May 06, 2008
Oh Goody, Field Manual 3-24 Has Arrived
You may have heard the term counterinsurgency doctrine tossed around , partly because General Petraeus is such a big fan. To elucidate : "The counterinsurgency doctrine emphasizes the use of minimal force, with the intent of winning the hearts and minds of a civilian population." Yesterday NPR interviewed Col. John Nagl one of the authors of the newly released Field Manual 3-24, the army's spanking new counterinsurgency handbook
Although there is much disagreement within the army over whether troops should be trained in more conventional methods as well, there is another issue that all of us here at Dakota found pretty chilling:
Retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, whose research helped transform the Army's organizational structure in the 1990s, doesn't necessarily dispute that point [Nagl's that people will wage war from among their tribes and family units], but he says he disputes the idea that the Army's adoption of counterinsurgency has made it a better force.He argues that this viewpoint encourages a more interventionist posture within the Army — a position that will make it easier for the Army to wage war in the future.
"I think it's downright dangerous because it suggests that we can repeat the folly of Iraq," Macgregor says. "That somehow or another, next time we can get it right without understanding that if the population is living within a social structure that doesn't want to change, if the population doesn't want you in the country, if there is no legitimate government to begin with, your intervention is doomed to inevitable failure."
But Macgregor and Gentile are swimming against a powerful current. Counterinsurgency doctrine is intimately tied to a new role the Army has formally carved out for itself.Earlier this year, it added "stability operations" to its growing portfolio of jobs. So a mission once derided as "nation-building" and "peacekeeping" by powerful figures in the Bush administration is now a key part of how the Army sees its role around the world.
Oh. Oy.
Photo note: Bumper sticker on the back window of a Prius -- Obstructing an already obstructed view -- thus a metaphorophoto
May 05, 2008
A Pretty Picture, Or Is It?
all of us
here at Dakota
are having
a bit of trouble
getting it up
so to speak
probably
because
Hillary
isn't
Photo note: Having trouble posting so just decided to put up a pretty picture and see what happened.
April 30, 2008
Socializing at the Cemetery
warbler shot by inadequate camera
Since June busted out all over in April, I've been hanging out a bit at Mt. Auburn, our "garden" cemetery - final resting place of many a poet and patrician, bird sanctuary and horticultural heaven. I was partaking of the pollen and working my way up to shooting the usual thousand flower pictures I feel compelled to take every spring, when, quite by chance, I bumped into a small but interesting social scene which I'm assuming happens often among the gravestones of a sunny afternoon. The friendly bird photographers were all steamed up about the elusive ruby crowned kinglet, and ever so ready to take me under their wings, so to speak, even though my mini Olympus was a eighth of the size of one of theirs. All three hang enough big brand cameras and binoculars around their necks to strangle an ordinary citizen. Sometimes they walk alone, but often in a quiet pack.
Last week they were stalking the ruby crowned kinglet, ("a bird on cocaine") this week, the Baltimore oriole. These guys are a hoot, and they know everything -- where the coyotes live and how many cubs they had last year, how the Canadian geese are discouraged from taking up residence (I forget), all about bad birding manners (crypt and step ladder ascents seen often during warbler week). They dislike baby strollers, especially squeaky wheels or squeaky babies. In fact most children are not trained in the art of bird stalking, and generally behave in bird disturbing ways. They hang out with the blue heron hoping to catch him with a bullfrog in his beak with a froggy legs extended, and reminisce about the day they shot him spearing an orange carp.
They taught me the basics Look up and scan the trees until you see movement. Since I'm very myopic and have so many floaters , I see movement everywhere. Fortunately, there's a fallback - listen for a bird call, hear who's around, and then look up. Then take out your camera, make the necessary adjustments and shoot. Then see if you shot a bird. Then see if it's in focus. Then make sure you didn't shoot a robin or a grackle, or if you did, that the boring bird is doing something interesting like building a nest or flying upside down. Every once in a while you hit the birdy jackpot. Lord knows it must have been an expensive hobby before digital cameras came along, since so many shots come out looking like some woodpecker was behind the camera. Frankly, it's all quite thrilling when you get a good one, rather like catching a fish without the worms or the need to be inhumane.
The deficiencies of my camera for this exciting game soon became very clear to me. I can only capture the big slow birds like heron and swans , who are tame enough to pose for an audience. I'm looking at a faster model, so that I may delight my audience with further birdy scenes of nature.
The guys tell me that they are just the tip of the iceberg, The Brookline Bird Club, some 1500 strong, has a special key to the gates of Mt. Auburn, and in high season 200 afficionados arrive each morning at 6:30AM for prime viewing.
You can take a virtual bird tour around Mt. Auburn, and get a better idea of the challenges a bird shooter faces.
Photo note: An art shot, where the bird is only a design element. You can see that my warbler shot will never do for the National Geographic, but I got it!
April 24, 2008
Speaking of Nukes
The ever astute Dan Froomkin smells a rat. In a piece for his Washington Post column White House Watch, which he has entitled "What Are They Up To Now?" he writes:
Intelligence reports from this administration can't be taken at face value.President Bush has built up a prodigious track record of selectively disclosing intelligence findings that serve his political agenda. And some of the most important of those findings, of course, turned out to be completely false.
The latest disclosure from the White House's intelligence apparatus -- that Syria secretly built a nuclear reactor with North Korean help -- is in many ways a blockbuster. But at the same time, its highly suspicious timing raises doubts about the motivation behind its announcement.
And even if everything the administration says is true, there are many elements of the emerging story that deserve scrutiny.
Consider, for instance, that the Syrians were still nowhere near being able to build a nuclear weapon when the White House tacitly approved Israel's attack on the facility. Did you think Bush's pre-emption doctrine was dead? Just listen to the administration officials yesterday speaking sympathetically of Israel's conclusion that it faced an "existential threat."
Another obvious question: Why now? Why is the White House going public more than seven months after Israel's attack?
Administration officials offered an explanation yesterday -- saying that they were initially worried about provoking Syrian retaliation, and that the disclosure could actually help the ongoing nuclear negotiations with North Korea.
But there are still some who suspect the announcement is the work of Vice President Cheney and other administration neocons who are trying to upset those negotiations -- and further ratchet up tensions with Iran. The White House statement about the Syrian installation insisted that "this development . . . underscores that the international community is right to be very concerned about the nuclear activities of Iran and the risks those activities pose to the stability of the Middle East."
You can and should read the rest, but it will only confirm for you that Nancy should have started impeachment proceedings long ago.
It has been all too easy to sell war. Last Sunday, The New York Times broke a front page story about military pundits embedded in the media, which has has now all but disappeared. In response, Michael Moore issued this edict : " I would like tonight to call for a removal, an immediate removal, of all US troops from CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, CNN, NBC, all of them."
Why ever would we ratchet up tensions with Iran? Israel has the nuclear capabilities, after all. If the Israelis are in any way encouraged to use them, even in a limited way scientists predict that the consequences to the environment, and to human health will be dire.
Photo note: As close as we could get to a nuclear explosion given the spring material available in the photo archives -- that's a good thing.
Addendum:N uclear explosions since 1945
Around the Pond and Back
Of course
the swans
were there
dependably
photogenic
though this
specific duo
was shot a
month ago
then
from a vernal pool
sprung at last
to life
melodic chirps
rose up
like beating
fairy wings
while
around the bend
a great blue heron
posed graciously
for a portrait by
an amateur
and
another swan
swam closer
hoping for a
swanny treat
along the
spongy bank
woodland violets
burst into bloom
returning home
I read
of tyranny
evil and deceit
and then
to turn away
from truth
and look at
birds instead
seemed
altogether wrong
Photo note: Horn Pond
April 23, 2008
Believe It Or Not, It's Still Passover
Devoted readers of this blog, and you know who you are, may be distressed to think that they have missed the annual Passover entry this year - (actually, there doesn't seem to be one for 2007, though we did celebrate). Have heart, here it is!
There were twenty two of us creating a ritual of freedom this year. Once again, the table was at maximum seating capacity. The first night of Passover fell on a Saturday, so we were not even forced to move the occasion to a more convenient date, as is our usual tendency. Since Passover is celebrated by the more orthodox for eight days, until April 27, even this entry is right on time.
It was, as always, a religiously rollicking event, culminating somewhat after midnight with an unfortunate dishwasher breakdown. Since all the plates were paper, (most Kosher, most convenient) this was not the tragedy it might have been. (Rest assured, all plastic was recycled)
The next morning, we polished off the leftover matzo ball soup, screwed the tops back on the elderberry Manishevitz for next year, made egg salad from the uneaten hard boiled eggs on the Seder Plate, stopped eating homemade horseradish directly from the jar so that we'd have some left to serve with raw oysters this summer, and solved the annual problem of what to do with the many leftover boxes of matzo
Photo note: The table sans celebrants