A problem of 24 hour instant information on the internet availability

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan,Admiral Mullen,Karzai,New York Times,US Centcom

Chairman Admiral Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the latest to fall victim to a 24-hour news cycle. 

On April 1, 2010, US Centcom’s newsletter sends out a story with this headline:  “Mullen: U.S.-Afghan partnership stronger than ever.”

On April 2, The New York Times reports that on April 1 Afghan President Karzai gave a blistering speech against, among other entities, The United States.

A selected Karzai quote with commentary:  “In this situation there is a thin curtain between invasion and cooperation-assistance,” said Mr. Karzai, adding that if the perception spread that Western forces were invaders and the Afghan government their mercenaries, the insurgency “could become a national resistance.”

A comment, and embedded explanation, from former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Galbreith:  “Mr. Galbraith, who was dismissed by the United Nations after the disputed election, called Mr. Karzai’s speech ‘so absurd that I considered it an April Fools’ Day joke.’ He also said Mr. Karzai’s speech ‘underscores how totally unreliable this guy is as an ally.’

So Admiral Mullen’s comment:  “…never has our partnership … been stronger, or the challenges we face, clearer” seems a bit injudicious, given the speed with which events alter realities in this electronic age.

‘Tis a mess.

Trust, but verify.   (But how?)

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The more we know…

Technorati Tags: Health Care,Mary Bono-Mack,Washington Post,Ezra Klein

…the better it sounds.

The Health Care Reform bill signed into law this morning has some features which have not been given much airing.  Ezra Klein, over at a Washington Post blog, offers this:

“Transparency and the health-care reform bill”  …hospitals will have to post prices. Insurance products will be presented with standardized information, consumer ratings and quality measures. The payments physicians take from drug and device companies will be in a public database. There will be independent funding for research on the relative effectiveness of different treatments. Some of these changes are small and some are big, but put together, the system is going to become a lot more visible in the coming years.

This is what the Republicans, such as my own Representative Bono (BoNO), find to be “socialism?”  They say “NO” to this transparency?

Trust, but verify.

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Not asking…

Technorati Tags: Merrill McPeak,New York Times,Don't Ask Don't Tell

Today’s question, Dear Gentle Reader(s), is why doesn’t anyone from the cadre of supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” bother asking a basic question.

For example, in today’s The New York Times, one Merrill A. McPeak pens a few thoughts under the headline “Don’t Change ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”  The former Air Force Chief of Staff rests his case on this sentence:

Seventeen years ago, the chiefs — all four of us, plus the chairman and vice chairman — concluded that allowing open homosexuality in the ranks would probably damage the cohesiveness of our combat units.

Then he proceeds to argue against several other elements in the current discussion—rights, costs, etc.

What he doesn’t do is offer any evidence to bolster his “probably damage cohesiveness” statement.

As a matter of fact, his only other approach to this issue is found in the opening of the third subsequent paragraph,

Perhaps young American men and women will fight better when openly gay soldiers are included in the ranks, though I’ve heard no one make this claim.

McPeak should ask why no one makes this claim.  Perhaps it’s because the answer is self-evident based on the experiences of three of our most steadfast allies, Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom, all of which have no policies which discriminate against sexual orientation in their armed forces.

McPeak uses probably and perhaps, but not whether.  He ought to ask whether unit cohesion would be damaged or not.  So far our allies haven’t halted their programs; that ought to indicate a bit of evidence.

The answer is there, General.  But you have to ask the question—if you’re truly interested.

Trust, but verify.

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Quo Vadis, Washington Post?

Technorati Tags: Washington Post,John Yoo,Jay Bybee,torture

The Washington Post has come under fire lately for taking on a bit of a rightward bias on its editorial pages.  In an on-line, unsigned editorial one might find some fairly damning evidence to support that charge.  In it, the Post defends the recent decision of the Office of Professional Responsibility in the Justice Department to say “tsk-tsk” to the Yoo, Bybee infamous torture memos.

“No punishment for torture memos' authors, but no exoneration, either” might sound well-reasoned, for a short piece, in the mind of a neo-con or tea bagging partisan, but it ought to raise an eyebrow or two with almost everyone else.

You might, Dear Gentle Reader(s), read the editorial for yourself.  I just want to quote from the final sentence in which the WaPo writer stated these “…lawyers provided cover for reprehensible and abusive techniques that stained the country's reputation and diminished its moral standing in the world.”

The Nuremberg trials settled what should be done to such lawyers under those circumstances, didn’t it?  Perhaps not, suggests this editorial.

Should we follow the lead of The Washington Post in this case?

Trust, but verify.

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More than combat

Technorati Tags: Centcom

Centcom, Dear Gentle Reader(s), does more than engage with enemy combatants.  It also assists other governments in quite esoteric assignments.

Recently a Navy dive team was sent to Lebanon to assist in recovering the wreckage of an Ethiopian air liner which crashed recently.

Read about it here.

Support the troops everywhere.

Trust, but verify.

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Gates in Paris—Iran nukes

Technorati Tags: Centcom,Secretary Gates,Iran nukes,The Daily Beast,Reza Aslan

Centcom reports on Defense Secretary’s trip to Paris where he continues to raise warnings over Iran’s nuclear research activities.  His trip has been pretty much under the MSM radar, although some mention can be found on the blogosphere.  Our problem, Dear Gentle Reader(s), is trying to ferret out the relevant info.

Centcom quotes Gates: “I think that everybody’s interest is in seeing this issue resolve without resorting to conflict. But it makes it all the more important. We have to face the reality that if Iran continues and develops nuclear weapons it almost certainly will provoke proliferation in the Middle East. That’s a huge danger.”

It certainly is.

The question remains, how do we address the problem?

Trust, but verify.

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Uh Oh

Technorati Tags: Iran nukes,Secratary Gates,Turkey

Alas, Dear Gentle Reader(s), the Iranian nuclear situation is raising its very ugly head in new quarters; that is discomfiting.

The US Centcom website reports on a recent meeting with Defense Secretary Gates and the Turkish Chief of General Staff in which Gates raises the issue of Iranian intransigency on curbing their nuclear ambitions.  Gates warns, “Iran is in violation of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and I think there is a very great worry that if Iran … proceeds with this program unconstrained, there is a very real danger of proliferation here in the region that would make it even more unstable and more unsafe for everyone."  He adds, “the response [of other governments] has been quite disappointing [to Obama administration warnings].”

Turkey is our linchpin ally in the area. 

Be alert.  Be informed.

Trust, but verify.

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