Author: Tim J. Clark

Iraq SysAdmin: Core processess and systems

New Contracts Reflect Continued Presence In Iraq. (Washington Post)…Walter Pincus, June 2, 2008, Pg. 11

The depth of U.S. involvement in Iraq and the difficulty the next president will face in pulling personnel out of the country are illustrated by a handful of new contract proposals made public in May.

… mentors will assist an U.S. military group that previously began to implement what are described as “core processes and systems,” such as procurement, contracting, force development, management and budgeting, and public affairs.

Reference to core processes and systems caught my attention.  Systems typically determine over 94% of  results. 

More info on SysAdmin.

Iraq Casualties – Positive Trends

U.S. Deaths In Iraq Fell Sharply In May. (New York Times)…Andrew E. Kramer, June 2, 2008, Pg. 5

…There have been troughs in American casualty rates before, only to be followed by increases. Just on Sunday, an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. The military has instead focused on falling rates of enemy attacks, among other indicators, as a measure of improving security.

Details on Casualties information – Iraq, Afghanistan.  

IRAN: Threats, Options

Ahmadinejad Predicts End For Israel, U.S. (USA Today)…Unattributed, June 3, 2008 , Pg. 5

Iran’s president said that Israel would soon disappear off the map and that the “satanic power” of the United States faced destruction.

Russia Can Be Part Of The Answer On Iran. (Wall Street Journal)…Charles Schumer. June 3, 2008,  Pg. 19

Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Iran was installing an additional 6,000 centrifuges at Iran’s main nuclear enrichment complex. The Bush administration in turn needs to use every diplomatic tool in its arsenal to halt Tehran’s development of nuclear weapons.

Economic sanctions could cause the Iranian government to negotiate seriously with us, and might, over time, topple the theocracy. In fact, the mildest of economic sanctions – a boycott of Iranian banks by U.S. and European central banks – has already produced an economic slowdown, and unrest among Iranians.

Korea: Some things change, some don’t…

Headline News from the SECDEF’s trip to Korea.

Gates Mulling 3-Year Postings. (Washington Times)…Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press. Extending the tours of U.S. troops serving in South Korea to three years and allowing them to bring their families is overdue, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday as he arrived in Seoul.

U.S. Vows To Strengthen War Capabilities With S. Korea. (Yahoo.com)…Daphne Benoit, Agence France-Presse. …Gates said he and his South Korean counterpart had discussed an expanded role for the alliance that could look beyond the Korean peninsula. “We exchanged views on a broad range of issues and future of the alliance and in particular looking beyond the peninsula. We are working together on regional issues,” Gates said without elaborating.

North Korea Is ‘Serious Adversary’: U.S.’s Gates. (Reuters.com)…Jon Herskovitz, Reuters. North Korea presents a serious security threat and U.S. forces in South Korea are ready to respond quickly and decisively to counter any attack, the U.S. defense secretary and military leaders said on Tuesday.

South Korea, U.S. Agree To Maintain Current U.S. Troops. (Xinhua News Agency (Xinhuanet.com))…Xinhua News Agency. South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee and his U.S. counterpart Robert M. Gates agreed Tuesday to maintain the level of 28,500 American troops here, a senior defense official here said.

Smart Bullets?

Documenting our kills—the future of global security services.  Posting by Thomas P.M. Barnett commenting on a  NY Times artice:  11 Years of Police Gunfire, in Painstaking Detail

“Everything is down, the number of shots fired by officers is down, the number of subjects that we shot is way down,” said Inspector Cerar. “The number of total times when a police officer fires his weapon is down. Statistically, anecdotally, in any way you put it, the New York City Police Department is not a cowboy department.”

Shares a theory that eventually the U.S. must be willing and able to document all kills internationally just like cops do here at home.

May not be too tough to do with a smart (computer chip enhanced?) bullet or alternative type of technology. Desired outcome is hitting the right target at the right time for the right effect.

N. Korea: Keeping their Nukes?

N. Korea Taking Tougher Stance, Ex-Envoy Warns(Washington Post)…Glenn Kessler, May 30, 2008 .Pg. 10

Senior North Korean officials recently said that the United States should get used to a nuclear-armed North Korea, and they refused to acknowledge the validity of U.S. concerns about Pyongyang’s interest in uranium enrichment or its nuclear collaboration with Syria, according to Charles “Jack” Pritchard, a former top U.S. negotiator with North Korea.

The Price of War – Can you spare a DIME?

 ‘Blessed Memory And Beloved Freedom’, (New York Post)…Adm. James G. Stavridis, May 29, 2008

The following is excerpted from remarks by Adm. James G. Stavridis, the head of US Southern Command, at the Intrepid Foundation’s Memorial Day ceremony on Pier 84 in Manhattan.

As I read the words of these heroes, try to picture the writers. Sit next to them. Feel what they feel as they write. Be with them as they open their hearts to their families. In doing so, you will yourself touch the heart of what Memorial Day should be for each of us.

Hope you click on the article and read the last words of Soldiers from the Civil War, WW I, WW II and Iraq.

Application of the military element of power represents a “failure” by the other elements of power to prevent war.  Prevention not always possible. One of the outcomes from the war in Iraq is more of an awareness that we need  “whole government” approaches to managing, preventing, and resolving conflict.  

Information: Absorbing, processing …

Moving Beyond Globalization , May 13, 2008.

Recently, New York Times columnist David Brooks penned an interesting piece on globalization and how people have used it to create paradigms for everything from economics to politics. He thinks it’s time to move on [“The Cognitive Age,” 2 May 2008].

DeAngelis’s posting on Moving Beyond Globalization, references an article by David Brooks on the Cognitive Age. Brooks states:

It’s the skills revolution. We’re moving into a more demanding cognitive age. In order to thrive, people are compelled to become better at absorbing, processing and combining information. This is happening in localized and globalized sectors, and it would be happening even if you tore up every free trade deal ever inked.

The Information cycle consists of .. data, which can lead information, information to potential knowledge, knowledge to potential wisdom.  

I rarely use absolutes, but leveraging information to achieve the best outcome with the least amount of effort requires an awareness and understanding of variation.  A concept so simple, it’s hard for people to understand.

Non "Lethal" forms of War

RUSSIA’S CYBER FORCES. 

Russia’s Cyber Warfare Doctrine is designed to be a force multiplier along with more traditionary military actions including WMD attacks. A “force multiplier” is a military term that describes a weapon or tactic that, when added to and employed along with other combat forces, significantly increases the combat potential of that force.

Like all offensive cyber strategies it includes the capability to disruption the information infrastructure of their enemies. This doctrine includes strategies that would disrupt financial markets, military and civilian communications capabilities as well as other parts of the enemy’s critical infrastructure prior to the initiation of traditional military operations. They also address weaken the economy of their adversary to further decrease their ability to respond to the combined threat.

Lethal and non lethal forms of warfare introduce a revised paradigm for warfare that reinforced Einstein’s remark that “problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”