February 11, 2007
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Greetings, On Thursday we posted a project we began working on in mid December. Called the "Snake Eater" this project is in response to a request from Major Owen West - a Marine heading up a joint Army/Marines Advisory Team. The "Snake Eater" gives the Iraqi Army its first technology-based system to fingerprint and track suspected terrorists and insurgents - before this the Iraqi Army's system was "memory and notebooks (the paper kind)". Major West says: "Khalidiya is a town of 10,000 people halfway between Ramadi and Fallujah...the most dangerous 40 mile stretch in the world. We are at war with a group of fanatics who use ultra-violence as their tactic...With this [the Snake Eater system] we'll finally be able to 'crack' the insurgent network in towns like these." Our description of this project is here. An article on the Snake Eater by Dan Henninger in the Wall Street Journal does a superb job of telling the story. It is outstanding. Please read it here. The text is also below. Because time was a real issue on this project blogging journalist Bill Roggio personally couriered the Snake Eater system to Major West in Khalidiya. He wrote about his experience here. Posted by: Michele Redmond |
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February 8, 2007
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Read Bill Roggio's write up on the Snake Eater on his blog The Fourth Rail. Bill was in Khalidiya when the Snake Eater was put to work. Posted by: Jim Hake |
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Story today by Dan Henninger in the Wall Street Journal on Spirit of America's Snake Eater project. Snake Eater: Give our troops the tools cops use The Snake EaterGive our troops the tools our cops have. Thursday, February 8, 2007 12:01 a.m. Subject: A case study of how the U.S. got bogged down in Iraq. Problem: If a cop in Anytown, USA, pulls over a suspect, he checks the person's ID remotely from the squad car. He's linked to databases filled with Who's Who in the world of crime, killing and mayhem. In Iraq, there is nothing like that. When our troops and the Iraqi army enter a town, village or street, what they know about the local bad guys is pretty much in their heads, at best. Solution: Give our troops what our cops have. The Pentagon knows this. For reasons you can imagine, it hasn't happened. Posted by: Jim Hake |
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In support of Major Owen West, USMC, Goldman Sachs - perhaps the world's premier financial institution - has generously donated $14,000 to the "Snake Eater" project sponsored and led by Major West. Owen, a Marines Reservist, works at Goldman Sachs as an energy trader when he is not actively serving in the Marines. Kudos to Goldman for supporting one of their guys - it's a beautiful thing! Here is Owen as Santa Claus with members of the Iraqi Army brigade that he advises.  Posted by: Jim Hake |
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