he ^ said...
I find the various points of view, based on diverse experiences, both amazing and enlightening. Because I am one of the Stan and Tom club, when I originally heard that the embassy was closing temporarily for force protection concerns, I didn't think twice about it. As someone else has already mentioned, we do it all the time, usually for valid reasons. Point to Stan -- sometimes it just becomes the default dedcision because nobody wants to be the one who allowed innocents to be killed.
As temporary measures, we sometimes reduce daily manning, limit or close some operations (e.g. consular, etc.), or lock the doors for a coupla days.
That our adversaries might pounce upon this process as a victory is unfortunate, but understandable. When our own armchair rear echelon weanies choose to make it into a political issue -- that really concerns me.
Last edited by Stan; 01-07-2010 at 09:58 PM. Reason: very poor spelling
If you want to blend in, take the bus
This "in our world everything is fine, so there is no problem" doesn't bend reality for the 95% people who read the Yemen embassy news.
The answer to the thread title may be a weak "no". The widespread impression appears to be the opposite, though. That's what counts in regard to info war.
"We lost no battle in Vietnam!" - "So what?"
Sir,
I appreciate yours, and everyone else's, comments. Forgive me for taking a rather "high and mighty tone" with the learned and most experienced members of the SWC (unfortunately that is a hazard of our medium) but unfortunately my post was written on the back of a simultaneous argument I was having whilst on the phone! The comments were based upon meetings I had with Yemeni's from various strata of society (though usually village folk). Anyway, I think one of the problems when examining Islamic/Islamist conflicts/warriors, for me at least, is that we assume that there are jihadists and non-jihadists when, IMO (and IMO only), the "jihadist" phenomena is really a question of a "spectrum/continuum of adherance"; jihad is a universal obligation upon Muslims but just why, where, how, and for whom a Muslim becomes an actualised "jihadi" is case dependant. AQ and other organisations are mutually imbricated or rather are interpenetrated with other networks (tribal, social, ethnic, sectarian) and are able to tap into existing preconceptions, greivances, &c. AQ may exist at the fringes of the wider Islamic social system but it draws its strength from the centre...
As for our percieved cowardice and the routine closure of embassies etc. my comments were specifically aimed at Yemen and further more the notion that the "enemy gets a vote" and that "war is a contest of wills" and the related concepts of perception management &c. The entire thrust of the point I was attempting to make, and which seemingly failed monumentally, was based upon the following assumption from an article by Harold D.Lasswell, "The Strategy of Soviet Propaganda", Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, Vol. 24, No. 2, (Jan., 1951)
[/QUOTE]Political propaganda is the management of mass communications for power purposes. In the long run the aim is to economize the material cost of power.[/QUOTE]
I was attempting to make a point about not having to un-necessarily add to the enemies arrayed against us by at least economising our matierial power with ideological/psychological/informational power (i.e., not appearing weaker, and thus a tempting target, where we don't need to). Nonetheless, good points all round and I hope I write clearer posts in future,
Regards,
T
Last edited by Tukhachevskii; 01-08-2010 at 09:38 AM.
Hi Tukhachevskii,
Obviously I can't speak for Bill who, I believe, most of this post was sent to, but I did want to comment on a few things.
As you noted, the medium we are using can cause difficulties with communicating our actual intentions. There are two other things that cause difficulties. First, the medium, despite emoticons, really doesn't allow us to convey a lot of emotional tonality which, in English at least, is responsible for a lot of the contextual meaning of a particular message. Second, we are talking about highly emotionally charged issues, which makes it even more difficult since the medium restricts / reduces the emotional content of our signals.
Or, to quote that great philosopher Stan - "Sierra happens" !
Personally, I happen to agree with your position and, especially, your comments about jihad being a continuum. I also believe that we (the west broadly construed) and the irhabi are fighting totally different wars, with the bulk of their perceived AO being in the construction of perceptions for both global and local market places.
I suspect that we (the posters on this thread) will continue to disagree on what should have been done in this case, but as long as we can agree to disagree, then things should work out. Who knows, we may all be wrong !
Cheers,
Marc
Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
Senior Research Fellow,
The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
Carleton University
http://marctyrrell.com/
Posted by Tukhachevskii,No worries, this is a forum for adults to free fire within reason, and you'll note several heated debates as you look through previous other discussions, especially when it came to EBO, drug wars, Iraq, etc. Disagreement does NOT equate to disrespect, and there is no need for an apologies among brothers and sisters in this community of interest. Clarifications are always useful, and I find that discussing a topic here actually helps me clarify my position. What's great is if you keep an open mind, you may find that some of your positions may change (my have) based on discussions here. Since most of us have limited time we frequently post quickly without choosing our words carefully (at least I do).I appreciate yours, and everyone else's, comments. Forgive me for taking a rather "high and mighty tone" with the learned and most experienced members of the SWC (unfortunately that is a hazard of our medium) but unfortunately my post was written on the back of a simultaneous argument I was having whilst on the phone!
Hell, I even had fellow member that I respect greatly accuse me of smoking crack on a previous discussion, so we all have our moments. For the record I have never smoked crack.
I do enjoy a few cold ones every once in awhile.
Last edited by Bill Moore; 01-08-2010 at 08:19 PM. Reason: thanks for the catch slap
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