Early in my consulting career I engaged in a fairly significant, dynamic discussion with a client regarding a software customization that they felt was mandatory.  It was there feeling that it was mandatory that we build an interface to all of their scale systems, so that the shipping personnel could take the correct weights of the material that they were shipping directly from the scale.  No data entry, just a one button accept the weight and load up the truck.

We spent a good 30 minutes of me trying to talk them out of this customization.  What it ultimately came down to was the client project manager explaining to me that most of the people that worked the shipping dock signed “X” when they picked up their checks.  That was a concept so foreign to me, all I could say was “Oh”, and walk away from the discussion with my tail between my legs.  It was also, a huge personal and professional lesson for me.

Over at the Danger Room there is a report, that literacy is also an obstacle that is being faced in our efforts in Afghanistan.

The American-led strategy in Afghanistan relies on training enough local forces to let the Afghans take over their own security. Right now, only 18 percent of those 243,000 cops and grunts have more than a Kindergarten-level ability to read. Which means they’ve got major trouble doing everything from keeping track of their gear to following a battle plan to getting paid, the general in charge of the NATO training effort says. In other words: If these local troops can’t learn their ABCs, this war is stuck.

Go read the whole article.  These are the facts that people in this country forget when they are frustrated by how long the efforts in Afghanistan are taking.  Unfortunately, I think they are also facts that our political leadership have no clue about.

So Michelle Malkin had good things to say about this book (The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America), in her blog today.

Any bets on a sales spike?

There are a lot of actions that people take in this world that are often considered inappropriate.  They range from politically incorrect, to insulting, to just plain criminal.

This morning I read a headline “U.S. Orders Covert Military Action in Middle East”.  Admittedly it is a wire article from AP which by definition slants their reports in mysterious ways.  For reference, The Associated Press has often been renamed The Associate With Terrorists Press for many of their reports from the Middle East.  In fairness though, the story was initially published by the fine folks <gag> at the  NY Times.

Reading through the article I come to see that this is pretty much old news.  Perusing the details you find pre-positioning of Reapers on the Horn of Africa (check), SF work in Somalia (check), covert reconnaissance and disruption goals in Iran and Yeman (no surprise).  Pretty much the standard things that you would expect to be occurring in our current world state.

Here is my thought.  If the NYT reporter(s) had been out in the countryside of Iran, or Yeman or in the Horn of Africa and ran across these teams that is good journalism.  You went in search of activity and ran across an interesting story.

But, that is not the case.  In this case we have “Anonymous U.S. officials” saying things to a reporter.  I am thinking that someone needs to be arrested, and tried for violations of various secrecy acts.

In order to receive a security clearance you have to jump through significant hoops.  Somewhere along the line, the “Anonymous U.S. officials” have forgotten what security means, and the repercussions that can occur when security is breached.

People taking inappropriate actions, that in this case have the potential to cost warriors their lives and cripple our ability to gather intelligence in the area.

Well it looks like the Iranian’s are taking some interesting tactical and strategic steps,  In some ways this is reminiscent of the Cold War concept of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction).  You can find an interesting description and analysis of the events over at Pajamas Media here.

It will be a very interesting summer, and unfortunately I think that the Iranian governments aim maybe more widespread than the events in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Iran.

A couple of interesting pieces showing up on various sources this week.

In the past I have posted about Iran’s continuing thrust into Latin America, and from there the potential for infiltration across our southern border.  Douglas Farrah has an interesting essay up focused on Iran’s involvement in Latin America.

The recent unclassified Pentagon assessment of Iran’s military power released last month to Congress shows official reporting is finally catching up to reality on the ground in regard to Iran’s Latin American activities. The increase comes at a time of deep economic troubles for the Chávez government in Venezuela, as noted by the Hudson Institute’s Jaime Daremblum.

It is also only the most public looks at how Venezuela and Iran are enhancing their military partnerships, particularly in field of asymmetrical warfare where both states are hoping to use their non-state proxies to take on the “Empire,” meaning the United States. For a range of views on this, see my chapter and others in Woodrow Wilson Center publication Iran in Latin America: Threat or Axis of Annoyance?

The assessment contains several interesting nuggets, including that Iran’s highest priority is the survival of the regime, and hence its fixation with asymmetrical warfare and its outreach to groups that oppose U.S. interests. This includes the Boliviarian states of Latin America. (For those who read Spanish, I have an article in the most recent Poder magazine on some of these issues). The DOD assessment does not discuss Iran’s blossoming financial network across the region.

Some of the key findings that relate to Latin America and Iran’s MO in the region:

Diplomacy, economic leverage, soft power and active sponsorship of terrorist and paramilitary groups are tools Iran uses to drive its aggressive foreign policy. In particular, it uses terrorism to pressure or intimidate other countries and more broadly to leverage its strategic deterrent.

Go read the entire article and it’s links.  It is an interesting study on how there is a threat axis from the south, and really points out the results of this country’s  lack of commitment to follow through on the tenets of the Monroe Doctrine, and the Roosevelt Corollary.

At the same time we have seen two recent incidents that have had a profound effect on the US.  The Times Square VBIED, and the Deep Water Horizon disaster.  While I doubt that these were coordinated events they are seem to fit what we traditionally think of as a terrorist threat axis using kinetic attacks.  Roderick Jones takes a look at a recent 5 day span in Manhatten, and presents us with the possibility that we are transitioning to a new phase of the Global War on Terror.   You owe it to yourself to read the whole thing.  Here is a taste:

Two events centered on New York City separated by five days demonstrated the end of one phase of terrorism and the pending arrival of the next. The failed car-bombing in Times square and the dizzying stock market crash less than a week later mark the book ends of terrorist eras.

The attempt by Faisal Shahzad to detonate a car bomb in Times Square was notable not just for its failure but also the severely limited systemic impact a car-bomb could have, even when exploding in crowded urban center. Car-bombs or Vehicle-Borne IED’s have a long history (incidentally one of the first was the 1920 ‘cart and horse bomb’ in Wall Street, which killed 38 people). VBIED’s remain deadly as a tactic within an insurgency or warfare setting but with regard to modern urban terrorism the world has moved on. We are now living within a highly virtualized system and the dizzying stock-market crash on the 6th May 2010 shows how vulnerable this system is to digital failure. While the NYSE building probably remains a symbolic target for some terrorists a deadly and capable adversary would ignore this physical manifestation of the financial system and disrupt the data-centers, software and routers that make the global financial system tick. Shahzad’s attempted car-bomb was from another age and posed no overarching risk to western societies. The same cannot be said of the vulnerable and highly unstable financial system.

An interesting Op-Ed piece today by Matthew Levitt that lays things out without any sugar coating.

The startling and depressing truth is that eight years after Sept. 11, we cannot say with confidence that we are likely to prevent the next attack here. The reason is not insufficient attention, resources or effort. It’s the fact that there is no such thing as 100 percent success in counterterrorism.

Get thee on over to The Washington Institute and read the entire thing.

This is one hell of a shot.

8100 ft.  1.54 miles.  3 seconds time of flight.  Man sized target.  Hit.  Not once, but twice.

At that range, and assuming max zoom on any rifle scope your heartbeat is going to make the cross hairs bounce on and off target.

Amazing.

It looks like the AP is at it again.  There was another bombing today in Iraq.  A women wearing an explosive belt mixed amongst the pilgrims making their way to Karbala.  The AP characterizes this as a homicide bomber.

Let’s see, if you are wearing an explosive device, hidden beneath your clothing then joining a religious pilgrimage prior to detonating the device….  I think suicide might be more appropriate.  However, if this woman did not know that she had the device on, and it was remote detonated I can see it being a homicide.

Another fact to ponder…  since the woman was part of the incident how does anyone know the facts presented:

• It was a woman — are you sure?
• Explosive Belt.  Not a vest?  Not distributed throughout her clothing?

I think what we do know is a device detonated among the crowd.

You be the judge.

Female Homicide Bomber Kills 41 in Baghdad

Monday, February 01, 2010

BAGHDAD —  A female homicide bomber walking among Shiite pilgrims in northern Baghdad detonated an explosives belt on Monday, killing at least 41 people and wounding more than 100, officials said.

The bombing was the first major strike this year against pilgrims making their way to the southern city of Karbala to mark a Shiite holy day. It raised fears of an escalation of attacks when the pilgrimage culminates on Friday.

The bomber hid the explosives underneath an abaya — a black cloak worn from head to toe by women — as she joined a group of pilgrims on the outskirts of the Shiite-dominated neighborhood of Shaab, said Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Baghdad’s top military spokesman.

A police official said 41, including a number of women and children, were killed and 106 were wounded.

Hospital officials in Baghdad confirmed the casualties. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Al-Moussawi put the toll at 19 killed and 80 wounded. Conflicting casualty counts are common in Iraq in the aftermath of an attack.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene in the minutes following the blast.

There is nothing quite like the confidence of The Marine.  We have seen this throughout the history of The Corps, and we are seeing it again in Helmand province.

“We’re going to go in big,” Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, told reporters travelling with Mullen in Helmand. “I’m not looking for a fair fight.”

Gotta love it when they talk dirty like that. Nicholson reportedly hopes to encourage the less committed to sit it out, while the Marines go to work on the more committed. Reuters adds:

“Well it’s pretty obvious, there’s only one place left: that’s Marjah. I don’t think its any great leap of logic to say where we’re going next,” said Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of all the Marines in southern Afghanistan.”We’re bringing in 10,000 Marines. It’s not a secret. There’s only one place left in the entire area of operations where the enemy is at,” he said.

This is being reported through several sources.  Ya gotta love the attitude, from the top down.

Deployed at Christmas?  It is tough.  Technology has improved things to some degree but, in general terms it is one of the tougher things to mentally deal with.

Don’t forget the guys that are out there at the tip of the spear.