H&I* Fires, 19 MAY 2007

I'm fairly sure I don't understand war. I am blessed that my only contact with it has been through books. But I don't understand Shloky, either, so maybe it's just me.

Thanks for the link John, but in the interests of The Children(tm) might want to toss a language warning up there :) I'd hate for folks to come away shocked from my usually more restrained self ;)

I've got a Memorial Day related post/book review that might be of interest to anyone with young children in their lives: America's White Table

I guess I'm a bit of a motard because I can't make the trackback work... [No, it's an MT problem, probably. We're still (very slowly) tinkering in the back-office of the blog. -the Armorer]

You liked the PDA one John? I came away thinking "Well, sure, that makes sense, if we don't actually go anywhere or do anything." What'd I miss then? Given: civilian side of reconstruction is well short of what it should be. But, we're deploying more than 1/3 of total force, including Reserve component, in 1.25 wars(same general theatre)? I dunno. That's not sounding like being able to fight 1.5 wars in two theatres to me. What's my stoooped butt missing there then? (Oh, and isn't that what I linked to yesterday? Okay, it's the expanded FbL story, but I linked to that yesterday. First you edit and then you copy? Baggins!) TH, sorry. I wasn't looking to pick on you. I just do the Castle Contrarian Corps thing. I only get stale cheetos if I do stuff to prevent echochamber creep around here. I think Shloky is talking past you. I get what he's saying(you don't call up the state's national guard to combat the mafia or hackers---you bring in old sheepdogs who know how to work the underground for intel), but you've also got a point---in kinetic situations we can't be overly squimish. Obey the LoLW and GC in constructionist interpretations but no more. A little more rare steak and less tofu, neh? Cass. Oh, I know I'm going to wind up like Brendan Fraser in the movie Monkeybone when he get's sent back to Earth by Whoopie Goldberg where she kicks him like a football and instructs him to position himself properly for the kick(lift your butt a little higher, a little higher, hold it.(wham!)), but Shloky isn't talking total trash. He's in Bill Lind and TX Hammes theoretical land. Shlok's actually looking at things in a way to not put your Marine in a no win sol'n where he's only a target since he's an improperly used tool---you don't send the Marines to handle the mafia(poor analogy, but it's the best one I can come up with right now). That's what John's talking about when he's talking about Emperial watchstanders. You need the right tool for the right job. THere's some things the Marines(particularly with their history of small wars, and being the first service to get it right in 'Nam wrt the indigenous people) are the best tool for and others they aren't. That's what Shloky, John Robb, Barnett, and the others are looking at. What's the best tool so we don't use your Marine stupidly, like using a quaryman's chisel to repair eyeglasses or a pocket watch. Has little to do with OODA, but much with selecting the proper tool to wage battle in the moral sphere of war(since we're using Boyd). (A little higher? Okay. I've got my hockey helmet on. (cringe and whimper)).

My comment that Shlok 'made very little sense' was made in reference to his very short post, which several of us read and had a tough time making heads or tails of. That happens, sometimes. But his comment here is far easier to understand, and I agree with it, so far as it goes. But even then I have a bone to pick. Sure, it's harder to convince people in a culture where nationalism is viewed as socially acceptable. But human nature hasn't changed. I think the nature of mass media has changed the equation somewhat. I've written about this several times - government doesn't control the news cycle: they are forced to combat a highly distributed information network with a centralized one. It's that whole bullied pulpit thing: unless you can gain numerous allies in the free media, you are essentially vox clamantis in deserto. You'll be shouted down; it won't matter how good a job you do at propaganda, even assuming you do an excellent job at getting the word out. You'll be drowned out. Plus there is the whole 'mean-spirited poopy head/intolerance' aspect that conservatives have always had to contend with - in America anyone who tries to say anything bad against a Person of Cholor is not only Wrong but unbearably Wrong/Bad. As we all know, the only acceptable pariahs in American culture are upper class white males. But this does prove that it is possible to mock, deride, and dehumanize an entire class of people. We do it all the time. You just have to choose your victyms carefully, and you have to portray them as bullies so no one is tempted to feel sorry for them :p What the media have done with our enemies by hiding the evidence of their atrocities is prevent anyone from viewing them as bullies. And so no one can say a bad word about them. It always helps to have a friend on the inside.

P.s. I mentioned in a comment to another post, that I try to act like a rational grownup and control my violent passions. Some of the people we're fighting seem to get great joy from exulting and *wallowing* in their violent, and yes animal, passions. In public. On Youtube, and bragging about it, even.