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).

Leadership: Civilian vs Military

Civilian vs. military: Who leads better, By M.Z. Hemingway, Federal Times March 6, 2007

In an OPM study that compared civilian vs. military leadership and management capabilities, the military services rate higher on leadership and defense agencies higher on management.

Researchers studying the management styles of top Defense Department executives discovered a curious thing: The heads of Army, Navy and Air Force agencies run things quite differently than their counterparts at other Defense agencies.

Senior managers in the military services — be they uniformed or civilian — are more respected by their employees and generate higher levels of motivation and commitment than their counterparts at support agencies within the Defense Department.

But top managers of those support agencies do better than their military service counterparts at managing their organizations to meet long-term goals, according to a new study by two Princeton University researchers.

Executives with higher levels of education and private-sector management experience at both military and civilian agencies scored higher on both leadership and management evaluations. Executives with private-sector experience rated five to 10 points higher on all questions.

“Ideally we want great leaders and we want great managers. We need to combine the best practices of both the service and nonservice portions of the Defense Department,” he said.

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. 

South America: Venezuela, China and Iran

Trouble To The South, Washington Times ...Howard Whetzel,   October 30, 2008, Pg. 21

…Iranian Hezbollah has set up training camps in Venezuela. It is expected that these “trainers” will then expand their operations, reported to be drug and weapons smuggling, and money laundering, to the countries Iran has established diplomatic relations with in the region. This is not news to the United States. The U.S. Navy and State Department are both well aware of this recent activity.

U.S. Miltary Power: "Still No. 1"

Still No. 1 (Washington Post)…Robert Kagan, October 30, 2008; Page A23

…Meanwhile, American military power is unmatched. While the Chinese and Russian militaries are both growing, America’s is growing, too, and continues to outpace them technologically. Russian and Chinese power is growing relative to their neighbors and their regions, which will pose strategic problems, but that is because American allies, especially in Europe, have systematically neglected their defenses.

America’s image is certainly damaged, as measured by global polls, but the practical effects of this are far from clear.

Mexican Drug Cartels: Threats to National Security

FBI Warns Of Cartel Arming, by Sara A. Carter, The Washington Times, October 26, 2008, Pg. 1

…”These particular types of activities by the cartels show their increased strength and the serious threat they pose to the national security in the U.S.,” the official said. “It’s not getting better but worse along the border. Unfortunately, the drug wars we’ve seen in Mexico are now spilling significantly into the United States.”

North/South Korea: Military Talks

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 26, 2008

Military Talks Set To Begin

South Korea accepted a North Korean proposal to hold military talks, a Defense Ministry official said Saturday. Ties between the two countries, which are still technically at war, have soured since South Korea’s pro-U.S. president, Lee Myung-bak, took office in February with a pledge to get tough with North Korea. In protest, North Korea suspended reconciliation talks. But South Korea agreed to a meeting Monday, the Defense Ministry official said.

Presidential Election: No endorsement

Deciding to agree to disagree, Indianapolis Star, Oct26, 2008.

It’s a strange year. Were I asked by the man in the moon to describe the political leanings of our country, I’d say Americans were center-right. Yet we’ve had nearly two terms of a frustrating and until recently ill-prosecuted conflict in Iraq, economic troubles and widespread criticism from abroad. We’ve seen a level of White House arrogance that has troubled even some Republicans. That’s why many Americans seem willing to forgo their center-right tendencies to consider the case of a liberal and little-tested African-American U.S. senator from Chicago.

For The Star’s editorial board, with its history of mostly right-of-center positions and our desire to maintain consistency without being outwardly partisan, it became a tough and in the end extraordinarily difficult choice.