Terrorism, Pakistani Taliban and War

Here’s some kind of random thoughts on the Pakistani – Taliban war. (Not yet very well thought out, comments always welcome)

Pakistani army and the Taliban are fighting in a more or less desperate conflict over control of the country. The Taliban is seeking a country controlled by Sharia law and Islamic Fundamentalism. They claim that there is no need for a government because Allah has given them all the law they need in the Quran. The Pakistani government obviously disagrees, and that’s the basis of the war.

The Taliban (although having suffered some setbacks in the last month) are still in a position to win. In an article titled Urban siege in South Asia the writers discuss urban terrorism. John Robb says it right when he says that System Disruption would be more effective in Urban takedowns than conventional terrorism. He’s made the statement before that if the Taliban moved to a strategy of systems disruption (instead of their current blood and guts strategy) it would take down the country in five years. I would like to point out however that abandoning the “blood and guts” of their war would hinder them.

Personally I think the correct strategy would be to mix the two. It inspires people to have conventional guerillas (for lack of a better term) in the field. If the Taliban split of a section of the troops and devoted them to the systems disruption that Robb has pointed out, and if the other forces continued to fight the military and conduct assassinations as well as assaults on undefended positions, they would be nearly unstoppable. When your trying to take over a country, systems disruption compliments the fighting forces not replace them.

Not sure how well I explained all that, still thinking about it in what spare time I have.

Is Darfur the First Thuraya War?

An article entitled Is Darfur the First Thuraya War? Makes some interesting points and observations about the Darfur conflict. Personally I think this high mobility and fluidity as well and decentralization, will only increase. Non-Linear Dispersed Operations (NLDOs) such as this are becoming common place. In such an environment John Boyd’s OODA loop is even more important than ever. Mobility and speed are of the up most importance. Networks will defeat Hierarchies in the future of war, and swarming will be incredibly important.

Christian West, Islamic East and Maj. Hasan

Let’s pretend. Let’s pretend that the Muslims entered Spain in 711. Let’s pretend a man named Charles Martel checked

Charles Martel at the battle of Tours

their conquest at the battle of Tours. Let’s pretend the war over who would control Spain lasted until the 1400’s.  Let’s pretend that the Christian West launched a series of wars against Islam in the nearly 200 year period between 1095- 1291. Let’s pretend that in the year 1453 the Muslims took Constantinople and destroyed the Byzantine Empire. Let’s pretend the Muslims continued to advance to the gates of Vienna where they were finally defeated and driven back in 1683. Let’s pretend that this conflict (which had raged off and on for almost a thousand years) quieted down for a while (except for some trouble caused by the Ottomans every now and then). During this period the British established their empire upon which the sun never set, the Americans became a nation, and Napoleon terrorized Europe.

Let’s pretend that in the year 1928 the Muslim Brotherhood was founded. Let’s pretend that Islam experienced a revival in the twentieth century. Let’s pretend that a man named Osama bin Laden embodied this revival, and that on

Osama bin Laden

September 11th, 2001 he launched a major attack against the leading nation of the West. Let’s pretend that the nation that came under attack denies everything above as merely “pretend”, and that the Christian West and the Islamic East are in perfect harmony.

Now let’s look in a history book and in the modern world. We make a startling discovery: everything we just pretended is a fact. It is a fact that ever since the battle of Tours in 732 A.D, Islam and the West have been more or less at war. We are now at a point in history where it is more, not less. Instantly in your mind comes the images and stories and perhaps personal experiences of contact with nice Muslims. These however are individuals, they do not embody the nature of their entire civilization, just as you and I do not embody our entire civilization. History shows we are set to collide, and if we deny this for political correctness or advantage or even with the good intention of promoting peace we will only bring destruction on ourselves. The Byzantines ignored it and they fell. We, the Western world must not ignore it.

Video footage showing Hasan before the shootings

Now let’s turn and look at a man named Nidal Malik Hasan. He was a Major in the U.S. Army. He was a Muslim. He even at one point had a bumper sticker with the words “Allah is love”. Mr. Hasan didn’t want to go to Afghanistan to fight his Muslim brethren, so he dawned Eastern garb, grabbed his gun and killed 13 people and wounding over a score of others. The reaction? Maj. Hasan is under stress, and it wasn’t his fault that he shot all of those people. And for goodness’ sake don’t anybody say it had anything to do with religion!

It had everything to do with his religion. It was rooted in over a thousand years of conflict between West and East. The 13 people that died at Fort Hood were only the latest casualties in that struggle. Maj. Hasan conducted an act of treachery and arguably war. He killed 13 people. I don’t know if he was under stress, and it doesn’t matter. 13 people are dead. Yet because of moral cowardice, political correctness and foolish blindness we must determine his psychological state.

Maj. Hasan is being dismissed as a nut case because he made the statement that the war on terror is a “war on Islam”. The media and political and military leaders are bending over backwards to make it clear that it isn’t true. They’re right. We aren’t waging war on Islam, and I would say that’s a mistake. You can say that West and East can happily live together but that does not make it so. Samuel Huntington in his book “Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order” called it right when he made the statement, “The West’s problem is not Islamic fundamentalism, it is Islam itself.”  To say otherwise may sound nice, but it is denying history. The day is coming when we must either face up to the facts, or suffer the fate of everyone else in history who thought they were invincible, and that history would never cathch up to them. It happened to the Persians. It happened to the Greeks. It happened to Carthage. It happened to Rome. It happened to the Byzantines. It happened to Napoleon. It happened to the Ottomans. It happened to the Germans. Now it is threatening not just one people or country, but an entire civilization.

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat. – Rudyard Kipling

DC Sniper to be executed Nov. 10

Five days from the time of this writing the DC Sniper will breathe his last. According to this article from the AP, victims and family members are to witness the execution. Ten people were killed and three others critically injured from the snipers random shootings in 2002.

My personal thoughts on the matter are that the Justice System did something right for once! The question I have is why is he being executed seven years later? For all of that time he was in a prison living off of taxpayer dollars. Justice will be served on Nov. 10th, and it’s about time.

It is a curious development in America’s justice system, where we are all terrified of giving capital punishment. Most of the time, the maximum sentance is life in prison. Rarely are death sentances issued. Does this work? I don’t think so. Flip on your local news and I’ll bet you there is at least one report of someone getting shot, stabbed, raped or occasionally hung. The justice system has obviously dropped the ball. If death sentences were issued to every convicted murderer and rapist, crime rates would drop. Fear maintains peace and public order. I realize some innocent people will be executed, but those few innocents will be much fewer than those killed by criminals. Also with current technology, (DNA, fingerprinting etc.) it’s becoming easier to catch the criminal and establish with reasonable certainty his guilt.

A justice system that doens’t sentance people to death isn’t a justice system. I’m glad to see that it still happens, even if it is a rare occurance.

Some Quotes

“Never give in! Never give in! Never, never, never, never — in nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” – Whinston Churchill

“Don’t halt before you are lame.” – British Proverb

“The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson

“The hottest love has the coldest end.” – Socrates

“A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.” – British Proverb

“Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.” – Seneca

“The noblest spirit is most strongly attracted by the love of glory.” – Cicero

“Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.” – Charlie McCarthy

“Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue.” – Edgar Quinet

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

“Many strokes overthrow the tallest oaks.” – John Lyly

“I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” – John D. Rockefeller

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

“If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world.” – Albert Einstien

“I do not fear failure. I only fear the ‘’slowing up” of the engine inside of me which is pounding, saying, ”Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you?” - General George S. Patton Jr.

“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way!” – General George S. Patton Jr.

John Robb’s advice to the young

I e-mailed Mr. Robb yesterday to ask his advice on what I should do to prepare myself for the hectic (compared to the last fifty plus years) world I will have to make my way in. He very generously replied offering some good words of advice. Today he has posted on his blog a post on what the young can do to prepare. Here’s the link. I copied and pasted the main body of the post below.

You will need train yourself to be an entrepreneur, to run your own business.  This requires an ability to do everything from designing your own products to selling products to keeping the books straight.

That being said, you should still go to college (if you haven’t already).  For the most part, it’s not going to play much of a factor in how you make your living in the future (for most people).  Instead, do it because it improves you as a human being.  Learn about everything you can while you are there, from philosophy to physics.   However, don’t spend much money doing it (state universities are more than good enough).

How do you prepare for making a living?

Here’s the maximal strategy for those that can pull it off (I’m assuming that if you are reading my work and you understand it, you certainly have the smarts to pull it off).

Learn to make/repair things.  Learn computer aided design CAD/CAM.  Ride the wave in learning laser etching, 3D printing, and other fabrication techniques.  Learn how to use traditional tools and explore materials science and basic electronics/circuit design.  Hack existing products (copy what others have done to spool up on the process) to improve them or put them to unintended uses.  Add some biohacking to the mix if you are so inclined.

Learn how to communicate/collaborate with others online.  Better yet, learn how to use a scripting language and design/operate an interactive Web site.  Learn how to build a database and structure/share data (xml).  Get the hang of publishing online and building/growing an audience — it’s a great way not only to market product/yourself, but find collaborators on ventures.

With the skills above in hand you are now capable of converting a wide variety of ideas into thriving entrepreneurial ventures (from scratch and for a pittance).

The final layer you need to succeed is to learn about running a business.  The most important thing you need to learn is how to sell.  Take any job that puts you close to a GREAT salesman.  Learn the process, from finding customers to closing contracts.  As a final layer, teach yourself some small business accounting (it provides discipline).

In short, this is what you need to become a one person company and be routinely successful.

NOTE:  In reflection, this recipe is also a route to become a one man/woman army.

 

Pentagon Wargames

The Pentagon recently held two wargames (here’s the link to the article). John Robb said on his blog that it was actually a “PR game aimed at influencing an internal audience.” The war in Afghanistan doesn’t seem to be about fighting Islam, terrorism, or even about bringing peace and stability to the country (nevermind my opinion on each of those goals for the moment). It has become about Washington politics. People, Americans, are dying in Afghanistan so the politicians in Washington can use it. On the left it’s about Obama not looking like an idiot. On the right it’s about trying to show how Bush doctrine was actually somehow right. I’ve said before that neither side actually has a good strategy, but I’ll take this a step further. Not only do both of them have lousy proposals, but they neither side cares about the consiquences on American troops. It’s about getting re-elected.

Twitter

Yeah, I joined. I think its stupid, but I’ve read in many places that it is being used as a political weapon. As I have just joined with the campaign for the parental rights amendment, I figured I might as well check it out. So, follow me!

https://twitter.com/knightofrook

I HAD THE SWINE FLU!!!!

Guess what. I lived. I was sick for two days (I thought it was a bad cold). Just recieved a phone call saying a friend came down with the same sypmtoms I had (lack of energy, runny nose, body aches, fever etc.) he went to the doctor (he’s a hypochondriac). Doctor said it was swine flu. My thoughts on the swine flu being a scam are verified. I’ve gotten more sick from eating too many jelly beans. So if  you were concerned, don’t be. It’s no big deal. It’s not the black plague.

William S. Lind’s take on lack of Afghan fire support

Lind has written an interesting article here on light infantry tactics as an answer in Afghanistan.