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"If this mode of operation were to come to the U.S.A. we should hope the ACLU and EFF challenge it"

I suspect you are correct as I suspect the real push for this all engulfing state surveillance apparatus is coming also from the US. You see in the interests of protecting the Core, our little democracy will have to be sacrificed.

The TED talk is well done at multiple levels. Not only is the material interesting, but the performance itself is also very polished and engaging. I suspect this combination's rare in military circles, but that's probably because I can only compare Barnett to IOSS D*I*C*E briefings (esp. presentations on computer/network OPSEC which are not unlike Vogon poetry in terms of what they do to individuals with Functioning Cerebrums and Bugtraq subscriptions). Maybe someone with real .mil presentation experience can tell us whether Barnett's speaking style is the exception or the norm.

Strangely enough, Barnett strikes me as being somewhat conservative. Aside from recent comments on his blog about Obama, he doesn't seem to be very political, which is probably necessary given his position and audiences.

Barnett slammed the Wired piece in a recent blog post (follow-up).

The TED talk is well done at multiple levels. Not only is the material interesting, but the performance itself is also very polished and engaging. I suspect this combination's rare in military circles, but that's probably because I can only compare Barnett to IOSS D*I*C*E briefings (esp. presentations on computer/network OPSEC which are not unlike Vogon poetry in terms of what they do to individuals with Functioning Cerebrums and Bugtraq subscriptions). Maybe someone with real .mil presentation experience can tell us whether Barnett's speaking style is the exception or the norm.

Strangely enough, Barnett strikes me as being somewhat conservative. Aside from recent comments on his blog about Obama, he doesn't seem to be very political, which is probably necessary given his position and audiences.

Barnett slammed the Wired piece in a recent blog post (follow-up).

Sooo..... would this mean that the Pentagon could *bogart* all of the power when needed, or reduce power generation at critical times? This is one of the principal complaints about the GPS system as currently structured. There is no doubt that the GPS system has revolutionized much of the developed world and I am not criticizing that. On the contrary, I am just pointing out a possible criticism. After all, if the Pentagon (US government) plays its cards right, this could be a way to ensure that Gap Nations can be provided power to help them integrate into the Economic Core. (brilliant background on theory of Gap Nations and Economic core here ).

It's obvious who the missiles are intended to intimidate, the Russians, just in case they try and steal our oil. It's straight out of the NeoCons plan for Pax Americana

The plan is for the Core to be safe while us here in the Gap will take the brunt of the war on whoever. Of course one of the unintended ironies of this 'war' is that in the course of defending 'democracy' at home, America is destroy it abroad.

http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/05/new-neo con-cold-war.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_A merican_Century

http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/projects/newrulesse t/The%20'Core'%20And%20The%20'Gap'.htm

The pressure for such total information awareness is really coming from the US administration who sees the best defence against the terrorist threat to establish a buffer zone between it and what it sees as the gap, parts of the world where pax Americana can never be established. Of course it's ironic that in the quest for the defence of 'democracy' us here in the core will actually have to give up our own freedoms. And there is a flaw in such a strategy in that the 'disruptive perturbations' won't necessarly stay behide the firewall and uniteral action will shrink the gap.

'As globalization deepens and spreads, two groups of states are essentially pitted against one another: countries seeking to align their internal rule sets with the emerging global rule set .. I dub the former countries the Functioning Core of globalization, the latter the Non-Integrating Gap'

Of course there is another reading of the terrorist threat agenda. That being after the end of the cold war, the US needed a new pretext for militarily occupying those areas of the planet where it has a vital resources. It also gives the state a pretext for spying on its own citizens. To do that you have to get the people scared and keep them scared.

Yes I know there are real terrorists, but we here in the UK have been subjected to acts at least on par with 9/11. Two of the worst were Lockerbie and the attempt to assassinate the entire UK Cabinet. But the gov never saw fit to cancel democracy. How can you defend freedom by giving it up.

"I could see the truth that most Americans never think of. I knew who the next likely enemy was after the cold war ended"

I know you won't hear about this on Fox news, but both Saddam Hussein and bin Laden were at one time US intelligence assets in the middle east. Bin Laden sent into Afghanistan to ferment opposition to the Soviets and Hussein, a one time hit man for the CIA put up to organizing a coup against his own Ba'ath Party. Their chief crime being trying to organize unification with Syria. You see a fragmented middle east is much easier to control that a united Arab front. Of course one of the side effects of this policy is out of control 'freedom fighters` organizing suicide bombings. This wasn't considered a problem until they attacked the US.

The war against terror being largely bogus as once the USSR collapsed the US had to create another pretext to occupy the worlds mineral rich territories. You see we here in the gap have been suffering from terrorism for a long time (the Lockerbie bombing, Canary Wharf etc) the difference is we never saw the need to cancel democracy.

"My world was a world of security fences and guards carrying AK47s"

Are you sure what continent your grew up on. The AK47 was designed by Timofeevich Kalashnikov and used primarily by the Red Army.

'"They keep telling themselves that. "Oh it'll be all right, the government is protecting us."`

Who's going to protect us from your government.

"I want everyone to remember, why they need us!"

Adam Sutler
http://quotations.about.com/od/moviequotes/a/vende tta2.htm

It's called a cold war. Just like the war with Russia, and its started already. The problem is America is losing. Americans are so greedy and selfish that China has learned to exploit Americas corporate weaknesses to its own advantage.

Outsourcing? It's simple. People who support outsourcing are supporting the Chinese. China is already kicking our asses in the economic war. If you want to win the war with China, you have to win the economic war. There is about 0% chance of the war becoming a physical war because at this level, with this much money at stake, neither country will ever want to have a physical war, and America will not go to war to defend Taiwan just as China will not require physical war to take Taiwan. China will buy Taiwan.

And before people post saying I don't know what I'm talking about, here is an blog for you all to read. Thomas PM Barnett is a war strategist. Read his blog, do some research on the subject, and then respond to my post.

Thomas P.M. Barnett is a strategic planner who has worked in national security affairs since the end of the Cold War and has operated his own consulting practice (Barnett Consulting) since 1998. Recently, Tom founded a consulting partnership with two other outstanding individuals called The New Rule Sets Project LLC. The consultancy was acquired by Enterra Solutions, LLC. in August of 2005, with Dr. Barnett as Senior Managing Director.

Thomas PM Barnett's Blog

The specialized niche blogs are excellent. I for instance read a lot of war and intelligence stuff. So Blogs like Global Guerillas, History of the Middle East & Religion, Counter-terrorist blog, Pentagons New Map blog, Terrorism Financing, Cryptome and Scheiner among a whole heap of others. The problem for me is I have to try keep away from Kos, Instapundit and LGF cause those type of blogs are partisan fuckwads that are more interested in bagging each other out and giving deceptive 'news' than giving realistic war analysis.