No Surprise

From Return of the Guitar Army by Ron Jacobs:

It's hard for some of us who were around to remember and even more difficult for those who weren't to believe, but youth culture was once considered to be a revolutionary phenomenon . Of course, we didn't call it youth culture (that was a media catch phrase), but looking back, that's what it was. Indeed, that's part of the reason why it didn't last like we wanted it to. We couldn't figure out how to maintain it once we got older. So, capitalism took over and turned the whole thing into a commodity.

Although not necessarily applicable to this author, in general, baby boomers all seem to ignore that their youth culture eventually became something to rebel against by later youth cultures. It's no surprise that many skinheads grew up in hippie communes. It couldn't sustain itself, because later generations grew to hate it.  While not exclusive, radicalism requires the energy and enthusiams of youth.

Failure

Much has been written and discussed concerning A failure in generalship
By Lt. Col. Paul Yingling since it was published.

Excerpt:

Popular passions are necessary for the successful prosecution of war, but cannot be sufficient. To prevail, generals must provide policymakers and the public with a correct estimation of strategic probabilities. The general is responsible for estimating the likelihood of success in applying force to achieve the aims of policy. The general describes both the means necessary for the successful prosecution of war and the ways in which the nation will employ those means. If the policymaker desires ends for which the means he provides are insufficient, the general is responsible for advising the statesman of this incongruence. The statesman must then scale back the ends of policy or mobilize popular passions to provide greater means. If the general remains silent while the statesman commits a nation to war with insufficient means, he shares culpability for the results.

In other words, silence is culpability.  Links regarding this article may be found at ZenPundit.

Tough Shit

Iraq criticises US pull-out vote.  Tough shit.

Robert Fisk: We are now in the firing line, sadly.  Dress like soldiers and be treated like soldiers.

Worth Reading

William S. Lind: Van Creveld's Latest. Both are worth reading.

Why Bother With Police?

Alexander Cockburn: Bring Back the Posse. Why bother with police? Excerpt:

Five years ago Peter Odighizuwa a 43 years old Nigerian student killed three faculty members at Appalachian Law School Dean with a semi-automatic handgun, but before he could wreak further carnage two students fetched weapons from their cars, challenged the murderer with guns levelled ,and disarmed him.

He continues:

The answer is to disband SWAT teams and kindred military units, and return to the idea of voluntary posses or militias: a speedy assembly of citizen volunteers with their own weapons. Such a body at Columbine or Virginia Tech might have saved many lifes. In other words: make the Second Amendment live up to its promise.

In 2005 I listened to some earnest ACLU type at a meeting in Garberville, an hour from where I live, deliver a judicious speech about Taser guns--a new toy for the cops, whereb y a person can be zapped with 50,000 volts. The ACLU guy was torn. On the one hand, he reasoned that the Taser -- being purportedly, though not actually non-lethal -- is better than a 12-gauge or high powered rifle. On the other hand, there is the possibility of "improper use". His answer: more regulation. He didn't entertain the actual course of events, namely that Tasers have now been added to the means whereby the police can kill or terrorize people and that regulation will be zero.

Why give a license to thugs? They won't protect you when the shit hits the fan. In fact, as we saw in New Orleans, some police might be our biggest problem.

It's spring; it's the Time of the Death Squads.

Exactly

An idea for your local government... Exactly.

Because He Can

Patrick Cockburn: Sadr Raises the Stakes. Because he can.

Taleban uses boy to behead 'spy'. Just when you thought things couldn't sink lower...

THE SECOND FRONT IN IRAQ. Brought to you by bureaucracy.

"Self flushing toilets are so disempowering."
-Anonymous

Change Is Cheap, So It Will Never Happen

William S. Lind: A Tactics Primer.  Change is cheap, so it will never happen.  A friend of mine recently returned from a trip to the D.C. area.  He told me the subway ads at the Pentagon station were for weapons and satellite systems.  The fact is money absolutely rules the place.

Jack-Booted

Paul Craig Roberts: The Party of Brownshirts. Wanna-be jack-booted thugs.

US university shooting kills 33. A tragedy and mismanaged besides:

Steger said the university decided to rely on e-mail and other electronic means of notifying members of the university, but with 11,000 people driving onto campus first thing in the morning, it was difficult to get the word out. He said that before the e-mail went out, the university began telephoning resident advisers in the dorms to notify them and sent people to knock on doors to spread the word.

ZenPundit: Recommended Reading.

World War 4 Report

Read Issue #. 132. April 2007 of the World War 4 Report.

Marketing Scam

Paul Craig Roberts: Big Profits from Big Brother.  The War On Terror is just another marketing scam.

Why not just put up a big sign saying, "Collaborator"?

Patrick Cockburn: The Myth of Tal Afar.  Why not just put up a big sign saying, "Collaborator"?

Two pawns in the propaganda war. Abuse 'em then use 'em.

William S. Lind: Horatio Hornblower's Worst Nightmare.

The initial surrender of the British boarding party to what appears to have been a much larger Iranian force is the only defensible British action in the whole sorry business.

At least the real people involved had some sense.   (Unlike politicians these days.)

Nothing More Annoying

There's nothing more annoying than Whining Imperialists. So shut the hell up, bitch.

Iran nuclear 'landmark' angers US. Iran doesn't seem unwilling to ratchet things up.

Shock and Awe: Suicide Terrorism, by G. I. Wilson and John P. Sullivan. Psychology is an important tool in a fight that seeks to sway emotions (one way or another).

Iraq's bloggers record life of fear

Iraq's bloggers record life of fear. Unfiltered. Since these news links will be removed, here's the entirety:

A day after the statue of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was toppled in Baghdad's central Firdous square, Zeyad Kasim was relieved that the Baathist government's reign of terror was nearing its end.

"I stood in front of the house watching, M1 Bradleys, Humvees, Abrams tanks, APC's. I was impressed. Most of the Americans were so young. They waved at us, and I waved back. Everyone in the street looked happy," he would later recount on his blog Healing Iraq.

But four years later, Kasim's hopes for a brighter, happier future have all but been stifled.

"The level of chaos that Iraq is presently witnessing is unprecedented in the history of the country," the former dentist told Al Jazeera.net.

"Long gone is the social harmony that has characterised Iraq for centuries. Instead, it has been replaced with hatred, prejudice, mistrust and an insatiable desire for revenge. I do not recognise my Iraq any more."

In 2006, Kasim moved to the US to pursue an advanced degree in journalism.

Fear replaces hope

On the fourth anniversary of the Firdous square incident, debate on whether the US-led invasion of Iraq has been worth the cost in human lives, monies and resources still dominates headlines.

But Iraqi bloggers, who have come to be seen as alternative sources of news and information on the war-ravaged country, believe foreign media is failing to ask the right questions.

Bassam Sebti, a journalist who worked with US media organisations in the Iraqi capital before moving to the US to study, says he is astounded how "the American people around me are unaware of the reality I went through and the daily fear and horror my people are still going through in Iraq in the past four years".

In his blog Treasure of Baghdad, Sebti recounts how once peaceful Baghdad neighbourhoods have succumbed to sectarian politics and violence.

He laments the loss of hope that Iraq could have emerged from an era of dictatorship and reconstruct itself into a young democracy.

"I can barely recognize Baghdad these days," he told Al Jazeera.net in an email exchange.

"Baghdad once was the setting for the famous Arabian Nights, but is now comprised of wreckage, rubble, destroyed buildings, burned houses, empty bridges and streets. People in Baghdad have changed as well. Fear, anger, and pessimism haunt their lives. They worry about everything."

Hidden sectarian strife

But blogger 24 Steps to Liberty, a journalism colleague of Sebti's who is also studying in the US, believes that Iraq's problems began before the invasion and were only allowed to rise to the surface once Saddam Hussein was removed from power.

"The culture in Iraq dramatically changed after the invasion," he says.

"The hatred and hostility that were forced to stay inside many people's minds were suddenly released with no law to prevent the revenge mentality in the community. That started brutal sectarian-motivated and massive assassinations that eventually led Iraqis to hate each other".

Like Sebti, 24 Steps believes Iraqis have lost hope.

Changing views

In the first three years of the occupation of Iraq, many bloggers chose to remain in Baghdad and other main cities. Some saw hope that the violence and lawlessness, exemplified by the looting immediately after Baghdad fell, would eventually ebb and order would be restored.

But now that such bloggers as Kasim, Sebti and 24 Steps have left the country, there is a pronounced fear that Iraq will soon be drained of the very human resources required for its reconstruction and rehabilitation.

"In 20 years, Iraq will have lost all its teachers and professors and the children now are not getting education. Who will lead Iraq in 20 years? Who will teach the next generations?" asks 24 Steps.

Baghdad Burning

In an interview with Al Jazeera.net Riverbend of the blog Baghdad Burning, acknowledged that many Iraqi professionals she knows have left or are preparing to make permanent moves.

"The only Iraqis tasting democracy after four years of America's catastrophe, are the ones who had the insight to leave Iraq behind and attempt to continue their lives somewhere safe, free from American 'liberation'," Riverbend, who describes herself as a 28-year-old computer specialist, said.

Her blog Baghdad Burning has spawned two books, a play, a possible screenplay for a motion picture and several nominations for prestigious literary awards including being shortlisted as a finalist for the 2006 Samuel Johnson Prize for contemporary non-fiction.

When she first began blogging her writings were sobering but there was always a hope that the political momentum would overcome the daily violence.

"I remember four years ago, we would tell ourselves it would take at least five years for things to be 'normal'- and that was the pessimistic view," she told Al Jazeera.net.

"Five years! Who could wait five years for security, electricity, water and stability? Now, upon entering the fifth year of this catastrophe, only a miracle will bring the modicum of normality millions of Iraqis fervently desire."

Escape

Many Iraqis have given up entirely on such a miracle, however. The United Nations estimates that at least two million Iraqis have left the country in the past four years
Tens of thousands are now displaced from their homes inside and outside Iraq with most settling in Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

They have established their own schools, businesses, restaurants and even bakeries.

But neighbouring countries are beginning to feel strained at the influx of so many refugees. Egypt, like Syria and Jordan, last week enforced more stringent visa restrictions on incoming Iraqis.

Nevertheless, Iraqis are pouring out of the country at such a pace that the United Nations estimates 10% of the population will have left by the end of 2007.

Some say they will never return, while others fear they will be unable to return.

For 24 Steps, those are trepidations he would rather not entertain.

"My fear is that in a few years I will be called 'an exile'," he said.

So Goes Society

Have You No Sense of Decency? The Tillman Affair and the Moral Decay of the Army. When image means more than anything, as something to be exploited to Maximum Advantage, so goes society as well.

Need

US dangles tempting bait for Iran. They all need each other lest the Iraq fire engulf them all.

Breaking News: British Sailors Freed. Recall that the Iranian President is the equivalent of the Speaker of the House (#3).

The Usual: 11 Electricity Workers Killed at Checkpoint; Democrats threaten to take On Bush on Iraq Funding.

Sounds Like Masochism

Robert Fisk: War of Humiliation. I humiliate you, you humiliate me, and everyone is happy. Sounds like masochism.

Shakespeare and War

Robert Fisk: Shakespeare and War.

"a soldier firm and sound of heart,
...hanged must a' be
A damned death!

"Let gallows gape for dog, let man go free,
And let not hemp his wind-pipe suffocate:
But Exeter hath given the doom of death...
Therefore go speak, the duke will hear thy voice;
And let not Bardolph's vital thread be cut...
Speak, captain, for his life..."

April Fools' Day

April Fools' Day.