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**The Reaper** · 05-31-2007, 08:28

I think that you have to consider conflict across the full spectrum and shape events in the non-combat arena as well.

Conflict is multi-dimensional, with diplomatic/political, informational, economic, as well as military facets.

We need to press foreign governments politically, build allies up, and undermine opponents, while building domestic popular support, as the will of the American people is always the Center of Gravity for us. We need to work the UN better, or at least, as best we can. Tactically, we need to respect and utilize the tribal and religious systems to our advantage.

We have done a terrible job of getting our message out, and the enemy has done a great job of it. The US plays games with and humiliates prisoners and it incites global backlash and two years of media coverage. The enemy saws off civilians' and POWs' heads, drills kneecaps, mutilates bodies, etc., prints and distributes a manual on how to do it, and it gets ten seconds of coverage. The Arab (and Iranian) street needs to get a real news source geared towards them, their culture, and in their language. An anti- al-Jazeera if you will.

We need to find a way to help the HN governments provide economic opportunity and create a middle class in Muslim societies. Their own governments tend to be corrupt and to see graft as a way of life. Look at Yassir Arafat's fortune. How do you think he earned it? While his people lived in abject poverty. And the fat bastard was hailed as a hero when he died. Sanctions need to be imposed on our opponents. How did Sadaam and how do the Iranians continue to receive arms shipments and nuclear processing equipment? I would board, inspect, and sink any ship destined for those countries carrying war or WMD materials.

On the military side, in addition to everything that we are currently doing, we need to be actively supporting Iranian resistance movements and fomenting revolt in Iran. If they have to expend resources on internal security and further alienate the populace, it takes focus away from WMD programs.

Finally, it occurs to me that if we developed a real alternative energy solution, and exploited our own resources in the interim, the region would be a lot less of a concern to us.

Just a few thoughts that our planners may have missed somewhere along the way.

TR

05-31-2007, 08:28	#822
The Reaper Quiet Professional Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Free Pineland Posts: 24,829	I think that you have to consider conflict across the full spectrum and shape events in the non-combat arena as well. Conflict is multi-dimensional, with diplomatic/political, informational, economic, as well as military facets. We need to press foreign governments politically, build allies up, and undermine opponents, while building domestic popular support, as the will of the American people is always the Center of Gravity for us. We need to work the UN better, or at least, as best we can. Tactically, we need to respect and utilize the tribal and religious systems to our advantage. We have done a terrible job of getting our message out, and the enemy has done a great job of it. The US plays games with and humiliates prisoners and it incites global backlash and two years of media coverage. The enemy saws off civilians' and POWs' heads, drills kneecaps, mutilates bodies, etc., prints and distributes a manual on how to do it, and it gets ten seconds of coverage. The Arab (and Iranian) street needs to get a real news source geared towards them, their culture, and in their language. An anti- al-Jazeera if you will. We need to find a way to help the HN governments provide economic opportunity and create a middle class in Muslim societies. Their own governments tend to be corrupt and to see graft as a way of life. Look at Yassir Arafat's fortune. How do you think he earned it? While his people lived in abject poverty. And the fat bastard was hailed as a hero when he died. Sanctions need to be imposed on our opponents. How did Sadaam and how do the Iranians continue to receive arms shipments and nuclear processing equipment? I would board, inspect, and sink any ship destined for those countries carrying war or WMD materials. On the military side, in addition to everything that we are currently doing, we need to be actively supporting Iranian resistance movements and fomenting revolt in Iran. If they have to expend resources on internal security and further alienate the populace, it takes focus away from WMD programs. Finally, it occurs to me that if we developed a real alternative energy solution, and exploited our own resources in the interim, the region would be a lot less of a concern to us. Just a few thoughts that our planners may have missed somewhere along the way. TR __________________ "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910 De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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