It Has Been a Heck of a Century

So, here we are on the 100^th anniversary of the beginning of World War One and I look around and wonder if it’s possible for mankind to resolve our differences without war?  Unfortunately, there is only one answer and it is not a pleasing one.

I know it has been said by others the twentieth century should be called the Century of War.  Well it looks likely that trend in human evolution will continue for the foreseeable future.

The world first became aware of Islamic terrorism with the Palestinian Liberation Organization sponsored Black September group’s slaughter of Jewish athletes in the 1974 Munich Olympics.   America was directly affected first with the hostage taking of our citizens in Tehran in 1979. We have been engaged with these non-state actors, more or less ever since. At the same time we made a deal with the devil when we also supported their efforts against the Russians in Afghanistan throughout the 1980’s.  This provided the training and equipment that would come back to be used against us throughout the 1990’s, ultimately culminating with the attacks of 9/11.

So now we have been at war since then, and with our past and current chief executives have we achieved increased security?  Campaigning for the job President Obama made a significant number of promises on how he would make the world safer.  He has kept some, been stymied on others, and with the rest he has not seemed to make much headway based on what appears to be a lack of interest.  But at the end of the day I have to ask has he made the world any safer in the diplomatic choices he has made?

Did the US support for the overthrow of the Egyptian and Libyan dictators make Americans and the nation more secure through increased stability and sectarian rule?

Has the fact we have no presence in Iraq, or means to support the government we helped establish, made us more secure as Islamic extremists assault it?

Have we found a lever to help stabilize Syria?

Is effective diplomacy possible between Hamas and Israel?

How about Russia and China?  How are we doing there?

I’m sorry I don’t see a lot of positives coming from the current strategy and you can only blame the ills of the world on the man you replaced for so long before you have to own up to the problem, but then perhaps he is just another victim.  That does seem to be a line that plays well with the democratic base. 

Thoughts on a Rainy Saturday.

Mary Lou and I attended a retirement celebration last night for a man I worked with, and for, and whom I consider to be a friend.  He is finishing up 29 years of military service and retiring as a Colonel, just as his father did about 29 years ago.  The party was filled with laughter and quiet reflection among the various guests, many of whom I also consider friends.  I wish Jordie and Susan a long and successful post-career, career.

In chatting with a former AFSOC Commander we had an opportunity to reflect on the state of affairs both in his time, and now.  It reinforced one thing that keeps me coming to work – I love being a part of a dynamic and living organization at the forefront of quietly implementing the national security policy.  While there are frustrations, the sense of personal accomplishment at the end of the day, the week, or the month is something that lifts my spirit, because I see the future of the Command unfolding before me.

As another Commander pointed out in one of his last meetings, AFSOC is the only AF Major Command actively engaged and operating continuing missions on a global basis.  We have young men and women flying missions, maintaining aircraft, or operating as battlefield airman around the world from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and all points in between.   This is both something to take pride in, but also reflect on.  For Special Operation Forces are, as a matter of history, a force borne by war.  We have grown not because we wanted to, but because we’ve had to.

The Sphere, from World Trade Center, NYC

Despite the assurance of our leaders, we live in an increasingly violent world where non-state actors have access to the sophisticated technology developed by the military powers to fight wars on a global scale.  They have the most advanced surface to air missiles, rockets, and bombs, and unfortunately, they are not constrained by the historical respect for law and treaty, or even a respect for human life.  So the question then becomes how do we protect our nation?

I leave you with these words; perhaps misattributed to George Orwell.  “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”

Reality -- Is it Real or Just an Illusion?

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, the 238^th anniversary of our declaration of independence from King George, and the beginning of us as a self-governing nation.  Soooo, what’s going on for us to celebrate?  Is this a benchmark year, or one we should quietly remember for our past greatness, enjoy the hot dogs, watch the fireworks and move on something else?

I watch the news and social media for signs of the times, and I have to tell you I think back fondly of a time where our politicians saw the best in America and the American people.  A time where people sought equality based on merit, and where we shared a coherent vision of what the Nation could be.  Perhaps it is part of the aging process, perhaps something else, but for the past 14 to 20 years I’ve seen a move away from the optimism of America to accomplish all things towards a dark and uncertain future where class envy and economic uncertainty distort even the best of intentions.  It is unfortunate we accept this with a sense of inevitability.

Let's check where we are in our recovery from the economic collapse of 2007 & 08.  In 2000 we had an unemployment rate of around 4.0% out of a workforce of about 141,000,000 men and woman age 16 or older.   That meant we had 5,640,000 men and woman who wanted to work, but could not find a job.  Today we have an unemployment rate hovering at about 6.45%, down from the 2009 high of 10%.  If we assume the workforce has grown to about 161,000,000 (as estimated from bis.gov), we now have about 10,384,500 who are not working.  Each time I hear the President talk about the reality that our economy has the fastest pace in job growth in our history, I look at the real numbers and scratch my head.  I wonder if those extra 5,000,000 unemployed, and those who are under-employed are happy being part of this fastest pace of job growth reality?  Both sides can spin the data, but at the end of the day more people are entering the workforce demographic than we are able to create jobs for. 

The democrats and social liberals would have you believe this is the fault of the evil 1% and if we could just tax them to pay for all our benefits it would be okay.  If we did that then what jobs would the government create with the money?  Would there be more regulators, more bureaucrats, more investigators, or maybe some better IT specialists to keep hard drives from crashing and being thrown out?  I know we are downsizing the military to save money to be used somewhere else so it’s probably not more soldiers, sailors, airman or marines.

How about immigration and our border?  As bad as we may think things are, millions from around the world still view America as a shining hope.  They stream into our country, some through the approved process, millions of others through whatever means they can find.  The fact that Congress has taken no action, and the Executive seems to encourage this migration will have unmistakable consequences for the Nation.  The President tells us the reality of the situation demands that he take action to allow all to enter.  I doubt either side knows what those consequences will be.  The left sees new voters who will support their agenda of an all-powerful central government and the right sees a potential explosion in welfare.  Both are probably right, but we have had population explosions in the past and we were able to assimilate them into the fabric of America.  I wonder what the fabric will look like as Spanish becomes the default second language for our Nation?  As job growth stalls, and the economy ebbs how will we deal with these new workers?  I suspect they will do the work our young people feel too superior to accomplish and they will become a vital part of our workforce but won’t be counted to reflect the growing disparity in employment opportunity versus need.

How about the reality of free speech?  How we doing with that?  For the past thirty years, in the name of sensitivity and correctness we have been destroying the English language through misrepresentation and evolutionary meaning.  We have reached a point now where naming something after someone or something is bound to solicit public outrage and scorn by some group seeking to find wrong in everything.  Let’s take the US Army tradition, starting with the UH-1 helicopter of naming their aircraft after Indian tribes.  The sensible approach suggests they do this out of respect for a proud people, but there are those who would twist this and suggest the Army is racist in its humiliation of a beaten enemy.  If that were true then why would we name the premiere attack helicopter after the Apache, a people that fought a courageous campaign against overwhelming forces and ultimately succumb to the inevitable war of attrition.  Although captured and imprisoned for the last two decades of his life, Geronimo set the model for great warrior chiefs.  So what is the reality, I chose to believe a modern Army recognizes the warrior spirit of the Native Americans in its naming convention.  The Iroquois, Kiowa, Chinook, Cayuse, Black Hawk and Lakota, all worthy of recognition and honor.

As you approach this holiday, remember the courage our forefathers showed when they led a divided nation away from the safety of England and allowed us to forge our own destiny.  Be courageous in your choices.

A Few Thoughts on Ireland

We’ve just returned from a very nice vacation to the Emerald Isle.  We circumnavigated the island, with stops in Dublin, Cork, Killarney, Clare-Galway, Donegal, Belfast (UK), and back to Dublin in the ten days we were there.  We saw wonderful sights, made new friends, and had fantastic weather.  Ireland truly offers an interesting contrast to our homeland.  For that reason, I feel compelled to put my thoughts down before they wander off into the dark recesses of my memory.

First, as a small nation of about 4 million, it has an incredibly rich heritage, and perhaps because we are tourists that is what is most presented to us, but time after time we were reminded that before the potato famine of 1845 to 1852 they were a nation of 9 million.  In the following 160 years they’ve not been able to replace that loss.  While the information is presented, the unasked and unanswered question is why?  What I take away from this is Ireland has become a nation of little opportunity and emigration has become the accepted path for those young adults seeking a better life for themselves and their family.

The European Union is essential to the survival of Ireland as a nation.  The roads, motorways, and much of the new housing seem to come from the EU in the form of grants and subsidies.  Our tour guide noted that Ireland was hard hit when the economic bubble burst in 2008 and the EU provided them with financing to meet government needs, with an expectation of payback by 2016.  The Conservative government had elected to repay the loans by implementing an austerity budget and not increasing corporate taxes.  This places the burden directly on the people and would, hopefully, encourage new industry to come to Ireland because of its lower tax rate.  Intellectually I can understand this, but looking at the flight of young people and the unemployment rates in the country I am not sure this is anything more than tax protection for corporations and banks.

After six years it appears the people have decided on a change based the governments approach.  The thing that stuck me was the policies that individuals took issue with are things we here in the US take for granted.  For example, the government proposed levying a fee on water use, and implementing property taxes.  The day we arrived was Election Day in Ireland and as a result of these changes the Liberal and Nationalistic parties of the Republic appear likely to assume majority roles in Parliament.

Finally, a few thoughts on “The Troubles.”  As we toured Belfast we were reminded of the peace process brokered by the Clinton Administration and George Mitchell.  It appears, on the surface, to be working and the city is now open and full of an emerging vitality.  But, and this is a big BUT, the underlying causes for the repression and terrorism that was Belfast from the 1960’s through 1998 are still there, lurking just below the surface.  There are walls filled with the calls for freedom of IRA members held responsible for deaths, and other walls filled with art depicting both the IRA and the Ulster Defense Association dressed in their balaclava’s threatening with their assault weapons aimed, and seeking “justice” for their supporters.

As long as the minority Catholic supporters of the Republic and majority Protestant Loyalists continue to exist and thrive within the community I would expect that Belfast is at risk of a new outbreak should something spark the tinderbox.  This is not unlike what we have in America within many of our inner cities, and may just be an unfortunate and natural by-product of high unemployment and social stratification, what I do see as different is a political system working to avoid that situation, while here in America we seem to ignore the potential until it occurs.

Sometimes it's a Fine Line

The other day I saw a facebook post by a famous advocate for LGBT rights.  This is someone who has been very vocal about bullying and how it has to be stopped.

The thing that caught my attention was the cartoon he posted.  It showed two clouds sneaking up on a third cloud and then startling it with a bolt of lightening.  This caused the innocent cloud to drop all its rain.  Over 246,000 people thought this worth "liking"

I wonder if the reaction would have been the same if it were something other than clouds?  Keep the premise, but imagine different characters.  Would that be seen as bullying?  I suspect the answer is yes.

It sure is funny how context can make all the difference, and someone can see the humor in one, and vile behavior in the other, without realizing the mixed message of condemning the individuals, but not the nature of the act itself.

Does It Really Matter?

I find I am increasingly at odds with the society that surrounds me.  Every day I see the humor in the human experience, but probably based on my age I find fewer who see the same thing.  Take as a case in point.

A young mother comments on her son who likes to dress as a princess.  I can think of no reason this should be criticized, but there are a hundred humorous trails this storyline would lead, but in our super-sensitive, super-public forums, any comment at all could lead to misunderstanding, hurt feelings, and rebuke, based on generational differences and perceptions.

Perhaps it is just me, finally maturing to the point I now consider the implications of my words.