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rocket launchers — Click on Image to Enlarge

This search probably refers to the new “air IED” believed to be used to bring down the old slow chopper in AF. It appears to have originated in Iraq, but we have no doubt that Iran for the Shi'ites and Pakistan for the Sunni are both thinking of how to create asymmetries in technology that can cripple the US military machine. Below item with the photograph was a link within the original 8 August 2011 Did a New Taliban Weapon Kill a Chopper Full of Navy SEALs?. We are skeptical about this spin–it was an old slow helicopter flying a known route and most likely flying low and on a straight path. Three or more normal RPGs could have assured its destruction.

Iraqi Extremists’ New Weapon: ‘Flying IED’

Noah Shachman

WIRED, 5 June 2008

Shi’ite extremists in Iraq have added a frightening new weapon their arsenal: a jury-rigged rocket launching system which some are describing as a “flying improvised explosive device.”

Read full article…

2011/08/08

John Marke: Complexity, Risk Consultants, & Baloney

03 Economy, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commerce, Corporations, Cultural Intelligence, Government, InfoOps (IO), IO Impotency, Methods & Process, Misinformation & Propaganda

Complexity, Sharks & Risk Consultants – How “Internal Auditor” Magazine Got It Wrong

They got it wrong…. Internal Auditor recently published an article by Neil Baker “Managing the Complexity of Risk” claiming that “The ISO 31000 framework aims to provide a foundation for effective risk management within the organization.” Well….not so fast.

“Complexity” has become something of a buzz word in today’s business culture, becoming more vague and imprecise than many of us attempting to understand complexity would like. Naming something is not the same as actually knowing anything about what you just named (see my essay “The Red Wagon Principal: Knowing Is Better Than Naming”). The misappropriation of the concept is always done with the best of intentions. However, Neil was savvy enough to introduce Mandelbrot and fractal geometry into the mix doesn’t get a free pass.

Baloney

David Isenberg: Military Sub-Contractors Managing Kitchens a Major Health Threat to Entire Battalions

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, Budgets & Funding, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Corporations, Corruption, DoD, Military, Officers Call

You Want Chicken Pox with That?

EXTRACT

The story of what might be called the ghost of chicken pox future starts with Najlaa International Catering Services (NICS), a KBR contractor, headquartered in Kuwait. NICS was solicited by KBR in the spring of 2008 to provide a Request for Proposal (RFP) for approximately 32 Dining Facilities (DFAC) at various military camps in Iraq under the Army's LOGCAP (Logistics Civil Augmentation Program) III program. NICS subsequently won the contract.

Around the end of the first week of November 2008 it was discovered that NICS's temporary tent city housing camp at Victory Base Camp had a confirmed chicken pox case and 37 employees were supposed to be quarantined. NICS disputed with GlobalMed, its KBR-approved medical service provider, that it was a chicken pox case. NICS began to release the employees from the quarantine tent and put them back to work at the DFAC's.

Read original story in full….

Phi Beta Iota: This little-noticed story is actually–in our view–a major investigative expose. At multiple levels, from irresponsible acquisition to potentially catastrophic infections of entire divisions by “friendly contractors,” this is a story that merits much more attention. It is also a story that reinforces our view that contractors have no business being employed or engaged in a combat zone.

2011/08/082011/08/08

Richard Wright: DoD Drowning, Leaders Can’t Swim

03 Economy, 10 Security, Budgets & Funding, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, IO Impotency, Military, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Officers Call, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests

The Perils of Cutting Defense Spending

The Public Intelligence Blog has speculated that the financial elites who indirectly are the principal influencers the U.S. Congress and the Presidency have decided that their best interests will be served if U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) spending is substantially reduced. It has long been obvious that DOD budgets have been bloated beyond any rationality so any real effect to bring those budgets under control should be welcomed.

Yet I have concerns about how DOD will respond to major reductions in military spending. The permanent senior civilian leadership of DOD and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), for the most part, appear to be completely devoid of integrity and indeed common sense. I seriously doubt if DOD leadership can be trusted to execute intelligent reductions in spending. I worry that the bureaucrats and JCS staffers will end up cutting back even further on support to our actual fighting forces (real men and women) in order to continue funding parochial badly conceived programs that are expensive, but often useless. There is such a close relationship between DOD and the Defense Industries that as the late Colonel John Boyd (USAF ret.) observed the real strategy of the JSC is to keep the money flowing (and increasing if possible). Too many military and civilian DOD officials use a revolving door between high level DOD positions and high paying defense industries jobs to be able to objectively evaluate the real worth of many defense projects.

Continue reading “Richard Wright: DoD Drowning, Leaders Can't Swim”

2011/08/082011/08/08

Penguin: Taliban Plussing Up Anti-Air? Deja Vu….

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, Corruption, IO Deeds of War, Military, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Technologies

Improvisation by the Taliban, combined with decades of strategic, intellectual, and integrity shortfalls in DoD, equal death traps in the air. Note that the Taliban laid a trap to optimize body count AFTER the action was “over” and the helicopter was “going home.”

Did a New Taliban Weapon Kill a Chopper Full of Navy SEALs?

David Axe

WIRED, 8 August 2011

The passengers and crew of the twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook helicopter probably never saw the rocket hurtling towards them. The explosion and fiery crash in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan early on Saturday morning killed all 38 people aboard the lumbering chopper.

For U.S. forces, it was the bloodiest single incident of the 10-year-old Afghanistan war — and possibly a sign of the insurgency’s continued ability to introduce new weaponry. The attack is also a chilling reminder of the vulnerability of the United States-lead coalition’s indispensable helicopters. “Shock and disbelief,” is how one official characterized the reaction inside the military.

George Soros: Eleven Economic Insights + RECAP

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Budgets & Funding, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Money, Banks & Concentrated Wealth, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests

11 Timely Insights From George Soros On The Economy

Courtney Comstock<

Business Insider, 7 August 2011

In the past six months, hedge fund manager George Soros has been an outspoken critic of the economicrecovery.And as the U.S. digests the S&P downgrade, it's helpful to remember that as Barclays analysts Ajay Rajadhyaksha and Anshul Pradhan put it, The S&P's action is not a surprise. So to gain a market expert's view, we've gone through many of Soros' recent interviews and selected his main points.

Soros describes the key arguments the market is dealing with right now and makes predictions on what will happen next.

His quotes are dated in chronological order.

Phi Beta Iota: The original article has photos and more context for each quote. Eleven quotes only are below the line.

Continue reading “George Soros: Eleven Economic Insights + RECAP”

2011/08/072011/08/07

Marcus Aurelius: 22 SEAL Team Six & Others Die in Old Slow Chopper, Because US DoD Never Cared About Training, Equipping, & Organizing for High-Altitude Mountain Warfare

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, Budgets & Funding, Corruption, IO Deeds of War, Military, Offbeat Fun, Peace Intelligence, Politics of Science & Science of Politics, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Standards, Strategy

Marcus-Aurelius-150x150 — Marcus Aurelius

British press report, unusually thorough, but miss the core point: why so many sent into combat in a single very old, very slow transport helicopter.

Special forces helicopter shot down in Afghanistan was on a mission to rescue U.S. Army Rangers

Daily Mail, 7 August 2011

Chopper brought down in rocket attack was on its way to aid other elite troops fighting militants
Names of American victims begin to be released
Twenty-two of the dead soldiers were from elite Seal Team Six
At 30 deaths in total, it's highest number of U.S. casualties in one incident
Seven Afghan soldiers die in the crash
President Obama mourns this ‘extraordinary sacrifice'
Afghan president sends condolences to Obama

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