Category: Defense and Security

Two Completely Unrelated Thoughts

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OK, Not Completely Unrelated. JUSTICE is the Common Thread

Two Topics

Two subjects have taken up much of my consciousness in recent days. At first they are world’s apart. One is domestic, one is international. But as I began thinking about this blog, I recognized that the simple, foundational matter of justice connected these two issues in important ways.

Justice is a powerful, powerful concept. We should devote a blog or two to talking about that as a central human issue sometime. The longer I look around, the more I cherish justice over peace or any other desirable outcome.

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Big & Little Things Noted Lately

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Funny How Things Catch Your Attention. Here are a Few That Caught My Eye Today

 TV Interviews at Home

 One thing the pandemic made routine was people on tv being interviewed in their homes. We have been doing this for two years now, and some people are on tv regularly being seen from their homes.

For these repeaters, I am really surprised that we see that we are in their bedrooms, or kitchen, or some other space that looks unprofessional. By now, one would think they would put up a background screen or use one of the electronic backgrounds readily available,

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A Unique Thought About How History Plays Out

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History is Full of Unforeseen and Unintended Consequences. How to See Then Coming?

You Are Living in History Right Now

There may have been a time when such a statement as the one above might have sounded a bit too pompous or heavy handed to many of us. I bet not so much now. After two years of a global pandemic, a war in Europe that reeks of the dark past and threatens a new world war, and foundational challenges to our own democracy, we get it – history is alive and all around us. We make it,

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Some Interesting Military Notes from the War in Ukraine

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Valuable – and Expensive – Russian Lessons in Combat with Ukraine

 The End State May Not Change. The Route There Certainly Has Detoured

Today we focus on the essence of combat thus far. This is a bit of a change from most of what we see online. Rather than looking at the political, strategic, or humanitarian issues (all of which are very important), I thought we might take a moment to look at the current situation from the perspective of combat units on the battlefield.

This is something of a “busman’s holiday” for those of us who are veterans with combat experience.

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Ukraine is an Even Bigger Issue Than Many of Us Realize

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Think This is Just Russia Mucking Around in It’s Back Yard? Think Again

Events are Moving, Rapidly and in Unexpected Directions

When I started drafting this article, war was looking likely but had not come. Now that it has, news is coming fast, often unclear, or inaccurate, and ometimess as very unexpected.

Half the things we discuss here may be overcome by events in the short time between when this is published and when you read it. Such is the nature of this thing. Keep checking for current updates

Why is Putin Doing This?

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One More Relook at Afghanistan – Surely Not the Last – Part II

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Who Did What – Accountability is Due- And What Can Be Learned

Part II

On our last outing together. we attempted to frame how we got where we are. Not the harder part. What might we learn and what should we do?

 How Did We Get to This Point? Was This a Unique Thing in Our History?

This is the hard part to state. This was not unique, and we got to this point the same way we have before. We failed to know when to leave, we overestimated our allies and underestimated our opponents.

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One More Relook at Afghanistan – Surely Not the Last – OK, Two Looks

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Who Did What – Accountability is Due- And What Can Be Learned

Part I

My intent today was to post a modest review of a few key points we should keep in mind about Afghanistan. Turns out it is more than “a few” points, so today is Part I of a two part posting, the second one coming next Friday. With apologies for excessive verbosity, but this one just would not fit into one tiny box. Off we go.

Public Perceptions

 The general public does not seem to think much of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan,

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Why Armed Conflict with China, and Perhaps Russia, is Likely

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Turns Out Countries, Like People, Carry a Chip on the Shoulder for a Long Time

 

The Past is Seldom Ever Left in The Past

It is most interesting to note how periods of national humiliation, real or perceived, play many years later into national psyche. That shows up, often repeatedly and in different events, in foreign policy. Long term consequences result.

We should be careful with any stereotyping (he said, just before stereotyping…), but it seems that there are such things as national characteristics,

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So, I Was Thinking About a Few Things

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Some Loose Ends as the Year Draws Toward a Close

December Reflections – Not Exactly Santa’s List But Here We Go

It is that time of year wherein we are all prone to start thinking about the year that is almost over, and the one about to knock on our door. In that spirit, five things to reflect upon, in good and bad news categories, are rattling around in my head of late. Let’s take a look.

The Economy – Especially Inflation: Take a Deep Breath

It seems hard to get people at large to recognize it,

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Here’s a Phrase You Don’t Often Hear

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“I Have Some TV Programs to Recommend” – You Really Will Want to Watch These

Wasteland or Golden Age?

People often lament that there is “nothing good on TV.” References are often made to the remark made decades ago that TV was a vast wasteland. I have friends today who take great pride in the fact that they don’t even own a TV.

I often say to such folks that they really are missing some good programming. This is when they sometimes reply that they watch programming via streaming on a computer. Why that is a more pure act than watching TV seems a strained interpretation to me,

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