Clarke M.'s Comments
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Dec 20, 2009 | recommended: 10 | comments: 39
Clarke M. Dec 23, 2009, 7:39am EST
"This is General McChrystal's play. They have to show they can reverse momentum. He has to show he is making headway."
Right. 56,000 military contractors and 30,000 troops added to 68,000 troops and 104,000 military contractors (DOD employs 70% military contractors.) The Taliban get most of their funding from us and control most of the country. That won't change by our
invading Hellmand and we don't know which Taliban are Pakistani supported and which are local Afghans.
Dec 13, 2009 | comments: 7
Clarke M. Dec 14, 2009, 10:39pm EST
No, bin Laden was a "guest" for the majority of the tribes in Afghanistan, Taliban and Pashtun. They don't want him in Afghanistan. The US was stupid to invade Afghanistan.
The Taliban group that invaded Afghanistan were trained by the US and Saudiis in Pakistan in the 80's . Most Taliban and Pashtun in Afghanistan don't support them and won't if we stop killing Afghanis and work with the government , which has a civil war to resolve through working with all the tribes. The US,UK and NATO haven't a clue how to deal with the Afghans and they have made things worse and are "occupiers." There are more foreign contractors than foreign military - over 100,000 - and they have not been beneficial to Afghanistan.
Dec 4, 2009 | comments: 7
Clarke M. Dec 13, 2009, 12:42pm EST


McChyrstal has misread Afghanistan. A civil war is not an insurgency. The less foreign troops the better; the less military action, the sooner the different factions will come to terms. The tribes in Afghanistan are supported by tribes in Pakistan because of foreign occupation. The government can secure the major towns, but the rural areas are tribal and cannot be governed by force. When President Karzai told Gates in Kabul it would take several decades to develop general control he was being reasonable. But Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, not least, water which will become very valuable.

China, Russia, India and other neighbors want a stable Afghanistan in their own interest and can help.
Dec 12, 2009 | comments: 21
Clarke M. Dec 13, 2009, 12:36pm EST
Actually, Gorbachev,newly chosen, tried a surge first, which didn't work.

McChyrstal has misread Afghanistan. A civil war is not an insurgency. The less foreign troops the better; the less military action, the sooner the different factions will come to terms. The tribes in Afghanistan are supported by tribes in Pakistan because of foreign occupation. The government can secure the major towns, but the rural areas are tribal and cannot be governed by force. When President Karzai told Gates in Kabul it would take several decades to develop general control he was being reasonable. But Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, not least, water which will become very valuable.

China, Russia, India and other neighbors want a stable Afghanistan in their own interest and can help.
Dec 13, 2009 | comments: 7
Clarke M. Dec 13, 2009, 12:17pm EST
McChyrstal has misread Afghanistan. A civil war is not an insurgency. The less foreign troops the better; the less military action, the sooner the different factions will come to terms. The tribes in Afghanistan are supported by tribes in Pakistan because of foreign occupation. The government can secure the major towns, but the rural areas are tribal and cannot be governed by force. When President Karzai told Gates in Kabul it would take several decades to develop general control he was being reasonable. But Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, not least, water which will become very valuable.
Nov 12, 2009 | comments: 2
Clarke M. Dec 3, 2009, 10:08am EST
Brown's motive was to keep Britain in the game and Pakistan is considered important to Britain's interests.
Sep 25, 2009 | comments: 119
Clarke M. Sep 30, 2009, 6:56pm EDT
Rosa ,
Your news of Carolion is appreciated. I have enjoyed Carolion's art and articles and many kind exchanges. May God grace her with the guidance and strength to endure with tranquillity.
Sep 4, 2009 | comments: 15
Clarke M. Sep 4, 2009, 3:29am EDT
Perhaps Windows is not recognizing the USB ports? You might reinstall or look for hints on the Internet re this problem.

Firefox is a better browser than IE. Chrome and Opera are good ,too. It's easy to try all.
Might solve the crash thing.
Sep 4, 2009 | comments: 50
Clarke M. Sep 4, 2009, 3:19am EDT
The Pastor is not very 'saved'. All religions have some like him. You were very understanding. There are many churches that don't care for such talk from their ministers.
Aug 30, 2009 | comments: 91
Clarke M. Aug 31, 2009, 10:08am EDT
Iran has not threatened Israel and the world knows it. If Israel is so mad as to attack Iran, it will force China and Russia to prevent the US from supporting Israel.
Aug 27, 2009 | comments: 3
Clarke M. Aug 27, 2009, 9:03am EDT
Montazeri was the designated successor to Khomeini until they split in 1989 over the rights of the people.
Aug 18, 2009 | comments: 3
Clarke M. Aug 25, 2009, 3:01pm EDT
UK: A third of nurses will refuse to have the swine flu jab

Daniel Martin
Mail Online
2009-08-18


Up to a third of nurses will say no to the swine flu jab because of concerns over its safety, a poll has found. NHS workers are first in line for the vaccine, but a survey of 1,500 nurses found many will reject it.

Last night a Government scientist condemned the results saying nurses who do not have the jab are putting patients at risk. Nevertheless the poll, by Nursing Times magazine, will raise questions over the Government's planned mass vaccination programme.

Of 1,500 readers, 30 per cent would not say yes to the vaccine, while 33 per cent said maybe. Just 37 per cent said they would definitely have the jab.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1207270/A-nurses-refuse-swine-flu-jab.html
Aug 17, 2009 | comments: 2
Clarke M. Aug 18, 2009, 11:33pm EDT


Dick,
I would like to know the different "parties" he included in his "computer model that predicts the outcome of any situation in which parties can be described as trying to persuade or coerce one another" and how he weighted those he did. He reads the media and interviews many people. He acknowledges "it's garbage in, garbage out." He is very good at what he does, but he operates on the principle that people basically serve their interests and make rational choices. I don't think it always works that way. He predicted Clinton's Health Care reform legislation would pass in 1993. It didn't. From this interesting Times article , he seems to have compiled much quality data on the players related to Iran. But China, Russia,Europe,India, Israel, the US, the Arabs et al are all involved as players with different agendas and may act in unexpected ways. Has he figured in many possible scenarios, which some may play in what some think is in their interest, but has unintended consequences? "Game theory" may be a useful tool, but global strategy is a difficult area.

A different "computer" approach seeks to predict events by accessing the global human subconscious. The web bot software of http://www.halfpasthuman.com/ aims to provide archetype descriptors of future events. (This is along the line of the Princeton global consciousness project, which didn't predict or use the Internet, but simply records global subconscious responses to events on computers in real time and analyzes the data .) The HPH method specifically captures changes in various language patterns within Internet forums. The aggregated data is then processed with software to determine various keywords, which they interpret in a predictive fashion. HPH has had significant hits for more than a decade. They sometimes got significant dates spot on, but were off the mark in predicting what actually happened. They sometimes got meaningful "keywords" by using the software but failed to interpret what the "keywords" turned out to mean. Kind of like dream interpretation ?
The HPH software uses the global Internet and includes various languages. The Slavic, notably Russian, provide many of the most "mystical" keywords to ponder. The prime range for "predicting" is about 18 months . Things tend to get "fuzzy" beyond that. I don't know much about how the software was developed, but the basic idea that the frequency of occurence of words contains precognitive material seems reasonable. The game theory approach is less open to the "irrational" and the not-yet-seen. Neither HPH nor Bueno are dealing with deep changes as I see it. These are "interesting times" and there are crises, and things are likely to become more chaotic on a bigger scale.

Everything changes, and , as Margaret Mead used to say, "Only small groups change things," meaning ideas and values. The history of the Quakers in America is a good example. This small group were instrumental in bringing about abolition,public education,penal reform, women's suffrage, civil rights, nuclear freeze and environmental protection. In the whole of our history there have been less than a million Quakers;today there are about 300,000 in a nation of over 300 million. Their efforts were based on non-violence, Taoist, in a way. They didn't demand "results." Or recognition. http://www.stephanaschwartz.com/PDF/...20Doctrine.pdf
Jul 30, 2009 | comments: 13
Clarke M. Aug 4, 2009, 4:01am EDT
Bert,
The military strategy in the Pentagon is based on projections of "fighting future wars" and using the latest and greatest technology - read their analyses. They view the world this way. Elected officials have temporary influence and take orders.
See :
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977761867
Aug 2, 2009 | comments: 10
Clarke M. Aug 2, 2009, 6:48pm EDT
"President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan telephoned Ahmadinejad to congratulate him on his victory, saying that relations between Afghanistan and its Western neighbour had 'expanded' during Ahmadinejad's time in office and that he hoped ties would continue to strengthen....Iran's line on the Taliban remains as uncompromising as ever. Only last October, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned the West not to hold talks with the Taliban: 'We advise them to think about the consequences of the talks... which are taking place in the region and in Europe and avoid being bitten in the same spot twice.' "

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/50581,news,iran-neocon-ally-war-al-qaeda-and-the-taliban-obama-gordon-brown-afghanistan-israel
Jul 30, 2009 | comments: 13
Clarke M. Aug 2, 2009, 1:29pm EDT
Bert,
There are those in the US government who might approve of Israel's attack. Netanyahu , after all, gets 90 percent of his political funding from the US and was a CIA agent . Ariel Sharon was a lobbyist for US arms manufacturers and had many contacts with the Pentagon. (As military advisor to South Africa, Sharon facilitated US arms sales.)
Jul 30, 2009 | comments: 13
in reply to a comment by Clarke M.
Clarke M. Jul 31, 2009, 6:48pm EDT
Bert,
In 1967 there were more Jews leaving Israel than arriving and this is happening now. The incompetence and corruption in Israel is extreme.
Jul 30, 2009 | comments: 13
Clarke M. Jul 31, 2009, 6:08am EDT
Bert,
I don't wish to be right or clever. That isn't why I post about this . I was present in the 1967 War and have lived in or visited most countries in the region and have taught in the US and advised our government. Never underestimate the delusions and stupidity of governments.


http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/51502,news,obama-faces-mutiny-led-by-clinton-and-biden-us-foreign-policy-israel-hawk-bush?DCMP=NLC-daily
Jul 30, 2009 | comments: 13
Clarke M. Jul 30, 2009, 10:07pm EDT
Bert,
Israel may miscalculate Iran's response and think the US will back them, which Russia and China may prevent.
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Clarke M.
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