tells me that this or that particular anecdote should be taken as a valid general criticism, when logically anecdotal evidence should NEVER be used to make general conclusions.

When someone claims that they are really saying “This anecdote backs up what I’d like to believe…so YOU should too.”