“In laboratory experiments, a normal cat displays the normal hunter instinct toward a mouse,” a narrator explains in a droning monotone. Donned in a stereotypical white lab coat, the scientist locks the feline in a box and sprays it with lysergic acid diethylamide. A hallucinogenic drug better known as LSD. “After 45 seconds, the effects…
Tag: Military History
Military History: 10 Notorious Death Squads
In 1984, George Orwell gave his readers a shocking glimpse into the mind of authoritarianism when he put these words in the mouth of state torturer O’Brien: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.” This image of complete state control (which Orwell lifted from Jack London’s…
World War I History: Soldier’s Loadout
A reader sent me a link to a pretty cool image gallery showing the basic clothing and equipment of five different major combatant powers from mid-WWI. I have re-uploaded the individual photos in case the original links go dead (click to enlarge each photo). Read the Original Article and Photo’s at Forgotten Weapons
Military Weapons From The Past: Burton 1917 Light Machine Rifle
America’s first assault rifle? Well, it does meet all the requirements – select-fire, intermediate cartridge, and shoulder-fired. It was never actually fielded, though. The Burton Light Machine Rifle was developed during World War One, with the firing model completed in 1917. It was intended as an aircraft observer’s weapon for attacking balloons – a role…
World War I History: Slaughter on the Somme
The Limits of Foresight On the Road To The Great War One hundred years ago today, long lines of British infantry climbed out of their trenches in the Somme region of France and hurled themselves at the entrenched Germans. The next 24 hours would turn out to be the bloodiest day in British military history,…
World War I History: ‘A Good Kick’ -The Story of the Ball That Led To One of The Bloodiest Battles in History
One hundred years ago Friday, as the last shells of a week-long bombardment crept off into the fields of northern France, British Army Capt. William P. Nevill kicked a football into no-man’s land. It was a few minutes after 7:30 am on July 1, 1916, and one of the bloodiest engagements in the history of civilization — the…
Crusader Corner: The Attack On The ISIS Convoy Is a Tactic As Old As War
Personally, I got a lot of satisfaction watching these ISIS camel turds get wiped off the face of the planet, I hope you do too.-SF Killing retreating soldiers has a long — and totally legal — history As the Iraqi army overran the last of Fallujah’s neighborhoods remaining in the Islamic State’s hands this week, more than 500…
Military History Book’s Worth A Damn: Pumpkinflowers
Matti Friedman, Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story (Algonquin Books, 2016). Iraq veterans finally have their book; a manuscript that really deals with the whole of the Iraq experience. After over a decade at war in Iraq, we now have the best first-person account, not only of fighting against the insurgency, but also what it felt like to come…
World War II HIstory: Nazi Propaganda Exploited Sherman’s March as “Lost Cause”
In the months before the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe, the Wehrmacht’s propagandists warned those living under German occupation that America’s armies would not be as forgiving. In the pages of Signal, a bi-weekly magazine funded by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and intended for foreign audiences, the Nazis invoked William Tecumseh Sherman’s march across the…
Profiles in Courage: CIA “Officer A” Saved Lives At Benghazi
Casualties sustained during the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, could have been much higher if it was not for the work of a mysterious CIA officer, according to an official report from the House Select Committee on Benghazi. The report, released Tuesday, noted that U.S. military support did not…