Monday, March 21, 2005

Pakistan update  Guardian.  It's interesting to see how quickly this is shifting between terrorism, paramilitary shootouts, and systems sabotage.  Regardless, the state is the loser.   More than 3,000 people fled a desert town in western Pakistan yesterday as a simmering conflict between tribesmen and President Pervez Musharraf's government risked exploding into all-out civil war. A day-long battle in the town of Dera Bugti, 400 miles south-west of Islamabad, last week killed at least 45 people, including eight soldiers from the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force charged with maintaining order in the tribal areas. 6:30:13 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

One of the most important jobs in Iraq  Armed Forces Press Service.  Emergency Reaction Pipeline Repair Organization. One major attack, during the last week of January, threatened to leave Baghdad in the dark during Iraq’s national elections Jan. 30.  But thanks to a quick response by the Emergency Reaction Pipeline Repair Organization and its partners here, the voting proceeded without disruption. “Without this task force, in a lot of cases there would be no lights,” he said. “They would cease to exist for several days.” 6:07:36 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

ZDNet.  Mitch Ratcliffe is interviewed by Faber and Berlind on Persuadio.  Basically, it sounds like a system for helping small companies connect their product/company blog to influencers (bloggers, discussion boards, etc.) in the community that matters to them -- or at least measure their success or failure at doing that (which is half the battle).  One thing I have found is that mentions in the mainstream press don't mean squat to a new company (other than funding).  Why?  Frankly, the wrong people are reading about you.  What really matters are connections to people that will buy, use, and recommend your product.  Those elusive and extremely valuable early adopters.  The enthusiast.   Mainstream press mentions are for hype bubbles.  This is for tangible revenue and growth. 4:32:09 PM    Comment_ Trackback []

MoA.  Examples of inelastic markets under pressure. 9:36:01 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

Creveld.  Iraq and Vietnam.  His analysis is usually spot on.  However, this bit isn't.  9:34:30 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

CSM.  Barnett is going to make hay with this (the contracts he is going to get from defense suppliers, salivating at the possibility of selling equipment to a completely new military force, are going to make him filthy rich).  It's now a Washington truism that the biggest mistake made in the Iraqi operation was the lack of preparation for stability operations in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Saddam. This may have involved more than a paucity of troops to police the streets, or unpreparedness for the dangers of roadside bombs.  The problem is that Barnett's schemes will fail due to global guerrillas that can easily disrupt any connections his sysadmin force can make.  If you don't believe in non-state foes, how can you defend against them? 8:42:58 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

WSJ.  Nigeria.  Early in December, hundreds of unarmed villagers from the Kula community near here stormed three gleaming-metal flow stations pumping oil from the swamps of the Niger Delta to waiting tankers offshore.  The demonstration forced Royal Dutch/Shell Group to evacuate staff and shut down production for a month, knocking out 10% of the company's oil output in the country. 8:32:09 AM    Comment_ Trackback []

MTI.  The protection of Saudi oil facilities (think "Maginot Line").  It would be easy to disrupt Saudi Arabia's oil production even without much innovative over what we are seeing in Iraq today. “There are huge exclusion zones around the installations, 100 to 120 kilometers (60 to 75 miles) in diameter, fortresses in the desert guarded by colossal means—satellites that detect anything that moves, helicopters, radar, the army, their own security forces." The 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles) of pipelines that wind around the peninsula are at greater risk, but they are easily and quickly repaired.“If a pipe bursts, we cut the valves, detach the broken part, bring in a trunk of tubing by helicopter and weld it together. The whole process can be done in 24 hours.” Last month, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said his country had made “substantial efforts” to secure the country’s oil installations. “It would be difficult, if not impossible, for terrorists to reach them. . . . They are inaccessible to intruders.” 6:18:19 AM    Comment_ Trackback []