A Final Thought for 2007

The year 2007 will pass into history in two more days. It has been a year that escaped most of the great disasters, that have marred the opening decade of the Twenty-first century. No 9-11's no London and Madrid type attacks, even the violence in Iraq has declined dramatically. Natural disasters were less this year than years with a Katrina, or South Asian tidal wave to shock our senses and still the passion that we command all that we touch. Revelations about Iran and it's suspension of bomb building and the possible dismantling of North Korea's program, gives us hope for breathing room before the next conflict.

In that vein we should pause to give thanks for the small fortunes that blessed humanity this past year. One way to extend that thanks is offered by a web site that has launched a campaign to show our gratitude to those who serve. http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/index.php

This is not about politics, and I would offer that it is something that should be extended to all who serve us in our daily lives. After 9/11, everyone was quick to offer praise to our first responders, fire, police and EMT's. The gratitude "Sign" should be extended to all who serve their fellow citizens. Try it, the next time you encounter those who serve, you will be glad you did! http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/sign.php

A special hat tip to the editors of Small Wars Journal for spreading the word about this great idea. http://smallwarsjournal.com/

Merry Christmas

Warm wishes for a Merry Christmas to all who read this!

Michael Yon: An unvarnished eye on war

Every war for the past one hundred and fifty years has had someone who provides history an unvarnished eye of the battlefield. Beginning in the Civil War, Americans saw the battlefield through the lenses of Matthew Brady's camera. Each new war brought the vision and reports from the battlefield into the living rooms of millions of people. Today the war in Iraq and Afghanistan has become the most reported war in history. One man has come to stand out among the thousand voices beseeching us to believe or disbelieve in the nobility of this long war. That man is Michael Yon, a former soldier who became a self-supported embedded correspondent, sending back reports from Iraq. http://michaelyon-online.com/

Michael's reports have been compared to those of another great American correspondent Ernie Pyle, whose report from the front lines of World War II are legendary. Each post to his on line magazine puts the reader alongside the troops, close enough to feel the danger. One post in 2005 captured a firefight, that erupted in front of Yon.http://michaelyon-online.com/wp/gates-of-fire.htm .

Every story is not just about battles and death. He recently followed the 4 Rifles of the British Army as they returned to their base in England. His chronicle of their return shows a side of the royals rarely seen in today's MSM. http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/one-step-forward.htm .

The insight that one gets about the men and women and the mission they carry out is the greatest acheivement of Yon's reporting. He is a man touched by humanity, who keeps going back time and again to tell us a story that most are content to report from afar.

Michael Yon operates on the support of contributions, he is truly an independent journalist. Those interested in knowing how to add your support can find details on his web page.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/support-next-dispatch-from-iraq/

Zenpundit, a Blog Awakening

The second link on my blogroll is to zenpundit.com. Zen, meaning the attainment of awakening by meditation and careful thought. In a word this is the most apt description of this blog. It's author, Mark has dedicated his blog to exploring the intersections of foreign policy, history, military theory, national security,strategic thinking, futurism, cognition and a number of other esoteric pursuits. The thoughtful posts have served to enlighten this reader in an array of subjects, ranging from the latest in NCW vs COIN warfare, http://zenpundit.com/?p=2520 to meta cognition, http://zenpundit.blogspot.com/2006/02/metacognition-updated-intelligence.html , thinking about thinking.

One of the great things about blogging is the way it stimulates critical thinking and begins to weave the single thread of an idea into a usable fabric. An example can best be illustrated by a recent post by the Zen where he takes a post by Steve DeAngelis at Enterprise Resilience Blog, http://enterpriseresilienceblog.typepad.com/enterprise_resilience_man/2007/12/dealing-with-ir.html and expands on the original paradigm by suggesting a reconstruction finance corporation be formed to assist Iraqis to rebuild their economy.http://zenpundit.com/?p=2523#comments

The head of Roosevelt's New Deal FRC, was Jesse H. Jones, a financial wizard who had the "local knowledge" to make the program a success and eventually lead to the Sunbelt boom in the 60's.

Later in the comments section, it was noted that Jones was one of those "second tier" figures who really made things go, and were largely overlooked by history.

To carry this comment a bit further and show how it can be linked to other examples of "second tier" figures who carried the ball and were relegated to a footnote, I can refer back to an earlier post about Rick Atkinson's Day of Battle http://hgworld.blogspot.com/2007/12/book-note-rick-atkinsons-day-of-battle.html

A second tier leader, Major General Fred Walker commander of the 36th Infantry Division at Salerno almost lost his command in the attack across the Rapido River. Later at Anzio,when ordered to make a frontal attack against the Caesar Line, he used his knowledge of terrain, gained from his experience as the mining engineer earlier in life to overcome the impossible. This "local knowledge" allowed him to find a route up and over, the thought to be impregnable Mount Artemisio. Given the go ahead, Walker built a road around the mountain and got his entire division behind the German lines. The cost to the 36th Division was eleven KIA, as the Germans broke, and fled north.

Major General Fred Walker was a "second tier" leader whose skill led to the breakout at Anzio. Today, he is only a footnote, and doesn't even rate a listing in wikipedia.

My digression is to illustrate how stories posted on blogs allow ideas to spread across the world to touch the minds of millions in a millisecond. Each post, each comment, represent the free flow of ideas. The links on my blogroll, are not elected leaders or great captains of battle, but the influence they have on the future is vital to a healthy society. When a private citizen like Tom Barnett, is invited to travel 56,000+ miles in the past six weeks to spread his message about the responsibility of the Core nations to the Gap nations, he is a prime example of a "second tier" leader who is getting the job done.http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/2007/12/the_travels_of_tom.html

The people I have linked on this blog are a good representation of those leaders who are leading by writing and thinking about the future. Zenpundit is an essential voice in leading the discussions on the important topics of our time. I would always recommend reading his blob regularly to gain a world of enlightenment.

In a final note, in the previous post I made reference to a young woman who has meta cognition on her My Space headline, she put it there after reading a post on Zenpundit.com. It is rewarding to see the thoughts and ideas posted in this medium resonate with the next generation.

A Resilient Nation

I was going to write about another of my blog links today. But an article posted by Steve DeAngelis on his Enterprise Resilience Blog caught my attention. It is a plea for America not to give up on Globalization. He writes that he was moved to speak out after reading a recent article by New York Times columnist David Brooks. At the bottom, I have linked the post by Steve and within his post is a link to Brook's article.

As I wrote earlier, Steve has a great talent to digest an article and add comments that inspire the reader to see the future with the same optimism that he possesses. He echos Brooks concern that America is losing that optimism because today's politicians are allowing it to happen by pandering to the fear of change. Both Steve and David Brooks agree that as long as the people of the U.S. remain open to change they will continue to grow and prosper.

I was struck by something that Brooks wrote referring to; "America's most stable of assets; it's values." What he meant was the ability to assimilate almost everyone who comes here. He pointed out that over 20 million legal immigrants have come to our shores in the past quarter century. Those new citizens and their children, are infused with the same American values that every new wave of citizens has embraced for the past two hundred plus years. In previous posts I have referred to first wave of Southeast Asians who came to find refuge over 30 years ago. After the Fall of South Vietnam in 1975, more than 125,000 Vietnamese were admitted as refugees. Soon the citizens of other Asians nations whom before 1975, had experienced very low immigration quotas, were welcomed to join our nation. They were followed by people from former East Bloc countries and even the former Soviet Union.

There are several young people I know who are the children of this new wave of citizens. Each one is ingrained with the values that David Brooks and Steve DeAngelis wrote about. The first, is a young woman whose parents escaped Pol Pot's Killing Fields in Cambodia, to a refugee camp in Thailand and after a long struggle, gained access to the United States. She is possibly the most focused person I have ever known. She is a university student, who daily drives 40 miles to attend class, then 20 miles to a job, then 40 miles back home to study til the early hours of the morning. She collects quotations to inspire and stimulate her thinking. She even has a reference to metacognition, (thinking about thinking)' on her My Space headline. Her goal is international business or government service. Even with all this, she finds the time to raise money for cancer and AIDS research.

Another, is the oldest in a single parent family, although an adult, she lives at home to help her mom raise her siblings. She also is one of the most focused and driven people I've ever met. If your immediate image is of a modest demure Asian girl, be prepared for a shock. This young woman has the business acumen of Donald Trump, and the poise and beauty to be a candidate for America's Next Top Model. She is a full-time student in her university, majoring in finance, and works evenings to help support the family. She maintains a very high grade point average and at work, has earned the respect of all who know her for her attention to detail, work ethic and positive attitude.

My final but not least example is a young man whose father served time in a re-education camp in Vietnam for being in the defeated military. Upon release, he immigrated to the U.S., started a successful business and raised a family. His son graduated with honors from a top university, and was made to work to contribute to his own tuition in order to appreciate the value of work ethics. This young man is bright beyond his years. At the first opportunity the company he had worked for part-time, hired him upon graduation. They saw the potential in his character and the skills he brings to the workplace. His future with this Fortune 500 lodging company, or any other company he may chose to work for, is bright.

I know that reading this you would think that these first generation Americans are only exhibiting the stereotypical Asian habits of studying hard and honoring their parents. That conclusion is only half-right. They also have the quiescently American traits that come from freedom of expression and opportunity. Believe me when I tell you these three, study hard, work hard, and party like rock-stars. They have the social skills that allow them to exceed in a competitive society. These traits are the result of that greatest of American assets; assimilation, creating a new breed of Americans, with the same spirit that made this country what it is today.
These young people I've written about parent's came from Vietnam and Cambodia, chances are they would not be here adding the resilient fabric of this nation, if history had not turned out as it did in 1975. When I began this blog, I opened by writing about my difficulty in reconciling my time in Vietnam. Today, I am so proud to know these young people. They serve as an inspiration to me to encourage them, and anyone else of their generation who are looking forward to a future worth creating, instead of "watching the wake" as Steve DeAngelis and his colleague Tom Barnett warn us about.

Read more:
Don't give up on Globalization

The First Link: Thomas PM Barnett

The first entry in the links section, is Tom Barnett's web page. As long as I have this blog, it will have the honor of being the first link I recommend. I noted in my first post, that several people inspired me to begin to write a blog, Tom Barnett, and in turn, the fellow bloggers whom I met via his site prompted me to join this vast forum, where ideas are ginned up to blaze new trails across the terrain of human interaction.

My first introduction to Tom Barnett came in 2004 when I read his book, The Pentagon's New Map. It grabbed my attention, just as I was returning to school to retool myself as a historian. As I sat in classrooms surrounded by young people, who in many cases were the first generation offspring of new Americans, I began to truly understand the legacy of our nation and get a peek into the future. This nation was built on the ability to gather souls from across the planet, assimilate them, give them the freedom to excel, and then reap the bounty that bloomed from that fertile seedbed. If my prose sounds overly optimistic for a member of the self indulgent, narcissistic Boomer generation, it is because I find myself becoming more visionary in my elder years.

Since 2004, Tom Barnett has authored two books, maintained a daily blog, written dozens of articles and columns and kept a continuous worldwide speaking schedule, in an effort to a challenge the developed World and the United States in particular, to use their vast resources and good fortune, to provide the heavy lifting of humanity from the bowels of poverty, to a reasonably existence.

There is not enough space here to fully explain all the facets of Tom Barnett's vision of the future. In that spirit, I urge all who read this to visit his web page, read his blog, and his books, in order to understand his vision for a "Future worth creating." He has the courage and vision to open a dialogue on the future and deserves to be heard.

http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/

Book note: Rick Atkinson's Day of Battle

Casualties in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan make the daily headlines and cause some to demand an immediate cessation of involvement by American forces. In another time and war, the focus of casualties and mistakes in leadership, were dimmed by the fog of war and the deft hand of censors. Rick Atkinson has authored what will be a trilogy on World War II in Europe. He won a Pulitzer Prize, for his first book, An Army at Dawn, that narrates the invasion of North Africa by Allied forces. .http://www.amazon.com/Army-Dawn-1942-1943-Liberation-Trilogy/dp/B0009WE0W8/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1

Last month the second installment, Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, was published. http://www.amazon.com/Day-Battle-1943-1944-Liberation-Trilogy/dp/0805062890/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196732258&sr=1-1
In the words of one review, from Publishers Weekly. "Atkinson surpasses his Pulitzer-winning An Army at Dawn." I would recommend this for all who are interested in World War II history and want to revisit a campaign that was mostly forgotten after the invasion at Normandy. The mistakes, heartbreaks, cover ups and triumphs, that are grist to all wars, are vividly brought back to life in Atkinson's prose. He takes the reader from the White House, to the slit trenches and blasted out villages in Italy, leaving a lasting impression in the mind of the reader.

To put this all in perspective, the campaign lasted 608 days and cost the Allies 312,000 casualties, with 25, 502 dead, and the Germans, 500,000, half of which were KIA. The cost to the civilian population of Italy was staggering, years after the war unexploded mines continued to kill. The decision to invade Italy has been debated by scholars ever since, much like today's argument that we could have avoided invading Iraq and still win the "War on Terror." The final result for Iraq is still being contested. Sixty years from now, scholars will still be debating both decisions.

Introducing my links

One of the great things about the Internet is the ability to exchange ideas with people all over the World. The links that I have posted are just the tip of the iceberg to the opportunities that await the curious. Over the next few weeks I will introduce the links and give you an idea of why I find them relevant.

I found a particular timely piece posted today on the blog hosted by Steve DeAngelis of Enterra Solutions. He addresses one of my primary interests, education and how it impacts freedom.

http://enterpriseresilienceblog.typepad.com/enterprise_resilience_man/2007/12/educating-girls.html

Steve has a remarkable ability to digest articles, and then pull them together to highlight new developments in business, security and social issues, across the planet. His company, Enterra Solutions, is in the forefront of new companies that are looking to do positive things that will affect the future.
http://www.enterrasolutions.com/

I would urge all who read this, to check out Steve's blog. The goal of Steve and his cohorts at Enterra Solutions, is to assist in improving economic and social conditions in emerging market countries. The bottom line for this country, will be a safer world.

Knowing the Man

In the previous post, I linked an exchange between Tom Barnett and an author who had written a rather defaming piece about someone whom Tom held dear. Here is a column that Tom wrote about his brother-in-law whom he recently lost to cancer.
http://www.thomaspmbarnett.com/weblog/2007/12/this_weeks_column_33.html
The column, will say all one needs to know about the character of Thomas Barnett.

A Calculated Response

Over the past week a pointed exchange occurred over the blogs. It came about as a result of an article in Wired Magazine by Noah Shachtman.

I found the article used a headline that was designed to hook the reader into believing that two men in uniform were solely responsible for almost losing the war in Iraq. Thomas Barnett, author of the Pentagon's New Map and Blueprint for Action took rightful umbrage at Shachtman. I have linked the best summation of this exchange that was posted by Mark over at:
http://zenpundit.com/?p=2501#comments

I completely concur with Mark's summation. For some insight, Tom Barnett's thesis on the need for a plan for the peace after the violent take down of the bad guys, was built on a foundation laid by his mentor, Admiral Cebrowski.