Chaos Manor View, Monday, December 07, 2015
Pearl Harbor Day
Today was eaten up by plumbers, work on There Will Be War Volume 10 which we will get out there as an eBook before Christmas, and other such matters. I’m also working on a short essay on “The Decisive Arm” and how that has changed over history; that too is for TWBW 10, but I’ll probably put it up here at some point. There’s so much good stuff in this book that you’re going to buy it anyway. Maybe even buy a hardbound edition, which should be out early next year.
Heard President Barrack Hussein Obama’s speech last night, but there’s nothing new. He says he’s going to do something about The Caliphate, which he calls ISIL, Real Soon Now, but what he’s going to do it with is too little and won’t be in time. At times he reminded me of Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf AKA Baghdad Bob AKA Ali il Comico; you know, the spokesman for the Baathist party during the us invasion of Iraq, who kept telling the world that Iraq was counter attacking and about to win even as US armor elements entered Baghdad. Whether Baghdad Bob gave his cheery messages because he didn’t know better or purely because of political restraints, he was a figure of fun; President Obama apparently simply doesn’t know that the Caliphate is growing rapidly. He thinks a thousand Special Forces and some arms aid to a few Sunni States, plus some charm played to Iran will take care of the entire Middle East. He thinks his strategy is working, when it is clear to nearly everyone else that it has failed and is failing.
Two years ago when the Caliphate declared war on the United States, I said that I could eliminate it with a division of troops and some of the A-10’s. As Daesh progressed and grew and more and more of Iraq along with the US weapons left behind in Iraq fell into Caliphate hands, I raised that to two divisions and all of the Warthogs. Annihilating the Caliphate would be a bloodier than it would have been earlier, but still sure of accomplishment. It will now take three divisions – 50 to 60,000 men; all of the A-10’s; and sufficient air supremacy forces to assure air supremacy including eliminating all SAM’s and other ground based anti-air enemy installations, and any air resources they may have acquired.
The goal is overwhelming force and utter victory including ruthless pursuit. The Caliphate cannot be allowed to own and rule any territory; they must be forced to go underground, where they may exist for years, but their legitimacy as a Caliphate depends on their rule applying fundamental Muslim Law as they interpret it. If they do not rule somewhere, they cannot be The Caliphate.
The only current Presidential Candidate who seems to understand this principle at this time seems to be Carly Fiorina. She does not stand high in the polls, but she seems to understand what is required in the Middle East.
It is possible that other Republicans will catch on; The Caliphate must be destroyed, its pieces given to forces not hostile to the United States – they need not like each other – and refugees settled in these protectorates. They can be protected by locals; the commitment of a long time protective force for the area is a separate problem. The Marines, deployed for one year hitches on American bases, are enough for a start, but it is a long time problem; but until the Caliphate is destroyed it will grow; and it will never be easier to destroy than now.
They have declared war on us. San Bernardino was not Pearl Harbor. The Caliphate is not powerful enough for that. Yet.
I repeat this to make sure you think about it.
Parents May Pass Down More Than Just Genes, Study Suggests
Jerry
Lamarckianism is getting a scientific test:
Who woulda thunk it? But data beats theory every time.
Ed
San Bernardino
I am finding the San Bernardino story pretty terrifying. It is becoming clear that they were terrorists, probably supporters of ISIL – as pretty much anyone with a brain expected from the time we first heard their names. And yet so far no one knew anything about their radicalism – not their families, not their co-workers. Can ordinary American Muslims now find resources completely online to move from being normal citizens to mass-murderers?
Imagine what that’s going to do to the attitude the rest of us take towards _all_, _normal_, American Muslims. I don’t like it much.
mkr
Once you have sown the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. Like it or not.
From another conference, with permission:
Kyle Aisteach, on 05 Dec 2015 – 2:21 PM, said:
One of the San Bernardino victims was a friend of mine. After a scammer set up a fake GoFundMe in his name, his ex sister-in-law decided that the only way to be sure that money donated in his name actually went to his daughters was to fight fire with fire:
Education Fund for the Daughters of Hal Bowman.
If y’all who are more outspoken about politics than me could use your platforms to remind folks to do due diligence before donating to people claiming to be raising money for victims’ families, the family would be very, very grateful. I haven’t spoken directly to them since Hal died, but I know they’d rather not receive a single dime on the legit fundraiser and see the scammer also get nothing than see people taken advantage of. Hal was a great guy who’d be furious at people misappropriating funds like that.
Be wary.
A little light reading on Global Warming, with links to more light reading
Probably just a review for most of your readers.
“. . . climate change is a rabbit hole that goes very, very deep.”
Richard White
Austin, Texas
: LTC Peters on Obama
This video is only one minute and 41 seconds; it is worth watching because it may indicate how other retired officers feel. He certainly reflects some of my sentiments and I don’t disagree with anything he said….and I’m not exaggerating. I completely agree with what he said, though I would present a more nuanced position. I think you’ll agree as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfzSlldIUHQ
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Most Respectfully,
Joshua Jordan, KSC
Percussa Resurgo
Norway Pays Refugees to Go Home
This reminds me of how the Southern states gave one-way bus tickets to certain folks who, mostly, went to California to take advantage of the welfare state. If I was a Norwegian policy maker, I’d give serious consideration to sending them to Germany. Angela Merkel seems to love refugees and this would solve Norway’s concerns while tickling Merkel’s catastrophe.
<.>
Norway is paying asylum seekers to return home as the refugee crisis continues.
Tens of thousands of kroner are being offered to each person who voluntarily leaves the country. They also have their flights paid for.
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I’m not German, but in the same way that I do not respect anyone who betrays their country’s defense secrets, I do not respect a policy maker who does not put the needs and wants of their countrymen before all else.
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Most Respectfully,
Joshua Jordan, KSC
Percussa Resurgo
Hah. At one time California required a year’s residency before welfare; but they’d generously pay your way to New York, which didn’t…
Darwin Awards error
http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/fuse.asp
The Darwin Award winner is the guy who was fooled by the old internet joke. Sorry Charlie (Darwin).Jim Thomas
Hardly astonishing, but it’s still a good story.
sci fi or social fact?
Dr. Pournelle,
You wrote “we’ll be around longer than we planned on. Meaning that we run out of money. There ought to be SF stories in that.”
Perhaps, but IMO, this is what the Social Security “crisis” is — in real life. Whether or not funds have been “raided” to pay for pork barrel schemes, and whether or not Social Security is a pyramid scheme, it was built on the idea that there would be more contributors than there would be beneficiaries — or at least a realistic ratio between them. Instead, there is a decreasing amount of input capitol to be split among an increasing number of beneficiaries. For some members of my family (several of them are of your generation), SS is their only income, and it is not half enough to pay for their needs.
For me, with a parent in that demographic, reality is drama enough. I would like to see an effective literary satire, but not sure that it would necessarily be science fiction if it is happening now, in real life.
-d
Fortunately I have you subscribers and my backlist in addition to social security…
The Ozone Scare
This is a good reference article:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/12/05/the-ozone-scare-was-a-dry-run-for-the-global-warming-scare/
It is indeed, and we’ll come back to that when I have more time. The Ozone Hole is a normal condition: the sun doesn’t send many rays to Antarctica during south pole winter. Surprise!
Interesting Bill Gates tweet…
He says that if he could change the price of one thing to improve everything, it would be energy…
https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/672063176159068160
-Jay
Well I would certainly agree with that.
‘Within the scientific community, the blending of science with political activism is far from being frowned upon.’
<http://quillette.com/2015/12/04/rebellious-scientist-surprising-truth-about-stereotypes/>
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Roland Dobbins
Surprise!
Freedom is not free. Free men are not equal. Equal men are not free.
