Category: 07 Other Atrocities

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Wesley Clark interview (March 2007): “We plan to take out 7 countries in 5 years”

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Military, Officers Call
Michael Ostrolenk Recommends...

Wesley Clark interview (March 2007): “We plan to take out 7 countries in 5 years”

Synopsis: 10 days after 9-11, visiting Joint Staff, not only knew we were going to take down Iraq, a few weeks later but got the list of six other countries:

Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Iran

Watch the short video…

Phi Beta Iota: This is somewhat consistent with the published book Endgame–The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror by Thomas McInerney and Paul Vallely with an introduction by Oliver North.  Published in 2004, they focused on the need to use our military to wipe out Syria and Iran while intimidating Libya and Pakistan.  What is quite clear is that regardless of which political party is nominally in power, the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex (MICC) has taken on a life of its own that is expensive, dangerous to all, clearly at odds with the US Constitution, and totally out of control.  For a third of what we spend on war we could be waging peace and providing all 44 dictators with non-violent exit strategies.  The gap between the public and the government has never been greater in the modern history of the USA, in our collective view.

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Tom Christie on Failure of Acquisition Reform

07 Other Atrocities, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Military
Thomas P. Christie

Tom Christie spent almost 50 years inside the DOD acquisition apparatus, concluding his career as a top level civilian professional directing DOD's office of Operational Test and Evaluation.  Since the 1960s, he has seen every single stab at reforming how we develop and buy weapons come and go – and fail.  Today, as measured by GAO and many others, cost overruns are higher, deliveries are later, and the biggest DOD budget since the end of World War II buys us the smallest, oldest force structure and weapons inventory since 1946.

Christie has a straight forward explanation: the buying apparatus in the Pentagon, Congress and industry does not enforce the declared intent of acquisition laws and regulations, they circumvent the intent – thanks to the multiple loopholes and dodges assiduously inserted by Congress, the Pentagon and industry.  Politely, he calls this a lack of “discipline.”

Listen to his interview and explanation at Federal News Radio.

This interview is part of a series; find a link to these and several other related interviews at one of the webpages devoted to the anthology, The Pentagon Labyrinth: 10 Short Essays to Help You Through It.

Interested in more details of Christie's explanation?  Find the text of his essay in The Pentagon Labyrinth at , and find the entire text of The Pentagon Labyrinth.

Want to make a comment about Christie's or any other author's essay?  Want to hold a debate?  We welcome that.  Let me know by emailing winslowwheeler   at   msn.com.

Phi Beta Iota: Integrity is a self-healing system.  No one dealing with acquisition has it.  This has gotten so out of hand it is now an atrocity.

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General Electric 2010: No Taxes, Claimed 3.2B Credit

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government
DefDog Recommends...

But Nobody Pays That

G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether

By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI

The New York Times, March 24, 2011

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year
in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1
billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2
billion.

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: This is an atrocity, a crime against humanity.  Legalized crime in the US has reached heights not seen in modern history. There is no social contract between the government and those puportedlyostensibly governed.  GRIFTOPIA meets Empire of Illusion.  The systemic corruption of America–the Paradigms of Failure–is daunting to those who strive to serve the public interest.  Integrity–one word–absent across the board.  Why?  Because they can get away with it.

See Also:

Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail? + US Fraud RECAP

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Syrian Domino Teeters….

05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Peace Intelligence
DefDog Recommends...

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad faces most serious unrest of his tenure

By Leila Fadel, Thursday, March 24

Washington Post

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was facing the most serious unrest of his 11-year tenure Thursday as anti-government protests in a southwestern city threatened to escalate after a deadly crackdown.

. . . . . . .

On Wednesday, security forces launched a pre-dawn raid in the city in which dozens of people were killed, according to witnesses and activists. Precise estimates of the death toll range from 15 to 51.

On Thursday, witnesses said, thousands of people gathered in the city to bury the dead, chanting, “Syria! Freedom!”

Click on Image to Enlarge

Phi Beta Iota: “Freedom” is neither a partisan term, nor one that can be bought by Lockheed Martin or discounted by Goldman Sachs.  Young, freedom, and the autonomous Internet.  Not at all what the “elite” had planned.  Most interestingly, the dominos falling to non-violent public will are in sharp contrast to the published plan of the neo-conservatives to take down the Middle East by force–nuclear if necessary.

See Also:

Review: Endgame–The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror

Reflections on Revolution, Information & Civil Affairs

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U.S. Lacks Plan for Dealing With Chaos in Yemen Despite Dire Warnings

02 Diplomacy, 03 Economy, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Multinational, Military, Peace Intelligence
Who, Me?

Although it is Fox News and arch-critic Lindsey Graham pointing fingers, the fact is they are right!  US Government seems trapped in a time warp and completely unprepared to contemplate a world in which our military is relatively useless (as well as unaffordable) and we actually need to have a deep capacity for nation-building.  P

The Obama administration, after helping to orchestrate a U.N.-backed military intervention in Libya, is facing pressure to do more to prepare for the potential collapse of the government in another Mideast country, Yemen — but U.S. officials admit they are doing little more than watching at this point.

. . . . . . .

Yemen is a central ally of the U.S. government against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group, along with its operational planner, the American Anwar al-Awlaki, the first American on the CIA's kill or capture list, are now considered a greater threat than Usama bin Laden's network in Pakistan. And one U.S. lawmaker suggests that chaos in Yemen could result in a worse terrorist breeding ground than Afghanistan.

But Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ admission in Cairo that the administration had not focused on a future without Yemen's president was startling.

Read full article….



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Japan Lost Its Integrity over Nuclear Safety

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, Government, IO Sense-Making
Chuck Spinney Recommends...

The below report in the Guardian makes three general points regarding the Tokyo Electric's management operations at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor site:

1. Cost-cutting degraded safety procedures.

2. Collusion between industry and regulators.

3. Deferring decisions on how to permanently store nuclear waste.

Thank god these problems do not occur in Amerika (sic).

Chuck Spinney

Japan Nuclear Firm Admits Missing Safety Checks at Disaster-Hit Plant

Documents show operator failed to carry out mandatory checks at Fukushima Daiichi and allowed fuel rods to pile up

by Justin McCurry in Osaka, The Guardian/UK, March 22, 2011

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: Integrity, or the lack of integrity, is the defining factor in the rise or fall of complex civilizations.  The harm coming from the lack of integrity by the members of the UN Security Council with respect to nuclear proliferation and safeguards for nuclear waste; the arms market (they are the largest traders), and the general disregard for poverty, infectious disease, and environmental degradation, makes it clear that “governance” today is totally corrupt.  The good news is that informed hybrid networks can overcome Industrial Era irresponsibilities.  Multinational information-sharing and multinational intelligence (decision-support) offers a non-violent way forward.

noble gold