Rambles

Periodic World Craziness Update # 13

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The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship. Egypt’s Islamists aim to build on constitution vote:  We are now starting to see the logical outcome of the “Arab Spring.”  I would guess that more Islamist regimes will come to power but they will at first cloak themselves with legitimacy of Democracy.  We are seeing a repeat of the patented Arab “one man, one vote, one time” phenomenon that occurred in the wake of WWII. Mexico urges US court to block part of Arizona law:  I just wonder why we don’t hear any US politicians or the administration telling a foreign nation to stay out of internal US affairs. I also find … More after the Jump…

Periodic World Craziness Update # 12

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The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship. Red Flag Over the Atlantic:  Everyone who follows China understands that China wants and is trying to increase their influence in the world.  They are doing this by exercising their considerable economic clout in places such as Africa and South America and also by increasing defense spending an acquisitions.  This year they launched their first Aircraft Carrier and have increased defense spending by double digit percentages every year for the past dozen years or so.  That they would be interested in an Atlantic base should surprise nobody.  If they aspire to regain the Great Power status they lost hundreds of years ago they must have a … More after the Jump…

Periodic World Craziness Update # 11

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The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship.  Greece, Spain ‘in depression’: Nobel winner Stiglitz:  The slow motion death of the Euro continues and the only people that seem to not recognize it are the technocrats in charge of the various EU government.  At some point, probably too late, the signs and symptoms will be so overwhelming that the EU’s leaders will have no choice but to stop trying to apply band-aids and have to do something that will actually work.  That end is probably the dissolution of the Euro. China’s increasing military spending unnerves neighbors:  Count me among the people who is alarmed by the growth in Chinese … More after the Jump…

Periodic World Craziness Update # 10

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The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship. U.S. military suspends joint patrols with Afghans:  All I can say is that it is about damn time one of the higher ups realized that the joint patrol and living policy is a failure.  Absent a robust vetting process, which is obviously lacking, it is unconscionable to have our troops living side by side with Afghans who cannot be trusted as far as we can throw them. Pakistanis Try to Storm U.S. Outpost; One Is Killed:  I expect that demonstrations supposedly in outrage over the video will continue for a another week or so.  I am more and more … More after the Jump…

Periodic World Craziness Update # 9

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The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship. Afghanistan: a ragged retreat threatens to turn into a slow-motion rout: Afghanistan is increasingly in the news again. I don’t know if that is because the US Presidential race is entering the final stages or that the war does in fact seem to be turning into a slow motion disaster. I suspect a little bit of both with some other factors thrown in. What ,most journalists and commentators fail to acknowledge however is that the war in Afghanistan went south a long time before Obama came into office. It went out the window when the US invaded Iraq and … More after the Jump…

Periodic World Craziness Update # 8

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The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship. Heavy clashes hit Syrian capital for second day:  The unrest, hell call it what it really is, the Civil War in Syria seems to be entering a new phase as the rebels gain in strength and/or competence and are actually starting to bring the conflict to the capital Damascus.   The big question mark is not can the rebels win but what will the international community do?  As things now stand they will offer only condemnations of the Assad government because they are stymied by Russian and Chinese support for Assad and his government.   I don’t see that … More after the Jump…

Periodic World Craziness Update # 7

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The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship. An Authoritarian Axis Rising?:  Perhaps more people should be talking about this.   This article asks the intriguing question of whether world events over the past year or so, but particularly since Putin’s return to power, don’t highlight the beginning of a new bipolar world order.   These supposed Axis states are China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela.   Interestingly, as the article points out, half of them rely on oil money and thus lower oil prices are seen as a threat.   Is the world once again aligning along authoritarian lines?  That is a good question, … More after the Jump…

Update on SFC Walter Taylor

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Saw this update on SFC Taylor’s case yesterday and decided to add it to my page as well.   From the LA Times: Court-martial decision postponed for soldier in Afghan shooting.   His Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a Grand Jury, was held last week and now the case in in the hands of the reviewing officer.   She will review the evidence and testimony presented at the hearing and then make a recommendation to Taylor’s Brigade commander who will endorse that recommendation or not and then send it to the JMTC commander in Graf who is the General Court Martial Convening Authority.   The JMTC commander makes the final decision on whether this case should go to trial or if Taylor should face, a lesser Court Martial, administrative punishment, or even no further action.

All that being said, I would guess that at a minimum Taylor faces a Special Court Martial, probably a Special BCD.   The nature of what has been reported so far makes it clear that Taylor is being prosecute as an example to others.   Whether that is good military policy is besides the point, the army does stuff like this sometimes.   I will say that in my experience, if it does go to a Court Martial Taylor will get a fairer hearing than he would in a civilian court.   His CM Panel, the military version of a jury, will consist of people his grade or higher both officer and enlisted if he opts that, and he would be stupid not to.   The panel are people that understand the military and the pressures in combat.

I have no worries that if it goes to trial he will win.   The problem I have is that even if he wins, his career is now damaged because of the massive publicity surrounding the case.   That is something he cannot get away from.   It will also haunt him as he goes in front of a selection board for promotion.   The perception could be that he hurt the army and he could therefor later be denied promotion or even selected for elimination and the case could have nothing overt to do with it but it will always be there.   The army is a small place and institutional memory is long, especially about people who are perceived as tarnishing the Army Reputation.

Irony

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Got this in an email from my Dad.  Funny and sad at the same time.

A Lesson  in Irony.

The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,  is proud to be distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps  ever.
Meanwhile, the National Park Service,  administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us to “Please Do Not  Feed the Animals.”
Their stated reason for the policy is because  the animals will grow dependent  on handouts and will not learn to take  care of themselves.

This ends today’s lesson.

Periodic World Craziness Update # 6

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The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and  brinkmanship. Europe rocked by Spanish banking crisis, Time to Admit Defeat: Greece Can No Longer Delay Euro Zone Exit:  At the top of the news for a week or so was the impending meltdown of the Greek economy and Euro experiment. Greek euro exit looms as G8 gathers:  The question in my mind is not if Greece will leave the Euro, but when and what will be the wider consequences for the EU as a whole?  As I understand it, there is no mechanism for an EU country to exit the Euro without repudiating the EU treaty itself and also leaving the … More after the Jump…

A Travesty Calling for Action

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In today’s edition of Stars and Stripes and the LA Times is an article about a combat engineer facing charges for actions he took in combat in Afghanistan last year.  The gist of the story is that the soldier involved shot an unarmed female in the middle of a firefight who was moving towards the rear of her vehicle.  The description of the incident from the article is here: His convoy was reeling from a roadside bomb, his fellow soldiers were engaged in combat with insurgents and a mysterious black car had just screeched to a stop in the middle of the firefight. Some nine minutes later, a black door opens. Second 1: A … More after the Jump…

Periodic World Craziness Update # 5

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The last month’s wackiness in the world of international relations and brinkmanship. Israel becomes a target in Egypt’s presidential vote:  Stories such as this highlight two things.  1. The true nature of the supposed Arab Spring of 2011 and the way Islamists are subverting an infant democratic process if one ever existed and… 2. Why Israel should be worried.  Even supposed moderate candidates gain political traction from demonizing Israel thus illustrating the level of mainstream support for what the west like to call extremists but who are actually not within an Arab context. Can Obama Safely Embrace Islamists?:  I don’t quite know what to think about this quote from the state department informant. “The war on terror … More after the Jump…

Periodic World Craziness Update # 4

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The latest installment of updates on the wackiness of Iran and the wider Muslim World.  I have also decided to change the title of this series and just make it a monthly installment, it will be an aggregation of what I consider the most relevant news pieces with my analysis and criticisms attached. George Kerchner and the Lessons of Afghanistan: This is not strictly about Iran and their idiocy but a good point is made about the lack of strategic focus of US and Western War Planning over the past decade. Obama Needs to Stay the Course in Afghanistan:  This article contains perhaps the most asinine sentence I have read regarding the deaths of our soldiers in a long time, perhaps … More after the Jump…

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