President Bone-Spurs Wet Dream

The Mother of All Parades!    

People's Republic of China celebrated the 70^th anniversary of its founding with both a gigantic military parade and a people’s parade.  Despite the rioting and the shooting(s?) in Hong Kong.  Was Donny's dream about the parade?  Or about the violent crackdown on protestors wishing he could do the same to Nancy and the WH press?

The South China Morning Post claims 15,000 troops paraded, with overflights by 160 aircraft, and there were 580 pieces of weaponry and equipment.  Advanced weaponry shown including the new hypersonic DF-17 glide vehicle and the longer range DF-100 (is it a missile, a drone or a nuke tipped reentry vehicle?).  I personally like the tiny two-man, open-cockpit helicopter, or is it an autogyro?  It’d be great for a commute to beat Seattle traffic and could land in my daughter’s tiny back lot.  Two links below, the short version at just over three minutes, and the full version at almost three hours.

Three minute version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayi8ddu_eZg 

Full version:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGdF_ajRZYg 

Baby copter/autogyro is at 1:12:03

And oh I forgot, for FDChief they had two battalions of women-at-arms parading in boots and miniskirts.  The ladies are at 1:00:45 and again at 1:03:15.  Here is a preview teaser:

And a precedent, they allowed foreign troop contingents to march at National Day for the first time ever.  Mostly the usual suspects, but also Mexico, Afghanistan, and the Republic of Fiji.  No GIs of course, but  China Central TV was kind enough to call out the contribution of Chennault's Flying Tigers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hAg8MsG30M

The civilian portion of the parade had several million pompoms and flower bouquets,  angel-voiced pre-teens, high school glee clubs, 21 open-top sightseeing buses full of Civil War and Sino-Japanese War veterans too old to march, parade floats that put the Rose Parade to shame, cheek tats, ethnic minorities in traditional dress (including the much maligned Uighurs).  Lots of stone-faced suits in the reviewing stand with iron bladders.  This civilian version can be seen startin at 1:40:00 of the three-hour video above.

 Festivities are continuing through the 7th.

Sacred Defense Parade

Iran has been celebrating their Sacred Defense Week commemorating the 25 year anniversary of the end of their war with Iraq.  (*see note 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V38BPY1UkA4

Rouhani was in the viewing stand.  Reportedly before the parade he gave a speech calling for a diplomatic approach to the West.  There are lots of wartoys in this video.  As for me I am fascinated with the four-wheeler ATVs.  Most of them have a standing passenger carrying a shoulder launched SAM or antitank rocket launcher.  I looked for the motorcyclists made famous in the Iran-Iraq War carrying a backseater with an RPG dueling with Iraqi tanks, but did not see any.  What really stumped me was the United Nations contingent.  Starting about minute 3:15 there is a detachment of UN or lookalikes – UN vehicles, blue flags, and some guys with blue berets.  I believe there is still a UN team in Iran.  But why would they march in a military parade?  Or more puzzling, why would the Iranians allow it?

There is quite a bit of armor, most were the Iranian built <i>Zulfiqar</i> named after the legendary sword of Ali.  But I thought I saw an American made M-60 or two.  And it looked like there were a couple of old American made Long Tom 175s.  Rockets and missiles got the biggest chunk of parade space.  There were lots of them, scores of different types that I could not ID.  Can anyone identify the boxy looking missile at minute 13:15, or is that some kind of drone?  The IRIN was well represented also.  In addition to some truck mounted models of an Iranian frigate and a submarine, they showed off several fast patrol boats.  Just past minute 15:55 after the sleek looking cigarette boat type patrol craft they show what appears to be a one-man submarine.  There is a better look at it ten seconds later.   And then there are the big ballistic missiles near the end of the video, where the announcer keeps yelling Walla Walla Akbar (*see note 2).  I am sure that segment  will be enough to make some of the right wing chickenhawks in this country wet their diapers.

This was only one part of the parade.  There are two other segments on youtube with bands and various units marching by the reviewing stand.   Long and boring unless you speak Farsi.  Lots of chanting.  Some of the units were wearing a colorful sash that would have made a 19^th century European diplomat proud.  Some of the sashes sported tulips, maybe signifying martyrs?   I saw some yellow flags which could signify Hezbollah, or maybe not?  March steps were different in each unit.  Many had a stomp-slide-stomp-slide step.  Only the Navy that I saw did a goose step.  No women in uniform :-( bummer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA7UDsMDNbo#t=686

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_3178783033&feature=iv&src_vid=hA7UDsMDNbo&v=Uu7CKlzDleo

note (*1) The war that George W Bush finally won for Iran when he invaded Iraq ten years ago.

note (*2) just a little Washington State humor.