Iraqi Government faces collapse one day after the Yanks leave...

Operation: [Blank]: Butterup is a British-style Operation Title. Unsurprisingly, modern large-scale American operations use titles that are more a brand name than anything else — they are named by marketing executives...

Keep Rolling On

Yeh, Buttercup would be an example of how one should name operations - random and short, and not a PR slogan.

Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken. Unrelated ME1 Fanfic

Parliament isn't, I believe, as ready to meddle in MoD affairs as Congress is in DoD ones. Operation names "selling" the actual operation is part and parcel of getting Congressional OK.

And please note I don't think that the military shouldn't have any civilian oversight or other similar misinterpretations (willful or otherwise) of the above. I just think that "get the job done" frequently comes in a rather distant second to "what will enhance my re-election chances" with far too many Congresscritters, and the military doing its job often suffers for it.

edited 23rd Dec '11 7:36:52 AM by Nohbody

All your safe space are belong to Trump

The militaty actively pressures the civilian goverment to increase funding an enter wars.

Its a two way street.

edited 23rd Dec '11 10:37:41 AM by Baff

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.

Our military would love to have that much clout in government, rather than being the go-to guys when they need to make budget cuts.

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Maybe we should just hire the general from family guy. The name may be long, but it's to the point.

"Surrender immediately, or we will institute Operation: Bomb the Crap out of Your House."

I'm baaaaaaack

The British armed forces need a good PR campaign. That's part of what keeps the US Military away from the budget cuts...

I am now known as Flyboy.

Oh, the public like them, but the government seem to hate them.

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Back when our secret ops were, y'know, secret, we called them Operation C-Day and Operation Paperclip.

I'm a skeptical squirrel

I like the Fluffy the Terrible approach to operation names.

"Enemy casualties have reached the hundreds of thousands by day two of Operation Sugarcube."

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

Well, it's kind of a no-win solution. Either the public likes them but doesn't care if they get their budget cut (even if it has become legitimately bad that it's getting cut further), or they like them too much and will vote politicians out for even considering it even if it needs to be cut. :/

I am now known as Flyboy.

You know what the sad thing is?

Nouri al-Maliki might be the best possible leader that could be democratically-produced by Iraq in its present condition.

"You know what the sad thing is?

Nouri al-Maliki might be the best possible leader that could be democratically-produced by Iraq in its present condition. "

In this condition, meaning, a state created by an American invasion? Or are you saying Iraq can only be ruled by tyrants? Cause the latter is bullshit.

So, Maliki is apparantly behind the bombs? Isn't he a Shia himself?

Someone posted something to that effect. I don't know if it's true, false, or if I just misread.

edited 23rd Dec '11 12:19:01 PM by stripesthezebra

Huh? Have I missed something?

Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken. Unrelated ME1 Fanfic

A state that is created by an American invasion. He's certainly a bit sharper than Karzai when it comes to holding the majority, although still unable to get over what seems to be hatred of Sunnis and indifference towards Kurds.

The Vice-President blames al-Maliki for the bombs. Highly unlikely, though.

Well, this is a wonderful situation, the VP has been accused of having terrorist connections, and the president has been accused of running a bombing campaign against civilians.

Why not just call it operation downsizing? *

^{PAPERCLIP - People Against People Ever Reenlisting, Civilian Life Is Preferred.}

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Operation Paperclip was an actual US Military operation immediately after or at the tail-end (I don't recall specifically) of World War II, which successfully stole away most of the German rocketry scientists, researchers, and engineers, and most of their important notes and data and research, etc.

It pissed the Russians off to no end.

I am now known as Flyboy.

I still say we go with Operation F.U.C.K. U.P.

He's probably not pure as the driven snow. But the US is preemptively jumping all over him for being Kazai 2.0 — corrupt and a dictator in the making. Not much self-irony.

I'm a skeptical squirrel

People who say the military has few power are blind.

The military and more concretly the intelligence community and the pentagon have a desproportionate amount of power within goverment.

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.

I think you mean "little" power, "Few" isn't used like that.

And calling the military "The pentagon" only really applies for America, other nation's militaries are usually not based in 5-sided buildings. Your right though, they do have a lot of power.

edited 24th Dec '11 3:36:54 PM by Joesolo

I'm baaaaaaack

If I'm not mistaken, for most minor to moderate scale operations, the US Military has a computer spit out a somewhat random name (ex-Odyssey Dawn in regards to Libya). I predict this will end when a somewhat significant operation ends up being named "Horny Marmot"

On subject though, I remember hearing a story about the Sunnis and Kurds cooperating a bit against Maliki. I'll have to see if I can find the story though. Suffice to say, Maliki dun fucked up.

edited 25th Dec '11 11:33:12 PM by Hurricane_Delta

Yeah, Al-Maliki is kind of a douchebag

I was talking about the US. When I said Pentagon I assumed it would be clear. As for everthing else thanks.

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.