Military – Page 313 – Public Intelligence Blog

Tom Friedman had an especially fatuous column in Sunday's New York Times, which is saying something given his well-established capacity for smug self-assurance. According to Friedman, the big challenge we face in the Arab and Islamic world is “the Narrative” — his patronizing term for Muslim views about America's supposedly negative role in the region.

. . . . . . .

I heard a different take on this subject at a recent conference on U.S. relations with the Islamic world. In addition to hearing a diverse set of views from different Islamic countries, one of the other participants (a prominent English journalist) put it quite simply. “If the United States wants to improve its image in the Islamic world,” he said, “it should stop killing Muslims.”

Phi Beta Iota: The chart is below the fold, or at the Full Story Online

Continue reading “Journal: Why they hate us (II): How many Muslims has the U.S. killed in the past 30 years?”

2009/12/012009/12/01

Journal: Spinning Afghanistan

05 Civil War, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, Military, Peace Intelligence

Marcus Aurelius Recommends:

Karzai Aides, Tribal Leaders Say Surge Is Wrong Strategy

KABUL — Some powerful Afghan politicians and tribal leaders have expressed doubts that more U.S. troops can turn the tide of the war, as President Barack Obama prepares to unveil a new Afghanistan strategy Tuesday.

Army Researchers Warn Against Tribal War in Afghanistan

U.S. Army’s own specialists in Afghanistan’s culture and society are warning that relying on the tribes there may be a waste of time. “Most of Afghanistan has not been ‘tribal’ in the last few centuries,” notes a recent report from the Army’s Human Terrain System at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. “In fact, many scholars are reluctant to use the word ‘tribe’ at all for describing groups in Afghanistan.”

Clear, Hold And Duct Tape

Continue reading “Journal: Spinning Afghanistan”

2009/11/242009/11/24

Journal: Afghanistan

05 Civil War, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, 10 Security, Civil Society, Government, Military, Peace Intelligence

Full Story Online

Pentagon preparing to send 34,000 troops to Afghanistan, official says

CNN November 24, 2009

Pentagon planners expect orders to send about 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan, a defense official told CNN, a day after the president's final meeting to decide the next moves in Afghanistan. The military has planning under way to send three U.S. Army brigades, totaling about 15,000 troops; a Marine brigade, about 8,000 troops; a headquarters element, about 7,000 troops; and between 4,000 and 5,000 support troops — a total of approximately 34,000 troops, according to a defense official with direct knowledge of Pentagon operations. CNN reported last month that this was the preferred option within the Pentagon.

Full Story Online

Cynthia McKinney Letter to the President

Please bring our troops home now.

A peace demonstration is being organized for December 12, 2009 in Washington, D.C. The Emergency Anti-Escalation Rally, also known as the End US Wars Rally, is scheduled for 11am at Lafayette Park at the White House. I wholly endorse this rally and encourage all who can to participate in Washington, DC or to help a local peace organization committed to ending U.S. wars on that date.

2009/11/242009/11/24

Journal: French Amphibious Ship in Russia

06 Russia, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, Military

France shows off cutting-edge navy ship in Russia

By IRINA TITOVA, Associated Press Writer

Mon Nov 23, 2009

The head of the Russian navy has said that a Mistral-class vessel could put as many troops in Georgia in 40 minutes as the Russian Black Sea Fleet took 26 hours to land during the nations' August 2008 war. Moscow declared the Russian-allied breakaway Georgian territory of Abkhazia an independent nation after the war and sent thousands of troops there. Russia, Georgia and Ukraine all have Black Sea coastlines, as does Abkhazia.

Slideshow:France shows amphibious assault ship

Continue reading “Journal: French Amphibious Ship in Russia”

2009/11/232010/09/02

Reference: The Hasan Slide Presentation

08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, Articles & Chapters, Cultural Intelligence, Military

Phi Beta Iota: Berto Jongman flagged this from the Small Wars Journal. It is consistent with our own earlier diagnosis of Cognitive Dissonance, and we recommend it be read in its entirety. At the link below can be found a link to the original slide show. The author stresses the reasonable gravity of the conflict between being a Muslim and being asked to kill other Muslims, and while he avoids recommending a policy, we do not. DoD has been culturally ignorant for too long. It's time we brought both DoD human resource management and DoD counterintelligence into the 21st Century. See also:

Worth a Look: Berto Jongman on Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, CIA Torture, and Maj Nidal Hasan’s Slide Show

Journal: Fort Hood Cognitive Dissonance Round-Up

Journal: Cognitive Dissonance, Military Suicides, and an Alternative Interpretation of the Fort Hood Deaths

2009/11/23

Journal: Russian SU-30 Short Movie

04 Inter-State Conflict, 06 Russia, Military

SU-30 Vectored Thrust with Canards…

As you watch this airplane, look at the canards moving along side of, and just below the canopy rail. The “canards” are the small wings forward of the main wings? The smoke and contrails provide a sense of the actual flight path, sometimes in reverse direction. This video is of an in-flight demonstration flown by the Russian's 30MK fighter aircraft. You will not believe what you are about to see. The fighter can stall from high speed, stopping forward motion in seconds. (full stall). Then it demonstrates an ability to descend tail first without causing a compressor stall. It can also recover from a flat spin in less than a minute.

These maneuver capabilities don't exist in any other aircraft in the world today.. Take a look at the video with the sound up. This aircraft is of concern to U.S and NATO planners. We don't know which nations will soon be flying the SU-30MK, hopefully China isn't one of them.

2009/11/22

Journal: UK Generals Turning on Politicians

04 Inter-State Conflict, 10 Security, Ethics, Government, Law Enforcement, Military, Peace Intelligence

Full Story Online

Leaked documents reveal No 10 cover-up over Iraq invasion

• Inquiry to hear how Blair hid true intentions for war
• Military ‘ill-prepared' for aftermath of invasion

Military commanders are expected to tell the inquiry into the Iraq war, which opens on Tuesday, that the invasion was ill-conceived and that preparations were sabotaged by Tony Blair‘s government's attempts to mislead the public.

They were so shocked by the lack of preparation for the aftermath of the invasion that they believe members of the British and US governments at the time could be prosecuted for war crimes by breaching the duty outlined in the Geneva convention to safeguard civilians in a conflict, the Guardian has been told.

Continue reading “Journal: UK Generals Turning on Politicians”

Full Story Online Leaked documents reveal No 10 cover-up over Iraq invasion

Full Story Online

Leaked documents reveal No 10 cover-up over Iraq invasion