As America returns to war in the Middle East, ramps up for new problems from Russia, battles Ebola in Africa and continues the "pivot" to Asia, the capacity of the U.S. military is once again front and center. But Washington is in denial about two major realities: The U.S. military's technological edge is eroding, and politics is killing the Pentagon. All too soon, America won't be able to take on this range of challenges. Indeed, it's not even clear that we still can today.
At a recent Democratic Party event, President Obama boasted that, "American military superiority has never been greater compared to other countries." But the opposite is true. Earlier this year, the Pentagon acquisition chief contradicted his boss: "Technological superiority is not assured, and we cannot be complacent about our posture. This is not a future problem; this is a 'here now' problem."
U.S. military technological superiority has been declining across the services and warfighting domains for years now. It's common knowledge in the defense community, but as with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the intelligence community, no one in the White House appears to be listening. The buildup in defense-related federal research and development (R&D) spending that began in the 1940s and persisted through the 1980s was responsible for propelling many of the pivotal technological breakthroughs of the 20th century, including jet engines, avionics systems, weather satellites, electronic computers, computer software and graphics, GPS and cellphones. And that innovation has propelled the U.S. military to the pinnacle of world power -- until now.
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Social engineering and PC have always infected the military--much more so during the last 6 years. Their sole purpose should be to defend the country--not nation building, addressing ebola epidemics or making the military a haven for various splinter groups.
[DAWN] The gory spectacle of beheading has returned to Fata. In Tirah valley on Friday, Death Eaters beheaded a man in the marketplace and ordered that the body be kept there on display until the evening.
The brutal act, the first of its kind in Tirah, was justified by citing charges of spying. The execution-style killing came at a time when the Death Eaters, united by a common cause and divided in groups over the details, are under severe pressure from the security forces.
On the day of the beheading, there was news about a group in the ranks of the Death Eaters having surrendered to the security forces.
Also, the capture of men working for or thought to be sympathetic to the Death Eaters is routine. An even bigger threat to the Death Eaters is posed by military jets which have been targeting their hideouts and taking out well-known Death Eater commanders.
All this leaves the Death Eaters desperate for a strong counter-statement, and the killing of a man for spying provided them with a simple, blood-curdling option.
To their mind, this is a convenient way of boosting morale among their ranks and creating fear among the people, both aspects central to the conduct of their business.
It also helps them connect with similarly gruesome images flashed from the Middle East where an effort is on to introduce a new order and globalise the war in the name of religion.
Beheading, as analysts have pointed out, is used to bring out the international nature of the war.
It is an act introduced to Pakistain under the influence of foreign Death Eaters and it might not be a coincidence that this latest instance in Tirah has been accompanied by questions about the presence of the self-styled Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in the country.
The incident, while it is seen to be a reaction to the success of the security forces, also brings out the grave dangers the people in the area are exposed to.
The security forces are said to be in control of areas close to where Friday's killing took place whereas some parts of the Tirah valley are still controlled by the Death Eaters.
There has been large-scale displacement and there are calls for more people to leave their homes for safety. Just as the delays in getting out of the danger zone are inevitable, there are bound to be some people who cannot or do not want to leave their home, creating a situation that requires deft handling.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2014 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The self-styled Islamic State has added another âachievementâ to its tally as it seeks to meet the criteria that define a modern functioning state.
The extremist group reportedly intends to mint its own coins as per the diktat of âcaliphâ al-Baghdadi. IS already has a central leader, a flag and a de facto capital â Raqqah in Syria â while it controls several provinces in that country as well as in Iraq.
Add to this the hordes of well-armed cadres that constitute its militant army.
All these facts underscore the threat IS poses to the Middle East as it seeks to remake the region in its own image. Perhaps all that remains for IS to be considered a âgenuineâ country is issuing its own passports and postage stamps. Yet, seriously speaking, the fact is that the group is probably the most well-financed of all contemporary militant outfits, even if the new coins are little more than a gimmick.
So while the US-led military campaign against the group â which has had mixed results â continues, the international community also needs to come up with practical ways to cut off the Islamic Stateâs finances.
It needs to be identified who is buying oil from fields under IS control and who is facilitating the groupâs financial transactions. Because while it may be trumpeting its own legal tender, the militant group still very much does business in dollars, euros and Iraqi dinars.
As far as aspirations of becoming a functioning state go, in the age of empire it was possible for marauding hordes to occupy a country and then claim legitimacy over it.
But in the modern era, it is the will of the people that grants governments legitimacy and determines the redrawing of national borders.
Considering the reports from those living under IS rule â as the UN has recently highlighted â the âcaliphateâ has unleashed a reign of terror in the territories it controls. Hence any dreams of legitimacy will remain unfulfilled if people continue to be terrorised in the name of faith
Posted by: Fred ||
11/17/2014 00:00 ||
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In America there are two types of people; the oppressed and the oppressors.
The oppressed oppress the oppressors. And everyone including the oppressors agrees that this is only fair because the oppressors deserve to be oppressed. After all they are the oppressors.
They deserve to have the money they earn taken away. They deserve to be sent to the back of the line when applying to a college or looking for a job. They deserve to be beaten, robbed, raped, and taunted with slurs that would lead to national outrage if it were directed at the oppressed. But they’re the oppressors. They deserve it.
If they complain, they deserve to have their speech censored. They are the oppressors. There’s no telling how much oppression they might dish out if the oppressed don’t keep them down.
That’s just life in the Victimocracy.
With one sob story too many, one whine too great, one more PBS special, special report about the plight of the oppressed and episode of Donahue, the country changed. The oppressors still had the democratic refuge of elections where they could by sheer numbers vote to retain their civil rights, but most of the other mechanisms of governance had ceased to be democratic and instead became victimocratic.
To have real power you had to be a victim or one of their protectors.
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.
