Journal ISSN 1078-1935 – Page 2916 – Public Intelligence Blog

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The Secessionist Campaign for the Republic of Vermont

By Christopher Ketacham, 31 January 2010

The President on Wednesday may have reassured Americans that the state of the Union is “strong,” but, just the week before, a group of Vermont secessionists declared their intention to seek political power in a quest to get their state to quit the Union altogether. On Jan. 15, in the state capital of Montpelier, nine candidates for statewide office gathered in a tiny room at the Capitol Plaza Hotel, to announce they wanted a divorce from the United States of America. “For the first time in over 150 years, secession and political independence from the U.S. will be front and center in a statewide New England political campaign,” said Thomas Naylor, 73, one of the leaders of the campaign.

A former Duke University economics professor, Naylor heads up the Second Vermont Republic, which he describes as “left-libertarian, anti-big government, anti-empire, antiwar, with small is beautiful as our guiding philosophy.”

Second Vermont Republic's gubernatorial candidate is Dennis Steele, 42, a hulking Carhartt-clad fifth generation Vermonter and entrepreneur. He owns Radio Free Vermont, an Internet radio station, and honchos an online venture called ChessManiac.com. Steele says that, if elected, his first act in office would be to bring home Vermont's National Guard from overseas deployments.

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2010/01/302010/12/25

Graphic: Analytic Tool-Kit in the Cloud (CATALYST II)

Advanced Cyber/IO, Analysis, ICT-IT, Innovation, Languages-Translation, Multinational Plus, Processing, Reform, Strategy-Holistic Coherence, Threats, Tribes

Corrected 30 January 2010

2010/01/302010/01/30

Journal: Chinese Military Bases in Pakistan, Elsewhere

02 China, 05 Iran, 08 Wild Cards

China to Open Military Bases Worldwide. There’s a New Kid in Town.

By: Pluto Saturday January 30, 2010 1:10 am

aa china sees — How China Sees World--One View

This we know.

It has been speculated upon in open-source intelligence circles for years. So, there is little surprise for the rest of the world when it hears of China’s first major foray in its new role as a Superpower.

Americans might be surprised. That is, if they even hear about it before the Juarez, Mexico base goes live.

China mulls setting up military base in Pakistan

BEIJING: China has signaled it wants to go the US way and set up military bases in overseas locations that would possibly include Pakistan. The obvious purpose would be to exert pressure on India as well as counter US influence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Well, why not?

Phi Beta Iota: Highly recommended for a full reading. The triangle of the USA, India, and Israel is morphing into the “death run” of Cold War governance and spending, and bodes ill for all three parties. The Chinese do not actually see the world as the cartoon depicts, here is a more accurate rendition, and it is most interesting to see the world from this perspective. China is not stupid–they understand the costs of overt military bases–they are probably ramping up their long-haul airlift, something the U.S. Air Force has refused to do for decades, and we would not be at all surprised if they have submarine troop transports as well as coherent plans for mobilizing the Chinese diaspora in self-defense forces with robust communications impervious to local outages.

2010/01/302010/01/30

Journal: DoD Mind-Set Time Lags Most Fascinating

10 Security, 11 Society, Government, Key Players, Law Enforcement, Military, Non-Governmental, Peace Intelligence, Strategy, Threats

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Pentagon Shifts Its Strategy To Small-Scale Warfare

By August Cole and Yochi J. Dreazen

Wall Street Journal January 30, 2010 Pg. 4

The shift in strategy sets up potential conflicts with defense contractors and powerful lawmakers uneasy with the Pentagon's growing focus on smaller-scale, guerilla warfare.

In particular, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has come to think that the Pentagon's traditional belief that it needed to be able to fight two major wars at the same time was outdated and overly focused on conventional warfare. The new QDR moves away from that model, a mainstay of U.S. military thinking for more than two decades, in favor of an expanded focus on low-intensity conflict.

Phi Beta Iota: This is most fascinating; it is also not the last word. Here is the timeline in short and long versions. Short: 22 years from advance guard to leadership; 12 years from internal think tanks to leadership; probably further delay from leadership acceptance to bureaucratic implementation: another 20 years.

1988: Commandant of the Marine Corps Al Gray and the USMC Intelligence Center figure it out. General Gray publishes “Global Intelligence Challenges in the 1990's,” American Intelligence Journal (Winter 1989-1990).

1992: USMC seeks redirection of one-third of the National Intelligence Topics (NIT) to Third World. Across the board stone-walling by other services and the US Intelligence Community.

Continue reading “Journal: DoD Mind-Set Time Lags Most Fascinating”

2010/01/302010/01/30

Commentator of Note: Christopher Bollyn

Authors & Editors

As an independent researcher and journalist, I depend entirely on the support of my readers to fund my work. I have spent many years studying the Middle East and Semitic languages and have a degree in history from the University of California at Santa Cruz with an emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Besides research and writing, I am an editor and translator. My extensive travels and knowledge of German, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Hebrew and Arabic give me an insight to analyze international politics and events.

I am currently working on a book entitled Solving 9-11, which is dedicated to explaining what really happened and bringing the events of 9-11 into historical perspective. The research is underway and will take months to complete. This essential work to increase understanding and clarity of the subject can only be completed with the support of readers and interested citizens.

Home Page With Artcile Chronology

Easy to Use Donation Button and Information

2010/01/292010/01/29

Journal: Afghanistan, Sun Tzu, State, & “Intelligence”

Methods & Process, Policy, Strategy

This post has four parts: 1) Chuck Spinney's long commentary; 2) The original article with attachments from TruthDig; 3) a ripost making three points about Chuck's comments; 4) Chuck's answer and a short comment from Robert Steele

The Eikenberry Cables Turn Sun Tzu on His Head: Domestic Politics and the Art of Asymmetrical Bureaucratic War

In the opening line of Book 1 of Sun Tzu's classic, The Art of War (circa 400 BC), the first treatise ever written on the subject, the Chinese master said,”War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life and death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied.” [1] He then goes on to describe a systematic method for assembling the information needed to make a rational decision to go to war. Today, in Pentagonese, we would call his method a “net assessment,” that is to say Sun Tzu described a very thoughtful way to perform a comparative analysis of one's own strengths and weaknesses with those of the adversary.

Sun Tzu's strategic outlook is amazingly relevant to contemporary circumstances; indeed, it is timeless, and I submit it provides the gold standard for for evaluating our own efforts to grapple with the question of going to war or to escalate a war — basically, his advice was simple: know your enemy and know yourself before plunging into war.

Continue reading “Journal: Afghanistan, Sun Tzu, State, & “Intelligence””

2010/01/292010/01/29

Journal: Haiti–A Special Forces Sergeant Major Reports Our National Crime Against Humanity in Haiti

08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Methods & Process, Military, Peace Intelligence, Threats

From A Retired Special Forces Sgt Major:

To All,

I just returned from Haiti with Hebler. We flew in at 3 AM Sunday to the scene of such incredible destruction on one side, and enormous ineptitude and criminal neglect on the other.

Port o Prince is in ruins. The rest of the country is fairly intact. Our team was a rescue team and we carried special equipment that locates people buried under the rubble.

There are easily 200,000 dead, the city smells like a charnel house. The bloody UN was there for 5 years doing apparently nothing but wasting US Taxpayers money.

The ones I ran into were either incompetents or outright anti American. Most are French or french speakers, worthless every damn one of them.

While 1800 rescuers were ready willing and able to leave the airport and go do our jobs, the UN and USAID ( another organization full of little OBamites and communists that openly speak against Americana) [REDACTED].

These two organizations exemplified their parochialism by:

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