Funintended Consequences

As one Union Jackie put it, Little Satan's audacious assassination and mayhem Institute has broke out some funintended consequences regarding the 'Maybe we did. Maybe we didn't" wicki smack that struck down a founding member of the world's very first freely elected suicide regime and their rocket rich rejectionist intolerant irregular Commander in dubious deets in Dubai:

"They want something, they get it. They perceive someone as their deadly enemy, they kill them. They get hit, they hit back. They don’t waste time explaining or justifying or agonising; nor do they allow their detractors to enter their country and then afford them generous welfare payments."

"They just act. No messing. No scruples. Not even a shrug and a denial, just a rather magnificent refusal to debate anything."

Let the funintended consequences begin!

Need a gig? Little Satan's M'Ssad is enjoying a Surge of their own

“You have an opportunity to create a new reality where you can play the leading role. If you possess intelligence and sophistication, you can make a difference and fulfil a national mission. If you can engage, charm and influence people — you may have the qualities we are looking for.”

Or, hook up with FB 'Dubai Hit Squad" online!

Score cool gear and promote sexyful democrazies in a rough and tough - proudly fashioning the machiavellian concept that sometimes - bad cats need killing.

Art "Little Satan Spy Grrls Action Figure! Shin Bet's 'Zarah' protects the Momieland and M'Ssad's Tzipi takes the fight to the enemy" by Ridiculous Nicholas

"Nimble And Precise"

Just like 44 promised at Great Satan's Warcraft Academy -those deadly "Drones Gone Wild!" would be "...nimble and precise..."

Drones, predators really, are preying on al Qaeda in Land of the Pure at an alarming rate and it is wickedly hot!

"Counterterrorism “on offense” has done better, ironically, under an administration that hoped it could just play counterterrorism on defense—wind down wars, wish away the threat as a bad dream from the Bush years, hope the whole business would fade away so it could focus on health care. Yet for all that, the Obama administration, through Predator strikes, is taking the fight to the enemy.

"And, let’s face it, in dealing with terrorist groups in ungoverned places in the world, we have few good options besides UAVs. Drones permit the United States to go directly after terrorists, rather than having to fight through whole countries to reach them.

"Maybe that’s not enough to win. Maybe “light-footprint” counterterrorism via drones turns out to be just the latest chimera in the perennial effort to find a way to win a war through strategic airpower.

"Yet even in a serious counterinsurgency on the ground, drones will still be important as a means of attacking terrorists while clearing and holding territory.

"The upshot? As long as we engage in counterterrorism, drones will be a critical part of our offense.

Plus - by happy happenstance, righteous kills are totally legit!

"Targeted killings of terrorists, including by Predators and even when the targets are American citizens, are a lawful practice;

"Use of force is justified against terrorists anywhere they set up safe havens, including in states that cannot or will not prevent them;

"These operations may be covert—and they are as justifiable when the CIA is tasked to carry them out secretly as when the military does so in open armed conflict.

"All of the above fall within the traditional American legal view of “self-defense” in international law, and “vital national security interests” in U.S. domestic law.

Sweet!

Pic "The Only Game In Town"

World Affairs

Way back in the last millennium, periodic periodicals, also known as magazines were all the rage. Now they tend to be found only in Dr's offices, attics, basements and garages.

And one of the hottest to make the leap from M Zine to E Zine is the essential World Affairs Journal.

WAJ is fully crunk and offers killer insight for cats that enjoy thinking:

"Established in 1837, World Affairs is a bimonthly international affairs journal that argues the big ideas behind U.S. foreign policy. Always striving to encourage open and informed debate, we are committed to offering our readers a healthy range of perspective and opinion to help clarify the challenges and choices that America faces in our increasingly complex and dangerous world."

Super savvy James Denton of WAJ shares the details:

"Building on this tradition, we launched WorldAffairsDaily.org in January 2010. Updated throughout the day, this site highlights news, opinion, and research from media, governments, and think tanks around the world."

"The site’s unique news offerings allow the reader, on any given day and with any given headline story, to see how the same news is reported differently in hundreds of other international news outlets."

Hard news - soft news - super buzz commentary - Gov Speak, Global News and Think Tank Hanks and Janks - World Affairs certainly brings the bling in a totally delish even handed hand:

Wanna queer the mix on Mullahopolis beyond repair? Check out Daemoneoconic Avatar Dr Josh Murvachik's hot! Neocon Corner.

Enjoy LOLing about inappropriate handwringing and watching cats getting all het up about the wrong thing? World Affairs grants space to realists too.

Hit 'em up - add World Affairs to your link love and subscribe for shout outs that can actually make your brain more bigger.

Pic "World Affairs" by A. Rianne

Exceptional!

Oh, it's true bay bee!

"The pillars of American Exceptionalism:

"Our country has always been exceptional. It is freer, more individualistic, more democratic, and more open and dynamic than any other nation on earth. These qualities are the bequest of our Founding and of our cultural heritage.

"They have always marked America as special, with a unique role and mission in the world: as a model of ordered liberty and self-government and as an exemplar of freedom and a vindicator of it, through persuasion when possible and force of arms when absolutely necessary.


Pic - "American Exceptionalism!" with Cristina

Cool Duel

Way back in the last millennium, when cats had to resolve a diss over deets, they sometimes devised and deployed an often fatal debate ender nom d' guerr'd as 'duel.'

Weapons of choice, x number of paces, blindfolds etc, etc.

Fast forward.

To like now.

Featuring one of Great Satan's cadre of premier combat rock stars diametrically opfor to one of Great Satan's Nat'l Intell premier spy guys.

Cool Duel!

Kinda like Jütland - two armored behemoths approached and blazed away, crossing t's.

And just like Jütland, there was certainly a "something seems wrong with our bloody ships today" moment!

Dr Priller believes Surging AfPAK "...is the wrong war against the wrong enemy, that al-Qaeda has a minimal presence in Afghanistan, that victory in Afghanistan would have little effect on terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan and elsewhere, and that the military is the wrong tool to use against our enemies."

Taliban taking over wouldnt be so bad - lay back and enjoy it!

"If the Taliban was to return to power, it would see little or no advantage in again harboring a significant presence of bin Laden’s al-Qaeda. Its previous host-playing led directly after 9/11 to the biggest setback the Taliban ever suffered. Bin Laden and his partner Ayman al-Zawahiri also would see little to be gained in restoring the previous arrangement."

"They have successfully hidden in Pakistan for nearly a decade; a return to Afghanistan would only expose them, or their underlings, to uninhibited U.S. firepower, even if U.S. troops were not on the ground."

Land of the Pure slipping away is also totally jank:

"Simple spatial thinking about instability spreading across borders, rather like the Cold War imagery of red paint oozing over the globe. A Taliban victory in Afghanistan would not bring any significant new resources to bear on conflict in Pakistan, which has a population five times as large and an economy ten times as big as its South Asian neighbor.

"Nor would it offer Pakistani militants a safe haven any more attractive or useful than the one they already have in Pakistan’s own Federally Administered Tribal Areas."

K. So what? Colonel Nagl puts steel on target:

"There is no safe haven that al-Qaeda covets more than the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which present a unique opportunity for our enemies and a threat to us. Situated in rugged terrain hundreds of miles from any coastline, with weak or nonexistent governance and security services, this region provides both a home to al-Qaeda and possible access to nuclear weapons.

Great Satan should get loud that unassing Afghanistan - to split the AO where she was "...brutally attacked and in which more attacks are now being planned..." is never, ever going down, so long as there is the slightest chance, possibility or opportunity of a repeat.

Pic "Cool Duel!"

New Rules Of War

Am Pow's Dr Douglas shares some intell on the cat that's sure to "shake, shake, shake it" up among the militarized mindsets

"When John Arquilla came to UCSB to give a job talk, back in the 1990s, one thing sticks out in my memory: He was the only prospective faculty hire who flirted with the female graduate students during a colloquium!"

"He was quirky and extremely knowledgeable."

Dang. Straight!

As one of the Vulcans enablers - that helped to advise and guide Great Satan's 30 in the future military - it's no surprise that Dr A is still looking into the future.

And he blings forth a massive caveat:

The New Rules of War

It's a hefty - but fast read - and fully crunk with money shots, a concise history of how warmaking got to this point and fuel for thought.

"Indeed, it is ironic that, in an era in which the attraction to persuasive "soft power" has grown dramatically, coercive "hard power" continues to dominate in world affairs. This is no surprise in the case of rogue nations hellbent on developing nuclear arsenals to ensure their security, nor when it comes to terrorist networks that think their essential nature is revealed in and sustained by violent acts.

"But this primary reliance on coercive capabilities is also on display across a range of countries great and small, most notably the United States, whose defense policy has over the past decade largely become its foreign policy.

"From the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to simmering crises with North Korea and Iran, and on to longer-range strategic concerns about East Asian and Central European security, the United States today is heavily invested in hard-power solutions.

"And it will continue to be.

"But if the radical adjustments in strategy, organization, and doctrine implied by the new rules of war are ignored, Americans will go on spending more and getting less when it comes to national defense. Networks will persist until they have the capability to land nuclear blows.

"Other countries will leapfrog ahead of the United States militarily, and concepts like "deterrence" and "containment" of aggression will blow away like leaves in the wind.

"So it has always been. Every era of technological change has resulted in profound shifts in military and strategic affairs. History tells us that these developments were inevitable, but soldiers and statesmen were almost always too late in embracing them -- and tragedies upon tragedies ensued.

"There is still time to be counted among the exceptions, like the Byzantines who, after the fall of Rome, radically redesigned their military and preserved their empire for another thousand years.

"The U.S. goal should be to join the ranks of those who, in their eras, caught glimpses of the future and acted in time to shape it, saving the world from darkness.

Pic - "The fact that slaughter is a horrifying spectacle must make us take war
more seriously, but not provide an excuse for gradually blunting our swords in the name of humanity. Sooner or later someone will come along with a sharper sword and hack off our heads."

Nederland

Oh snap! Can this be true? Is NATO passing out faster than a girl on Xanex and jäger?

In the last year introducing certain members of NATO into actual combat environs has been totally deadly.

For civilians.

Like Bundeswehr - Deutschland's grosse conscript army called in an airstrike on stolen NATO petrol trucking booty that dang killed tons of Taliban and innocent villagers in September.

And now Dutch Army in Uruzgan regime changes Holland by fulfilling NATO oaths while calling in airstrikes against anybody driving and maintaining their rep as a killing machine.

General 'AFPAK Mac" now be tripping about the hood apologizing for Nederlander necromancy and signaling signals?

"I have made it clear to our forces that we are here to protect the Afghan people, and inadvertently killing or injuring civilians undermines their trust and confidence in our mission."

Nederland has done her NATO gig faithfully:

"The Dutch represent just 2.3% of the 86,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, but they have the eighth largest national contingent in the country and one of the highest contributions as a proportion of both their population and overall national army.

"Uruzgan province does not face a security threat as severe as the threats in Helmand and Kandahar, it is still volatile:

"21 Dutch soldiers have been killed since the mission was first deployed in 2006. The deployment was initially scheduled to end in 2008 but was extended by two years because no other NATO member state offered a replacement.

Since the Dutch are splitting soon, Great Satan will deploy "courageous restraint," diverting them from "surge operation against the Taleban."

Pic "Nederlander Necromancers"

Iwo Jima Day

Iwo Jima, where uncommon valor was a common virtue. When the Marines raised the flag, Secratary of the Navy Forrestal said "This means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years"

Art - "Uncommon Valor"

Preparing For The Worst

One of Great Satan's fully crunk brainiac babes puts steel on target with a hot! piece that strips reality over reason:

Most likely, 44 will NOT initiate combatty stuff against Mullahopolis and their magical, mahdi friendly nuke sites:

"We don't know exactly where they all are, because we don't know whether such a raid could stop the Iranian nuclear program for more than a few months, and because Iran's threatened response—against Israelis and U.S. troops, via Iran's allies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Lebanon—isn't one we want to cope with at this precise moment.

"Nor do we want the higher oil prices that would instantly follow. No U.S. president doing a sober calculation would want to start a new war of choice while U.S. troops are still actively engaged on two other fronts, and no U.S. president could expect public support for more than a nanosecond.

True! So what?

"That doesn't mean that no one else will.

"At the moment, when Washington is consumed by health care and the implications of the Massachusetts Senate special election, it may seem as if Obama's most important legacy, positive or negative, will be domestic. In the future, we may not consider any of this at all important.

"The defining moment of his presidency may well come at 2 a.m. some day, when he picks up the phone and is told that the Israeli prime minister is on the line:

"Israel has just carried out a raid on Iranian nuclear sites. What then?

"If that ever happened, the 2 a.m. phone call would be followed by retaliation, some of which would be directed at us, our troops in Iraq, our ships at sea.

In such a likely scenerio, 44's admin should be "...ready, militarily and psychologically, not for a war of choice but for an unwanted war of necessity. This is real life, after all."

Pic "Prepping!" with Jenny McCarthy

Nothing Less Than Victory

Oh, it's true! Despite all the handmaiden l'politique memes (rather, because of it, nicht war?) war fighting truly ends up with one over riding concern, design and goal:

Victory.

"The goal of a war is to defeat an enemy’s will to fight. But how this can be accomplished is a thorny issue. "Nothing Less than Victory" provocatively shows that aggressive, strategic military offenses can win wars and establish lasting peace, while defensive maneuvers have often led to prolonged carnage, indecision, and stalemate.

"Taking an ambitious and sweeping look at six major wars, from antiquity to World War II, John David Lewis shows how victorious military commanders have achieved long-term peace by identifying the core of the enemy’s ideological, political, and social support for a war, fiercely striking at this objective, and demanding that the enemy acknowledges its defeat.

"Lewis examines the Greco-Persian and Theban wars, the Second Punic War, Aurelian’s wars to reunify Rome, the American Civil War, and the Second World War. He considers successful examples of overwhelming force, such as the Greek mutilation of Xerxes’ army and navy, the Theban-led invasion of the Spartan homeland, and Hannibal’s attack against Italy—as well as failed tactics of defense, including Fabius’s policy of delay, McClellan’s retreat from Richmond, and Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler.

"Lewis shows that a war’s endurance rests in each side’s reasoning, moral purpose, and commitment to fight, and why an effectively aimed, well-planned, and quickly executed offense can end a conflict and create the conditions needed for long-term peace.

"Recognizing the human motivations behind military conflicts, Nothing Less than Victory makes a powerful case for offensive actions in pursuit of peace.

Pic - "Nothing Less!"

KashPAK?

As best understood, Land of the Pure is a magical place where dang near anything can happen!

In those wild wack unAdministered Tribal Areas, Taliban uploads horrific religiously sanctioned vids of girls getting beat while 69 miles away at an airbase - girls are learning to fly PAK Air Force jets.

Pakistan's ex General President long ago gave an unbelieveable sales pitch for Land of the Pure:

"Four serious accusations were hurled at Pakistan:

"a.All the terrorist activity in Afghanistan had its base in Pakistan

"b.All the freedom struggle in Indian Held Kashmir was Cross Border Terrorism from Pakistan

"c.All nuclear proliferation in the world had its source in Pakistan

"d.Pakistan is an intolerant militant extremist society

All the cool kids know the AfPAK thing - killing, disrupting and defeating al Qaeda and delivering righteous beat downs on the battlefield that will eventually marginalize Taliban.

Is there an indirect approach to this?

Perhaps.

Kashmir!

"Never mind Af-Pak: The world urgently needs to fix Kash-Pak. We must do everything we can to make these peace talks work, for everything, including the Afghan conflict and the lives of hundreds of millions of people, depends on Pakistan's generals being proved wrong."

While Pakistan freaks and worries about nearly every nation on earth trying to score natural treasures and "bang our daughters"

"India's plots, India's intransigence, India's dangerous meddling in Afghan affairs, India's unwillingness to reason, India's problem with Islamic extremism within its own borders, and even, heaven help us, India's secret responsibility for fomenting Islamism within Pakistan.

"The Indian threat is a constant and popular trope in Pakistani politics. It is used by every elected leader to gain victory, and by every military dictator to justify seizing power.

"It's a national obsession but one that kills. Pakistan officially spends 5 per cent of its national income on military-related expenses, compared with 0.7 per cent on health, according to Unicef."

"For India, resolution is worth a loss of face.

"For Pakistan, it never will be.

Pic "KashPAK!" with Aishwarya Rai

Tick Tock

Strategic Designs

Events regarding Iran's future nuked up stats as a regional hegemon that may or may not be contained present a strategic crossroads for Little Satan:

"1) Can Little Satan act as a regional superpower independently of Great Satan and

2) What would Little Satan do to establish its regional superpower status?

"The answer to the first question obviously depends on the second. To act as a regional superpower, Israel would have to take actions that shift the configuration of forces in its favor.

"No outside analyst has sufficient information to judge the issue - with the best of information a great deal of uncertainty is inevitable - but there are several reasons to believe that an Israeli attack on Iran would establish the Jewish state as an independent superpower and compel the United States to adjust its policy to Israel's strategic requirements.

"First, the Sunni Arab states have a stronger interest than Israel's to stop Iran from possibly going nuclear. Israel, after all, possesses perhaps two hundred deliverable nuclear devices, including some very big thermonuclear ones, and is in position to wipe Iran off the map. But none of Iran's Arab rivals is in such a position.

"The Saudis have done everything but take out a full-page ad in the Washington Post to encourage the Obama administration to attack Iran. Prince Saud al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, warned on February 15 that sanctions were a long-term measure while the world faces a short-term threat from Iran.

"Egypt reportedly has allowed Israeli missile ships to pass through the Suez Canal en route to the Persian Gulf.

"Secondly, Russia well might prefer to deal with Israel as an independent regional power than as an ally of the United States. A stronger Israeli presence in the region also might contribute to Russia's market share in missiles and eventually fighter aircraft.

"Russian-Israeli cooperation in a number of military fields has improved markedly during the past year, including the first-ever sale of Israeli weapons to Russia (drones) and Israeli help for the Russian-Indian "fifth generation" fighter project.

"Third, the United States would have to respond to a new strategic situation in the Middle East were Israel to inflict even moderate damage on Iran's nuclear program.

"The consequences would include, among other things:

"Aggressive retaliation by Iran against American targets in Iraq. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have opposed bombing of Iran for years in part because they fear that Iran could inflict significant casualties on American forces.

"Stronger Iranian support for the Taliban. Washington's plan for Afghanistan depends in part on the fanciful notion that Iran will be persuaded to support the Shi'ite Hazara minority against the Pashtun Taliban. Iran has always played both sides and in the event of an Israeli strike would shift resources towards whatever America liked the least.

"Greater tensions between Pakistan and Iran. Iran's credibility in the region depends on its perception of being the protector of Pakistan's 35 million Shi'ites, the second-largest concentration outside of the 70 million people of Iran.

"To the extent Washington has a Middle East policy, it seems to involve playing balance-of-power games

"Whatever Washington thought it was doing would come unstuck in the wake of an Israeli strike against Iran. Rather than attempt to lead events - in no particular direction - Washington would have no choice except to follow until it arrived at its own foreign policy at some unspecified future date.

"Although Washington would scream like a scalded pig, Israel's influence is more likely to rise than to fall in the aftermath.

Pic "Strike Package and Going Ballistic"

Jamaran!

Whoa! The Gay Free Republic of Preacher's Paradise has unveiled her very first home grown navy ship - the first missile destroyer of the Mowdge Class displacing 1400 tons (despite math challenged al Jazeera's "14,000 tonnes").

"Jamaran'' - is the name of the magical well where famous mythical mohammedist, the 12th Imam, Mahdi, is hiding away in occultation near Preacher Boot Camp in Qom.

By happy chance, "Jamaran" is also the nom d'guerre of "...an area in northern Tehran where the late founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, resided."

What ev.

Jamaran is actually quite tiny compared to any destroyers built in the last 100 years:

In 1915 Imperial Deutschland sortee'd the G101 class displacing 1,843 tons, 98m (321 feet for the metrically challanged) long and toted 4 85mm guns and six 508mm / 20in torpedo tubes.

Great Satan's WWII DE type from World War II debut'd at 1720 tons, 93 meters long and lovingly killed or maimed any enemies in weapons range with 3 76mm guns, 6 40mm guns, 4 20mm guns, 3 21in torpedo tubes and carried depth charges for the naughty U Boats or Nipponese subs.

In the new millennium, destroyers usually do a displacement of like 3,500 to 9,000 tons.

Great Britain's Daring Class (type 45) does 8,092 tons full load and in the best tradition of Drake and Fisher, rules the waves with Stingray Torpedoes - 4.5" Mk 8 Medium Calibre Gun system; Surface Ship Torpedo Defence system, a fully crunk air defense system along with 60 Royal Marines for fun and games.

Great Satan's Arleigh Burke class tips in at 9,200 tons full load, with a full range of goodies including the Aegeis system along with 32 officers and 348 enlisted sailors.

Since "Jamaran" is significantly tinier than what the wicked woman worshipping West (or China, India, Japan or Pakistan) refer to as 'destroyers' - Jamaran is actually maybe more like a frigate thingy or a guided missile frigate.

From the pics and vids (shout out to Winston!) looks like Jamaran will carry enough stuff to warrant her instant destruction if the balloon ever goes up in Persian Gulf:

1 Fajr-27 76 mm / 3 inch dual purpose naval gun (most likely the Persian version of Italy's 76mm OTO Melara), a Fath 40mm copy of the awesome 40mm Bofors anti aircraft gun, 2 different batteries - 20mm (maybe 25mm?) guns, one each starboard and port.

Missile wise, Jamaran blings 4 of the old reliable China made C-802 (or maybe even the new improved C-803) anti ship missiles stashed in front and back of her funnel.

Jamaran is also tricked out with modern radars and electronic warfare capabilities along with a crew of 120 and plans are laid out to build an entire posse of these critters.

Pic "The main enemies of the Islamic world, which are the U.S. and Israel"

With 1 Wing Tied Behind Her Back

As Great Satan's rowdy assetted Teufel Hunden fight in and around Marja in Operation Moshtarak, in smashing fashion, expert intell shares there is a "...refashioning of the obvious — that war is harmful to civilian populations..."

Especially so since Taliban just got busted using intelligent, innocent human shielding

In AFPAK, Great Satan "has begun basing doctrine on the premise that dead civilians are harmful to the conduct of war.

"Trouble is, no past war has ever supplied compelling proof of that claim."

Weaponry stashed in Great Satan's 30 year in the future military goodie bag includes her air power - the ability to grant nigh instant firepower magically and expertly guided onto the heads of her enemies.

Should that trump card be discarded? For the hearts and minds thingy?

"Taliban have found a way to beat American airpower. And they have managed this remarkable feat with American help.

"American and NATO military leaders — worried by Taliban propaganda claiming that air strikes have killed an inordinate number of civilians, and persuaded by “hearts and minds” enthusiasts that the key to winning the war is the Afghan population’s goodwill — have largely relinquished the strategic advantage of American air dominance."

Concern about civie casualities might make one wing tied behind Great Satan's back worthy - if innocent Afghani lives were being saved.

The counter is, that refraining from air strikes is actually increasing innocent deaths

"According to the latest report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the number of civilian deaths caused by Western and Afghan government forces decreased to 596 in 2009, from 828 the year before.

"But the overall number of civilian deaths in the country increased by 14 percent, to 2,412, and the number killed by Taliban troops and other insurgents rose by 41 percent. For Afghan civilians who are dying in greater numbers every year, the fact that fewer deaths are caused by pro-government forces is cold comfort.

"There is also little to indicate that the “hearts and minds” campaign has resulted in the population’s cooperation, especially in the all-important area of human intelligence. Afghans can be expected to cooperate with American forces only if they feel safe to do so — when we take permanent control of an area.

"Obviously, this involves defeating the enemy.

As VdH revealed in a seance with v. Clausewitz

"Victory is most easily obtained by ending the enemy’s ability to resist — and by offering him an alternative future that might appear better than the past.

"We may not like to think all of that entails killing those who wish to kill us, but it does, always has, and tragically always will — until the nature of man himself changes.

"In today’s polite and politically correct society we seem to have forgotten that nasty but eternal truth"

Direct Hit! Fire for effect!

Natch - this doesn't mean Great Satan and her Western Way of War NATO posse in AFPAK should diss or "...be oblivious to civilian deaths, or wage “total” war in Afghanistan.

"Clearly, however, the pendulum has swung too far in favor of avoiding the death of innocents at all cost. General McChrystal’s directive was well intentioned, but the lofty ideal at its heart is a lie, and an immoral one at that, because it pretends that war can be fair or humane.

"Wars are always ugly, and always monstrous, and best avoided.

"Once begun, however, the goal of even a “long war” should be victory in as short a time as possible, using every advantage you have.

Pic "With 1 wing tied behind her back" featuring Estella Warren

44's Faux Pas

Is 44 planning to chuck Iraq?

Such a foreign policy faux pas seems unthinkable (even for the most depraved realists, "faux Harvard Scholars" or sundry, demented fanboys).

To blow off hard won victories and defining Iraq's end game as Saigon light:

"The U.S. has steadfastly refused to discuss a long-term military partnership with Iraq beyond 2011, despite the fact that the Iraqi military will not be able to defend Iraq on its own by then.

"It has refused fully to increase civilian efforts in order to accomplish tasks that had been performed by military forces now withdrawing. It has reduced funding for the Commander's Emergency Response Program, which allows the military to provide "urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction" projects, as well as for other forms of humanitarian and security assistance.

"Despite the vice president's many trips, the administration has consistently defined success as complete disengagement. Many Iraqi leaders interpreted the SFA as an indication that their country would develop a special relationship with the U.S.

"Instead, the Obama administration has given them every reason to believe that they will be—at best—just another country in the Middle East."

Cats foreign and domestic look to a future Iraq and possible sectarian schiz

"The militias are fully armed, and al-Qaeda in Iraq is trying to move back from the west. These are the conditions now, and we're sitting back looking at PowerPoint slides and whitewashing."

Great Satan's premier regime killer (oh - it's true! He has been large and in charge and on scene for Milosevic, Uday, Quasay and poppa S'Ddam) laid it out for 44's posse to play it out:

"We have a relationship with the Government of Iraq that gives us an important opportunity to develop a democratic Iraq that enjoys a long term partnership with the United States.

"It's critical that we take advantage of this opportunity because it's hard to know if we will ever have this kind of chance again.

Dang.

Straight.

"The situation in Iraq is dynamic and evolving, and the U.S. cannot take any outcome for granted.

"Active American engagement will continue to be vital to achieving a just, accountable, representative government in Iraq, especially as Iranian senior leaders actively attempt to undermine the democratic, secular and cross-sectarian political process that has emerged in Iraq since 2008.

Pic - "Why should Great Satan ever leave?"

Dissident Free!

As Natan Sharansky, the divine avatar of Democrazy, points out in the essential "Case For Democracy" - gross and outright untrue lies are like oxygen for unfree, unfun (and often nigh unhinged) Regimes: They have to lie just to breathe.

News that the world's largest Collectivist Regime is Dissident Free at first seems like the news that Mullahopolis and controlled environs were "Gay Free"

Thinking harder, it's kinda telling that the world has never really heard about American, Japanese, French or Taiwanese dissidents.

Mainly because the League of Hot! Democrazies proves Uncle Tony's unrepentent tenant

"The inalienable right of humankind to be free--free to raise a family in love and hope, free to earn a living and be rewarded by your own efforts, free not to bend your knee to any man in fear, free to be you, so long as being you does not impair the freedom of others."

Ai Weiwei shed some xlation on what China's Foreign Ministry spokescat Ma Zhaoxu really meant:

1. Dissidents are criminals.

2. Only criminals have dissident ideas.

3. The distinction between criminals and non-criminals is whether they have dissident views.

4. If you think China has dissidents, you're a criminal.

5. The reason China has no dissidents is because they have already become criminals.

6. Does anyone have a dissenting view about what I've said?

Pic "Christian human rights Attorney Gao Zhisheng is where he should be"

Understanding Surge!

Super hot Institute For The Study of War - totally essential since "...healthy democracies require civilian leaders who are well versed in military affairs. The abandonment of military studies at America's colleges and universities since the Vietnam War poses a serious challenge to civilian control of the military and to the well-being of our nation."

Kinda like ol' VP Uncle Joe. While it's ok to not be able to tell a SU 35 Frogfoot Soviet era ground attack aircraft from a profile - it is totally uncool to get confused about victories. Or what it takes to ensure them in the new millennium.

Like the Surge. ISW has unleased an awesome dVd

The Surge: the Untold Story is the only documentary of its kind offering audiences a look into the real story of the Surge in Iraq, as told by top U.S. military commanders. These never-before-seen interviews move beyond Washington politics to tell the ground truth of a failing mission transformed into one of the most successful military operations in a generation of war fighting.

"This documentary honors the sacrifice, courage and ingenuity of military members in nearly impossible circumstances. The men and women of the United States Armed Forces, the Department of State and Iraq.

"Their vision, courage and sacrifice during the Surge helped improve the life of Iraq’s citizens by establishing the security needed for Iraq’s democratically elected leaders to govern.”

Pic "Surge Baby Surge! Part Deux"

Revo Guards Rule!

It's true!

Great Satan's Madame Sec o' State finally said out loud what all the cool kids knew eons ago: Preacher Command has been eclipsed by their own magical Praetorian Guard - the Revolutionary Guard!

Created way back in the last millennium just in time for the horrible Iran Iraq War, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has came a long way from the semi older brother guys that ducktaped little boys together in herds armed with a plastic key to the gates of Paradise and escorted them to clear minefields, charge fixed kill zones and machine gun positions.

The Revo Guards of the New Millennium are actually a combined force - commanding the Beseejis' upon mobilization, along with troops and Air Forces are way over 100,000 strong and 'very lightly manned' in peacetime. ISSI's Military Balance 2007 estimates IRG may have 20 infantry divisions (nearly 7k guys each - including reserve formations), some independent brigades, and one airborne brigade.

IRGC Naval Forces are 20K strong with several modern frigate thingys and can deploy the Persian version of Marines including 5,000 in one brigade of three or four Marine Battalions and are equipped with some coastal defence weapons (some HY-2/CSS-C-3 Seersucker SSM batteries and some artillery batteries) and 50 Ayatollah Kamikaze Flotillas (including 10 China created 'Hou Dang' superfast attacker craft).

IRGC Air Force controls Iran's strategic missile force and has a guesstimated brigade of Shahab-1/2 with 12-18 launchers, and a Shahab-3 unit. The Shahab-3 unit may be toting "1 battalion with estimated 6 single launchers each with estimated 4 Shahab-3 strategic IRBM.'

Revo Guards Super Secret Elite Commando al Qods - a special op posse that does the foreign terrorism stuff - like Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan (and maybe Pakistan too). The world can thank these jerks for a plethora of reactionary rejectionist movements - many rocket hot like Hiz'B'Allah or an upgunned HAMAS - others - like Mahdi Army in Iraq were essentially sweetly annihilated courtesy of Great Satan.

Since eclipsing the Mullahs in the Majiles election in 08 and the faux election last June - this is significant.

1st off, the last time Praetorian Guards eclipsed traditional unfree state stuff was way back in Nazi Time Deutschland - when Waffen SS upgirthed from like 40K cats to nearly a million - controlling every aspect of civilian life.

2nd - Replacement Revo Guard Commanders all seem to have at least one common thread - a new generation of ex-military leaders comes to power and a new generation makes it to the top of Revo Guard leadership, all directly owing their positions and power to the Supreme Leader.

Pic - "Revo Guards Rule!"

Overt Covert

Oh Snap!

Little Satan got claws!

"In December, a “tourist bus” carrying Iranian officials and HAMAS members exploded outside Damascus. The official report by Syria claimed that a tyre had exploded but photographs surfaced showing the charred remains of the vehicle — prompting speculation that a much larger explosion had taken place."

LOLZ! Minions of the world's very first freely elected suicide Regime (who amazingly enough, were unable to smuggle themselves into the Strip Blitz last year, preferring instead to hang in Basharopolis all comfy and safe as milk while extorting Strippers to fight to the last drop of innocent blood) and their rowdy foreign enablers acquired the somewhat suspect divine goal of becoming martyrs.

"Several weeks later a meeting between members of HAMAS, which controls Gaza, and their counterparts from Hiz'B'Allah in its southern Beirut stronghold in Lebanon was also attacked, resulting in several deaths."

Oh the irony! A magical party of kindred rocket rich rejectionists - literally crashed with a high explosive payload.

The most bloody example of making an example (since Mad Imad's sweet sweet St Valentine's Day hit in 2008) is HAMAS guy Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

al - Mabhouh was HAMAS' arms merchant - funneling cash, weaponry, intell (and probably advisors) into Palestine for strikes against Little Satan. Inexplicably - al Mabhouh jetted to Dubai using his real passport.

Unverified gossip deets he was there to secure the 1st of several shipments of night vision goodies, body armor and multiple crates of the dreaded SVD sniper rifle, other, equally unverified reports report al - Mab was in town for more sinister booty like rocketry stuff - wmd style warheads.

On January 19, 2010, al Mab is believed to have been poisoned by a mystery hottie who visited his room at the Al Bustan - an outright dispute of Iran's reportage that al-Mabhouh had beed electrocuted AND strangled.

Essentially Little Satan's chief Spy Guy - Meir Dagen is sending a very clear signal that Little Satan is prepping for "...a regional war..."

Pic "Gideon's Girls"

L'Etat C'est Moi

"L'Etat C'est Moi" roughly meaning "hey ya'll - look - I AM the state" is a very nice way for absolute rulers to say that whatever they say goes.

Louis XIV, der Fuhrer, Supreme Leader, even Vlad, have all espoused despotic designer ala prose and made it perfectly clear who is large and in charge.

Sometimes this a momentary mindset in personal relations too.

Yet not on St. Valentines Day! It's all about reaching out - dialogue, negotiations, alliances and relationships.

Is there anything that Internat'l Relations and theories can add to the mix?

Heck yeah!

"To begin with, any romantic partnership is essentially an alliance, and alliances are a core concept on international relations. Alliances bring many benefits to the members (or else why would we form them?) but as we also know, they sometimes reflect irrational passions and inevitably limit each member's autonomy. Many IR theorists believe that institutionalizing an alliance makes it more effective and enduring, but that’s also why making a relationship more formal is a significant step that needs to be carefully considered.

Of course, IR theorists have also warned that allies face the twin dangers of abandonment and entrapment: the more we fear that our partners might leave us in the lurch (abandonment), the more likely we are to let them drag us into obligations that we didn't originally foresee (entrapment). When you find yourself sweetly attending your partner’s high school reunion or traveling to your in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner every single year, score yourself an epiphany.

Realists have long argued that bipolar systems are the most stable. So if any one is thinking of adding more major actors to the system, carebeful!

Trying to juggle romantic relationships in a multi-polar setting usually leads to crises, and sometimes to open warfare. It's certainly not good for alliance stability.

IR theory also warns us that shifts in the balance of power are dangerous. There's an obvious warning here: relationships are more likely to have trouble if one partner's status or power changes rapidly. So that big promotion that you both celebrated may be a good thing overall, but it's likely to alter expectations and force you and your partner to make serious adjustments.

The same is true if one of you gets laid off. Essentially it takes tons of patience and love to work through a major shift in the balance of power.

Even the best relationships have scary times, of course, because even human beings who love each other deeply can have trouble figuring out what the other person wants and why they are acting as they are. IR theorists have written lots of smart things about misperception, and it's good to keep some of them in mind.

We tend to see our own behavior as constrained by our circumstances, for example, while attributing the behavior of others to their own attributes and wants. "I'm doing this because I have to, but he's acting this way because that’s just who he is!"

This sort of perceptual bias is potent recipe for conflict spirals, something IR theorists have long warned about. A small disagreement occurs, and each person's attempt to defend their own position starts to look like an aggressive and unjustified attack. And so we discover another core IR concept: escalation.

Which brings up another IR concept: appeasement. The term has been fairly dissed since Münich, but it is a critical strategy for preserving any romantic relationship.

Don't believe it? Then ask your sweetheart, who asked for this to be included.

So maybe learning some IR theory can actually help love and life. If it does, and luck intervenes enough to find the right person, and then opportunities arise for the chance to institutionalize the relationship by getting married.

And then the two of you might also decide to mobilize combined resources and grow a collectivist co op and alliance network. Like sweet precious little babies.

When that happens - the opportunities to learn another set of IR theories and concepts like sanctions, coercive diplomacy, deterrence, pre emption, preventive war and regime change are totally unbound!

Yet that is a whole 'nother essay from a whole 'nother source!

Happy St Valentine's Day Y'all!

75'458K hits in one year from all my sweethearts.

MwAh!

Little Satan's Master Plan!

Despite all the jazz about blitzing every square inch of turf betwixt the Nile and the Euphrates and sweetly incorp'ing into Greater Little Satan - fact remains Little Satan has won tons of real estate fair and square in a real war. Well, more wars than that.

While certain elements, for whatever reason, desire that Little Satan should abandon righteous booty hard won in desperate counterattacks and despite a 1/4 million hours of non profit jawflapping - Little Satan's Master Plan has been stripped bare!

"When American diplomats talk about the road to peace, few Israelis dare articulate one awkward truth. The truth is that Israelis have managed their conflict with the Arabs and the Palestinians for half a century not by working to unite them all, but either by deliberately and effectively dividing them, or by playing off existing divisions.

"By approaching matters in this way, Israelis have achieved de facto peace during various periods of their country’s history—and even two examples of de jure peace. It is because of divisions among Palestinians that Israelis survived and thrived strategically in 1947–48, and because of divisions among the Arab states that Israel won its 1948–49 war for independence.

"Divisions among the Arabs and divided competition for influence over the Palestinians allowed Israelis to build a strong state between 1949 and 1967 without having to contend with a serious threat of pan-Arab attack. It was because of divisions and the strength of Egypt amid those divisions that Anwar Sadat decided to make a separate peace in 1979. It was because of another set of divisions that King Hussein was able to do the same in 1994.

"The results of Israeli statecraft did not produce an American-style comprehensive peace, and it did not produce peace with the Palestinians. It may not even have produced a lasting peace with Egypt and Jordan—time will tell.

"But it did produce peace in its most basic and tangible form: an absence of violence and the establishment of relative security. This is what peace means for the vast majority of Israelis, most of whom do not believe that their Arab neighbors will ever accept, let alone respect as legitimate, a Jewish state in geographical Palestine.

"And the way Israelis have achieved this peace is, in essence, through a policy of divide and survive.

Pic - "Divy and conquer"

Operation Moshtarak

Oh, it's on bay bee! Led by rowdy, heavily armed leather necked Teufel Hunden, Great Satan is shaping the combat environs in Helmand Province - home of Taliban and those pop pop poppyfields.

A quick peruse of tactics so far are a killer reminder of the "Thunder Run" that Great Satan's "Rock of the Marne" panzer detachments did on Baghdad - essentially blasting through the crunchy exterior into the soft creamy center - then fighting from the inside out.

Waves of attack and troop toting choppers surged into the hottest real estate in all of AFPAK (for now anyway)!

"...The operation, codenamed "Moshtarak," or Together, was described as the biggest joint offensive of the Afghan war. Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, the commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, says 15K troops were involved, including some 7.5K troops fighting in Marjah and British forces to the north in the district of Nad Ali.

"The helicopter assault was preceded by illumination flares which were fired over the town about 2 a.m. In the pitch darkness of a moonless night, the roar of helicopters could be heard overhead, flying in assault troops from multiple locations.

"The white flash of Hellfire and Tow missiles could be seen exploding over the town as flares illuminated the darkness to help assault troops spot targets in the town.

Land Of The Pure's Dawn.com has several boring, uninformed and uninteresting ops about Operation Moshtarak:

"Operation Mushtarak in Helmand is part of Isaf’s new strategy for Afghanistan: degrade the Taliban’s resistance, secure south Afghanistan and then negotiate from a position of strength with the Taliban. Will it work? The answer depends on how success is measured.

"Start with the ‘clear’ stage of the counter-insurgency doctrine.

"It seems unlikely that the Taliban will take on the might of Isaf head-on: they may prefer to melt away instead. But there are uncertainties: the Taliban may be tempted to inflict casualties that skittish European Isaf partners may deem ‘unacceptable’, thus undermining the new strategy at the first step.

"Second, will Isaf be able to ‘hold’ the area? The quantum of forces assigned to the latest operation suggests Isaf will have enough firepower; however, here too there is a caveat. Unlike the past, the troops are not expected to stay in fortified bases but to be deployed in small numbers in a bid to ‘protect the population’.

"Yet, the more dispersed the troops and the stricter their rules of engagement, the more likely the Afghan Taliban will be tempted to slide back in and inflict morale-sapping damage on Isaf soldiers with IEDs, sniper fire and suicide attacks.

"Isaf appears to have taken a page out of Pakistan’s counter-insurgency playbook by evacuating the population, but to achieve ‘success’ the population will have to be moved back in sooner rather than later — at which point the Taliban may be able to challenge Isaf’s ‘hold’ over the area.

Dawn.com's confusion is understandable but strangely unforgivable.

Essentially - while PAK army routinely enjoys igniting 'campaigns' against Taliban then stopping for tea and negotiating cease fires - Great Satan enjoys igniting campaigns inflicting death, destruction, misery and agony until her enemies scream "GOD! PLEASE! STOP!"

Pic - "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” with Paris

Military Balance 2010

Internat'l Institute for Strategic Studies - the world's leading polititary conflict cats unleashed their annual "Military Balance " the annual assessment of the military capabilities and defence economics of 170 countries world-wide.

Essential in security, policymaking, analysis and research, Military Balance 2010 is fully crunk with region-by-region analysis of the major military and economic developments affecting defence and security policies and the trade in weapons and other military equipment.

Comprehensive tables detail major military training activities, UN and non-UN deployments, and give data on key equipment holdings and defence economics, as well as defence-expenditure trends over a ten-year period.

2010 Chart of Conflict, a wallchart showing current conflicts around the world, with selected supporting tables come with each copy. Sweet!

This year’s Military Balance examines key issues including the conflict in Afghanistan; the development of Iraq’s security forces; the debate over NATO’s strategic concept and operations in Afghanistan; an update on EU military operations; the progress of reforms in the Russian armed forces; military developments in Africa, including conflicts and the progress of the African Standby Force initiative; and developments in China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Hot factoid gossip about wider defence developments in East Asia and Australasia; South and Central Asia; Latin America and the Caribbean; Europa (Old and New); the Middle East and North Africa; and North America.

"Growing consensus that future state on state conflict may be characterised by the use of so-called asymmetric techniques. Chief among these may be the use of cyber-warfare to disable a country’s infrastructure, meddle with the integrity of another country’s internal military data, try to confuse its financial transactions or to accomplish any number of other possibly crippling aims.

"Despite evidence of cyber attacks in recent political conflicts, there is little appreciation internationally of how properly to assess cyber-conflict.

"We are now, in relation to the problem of cyber-warfare, at the same stage of intellectual development as we were in the 1950s in relation to possible nuclear war.

"In conclusion, The Military Balance 2010, describes a world in which many countries still perceive external threats from both states and non-state actors and are modernising their militaries accordingly.

"Western militaries have to judge against the recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan whether they need to prepare more for ‘war among the people’, or whether they can safely abstain from such conflicts in the future. Early indications are that the priority will be to focus on capabilities that are ‘adaptable’ to different types of conflict.

"The gruelling experience of recent Western military interventionism suggests that as the operations in Iraq and eventually Afghanistan wind down, definitions of so-called ‘wars of choice’ will become wider, and definitions of ‘wars of necessity’ even narrower. For military planners, the hope must be that the outside world and politicians permit the time for armed forces to reconstitute themselves, and develop doctrines to fight the kinds of conflicts that are thought both strategically necessary and benefit from public support.

"In the meantime, updating the concepts of deterrence and containment to make them applicable to current and prospective conflicts and styles of warfare will be an important duty for strategists"

Pic "Military Balance"