Pentagon

The article examines how new planning concepts and methods advanced by the RAND Corporation and adopted by the Pentagon during the 1990s served to inflate defense requirements. A version appeared in the March/April 1998 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as “Inventing Threats.”

PDA Briefing Memo #30, 26 September 2003. Examines how air power helped bring about the rapid collapse of the Iraqi Republican Guard and regular army in the 2003 war. The memo focuses specifically on the role of battlefield air interdiction. (The author distinguishes air interdiction and close air support missions by arguing that the latter help decide the immediate battle, while air interdiction shapes the battlefield and helps determine upcoming battles.) An outstanding feature of the analysis is a comparison of the air campaigns of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991). The memo also estimates combatant casualties due to air interdiction in the 2003 war.

This report reviews and categorizes the enormous corpus of knowledge produced by American academic and policy institutions about U.S. relations with the Middle East and other Islamic actors in the international arena. The report identifies five epistemic communities – conservatives, neoconservatives, realists, liberals and the left – and analyzes their discourses and policy recommendations. Finally, the policies that these epistemic communities recommended are evaluated and assessed. The author recommends a mixed-paradigmatic approach that will not only make the United States more effective in the Middle East but also underscore its continuing relevance to the security and the stability of the region and the global order.

One of the readers of the first edition of this book considered it to be the best work that has been written on the subject of 9/11. The 3rd edition seeks to make a very good book even better. 

Framing 9/11, 3rd Edition contains all of the material that was present in the first two editions. This includes critical discussions on: The collapse of Building 7; the no-planes issue; controlled demolition; the work of Dr. Judy Wood; commentary on the views of Bill Maher and Matt Taibi concerning 9/11; Conspiracy and other 'C' words, as well as a series of 'Did You Know?' features.

The current, updated edition of Framing 9/11 involves more than 150 pages of new material, and much of this is contained in chapter of this book entitled: ‘Unscientific America: 9/11, Sam Harris, and Noam Chomsky’.

The penultimate chapter of this book also contains new material. It consists of an overview of, and introduction to, the work of Rebekah Roth which is given expression in her Methodical trilogy as well as through a variety of interviews. 

The final chapter of the 3rd Edition gives expression to an exploration of ‘The 9/11 Delusion and Its Consequences.” This discussion will critically examine the etiology of our current dilemma and provide an outline concerning how the very first step taken toward the pathology in which we are mired today began when Americans (both leaders and ordinary citizens) ceded their moral and intellectual agency to something other than the truth and, in the process became vulnerable to the 9/11 delusion.

By becoming entangled in that delusion, all too many people were prepared to commit crimes against peace (i.e., unprovoked aggression against other people and nations) which, in turn, led to war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, our nightmare began when people (both leaders and ordinary citizens) denied themselves and others the opportunity (a) to establish the truth about, among other things, 9/11 and (b) to use that truth to work to create conditions that are conducive to the realization of “inalienable sovereignty” for everyone.

published on August 16, 2021 in:

http://johnpilger.com/articles/a-day-in-the-death-of-british-justice

The pursuit of Julian Assange for revealing secrets and lies of governments, especially the crimes of America, has entered its final stage as the British judiciary - upholders of 'British justice' - merge their deliberations with the undeterred power of Washington.

PDA Research Monograph #9, 18 February 2004. Examines the Pentagon’s treatment of the civilian casualty issue in the Iraq and Afghan wars, reviews the “spin” and “news frames” used by defense officials to shape the public debate over casualties, and critiques the concept of a “precision warfare” as misleading. Case studies include the Baghdad bombing campaign. An appendix provides a comprehensive Guide to Surveys and Reporting on Casualties in the Afghan and Iraq Wars.

This article discusses changes to what were seen by government planners as “outdated”British and American propaganda systems following 9/11 and the Iraq War.It presents qualitative research examining how government propaganda strategies responded to global asymmetric threats in a post-9/11 media environment. The article draws on both documentary evidence and the accounts of elite sources from Britain and the United States including Public Relations professionals, journalists,and foreign policy, defense, and intelligence personnel. Recently, the intelligence contractor Edward Snowden revealed the extent to which the speed of adaptation in surveillance practices has left policy and oversight behind, raising concern over ethics, privacy, and transparency. The article will explore an adaptation of propaganda systems that also occurred unhindered by public debate. It will show how U.S. and U.K. Governments believed existing propaganda systems were not responding to the information environment and discusses legal, structural, and cultural issues in propaganda practices, post-9/11. Planners assisted in gradually changing structures and cultures of propaganda in both countries for reasons of operational effectiveness.The Anglo-American relationship will be highlighted as one tool capable of overcoming obstacles or restrictions in propaganda for purposes of counter-terrorism. Interviews indicated that this was enabled by the countries’ different capabilities and weak legislative restrictions, which some highlighted as advantageous to planning. The article will consider the resilience of U.S./U.K. restrictions and governance of propaganda,highlighting areas for concern.

When will US ground troops leave Afghanistan? Why the uncertainty? Logistical problems are not a principal cause, as often claimed. Instead, the vacillation and uncertainty is due to an ongoing, but troubled US effort to shape Afghanistan's future using the presence of US ground troops as leverage.

This work consists of a preliminary look at the relationship between Phi and the spiral scaling structures that that can be seen in DNA and the cosmos. It is pointed out that fractals have a built in structural self similarity as part of their make-up. The fractal dimension isn't an integer but is a number that has a fractional part. The mathematical properties of Phi are studied in various ways as series and product series. Series expansion of Phi using fractional exponents were determined in several ways in an attempt to determine the difficulty in handling such expansion

Prepared for “Economics and Security: Resourcing National Priorities,” a workshop sponsored by William B. Ruger Chair of National Security Economics, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, 19–21 May 2010. Full conference proceedings here: http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA530819

This chapter is based on a study of the US Department of Defense’s Flickr photostream, from 2009 through February of 2014, examining a total of 9,963 photographs (with some key examples reproduced in the chapter), and two dozen US military directives, manuals, and guides on public diplomacy, strategic communication, social media use, and photography. Having said that, the analysis is not a quantitative one; instead, the project builds on Pierre Bourdieu’s ideas about regulated images, consecrated works, and the objectification and codification of (militarized) values, as well as the works of a number of visual anthropologists. Rather than an activity that expresses the randomness of individual imaginations, US military photographs register a pattern that reflects the prevailing political norms of a given social order. The patterns to be found among these thousands of images is in fact quite regular, and makes a series of clear points. This public engagement is carried out by the Pentagon with a belief that a major part of “the battle” is a “battle of the narrative,” one that takes place in the public’s “cognitive space,” in what is has been termed “Fourth Generation warfare”. These photographs are intended to represent the US military as a humanitarian, charitable organization, working among many communities around the world that are populated by children who are only too happy to be vaccinated and to skip rope with US soldiers. Female US soldiers have smiling close encounters with little girls, or cradle babies. When not displaying pure, motive-less good intentions, the photographs also produce a celebration of the awesome power and sophistication of US military technology: jets flying in formation, shiny drones illuminated at night like alien UFOs, lines of massive ships at sea, etc. Yet, there are virtually no images of actual combat. The photographs collectively portray a world rendered frictionless by the speed and ubiquity of American power and technology. In addition, by being studiously depoliticized, the photographs produce a political effect, for political purposes—they do not tell the horror stories of war, of blood shed and lives lost, of destruction and grief, but rather portray something like a birthday party, with a cycle of endless family reunions. However, as the Pentagon understands that every action is potentially a message, and there is an unresolved tension between “perception effects” and military planning, strategic communication in the form of disseminating photo-graphs through social media faces ultimate pitfalls.

PDA Briefing Report #18, 05 September 2006.  A net assessment of America’s post-911 security policy shows it to be “pyrrhic” in character: although progress has been made in disrupting Al Qaeda, the broader effect has been to increase the threat to the United States, while weakening the nation’s capacity to respond effectively.

The allocation of Pentagon funds changed fundamentally during the period 1992 and 2010.  And with it, the contours of American military power changed, establishing the foundation for force development and budgeting through to the 2020's.

This report analyzes the unprecedented post-1998 rise in US defense spending, the return to Cold War budget levels, and likely future trends in Pentagon spending.  It asks, Why should defense be as expensive today as during the Cold War?  And also, Why are today’s wars comparatively so expensive? 

Among the “cost drivers” that it finds are overly ambitious US military strategies, a shortfall in efforts to streamline the Pentagon and achieve military transformation, a failure to set strong priorities and make hard choices in military acquisition, and the conduct of wars ill-suited to the US military.  Also assessed are the surge in military construction and the dramatically expanded role of private contractors.  75 pages including short Executive Summary and 21 charts and tables.

W pierwszej połowie lutego 2020 roku Narodowe Centrum Kontrwywiadu i Bezpieczeństwa (NCSC) podległe pod Biuro Dyrektora Wywiadu Narodowego (DNI) opublikowało Strategię kontrwywiadowczą USA na lata 2020-2022. Przedstawia ona, zdaniem autorów, nowe podejście do kontrwywiadu w celu przeciwdziałania zagrożeniom, które znacznie się zmieniły od czasu ostatniej strategii w 2016 roku.

Quand les géants de la Tech, GOOGLE et PALANTIR, collaborent avec les militaires américains, et sont soupçonnés de fournir des technologies d'IA susceptibles de pouvoir servir à des usages offensifs. GOOGLE a obtenu un contrat pour travailler sur la nouvelle initiative de guerre algorithmique du Département de la Défense, afin d'appliquer ses solutions d'intelligence artificielle au ciblage de drones.

Gripping story of what could have been if a POW was left behind.  This is a story of his survival and how he eventually made it back home to his loving wife.  The ending will startle you and make you cry.  It is a story of love and redemption.  It is now an old story as many wars have happened since Viet Nam.  But, the emotion is relevant to us all in our families and in our military

... 8 These third-party eyewitness accounts accord with many of the stories told by Iraqis. Ken Dilanian and Drew Brown, reporters for the Knight Ridder news service, recount the experience of Dr. Talib Abdul Jabar Al Sayeed, whose Baghdad home was raided on 31 July 2003: ...

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has said that the U.S. has no role in the Libyan civil war. But with General Khalifa Haftar poised to attack Tripoli and to attempt to overthrow the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord, it's worth asking what support Haftar is receiving, not only from the Saudis, Egypt, the U.A.E., and France, but also from the White House, the Pentagon, and the C.I.A. This op-ed explores the thirty-year background of U.S. involvement with Khalifa Haftar, first in the attempts to overthrow the Qaddafi regime in the 1990s and 2000s, and then during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, and asks what role the U.S. is currently playing in Haftar's attempts to make himself the Qaddafi or the Sisi of Post-Qaddafi Libya.

The 2006 US Defense Review advanced two new strategic vectors for America's armed forces – one targets a putative “global Islamic insurgency," the other puts America on a collision course with China. Both vectors are overwrought and likely to feed the threats they forecast. Moreover, the 2006 defense plan leaves little reason to believe that it sufficiently supports the goals it sets out. (An abbreviated version of this article appeared in the July 2006 issue of the World Policy Journal under the title "Dissuading China and Fighting the ‘Long War’."

PDA Research Monograph #10, 18 May 2005. An analysis of Iraqi public opinion data and interviews suggests that coalition military activity is contributing substantially to anti-coalition sentiments. A “vicious circle” is indicated, whereby counter-insurgent operations create support for the insurgency. The report tracks coalition military activity and relates it to Iraqi discontent and insurgent activity. Differences among Iraqi communities are also assessed.

...se busca demostrar que la Política de Estado del Presidente Joe Biden es, en última instancia, salvar al sistema capitalista utilizando el concepto "Democracia" a través de una guerra política de desgaste sico-social y económico-financiero sin comprender las historias que definen las realidades objetivas que sustentan las dignidades históricas de los pueblos rusos y chinos...

The relationship between geometry and art will be examined using the example of pentagonal structures. The work of contemporary Dutch artist Gerard Caris is based on those pentagonal structures. He calls his art work Pentagonism and questions how art creations and design processes can rely on strong, geometric, structural thinking. Pentagonal structures in plane as well as in space will be analyzed from a geometrical point of view and compared to corresponding art approaches. A review of geometric research on tessellations will be followed by a discussion on previous attempts to tile the Pentagrid with regular pentagons. The fundamental role of the Pentagrid and derivable Kite-Dart-Grid in Caris’ art design processes will also be explained. A step into the three-dimensional space leads to the dodecahedron and derived rhombohedra configurations for tessellations, or packings, in space. The geometric background refers to fundamental works by Plato, Euclid, Dürer, and Kepler as well as recent research results. The investigation will end with a discussion of the aesthetic categories of redundancy and innovation, their application to art evaluation and the differentiation of geometry and art. The example of Caris’ art, which concentrates on the regular pentagon and the spatial counterpart dodecahedron, points out the possibilities of aesthetic expressions on the basis of geometric structures. Art enables the exploration of those structures in a playful and self-explanatory way and often precedes scientific research.

PDA Briefing Memo #43, 05 February 2008. The United States is entering a  period of policy transition, but there is a dearth of new thinking regarding  security policy. The debate remains paralyzed by 9/11 and mesmerized by military primacy. Progress depends on rethinking the role of force.

The Sustainable Defense Task Force was formed in response to a request from Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), working in cooperation with Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC), Representative Ron Paul (R-TX), and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), to explore possible defense budget contributions to deficit reduction efforts that would not compromise the essential security of the United States. The Project on Defense Alternatives coordinated the work of the Task Force. Carl Conetta drafted the main body of the Task Force report in ongoing consultation with Task Force members who developed or digested proposals from the diverse sources cited in the report. A sub-committee of the Task Force reviewed the final draft before publication. It should not be assumed that all Task Force members endorse all items and sections of the report.

The Sustainable Defense Task Force: Carl Conetta (Project on Defense Alternatives), Benjamin H Friedman (Cato Institute), William D Hartung (New America Foundation), Christopher Hellman (National Priorities Project), Heather Hurlburt (National Security Network), Charles Knight (Project on Defense Alternatives), Lawrence J Korb (Center for American Progress), Paul Kawika Martin (Peace Action), Laicie Olson (Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation), Miriam Pemberton (Institute for Policy Studies), Laura Peterson (Taxpayers for Common Sense), Prasannan Parthasarathi (Boston College), Christopher Preble (Cato Institute), Winslow Wheeler (Center for Defense Information)

Argues for a new balance among the various instruments of  national power reflecting today’s strategic conditions.  Taking a realistic view of security needs, the report advocates a military 20% smaller than today’s.  It advances a “discriminate defense” strategy that would focus the military on cost-effective missions and save $550 billion more than official plans over the next decade.  Main report includes 9 tables.  Appendix has 18 additional tables and charts addressing personnel, force structure, and budgets.

Purpose: To document how well military appropriations were spent in the Reagan years. In particular, this paper examined three areas the Reagan administration declared required special attention: modernization, readiness and sustainability.

This paper was written as part of my M.A. program at American University and was completed in 1988

PDA Briefing Report #19, 11 September 2006. To sustain today’s wars, the Bush administration has adopted a policy of “risk displacement”. High optempo is maintained in Iraq and Afghanistan at the expense of readiness elsewhere and for other missions. The policy also saps future readiness. It may take the US military half a decade to recover.

PDA Briefing Memo #43, 05 Feb 2008. The United States is entering a period of policy transition, but there is a dearth of new thinking regarding security policy. The debate remains paralyzed by 9/11 and mesmerized by military primacy. Progress depends on rethinking the role of military force in US global policy.