Tag: war

The Real Story Behind The Surge

Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno was an unlikely dissident, with little in his past to suggest that he would buck his superiors and push the U.S. military in radically new directions.

Communicating almost daily by phone with retired Gen. Jack Keane, an influential former Army vice chief of staff and his most important ally in Washington, Odierno launched a guerrilla campaign for a change in direction in Iraq, conducting his own strategic review and bypassing his superiors to talk through Keane to White House staff members and key figures in the military. It would prove one of the most audacious moves of the Iraq war, and one that eventually reversed almost every tenet of U.S. strategy

via The Dissenter Who Changed the War.

Monetary Warfare

What are the threats that could make the U.S. economy look less like America and more like Zimbabwe? He sees them everywhere – in the Chinese ownership of vast amounts of American debt, in Russia’s increased centralization of its economy, in Al Qaeda’s long-established fascination with damaging the U.S. economy.

Four of the scenarios keep him up at night Continue reading “Monetary Warfare”

Who Started The Russia/Georgia War? – New Evidence

TBILISI, Georgia — Newly available accounts by independent military observers of the beginning of the war between Georgia and Russia this summer call into question the longstanding Georgian assertion that it was acting defensively against separatist and Russian aggression.

via Georgia Claims on Russia War Called Into Question – NYTimes.com

The New World Disorder

The world’s bullies are throwing their weight around. But history isn’t on their side.

Our world is both safer and more dangerous. It is safer because the self-interest of the great powers is very much tied to the overall prosperity of the global economy, limiting their desire to rock the boat. But it is more dangerous because capitalist autocrats can grow much richer and therefore more powerful than their communist counterparts. And if economic rationality does not trump political passion (as has often been the case in the past), the whole system’s interdependence means that everyone will suffer.

We should also not let the speculations about an authoritarian resurgence distract us from a critical issue that will truly shape the next era in world politics: whether gains in economic productivity will keep up with global demand for such basic commodities as oil, food and water. If they do not, we will enter a much more zero-sum, Malthusian world in which one country’s gain will be another country’s loss. A peaceful, democratic global order will be much more difficult to achieve under these circumstances: Growth will depend more on raw power and accidents of geography than on good institutions. And rising global inflation suggests that we have already moved a good way toward such a world. They Can Only Go So Far – washingtonpost.com

Georgia started this fight — Russia finished it

Blowback From Bear-Baiting – HUMAN EVENTS

American charges of Russian aggression ring hollow. Georgia started this fight — Russia finished it. People who start wars don’t get to decide how and when they end.

Russia’s response was “disproportionate” and “brutal,” wailed Bush.

True. But did we not authorize Israel to bomb Lebanon for 35 days in response to a border skirmish where several Israel soldiers were killed and two captured? Was that not many times more “disproportionate”?

Russia has invaded a sovereign country, railed Bush. But did not the United States bomb Serbia for 78 days and invade to force it to surrender a province, Kosovo, to which Serbia had a far greater historic claim than Georgia had to Abkhazia or South Ossetia, both of which prefer Moscow to Tbilisi?

Is not Western hypocrisy astonishing? Americans have many fine qualities. A capacity to see ourselves as others see us is not high among them. -Patrick Buchanan

Continue reading “Georgia started this fight — Russia finished it”

Coming Climate Conflicts Avoidable?

Foreign Policy: The New Myth About Climate Change
Environmental refugees will in turn spark political violence in receiving areas, and countries in the “global North” will erect ever higher barriers to keep culturally unwelcome—and hungry—foreigners out.

The number of failed states, meanwhile, will increase as governments collapse in the face of resource wars and weakened state capabilities, and transnational terrorists and criminal networks will move in. International wars over depleted water and energy supplies will also intensify. The basic need for survival will supplant nationalism, religion, or ideology as the fundamental root of conflict.

Dire scenarios like these may sound convincing, but they are misleading. Even worse, they are irresponsible, for they shift liability for wars and human rights abuses away from oppressive, corrupt governments. Additionally, focusing on climate change as a security threat that requires a military response diverts attention away from prudent adaptation mechanisms and new technologies that can prevent the worst catastrophes. Continue reading “Coming Climate Conflicts Avoidable?”

Buried WMD Scoop – WSJ.com

Buried WMD Scoop – WSJ.com

Now that ’60 Minutes” has broadcast their interview with Saddam’s interrogator the inconvenient implications have been ignored by the media. It is easy to 2nd guess the Iraq war in hind-site and assume that since no WMDs were found and the occupation mismanaged that there was never a credible threat in the first place. This interview should remind us why the US Senate voted unanimously under Bill Clinton’s presidency that “Regime Change” was the stated policy of the United States. From the transcript:

Mr. Piro: “The folks that he needed to reconstitute his program are still there.”

Mr. Pelley: “And that was his intention?”

Mr. Piro: “Yes.”

Mr. Pelley: “What weapons of mass destruction did he intend to pursue again once he had the opportunity?”

Mr. Piro: “He wanted to pursue all of WMD. So he wanted to reconstitute his entire WMD program.”

Mr. Pelley: “Chemical, biological, even nuclear.”

Mr. Piro: “Yes.” Continue reading “Buried WMD Scoop – WSJ.com”

Saddam Planned To Re-Start WMDs : Interrogator

Interrogator: Invasion Surprised Saddam, Tells 60 Minutes Former Dictator Bragged About Eluding Capture – CBS News
Piro spent almost seven months debriefing Saddam in a plan based on winning his confidence by convincing him that Piro was an important envoy who answered to President Bush. This and being Saddam’s sole provider of items like writing materials and toiletries made the toppled Iraqi president open up to Piro, a Lebanese-American and one of the few FBI agents who spoke Arabic.

“He told me he initially miscalculated… President Bush’s intentions. He thought the United States would retaliate with the same type of attack as we did in 1998…a four-day aerial attack,” says Piro. “He survived that one and he was willing to accept that type of attack.” “He didn’t believe the U.S. would invade?” asks Pelley, “No, not initially,” answers Piro. Continue reading “Saddam Planned To Re-Start WMDs : Interrogator”