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Tuesday, November 18, 2003 |
 Italians lined the streets today to mourn their fallen. Ours are statistical inevitabilities (check your own personal radar on that). Why? Our leaders aren't confident in our military strategies, particularly ones that they wouldn't bet their son's and daughter's lives on (virtually nobody in government has a son or daughter in the military). They are worried about the polls. Disconnects like this never end well.
NOTE: The Bush administration blocked even a marginal increase in death benefits to the families of individuals killed in Iraq. I think that an insurance program for people deployed in Iraq is a fantastic investment. Hey Dean, if you want to win military votes, spend a couple of million of the money you raised (or raise more for this purpose) for affordable insurance (additive to SGLI) for those sent to Iraq. Think of it as the 300 days fund.
5:00:17 PM 
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I am writing my book on next generation terrorism (making good headway by the way, thanks for asking). There is an interesting process at work. I find that so many things in my life that I found interesting (as far back as 20 years ago) have found their way into the manuscript. Amazing. True kismet. I hope it turns into something people find worthwhile. Maybe not. Regardless, I am writing it.
Here is something interesting. I have the 1943 reprint of the 1932 collection of essays written by JFC Fuller on armoured warfare. In 1932, he generated zip in terms of momentum (virtually nobody read his ideas, because military men typically don't read). Most people don't know his name even now. Unfortunately (or inevitably in my view), an obscure officer in the German military (Heinz Guderian) understood his theories and became an advocate. He eventually practiced them with cardboard tanks on a shoe-string budget. Years later he led a tank force he designed to win a Blitzkrieg victory against France. So, it really doesn't matter how many readers you have, it is who reads your work.
4:39:35 PM
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Here is graphic that the Economist put together with Gallup (and others) numbers. Notice that no candidate has a national mandate yet (I am surprised that Lieberman was the national leader earlier in the process, go figure?!?). Notice that Clark took a dive recently nationally. Also, notice that Clark is likely to poll single digits in NH. Given the snapshot of the current factors -- NH momentum, national support, and money -- Dean is going to win. That may not play out, but it is probably a good bet. Clark is likely to be a front runner for the VP slot.
4:10:43 PM
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Forum 2003. General Anthony Zinni. US Marine Corps (Ret). September 2003.
Right now the question that has to be answered is: does our military expand its role beyond the military aspect, or will we continue to stick it with this mission without the resources, the training, the cooperation from others or the lack of authority needed to get the job done? If you're going to make the military the governors out there, if you're going to make them the proconsuls, if they're going to be the humanitarians and the reconstructors, then legitimize it in some way. Because we can't go on breaking our military and doing things like we're doing now.
Let me just finish by saying that we should be—as I know you've heard plenty of times here—extremely proud of what our people did out there, what our men and women in uniform did. It kills me when I hear of the continuing casualties and the sacrifice that's being made. It also kills me when I hear someone say that, well, each one of those is a personal tragedy, but in the overall scheme of things, they're insignificant statistically. Never should we let any political leaders utter those words. This is the greatest treasure the United States has, our enlisted men and women. And when we put them into harm's way, it had better count for something. It can't be because some policy wonk back here has a brain fart of an idea of a strategy that isn't thought out.
2:12:39 PM
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© Copyright 2004 John Robb.
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