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Friday, March 12, 2004 |
 The mass protests in Madrid prove yet again that "terrorism" as a method of warfare is deeply flawed. It doesn't achieve the desired results: to coerce or delegitimize a nation-state. It does exactly the opposite: it hardens the policies and increases the popular support of a nation-state. Given that terrorist organizations are learning organizations run by educated, sane individuals (almost all the psychological literature on terrorists points to this), it is only a matter of time before classic terrorism gives way to something much more effective.
4:16:48 PM 
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A couple of items. The rapidly rising trade gap due Chinese outsourcing vastly overshadows offshoring of service jobs to India (there is a gap in perception). Second, China currently runs only a slight trade surplus with the rest of the world, which indicates that its currency is fairly valued (although a free float with the dollar should be a precondition of trade). So a big fall in the dollar may not occur even if the currencies floated against each other.
What this means is that China represents a trade threat to America on par with Japan in the eighties. Competition with Japan proved to be somewhat good for the US. It provided us with inexpensive, high-quality goods -- and -- it forced US manufacturers to radically improve their methods (in quality and cost). Unfortunately, the Chinese threat appears to only provide low cost, high-quality goods. It doesn't offer any improvement in manufacturing method that the US can match other than low cost labor. Does anyone else know of any other "secret sauce" in Chinese manufacturing?
2:20:54 PM
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CNet. The long-awaited proposal, submitted to the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday, has been crafted so broadly that it would outlaw the introduction of new broadband services that did not support ready wiretapping access. Companies currently offering broadband would be given 15 months to comply.
Basically, CALEA (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act) is being used by the Homeland security department to force rewiring of the Internet. The original act was aimed at forcing open call forwarding (etc.) enabled phones to wiretaps. It is now being applied to VoIP (particularly due to Skype, since systems like Vonage route calls through a central hub and are therefore easily accessed). The Skype "hole" is being used to force broadband companies to create central hubs for all Internet traffic (on a per ISP basis) where the FBI can place Carnivore. It is basically going to turn the Internet on its head...
1:32:23 PM
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Hallinan (USC) has a couple of telling notes on how we are diving off the deep end in Colombia:
While mass murders and kidnappings have declined, 20 percent and 32 percent respectively, targeted killings and disappearances of unionists and left opposition supporters have increased. Disappearances have increased from 258 in the 1994-95 period, to more than 1,200 a year since 2001. In the past 10 years, more than 3,000 trade unionists have been murdered, almost all at the hands of the Colombian Army or the right-wing paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). According to Human Rights watch, "There is detailed, abundant and compelling evidence of continuing close ties" between the two.
This is reminiscent of the "our" bastard approach to foreign policy during the cold war.
US Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), chair of the powerful House International Relations Committee, said of Colombia that "three hours by plane from Miami, we face a potential breeding ground for international terror equaled perhaps only by Afghanistan." Former US Ambassador to Colombia, Curtis Kamman, told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government that "The terrorists who operate in Colombia have not explicitly declared the United States to be their target. But their political and economic objectives are incompatible with our values, and they could ultimately represent a force of evil no less troublesome than al Qaeda."
It is only a matter of time, due to our policies, before that war extends to target us... (note the potential ties between ETA and al Qaeda).
10:38:15 AM
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Wilson on the 4th generation warfare swamp:
The situation is growing more complex resulting in a pugilistic witch's brew and hurly burly stew in the offing. For example, it has been reported in the open press that Hamas has an office in Nasariah, and Hezbollah has offices in Basra and Safwan. The political wings of both Hamas and Hezbollah are recruiting Iraqi youth with seminars that embrace their ideology and terrorist nature.
Terrorists' tactics and the nature of the insurgency are changing. This is characteristic of fourth generation warfare. One striking aspect of these fourth generation terrorist groups is their ability to adapt, transform and reappear. We must not lose sight of the fact that our fourth generation adversaries are constantly adapting changing as Islamic terror networks fan out seeking fertile new ground to foment discontent in places with weak authorities, lack of Iraqi security forces, shifting alliances, and endemic corruption associated with criminal enterprises.
10:28:53 AM
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With 200 dead and 1,400 injured Europe now has its 3/11. The disturbing thing about this attack is that Spain was on high alert and extensive security precautions were in place. This is another indicator that the nation-state is slowly losing control of its primary responsibility: order (and resorting to inane alternatives, see the post below for an example).
8:52:58 AM
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A religious right inspired bill to destroy wireless broadcasting and crush free speech is starting to work its way through Congress. The concept of "indecency" can be stretched to apply to anything that the dominant party in Congress doesn't agree with. Time to end this dangerous farce. Wireless broadcasting should be treated the same as cable or the Internet (BTW, Jeff Jarvis is doing a great job on this issue).
The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004, which passed 391-22, would give the Federal Communications Commission the ability to levy fines of up to $500,000 per violation, up from the current $27,500. Because many shows are syndicated and played on numerous stations around the country, fines could run into the millions of dollars.
8:05:42 AM
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© Copyright 2004 John Robb.
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