#1
Yes, but sooner. I was on AM radio late last night and the Astrology signs are not good at all. World economic order, if you can call it that, will collapse. The world stock markets will be the beginning signal of collapse. Yes, 2012. I'm going to request a waver. Timeout maybe. You know like, I got times. The end is near sign might be handy. I got to have a dog. The guy always makes it when he has a dog.
#2
"It sounds like pseudoscience, but it's a published theory. "
This idiot doesn't seem to realize that those two things are not mutually exclusive. Shall we talk about UFOs? Nuclear winter/global freezing (circa 1975)? Global Warming? Phrenology? etc.
To quote the estimable Bugs Bunny, "Whadda marroon!"
#1
If the early 20th century was about the East trying to join what it couldnt lick, the early 21st may be about the East trying to lick what it hasnt been able to join.
#1
Not sure about the marine or Octopus application. A bit too deep for my simple mind. However, after studying the IED chellenge for over a decade, it is now common knowledge that the majority of IED's are placed within 7k's (yes, commuting distance) of a village or town. Other "knowns" which have surfaced are the emplacer(s) likely reside in the village, are cognisant of ISAF traffic patterns, and advise locals on how to avoid the IED's. I will keep an open mind regarding the Octopus application.
#2
I have thought that a major strength of the US forces has always been their ability to act in small groups and independent of central control. And that everytime it has been tried (central control) it has failed dismally.
Of course there is the over-riding strategic plan under which all actions must take place but local flexibility has always been a strength, no?
#3
The article describes an approach for addressing tactical problems with a flexible strategy, which is fine and actually what the U.S. forces are trained to do. The article doesn't stop there, however. It then advocates using the same approach to developing strategy, which is very foolish.
The problem is information. Being able to know what set of things and procedures constitute a "flexible capability" in a complex system is hard to determine. And because any useful "flexible capability" will be necessarily complex, how does a policy-maker know that the capability is really working as intended? Thus the need for planning and testing the tools and methods needed for developing strategic assets and methods.
Setting out a clear strategy is extremely hard work, and arguing that we should adopt a strategy of not thinking about strategy is analogous to unilateral disarmament -- i.e. foolish.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
