Okay, so I can’t honestly recommend a war with Iran (but who gives a toot about my opinion?). We’re stretched thin enough as it is, and we still have a lot of lessons to learn from this conflict. But if I could “report directly to General T. Michael Moseley”, pretty much the coolest guy to ever grace the USAFA stage and the man that’ll shake my hand when (if?) I graduate, I’d be stoked. If I could do it thinking up creative ways to fight a war, it’d be even cooler.
An aside: this isn’t really journalism- but then again, this isn’t really news. Anyone with half a brain could have told you that we would be preparing strategy for a war with Iran. Heck, we’re ready for war with Azerbaijan! Hands up if you’ve heard of Azerbaijan in the last two weeks. How about the last year?
We’re strategizing wars with just about anybody capable of picking up a stick. We’ve got to- that’s how we keep from having our asses handed to us.
Tsunetomo sez: “Win first, fight later.”
I finally found an excuse to link to an awesome blog that I’ve been reading avidly since I found out about it a few months ago. From an Anthropological Perspective, Dr. Marcus Griffin’s blog about his experiences as an embedded anthropologist under the “Human Terrain System“.
I talked about the importance of functioning infrastructure in a recent post. Dr. Griffin talks about it too, in a slightly different way.
I am tentatively thinking that a lack of communal social space is likely a hardship for urban Iraqis. The poorer neighborhoods that have closely spaced housing compounds and no courtyards may be experiencing greater anomie because the rubble and debris on top of and around their dwellings compound their lack of communal space.
I find this fascinating. We don’t often think about the psychic weight that a lack of community can cause, but how can people build a government when they can’t talk on the street, when they’re afraid to leave their house?
Trash may be removed from primary streets but that does not alleviate the social anxiety caused lack of functional space for group interaction within their own living areas. Bulk removal operations should be seriously considered to create usable social space denied residents as a result of kinetic operations.
Another unexpected consequence of our actions- every time we blow up a house, we create rubble, rubble that clogs up roads and makes travel and socializing difficult. When the trash sits around forever, it doesn’t exactly engender trust or faith in the government. Foreign Policy’s awesome feature “Seven Questions” talked to Toby Dodge a few days ago and the infrastructure question came up.
FP: Unless it can actually get into neighborhoods and provide necessary services, is there a future for the Iraqi government?
TD: I don’t think so. The fundamental cause of all these problems is the collapse of the Iraqi state. I was living in Baghdad in April 2003, and it was amazing to watch the institutions of the state disappear. You would see men running out [of buildings] with computers, then desks and chairs, then the plumbing and electrical wiring out of the walls. The state was dissembled, taken away, and put in people’s houses. And what the looters didn’t do, [Coalition Provisional Authority administrator L. Paul] Bremer’s de-Baathification did. It broke the institutional memory of the state.
On that basis, we don’t have a failing state or a collapsed state—we simply don’t have a state.
Both articles are worth a read and talk about other important issues. Consider yourself urged to check them out- and subscribe to Dr. Griffin’s blog!
Trackposted at Diary of the Mad Pigeon
So, I’m the anomaly. I’m at the Air Force Academy, I have perfect vision, and I don’t want to fly. I don’t want to be an astronaut. I want to stay right here on the ground and catch bad guys.
I have friends here who would kill me for my eyes and I have friends in ROTC who would kill me for the fact that the Academy receives a disproportionate amount of the pilot training slots each year. And since the accepted route into space is to fly here on Earth for a while, I’ve got some space geek friends who mourn my squandered opportunity as well.
But if it’s your eyes that are keeping you out of space, despair no longer! Threat Level reports that NASA has just announced LASIK is a legit surgery! Great news, since apparently 50% of the program applicants are denied because of crappy eyes.
So fare thee well, my visually-impaired, space-minded (not spacy-minded) friends. Get that vision fixed and you’ll be up in space before you can say “Robert Heinlein.”
When terrorists and insurgents in Iraq started using chlorine as a weapon, they probably didn’t anticipate the full consequences of their actions. Unfortunately, neither did we.
Our response to the attacks was to make it difficult to import chlorine, and considering that the bad guys weren’t just using chlorine bombs but weaponizing friendly chlorine transport trucks, I can kind of understand where we were coming from. Denying the insurgents use of the gas is expedient and much easier than the alternative of guarding every shipment of chlorine 24/7.
The problem is that chlorine is an essential part of urban infrastructure, used to clean water and make it drinkable. In a country that already has problems with infrastructure due to our invasion, the continued insurgency, and general economic decline, a lack of cleanliness is the last thing they need.
Case in point: cholera has broken out nationwide. The BBC puts current dead at 12, with one in Baghdad. Once something like this hits a city, it’ll take some doing to make sure it doesn’t hit critical mass and become an epidemic
Eric Umansky has a lot more information than even the BBC report at this point. He’s also got the money quote, the “so what” for military folks trying to learn a lesson from the ups and downs of our security campaign in Iraq.
In other words, the biggest damage from chlorine bombs–as with so many terrorist attacks–has come from overreaction to it. Fear operates as a “force multiplier” for terrorists and in this case has helped them cut off Iraq’s clean water.
That’s right, Mr. Umansky. Even though some people (justly, in certain circumstances) criticize our “War on Abstract Nouns,” the phrase “War on Terror” is helpful when we consider the circumstances. We are fighting people who take as the core of their tactics creating fear in the hearts of their opponents. We must be careful we do not assist them by falling prey to it.
Via Schneier.
If you’re interested in logistics and the effect it can have on a war or our emergency preparations, check out Jonathan Soroko’s Popular Logistics.
Henry H. “Hap” Arnold. Jimmy Doolittle. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz. Hoyt S. Vandenberg and Curtiss E. LeMay. What do they all have in common?
If you answered “Air Force heroes”, you were wrong. Well, not wrong, technically-but off the mark. The correct answer, of course, (and if you got this one right, you should be writing this column) is they were all members of Majestic 12, the far-reaching conspiracy that all started one fateful day back in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico.
Welcome back to the fourth edition of Way-out Wednesday, where we get together and explore the inner recesses of some of the most paranoid minds in the world. Just remember- even paranoid schizophrenics have enemies. They might even have more.
As always, the following boilerplate applies:
DISCLAIMER: I make no guarantees about the accuracy (or lack thereof) of any of these posts, but true believers (or virulent skeptics) are welcome to discuss politely in the comments. Below statements do not represent my beliefs (necessarily), nor are they meant as an endorsement of any sort by Wingman NewsWire (unless I specifically say so).
The discussion of Majestic 12 is especially timely. If this letter is authentic, then the 60th anniversary of its founding was just two days ago. 60, of course is divisible by 12. This is clearly a sign of great significance (or maybe that’s just what they want you to think).
If Majestic 12 ever existed, it must have thrived. With brilliant minds like Einstein and Oppenheimer working on reversing engineering alien technology, how could Majestic have done anything but? Able to produce oodles of money out of thin air, possessing the knowledge of ancient cultures, they consolidated power, assassinated JFK when he threatened to expose them, and now are doing…
Not much of anything, at least that we can see. Of course, that just means the conspiracy is working.
Unless the whole thing is a USAF conspiracy designed to make us look away from the people we should really be afraid of (of course, if it is, I know nothing about it).
Behold, the true holders of real ultimate extraterrestrial power.
This is the first in a series on my undergraduate thesis, GLOBAL CONSPIRACIES: Anonymous, Isolated, Coordinated Tactics. Updates will be posted as they’re written/reviewed by my professors. Questions, ideas and discussion are always welcome.
Topic: Communications technology and asymmetric tactics.
Given:
1. Recent terrorist actions have shown the benefit of isolated cells.
2. Several new communications technologies make anonymous communication easily possible.
3. Cell-based warfare tactics are already difficult to trace and eradicate, with some branches of the network effectively invisible.
4. Modern network-centric communication tends to be two-way, in that if you are using “the grid” you are likely “on” it and traceable.
5. Centralized command and decentralized execution is considered a wise tactic in almost all forms of modern warfare.
Issues:
1. How isolated can asymmetric cells and still be effective?
2. How small can cells become and still be effectively led from above?
3. What would is a possible method of this leadership?
4. Will the current tack of the National Security Organization provide defense against this sort of widespread, ultra-isolated conspiracy?
5. If Issue 4 is answered negatively, what are some immediate action steps for correcting this security hole?
Question: Is the National Security Organization (DHS and DoD) optimized for combating widespread conspiracies which use cell isolation and anonymous communication?
Well? Got an answer? Post it in the comments or trackback here. The question isn’t the really important part. Ask the GAO, there’s not much optimized about DHS. Of more importance is the tactics and strategies that I’m envisioning. I’m looking forward to sharing more in the future. Think Neurocam meets Global Frequency meets flash mobs.
Feel free to dispute or build on any of these topics. As with everything on this blog, my thesis milestones are released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Do me a favor, though- let me know if you build on it. I like sharing, and I’d love to see what you come up with.
Here’s one idea. Good for a laugh, but I’m not so sure about how well it would work… what do you think?
Also, if you’re brave enough, check out the site it comes from- if you’re brave enough. Prepare for bigotry by the boatload.
Earlier I mentioned the walls that were being built in Baghdad and how they were probably a bad idea. Courtesy of my Geospatial Analysis professor (sometimes being a student is great), I was turned on to this map. While all the information on it is interesting, take a look at the difference between the ethnic boundaries pre-2006 and “current” (as of February 2007).
Of course it’s a few months out of date, but look at how sectarian Baghdad has gotten compared to what it used to be. Look also at how little red dots blossom as you drag the time slider from the left to the right.
If you’re looking for other cool maps, here’s a few sites to check out:
Strange Maps, a blog which posts all sorts of strange, wonderful and amusing maps from all sorts of different sources. Sometimes educational, always a hoot.
Global Incident Map, brought to me by way of Diary of the Mad Pigeon. Updates continuously with terrorism attacks and “suspicious events” from around the world. Fascinating, eye-opening, and scary.
What if Fidel Castro wasn’t the loveable old communist most of us think of him as? What if he was something much more sinister? What if he was (duh duh duh!) a SUPERMOLE!
Welcome back to Way-out Wednesday. If you’ve never seen this before, this is when we all dig into the underbelly of our world a little bit and bring to light some dark and scary secret, like the preternatural tree-hiding abilities of the average African Elephant. This week’s conspiracy is certainly a doozy. As always, the following disclaimer applies:
DISCLAIMER: I make no guarantees about the accuracy (or lack thereof) of any of these posts, but true believers (or virulent skeptics) are welcome to discuss politely in the comments. Below statements do not represent my beliefs (necessarily), nor are they meant as an endorsement of any sort by Wingman NewsWire (unless I specifically say so).
So, what could possibly make our bearded southern friend a candidate for American agenthood? Well, for one, Castro was a firm believer in the Marxist system. A little too firm, some say. After all, everybody knows that the system is overly idealistic and that true believers are dangerous.
Point #2: Castro went to the Russians, not the other way around. Every intelligence professional knows never to trust an outsider who wants the job.
And then there’s the mysterious Russian intelligence agent who showed up as a “journalistic correspondent” and kept a close eye on Castro. A “correspondent” who just happened to work for a telegraph service that just happened to be run by the Soviet Government! Coincidence? I think not!
There’s all kind of evidence here, and it’s even footnoted. Of course, I have neither the time nor the inclination to go track down all the sources and verify if they truly heard Castro singing the Star-Spangled Banner in the shower one day, but the facts are plainly laid out. Castro is the best placed mole in history.
I wonder if this means he’ll get a star on the wall when he finally kicks the bucket.
Thanks to Robert Anton Wilson’s book, Everything is Under Control.
As always (although this is the first time it’s been mentioned), if you have any ideas for conspiracies for Wingman NewsWire to kick around a bit, give us a holler at wingmanx splat academywingman spot com.
P.S.> Astute readers might (or might not) notice that this story has some similarity to the plot of Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. I. I’m pretty sure this is a coincidence- but what if it’s not!? What if this British author’s British story about fictional British heroes is actually about the U.S.S.R. and the plain ol’ U.S.?!? Cue the woo-woo music!
The Boston Globe has a good editorial that addresses both sides of the Afghani poppy problem. In case you didn’t know, Afghanistan’s number one export is heroin. Dirt-poor farmers grow the poppies from seeds they bought on loan from the drug lords. If we kill the poppy, the heroin traders start breaking legs. If we don’t, the poppy gets traded and the farmer and his family get to scratch out another day- and the behavior is reinforced. Another alternative is legalizing the export of heroin for medicinal purposes- but with druggie demand (and hence the price they’re willing to pay) drastically outstripping legitimate users’ needs, it would be like trying to empty the Atlantic with a beach bucket.
How big an industry is this? According to a 2004 UN report, Afghanistan produces some 87% of the world’s heroin. That’s a lot of drugs. In fact, some estimates say that with Afghani production, supply of heroin outstrips known market demand by 30%.
So if we burn the poppy, the farmers get hurt and hate us. If we legalize the poppy, they sell it to both markets and make more money from the illegal ones. What’s a nation-building nation to do?
Well, we’re not standing still. In fact, we’re trying all sorts of things to stop the growth. The DEA is deploying agents, analysts and trainers both to grab the heroin themselves and train the Afghani “National Interdiction Unit.” They’ve been there since 2004, though, and the amount of heroin exported is still going up. What’s going on?
It probably doesn’t help that Afghanistan’s anti-corruption chief was once a Las Vegas heroin dealer. Just a thought.