I’m all for this, but as this technology proliferates we’ll encounter a new phenomenon: needing to reboot one’s house.

“Sorry ma’am, I couldn’t do my homework because my house’s firmware upgrade failed and crashed the system.”

Not the SECDEF doing the firing this time. Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the Pacific Fleet, relieved the captain and executive officer of the USS George Washington due to substandard performance leading to the $70 million fire on their ship in May.

I hadn’t realized how many commanders the Navy had relieved this year.

Wednesday’s actions marked the sixth time this year the Navy has relieved one of its commanding officers and the fourth time the discipline involved command at sea. Earlier this week, the skipper of the Pearl Harbor, an amphibious transport, was fired after the ship ran aground in the Persian Gulf.

Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, July 31, 2008, “Two Top Navy Officers Fired Over $70 Million Carrier Blaze,” By Dale Eisman.

Another water analogy related to irregular warfare - but this time in our favor:

“Al-Qaeda losing the Sunni population is like a human being losing the ability to drink water,” [Abu Taha al-Lihebi, an al-Qaeda in Iraq leader in eastern Anbar province who recently split from the group, said.] “Because of Masri’s weak personality and leadership, al-Qaeda in Iraq was weakened and split and lost the Sunni population.”

[1] Washington Post, July 31, 2008, Pg. 1, “Al-Qaeda In Iraq Leader May Be In Afghanistan,” By Amit R. Paley

Dave Axe reports on the continuing “medical diplomacy” missions to South American countries. The core platforms on these missions missions are amphibious or hospital ships [1] [2] [3].

That Venezuelan President Chavez feels threatened by these humanitarian outreach missions is sign that this SysAdmin approach works.

It’s all about keeping our actions in line with our values and rhetoric, and letting those actions largely speak for themselves.

Previous posts on this topic:
[1] A pure SysAdmin mission
[2] Not, decidedly, a 20th Century arms race
[3] The strategic influence of amphibious assault ships

The squabbling over internet censorship during the Olympics is just the latest episode in China’s epic journey towards new rules. Human rights groups say China needs to open up faster; the Chinese government retorts that it has already given foreign press unprecedented freedom.

One thing to remember in all of this: China is cautious because, once relaxed, these sorts of restrictions are very difficult to reinstate.

While warning against a surge in troops to Afghanistan, Thomas Friedman offers one of the more eloquent statements I’ve read of the crux of the problem in the Middle Eastern Gap:

The truth is that Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Pakistan are just different fronts in the same war. The core problem is that the Arab-Muslim world in too many places has been failing at modernity, and were it not for $120-a-barrel oil, that failure would be even more obvious. For far too long, this region has been dominated by authoritarian politics, massive youth unemployment, outdated education systems, a religious establishment resisting reform and now a death cult that glorifies young people committing suicide, often against other Muslims.

The humiliation this cocktail produces is the real source of terrorism. Saddam exploited it. Al Qaeda exploits it. Pakistan’s intelligence services exploit it. Hezbollah exploits it. The Taliban exploit it.

Friedman argues that since more American troops can’t build better politics in Aghanistan, we shouldn’t be sending them. I say, once you recognize that dealing with modernity is the problem, the proper role of the military tool becomes clear.

A new RAND study argues that the rhetoric in the fight against al Qaeda needs to be deescalated.

A key part of this strategy should include ending the notion of a war on terrorism and replacing it with such concepts as counterterrorism, which most governments with significant terrorist threats use. The British government, among others, has already taken this step and abjured the phrase ‘war on terror.’ The phrase raises public expectations—both in the United States and elsewhere—that there is a battlefield solution to the problem of terrorism. It also encourages others abroad to respond by conducting a jihad (or holy war) against the United States and elevates them to the status of holy warriors. Terrorists should be perceived and described as criminals, not holy warriors.

This is not the first time these arguments have been made, but the report states them well.

An Al Qaeda commander who escaped from a US prison in Afghanistan has posted a Web video urging Muslims to kill the Saudi king for leading an interfaith conference. Abu Yahia al-Libi, who escaped from Bagram prison in 2005, said “bringing religions together . . . means renouncing Islam.” [1]

It is about arranging the board so that contradictions become self-evident. We don’t need to say anything. Move the American scapegoat out of the way, and don’t try to manage Islam’s reformation.

If al Qaeda wants to condemn every collaboration between religions, then all America needs to do is stay out of their way and let the militants run themselves off that cliff.

Another example of why the anti-al Qaeda fight is too small a foundation for a grand strategy.

[1] Boston Globe, July 29, 2008, “Qaeda Escapee Calls For Death Of Saudi,” Associated Press.

The latest Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference focused on building SysAdmin capability.

Foreign ministers of 26 countries and the European Union called for civilian-military coordination in disaster relief — a need that became evident during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Myanmar cyclone in May and the China earthquake the same month. They also disclosed plans for a joint relief exercise in 2009.[1]

[1] Wall Street Journal, July 25, 2008, Pg. 9, “Asian-Pacific Nations To Pool Assets,” by Associated Press

According to Sen. Collins, the Navy has decided to stop the Zumwalt destroyer production run at 2. [1] In a move similar to the limiting of the Seawolf class to 3 boats, the Navy has judged the DDG-1000 to simply be too expensive.

[1] Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2008, Pg. 4, “Navy Plans To Scrap New Destroyer Model,” By Associated Press.