Big brief done, now the shopping

Dateline: library in Norwegian Naval War College, Bergen Norway, 22 February 2005

First the bad news: didn't win the Wired Rave award for top author. It went to the guy who wrote a book on the brain. Still nice to get nominated. Sure glad I didn't skip this trip for that. Still, sad, or should I say "sÊd"? Or maybe "sÂd"?

Learning to like the Scan keyb¯rd!

Finished the brief today, then had nice lunch and asked for access to PC. Got online at library and realize now my problems of last two days due to hotel, not the email. So I catch up on all email here.

Fun to watch all the young officers hang out in library to watch cross-country skiing sports on widescreeen TV here--like watching NFL or NBA. Big deal here. Not a lot of scoring though . . .

Nicer room for last third of brief today, then I signed about hÊlf-d¯zen books.

Okay, I'll cut it ¯ut--no rÊlly!

People here eat a lot of meat, and I mean morning noon and night.

Today I try to buy some cool sweaters for family back home, although considering reindeer pelt for Em. These are pretty cool. Still, the Rudolf factor . . ..

Some stuff I saw in press that caught my eye:

1) Prisoner Uprising In Iraq Exposes New Risk for U.S.
Nonlethal Weapons Proved Ineffective as Chaos Spread
By Bradley Graham
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 21, 2005; Page A01

We have so underspent on NLT (non-lethal tech) for so long and now it haunts us so clearly. Will the USMC and US Army finally heed Tony Zinni's advice coming out of Somalia a decade ago?

2)Army Having Difficulty Meeting Goals In Recruiting
Fewer Enlistees Are in Pipeline; Many Being Rushed Into Service
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 21, 2005; Page A01
The active-duty Army is in danger of failing to meet its recruiting goals, and is beginning to suffer from manpower strains like those that have dropped the National Guard and Reserves below full strength, according to Army figures and interviews with senior officers .

Rumsfeld pushed what he could over first admin in terms of transformation, mostly in people, organization, and strategy. Now that perfect storm of budgets and embarrassments of Iraq occupation meet his ability to survive as SECDEF, he will get his way on a load of things in coming months. It is crucial he stay in power now. The Army is cracking finally, and big change is coming.

3) Bush Arrives in Europe for Meetings With Leaders
Unity and Democracy Will Be Major Themes
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 21, 2005; Page A18

A senior administration official said the United States had no intention of directly joining ongoing talks aimed at restraining Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, although many European officials have expressed concern that the talks involving Britain, France, Germany and Iran will fail without U.S. involvement.

"The issue and the problem is Iran's behavior," the U.S. official said. "My sense is that the Europeans want to talk to us in exactly those terms, which is the right way to talk about it."

Similarly, the official said, the United States had "real problems" with E.U. plans to lift an arms embargo imposed on China after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

This is bad news. Only way we can make nice with Europe is to pair Iran and China? Where are we going with this? Linking India next? Where do we expect these countries to find energy in future? Who's knee-capping whom on growth here? This is not a viable long-term strategy.

4) Insurgents Wage Precise Attacks on Baghdad Fuel
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: February 21, 2005
The new attack patterns reveal that the insurgents have a deep understanding of the Iraqi capital's infrastructure network.

We need to wage peace SysAdmin-style because our enemies are already waging insurgency SysAdmin-style. Again, we change not because it's cool or progressive but because we lose otherwise.

5)China Accuses U.S. and Japan of Interfering on Taiwan
By JIM YARDLEY and KEITH BRADSHER

Published: February 21, 2005

EIJING, Feb. 20 - China accused Japan and the United States on Sunday of meddling in its internal affairs, and criticized a new joint security statement in which the two countries declared a peaceful Taiwan Strait as among their "common strategic objectives."

The mention of Taiwan in the statement issued Saturday by senior American and Japanese officials drew a firm response from China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province and is acutely sensitive to what it regards as outside interference. By contrast, Taiwan's foreign minister cautiously welcomed the statement.

Neither Japan or U.S. gains anything real in this act, and just reveals our fears of being divided and conquered by China's rising economic power. I mean, come on! Does adding Japan to that mix do anything to deter China? Or does it just make them feel more vulnerable? And who thinks that is in our long-term interest? Again, where are we going with this over the long haul? Does anybody in the White House pay attention to how much China buys our T-bills or funnels its trade surplus with U.S. back into the secondary mortgage market? Our heads are up our asses on this one.

My quick dump. Will try to check in tomorrow after lunch.