Wednesday, July 21, 2004

On Point.  Anonymous (the CIA agent who wrote "Imperial Hubris") speaks.  Major points he made: Al Qaeda isn't a terrorist organization.  If it was, we would have destroyed it several times over by now (NOTE:  this supports my term Global Guerrillas). Al Qaeda and its ilk represent a national security threat to the US.  This is war and it is going to last a long time. The tempo of attacks and activity within al Qaeda and other Islamic extremist organizations is increasing. We are losing the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Fallujah was an important defeat. Polls in the Islamic world indicate that our policies are opposed by 80-90% of the people (not our way of life).  This is the basis of al Qaeda's support. The policies opposed:  Our military presence in Saudi Arabia (near the holy sites).  Our support for appostate regimes in the Islamic world (Egypt and Saudi Arabia).  Our unqualified support for Israel.  Pressure to maintain low oil prices.  Support for regimes that surppress muslims (India and China). These policies cannot be debated within the US political system. Democracy can't be exported. The solution is to revise our policies to meet the needs of the Islamic world because it is in our interest -- or -- if we can't do that, we should be ruthless in our use of military power. Our military posture is defensive.  It should be aggressive.  Our generals have become bureaucrats.  To win this militarily, it is going to require a high body count. No single official will be faulted in the 9/11 report (and therefore nobody will be fired), despite substantial failures. No basis for optimism. 8:21:36 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

Reuters.  Led by Eliot Spitzer, several states including New York, California and Wisconsin as well as the city of New York are expected to file a lawsuit on Wednesday against five major U.S. power companies, demanding cuts in carbon-dioxide emissions, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazing. Eliot is the now leader of the US market-state. His focus:  efficiency, transparency, and opportunity. 5:38:25 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

Charles Cameron sent me a very cool note on the type of people needed for an intelligence skunk works:  My own take is that mental flexibility (the capacity to rapidly reframe a situation through a dozen diverse contexts) would be part of it is the key resource here, and that the opposite of it, whether it is called wearing blinkers, adopting the group think of one's peers, remaining inside the box, not questioning one's assumptions or having a blind spot, is the real problem with the present situation.  I agree.  Much of this flexibility comes from diverse interdisciplinary experiences (in the military, financial markets, business, technology, etc.). 4:43:26 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

Fallout from the decision of the Philippines to withdraw from Iraq:  6 more hostages (truck drivers) were taken by a new GG start-up (The Holders of the Black Banners).   You can smell the stigmergic pheromone trail on this one. Given that civilian companies are now doing the work formerly done by US military, this is going to continue.  Also, the Philippines was in a difficult position.  Its biggest export industry is workers (there are ~4,000 Filipinos in Iraq and 1.4 million in the ME). 12:57:37 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

The Saudi Embassy:  Press releases on the war on terror in the Kingdom. 7:30:38 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

AP:  The US military is finding it extremely difficult to retain special operations people.  The reason:  private military companies can pay over $200,000 a year.  This is similar to the loss of AF pilots to the airlines.  However, there are important differences.  PMCs pay that salary in the first year after you leave the military.  They also put people right back into the action in Iraq and Afghanistan. 6:53:48 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

Intelligent Defense permalink for the conversation with Valdis Krebs.  MP3 download and streaming options. 6:31:07 AM    Comment_ Trackback []