44's Neolexicon

It's true! Every since 44 read the riot act not far from Jokenhagen, looks like the result is not unlike 25mm chaingun projectiles shooting up and rattling around inside ancient Commonwealth T 72 panzers.

Aside from the collaterally damaged inappropriately worrying about the wrong thing, the upshot is essentially - 44 has enjoyed a neoconservative epiphany - "...a liberal who has been mugged by reality."

44's anti fist clenching campaign has been stymied on every front. Foreign adversaries seem to have little interest in truly productive non preconditioned dialogue, resetting buttons or 5 + 1 six party parties and Agreed Frameworks.

Let's review:

44's incredibly cold 'By Stander In Chief" pose, while an illegit, corrupt intolerant regime stole a faux election and shot their own citizens in the streets tended NOT to give weight to 44's admonition to "...wait and see..." and 'bear witness...'

Instead - it was horribly embarrassing - especially so because the Gay Free Republic instantly re upped on revolutionary road - using terrorism as a regional power point and projection tool, kidnapping civilian hikers, ironically reduxing revolutionary ruses like holding foreign diplomats as hostages, practising buck naked piracy on civilian yachts, al Qods cats going rogue with additional enrichment entente's and perhaps the ultimate diss - proliferating nuked up WMD witchcraft with fellow despot Lion of Syria.

Look for hot! gossip about Iran passing along destabilizing details on neutron initiator booty to be the raison d'etre for crushing sanctions coming soon in 2010.

Resetting commotion with Commonwealth, withdrawing purely defensive stuff like far Eastern European missile shields and respecting Vladland's 'Near Abroad' as turf fixing to get all re hooked up with a new improved Commonwealth.

To be fair though - Commonwealth did recip a bit by opening up resupply routes to AFPAKland. Equally fair - the Russians then totally queered the mix by trying to pull a fast one on 44 in the conclusion of the Commonwealth/Great Satan jaw flapping in Geneva on a new strategic arms treaty to replace the one that expired Saturday.

Not to mention Commonwealth's contribution to computerized warfare that may or may not be in temporary remission.

NoKo's scary scary rocket rich Dear Leader paid little heed to 44's New Era - preferring instead to go button happy - launching more projectiles in all of history since the "Six Scuds and a Dud Day" way back on Great Satan's Happy BDay in 2006.

Aside from Dear Leader's desire to export home grown blue jeans (a total bust BTW), the only arguable outreach NoKo has commissioned besides illegit weaponry traffick in Thailand has been, well, firing off missiles and assorted rocketry and dissing Agreed Framework.

The Sicherheit Sychophants can't actually be regarded as a victory for 44 - mainly because 43 laid the ground work last year when Def Sec Gates pretty much told NATO to get ready to get with it - all those Euro asphalt armies parading about on democratic parking lots instead of killing killers in scary parts of the globe seemed retarded in the classic sense, no less.

Madame Sec HRC's "Don't gimme that 'What? Little ol' us?' act" in her recent Land of the Pure Tour may have granted a bonanza in backbone bouncing up the command chain all the way to the CiC.

No wonder that by the time the China trip topped the agenda - 44 was reeling from the feeling that often accompanies a double epiphany - the World is full of crazy people and that 44 himself was crazy for thinking he could Hopenchange 'em.

Thus began 44's slide from Realism/Realpolitik's out of date amoral, semi isolationist, corrupt cult of stability to...something else.

Doing his best Uncle Tony impersonation in a Chinese media free, controlled environment, 44 caught the buzz and sounded like the original neocon.

After China, a case could be made that 44 is embracing his gig as Commander in Chief - a midnight trek to escort fallen troops complete with a totally perfect salute, (something that takes practise to do perfectly) along with acknowledging a horrible terroristic attack by an unassimilated, unhinged murderous creep on hallowed ground.

West Point's AFPAK shout out further escorted 44 into something close to daemoneoconservatism. Using Great Satan's War Craft Academy was the correct venue - though the message had a few weak spots - the overall effect stated there - that sometimes - nation states really have to fight and wage war - even if they'd rather not became totally enhanced by the time 44 accepted the dynamite guy's gold thingy.


Also consider: the 9 or so strategic/tactical/logistical AFPAK meetings resulted in baring Great Satan's fangs:

Passing out cash to spies, purchasing righteous intell to enable super especial panty raids in foreign semi sovereign turf, upping the bet on counter terroristic chicanery by those rascally attorney - client privilege free drones gone wild! in Land of the Pure.


And getting down right mean and scary in the AF in AFPAK:


"Destroying the insurgents in Kandahar is a critical and necessary first step for reversing the Taliban’s gains across southern Afghanistan and neutralizing their effects on the entire country."

As Great Satan's Ray Ban wearing, tatoo bearing, humanitarian caring, culture sharing, combat daring, jam blaring, mullah scaring, globestomping, skoal chomping, no fear volunteers with the most sophisticated high tech weaponry on earth and a penchant for using it at will, without modesty and expertly began to encounter, defeat, disrupt and deal death, 44's raison d'etre for such deployments certainly sounds daemoneoconic:

"The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it. Peace requires responsibility. Peace entails sacrifice.

"Peace is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please, choose their own leaders or assemble without fear. Pent up grievances fester, and the suppression of tribal and religious identity can lead to violence.

"We also know that the opposite is true. Only when Europe became free did it finally find peace. America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens. No matter how callously defined, neither America's interests — nor the worlds — are served by the denial of human aspirations.


"America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal. We will bear witness to the quiet dignity of reformers like Aung Sang Suu Kyi; to the bravery of Zimbabweans who cast their ballots in the face of beatings; to the hundreds of thousands who have marched silently through the streets of Iran.

So far - bearing witness has gained nothing for anyone save spiritual blood sworn enemies.

Is this 44's change? Adapting the neolexicon in speeches is cool - will it embrace American Exceptionalism's "With great power comes great responsibility"?

Regime changes?

" It is telling that the leaders of these governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation.

"And it is the responsibility of all free people and free nations to make clear to these movements that hope and history are on their side."

44's neolexicon may soon become codified into a doctrine or democratic imperative.

The real change is yet to come - only if 44 makes it operational.



Pic - Tabrett Bethell

Afghandyland

Art - "Afghandyland"

"When You Can, You Should"

For hot! Daemoneocons, nothing is ever truly random.

Like Great Satan's coolest Uncle ever - Great Britain's ex PM - Tony Blair.

Aside from being the 1st cat to stand beside Great Satan on 911, Uncle Tony is not only probably the most eloquent speaker of the Queen's - he's also been consistently consistent.

And unrepentant.

For cats too cool to fool and happily free of suffering from Waltsheimer's disease - the inappropriate handwringing or worry with internat'l consensus about Operation Iraqi Freedom's near miss on Ba'Athist Iraq regarding up crunk WMD witchcraft is a significant bore.

"What amazes me, is how many people were happy for Saddam to stay. They ask, 'why don't we get rid of Mugabe, why not the Burmese lot.' Yes, let's get rid of them all. I don't because I can't, but when you can - you should."

Yes, yes and yes!

Jerks, creeps, and murderous, illegit control freaks wearing the thong of nat'l sovereignty deserve no tears for their wrecked despotries that they themselves have hastened:

1. It is not Great Satan, Great Britain or any of the League of Hot! Democrazies responsibility to prove or disprove that intolerant regimes that torment their own people and their neighbors, that may or may not fiddle about with WMD, that actively diss or deny the "Universal Values of the Human Spirit" are or are not safe as milk.

That gig belongs to the regime in question.

2. "When in doubt - Knock 'em out." Constant confrontation and selective intervention will ensure that unfun, unfree, nigh unhinged tyrants and all their precious assets can be taken out - all the way out - whenever the need or even opportunity presents itself.

This does not mean nation building some wonderful Disney like Land society per se - a really killer case can be made that - yes - kill l' regime au courant and something much worse could rise up.

So what?

Something much worse will have something much worse to contemplate about modern statecraft, R2P, hanging out with terrorists and Uncle Tony's cool caveat about sexyful regime changes or (just as good?) regime killing regime changes.

"When you can - you should"

Pic "The girl's tongue is real" by Preston

Bulava!

Bulava! Commonwealth Russia's latest generation of magical sub launched missiles may have unintended targets:

Like the Commonwealth Navy!

Bulava totes 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles). The 3 -stage solid-propellant ballistic missile is designed for deployment on Borey class nuclear-powered submarines.

She would be a worthy worry and a significant threat, enhancing Russian Navy - if only she actually worked.

The latest failed test may actually have been a direct hit with disasterous results for any naval naughtiness Commonwealth may have the opportunity or need to deploy.


"Bulava's effectiveness has turned out to be simply amazing. The missile has not entered serial production, and never will, but it has already destroyed the Russian Navy. Almost all the money allocated to the Navy’s development have been spent on this mindless dead-end program."

"Any person who can see the real situation well understands that in a few years the Russian Navy as a whole, as well as all four of its component fleets, will cease to exist. This is already absolutely inevitable — the situation will not be changed even by mass purchases of ships from abroad."

Pic - "Bulava Babushka"

Paki Coup

Land of the Pure is a magical place where anything can happen! Girls can learn to fly jets only 69 miles a way from where Pakistani Talibani brutally beat girls for promotional vids.

A recent regime change at the ballot box turned a suspect corrupt Mr 10% into the nation's democratically bona fided leader.

Pakistan's motto could very well be something like "Hey ya'll! Watch this!"

Hooked up with a super paranoid paranormalnoia - Land of the Pure could get the old school coup d'etat maneuver

"A military coup is unfolding in Pakistan, but, this time, there is no rumbling of tanks on the streets of Islamabad. Instead, it seems the military is using a new strategy for regime change in Pakistan, one that will have adverse consequences for Western troops deployed in Afghanistan."

"A year after rogue elements of Pakistan's intelligence services disrupted Indian-Pakistani peace talks by staging the Mumbai massacre, the democratically elected government of President Asif Zardari is facing a putsch from within its ranks, engineered by the men who run Pakistan's infamous military-industrial complex."

"The men who wish to replace Mr. Zardari represent the religious right-wing backers of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, adding a new obstacle in Barack Obama's war effort in Afghanistan. A change of guard in Pakistan will also place Allied troops at a higher risk of attack from a Taliban that will get unimpeded access to safe havens across the international border."

"In the West's war against terrorism, Mr. Zardari is probably the only politician in Pakistan who has the guts to identify the cancer of jihadi extremism and order the Pakistani army to root it out. With reluctance, the army has complied, but only half-heartedly. With him gone, it's almost a certainty that Canada and the United States, as well as Afghanistan and India, will once more face the deception and fraud that became the hallmark of Pervez Musharraf's military regime."

"For years, the Pakistani army received billions of dollars in direct American aid while it backed the Taliban and staged faked armed encounters to deceive the Pentagon."

"The army views the government's efforts at peace with both Afghanistan and India not only with suspicion but also with alarm. Peace with India would undermine the very raison d'être of Pakistan's massive military.

"The army's patience with Mr. Zardari ran out in October, when the U.S. Congress passed the Kerry-Lugar bill that promised billions in aid to Pakistan, but with a crucial caveat: The money would go through the channels of the civilian administration and if the military interfered with the democratic process or bullied the politicians and the judiciary, the Americans would halt all aid to the military.

"The generals were in an uproar. Having lived their entire lives with a sense of entitlement that rivalled medieval caliphs and emperors, the men in uniform started a campaign to dislodge Mr. Zardari and his ambassador in Washington, Husain Haqqani – the authors, they said, of their misfortune.

"Addicted to the billions in U.S. aid that have made them among the wealthiest in their impoverished country, Pakistan's generals are in a Catch-22. If they overthrow the government, they risk losing the manna from America. If they do nothing, they lose their veto over government policymaking, domestic as well as foreign.

"Stung by this loss of power, the generals have asked the pro-Taliban media to whip up an anti-U.S. and anti-India frenzy in the country, claiming that Mr. Zardari has sold out to the Americans and the Indians.

"Mr. Zardari also is being depicted as the epitome of corruption and thus unworthy of governing Pakistan. Working from within the government, military intelligence was able to coax a junior minister to release a list of thousands of supposedly corrupt politicians and public officials in the country. Leading them was Mr. Zardari himself – notwithstanding the fact that before he was elected president, he had been imprisoned for more than a decade by the military without a single conviction."

"What irks the generals is not just that they are now answerable to a civilian but that Mr. Zardari belongs to an ethnic group that is shunned by the country's ruling Punjabi elite. Mr. Zardari is a Sindhi."

"The hysteria among Pakistan's upper-class elites demanding a military dictatorship is best reflected in an article written by a retired military officer in the right-wing newspaper The News:

“Military rule should return. The problem with democratic governments is that they remain under pressure to go with what the majority of the citizens want, not what is best for them. … People of several South American countries that have returned to civilian rule after a long time are now beginning to feel they were better off under dictatorships.”

Whoa! A military coup d'etat in Pakistan could be disasterous according to Beyond Baghdad's Ralph Peters:

"Cross the border into Pakistan in force. The subsequent debacle, as Pakistan cut off supply routes to Afghanistan and threatened a nuclear response, was entirely the fault of our generals on the ground, not of the administration."

"Fortunately, President Obama's willingness to talk to our enemies rescued the situation. After laying down their arms, our troops were allowed to evacuate Pakistan and Afghanistan in peace. The Taliban's return to power in Kabul did not result in an excessive bloodbath, and al Qaeda is not permitted the unrestricted freedom it enjoyed in the country prior to 2001."

"State Department surveys prove that the Afghan population welcomes Sharia law, the closure of girls' schools and other such cultural choices. Our reparations payments to Kabul (as with those to Havana) are only just. Opium production is, arguably, no worse than in the past."

Scary scary - no doubt - especially if eschewing Clausewitizian caveats.

OTOH though - an enemy nation state with a real army (relatively speaking - PAK army has lost every war they've ever started - which is all of them), vast tracks of of ungovernable turf that have never seen ye olde Westphalian writ of state that happens to host Great Satan's blood sworn enemies like al Qaeda and Taliban's Mullah Omar and allegedly chockful of talibani enemies that cross border to cause harm to Great Satan's own dear sons surging in Helmand.

Pakistan may be closer to slipping off the edge than anyone thinks now anyway -

If 44 truly desires in ending AFPAK with a successful ending - perhaps best ensure Zardari's genuinely elected civilian govs hangs on and hangs out til end of their term.

"A coup in Islamabad will mean failure in Kabul."

Pic - "Beau Coup"

Clausewitz Gone Wild!

Till 911 time, perhaps the ultimate state on state violence visionary was none other than the late great General Karl von Clausewitz. His book pubbed after his death (by his wife Maria - must have been quite a guy!) is the essential Vom Kriege.

Xlated into English as "On War" this ancient tome codifies all the power, hot desires and abilities of the state into one aim - decisively defeating an enemy state and her forces in war.

Even just the cool caveats about state on state warfare would take an entire book to do it right, (inexplicably neglected by Best Defense) there are a few things to consider.

Almost from the start - generals or field marshalls that dissed von Clausewitz and failed to heed the mojo also rued the day:

Instant follow up is critical!


Every instinct will cry out to the commanders for pause, rest - refreshment.

"Once the great victory is gained, the next question is not about rest, not about taking breath, not about considering, not about reorganising, etc., etc., but only of pursuit of fresh blows wherever necessary, of the capture of the enemy's capital, of the attack of the armies of his allies, or of whatever else appears to be a rallying point for the enemy. "

General Bragg choose not to pursue the Union after handing them their assets in Chickamauga - he later led a slow leisurely siege of Union at Chattaboogie which only served to lengthen the war until Union busted out and fought non stop to Atlanta - where General Sherman debut'd the concept of Total War licking Georgia's peach clean till she begged him to hit South Cackalacky who had started the entire sorry mess to begin with.


Combined Assault

"When the disproportion of Power is so great that no limitation of our own object can ensure us safety from catastrophe - forces will, or should, be concentrated in one desperate blow."

General Clausewitz's own kindred sons - the 3rd Reich's Wehrmacht did exactly that in the desperate Ardennes Offensive - and suffered a complete defeat that practically threw open the door to western Deutschland for Allied armies.

Clausewitz in the new millennium?

Since 911, state on state violence and von Clausewitz are considered possibly passe' - no nation state will prob ever fight a real war(?) - most likely - proxy wars like Hiz'B'Allah against Little Satan or intolerant insurgents will be the complete target set.

Yet as Great Satan preps the battlefield and fights the last war - the counter insurgency wars - von Clausewitz himself makes a killer case for checking 44's new improved AFPAK with Vom Kriege.

Fog of War:

"The great uncertainty of all data in war is a peculiar difficulty, because all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight, which in addition not infrequently — like the effect of a fog or moonshine — gives to things exaggerated dimensions and unnatural appearance"

Certainly makes the 'exit date uncertain' an inclusion in any combat endeavors.

Schwerpunkt!

"Annihilate the enemy’s center of gravity, the hub of all power and movement, on which everything depends … the point against which all our energies should be directed.”

The AF part may include seizing all those pop pop poppy fields. Destroyed or hooked up like a strategic resource would certainly be a theatre wide game changer - starving certain elements of cash, bling, prestige and refuge.

The PAK fact is, that much firepower sweetly snuggled up almost in weapons range of Land of the Pure sends an militarized signal of commitment.

Clausewitz and AFPAK can also be rosetta stoned into the theoretical:


"December 1, the White House (in a fact sheet accompanying the president’s address) said that “this region is the heart of the global violent extremism pursued by Al Qaeda” (emphasis added).

"Is the Afghanistan/Pakistan region really the “hub of all power and movement on which everything depends”?

"Or, is the true center of gravity the hopelessness in the populations of repressive regimes in the Middle East and South Asia, which drives young men to violence and Islamic extremism?

Pic - "Vom Kriege!"

The Beast Of Kandahar

She is sleek, sexy and stealthy with a cute little round tummy that wiggles when she giggles. Well, not really.

Speculation about Great Satan's latest unmanned flying wonder weapon confused the heck out of people: Why cause deploy a stealth drone in Afghanistan? Taliban has no air defense systems worth mentioning, and at last check, al Qaeda doesn't deploy anti aircraft artillery batteries.

True! None of those cats deploy radar - though there are certain cats in the nearby hood that a stealth drone could cause problems for - like the Gay Free Republic of Preacher Command and Land of the Pure.

Great Satan's Air Force recently let the cat out of the bag. With her low-observable design, the beast might be useful for flying the borders of Iran and peering into China, India and Pakistan for useful data about missile tests, telemetry as well as gathering signals and multi-spectral intelligence.

Beast of Kandahar, is widely believed to be created by Lockheed’s magical Skunk Works, home of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. She bears a striking resemblance to the ancient Luftwaffe Horton HO (what a name!!) and maybe related to Skunk Works’ Polecat drone, unleashed in 2006. 'Polecat' was a private venture, costing some $27 million of Lockheed’s own money, designed to operate stealthily at high altitude and at supersonic speed.

Beast is not Polecat, as one look at the exhaust will indicate.

Her real name in military nomenclature talk is RQ-170 Sentinel - a tailless
flying wing design with sensor pods faired into the upper surface of each wing, was developed by Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), better known as Skunk Works.

An Air Force official revealed Dec. 4 that the service is "developing a stealthy unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces."

The RQ means Recon baby! Like the MQ means military as in the prefix applied to the armed Predator and Reaper drones.

Yet the rumour that she beast hangs out with 'Desert Prowler' program and she sports a really cool icon of a cartoon Grim Reaper may mean she can swing both ways.

The 911 hidden in Roman numbers is a killer reminder that Beast will thoroughly enjoy providing Great Satan with righteous intell and righteous kills.