Constant's pations

If it's more than 30 minutes old, it's not news. It's a blog.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Ground Combat Operations in America

Please prepare for the possibility of ground combat operations in the Continental United States.

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Ground Combat In America

There are insufficient resources and time for US forces to sustain combat operations in the United States either in an offensive or defensive posture.

Should US forces engage in ground combat operations, the planning and execute are likely to be reckless, warranting international observers.

The Geneva Conventions may or may not be applicable; however, the experience of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and Iraq suggest the breaches will be grave.

It remains to be seen who can provide an alternative form of government or organizing mechanism.

Free citizens are increasingly viewing their battle against tyranny as being just. JTTF does not view the threat as serious, and the National Command Authority does not have a good communication or liaison system with local groups; nor are JTTF personnel aware of non-official lines of communication which might assist.

It remains to be understood:

___ Which side will the combatant commanders side; and to what extent combatant commanders will or will not embrace their oath despite the limited resources and reserves.

___ How effective will civilian-government liaison be; to what extent can US government expect to adequately place, and properly mange CIA personnel in deep cover inside the United States as ground combat expands

___ To what extent American civilians will view the viable alternatives as credible options warranting support or silence.

Risk Areas

1. Resources

Resources are not adequate. The United States is physically too large to effectively suppress a domestic guerrilla war. The lead time to mobilize the needed resources is insufficient.

2. Leadership

America’s civilian and law enforcement leadership is incompetent, reckless, not all that bright and insecure. They are formidable in terms of force and mass, but not able to intellectually think through complex problems. Established policies cannot be credibly expected to be enforced or adequately managed.

3. Solutions

America’s civilian and military leadership have poor liaison with law enforcement and local level forces. They have adequate information, but are not able to credibly translate that information into effective risk mitigations. The military, law enforcement, and specialized local units have demonstrated failures in using existing options to mitigate, solve, or contain problems. They are poorly managed and there is no credible unity of Command.

4. Intelligence

Information is available, but the unit level personnel do not understand the significance of information; and management knows of problems but does not have effective plans in place. There are inadequate internal controls, integrity testing, and no-notice visits. These problems have been glossed over, and training programs are not credibly linked with real problems or personnel deficiencies.

5. Catalyst

There is no basis to speculate that something might happen if the US government has failed. US combat forces have failed; the Taliban have, since 2001, been emboldened. The US government cannot credibly defeat a US domestic uprising.

Judgments

NSC has not adequately planned for a credible, lawful challenge to the US government. The training, oversight, and liaison mechanisms are not well managed and communication and training are poor.

American civilians are emboldened by the US government military losses around the globe. Military leaders are likely to first accept a pre-textual basis for domestic intervention, but their loyalty to the President over the Constitution cannot be assured. As combat operations expand, defections will spread, and the President cannot be assured of universal support within the military, nor can he be sure that some ground commanders would not correctly defend both the Constitution and Congress over the President’s illegal domestic activities.

The States, although they are aware of the resource limitations, are not sufficiently organized to credibly oppose the President; but with sufficient leadership they will be able to effectively wage war, using national guard troops, against the Federal-level US military.

It is within the scope of possibility the US could fracture as did Yugoslavia.