Category: Defense and Security

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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A Few Words About Afghanistan

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Events Like This are Big on the Human and the Historical Scale. Here, A Few Personal Notes

Everyone Is an Expert – NOT

It did not take long for the chorus of “I knew this was coming” to sing in full voice. In fact, a lot of what transpired certainly was predictable, but not all of it. I am, shall we say, a bit doubtful about all the Monday morning wisdom now in print and on the airways.

Similarly, I am less than impressed with all the “wisdom” of those who get the dynamics of history but are not actually burdened with decision making,

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How Bad is This Ransomware Thing? Worse Than You Ever Imagined.

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Fortunately, We Finally Have an Administration Who Gets It

 

Who is Doing This?

It appears three groups are doing the dirty deed.

One is plain old-fashioned criminals, out to make a buck whenever and wherever they can. These groups are truly international now, as well as domestic. The sad reality is that this sort of crime in not all that hard to carry out and it is hard to stop or trace (more on that later). Suffice it to say there is an abundance of low-life types getting into this arena.

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This Blog Began Because of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

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How NOT to Solve a Problem – And Lessons for the Rest of Us

 

Why Comment on This Now?

Goodness knows, everyone has a column about the conflict in recent days, but I felt compelled to add my two cents worth for a number of reasons. This has major moral, political, and security implications for a lot of people, including us. And lessons to be learned, if we will.

I visited Israel and Lebanon some years ago. I came back more depressed and worried than when I arrived. What I saw,

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A Little Alphabet Soup

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Two M’s + one N Spell Some Interesting Conclusions

Today We Wander a Bit

Three unconnected thoughts seemed to fill my head over the last few days and so I thought I might share them with you. Let’s talk about Two M’s (Mechanics and Morality) and a single N (Nunes). Here we go.

 M for Mechanics

 Like much of America, I have been interested in the discussion about Senate mechanics, especially but not exclusively the filibuster. It seems pretty clear that throughout our history,

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How About Some Really Good Reading?

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I Have Been Reading Some Great Stuff. Allow Me to Share.

 

The State of Writing in America

I am pleased to report that, at least from my perspective, there is some really fine writing going on in this country. I have a short list of recent work that I have been thoroughly enjoying.

Note I said enjoying, present tense. I find that I tend to slow up when I find exemplary writing. I like to kind of roll around in the luxury of stories well told or facts well analyzed.

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