Abu Muqawama: Post
Abu Muqawama retains its autonomy and the views and beliefs expressed within the blog do not reflect those of CNAS. Abu Muqawama retains the right to delete comments that include words that incite violence; are predatory, hateful, or intended to intimidate or harass; or degrade people on the basis of gender, race, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. In summary, don't be a jerk.
Hail to the Chief, Hail to Twitter
Last night's CNAS 5th anniversary celebration was a tremendous amount of fun. Although the precedings were off-the-record, I don't think I'm breaking any rules by confirming numerous reports that Gen. Marty Dempsey called out this blog a number of times, wryly noting the way I've given him a hard time for his reading list and for his Pentagonese.
It says a lot about the health of the United States and about civil-military relations that the most powerful military officer in the country is willing to have a good-natured back-and-forth with a blogger who has criticized him. (That's not the case, for example, in Egypt, the recipient of $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid, where the military leadership is so lacking in confidence that it throws critical bloggers in jail.) The United States has the most powerful military in the world, and it sends a strong message to military officers in other countries when our officers hold themselves accountable to the people they serve. (And have a sense of good Irish humor about it in the process.)
It also says a lot about Twitter and other new media that @Martin_Dempsey noted I rather liked his speech at Duke and is willing to use social media to have a conversation with the public. A few months ago, I marvelled at a back-and-forth between former senior State Department official Anne-Marie Slaughter and George Washington University student Dan Trombly on the Responsibility to Protect. How cool, I thought. Any medium that facilitates egalitarian conversations between generals and bloggers on the one hand and between the former head of policy planning and an international relations student on the other hand is pretty darn amazing.
I felt really blessed last night to work at a place like CNAS. But I also felt blessed to live in this kind of country -- and at a time when technology is democratizing the public discourse to an extent never seen before.
the end is Near
the end is Near Exum.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/world/asia/panetta-moves-up-end-to-us-...
If it weren’t for
If it weren’t for verification, you would never be sure whom you twittered with.
I am glad that the efforts of my career have given you a toy to put on a pedestal. As much as technology has improved communication, it has also enabled obsolesce of families. A human life time has really not changed in the last fifty years, the way humans do business changes with the obsolesce of our tools. Cycle of technology obsolesce consumes our education budgets while tuition costs extinguish hope. The boom of technology largely fueled your political party’s concept of inequality. Standing in testimony is the Facebook IPO, which is certainly a concentrator of wealth the Dot-Com boom was full of opportunity. You stand in praise of the destruction of your belief. When I grew up, we sat at the dinner table and discussed our lives, now you can get a Verizon family plan and never see your children.
Technology amplifies our strengths while at the same time displays our weakness. The real question is if technology makes people better responsible citizens. With freedom comes more responsibility, have you twittered while driving lately? Are Americans more responsible in their role in democracy?
Rabi'a al-Adiwyya on February 2, 2012 - 5:56am
Guess you have not gotten the word, THIS WAR IS REGIONAL. It has only just begun.
Susan Rice is trying to extend the mission of 7,000 UN peacekeepers in Sudan. Hillary Clinton is claiming that Syria is not a Libya, even though the legal template for stepping up NATO/UN/CIA/Arab League/( and what ever other resources are up her sleeve) involvement smells the same. You have to remember these are the people that use words to mislead there were no "boots" on the ground in Libya, but US fingerprints were all over the conflict and still are. The US is still firmly involved in Egypt; the US aid is still flowing. US military troops are out of Iraq as hailed by people who keep promises, yet the US has 5,000 contractors protecting an army of 11,000 diplomats while in country and the US aid is flowing. Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Djibouti, and Yemen have not gone away only the administration leaks have, it is an election year. Validation of that is Saleh is in the US, Drones are overflying "the region", and boots are on the ground rescuing citizens all clearly evidence of strong use of assets in the Horn of Africa. There is a reason why the commander that oversaw the leadership of "boots" in Iraq and Afghanistan got moved to the "wing tip" department.
Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Afghanistan, Algeria, and Syria are up for grabs. All of this is going to make radicalizing in Afghanistan in the 80's look like practice. Hillary Clinton, the queen of disarmament and the yea sayer of ITAR, has just equipped and politicized the next Arab generation ! Egypt can not have a soccer match without a war braking out.
Now that is shock and awe ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdnQiM6oJ3w
What an argument for more involvement.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Clinton-UN-Must-Be-On-Ri...
What a crock.
Is it braking or breaking?
Is it braking or breaking? You wouldn't know if we are talking to each other face-to-face would you?
You wouldn't see me laughing as I type.
Did you see the look on Dempsey's face for a tell while he busted your chops?
So much flavor and detail lost in a key stroke.
Navy wants to use Skype for job interviews, it is encrypted, then so was a lot of the DOD communications that China vacuumed up when they played with Intranet routing a while ago.
And lest you forget that all
And lest you forget that all of this data is being stored forever and collated for use by….
Remember this for all of you rock stars that have aspirations for being in the public spotlight later in life.
Can you give a reading
Can you give a reading recommendation for the 2006 Israel Lebanon war (34 day war)?
Looking more at the military tactics side rather than political build up/aftermath...
Thanks
York Goldenblatt ("Sex and
York Goldenblatt ("Sex and the City") They have been arguably the most stat-unfriendly organization in baseball, which is a losing strategy for a small market team
Visitor on February 2, 2012 -
Visitor on February 2, 2012 - 12:19pm
And lest you forget that all of this data is being stored forever and collated for use by….
Remember this for all of you rock stars that have aspirations for being in the public spotlight later in life.
Chicago politicians never let their background get in the way of running for office or being the public spotlight. Police corruption is alive and well in that city. Why would an x-mayor need so much protection?
There are no secrets only delayed disclosure.
Fortune 500 companies didn't need the Internet they use business credit intelligence agencies like Equifax to get information on people, the more you pay the more you know. Those companies are not bound to regulation like the US agencies are, that is why the Patriot Act enabled their use. You can not book a hotel room without a credit card. Eliot Spitzer knows that all too well.
The Chicago way is to let your surrogate type as you speak.
Bill Clinton amazes me he lied to Congress, lied to the courts, did Monica, got impeached, and he still walks around like it never happened. Hillary is still married to him.
Makes me wonder about the direction of America.
Reply to Virtual
Reply to Virtual People…..
Good points. Yes, the fact that people with the histories they do are elected to the positions they are in is unnerving. That being said I suppose we as a country have never sought out the night shift canned goods stocking worker to be a leader of anything, and for good reason.
Add your comment