BARVENNON.COM
9th July 2006
AUSTRALIAN DIARY
What
is "objective
analysis"?
-
US ARMY -
The US army has released a game
that simulates the profession of soldiering. It seems to include
a taste of most of the information that a GI would need on the
battlefield. After completing
that "game" a person would probably be able to take over a remotely
controlled robot soldier. Probably take a couple of years to have
remote controlled general infantrymen (RCGI) ready for action, but
definitely the
way that the army will go, and the US army is right in there, getting
it's operators trained in anticipation.
- NORTH
KOREA & IRAN -
Kim Jong Il has been attempting to scare the US
government by shooting various sizes of rockets into the Sea of Japan
(it is suspected that a couple of the larger ones might have been aimed
at the
Pacific around Hawaii.)
North Korea reportedly has a large & very well trained army.
There are a lot of (about 300,000?) US servicemen stationed within a
few kilometers
of the NK border. North Korea, being an illiberal (closed)
dictatorship, can subject it's people to incredible hardship, including
starvation, without too much fear of civil unrest.
So Kim is not vulnerable to either military or economic persuasion.
The problem for GWB seems to be (what we used to call) the
"Domino
Theory".
GWB has been cajoling & bullying various small countries into not
producing
WMD (esp. nuclear). Most countries (Libya is a notable example)
have
joined his community of restraint. NK and Iran are the tilting
dominoes.
-
ISRAEL & HAMAS -
Terrorists have attacked an Israeli outpost and killed two
soldiers, captured a third. It is reported that one
of the planners is a senior Hamas member, whose often stated theory was
that the
only way to free Palestinian prisoners was to capture IDF soldiers and
hold them to ransom. The Hamas price for freeing the soldier are
liberation of Palestinian female and child prisoners. Gaza strip
terrorists are reported as continuing to fire rockets at Israeli
settlements across
the border.
Israel has responded with a re-invasion of the Gaza strip, and
destruction of Palestinian & Hamas assets, resulting in about 40
Palestinian deaths.
One has to wonder at the logic of the Hamas action. It
does seem that the Palestinian people are unable to act as a rational
political
entity.
Qui Bono? The Palestinian terrorists are a thorn to Israel, but
they are catastrophe for the Palestinian people. The only
beneficiaries of Palestinian terrorism seem to be the terrorist
hierarchy and those rogue dictators of neighboring states who benefit
from the
general instability in the region.
- IRAQ -
There has been an upsurge in civil violence in Baghdad. Over
a month ago Riverbend
reported There’s an ethnic cleansing
in progress and it’s impossible to deny. People are being killed
according to their ID card. Ethnic cleansing is now being
reported in the local rags. Apparently it is approaching pandemic
proportions.
The options for resolution of the situation seem to
be
dwindling. One option that neither Iran or Turkey seem to want
would be a division of Iraq into three regions. There are
twenty million Kurds (mostly Shia) in the region, (located in NE Iraq,
NW Iran, SE Turkey) and Turkey and Iran
do not want their indigenous Kurdish tribesmen to have a home
base. Similarly, no Arab tribes seem to want the refugee Jewish
tribe to have a home country.
Another option (suggested by Saddam Hussein) would be to reinstall the
previous Baathist regime with Saddam in charge. Perhaps not as
silly as it sounds.
Somebody should give GWB a copy of "The Prince".
- US
POLICY -
It does seem that US policy is in transition. I had been of
the opinion that the US planned action against Iran. Action now
seems less certain. Perhaps the change has been brought about by
intransigence & stalemate in Iraq and Korea, resulting in a
comprehension that the era of "Pax America" is no longer sustainable.
Perhaps it is about time. The treasure spent overseas
can now be spent at home on technology (Aegis, ABMs & RCGIs etc)
that will make the US secure,
instead of on the encouragement of liberal democracy where live those
who (perhaps
because of their culture) do not
seem to want it.
-
AIRBUS -
An airbus crashed in Irkusk recently. Is it me, or have an
exceptional number of Airbuses been flying into the ground recently?
Other things being equal, If I traveled, I would prefer a DC or Boeing.