The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
William R. Polk recently sent out the attached letter to his distribution list. It is a very comprehensive and I believe important review of Afghanistan. I urge you to take the time to read it. Appended to the end are a series of notes he used in the construction of his letter. Polk know …
GAO OVERSIGHT OF INTEL AGENCIES IN DISPUTE One of the simplest and most effective ways to strengthen congressional oversight of intelligence agencies would be to task cleared staffers from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is the investigative arm of Congress, to undertake specific audits or investigations of intelligence programs. Perhaps the clearest indication of …
Continue reading “Secrecy News: GAO Oversight of Intelligence, Costs of Secrecy”
W/R/T Vickers’ Irregular Warfare office — that looked like a shoo-in when originally staffed 3-4 weeks ago. More recently it has picked up significant senior-level opposition within the Building. If for no other reason, it’s inherently inconsistent with what SECDEF is now advocating about streamlining headquarters, reducing layers and reduncancy, etc. Morning Defense (Politico.com) June …
Continue reading “Journal: Vickers to Replace Clapper? Double-Whammy.”
CS: The United States may be on the cusp of a double dip recession and the government (the President and Congress) appears to be on the verge of making the same mistake Franklin Roosevelt made in 1937 — namely moving to reduce the federal deficit before the recovery was locked into place. Most historians now …
Continue reading “Chuck Spinney Sends: From McCrystal to Turkey to Unemployment”
Serious, probably righteous if expensive program. Washington Post June 19, 2010 Pg. 1 U.S. Buying Helicopters From Russia: Lawmakers balk at Pentagon’s purchases for Afghan air corps By Craig Whitlock The U.S. government is snapping up Russian-made helicopters to form the core of Afghanistan’s fledgling air force, a strategy that is drawing flak from …
Continue reading “Journal: DoD Makes One Intelligent Decision, Congress Freaks”
Nye, Joseph S. “Cyber Power.” Paper (30 Pages) Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, May 2010 Power depends upon context, and the rapid growth of cyber space is an important new context in world politics. The low price of entry, anonymity, and asymmetries in vulnerability means that smaller actors …
So, let me see — State wants, say, a billion dollars worth of DoD hardware gratis…what does the Marine Corps Security Guard Battalion say about all that? I guess that means jobs for former aviation warrant officers and maybe retired SF NCOs….but who pays for the contractors? Boston Globe June 15, 2010 Associated Press …
Continue reading “Journal: State Department Wants Its Own Military”
