The Good News: War is ObsoleteThe Bad News: "Conflict Without End"

In his new book, "The Utility of Force," General Rupert Smith, who served over forty years in the British Army, posits that conventional war--army vs. army and nation vs. nation--is a historical relic, and that since the end of WWII the asymmetrical, guerrilla war of occupier vs. insurgency has become the new paradigm of conflict.

Korea, Algeria, Vietnam, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Iraq: behold the war that is not war.

In the new paradigm, General Smith argues, war does not lead to victory and peace. Rather, confrontation leads to conflict, which subsides into confrontation. The weapons, instead of cruise missiles, are machetes, AK-47 assault rifles and suicide bombers. Only carefully defined and tightly intertwined political, diplomatic and military missions can hope to be effective, if only temporarily. That’s another feature of the new paradigm: No war, but no peace either, only conflict without end.

And at the Pentagon?

Even though today the Armed Forces can't recruit enough soldiers or adequately equip those already in uniform, the Pentagon is committing itself to massive corporate contracts for new high-tech weapons systems slated to come on-line years, even decades, from now, guaranteed only to enrich their makers.

A sampling of the cool new toys:

The same Army that can't provide the basics of modern war is now promising the Future Combat Systems network (FCS), a "family of systems" that will enable soldiers to "perceive, comprehend, shape, and dominate the future battlefield at unprecedented levels." The FCS network will consist of a "family" of 18 manned and unmanned ground vehicles, air vehicles, sensors, and munitions, including: eight new, super-armored, super-strong ground vehicles to replace current tanks, infantry carriers, and self-propelled howitzers; four different planes and drones that soldiers can fly by remote control; and several "unmanned" ground vehicles. And of course eventually robot armies.

The Air Force wants new generations of fighters and bombers that will fly into low earth orbit and change color and shape, all so that it can remain technologically ahead of itself in a surreal, multi-billion-dollar game of Chase Your Own Tail. And of course the Navy wants stealth ships and the top brass want space weapons most of all--what a surprise, that.

Apparently, WW III will look something like a cross between World of Warcraft and the battle scenes from "The Terminator." Wouldn't it be ironic if it were to be waged by President Schwarzenegger?

The Founding Fathers were indeed wise men. I used to think it was an anachronistic folly, but only the Second Amendment will keep us free.

Iraq: Frogs in a Pot

From Digby at Hullabaloo, the realization that US Special Forces may be fomenting violence in Iraq, just as was done in El Salvador (and in Egypt, Iran, Chile, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela...). Deja vu all over again.

I have only the greatest respect for Digby--he writes wonderfully and goes further than most mainstream bloggers in challenging the conventional wisdom--but even he holds an obdurate, rationalist naivete about just what makes this world go round.

Of course the US government is spreading chaos in Iraq, but even if they are not actively doing so, the entire way in which the war was conceived and executed to date is incontrovertible proof that there was never any real US interest in fostering stability in Iraq. Once they were ignited, the fires would fan and spread on their own. We should recognize that it's in the interest of those really in power to stay. Just look at those bases they've built. As long as Iraq is dysfunctional, we can't pull out. That's the point.

Digby came to his conclusion of suspicion after Googling the subject of special forces in Iraq. I would encourage everyone to also Google these phrases: "false-flag terrorism" and "ordo ab chao (order from chaos)."

We need to wake up. We're deep through the looking glass here, and Iran and Syria are next. We need only refer to the administration's handy atlas to the Middle East, "Rebuilding America's Defenses," what I call the PNAC agenda, for the roadmap. ( And no, it's not from Rand-MacNally.)

In a nutshell, here's the route we're on: you take a sharp right turn at the WTC, then keep going straight until you reach Armageddon.

Digby concludes his post by saying, "I wish I didn't believe this could be true..."

The first thing we've got to do is stop acting like jilted lovers when we ponder the US government.

We are all rational, sensible people. We go to work, we love our families, we respect the law and our fellow human beings, we pay our bills and taxes. We hope for a better, fairer world and a brighter future.

Well, pardon my French but those in real positions of power are the most corrupt and cynical of bastards and believe they are above the laws, and use our well-meaning, blinkered belief system to their advantage. Simply because we cannot conceive that they would do such things doesn't mean they don't actually do them.

Sorry to rant here, but it's this "normal" mindset that has allowed us to have been pushed this far. We are the proverbial frogs in the pot on the stove.

Again, we need to wake up. Google is a great alarm clock.