The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
One of my feeds provided the following two stories…..at either end of the spectrum….
Jefferson’s Army of Nation Builders
Dazzling new weapons require new rules for war
The other thing I find interesting is the total lack of remembering anything from Vietnam, it is as noted
in the first piece, Petraeus found the answer from lessons learned in Afghanistan and Iraq.
(1) Militaries have used working dogs for a variety of offensive and defensive purposes for years; (2) military working dogs have been very active in Iraq and Afghanistan; (3) airborne (parachute) units have been jumping dogs officially and unofficially for years, although this is the first report I've personally seen of dogs being jumped using the military freefall technique, (4) the biggest problem I see for the dogs is the landing since, before their handler lands, he will likely lower the dog on a 15-20 foot line so that the dog lands before he does so the challenge for the dog is doing a parachute landing fall with four, rather than two, rather slender and fragile legs — kind of difficult to “keep your feet and knees together”; (5) the alternative to (4) above is for the handler to execute a standing landing, something that is at least theoretically feasible for a well-trained jumper using a ram-air canopy under favorable wind and drop zone conditions; that could possibly mitigate the doggie PLF challenge; (6) I think I'm glad I'm not the free-fall jumper since, while you can see that the dog in the photo below is muzzled to prevent bites, unless he's also sedated, he could flop around enough in his harness to make a stable descent to pull altitude a challenge for his jumper; (7) I'm not sure the United States Parachute Association has ever considered this application of the Tandem technique which is well established for willing human cargoes.)
New options from the nomenklatura listed below is a silly oxymoron.
Chuck
Pentagon Openings Give Obama New Options
By THOM SHANKER
7 November
WASHINGTON — With critical decisions ahead on the war in Afghanistan, President Obama is about to receive an unusual opportunity to reshape the Pentagon’s leadership, naming a new defense secretary as well as several top generals and admirals in the next several months.
It is a rare confluence of tenure calendars and personal calculations, coming midway through Mr. Obama’s first term and on the heels of an election that challenged his domestic policies. His choices could have lasting consequences for his national security agenda, perhaps strengthening his hand over a military with which he has often clashed, and are likely to have an effect beyond the next election, whether he wins or loses.
That is all the more reason that Mr. Obama’s choices are certain to face scrutiny in a narrowly divided Senate, whose Republican leadership has declared itself intent on defeating him.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has said he plans to retire next year, while the terms of four members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are scheduled to end: Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman; Gen. James E. Cartwright, the vice chairman; Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief; and Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations.
Read rest of this seriously deficient article….
Phi Beta Iota: The current and prospective leaders being discussed and considered are all inter-changeable. They share the same paradigmatic views, the same commitment to the military-industrial-congressional complex (MICC), and therefore, to suggest that changing out the guard is in any way an option, is to demonstrate profound naivete or a gift for deception. President Obama is truly at a historic fork in the road: he can go on with business as usual, bailing out Wall Street and carrying on with a global military cmapaign that is both ineffective and unaffordable–or he can reach deep down and come up with one startling insight and two serious options.
Startling insight: integrity matters. Doing the right thing is more important than continuing to do the wrong thing righter.
Option A: Make Electoral Reform (1 Page, 9 Points) the issue. That will burn down the two-party tyranny and restore the Republic WHILE EARNING HIM A SECOND TERM.
Option B: Hold an Open Space Technology event on the future of the USA in all its forms, in the Washington Convention Center, a no-notice open public event, with Harrison Owen as the facilitator.
Sadly, we are quite certain neither the startling insight nor either of the two options will be considered. The Titanic is sinking and the President is being asked to re-arrange the name cards…..thus does the Republic flail in the tar pit of history.
We predict, with a depth of despair, that Obama will choose to go along and eventually be as wealthy as Bill Bradley and Al Gore. He is one phone call away from greatness, and won't do it. He lives, we die.
Reference: Michael Vlahos on Imperial Court
Taliban Seek to Sway U.S. Congress With ‘Open Letter'
Wall Street Journal, November 8, 2010
Matthew Rosenberg
KABUL—Add another group to the list of people with a message for the newly elected U.S. Congress: the Taliban.
In a rambling “open letter” to Congress, the Taliban's spokesman said he wanted to present American lawmakers with “a true picture of the ground realities” of the war in Afghanistan, which he insisted the U.S. can't win.
The spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousaf Ahmadi, called on Congress to send a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan, apparently ignorant of the fact that representatives and senators visit Afghanistan all the time. But American lawmakers rarely leave heavily guarded U.S. facilities, moving only in armored convoys,…
Balance of story demands log-in or subscription….
Phi Beta Iota: While this initiative demonstrates the Taliban's understanding of history–Viet-Nam redux, it also shows their lack of understanding of Washington. We have absolutely no doubt that at least three lobbying firms have a team enroute to Pakistan to make contact and offer their services. They will accept bricks of #4 heroin, no extra charge for laundering currency. We are really surprised Halliburton did not think of this, Brown & Root seems to already have the smuggling channel for the drugs and money in place. Next up: a slick video and some YouTube snippets that go viral, under the broad campaign slogan of “Ground Truth from Afghanistan.”
This is just too cool. The smart guys always went into artillery, where you had to be able to count not just spell. As upset as one might be with all the high end waste, fraud, and abuse within our military-industrial-congressional complex (MICC), this short film is a celebration in combat effectiveness. Go Army! [The Marines still do not have Naval Gunfire Support, the Navy decided a couple of decades ago it really doesn't give a shit about supporting Marines, and multiple Commandants of the Marine Corps have let them get away with it.]
(1) If true, probably a good idea.
Miami Herald November 6, 2010
Spy Agencies Use Ex-Captives To Infiltrate Al Qaeda
By Paisley Dodds, Associated Press
LONDON — Months after he was released from Guantánamo Bay, Abdul Rahman was back in the company of terrorist leaders along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. But he was a double agent, providing Taliban and al Qaeda secrets to Pakistani intelligence, which then shared the tips with Western counterparts.
The ruse cost him his life, according to a former Pakistani military intelligence official, Mahmood Shah. The Taliban began to suspect him, and after multiple interrogations executed him.
The case of Rahman, which Shah recounted to The Associated Press, falls in line with a key aspect of the fight against terror — Western intelligence agencies, with help from Islamic allies, are placing moles and informants inside al Qaeda and the Taliban. The program seems to be bearing fruit, even as many infiltrators like Rahman are discovered and killed.
It was a tip from an al Qaeda militant-turned-informant that led international authorities to find explosives hidden in printer cartridges from Yemen to the United States a week ago, Yemeni security officials say. Officials say the explosives could have caused a blast as deadly as the Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people.
Phi Beta Iota: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) done right, in the context of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) done right, is the cheapest, fastest, and most effective means of creating intelligence (decision-support) at all levels from strategic to tactical. After ten years of letting CIA get away with doing both badly, and ten years of the Pentagon's recovering from treating its HUMINT and CI people like shit, it appears that adults are finally back in charge. We continue to under-budget for operational HUMINT and OSINT, and we continue to grossly over-spend on contractor vapor-ware for technical capabilities that simply do not deliver 96% of what what we need, but that is a separate issue. It is good to see HUMINT (not OSINT) making some progress. However, the continued absence of a strategic analytic model and honest governance means that these capabilities are not being focused on transnational crime or on white collar crime, where the most significant gains in the public interest are to be achieved.
See Also:
2010: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Trilogy Updated
2009 DoD OSINT Leadership and Staff Briefings
Graphic: OSINT and Full-Spectrum HUMINT (Updated)
Graphic: OSINT and Lack of Processing
Graphic: Four Quadrants J-2 High Cell SMS Low
Graphic: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) 101 (Wrong Way)
Graphic: Human Intelligence (HUMINT) 102 (Right Way)
NOTICE: Within DoD, at least all elements of the Army as well as the Marine Corps Reserve have been given direct, unqualified, written orders not to access the Wikileaks site or read the Wikileaks document via any Government **OR** non-Government computer. This Rolling Update complies with the DoD guidance.
Friday 5 November 2010
WikiLeaks Incidents May Lead to Data Sharing Restrictions, DIA Chief Says
Journalists Protest Crackdown On Wikileaks, Julian Assange
Wikileaks Info Cherry Picked by Corporate Media to Bolster Case Against Iran
Continue reading “Wikileaks Round II (Iraq) Rolling Update 20101105”
