21 May 2011 The battle of the burkha

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/afghanistan-has-three-wars-at-once-lets-fight-the-right-one/2011/05/16/AFk7Ay7G_story.html

Afghanistan has three wars at once. Let’s fight the right one.

By Douglas A. Ollivant, Published: May 20

“There is not one war in Afghanistan. There are three.

“First, there is the fight against al-Qaeda and related terrorist groups. Second is the war to protect and support the fledgling Afghan government against the Taliban insurgency. The third war is the least understood but the most enduring: the internal social and cultural battle between the urban modernizers of Afghanistan mostly based in Kabul and the rural, tribal, anti-modern peoples who live in the country’s inaccessible mountain regions...”

“The strategy of Campbell and the regional command’s senior civilian representative, Tom Gibbons, provides the proper model. In July, Campbell and Gibbons published a concept for a “district reinforcement program.” It pushed U.S. troops, money and attention to key district centers along the roads connecting the major cities in eastern Afghanistan. These efforts were intended to connect Kabul with traditionally tributary cities — Jalalabad, Asadabad, Ghazniand Gardez — and create a safe zone at each district center where police and civil servants could be trained, where commerce could thrive and where solar power plus cellphone and Internet connectivity could help build infrastructure. Though obtaining proper resources has been a struggle, the effort is bearing fruit in many such districts.”

Douglas Ollivant, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, has served in Iraq and Afghanistan and on the National Security Council for the Bush and Obama administrations. He is now a senior fellow in national security studies at the New America Foundation.

Cassi Creek:

            Ollivant has laid out the main problem in Afghanistan and the region.  Among the existing populations, there are those that have no desire to modernize.  They have remained in the remote regions of these nations because they want no interference from any type of authority in their lives.  They will not change their cultures under any amount of duress.  

            We’ve finally accomplished our initial goal in Afghanistan.  Bin Laden is dead and his coven scattered.  Any troops tasked to this mission should be brought home immediately.   The government of Afghanistan is never going to be the government we would prefer.  Nor will its military forces.  Both are shot through with corruption and ineptitude that we cannot “train” out of them.   Troops tasked to this mission, retraining and modernizing a civil and military component are wasting their time.  Bring them home immediately.  Bring their organic equipment with them.  Nothing usable or recyclable should be left behind.

            The third war reminds me of the strategic hamlet concept used in VietNam.  Establishing a sequence of armed way stations to stage convoys from while maintaining some semblance of civil authority at the hands of the a supposedly loyal military, is not going to turn out any differently now in Afghanistan than it did then in VietNam.   However much we wish to believe that our system of government is ideal for all other nations, we need to face the reality that not all nations wish to be copies of the U.S.  Further examination reveals that despite the belief of the teavangelists, Christianity as practiced by the American right wing evangelicals is neither ideal for nor sought after by much of the world’s population. 

            The third war will not be won by the forces of modernization.  If it is won at all, it will be won by slow erosion of traditional culture by the leakage of such ideas as education for females, personal rights for women, modern health care, trickling into the remote villages.  And such ideas must be accompanied by some long over-due form of Islamic reformation.  Because old tribal cultures seldom if ever vanish peacefully when confronted with internal threats to daily life and leaders, the changes, if they occur at all will be tortuously slow and bloody.  The drive for reform will have to come from the women and they will pay dearly for it. 

            We cannot secure the changes for them; we cannot instill the demand for change into their lives and thoughts.  We can only make it worse for them by trying to overlay our demands for cultural replacement onto an ages-old cultural map that they must learn to read for their selves.  

            So once again, bring the troops committed to cultural warfare home too.  If we must send someone, send teachers to begin spreading literacy.  Under no circumstances should any missionaries be allowed to enter carrying U.S. passports.  They don’t belong there, to begin with, and if they carry passports from other nations, we have no reason to retrieve their bodies when they meet the inevitable and appropriate end.

20 May 2011 Final trim - just insert key

            Today is supposedly the final day before manned flight depletes the populace.    I’ve no belief in the prediction.  We’re continuing to live life as normal, paying our bills, freezing strawberries for later in the year, etc.  Mowing the lawn is another task that we can’t delay in expectation of world’s end.

            We have a fairly good-sized lawn.  We arrived here with a walk-behind lawn mower and a very old, very small string trimmer.  During the first summer, we decided to add a gas-powered string trimmer and a riding mower.  The trimmer has since self-destructed and been replaced by a low-end commercial trimmer.  It works well.  The walk-behind mower gave up and began shedding housing cooling vanes.  We replaced it this year rather than risk gas-powered shrapnel.  The mower is a low-end one that normally functions well. 

            The months of April and May have been wet and stormy, making it necessary to mow the lawn more frequently but offering fewer days to do so.  Today was forecast to be dry so I planned on mowing after the hike with Mike. 

            It has remained dry.  So I have followed up on my plans. 

            The gas-powered trimmer has vibration damping and I use it with sorbothane-padded biking gloves to limit vibration transmission to my arms, shoulders, and neck.  But by the time I’ve trimmed the usual areas and any problem spots that I can’t finesse one of the mowers into, I am unable to hold a bottle of water in either hand.   Fine motor control is even more unavailable.  I try to trim first whenever possible. 

            Today, the trimmer took its usual toll and left me with both hands shaking.  Next in line, today, the riding mower.  I checked the fuel and oil levels, added fuel, brushed off a wasp laying eggs in a bolt head, and tried to insert the key.  The key, simple little metal device that has always fit into the ignition lock, refused to slide into place.  At first, I assumed that my lack of digital coordination was the problem.  So, I used two hands for the insertion.  Two were no better than one. 

            I checked the key to be sure I had it properly oriented.  Then I saw the small amount of dirt-colored powder on the ignition switch.  I pushed the key in as far as it would go, wiggled it around, and pulled it out along with more powdery dirt. 

            In a flash, I realized that since I had last mowed the lawn, the mower had become a breeding chamber for the next generation of wasp that lives nearby. Five minutes spent repeating this maneuver gained another 0.25 inch of key entry.  I trekked inside, found a small paper clip and WD-40, and told Gloria what had happened.  It took yet another 5 minutes to remove still more dirt, a grub intended as food, and a wasp egg.  A shot of WD-40 to clear the lock and the mower kicked over easily. 

            Before returning it to storage this afternoon, I sprayed it with wasp/hornet killer.  One wasp-obstructed switch is unique and worth commentary.  Two or more is just failure to learn from the situation.  

            The new walk-behind mower started on the first pull and has sufficient self-propulsion power to pull me along behind it. 

            The wasp incident is unique in my experience.  Thought I’d pass it on.  For one wasp, the world ended earlier even than predicted. 

            Dinner tonight, a pho variant with dumplings, bok choy, and tofu.

Shabbat Shalom!  See you tomorrow, and the next day, and the next!

            

19 May 2011 Build me a new home, the old one just washed away

            Up and down the Mississippi, thousands of homes are inundated.  Most of them are built in flood plains or in flood-prone areas.  While this year’s floods are extreme in scope and volume of floodwaters, they are not unique.  I’ve seen similar flooding in my lifetime on the Mississippi, the Ohio, & the Missouri.   

            When the floods recede, and the land is dry enough to support trucks, there will be a steady stream of construction.  The poor people who live in the flood plains because they are poor will start over with next to nothing.  They have no insurance and no hope of affording anything better in the U.S. of 2011.   These are truck farmers, warehouse workers, cooks, nurse’s aides,  janitors, and other invisible cogs in a work force that is being paid far too little to keep up with rising costs of living. 

            While I wish we could move them all to decent housing unlikely to flood, we can’t.  They will continue to live on the edge of disaster, watching to see which major river will threaten them next time. 

            While the poor and once-middle-class try to start over, the wealthy will submit bills for insured properties to federally funded insurance carriers.   Luxury homes, built in locations to afford the best views, and occupied only part –time during the year, will be rebuilt again and again.  I can accept rebuilding one vacation home at taxpayers’ expense.    I find it unacceptable to keep rebuilding for the wealthy when they knowingly build in a location that promises some form of natural disaster will destroy any new construction almost upon schedule. 

            You can be certain that the provision to cover repeated repairs or reconstruction was inserted into federal law by a Republican.  They do take care to reward their financial backers with such services.  Doubtless, there were Democrats who voted for the gift; they’re not immune to taking advantage of their exalted status.  But mostly the proponents and beneficiaries aren’t worried about sandbagging their homes with views.  They just walk away, knowing someone else will try to save their property and that it will be rebuilt with little cost to them. 

            These are the people who claim to be paying too much in taxes.  

18 May 2011 muse are gone

With my alarm set for 0600, I woke up at 0530 and could not back to sleep.  The light coming in through the windows was pale and gray, and the sound of falling rain was missing.  Little to complain about beyond an early summons to the trenches.

            The creek is still clear in color but high and fast.  The muted sound fills the yard.  The clouds are low, ragged, and promise more rain.  The forecast is for 70% probability of rain with some thunderstorms possible. 

            The red squirrel seems to be deliberately deviling the dog, Loki.    She has spent most of the morning jumping at the sliding glass door in an effort to chase the squirrel away from the platform bird feeder.     We've put her training collar on her and let her out to chase the squirrel three times before 0930.  She loves chasing them, has yet to catch one.  When she does, we will have to deal with the problem of separating her from her prey.  When she first sees the squirrel climb onto the feeder, her barks become almost  bellows.   But when unleashed allowed to pursue them into the  woods she becomes grimly quiet fully ready to chase them up a tree and into the woods.

            I spent yesterday afternoon programming a weather radio to pick up only the necessary alerts so that we have some warning of approaching storms should we lose power &or cable feed.  I brought it along with us on our errands today.  The NWS is scheduled to run the weekly test alert today and I want to make sure we have a properly programmed warning system.  If the test is postponed, I have no way of knowing that the unit will be working as needed.  The test should have taken place between 1100 and 1200.  At 1232, I have no way of knowing whether it was canceled or if I blew the programming. 

            I brought the net book along this morning and am puzzled by the sudden inability to turn off the network seek function.  In fact, all the function keys seem disabled and non-functional.  I seem to be having an unusual amount of technical problems with hardware lately. 

            After 2 hours of waiting room and exam room time, we treated ourselves to a gallon of fresh strawberries, a late lunch of fish and chips, and a tank of gasoline at $3.58/gallon.  We’re home for the day and happy to be here. 

            Dinner tonight, hotdogs and baked beans. 

            There were two letters in today’s Johnson City Press complaining about the incumbent Congressman, Roe.  That is encouraging! 

            There is a common theme between the opening subject and the body of this.  It may elude all but the truly disturbed. 

17 May 2011 NO we said flight line

            When the USSR launched the first satellite, Sputnik,” space exploration became more than just a dream of science fiction fans.  Suddenly the two major global powers were locked into a race to plant their flags on a new frontier and to demonstrate their technical prowess in a manner so visible that anyone with a pair of good binoculars could see the new technology fly overhead on a clear night.

            The various U.S. design teams were immediately playing “catch up” to the demonstrable heavy lift capacity of the USSR.  The USSR lagged behind in guidance technology, something that was necessary both for the space exploration applications of the new missiles as well as the accuracy on target needs of the nuclear weapons designers. 

            From the first days of the manned flight program, we took ten years to land a vehicle on the moon and bring it back with its crew alive and well.  The Soviets sent a probe around the dark side of the moon before we did.  But they never made it to the moon.  They did put the first real space station in orbit, Mir. 

            Since the space race began, we’ve put several crews on the moon and then ignored it.  We’ve allied with the Russian space team in staffing the new International Space Station.  They provide the heavy lift capacity and will soon be the only nation capable of transporting humans to and from the ISS.  Because we are ending our near space shuttle program. 

            NASA has been the victim of budget cuts that leave it without a replacement for our shuttle fleet.  It is now reduced to designing and launching exploratory probes that provide an immense amount of knowledge but do nothing to advance manned space flight. 

            In the ensuing years, Japan, the European Space Agency, India, and China have become the new players in the exploration game.  More than anything, this points out our loss of dominance in the manned exploration of space.  We will launch one more shuttle mission, Atlantis, scheduled for July 2011 and the program ends.  The ISS will be dependent upon aging Soviet era technology for resupply, maintenance, and crew replacement and safe return.  The glory days will be far behind us with no funding to keep us even current, let alone dominant. 

            In the space of my life, we’ve gone from my generation watching the first manned flights as unique events to the current young adults who have never known a world without the U.S. space shuttle.  Other than the fans who still flock to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center for any launch they can manage to attend, the bulk of our populace ignores the shuttle and space station programs. 

            The lost lives and broken spacecraft have documented the high cost of manned space exploration.  Now the program is ending.  I’ll miss its promise, its magnificent discoveries, and the sense of wonder that every launch generates. 

            We could do with three less wars and a new fleet of spacecraft to take us further from the planet’s surface.  If we have any hope of manned space travel, we need a huge influx of new engineers and scientists who regard space exploration as more than movies laden with special effects.  The probes are pointing the way.  Now we need people to follow.

  

16 May 2011 In His Own Words

http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Phil_Roe

"I’m not afraid to go up to Washington and vote my conscience. ... We must balance the budget, and I will fight to the death for that. And I do not believe raising taxes is the way to do it."

            Roe tells us that once elected, our concerns and beliefs are no longer important to him.  He flatly admits that he will vote his conscience rather than follow the thoughts of his constituents.  To delude voters into thinking he will listen to opposing thoughts, his website features a carefully constructed poll in which constituents may either agree with his position or deny understanding the issue.  There is no option to express opposition to the teavangelist party line in his “polls.”

http://www.issues2000.org/House/Phil_Roe_Abortion.htm

“ Therefore, all abortion-related issues will be centered on my belief in the unique preciousness of human life, given to us by God. Our heritage and history has always promoted a culture of life, beginning with our founding documents. LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the base and moral support for our system of government.”

            Here, again, Mr. Roe tells us that our views on this issue don’t count and that he will ignore them in order to join the teavangelists in their attempt to block American women’s access to a legal medical procedure.  Further, in voting for the 2011 HR3, Roe tells us that he is willing to use the IRS as a weapon against political opponents.  In doing so, he also has decided to deny women the patient-physician privilege of confidentiality.  He is also admitting in this statement that he is willing to establish a state religion and to force the tenets of that religion upon citizens who do accept neither the tenets or the religion.  I can find no reason to trust either a physician or a legislator who so readily surrenders the 1^st Amendment rights of his patients or his constituents. 

http://www.issues2000.org/House/Phil_Roe_Civil_Rights.htm

“I am both philosophically and morally opposed to gay marriage. As much as I would like to see this remain a state issue, I am concerned that we have activist judges that are legislating from the bench. If this continues, which I fear it will, it may force the people to settle the issue with a Constitutional ban.”

            Mr. Roe again places his religion above the Constitution and above the rights of American citizens. He is fully willing to deny ca. 10% of the American populace basic civil rights.  He would find no problem with jurists “legislating from the bench” if the decisions handed down by said judges matched Mr. Roe’s bigotry.  My younger son is gay.  His lifestyle need not please Mr. Roe.  But Mr. Roe has no legal or ethical reason to deny my son and any other non-heterosexual American their full civil rights.  Therefore, he must be acting either out of a theocratic-driven intent to deny a portion of the populace their full rights as citizens, or from the deluded perception that the participation of two people of the same gender in a civil agreement conducted by a state-recognized religious authority will somehow degrade his personal copy of the process.  Surely, he has risen above religion-endorsed hatred and persecution. 

http://www.issues2000.org/House/Phil_Roe_Civil_Rights.htm

“Roe signed Constitutional Amendment on the flag

“Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States authorizing the Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission by the Congress:

“Article--'The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.'”

            How sad that Mr. Roe and associates feel free to prevent American citizens from expressing political concern in protected 1^st Amendment action.  They have banded together to deny our citizens the same action that any other political protestor, worldwide enjoys.  A mob in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or any other nation can burn the U.S. flag.  However, in the “land of the free,” we are not allowed such license. 

            I’m not a fan of flag burning.  Neither am I a fan of using flags to sell cars, fast food, nor any other item that has nothing to do with national identity.  These same legislators find no offense in our flag being used as a towel or a blanket at athletic competitions.  I guess it has to do with the amount of promotional and advertising money involved.

http://www.issues2000.org/House/Phil_Roe_Tax_Reform.htm

Taxpayer Protection Pledge: no new taxes.

Roe signed Americans for Tax Reform "Taxpayer Protection Pledge"

Politicians often run for office saying they won't raise taxes, but then quickly turn their backs on the taxpayer. The idea of the Pledge is simple enough: Make them put their no-new-taxes rhetoric in writing.

In the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, candidates and incumbents solemnly bind themselves to oppose any and all tax increases. While ATR has the role of promoting and monitoring the Pledge, the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is actually made to a candidate's constituents, who are entitled to know where candidates stand before sending them to the capitol. Since the Pledge is a prerequisite for many voters, it is considered binding as long as an individual holds the office for which he or she signed the Pledge.

Since its rollout with the endorsement of President Reagan in 1986, the pledge has become de rigeur for Republicans seeking office, and is a necessity for Democrats running in Republican districts

            This is a flat lie.  At some time, this nation is going to have to accept that taxation is the cost of civilization, and that all citizens should share the cost.  Mr. Roe insists upon exempting the rich, and treating corporations as persons.   Even the sainted Reagan had to allow tax increases.  We are saddled now with a House of Representatives that can’t see reality.  They are willing to destroy the once-middle class in order to pay back campaign debts to poorly educated half-wits who think they can ignore the need for taxation by cutting services to everyone else; and to keep the re-election money flowing from corporations that rape American resources and sell the resources offshore.  No new taxes?  Keep lying to the voters and eventually even the teavangelists will begin to realize that the liquid trickling down on them is yellow. 

           

            If our educational system were more concerned with basic reading, math, science, and history, rather than standardized testing and equating religion with science, the anti-intellectual bias that allows men and women like Roe, Palin, and Bachman to win office would be greatly reduced.  We don’t need this tier of teavangelists demagogues and this tier of inept and poorly prepared legislators.  They are bad for our nation.  They are bad for “the children” and “for our grand children.”   They’re bad for us.  They intend to demolish Social Security, Medicare, and the social safety nets. 

            They provide us with wonderful tools to use against them if we will just dig them out and exercise persistence in exposing their lies.  By their own words can we defeat them!  David Phillip Roe’s office looks like a good place to begin.

15 May 2011 Hire Today Gun Tomorrow

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/world/middleeast/15prince.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2

Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater’s Founder

“ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.

“The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder ofBlackwater Worldwide, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom.

“Mr. Prince, who resettled here last year after his security business faced mounting legal problems in the United States, was hired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the U.A.E., according to former employees on the project, American officials and corporate documents obtained by The New York Times.

“The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest in their crowded labor camps or were challenged by pro-democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year.”

Cassi Creek:

            http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6740735.ece

From The Times

August 6, 2009

Blackwater accused of murder in 'crusade to eliminate Muslims

Tim Reid in Washington

“A series of allegations including murder, weapons smuggling and the deliberate slaughter of civilians have been leveled against the founder of Blackwater, the security company being investigated for shooting deaths in Iraq.

The accusations, including a claim that the company founder Erik Prince either murdered or had killed former employees co-operating with federal investigators, are contained in sworn affidavits lodged at a Virginia court on Monday night.

The company was the most prominent of an army of private security companies employed by the Pentagon and State Department to protect military convoys and guard US diplomats in Iraq.”

The accusations against Mr. Prince are being made by two former employees, including a former Marine, who have sworn them anonymously as John Doe No 1 and John Doe No 2, because they said they feared for their lives if their identities were revealed.

In one of the statements, John Doe 2, who worked for Blackwater for four years, alleged that Mr. Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe” and that his companies “encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life”.

Cassi Creek: 

Blackwater became Xe Services in an apparent attempt to polish a poor PR image and to distance the owners from legal claims and fines.  As their corporate reputation became less favorable and the use of mercenaries by the U.S. government became a political liability, the shift form Bush to Obama administration policies left them a para-military mob with no war. 

            The use of mercenaries is unacceptable to me.  There is an immense gulf between soldiers serving a nation and armed men serving their bank accounts.  Perhaps some of the employees have found another reason to hire their services to Prince and associates.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/21/seymour-hersh-military-crusaders_n_812363.html
Seymour Hersh: Military Branch Being Run By 'Crusaders'

First Posted: 01/21/11 03:51 PM Updated: 01/23/11 04:41 PM

            The all-volunteer armed forces have allowed a fundamentalist Christian presence to develop at all echelons of the military.  The use of crusader motivation by officers and NCOs can only inflame Muslim enemies and play directly into their propaganda programs.

            Prince’s new bosses in the UAE are carefully building a non-Muslim force to be used against Muslims by a government that can then deny it is waging war or using martial force against Muslims.   Prince must see this as an added bonus.  His forces can be secretly motivated as new crusaders and he will be paid royally for building a 5^th column in the Middle East.  

            The one certainty in dealing with mercenaries is that they are motivated by money rather than by national loyalty or ethics.  Historically, mercenaries have often changed sides in the middle of campaigns and even within battles.  A higher bid will win their services. 

            Prince is, no doubt, taking great pains to have his own praetorian guard paid handsomely so that his safety is secured.  It will be interesting indeed, when his army of hired guns is deployed against Muslim forces and civilians.  The world is condemning Col Khadafy for deploying mercenaries in Libya.  Mr. Prince may wind up fielding troops for equally or even more despicable rulers.  I hope his companies have worn out their welcome in the U.S. 

            One thing is certain; Prince is not the noble paladin he believes he is.  There is no need to wire San Francisco.  Richard Boone won’t be stepping off the train to defeat the opposing mercenaries.