Category: Warfare

SMART Goals… Maybe There’s A Different Tool For Government

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Humor, Politics, WarfareLeave a comment

Any of you who work in a corporate environment have probably at some point encountered the S.M.A.R.T. guidelines for decision making.  The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.  You can see why I think perhaps  the government uses something different.

Some of the most outstanding examples of this are the “Wars” the declare.  The “War on Poverty”, “War on Drugs”, and my personal favorite, the “War on Terror”.  I believe the decisions to engage in these “Wars” are based on what I like to refer to as the V.A.P.I.D. guidelines.  This stands for Vague, Abstract, Pointless, Imaginary, and Damaging.  I’ll use the “War on Terror” to illustrate my point.

For starters, declaring a “War” on “Terror” seems a tad ill defined.  Not only is it not Specific, it’s actually quite Vague. It’s going to be hard to Measure results because “Terror” isn’t a person, place or thing, it’s an Abstract concept.  Victory could be difficult to Achieve in a “War” against a concept and with “Terror” still going strong after ten years, it seems kind of Pointless.  It doesn’t seem very Realistic to try to eliminate “Terror” from the world, although that Imaginary place would probably be very nice to live in.  With no clear objectives, it makes it hard to create a definitive Ttimeline.  That same blurriness of purpose also distracts from actual issues which is incredibly Damaging.  If you work it through, you will see it’s also true for the other “Wars” I mentioned.

This inability to set appropriate goals is dangerous and unacceptable.  These are the people whom we have charged and entrusted to act on our behalf and in our best interest.  Clearly, they have not.  Clearly this needs to change.  Let’s take a look for a moment at what things might have looked like if they had instead used the S.M.A.R.T. guidelines.

Instead of a “War on Terror”, we might have had a mission statement that looked more like this.  “We will  track down and bring to trial those responsible for the attacks against the United States on Sept. 11th 2001.”  Now let’s break it down.  Is it Specific?  Yes, it clearly states what we want to do and who we want to do it to.  Is it Measurable?  Yes, by having a clear goal, we can see how close we are to reaching it.  Is it Achievable? Yes, tracking down a relatively small group of people is very doable.  Is it Realistic?  Yes, much more so than taking on “Terror”.  Is it Time-bound?  Ye,s when the last trial finishes, the job is complete.  See how much better that is?

So, next time you get get dragged to one of those corporate training sessions, bring along your MP/Congress Person/Senator/Representative.  Who knows, they might actually learn something.  If nothing else, your boss will realize how lucky they are to have you on staff instead of a politician.  That could be just what you need to hold onto your job.

Cheers, Winston

Funding Fighters, Sort Of

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Politics, Society, WarfareLeave a comment

I love Maclean’s. Their app gives me convenient access to so much blog fodder I get inspired every time I open it.

Q: When is a mercenary not a mercenary?
A: When the US government says he’s part of a “private security firm” hired to train African Union troops serving in Somalia.

Bancroft Global Development is apparently one of a “growing number of such firms operating in the drought-ravaged and war-torn country”. Bancroft it seems “has been indirectly funded” to turn “bush troops onto urban fighters”. Since the AU troops were able to push Shabab forces out of Mogadishu (the capital) last weekend, it looks like money well spent.

I may have some issues with this clever way of getting boots on the ground without making it obvious to the American people.

The US government is well aware that the voters might not want to get involved with another expensive foreign adventure. Instead, they’ll send in rent-a-war. You may remember these guys from Iraq. Back the they were called PMCs. That stands for Private Military Contractors. I guess that sounded too Bush era, so now they’re “Development Firms”. The only thing these firms are looking to develop are huge paydays. No matter what the latest cute euphemism may be, they are pay-to-play mercenaries.

I don’t have anything against mercenaries or the people who hire them. Every major conflict that I can think of going back at least to the crusades has involved them. The problem is more one of motivation. Not for the “Development” people, they’re easy. I’m talking about the people paying them. You know, the US government. How does it benefit America to spend large sums of cash it doesn’t have, sending rent-a-war to Somalia? Did anyone say, “Fighting The Spread Of Radical Islamist Terror!”? Don’t be embarrassed, it just means you’ve been watching the news.

Officially, Al Shabaab is lumped in with all the other “Radical Islamist”s. This is like assuming the Pope is the same as convicted pedophile and polygamous, sect leader Warren Jeffs because they both talk about Jesus. What this group is doing in Somalia is an atrocity beyond my power to imagine. I just don’t think they’re a big threat to the US.

Maybe the American government just wants to ease the humanitarian crisis facing the country. After all, they’ve got a long and distinguished track record of using their wealth and might to selflessly fight oppression the world over. There was that time they went to North Korea to stop the government from starving the people. Oops, that wasn’t it. How about when they went into Rwanda to prevent genocide? Umm, not so much. The list goes on.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they owe the world anything. I’m just saying that when the US gets involved in an ongoing conflict, their primary goal is not usually to make life better for anyone but themselves. Nor should it be if they don’t feel the need to do so. The likelihood of benevolent motive gets smaller in light of the lack of publicity. If this was a feel-good humanitarian gig, there would have been press conferences and photo-ops galore. I read a lot of news, and so far, so quiet They aren’t keeping it a secret, just low profile.

That’s why this keeps coming back to motive for me. I’m certain there are any number of conspiracy theorists slaving away to answer this for me. I appreciate their efforts, but I doubt it’s going to be anything that interesting. I fully expect it to be the usual mundane one. Profit. I’m just curious to see what they expect that profit to be.

I’d like to finish with a little bit of humor. Given the cost of a rent-a-war, the sub-title of the article “Company’s Help Fight Islamists” proves Maclean’s.ca either has an awesome sense of humor or absolutely no sense of irony. You decide.

Cheers, Winston

Don’t Shoot The Doctor!

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Politics, Society, WarfareLeave a comment

On CNN’s website, I just read two current articles about attacks on medical personnel in conflict zones around the world. I understand their outrage. After all, until quite recently, it was understood by all involved forces that medical facilities and personnel were off limits. It was an entry level piece of every professional soldier’s training. Therein lies the problem. Most of the conflicts listed: Somalia, Sri Lanka, Columbia and Afghanistan to name a few, are being fought by amateurs.

The only “training” received by many of the combatants consists of basic weapons use and a lot of propaganda. They don’t possess our cultural history of regarding all things medical as neutral. By their understanding, everyone not them is either an enemy or a victim. Preferably both.

The International Red Cross has condemned the attacks. “Violence against medical facilities and personnel must end. It’s a matter of life and death.”, said Yves Daccord, Director General of the organization. He then explains that huge numbers of additional people are dying because these attacks prevent timely medical assistance.

A different article spoke of the need for communities to protect medical personnel. It advised using “unified community pressure to hold the perpetrators accountable”. Apparently this is intended to prevent further attacks on health workers. It’s based on traditional, community based tools for limiting internal strife. While I think this is a noble concept, I don’t think it will work any better than the head of the Red Cross telling them to stop.

Both approaches assume the perpetrators actually care what anyone thinks. If Al Shabab will block humanitarian aid shipments while thousands starve to death, do you really think they’re concerned about “community pressure”. The same is true everywhere. Those fighting to force society to conform to their views are probably used to being unpopular. I’m guessing no-one in these conflicts got the press kits announcing the unhappiness of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization and all the others. If they did, I can probably guess their reaction, and so can anyone else.

“If we attack medical facilities and personnel, we cause a lot of other people to die because they don’t receive care in a timely manner. That’s awesome!”. It’s like getting bonus value for every bullet and bomb they expend.

The outrage over these attacks, while genuine, is irrelevant for two reasons.

First, moral outrage requires a shared set of moral values. Otherwise it’s like a child on a playground telling the bully it’s not fair when he beats him up. The bully knows it’s not fair, that’s why he does it. If no one stops him, he’s going to keep doing it.

The second problem is the message. “Don’t Shoot The Doctor” is a noble sentiment. It also fails to address the real problem. When thousands are being murdered, starved, raped and brutalized; it seems naive to think that medical personnel, would be exempt.

All the condemnation and outrage aren’t going to make a difference. Anyone reading CNN, or seeing coverage of the press conference on the evening news, already knows it’s wrong to kill doctors. They also know it’s just as wrong to kill anyone else. This blog has as much chance of stopping the killing as they do, and with a much smaller budget.

If no one else is listening, maybe it’s time to change the message. If you want to claim the moral high ground you need to be a bit more inclusive. None of those who need to hear will listen, but I like this one better.

“DON’T SHOOT ANYONE!”

Cheers, Winston