tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111837832009-02-20T22:46:26.959-05:00It's Security, Stupid!Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1118067030526838422005-06-06T10:08:00.000-04:002005-06-06T10:10:50.596-04:00

I finally took the time this weekend to setup a new home for Draft Zinni! The new civicspace site can be found at http://www.draftzinni.com. Please update your bookmarks and stop by the site!

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1117741989906109792005-06-02T15:53:00.000-04:002005-06-02T16:23:16.500-04:00

Kos pointed today to an article on Defense Tech (quoting from Defense news), which noted that due to budget cuts and bloated pet projects the Air Force is severely cutting back on pilot training time.Air Combat Command (ACC), the primary provider of combat airpower, is cutting 32,000 flying hours to help compensate for its $825 million operations and maintenance shortfall.The cuts come as Air

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1117672720560538842005-06-01T20:38:00.000-04:002005-06-01T20:38:40.573-04:00

Today must be Thomas Friedman smackdown day. Paul Kerr at ArmsControlWonk takes Friedman to task for his "ridiculously obvious" answer to the WMD proliferation problems the world faces. As Kerr notes: Just more evidence that those who supported the Iraq fiasco really need to STFU, stop lecturing the rest of us about foreign policy, sit in a corner, and think about what they did.

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1117649639750479522005-06-01T14:13:00.000-04:002005-06-01T17:56:09.540-04:00

Bobby Bran of Bobby's World! recently commented on a TNR article dealing with attempts by Conservatives to push more conservative voices within academia, comparing this to liberal attempts, such as the Civic Soldier Forum, to encourage more interaction between progressives and military personnel.My perception is that the so-called left-wing bias of American universities is prevalent, but I don't

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1117647019197773422005-06-01T13:30:00.000-04:002005-06-01T13:32:25.850-04:00

Check out this smackdown of neocon and intellectual wannabe Thomas Friedman over at Baghdad Burning.The Arab world's spiritual and media leaders have their hands tied right now. Friedman better hope Islamic spiritual leaders don't get involved in this mess because the first thing they'd have to do is remind the Islamic world that according to the Quran, the Islamic world may not be under the

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1117122861383372452005-05-26T11:48:00.000-04:002005-05-26T11:54:21.450-04:00

The following is a response to the comments in the Transformation And Networked Organizations post below. The comment went too long, so I'm putting it here...Having said that, more troops on the ground is not necessarily a panacea. Ambassador Khalilzad and LTG Barno demonstrated that with a force *one-ninth* that of OIF, in a country the *same* size and population as Iraq, they could nonetheless

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1117039564108577142005-05-25T10:57:00.000-04:002005-05-25T12:51:35.233-04:00

Today, Alexander the Average posted a blog entry commenting on a CAP report on needed transformations of the intelligence agencies. The main thrust of both the report and Alexander's comments, is the need for more investment in "human capital," something which I have been thinking a lot about over the past year as I look around for the investment in human capital that I expect to be made within

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1116872156607555212005-05-23T14:06:00.000-04:002005-05-23T14:19:28.380-04:00

I just happened across a free hosting service for PDF files, and I've been meaning to post my final paper from one of my International Relations classes online, so here it goes...The paper is titled Cyber Threats to the Critical Infrastructure of the United States and can be viewed here (PDF). At the very least I think that the sources can provide a good starting point for anyone interested in

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1116869528295119792005-05-23T12:55:00.000-04:002005-05-23T13:32:08.300-04:00

Last weeks top-ten list on Democracy Arsenal posed a series of questions that Democrats should be prepared to answer. The list is quite good, and I'm in full agreement that any progressive that wants to be taken seriously on national security issues should be ready to answer each of these: 1. Isn’t it the case that had a progressive been in the White House, Saddam Hussein would still be in

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1116605160798279382005-05-20T11:37:00.000-04:002005-05-20T12:25:20.646-04:00

In my original Draft Zinni! piece I pushed the idea of drafting Gen. Zinni to run against Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania. I've obviously found little support, so far, for this from other Pennsylvanians, and it now appears that Bob Casey Jr. will be Santorum's opponent. My reasons for choosing the US Senate race in PA where probably a little self-centered- I wanted to fight the Right in my beloved

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1116426779915298022005-05-18T10:28:00.000-04:002005-05-18T10:40:10.580-04:00

One of my favorite political groups- Operation Truth- is having a benefit concert in New York City this weekend. I'll definitely be going, and if anyone who happens on this blog wants to join, please leave a comment on this forum- you'll be supporting a great cause and you'll get to see some good live music at the same time!If you came to this blog via Music for America (the political outreach

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1116356605183879372005-05-17T14:38:00.000-04:002005-05-20T14:43:53.856-04:00

Sometimes it's really hard to get a good idea of just how good someone is at something by just reading about them. This week I've been beginning to apply for field operations jobs at various political organizations and I've been having a hell of a time trying to put my skill set, much of which has to do with how I work in the field, into words.Well, trying to get across what is so great about Gen

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1116353424385962082005-05-17T11:45:00.000-04:002005-05-17T14:28:58.606-04:00

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Wes Clark asking his supporters to join him in a virtual march to stop global warming. Here's part of whatthe message:Global warming and environmental policy are indeed important issues when considering national security policy.Here's why: Evidence shows that global warming brings with it harsher weather conditions that could lead to drought and food shortages.

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1116174036773166662005-05-15T12:20:00.000-04:002005-05-15T13:49:08.043-04:00

Is Operation Truth part of a vast-Leftwing conspiracy to paint our soldiers as murdering psychopaths? After reading this piece of sophist garbage at Soldier's for Truth you might think so. You see, Operation Truth is going to Washington this week to talk with Congressional leaders about, amongst other troubling issues, the extremely high prevalence of PTSD and other mental disorders amongst our

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1116172356095704532005-05-15T11:46:00.000-04:002005-05-15T11:52:36.100-04:00

For those who missed this on Kos, Carl Nyberg had an amazing diary on Kos this week dealing with questions about military recruitment.This is why Carl has some authority on the subject:My last two years as a Navy officer I was assigned to Navy Recruiting District Chicago. I investigated misconduct by enlisted recruiters. At the end of my tour I was a whistle-blower about extensive corruption in

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1115744843453162162005-05-10T13:07:00.000-04:002005-05-10T15:24:04.430-04:00

In last weeks Marine Corps Times there was an article about a speech that Gen. Anthony Zinni (ret.) gave at the Marine Corps Association's Ground Dinner, where he outlined what in my eyes are a few of the basic tenets of a Progressive foreign policy.The most basic tenet of a progressive foreign policy should be, in my eyes, that military force is only one of the tools we posses to achieve our

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1115646555568314992005-05-09T09:49:00.000-04:002005-05-09T10:25:27.806-04:00

An editorial in last Friday's LA Times pointed to yet another disturbing sign of the Bush Administration's disdain for non-traditional security issues. In this case the area being neglected is Cyber Security.The Pentagon fumble in which military officials essentially published on the Web the full version of a supposedly censored report was news last week. But occurring beneath the news radar is a

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1115327257737781862005-05-05T17:07:00.000-04:002005-05-05T17:08:04.213-04:00

Today our nation lost a great soldier and patriot. Col. David H. Hackworth has passed away.Washington, D.C., May 5, 2005 – Col. David H. Hackworth, the United States Army's legendary, highly decorated guerrilla fighter and lifelong champion of the doughboy and dogface, ground-pounder and grunt, died Wednesday in Mexico. He was 74 years old. The cause of death was a form of cancer now appearing

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1115215393085614572005-05-04T10:03:00.000-04:002005-05-04T10:09:38.103-04:00

The pressure continues to mount on our armed forces as the Army misses April recruiting goal by 42 percent.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army missed its April recruiting goal by a whopping 42 percent and the Army Reserve fell short by 37 percent, officials said on Tuesday, showing the depth of the military's wartime recruiting woes.With the Iraq war straining the U.S. military, the active-duty

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1115136342132422562005-05-03T11:54:00.000-04:002005-05-03T17:18:35.856-04:00

Within the comments of the Armchair Generalist post that I listed below Bobby Bran and I disagreed about whether you could call Iraq a strategic mistake. While Bobby admits to many of the tactical and/or operational errors made by the Pentagon's civilian leadership, he stated that only history will tell whether the war was a strategic success or not.I couldn't disagree more with those who say

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1114441456775933752005-04-29T11:04:00.000-04:002005-04-29T13:14:42.300-04:00

Over at ArmchairGeneralist I just posted a long rant in the comments of a post llooking at Charles Duelfer's Final report, which basically made official what everyone should know by now- Iraq posed little threat to the U.S. and had no WMD. My rant was in response to Bobby Bran, who's blog is one of my daily reads, on why the ends don't justify the means when it comes to Bush's lies surrounding

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1114720933473847182005-04-28T16:32:00.000-04:002005-04-28T16:42:13.473-04:00

For those few folks who stop by here on a semi-regular basis, you may have noticed a lull in posts over the past two weeks. I have been working on my Master's thesis, which will be completed in two-three weeks.The thesis is titled The Keys To A Future Majority and the first two pieces are already posted on Music for America, the group that helped reel me into a life in politics. The first post,

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1114180477896551322005-04-22T10:34:00.000-04:002005-04-22T10:53:10.600-04:00

Armchair Generalist pointed earlier in the week to an organization dedicated to building a bridge between civilian and military progressives. The group is called Civic Soldier Forum, and this is what they hope to accomplish: We are building a progressive community within the military and bridging the gap that exists between civilian and military progressives.By exchanging ideas and through

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1113580222966799832005-04-22T10:15:00.000-04:002005-04-22T10:30:45.226-04:00

Intel Dump's Phil Carter, who wrote "The Case for the Draft", had a guest blog last week on Operation Truth looking at a RAND study that suggests options for shoring up our military other than the draft. This is from the summary:Recruiting is expensive. On average, it costs the U.S. Army about $15,000 to recruit one soldier,1 and it must recruit 80,000 to 90,000 each year. If a soldier fails to

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11183783.post-1114106273616269942005-04-21T13:57:00.000-04:002005-04-21T14:20:19.093-04:00

The Armchair Generalist has a great response to many of my questions in a post titledWhat Defines a WMD?.He gives a short, but very interesting, history of the term, beginning with Franco's bombings of Guernica, and continuing with Zhukov's usage (whom many credit with saving the Soviet Union in World War II, after he took command of the Soviet Army at Stalingrad), as well as some more

Alex Urevick-Ackelsberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625472176533667379noreply@blogger.com0