Easing the Pain is a Pain.
Well, I was melting my head by reading the Global Guerilla blog (http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/) which I ran into from Defense Tech (http://www.defensetech.org/). If you're reading this, you need to read those. Them. Whatever. The former is spawning my scribbling now, that, and Charly's excellent chicken sandwich. Try it, you'll like it.
The point here is, as a professional net-geek, I seek out my superiors at all times, to learn. And this guy's so wildly beyond my understanding that I am reminded of sitting in the hall listening to Murray Gell-Mann at the Nobel Laureates Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College. (1976, I think) You really need to read this, but here's the quote that got me: “A failed state is worse than a rogue state.” Because a failed state becomes a “Temporary Autonomous Zone” where the Global Guerillas can train.
So our leadership in Washington has not only failed to make any inroads in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), they've managed to make it worse in a way they couldn't even imagine. Think about it like this: everyone in the world hates the US now more than ever. In addition, we have now manufactured the best training ground for the bad guys. Where else could they learn that our soldier's armor is useless against low-angle blast-fragmentation effects from the side? Where else could they learn that the Hummers are paper-thin? Where else could somebody find out that the reactive armor of the Stryker is worthless? Or that the Bradley is still an aluminum can full of soon-to-be-killed soldiers? And the Abrams has still got less than 70 hrs MTBO? That's “major overhaul”, capital “O”.
All this tech, all this treasure we've spent because we're so afraid to spend blood. And it's gotten us exactly nowhere because someone wielded the sword with inaccuracy. And this from the lady who cut my hair recently: Did you know that, apparently, the US Embassy & consulates in Mexico are crowded with young males applying to enter the US via service in the Armed Forces? I believe the Marines would be the preferred route, but I may be wrong.
It would make sense that we'd adopt a “Foreign Legion” without overtly doing so. One of the admirable things about the Foreign Legion is that it is plain old publicly just that. Perhaps we ought to adopt a similar honesty. Heck, ours could be the first US-funded force that actually follows the international treaties on human rights. (Couldn't risk Colin sitting in a War Crimes trial, no, nor Rumster, Halburton-Cheney, or the Cowboy President hisself.)
We could create this new force to actually participate in the UN peacekeeping, taking orders from them ferriners as the commitment may require. Anyway, go off and wrap your head around the concepts at Global Guerillas, it will be enlightening and depressing. It shows you how frickin' vulnerable we are (4% of electric-nodes taken out would darken 60% of the US) and all the while conveying that this newfound understanding is a 1st step to fixing the problem. Oh, and read up on “stigmergey.”