Slashdot Mirror
Winning (and Losing) the First Wired War
Noah Shachtman writes "The Iraq war was launched on a theory: That, with the right networking gear, American armed forces could control a country with a fraction of the troops ordinarily needed. But that equipment never made it down to the front lines, David Axe (just back from his 6th trip to Iraq) and I note in this month's Popular Science. That's a problem, because the insurgents are using throwaway cellphones and anonymous e-mail accounts to stitch together a network of their own."
This line sums it up ...
The Pentagon's pursuit of network-centric warfare began in the info-tech boom of the 1990s--largely influenced by, of all things, Wal-Mart.
I would hardly call the Iraq war a loss. Maybe it wasn't perfect but a low level insurgency and 2200 deaths over 3 years doesn't equate a loss. Put down the anti-Americanism and pick up a history book. If you think that's a loss, you are a fool.
It's funny how liberals complain about the "AM Drivetime prattle" when almost every other form of media has a liberal bias. If any party has a monopoly on media "zombies", it's not the republicans.
Maybe if the college students, union workers and minorities would stop smoking pot long enough to vote they might actually get it legalized. But no, they are too cool for school. A vote for nobody is a vote against the system maaaaan. Pass the bong!
The liberal motto used to be "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Back when liberals actually cared about something other than themselves. Now, every fucking liberal issue is like:
Issue: Abortion
Sure, TECHNICALLY a fetus is biologically no different from a born child, but since I can't see it very easily I can also easily turn it into an abstraction. It's not a baby, it's just a "blob that needs to be removed". That's a load off my mind.
Issue: War on Drugs
It's a victimless crime, right? Well, except for crack babies and those with fetal alchol syndrome. But then again, a fetus isn't a human anyway so still no victims, hooray! Yeah, there are the unintended consquences of having people intoxicated all the time, but if drugs were legal, people wouldn't abuse them.. just look at all the good alcohol has done for our society.. or something... whatever, too much thinking, pass the bong again.
Issue: War in Iraq
Liberals, being moral and peace loving, HATE war! Err, Except for the liberals in congress, who mostly all voted for it. Oh, but they were "mislead". The poor dears are just such trusting people that when the administration of the opposing party gives them intelligence that they automatically assume it's good. Isn't congress supposed to be part of a system of "checks and balances"? Apparently not.
Issue: Welfare
Income redistribution for all! It's great for the economy! I can't wait to invest my money in a company knowing that most the dividends I receive will end up being redistributed to the poor by the government (which I trust to do wholeheartedly). Sure, people could just give out of the goodness of their heart -- but then the poor might feel less entitled to other people's money because they arn't taking it from a gigantic faceless bureaucratic entity.