| Friday,
And This:
Well, I would say that Bush's speech of Sept. 20 was
the pivot-point. We now have an Empire. I must try to memorize the tune to
"Land of Hope and Glory". I already know the words, from another
context:
"Thine equal laws, by freedom gained
Have served thee well and long.
By freedom gained, by truth maintained
Thine Empire shall be strong...."
My grandmother, who was born in the U.S. in 1897,
often used to say that she felt like an immigrant who had spent her
childhood in an entirely different country. For many years, I assumed she
was talking about the technological change which took place in the early
decades of the 20th century. She was six when the Wright Brothers flew,
after all, and nine or ten before she ever saw an automobile.
Finally, one day, I asked her why she said it. And
she answered that before World War I, the U.S. was just another country in
the world, and not a particularly important one, and foreign news did not
particularly matter to anyone, but that after World War I the U.S. became
a superpower, and that she'd never felt it was the same place thereafter.
I think now I know just how she felt.
-- Meredith Dixon <dixonm@pobox.com> Check out
*Raven Days*: http://www.ravendays.org
For victims and survivors of bullying. And for those who want to help.
Which is why I wish we would declare war. But my
first thoughts after that morning of 9-11 were, Mourn The Republic. I have
seen no reason to change that view.
From Mr. St. Onge:
From: Stephen M. St. Onge saintonge@hotmail.com
subject: LIGHT A CANDLE MEMORIAL SITE
Dear Jerry: You may already know this, but if not,
at http://www.cnn.com/ , click on Light
a candle at ICQ and you can leave a message in memorium of those murdered
on 9/11/01. As of 1:52 CST today (9/20), there were more than 538889
already there.
Best, Stephen
I am not entirely enamored of such things; a more
substantive gesture would be a financial donation, and we are all making
that (all of us who pay taxes, at any rate). Still, the sheer number
should be a comfort to the families of the victims. It is not balm from
Gilead but considerably better than nothing.
I have received the following from many sources,
and posted it in warmail, but
apparently not everyone saw it there:
-----Original Message----- From: McFadden, Rodney [mailto:RMcFadden@comdt.uscg.mil]
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 10:06 AM
To: Jerry Pournelle (E-mail) Subject: USAF ACADEMY
EX-DIRECTOR OF MILITARY HISTORY
This amazing piece is from Dr. Tony Kern, Lt Col,
USAF (Ret)
Former Director of Military History, USAF Academy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recently, I was asked to look at the recent events
through the lens of military history. I have joined the cast of thousands
who have written an "open letter to Americans." Please share it
if you feel so moved. Tony 14 September, 2001
Dear friends and fellow Americans
Like everyone else in this great country, I am
reeling from last week's attack on our sovereignty. But unlike some, I am
not reeling from surprise.
As a career soldier and a student and teacher of
military history, I have a different perspective and I think you should
hear it. This war will be won or lost by the American citizens, not
diplomats, politicians or soldiers. Let me briefly explain.
In spite of what the media, and even our own
government is telling us, this act was not committed by a group of
mentally deranged fanatics. To dismiss them as such would be among the
gravest of mistakes. This attack was committed by a ferocious, intelligent
and dedicated adversary. Don't take this the wrong way. I don't admire
these men and I deplore their tactics, but I respect their capabilities.
The many parallels that have been made with the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor are apropos. Not only because it was a brilliant sneak attack
against a complacent America, but also because we may well be pulling our
new adversaries out of caves 30 years after we think this war is over,
just like my father's generation had to do with the formidable Japanese in
the years following WW II.
These men hate the United States with all of their
being, and we must not underestimate the power of their moral commitment.
Napoleon, perhaps the world's greatest combination of soldier and
statesman, stated "the moral is to the physical as three is to
one." Patton thought the Frenchman underestimated its importance and
said moral conviction was five times more important in battle than
physical strength. Our enemies are willing - better said anxious-to give
their lives for their cause. How committed are we America? And for how
long?
In addition to demonstrating great moral conviction,
the recent attack demonstrated a mastery of some of the basic fundamentals
of warfare taught to most military officers worldwide, namely simplicity,
security and surprise.
When I first heard rumors that some of these men may
have been trained at our own Air War College, it made perfect sense to me.
This was not a random act of violence, and we can expect the same sort of
military competence to be displayed in the battle to come. This war will
escalate, with a good portion of it happening right here in the good ol'
U.S. of A. These men will not go easily into the night. They do not fear
us. We must not fear them. In spite of our overwhelming conventional
strength as the world's only "superpower" (a truly silly term),
we are the underdog in this fight. As you listen to the carefully scripted
rhetoric designed to prepare us for the march for war, please realize that
America is not equipped or seriously trained for the battle ahead. To be
certain, our soldiers are much better than the enemy, and we have some
excellent "counter-terrorist" organizations, but they are mostly
trained for hostage rescues, airfield seizures, or the occasional
"body snatch," (which may come in handy). We will be fighting a
war of annihilation, because if their early efforts are any indication,
our enemy is ready and willing to die to the last man. Eradicating the
enemy will be costly and time consuming. They have already deployed their
forces in as many as 20 countries, and are likely living the lives of
everyday citizens. Simply put, our soldiers will be tasked with a search
and destroy mission on multiple foreign landscapes, and the public must be
patient and supportive until the strategy and tactics can be worked out.
For the most part, our military is still in the
process of redefining itself and presided over by men and women who grew
up with - and were promoted because they excelled in - Cold War doctrine,
strategy and tactics. This will not be linear warfare, there will be no
clear "centers of gravity" to strike with high technology
weapons. Our vast technological edge will certainly be helpful, but it
will not be decisive. Perhaps the perfect metaphor for the coming battle
was introduced by the terrorists themselves aboard the hijacked
aircraft-this will be a knife fight, and it will be won or lost by the
ingenuity and will of citizens and soldiers, not by software or smart
bombs. We must also be patient with our military leaders. Unlike Americans
who are eager to put this messy time behind us, our adversaries have time
on their side, and they will use it. They plan to fight a battle of
attrition, hoping to drag the battle out until the American public loses
its will to fight. This might be difficult to believe in this euphoric
time of flag waving and patriotism, but it is generally acknowledged that
America lacks the stomach for a long fight.
We need only look as far back as Vietnam, when North
Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap (also a military history teacher)
defeated the United States of America without ever winning a major
tactical battle. American soldiers who marched to war cheered on by flag
waving Americans in 1965 were reviled and spat upon less than three years
later when they returned. Although we hope that Usama Bin Laden is no Giap,
he is certain to understand and employ the concept. We can expect not only
large doses of pain like the recent attacks, but also less audacious
"sand in the gears" tactics, ranging from livestock infestations
to attacks at water supplies and power distribution facilities.
These attacks are designed to hit us in our
"comfort zone" forcing the average American to "pay more
and play less" and eventually eroding our resolve. But it can only
work if we let it. It is clear to me that the will of the American
citizenry - you and I - is the center of gravity the enemy has targeted.
It will be the fulcrum upon which victory or defeat will turn. He believes
us to be soft, impatient, and self-centered. He may be right, but if so,
we must change. The Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, (the most often
quoted and least read military theorist in history), says that there is a
"remarkable trinity of war" that is composed of the (1) will of
the people, (2) the political leadership of the government, and (3) the
chance and probability that plays out on the field of battle, in that
order. Every American citizen was in the crosshairs of last Tuesday's
attack, not just those that were unfortunate enough to be in the World
Trade Center or Pentagon. The will of the American people will decide this
war. If we are to win, it will be because we have what it takes to
persevere through a few more hits, learn from our mistakes, improvise, and
adapt. If we can do that, we will eventually prevail. Everyone I've talked
to In the past few days has shared a common frustration, saying in one
form or another "I just wish I could do something!" You are
already doing it. Just keep faith in America, and continue to support your
President and military, and the outcome is certain. If we fail to do so,
the outcome is equally certain.
God Bless America
Dr. Tony Kern, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)
Former Director of Military History, USAF Academy
At one time I was an honorary member of the
faculty of the USAF Academy, and I am pretty sure I met Dr. Kern at that
time. Anyway, this is well worth reading again.
As is this:
The - more or less complete - story can be found at
:
http://webcenter.newssearch.netscape.com/aolns_display.adp?key=200109210724000202169_aolns.src
(hoping that this odd-looking link works...)
Best, Jens
This refers to correspondence I had with Jens
Stark regarding the situation:
> Local news from Hamburg, Germany report that
the three "suspected"> > terrorists from Hamburg > >
"lost" their passports simultaneously bout two years ago, most
likely to > get > > rid of any visa > > stamps or similar
that would have linked them to Afghanistan and/or Iraq.
Thanks
Robert Racansky writes:
ThinkGeek 10801 Main Street Suite 700 Fairfax, VA
22030
While in a Unix class last night, we learned about
/dev/null, and I came up with this example:
mv /bin/Laden /dev/null
I believe that shirts with this would be popular
among the Think Geek crowd, and profits could be donated to the American
Red Cross's relief efforts. It would be a way for the Think Geek crowd to
help.
I don't have the resources to mass produce such an
item, but this would be right up your alley.
I don't have the resources either. And I fear
that commercialization of the war has begun in many places. But it is an
interesting sentiment.
Hi Jerry,
As a long-term reader and fan of your column for
Byte, I know that you are a user of FrontPage from Microsoft. You've
commented several times about reluctance to upgrade. I'm not a FrontPage
user, but I get the impression that you're being fair in your assesment
(as usual). As someone who sometimes complains about Microsoft practices
and products, I'm sure you'd be interested in an article from InfoWorld
that I read today at:
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/09/17/010917opfoster.xml?0920theb
Would the EULA restriction mentioned in this article
prevent you from using FrontPage to comment on Microsoft and its products
in your normal fair fashion?
BTW: While I still enjoy reading your and other
articles in the online Byte, I still miss the printed version. It seemed
to contain more (maybe that's because you've gone to a weekly publishing
schedule).
Regards, Kevin.
I miss the old BYTE too.
I gather that the EULA restriction is in the part
about displaying the "Constructed with Front Page" logo:
something I have no desire to do anyway. But in fact I use Front Page
2000, in part because of the activation and other annoyances of the whole
XP line.
I enjoyed your thoughtful comments about what our
response should be. We don't hear much about Carthage anymore. I was
interested in your thoughts about continuing foreign aid to totalitarian
states. Seems to me that this engenders anti-American sentiments among
those patriots who seek overthrow of their dictators. This provides
precisely what security benefit to the USA? I favor ceasing all
non-humanitarian aid to totalitarian states. Use half the money to fund
schools, hospitals, and water treatment plants in those same totalitarian
states. Use the other half to rebuild south Manhattan, preferably with
buildings which are both beautiful and functional.
-- Steven Belknap, M.D. Assistant Professor of
Clinical Pharmacology and Medicine University of Illinois College of
Medicine at Peoria
This deserves a better answer than I have time to
give, and may be repeated over in the war discussions. I really hope to do
some writing this morning.
The short answer is, we bribed Barbary States to
help us in suppressing each other. It saved American lives. Read the
history of why the Marines sing of "the shores of Tripoli"
sometime. We would in fact have welcomed Mussolini into the Alliance if he
hadn't had an uncharacteristic lapse of political judgment and joined the
Axis. We certainly made use of and helped Stalin.
But it is one thing to cynically make use of --
not totalitarian, there are not so many of those states and more --
repressive regimes in general for specific and limited goals. It is quite
another to proclaim a general foreign policy of meddling in everything in
the name of a New World Order and continue to do so.
It depends on what the goals are, doesn't it?
As to funding the kinds of projects you name,
that is what the Americans in Kabul jails were doing.
And from Joel Rosenberg:
I just figured I wanted to write about something else, for a minute.
No, Staroffice hasn't gotten any better. Rumors are that version 6 will
get rid of its most annoying habit -- its built-in demand that it take
over everything. Very frustrating, at least for me.
On the other hand, KWord is pretty good, in itself, and if it could
reliably read and write Microsoft Word files (the docs say it does; my
experience differs), I'd be seriously tempted to use Mandrake Linux as my
regular working environment, although getting an XFree environment to be
as easy on the eyes as that of Win2000 is not a trivial challenge.
Not yet ready for prime time, though. IMHO.
---------------------------- There's a widow in sleepy Chester Who
weeps for her only son; There's a grave on the Pabeng River, A grave that
the Burmans shun; And there's Subadar Prag Tewarri Who tells how the work
was done. -- Rudyard Kipling, "The
Grave of the Hundred Head."
Indeed? I will have to try it. But I am, I fear,
VERY comfortable with Word 2000 which can be obtained very cheaply now.
And, alas:
> Well, three times did I try Star Office and three times did I give
> up. Perhaps it is my curmudgeonly ways. Has it improved a lot in >
the past year or so?
Nope, it's still cludgey (I hate the whole desktop
thing).
Sun has many big plans for the next version (www.openoffice.org),
including making it Open Source, getting rid of the desktop, porting to
other OSes (can you see the advantages to a company in using the same
program on all platforms). But, StarOffice 5.2 seems to have been standing
still for the last 12-18 months.
But, you must concede that you are not in the
majority of users for whom 5% of Word is sufficient. I'm fairly certain
you make heavy use many features of Office, and Word in particular.
Writing is your business, after all.
But, for the rest of us, especially your typical
corporate user, StarOffice is almost certainly "good enough".
A couple of notes: the KDE environment on Linux
comes with an office suite (KOffice) that is supposed to be pretty good. I
have not used it, nor do I know how good it is at importing Word and other
Office docs. With Microsoft switching to XML as the file format for their
Office XP docs (at least I recall hearing that), things should get
interesting.
Pete Flugstad
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you
by wwjames@earthlink.net.
Hi Jerry,
I thought you might this editorial from the N.Y
Times interesting. (I know I did.) It seems that you are not the only one
to conclude that flattening large parts of a city is the only way to deal
with some terrorists.
Keep up the good work. Your discussions are always
interesting and make me think. Even if I don't always completly agree with
you. But we probably agree with each other more than either of us might
expect.
Your coverage of NIMDA has been very useful. It has
helped me up the security on my copy of IE5. Thanks.
Three cheers for the Belkin switches. I'm using one
now and love it. But you do need to make sure that you have the Belkin
switch set to the computer you are booting up before you start that
process, otherwise the mouse will not be properly detected. That is a
minor issue, but on the other hand, it keeps me from powering up all my
computers at the same time and blowing a circuit from the startup
transients.
I've added a link on the Hour25 web page ( www.hour25online.com)
to direct people to your site. Sure glad I moved Hour 25 to the web. I'm
not sure I could stomach going into 'that radio station' to do the show.
Gawd knows what those people are saying about the bombings. I know they
probably would have booted me off the air if I had spoken the words that I
wrote on my web site.
Hope this finds you well. Now get back to work on
your next book. <grin> I'm anxious to read it.
Best wishes,
Warren
wwjames@earthlink.net
Hama Rules
September 21, 2001
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
In February 1982 the secular Syrian government of
President Hafez al-Assad faced a mortal threat from Islamic extremists,
who sought to topple the Assad regime. How did it respond? President Assad
identified the rebellion as emanating from Syria's fourth-largest city —
Hama — and he literally leveled it, pounding the fundamentalist
neighborhoods with artillery for days. Once the guns fell silent, he
plowed up the rubble and bulldozed it flat, into vast parking lots.
Amnesty International estimated that 10,000 to 25,000 Syrians, mostly
civilians, were killed in the merciless crackdown. Syria has not had a
Muslim extremist problem since....
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/21/opinion/21FRIE.html?ex=1002077980&ei=1&en=7d766b596cfa9c79
As you probably know, we used "Hama
Rules" in Go Tell The Spartans... Hour 25 was Mike Hodell's science
fiction late Friday night show on FM radio for a long time until his
death, and was continued by Warren James.
I get this letter a lot. It assumes facts not in
evidence: I know of no one convicted of a crime who wanders loose in the
USA when there is a valid extradition warrant.
Jerry, back in the eighties/nineties the USA refused
to extradite escaped (but convicted) IRA terrorists to the UK. As far as I
am aware these terrorists are still resident in the US.
Would the UK be justified in carrying out the
actions you propose against the USA ? Would you support the UK if it did
so ?
paulfarr@ntlworld.com
Go up and read the introductory statement:
The above assumes facts not in evidence.
Now you can read the reply.
My instant reply is "You're welcome to try.
Last time you tried was in 1814. New Orleans is waiting for another."
I know of the legend of the escaped IRA terrorists convicted and loose in
the US, but I also note that every time I get this accusation it is vague
and very general, and can't even fix the decade, must less the year, or
cite any cases.
In 1848 a US warship picked up the Hungarian
revolutionary Kossuth as he was being sought by the Austrian Empire. The
Empire demanded that we turn him over or face "consequences."
Daniel Webster's reply as Secretary of State is a classic. Of course it
was a bit of bullying: the Austrian fleet wasn't much, and the Brits were
on our side in any event. As I recall Webster pointed out that we ruled a
land and populations compared to which the Habsburg holdings were
"but a patch upon the Earth" and invited the whitecoats to
invade.
The US has extradition treaties with Britain. I
do not recall their diplomatic protests against our not honoring them. As
to money collected for the IRA in the US, I don't approve of a lot of the
activities of my fellow citizens. A good friend and Dean of a major
university won't drink Bushmill's because it is "made in occupied
Ireland". I decline to get into that one, my wife being Irish,
and the Parnell branch of the Pournelle family was rather active in Irish
affairs (Parnell was of course Norman Protestant).
So I come back to it: we have courts. Try your
case if you have one. And if you don't care for that outcome, send
Packenham's descendents. Incidentally, my ancestors were in the Louisiana
Militia in 1814.
In affairs of state it is useful to argue about
morality but that is largely done to inspire the citizens. Our citizens
are already motivated. I think all you can accomplish here is to inspire
responses a lot less temperate than mine.
Good Day.
By sheer chance the next letter on the subject
was:
Dr. Pournelle,
In response to our President's GREAT speech, the
Taliban envoy to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, held a press conference. It
included this gem:
"According to Islam, the blood of anyone who
spies for the enemy or sympathizes with it in time of war must be
shed."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34784,00.html
OK. Shall we start with the Palistinians, Egyptians,
and Pakistanis who so gleefully celebrated when 6,000+ innocent people
from 80 nations werebrutally murdered? No. Let's start with HIM!
Also, did you see the look of disgust and boredom on
Senator Hillary Clinton's face during the speech? It was just killing her
to have to applaud. In times like these, America's true friends become
obvious. So do Her enemies. Most other Democrats "get it," and
are on-board the pro-USA train. Hillary has jumped off, it seems.
Robin Juhl, Captain, USAF (retired) Ranten.N.Raven@ev1.net
I would not be quite so eager to condemn Senator
Clinton on the basis of facial expressions. She has a lot to contemplate
including the fact that when she was Deputy President there were things
that might have been done to end this, then; but in fact all we did was
throw some missiles around and exacerbate the problem, to what end I
suspect she knows better than you or I. The memory cannot be pleasant.
Dr. Pournelle:
Dr. Kern's letter was well written and insightful,
but it might be worth remembering that almost exactly the same things were
written about the elite army of Saddam Hussein before the Gulf War. Our
disadvantage now, of course, is that the enemy is squirreled away in holes
all over the planet, not lined up in neat rows on the desert.
Tom Brosz
The real question is how much effort are we
willing to commit and WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH?
g
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