The second novel in the "Strike The Tent" trilogy is now available for purchase at; iUniverse, Barnes and Noble and Amazon. The cover painting, "The Fifes and Drums" is by Keith Rocco.
The first volume, "The Butcher's Cleaver" is available from the same booksellers.
These books are available in electronic formats to include "Kindle' from major vendors. pl
Download Rosemont.Butcher's Cleaver-LO
http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/wgo/podcasts.html
The emerging alignment against the Syrian government:
- Mildly Islamist Sunni Turkey.
- Wahhabi Islamist Sunni Saudi Arabia
- Sunni Al-Qa'ida
- Sunni Hamas (in spite of the Israeli agitrpop about Iranian support).
- Sunni Wahhabi Qatar.
- Sunni fighters from Libya
- The US Government and MSM
Alignment supporting the Syrian government:
- Iran
- Hizbullah
- Russia
- China
Get the picture? Are you sure you want a different governmemt in Syria or do you want a reformed government? If you like Egypt, you are going to love post-Baath Syria. pl
Watching the United States stumble from one bad policy into another over the 10 years of the Afghan war, one went through a whole gamut of emotions ─ bemusement, puzzlement, anger, sorrow ─ but ending up with bewilderment overpowering the others. How could this great empire, with all the resources of knowledge, experience, intellect, research and analysis at its command, get it so consistently wrong? How could this “greatest democracy in the world” allow special interests to take over its policy-making to the grave detriment of the true interests of the country and its people?
Part of the answer was provided by Andrew Bacevich in a recent article. He wrote: "Strategy is a quintessential American Century word, ostensibly connoting knowingness and sophistication. Whether working in the White House, the State Department, or the Pentagon, strategists promote the notion that they can anticipate the future and manage its course ...... Strategy is actually a fraud perpetrated by those who covet power and are intent on concealing from the plain folk the fact that the people in charge are flying blind”.
Another part of the answer comes from what happened to Bacevich. A former army officer, now a professor of history and international relations, he is one of the sanest people in America writing about current affairs. In recognition of that his writings were always welcome on the OpEd pages of the principal newspapers and in periodicals ─ until he started pointing out the folly in many of the policies being pursued by the US. He was then dropped like a brick. The only ‘experts’ who are now featured in both the MSM and scholarly journals are those who push the reigning narrative. Presumably, they are the only ones now read or heard in the corridors of power.
That is why it was such a pleasant surprise to come across an article that offered a remarkably clear-eyed view of the reality of the situation in Afghanistan today, and proposed a way out for the United States.
Continue reading "Afghanistan ─ Reality and the way out (FB Ali)" »
I have been having a discussion with a friend with regard to the character of this character in my novels. He is Lieutenant Colonel John Balthazar, CSA aka Major Jean-Maries Balthazar d'Orgueil of the Imperial Guard Division of the Army of the French.
This fictional personage is a lifelong professional soldier of the Army of Africa, and a Crimean War veteran.
My friend and I differ as to what Balthazar is like, what his mentality is and as to whether this French offcer is a man of virtue,
Comments will be welcomed from those who are familiar with the man. pl
Republican Debate - The notable event was the continuation of the Zombie Media/AIPAC (Likud) attack on CJCS. John King specifically asked one of the dweebs (not Paul) what he would do about Dempsey's attitude. Gingrich responded to the dog whistle in Adelson's mouth and said that Dempsey's attitude was incomprehensible to him.
Iraq- 5 killed today in the paradise the neocons made. "And the beat goes on..."
Afghanistan - 2 US soldiers killed in Qur'angate riots. IMO what we are seeing is the result of all the Muslim bashing the troops have been exposed to in the last few years. The depiction of Islam as a "cult" of the devil by people who have been contracted by DoD to teach about these countries was bound to have a bad effect over time. Once again, the Qur'an is regarded by nearly all Muslims as the UNCREATED word of God. How many times must this be said before the idea soaks in. The evangelicals and a lot of the social scientists do not want to hear that. The evangelicals simply hate those they see as the enemies of their faith and the social scientists want to "what is REALLY going in here?" These people undermine the message of tolerance that must accompany the NATO presence in Afghanistan. pl
Last Spring Larry Johnson and I wrote the enclosed article for the "National Interest." It examined options for different kinds of military action against Iran and the broader implications of such actions. Half a year has passed and the Baker-Hamilton group have labored and brought forth their "mouse." The president of the United States and his Secretary of State have expressed themselves in the last days as opposed to discussions with Iran over the Middle East crisis unless Iran fulfills in advance the American policy demand to halt its fissile material enrichment program. The Iranians apparently decline to do so.
Washington buzzes with rumor (and sometimes better than rumor) to the effect that President Bush will not leave office without "neutering" the Iranian nuclear program. His determination to unseat the present Iranian government in favor of one that he finds more "modern," humane, and democratic seems to remain undiminished. He, and his "team" apparently remain convinced that the Iranian masses are a "captive people," awaiting the call to revolution, westernization and globalization. This view of the need to liberate Iran as part of the Bush "Freedom Agenda" certainly affects the administration's view of the need to "put paid" to Iranian nuclear ambitions.
There is growing desperation in the White House and in the Republican Party. There is a fear of being remembered as "losers" on a cosmic scale. There is also a great denial of the consequences of preemptive war against the Iranians and there is also the ever present urging of Israel to "deal with" this problem.
On balance, it seems to me that the graph line of the probability of US military action against the Iranian nuclear facilities and state before the end of the 2nd Bush term has turned upward sharply.
I would place it at over 50%. pl
Download lang_johnson_tni_83.pdf
As you can see, we have been "here" before. pl
http://francona.blogspot.com/2006/03/iran-israels-air-strike-options.html
"Theoretically, the Israelis could do this, but at great risk of failure. If they decide to attack Natanz, they will have to inflict sufficient damage the first time - they probably will not be able to mount follow-on strikes at other facilities.
When all the analyses are done, there is only one military capable of the sustained widespread air operations required to eliminate Iran's nuclear weapons research program - the United States. Again, a diplomatic nightmare, but certainly a military possibility." Rick Francona
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Rick and I worked together for a long time when he was my deputy in DIA. I trust his judgment . Pat Lang
I decided to re-post this because of the current furor. Submarine launches in the Gulf and a re-fueling /recovery base in the trans-Caucasus should be added to the list. pl
First thing I saw on the box today on my way out the door with the dogs was Richard Haas on "Brewed by Starbucks" attacking Dempsey's judgment. This was on the issue of whether or not the Iranian government is a "rational actor." His main argument was that Iran is assisting the Syrian government and that this shows that they/it are not rational actors. Well, if the Syrian "resistance" is mainly Sunni jihadis, how is it irrational for Iran to help the government against them? BTW, he also bitched about Dempsey's lack of deference to the Israeli government. We can expect pressure by the zombie media and the part of the Israeli parliament that sits in Washington for Dempsey's removal. Let's see if Obama is so gutless as to do that. He sent Depsey to tell the Israelis what he did. Let us say for a moment that the AIPAC/Likud crowd succeed in getting rid of CJCS, do they think he would be quiet thereafter? Oh, yes, Barnicle, the ancient plagiarist is clearly, in the words of one here, a "shill." He had his talking points this AM and he stuck to them. pl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_N._Haass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Barnicle
I anticipate a continuing attack on General Dempsey, the CJCS by AIPAC/Likud and their Zombie media clients.
He will have a great deal of trouble defending himself in what is essentially a political arena.
We do not have such a problem. To paraphrase Sheridan again, "If you love your country, come up to the front..."
Telephone, e-mail, letters to the editor. Use everything availble. pl
Chief Judge Washington, Associate Judge Blackburne-Rigsby, Senior Judge Ferren overrule AIPAC and allow IRmep's damning 76-page brief in Rosen V. AIPAC to be filed in the DC Court of Appeals:
"AIPAC is an organization that has long 'had it both ways' in functioning as an agent of the Israeli government without registering, influencing funding flows to political candidates while claiming charitable tax-exempt status, and rewarding employees who obtained classified information--until they are criminally indicted."
What is really going on in Syria? There are no shortages of hysterical opinions. Rebel spokesmen claim that Assad is being aided by IRGC and Hezbollah forces. Assad's spokesmen claim the rebels are no more than armed bandits and thugs aided by western intelligence agencies and al Qaeda terrorists. The truth is certainly a lot more muddled than any of these opinions. As General Dempsey said, "… I would challenge anyone to clearly identify for me the opposition movement in Syria at this point." In my last stab at describing the Syrian insurgents, I noted the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Syrian National Council (SNC) who laid claim to representing and leading the armed insurgency, in the case of the FSA, and the protest movement in the case of the SNC. Both these groups are operating in Turkey. Recently a third group surfaced when a former FSA spokesman announced the formation of the Higher Military Council. This lack of unity and outright rivalry sounds like the Libyans' present dilemma where local militias remain independent and largely unresponsive to any central authority. Luckily, at least in my opinion, all the competing entities claiming they speak for the insurgents and protesters inside Syria are not in Syria.
The clearest answer I have found to the question of who are the rebels is in the writings of Nir Rosen who spent two months in Syria late last summer. The armed insurgents refer to themselves as muqawama or resistance. They are young and organized at the local level. Rosen describes them as using classic insurgent techniques of providing services to the population much as Hamas and Hezbollah do. We often hear of them protecting demonstrators from regime intelligence and security forces. There are not that many defectors among these local armed insurgent groups. In addition to the armed resistance there is a much wider protest movement organized and led on a local level. The leaders of these protest movements are older, wiser and stay in the shadows. They do coordinate actions with their counterparts in neighboring towns. These local movements generally support the SNC, but the SNC does not direct the local protest movements. There is no central or unified leadership for the armed revolution.
As I alluded to earlier, reports of al Qaeda fighters and foreign intelligence agencies operating with the Syrian insurgents are greatly exaggerated. Some inconsequential number of foreigners may have joined the protesters and insurgents, but the reports are largely regime propaganda and conspiracy theories. Foreign contact in the form of political, logistical and military support is probably limited to the FSA and SNC based outside Syria. However, foreign interest in supporting either regime change or regime survival is real. This situation is bound to change as all outside interests figure out what they are willing to pay to get what they want.
Should we arm the rebels? General Dempsey recently stated that, "it's premature to take a decision to arm the opposition movement in Syria." I agree. We should be identifying and contacting the local protest movements and their leaders inside Syria… groups such as the Homs Revolutionary Council. This is the preparation and initial contact phases I described in my post on UW. At some point, I believe soon, we should move to advise and support the resistance inside Syria. Help the rebels create safe havens for the protest movement. A military stalemate may be a better solution at this time. Let's not call for a direct violent overthrow of the Assad regime. I'm sure Assad and those around him have visions of ending up displayed in their local grocer's freezer section with knives up their arses and bullets in their brains if they don't prevail over the rebels. They will naturally do all in their power to avoid that fate. A military stalemate and continued outside pressure, coupled with encouragement, on the regime may allow the protest movement and the regime to yet find a political solution… if one is still possible.
TTG
By Richard Sale, author of Clinton’s Secret Wars and Traitors.
What is first needed is an historical sketch.
Belonging to a superior social class in Europe rested on family, lineage, and vast holdings of property. The wealth that resulted gave social prestige. Wealth was simply an enabler. In Europe, its possession did not make you a gentleman.
Flash forward to America.
The key to power in America was money and the possession of huge amounts of it. After the Civil War, money was the key to ascending the social ladder, and getting a fortune was not a matter of polite duels between nimble rapiers but of brass knuckles. It was a high stakes game. Success meant glory; failure, bankruptcy and oblivion. Respect for the rule of law was ignored as irrelevant. When Jay Fiske and JP Morgan found themselves in control of the two ends of the Susquenna Railroad, they resolved the conflict by mounting locomotives at each end and then ramming them headfirst into each other. And even when one party lost, it retaliated as best as it could by ripping up tracks and destroying trestles as they went.
Competition between companies meant no quarter given and none asked. In one case, a persistent opponent of Standard Oil was blown up by dynamite. Some organizations resorted to kidnapping. There were other incidents of moral charm as well. When a great blizzard blew down telephone poles in New York, Jay Gould, a ruthless master of money markets was forced to send his financial dispatches by messenger. His competitors kidnapped the boy, substituted a look-alike, and for days, Gould was dismayed to find his moves were known days in advance.
Continue reading ""GOP: Home of Family Values" Richard Sale" »
Adam L. Silverman, PhD*
There is two sets of very different news about Congressman Paul's run for the Republican nomination making the rounds right now. The first comes to us from Maine, where it appears the Maine Republican Party may have rigged that state's caucuses. What seems to have happened is that they zeroed out votes in places where Governor Romney did NOT or was NOT winning and as a result he won the state by 194 votes. Brad Friedman, who has been all over every report of possible voting irregularity for as long as I can remember, also has all the coverage on this one. He also has coverage over the mess in Iowa too!
The second piece of interesting Congressman Paul for President news is his campaign's strategy for actually gathering up delegates to the GOP nominating convention in Tampa this summer. Basically the Paul Campaign has been quietly rolling up delegates while no one was looking.
*Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College (USAWC). The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of USAWC and/or the US Army.
CJCS had a chat this AM with Fareed Zakariya. How did this guy get to be Chairman? It must be Panetta. He must have experienced a "Road to Damascus" moment like that in which FDR decided that George Marshall would be Army Chief of Staff. I had hardly heard of Dempsey over the years. The view and sound of him was obscured by the dust and noise thrown up by the self promotion campaigns of people like McChrystal, Petraeus, Rodriquez and Odierno.
Wow! He can walk and speak English properly at the same time. He speaks in whole sentences instead of the chopped up lingo that a lot of generals use as a defence against possible future blame. He sees the world with a remarkable depth of knowledge as a base. He is not afraid of the Israeli/AIPAC menace. He is properly deferential to elected government. He isn't looking for a fight with anyone.
My! My! Hallelujah! Zakariya looked relieved to have an adult as interlocutor. Thank you. Thank you, whoever you were who chose him. pl
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/17/watch-gps-martin-dempsey-on-syria-iran-and-china/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Dempsey
Adam L. Silverman, PhD*
In light of Harper's recent post about the death of truth in media, as well as the SST's community ongoing interest in Iran and the politics and policy pertaining to it, it is always good to see what members of the news media have to say about what is actually going on in terms of the reporting. There was precious little of this in 2002 and 2003 as US policy towards Iraq was being set, and what little there was got those who voiced it fired. Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi has done everyone a huge service by providing an insider's view of what is going on with the reporting regarding Iran:
"As a journalist, there’s a buzz you can detect once the normal restraints in your business have been loosened, a smell of fresh chum in the waters, urging us down the road to war. Many years removed from the Iraq disaster, that smell is back, this time with Iran.
You can just feel it: many of the same newspapers and TV stations we saw leading the charge in the Bush years have gone back to the attic and are dusting off their war pom-poms. CNN’s house blockhead, the Goldman-trained ex-finance professional Erin Burnett, came out with a doozie of a broadcast yesterday, a Rumsfeldian jeremiad against the Iranian threat would have fit beautifully in the Saddam’s-sending-drones-at-New-York halcyon days of late 2002."
Click on through and read the whole thing. Its worth the time. For a real treat google "matt taibbi tom friedman book review" - you will laugh till it hurts!
*Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College (USAWC). The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of USAWC and/or the US Army.
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