Billmon:

But what about when the terrorists are wearing the uniform?

Legal Conundrum

Billmon:

A lot is riding on this election, and even if the Dems are dopes, I’d hate to see anything spoil their chances. Sometimes discretion really is the better part of valor, and while the New York Times certainly has a constitutional right to help Karl Rove fire up his base, and I’ll defend that right to the death (gritting my teeth all the way) I’d much rather they didn’t use it.

The Times They Are a Changing

Billmon:

In my opinion, the war against Al Qaeda (and the various branches of Islamic terrorism that have grown from the original trunk) is a war, and a highly deadly one, even if doesn’t fit well in a legal framework based on conflicts between sovereign states — or at least organized armed groups controlling defined pieces of real estate. And that conflict fully justifies the application of presidential war powers in certain areas, including the detention and treatment of enemy combatants, the creation of military commissions to try them, etc.

The War of Laws

William Lind reviews his collegue Chet Richard’s book "Neither Shall the Sword".

The book and the review is about fourth generation warfare (4GW). A concept that envisions that third generation wars, Blitzkrieg like big army operations, are essentially a thing of the past and present and future warfare is a fight about the legitimacy of the central state between the central states and non-state actors. John Robb’s Global Guerrillas is one of the most far out sites on this concept.

I agree that this thought-frame does have some value and I think nation states today are weekening themselfs far too much by conceding more and more power to privat actors, i.e. corporations and belief-groups.

But aside from that concept, there is a typical exceptionalist argument made by Richard exposing the blind spot of U.S. 4GW thinkers.

Cont. reading: Neocon Thinking In 4GW Cloth

Billmon:

In any case, here’s as crisp a military salute as this civilian can manage to Lt. Commander Swift, Col. Sullivan and the other military dissidents still fighting the good fights ..

Men of Honor