For much of this year, Sgt. Maj. Raymond F. Chandler III, the Army's top enlisted soldier, has traveled to bases around the world with a simple message: “We've allowed ourselves to get out of control.”
(COMMENT: For the past couple of years we have been hearing that despite the exceptional levels of responsibility, operational experience and success, our Soldiers and company/junior field grade officers have acquired in ten plus years of combat experience, the Army's problems are rooted in a lack of garrison soldiering experience. As the theory apparently goes, troops and leaders have been so busy deploying and training to deploy that they haven't had time to spit shine boots, wax floors, paint rocks, bash the square, etc., and, therefore they are not the Soldiers they should be. )
Brazil Squanders Chance At Geopolitical Influence; Kills Internet Rights Bill In Political Fiasco
Infopolicy: Yesterday, the Brazilian parliament effectively killed the much-heralded Internet Bill of Rights, the Marco Civil, that had been praised by entrepreneurs and free-speech activists worldwide. This follows a ridiculous watering-down and dumbing-down of the bill, at the request of obsolete industry lobbies. Having been permanently shelved, this means that Brazil has practically killed its chance of leapfrogging other nations’ economies – BRICS is now just RICS.
The Internet Rights bill in Brazil, the Marco Civil, was a marvel. It would have enabled Brazil to leapfrog most other economies today, skipping a whole generation of industries.
The Marco Civil would have established that;
Internet access is a precondition for exercising citizenship;
As such, nobody may be cut off from the Internet for any other reason than failure to pay the connection fees;
The messenger immunity was almost absolute – nobody had any kind of accountability for carrying messages for a third party unless explicitly told so by a judge on a case-by-case basis;
Net neutrality was written into law;
All Internet regulation had to be based on preserving openness, participatory culture, and the open entrepreneurship that the Net brings;
Privacy applies online and must not be violated;
and much more.
Really, it was that good. Read it for yourself (in English).
As laid out in the previous article, Anonymous, Karl Rove and the 2012 Election Fix?, it’s possible that Karl Rove used SmartTECH’s servers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to flip the vote totals in Ohio in 2004 and thus steal the election that year for George W. Bush – and just as possible that he tried to do the same thing this year on Romney’s behalf but was thwarted by the hacktivist group Anonymous.
Many people have responded to these claims with a variation on: “That’s impossible. A presidential candidate committing treason? That would never happen, and, if it did, it would be front-page news. Everybody would know about it, right?”
Phi Beta Iota: NIGHTWATCH is the gold standard for political-military analytics. We doubt anyone now serving at CIA or DIA could have drafted this in one sitting without references. Here is the key finding brought forward:
This eight-day war is, thus, a turning point because Hamas, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, has proven it can strike at the heart of Israel and still live to tell the tale. This is a breakthrough tactical development. From now on, Israel is on the defensive and the threat will get worse unless a secular revolution occurs in Iran.
Israel-Gaza Strip: The exchanges of attacks have stopped during this Watch. Hamas posted the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
-Israel will cease all its activities against the Gaza Strip in the sea, land and air, including the incursions and assassinations.
-The Palestinian organizations will cease their activity from Gaza against Israel, including the rocket fire and border attacks.
-The border crossings to Gaza will be opened, facilitating the movement of people and transfer of goods. This move will take effect after a 24-hour cooling-off period.
-Additional issues will be negotiated if necessary.
Comment: This is not the durable peace that US officials say is the objective. It also probably is not enforceable by Hamas authorities because they do not control smaller splinter groups that probably will not consider themselves bound. The ceasefire will last becasue the principal parties say so, but Readers should expect violations. Both sides will use the respite to rest and rearm. There will be more fighting, but not for a few weeks.
Special Comment: So what just happened? After eight days of rocket and air attacks, both sides can declare victory of a sort. That is not a good outcome for Israel. The situation is much more complicated and ominous than in many decades.
As the White House and other agencies monitored intelligence in real-time, they faced a dilemma. They knew that the nation/state sponsored attack teams were lying in wait for U.S. rescue forces to arrive, which is the reason the fight did not conclusively end sooner. They did not know exactly where all of the attack teams were, but knew they were present based on signal communication intercepts. Could they risk such exposure by deploying a rescue team to Benghazi, only to end up with another Black Hawk down type scenario? In addition to that scenario, the entire operation now becomes exposed for what it is. Take another look at Panetta’s statement in that context. Does it now make more sense? Bad PR in an election year, no?
Intelligence experts discuss strategies for dealing with terrorism. Former Saudi Intelligence chief Prince Turki Al Faisal, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Dobbins and others talk with Reuters columnist David Rohde in a panel called “Countering Terrorist Threats, Real and Imagined” at Rand Corporation's “Politics Aside” conference in Santa Monica, Calif. (November 21, 2012)
Phi Beta Iota: It was not a terrorist attack. It was a commissioned, well-planned and probably state-sponsored attack against a CIA “covert” base, not a diplomatic facility, that was engaged in acts of war against the legitimate Syrian government. The Ambassador was collateral damage. Benghazi is a micro-cosm of everything that is wrong with the US Government in the foreign afffairs arena (starting with delusional amateurs incapable of comprehending that we are our own worst enemy). The Syrian government's roles is being concealed from the public, and NSA is as usual behind if not completely incompetent on the relevant intercepts.
Jordan: Update. Anti-government protests occurred for four days last week and might still be taking place. However no mainstream news services have provided recent update reports on anti-government ferment in Jordan.
Comment: The Gaza story has more glamor than Jordan, but threats to the Hashemite monarchy are far more significant for the stability of the Middle East than the Gaza fighting.
Phi Beta Iota: The three dictatorships that surrounded Israel and provided stability for Israel despite the cost to their own populations, are in turmoil. Egypt is no longer stable; Syria may re-stabilize but is at risk; Jordan is increasingly at risk. It is Israel's tragedy that it is an invented state; that it has chosen to be genocidal toward the Palestinian people whose land it has taken over; and that it has relied on its stability and survival on three dictators. This is not a sustainable proposition.
