Category: National Security

National Security – DIME

Reservists: Civilian Careers at Risk

Reservists Face Rocky Return In Job Market (CBS)…Lesley Stahl, Nov 2, 2008.

“60 Minutes” report on National Guard and Reserve troops returning home from active duty to “find themselves demoted or penalized or out of a job completely.” Includes interview with Asst. Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs Thomas Hall.

With over 50 of his workers deployed right now, Miller says the company is spending about $4,000 a piece to train their replacements, and as much as $100,000 if a worker has to be relocated from another state. … The private employers cannot supplement, cannot support the full cost of defending this nation on our balance books.

I had one senior VP of HR tell me that if `I had three candidates for a senior position in the company, and one of them mentioned they’re in the Guard and Reserve,’ he would only have two candidates left. And I said, `You know that’s illegal.’ His response was, `I can always find a reason why not to hire somebody.’

Israel: Missile Defense

Who Is For Missile Defense?, (Washington Times)…James T. Hackett, Nov 2, 2008

The effort to defend against Iran’s missiles took a new turn in late September when Washington delivered an X-band radar manned by 120 U.S. personnel to the first permanent U.S. military base in Israel.

The radar sent to Israel is the same as the high-powered transportable model now operating in northern Japan. It is ideal for detecting short- and medium-range missiles such as Iran’s Scuds that can reach U.S. bases in Iraq and its Shahab-3 that threatens Israel. The advantage over Israel’s Green Pine radar is that the X-band radar can track missiles from launch, providing extra minutes to intercept. A Shahab-3 flies about 9 minutes from Iran to Israel, so a gain of several minutes is invaluable.

Testing the Next President: Scenarios

A Test That’s Sure To Come, (Washington Post)…Jackson Diehl, Nov 3, 2008.

…There almost always is. In April 2001 — long before Sept. 11 — George W. Bush had to react when a U.S. military surveillance aircraft was forced down in China and its crew detained for 11 days. The episode started as an accident, but Beijing used it to measure a new executive with scant international experience. In 1993 Bill Clinton was blindsided by the “Blackhawk Down” firefight in Mogadishu. After 18 U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush, he abruptly withdrew U.S. forces from Somalia — and taught Osama bin Laden not to fear American power.

Govt and Pvt Sector Parternship: Cybersecurity

Partnering For Cyberspace Security, (Washington Post)…Walter Pincus, Nov 3, 2008.

In two recent speeches that have attracted little notice, Donald Kerr, principal deputy director of national intelligence, has called for a radical new relationship between government and the private sector to counter what he called the “malicious activity in cyberspace [that] is a growing threat to everyone.”

Kerr said the most serious challenge to the nation’s economy and security is protecting the intellectual property of government and the private sector that is the basis for advancements in science and technology.

Calling for “a fundamental rethinking of our government’s traditional relationship with the private sector,” Kerr said that “a high percentage of our critical information infrastructure is privately owned, and both government and industry must recognize that an individual vulnerability is a common weakness.”

Disruptive Technology: Ray Gun

Fighting With Photons Unattributed. November 1, 2008
(Economist)…Unattributed

…The first serious battlefield ray gun is now being deployed. And the next generation, now in the laboratory, is coming soon.

The deployed ray gun (or “directed-energy weapon”, in the tedious jargon that military men seem compelled to use to describe technology) is known as Zeus.

If Zeus works, it will make soldiers’ lives noticeably safer. But what would really make a difference would be the ability to destroy incoming artillery rounds. The Laser Area Defence System, LADS, being developed by Raytheon, is intended to do just that—blowing incoming shells and small rockets apart with laser beams. The targets are tracked by radar and (if they are rockets) by infrared sensors. When they come within range, they are zapped.

If it works, LADS will be a disruptive technology in more senses than one.

Special Forces and Smart Intelligence

Covert Forces Trumpet Successes In War On Terrorr, (Washington Times)…Claude Salhani, Oct 31, 2008.

…Covert action remains a critical instrument in the war on terror. And it is thanks to a number of covert operations that the United States, according to a high-ranking Pentagon official, has made headway in the war on terrorism.

Fighting terrorism necessitates a two-pronged approach – covert action by special forces and smart intelligence.

By the end of this decade or probably early in the next decade, special operations forces will essentially be twice as large as they were at the beginning of the decade. The numbers of special forces troops will increase from the current levels of about 15,000 to somewhere around 64,000. The budget for the Special Operations Command will more than double in the next year.

This is the largest growth in special operations force history. What the United States is building is the special operations component of the global war on terrorism for the future, according to Mr. Vickers.

At the moment, the United States maintains special operations forces in some 60 countries. The vast majority – 80 percent – of those right now are concentrated in the greater Middle East or the United States Central Command area of responsibility; the bulk of those of course in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is one of the reasons why the United States is expanding its force significantly.

Threats to Security: More dangerous than the ones that led to WWII

Security Should Be The Deciding Issue, (Wall Street Journal)…Frederick W. Kagan, Oct 31, 2008

…The inward-focus of the U.S. and the leading Western powers (Great Britain and France) throughout the 1930s allowed these problems to metastasize, ultimately leading to World War II. Is it possible that American inattention to the world in the coming years could lead to a similarly devastating result? You betcha.

…  the current international environment is by any comparison more dangerous for the U.S. than the one that led to World War II.

When people feel relatively safe, they vote their pocketbooks. When they feel endangered, they vote for security. The world today offers no reason for Americans to feel safe. If we want safety, we have to be ready to fight for it.

Mr. Kagan is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and co-author of “Ground Truth: The Future of U.S. Land Power” (AEI Press, 2008).

Government: Roles, Facts, Perceptions

Government can’t do it all (or even most of it), By Cal Thomas, Oct 21, 2008.

What should be required viewing before the election is “John Stossel’s Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics,” a “20/20” report critical of the U.S. government’s ability to get things done (www.abcnews.com). The report looked at facts, not opinions, or “feelings” concerning government’s inability to live up to the high expectations caused by over-promising politicians.