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Putsch!
The most common, familiar regime change of all is the the Coup d'état. Long time fave of military cats worldwide (it could be said Land of the Pure has enjoyed more than their fair share) - 14 alone attempted in 2004!
Pyramidland's au courant system of Presidents For Life actually got a rowdy start when Egypt's old King Farouk was dethroned in a coup l'militare, lucky enough to get out alive into exile - alas, sans a massive norpography collection.
Is it risque to imply Pyramidland's top spy guy (internal and external bay bee!) recently jumped up to Aegypt's Veep spot hast das gestalt ein putschen gaben?
Yes, yes, yes. Egypt currently enjoys a massively military military complex that nigh is the State (Pakistan is still the king)! Yet that doesn't mean Pyramidland's fully crunk army is all that - it's a reflection of Egypt itself.
"...The Egyptian military is a reflection not of its American trainers but of Egyptian society. Its popularity in the country owes in large part to the fact that almost all able-bodied men are conscripted to serve for one to three years. Its uppermost ranks, from which rose Egypt’s presidents — Mubarak, Sadat, and modern Egypt’s founder, Gamal Abdel Nasser — are today largely pro-American.
"...The rank and file, however, have always included thousands of Slamic fundies and radicals. Unquestionably, military service is a leveling experience, creating a common bond that unites different social strata. We should not overstate its effect, though. The military features all the complexity and divisions of Egypt at large.
"...In Cairo, the Egyptian military is our last, best hope. We shouldn’t be overconfident.
Khalifah!
Might explain hot gossip about Teufel Hunden sweetly loitering about in those Great Bitter Lakes!
"...USS Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group of six warships. Helicopters on some of their decks are there to carry and drop the 2,200 marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit which has been bolstered by two special operations battalions.
"...The flotilla has a rapid strike stealth submarine, the USS Scranton, which is designed to support special forces’ operations.
"...The US strike force has taken up position at a strategic point opposite Ismailia between the west bank of the Suez Canal and its eastern Sinai bank. It is poised for rapid response in the event of the passage of about 40 percent of the world’s marine freights through the Suez Canal being threatened or any other extreme occurrence warranting US military intervention.
Pic - " A contingent of seaborne Teufel Hunden always represents a significant threat, Courtney"
Changkong!
When the largest collectivist nation state in world history touch'd off a tease with debutante ing Chengdu J 20 Black Eagle, alarmists instinctively set off the alarm
"...For alarmists, the Pacific balance of power seemed to shift in an instant. Armed with hundreds of fast, elusive J-20s in coming years, the PLAAF could dominate the South China Sea, reaffirming China’s rise as a global puissance and elbowing aside less audacious, tech-savvy rivals."
As psychically proven in "Shi Ling!"
"...Concerns of avionics, weaponry and even stealth capabilities about China’s wunder waffe may also be taken in tandem with production abilities – not unlike Commonwealth Russia’s ability to unveil prototype after prototype of hot stuff that is fun to look at, yet – alas - with zero mass manufacturing ability to produce enough goodies to shift – let alone somersault – any power projection balances."
PACRIM: Drones Gone Wild! is a great example of this
When Great Satan deployed to Guam a menage a troi of RQ-4B Global Hawkettes to sweetly keep a non stop eye on vast wastes of trackless oceans, tender, sensitive spots in China's inner inlands and Chinese naval chicanery - this hap hap happy event denoted a true strategic shift!
"...In a world where knowledge equals power, the RQ-4 is among the most powerful aircraft ever. And for all its success in producing the J-20 prototype, China appears to have nothing to rival the RQ-4. While Beijing might be closing the gap with Washington as far as loud, visually impressive manned fighter jets are concerned, in the quieter, more subtle and arguably more important world of unmanned aircraft, China is far behind—and possibly losing ground.
As Captain Burke via Dr Michael H shared in "Shi Ling!" - development and deployment of hot! weaponry l'futur requires massive investments in logistics, booklearning, manufacturing, quality control and collectivist kryptonite: Unbridled free inquiry bay bee - totally queers the mix on despotic innovations.
"...Building on a century of aerospace innovation, and with tens of billions of dollars in developmental funding over at least two decades, plus the urgency instilled by several ongoing wars, the US military has become by far the world leader in unmanned aircraft. Today, the Pentagon possesses some 3000 UAVs, ranging in size from the hand-thrown Raven to the Cessna-size Predator and Reaper (both built by General Atomics),and the much larger Global Hawk.
And unmanned drones are anything but unmanned - requiring attendants that can number up to 170 experts each to maintain
"...Today, the US military has tens of thousands of personnel assigned to drone units, many of them with years of combat experience. It’s safe to say that China in contrast hasn’t developed similar human resources. All this means that even if the PLAAF developed and bought, overnight, hundreds of modern aerial drones technologically equal to their US counterparts, it still wouldn’t be able to match the US unmanned air force.
Oh snap! The funintended consequence is that China will enjoy little else except to continue to act out PR wise with a plethora of aerospace aesthetics like J20's grainy pic party.
Meanwhile Great Satan's "...Global Hawks and other unmanned aircraft will do the understated hard work of actually altering the Pacific balance of power"— in favour of Great Satan.
Pic - "My Kisses are as wicked as an F16"
It's time!
Former (twice!) Def Sec Rumsfeld unleashes his memoirs - the title taken from one his famous jazzy, impromptu riff "Known and Unknown."
"...Rumsfeld's poetry is paradoxical: It uses playful language to address the most somber subjects: war, terrorism, mortality. Much of it is about indirection and evasion: He never faces his subjects head on but weaves away, letting inversions and repetitions confuse and beguile..."
"...As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know.
You know?
As the John Lennon of the fully crunk Vulcans - Great Satan's incredible cadre of diplopolititary cats that knew a future worth creating featured Great Satan as the unbound Hyper Puissant -
the jabberwockish 13th and 21st Defense Sec Rumsfeld often appeared as provocative as wearing a thong to church.
Even cooler - he honestly was not particularly concerned or interested in what weak willed, weak minded or inappropriate handwringers thought of his stylin'.
And those hand gestures! Yowza - this cat was smoooooth!
Few Americans have spent more time near the center of power than Donald Rumsfeld.
"...Now he has written an unflinching memoir of his half-century career, sharing previously undisclosed details that will fascinate readers and force historians to rethink many controversies.
"...Known and Unknown reveals what happened behind the scenes during the critical moments of the Bush years, as the President's inner circle debated how best to defend our country. It is based not only on Rumsfeld's memory but also on hundreds of previously unreleased documents from throughout his career.
"...It also features his blunt, firsthand opinions about some of the world's best-known figures, from Margaret Thatcher to Elvis Presley, from Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice, Paul Bremer to Colin Powell, and about each American pres from 35 to 43."
All proceeds and sales from "Known Unknowns" will benefit veterans' charities supported by the Rumsfeld Foundation
Pic - "My one mistake was that I never let you down"
Velāyat-e faqīh!
Gay Free Persia's Preacher Command's raison d'etre is prett straight up: government should be run in accordance with traditional Slamic s'ria, and for this to happen, a leading Slamic jurist (faqih), must provide diplopolitical "guardianship" (wilayat or velayat) over the peeps.
Theocrazy in other words.
While Iran's clerics and Revo Guard cats lol out loud about the discombobulation in Egypt - the illegit Velāyat-e faqīh are killing their own protesters like a killing machine.
"...And, as the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 approaches next week, the government fears the day will be used by organizers for more protests. The regime uses the day to tout the triumph of m"Hammedism over a despotic regime. But the people can tout it as a remembrance of overthrowing a despised and brutal authority.
"...In the month of January alone, close to 100 executions took place inside the Iranian prisons, according to various sources. According to Iranian media accounts, the number is between 66 and 73—but activists and journalists believe it to be even more.
"...Just last week, two UN independent experts warned that there has been a dramatic surge in death sentences in Iran carried out, in the absence of internationally recognized safeguards, despite numerous calls by the UN to immediately halt executions.
Pic - "We must establish a government that will enjoy the trust of the people ... God know that your capacity and courage are not less than those of others -- unless, of course, the meaning of courage is oppressing and slaughtering the people; that kind of courage we certainly don’t have."
Honorable Mentions
Council Winners
Non-Council Winners
Whoa!
Especial week for Small Wars Journal - these cats have literally whet the edge of Great Satan's combatty intelligentsia - enabling some of the sharpest military brainiacs to deliver steel on target with killer multi sortees.
"Why Great Satan should support Revolutions in m"Hammedist Turf"
Oh, you know it's so! For what ever reason, ME's Arab League and assorted spiritual kindredic nation/states are the diplopolititary schwerpunkt! for efforts in the New Millennium.
"...Internat'l relations is much like a knife fight— outside help is always welcome, little thought is given to the baggage that may come with offers of support, and you had always better watch your back.
"...Ultimately, these friendly despots and their cronies are ‘not our friends’ and definitely not ‘legitimately elected leaders’. We also tend to get morally tainted by our relations with these types; not that our silver-tongued diplomats would give this a second thought. Realpolitik requires sacrifices and morality quickly becomes relative and squishy to the policy being implemented or crisis now at hand.
Hot the heels of Dr Bunker's (oh, multi game bay bee!) blitz, SWJ hosts a smoking hot follow up as delightfully shock shock shocking as the ancient PNAC Def Guide in the before time (1992 actually).
2011 is a critical year for Great Satan's Hyper Puissance le futur
"...Sharp disagreements exist between those who believe that the United States should optimize its military for future counterinsurgency (COIN) campaigns like Afghanistan and Iran, and those who believe the United States should focus instead on its conventional capabilities. The decisions the United States makes now will influence its defense posture and military capabilities for the next generation.
"...This dialogue is taking place under the shadow of growing national debt and a lagging American economy, which will make the decisions taken over the next few years all the more important.
"...Yet at the same time, the future is extremely difficult to predict.
Diffusion of Military Power (Dr H's awesome tome could be considered the actual grandfather of an especially delish diplopolititary mashup with Great Satan's once and future intelligentsia - "Shi Ling!") shares hot deets and psychic gossip about how hostile or future hostile nation/states react to new innovations l'guerr –and to non state actor outers that do or don’t adopt them–has profound implications for the global order and the likelihood of war.
Great Satan's interests are now best served by implementing a not so new foreign policy approach—"...one that is sum-sum for our country and the burgeoning masses who live under the yoke of oppression in autocratic m"Hammedist states.
"...Under this new sum-sum strategy, we "play the old diplomatic game‟ and hold our friendly despots even closer while we do everything in our power, short of getting caught (and of course not engaging in crimes against humanity), to seize upon golden opportunities that are now presenting themselves in Egypt and in other Islamic lands to support Democratic revolution.
Ideally, Great Satan should not instigate it -(indeed - all despotries are doomed) Democracy should be seductive, something that is desired and not necessarily forced upon others.
"...If the spark of Democratic revolution should come about spontaneously due to the actions of flash mobs and social network-inspired rioting or is orchestrated from within by more organized bodies, we should support it from the shadows.
"...If a critical tipping point is approached—one in which relative superiority hangs in the balance— and if the stakes are worth it, we may even need to show our hand and threaten or buy off the targeted despot and his military forces in order to make them stand down.
