BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war theme.

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Chad
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by Chad »

Ego wrote:Best case for drones I've heard yet.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wor ... ver-heard/
The article makes a valid point, but we use this style of stand off attack too much. We appear to do this because "we have to do something." The author notes this later in the article, but fails to note that we don't have to bomb everything or nothing. We can create a higher bar for stand off strikes, with the idea that we would create less anti-American feeling and still get the targets that actually matter.
When you look at the guys who are executing this, they say, "Well I can't do any of these other things, but I have to get rid of bin Laden and his support network, so I'm gonna go with this." And it was super effective.


Yes, there are new threats coming up, but Bin Laden and that support network are long gone. I would bet the current connections are so loose that they would hardly qualify as a network.

The author also notes that not all strikes are drone strikes. Drones seem to have developed a "magical" tech quality when they are rather simple and are only really effective against 3rd world or rag-tag military groups.

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Ego
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by Ego »

There has been a lot of talk about how we are minting new terrorists with each drone strike. Some also mention the psychological toll on the operators. Very few discuss how drones have become godlike omnipotent eyes in the sky to those being watched. The psychological power this has over those who are inherently superstitious is enormous.

Despicable? Perhaps. But it works.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-raj- ... 88443.html
The paper published in the academic journal, Theoretical Criminology, provides evidence for a new military program dubbed the Gorgon Stare- named after the Greek mythological figure whose gaze could turn victims into stone. The aim is to dramatically increase the video feed capable of being transmitted and recorded by standard drones.

A clandestine aspect of drone warfare is the psychological impact on a population of being constantly spied upon, to the extent of preventing them leading normal lives and, oddly enough for a supposed 'anti-terror' weapon...

anomie
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by anomie »

Ego wrote: Very few discuss how drones have become godlike omnipotent eyes in the sky to those being watched. The psychological power this has over those who are inherently superstitious is enormous.
.....
We should all get used to looking overhead for the 'omnipotent eye'. As the popular sentiment for international war wanes, war industry will convince powers that be of the 'need' for drone patrol inside the us perimeter (immigrants? terrorists? immigrant terrorists?)... (Think NSA eavesdropping on all internet traffic as evidence of that dissolution of privacy ; guess we all should be watching for this 'omnipotent eye' as it is already here...)

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jennypenny
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

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anomie wrote: We should all get used to looking overhead for the 'omnipotent eye'.
I am...through my scope. ;)

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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by jacob »

Obviously, when I start my permaculture garden [one of these days], the shrubbery will be planted in a pattern which when read from above will read: THESE AREN'T THE DROIDS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.

When we lived in the RV, we would cover it with a tarp which also happened to be a recycled billboard on a seasonal basis. We would be advertising to the skies for AT&T and some cheap credit card company respectively. It was visible to google satellite.

Dragline
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by Dragline »

Vonnegut would be proud -- along with Tyler Durden:

http://www.iconophilia.net/art-where-yo ... expect-it/

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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

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jennypenny
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by jennypenny »

Dragline wrote:More on teleology and empire:

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/20 ... style.html
LOL ... I thought of you when I read that this morning.

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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by Dragline »

My idiosyncratic worldview must be catching . . . ;-)

You know, its funny, I found ERE through a citation in one of CHS's books.

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jennypenny
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by jennypenny »

I know I'm the resident paranoid prepper on the forum, but did this column disturb anyone else?
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 3828260732

It made me think about this book. How long before publishers get told what kinds of books they should be publishing?

From the column...

Last May the FCC proposed an initiative to thrust the federal government into newsrooms across the country. With its "Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs," or CIN, the agency plans to send researchers to grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run. A field test in Columbia, S.C., is scheduled to begin this spring.

The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about "the process by which stories are selected" and how often stations cover "critical information needs," along with "perceived station bias" and "perceived responsiveness to underserved populations."

How does the FCC plan to dig up all that information? First, the agency selected eight categories of "critical information" such as the "environment" and "economic opportunities," that it believes local newscasters should cover. It plans to ask station managers, news directors, journalists, television anchors and on-air reporters to tell the government about their "news philosophy" and how the station ensures that the community gets critical information.

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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by jacob »

@jennypenny - This is just political correctness taken to the next level. Since it's already being mandated how we can speak, it only makes sense to take it to the next level of mandating what we can speak about.

In other news, some grant money just got spent, several researchers got hired, and someone got to pad their resume under the "Initiatives" headline. By the way, you can't publish that last bit.

Chad
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war them

Post by Chad »

@jenny
Definitely a concern. If all they are doing is determining "how they decide which stories to run" that would be fine, but overreach seems to creep in to these types of efforts.

"In other news, some grant money just got spent, several researchers got hired, and someone got to pad their resume under the "Initiatives" headline. By the way, you can't publish that last bit."

Hopefully, this is how it ends up.

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Ego
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war theme.

Post by Ego »

Fascinating article....

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n10/seymour-m- ... -bin-laden
It’s been four years since a group of US Navy Seals assassinated Osama bin Laden in a night raid on a high-walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The killing was the high point of Obama’s first term, and a major factor in his re-election. The White House still maintains that the mission was an all-American affair, and that the senior generals of Pakistan’s army and Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) were not told of the raid in advance. This is false, as are many other elements of the Obama administration’s account.

Chad
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war theme.

Post by Chad »

There are some articles suggesting Hersh had very weak sources. If the Vox article is accurate, it draws some of what Hersh says into question.

http://www.vox.com/2015/5/11/8584473/se ... -bin-laden

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jennypenny
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war theme.

Post by jennypenny »

Word is both versions (Hersh and official) are inaccurate. In all of the stories related to me, the one common thread is that the raid was staged.


Chad
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war theme.

Post by Chad »

@Ego
Interesting video. Though, I'm not sure the video producer's idea that this is new is correct or that the "they" in the video has as much control over the message as suggested.

A good way to combat this and other societal issues is to focus education on critical thinking, as we have talked about numerous times. And, still continue to talk about:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6390

Taking this back to the idea that Pakistan had the US stage everything or, at the very least, make it appear that Pakistan didn't help the US penetrate Pakistani airspace, it is highly unlikely the US hasn't penetrated Pakistani intelligence and the military. Also, it's likely these sources are rather high. So, then the question is, "Was the help the US received official or not?" Either way, the US has probably received internal Pakistani help. Though, that help may not have actually known what they were helping (this is where I would lay my money if this was Vegas).

Another point to make is that the US can't even stop smugglers from crossing the US/Mexican border, so it's not a stretch to assume Pakistan couldn't stop the US. Or, if they found out as the operation unfolded they refused to do anything about it out of fear of reprisal and losing the golden goose. We don't give foreign aid out of the goodness of our hearts, at least most of the time.

However this actually plays out, the video is interesting and needs attention going forward by our society.

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jennypenny
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war theme.

Post by jennypenny »

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pakis ... es-n357306

edit: Just saw this on ZH. I really should check there before I post here. :P

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jennypenny
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war theme.

Post by jennypenny »

Tequila, Painted Pearls, and Prada: How the CIA Helped Produce 'Zero Dark Thirty'

"At the time, Boal was working on a movie called Tora Bora, about the CIA's failure to capture Osama bin Laden in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. ... Instead, he stopped writing the script for Tora Bora and began writing a different screenplay about what one lawmaker called "the most classified mission in history" — the killing of bin Laden. That movie, which Boal would work on with director Kathryn Bigelow, would become the 2012 Oscar-winning film Zero Dark Thirty. And the CIA would play a huge role in the creation of the script."

The cynic in me can't help but think the CIA 'helped' them so they could control the story that was told.

Chad
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Re: BC #4: Dirty Wars - No, it's not porn with a war theme.

Post by Chad »

Maybe we should hope the CIA did do it to control the story. If they didn't. They aren't very smart.

I would also point out that it's kind of dumb to paint Tora Bora as a CIA failure. This is much more a failure based on the strategic decision to start a useless war in Iraq. If even 60-70% of the military and intel assets were moved from that war to Afghanistan, it's unlikely bin Laden escapes at Tora Bora or so many fighters get to infect Pakistan...who actually has WMDs.

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