F.B.I. Charges Arms Sellers With Foreign Bribes – New York Times

The New York Times today has an enlightening article entitled: "F.B.I. Charges Arms Sellers with Foreign Bribes." 

The article encompasses a two year sting operation targeting corporate executives within the arms and munitions trade. F.B.I. agents posing undercover to determine if certain corporate execs would in fact take a bribe on a particular contract to supply armaments to the presidential guard of an African nation. 

As you may have surmised, there were numerous arrests made and it is an article worthy of your time. There is the deep concern at least in this editor's mind that this type of behavior which obviously exists has the potential to cause severe detrimental affects with a nefarious outcome. These corporate executives stem from smaller corporations then the heavy hitters that we often hear of in the news however, their actions knowingly or unknowingly could be serving enemy factions which in turn could potentially use these weapons against americans overseas...To read more go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/21/business/21sting.html?th&emc=th 

  

AFGHANISTAN: REMEMBERING THE FALLEN

We are now eight years into this war in Afghanistan, a land and a  people that are no stranger's to War. Beginning with Alexander the Great around 330 B.C. through the present front with the Taliban, Afghanistan is a country that has a history deep in conflict. 


For past and present armies and military factions, it is interesting to note that much of Afghanistan is covered by high mountains and steep passes, a great deal of the time covered in snow. This is certainly one of the places in the world where the military feels daunted and traditional strategies simply will not work. 


The use of drones, now being employed to combat small factions is potentially a smart addition to our quite classical thinking. Perhaps in this way, we may reduce the death toll even a little. We have now lost over 1,000 service men and women in Afghanistan alone and though not near as high as the losses in Iraq, still those fallen soldiers deserve to be recognized for their valor and service not just to this country, but to all countries, for their war is a global war. 

CONFUSING TIMES

On December 19th, 2009, President Obama authorized a military budget plan that set a record. 663 Billion dollars would be allocated to defend America. Shortly after this so called "strategic" declaration, al-Qaeda attempted an attack on an American Airliner carrying 278 passengers. Following this, seven CIA agents and a Jordanian were killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

Even with our enormous defense budget, we still have a serious security problem globally. Adding to our security dilemma is the fact that al-Qaeda is steadily advancing their efforts and strength in select countries such as Pakistan and Yemen as well as across North Africa in places like Somalia where we essentially have no presence to thwart the growing numbers of al-Qaeda.

Perhaps the powers that be should carefully think about the allocation of this proposed defense budget in such a way that it does not mirror any past conventional strategies that many would consider antiquated, but plan for this new asymmetrical enemy we are at war with. An ememy that is willing to go to any length to accomplish their goals.

Maybe we should use technology and advanced weaponry for what they are worth, but not forget to include the human factor. That is the HUMINT (Human Intelligence) element. This is one of the key factors that made a country like Russia a force to be reckon with back in the Cold War days. Admittedly this alone will not win this war on terror, but it may better strategically assist our Intelligence Agencies in their global efforts to thwart attacks.