References – Page 40 – Public Intelligence Blog

Analysis: Spinning Iran and al Qaeda, part 1

Annual Edition: Violence and Terrorism 12/13

In Defense of the Defenseless: The Morality of the Laws of War

This article takes issue with Jeff McMahan's well-known argument according to which, morally speaking, some civilians and POWs may be liable to wartime attack, and that in this respect the laws of armed conflict prohibiting such attacks diverge significantly from the deep morality of war. I reject McMahan's suggestion that at the deepest moral level it is sometimes justified to violate these legal protections of non-combatants and prisoners.

Read with “Targeting the Populations of Countries that Are at War with the Muslims,” in which Awlaki argued that Islam's prohibition against killing civilians doesn't hold up for modern-day Westerners.

Jonah Lehrer on The Creative Insight of The Outsider

Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground

Former hacker Kevin Poulsen has, over the past decade, built a reputation as one of the top investigative reporters on the cybercrime beat. In Kingpin, he pours his unmatched access and expertise into book form for the first time, delivering a gripping cat-and-mouse narrative—and an unprecedented view into the twenty-first century’s signature form of organized crime.

Millennial Teenager: A Generation of Digital Natives

Impact of being connected — extend this to the five billion poor.

PTSD now PTSI – Injury not Disorder

Saving the Euro Will Require Banking Sector Reform

Venus transit: a call for global oneness

2012/05/072012/05/07

Tom Atlee: Wholesome Capitalism

03 Economy, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Commerce, Ethics

Wholesome capitalism?

What would wholesome capitalism look like?

“Wholesome” means healthy, in the sense of something that promotes physical and moral well-being. Wholesome capitalism would take into account the wholeness of people and the social and natural world we live in, and it would enhance that wholeness.

Some people think capitalism already does this. They note how good it has been at generating wealth. The word wealth, meaning abundance, derives from roots meaning well-being and wholeness. Many of capitalism's advocates feel it should be freed from constraints so it can generate more wealth.

Others note that capitalism – while generating wealth for some – many or few, depending on its form in a particular time and place – nevertheless generates much suffering and destruction in the process. It reduces everything to money and maximizes financial return even if it has to degrade and destroy human and natural life to do it. Many of capitalism's critics feel it should be undermined or overthrown.

Still others note both the blessings and problems with capitalism. They think we can have the wealth without so much suffering and destruction. Most of these people promote freeing capitalism's creativity and productivity while restraining its rapaciousness in various ways – using everything from laws, regulations and taxes to moral suasion and consumer-shareholder activism.

In this article I advocate all three positions – odd as that may sound – but only after reframing “capital” and “wealth” to better reflect wholeness.

THE PRIMARY DYNAMIC OF CAPITALISM

The special gift of capitalism is its ability to create MORE – more products and services, more self-organized economic activity, more wealth. In systems science, this tendency to create more-ness is called a positive or reinforcing feedback dynamic.

Continue reading “Tom Atlee: Wholesome Capitalism”

2012/05/05

Berto Jongman: Interesting Global Security Links

Links (Global Security)

Alert: Major cyber attack aimed at natural gas pipeline companies

Al Qaeda Is Coming Back [says] Former Special Ops Advisor

Cryptocom: Covers secret intelligence world

Google Could Face $10 Million Fine For Tracking Safari Users

ISRAEL: The Man With Messianic Tendencies

John Brennan Still Has No Clue: The Why of Terrorism

Occupy and the Evolving Micro-techniques of Police Repression

Rethinking Social Networking

SYRIA: The Lutfallah II Arms-Smuggling Scandal

U.S. special forces commander seeks to expand [clandestine] operations

VIDEO (3:42): Ode to the Brain! by Symphony of Science

Watergate’s final mystery [CIA role]

Yemen Smart Book for US Forces

2012/05/032012/05/03

Berto Jongman: Interesting Global Security Links

Links (Global Security)

Bombing at the Speed of Thought: Intelligence in the Coming Age of Cyberwar (2003)

For Israel's elite army intel unit, errors of the past send a spying eye into the future

Hitlerland: Andrew Nagorski discusses Hitler’s rise to power and Nazi Germany as seen through the eyes of Americans—diplomats, military, expats, visiting authors, Olympic athletes—who lived and worked there and watched it happen. Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power offers surprising twists and a fresh perspective on this era.

Israel gets fourth Dolphin-class submarine from Germany

Special issue on the risks of exposure to low-level radiation

Spot a bot to stop a botnet

What Are Security Professionals Thinking?

Phi Beta Iota: The US and Canadian West Coast should be reading up on radiation. The governments are lying to the public, the risk is not being properly presented, this is going to get much, much worse — kind of like the fetuses in Falluja, Iraq after depleted uranium hosed down their town. As for Israel, there is no question but that they can launch a nuclear missile from a sub, the only real question is whether 1-4 German nuclear devices came with the deal as discussed by Gordon Duff: Nuclear Theft / Threat from Germany or Donation to Israel for Use Against Iran, Others?.

Reference: Fukishima Update — Much Much Worse

Berto Jongman: Japan Planning Forced Evacuation of 40 Million

2012/05/032012/05/03

DefDog: Afghanistan security deal Obama signed has holes

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, DoD, Government, IO Impotency, Officers Call

This represents one of the dishonorable acts a politician can commit. Using other people's lives to win an election…….a clear indication of the lack of integrity of an individual who holds the highest office of the land….and the speech sounds like it was modeled after LBJ's equally incoherent speech in the closing days of Viet-Nam. The second article is pure propaganda, witless and without merit.

Afghanistan security deal Obama signed has holes

CBS News, May 3, 2012

WASHINGTON — The 10-year security compact that President Barack Obama signed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai contains promises the United States and Afghanistan cannot guarantee they will keep, and loopholes for both nations.

The deal signed Tuesday also allows either nation to walk away on a year's notice. That could allow the next U.S. president, or the next Afghan leader, to scuttle a deal negotiated by his or her predecessor.

For Obama, the agreement represents a compromise with Karzai after messy negotiations over U.S. military detention of Afghan suspects and raids on Afghan homes that offend Afghans.

Read full article.

Obama’s Deal With Afghanistan Underscores Its Crucial Role in the War on Terror

2012/05/02

Reference: Surrounding Iran – Updated with Pop-Up Info Boxes

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, DoD, IO Deeds of War, Military

Interactive: Map: US bases encircle Iran

Dozens of US and allied forces' military installations dot the region, from Oman, UAE and Kuwait to Turkey and Israel.

Doha, Qatar – US military bases continue to form a strategic envelope around Iran, although the American withdrawal from Iraq at the end of 2011 may have changed the regional balance somewhat towards Iran's favour. While US forces are scaling back in many parts of the globe due to budget cuts – and have begun a gradual depature from Afghanistan to be completed by 2014 – their international presence remains vast.

From an active-duty force of 1.4 million soldiers, the US has deployed some 350,000 troops to at least 130 foreign countries around the world. Some are at Cold War-era installations, but many are in or near combat zones in the Middle East. At more than 750 bases internationally, private contractors and third-country nationals also form a large percentage of the staff, in addition to military reservists and civilian employees of the Pentagon.

US military installations in the Middle East serve to keep an eye on Iran, but their regional footprint was significantly expanded well before Iran became the most publicly cited foreign “threat”.

There were three reasons why the US sought a presence across the Middle East, says Mehran Kamrava, Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Qatar:

“Securing oil resources, guaranteeing the security of the state of Israel and combating threats to American interests” were the initial priorities of US military activity in the region prior to the first Gulf War, Kamrava says.

“Subsequently, direct military presence wasn't in the form of impositions, but the [security umbrella] was a conscious policy decision on the part of the Persian Gulf states.”

See Interactive Map

Earlier Version with Black Dots: Graphic: US Bases (44) Surrounding Iran

2012/05/02

Reference: US Military Information Operations in Afghanistan

IO Deeds of War, Monographs

U.S. Military Information Operations in Afghanistan

Effectiveness of Psychological Operations 2001-2010

The U.S. Marine Corps, which has long recognized the importance of influencing the civilian population in a counterinsurgency environment, requested an evaluation of the effectiveness of the psychological operations (PSYOP) element of U.S. military information operations in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2010 based on how well messages and themes were tailored to target audiences. This monograph responds to that request. It summarizes the diverse PSYOP initiatives undertaken, evaluates their effectiveness, identifies strengths and weaknesses, and describes the way forward, including making certain specific recommendations for improvements. Special attention is paid to how well PSYOP initiatives were tailored to target audiences, primarily the Pashtuns who are the dominant population in the conflictive areas and the main support of the Taliban insurgency. It contains reports of specific operations that were successful in achieving objectives, as well as examples of operations that did not resonate with target audiences and even some that had counterproductive effects. The biggest PSYOP successes were in face-to-face communication and the emphasis on meetings with jirgas (local councils of elders), key-leader engagements, and establishing individual relationships with members of the Afghan media. In addition, the concept of every infantryman as a PSYOP officer proved very effective. The most notable shortcoming was the inability to sufficiently counter the Taliban propaganda campaign against U.S. and coalition forces on the theme of civilian casualties, both domestically and internationally.

Key Findings

Recommendations

Reference Home Page

Phi Beta Iota: RAND misses the obvious, with deliberation. Don't go to war for a dishonest government that lies to its own public; don't put your troops in harm's way on the basis of lies that cannot be sustained in the public eye. No matter how good the Marine Corps might be at the tactical level, that cannot overcome impeachable acts of treason at the strategic level. This is why Congress has its Article 1 responsibilities, and this is why Congress of the time (and yet today) is impeachable along with the Bush I, Bush II, and Bush III Administrations.