Emerson Gets It
Steve Emerson agrees with me on Moussaoui –
There is no evidence, Lester, to suggest that there were co-conspirators in the United States at the time he was arrested that have not yet been found, and there is no evidence that Richard Reid, whom he alleged was a co-conspirator, was actually going to be in the United States at the time of the 9/11 plot.
Why we’re having this trial is still beyond me, especially in the public forum. I wouldn’t discount a misguided attempt by someone to utilize the media to show our strength in fighting terrorism.
Barnett and the Doom Loop
Barnett’s big bang theory (read Iraq) is inherintly a doom loop function.
Companies that fall into the Doom Loop genuinely want to effect change — but they lack the quiet discipline that produces the Flywheel Effect. Instead, they launch change programs with huge fanfare, hoping to “enlist the troops.”
Grand strategy designed to accelerate the march of a destabilizing force in a complex system (globalization) will not play out well. Robb touched on this a while ago using terms of aircraft dynamics, I just ran across the idea of the doom loop in a 2001 John Collins Fast Company Article. This is all just more framework to understand the future of security.
They start down one path, only to change direction. After years of lurching back and forth, these companies discover that they’ve failed to build any sustained momentum.
Sounds exactly like the government’s current trajectory. We encourage trade, and then block port deals, we attack Iraq and Afghanistan but can’t build or secure, we pull out of the former and then the latter, we get attacked, we blow up Iran, China derails etc etc etc.
What is needed are Flywheel functions – which arguably can only happen at the grassroots level.
Dirty Bombs
CNN –
Two teams of government investigators using fake documents were able to enter the United States with enough radioactive sources to make two dirty bombs, according to a federal report made available Monday.
Note the complete disregard for rogue nations and the DoD –
The investigators purchased a “small quantity” of radioactive materials from a commercial source while posing as employees of a fictitious company and brought the materials into the United States through checkpoints on the northern and southern borders.
We know about the threat, we know what to do about it, apparently that isn’t enough to get it done. Which is why the bad guys will win this battle.
China on Oil
PINR –
This quote details one of the major factors of China’s derailing –
China uses politics for different aims than does the West. China uses its geopolitical position in order to gain access to natural resources around the world without regard to the domestic political situation where these resources are located, making China an attractive partner for many countries marginalized by the Western powers for internal strife, corruption, and human rights violations.
Moussaoui Propaganda
CNN–
Moussaoui told jurors, as he admitted last year, that he would have tried to fly into the White House on a fifth hijacked plane.
In an extraordinary revelation, Moussaoui named Reid as one of his team members.
Reid was subdued by passengers in December 2001 when he attempted to set off a bomb in his shoe on board an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. The plane was diverted to Boston, where it landed safely and Reid was arrested. He is serving a life prison term.
Reid has written Moussaoui at least once during their incarceration.
Sounds like well orchestrated bullshit to me. Probably an attempt to exploit the inability of the government to successfully prevent terror attacks. The trial in itself is a good example of this phenomenon. I have no idea what other purpose it serves.