Current Events

Now I know this is a historical forum,but the main reason to learn history(besides that it is fascinating!) is so that we can be better prepared for the future.This post is to get everyone's opinion on the turmoil in the Middle East:Egypt is now a fledgling(and vulnerable)democracy,
Libya seems to be going in that direction as well with the actions of the UN,Bahrain is threatening to call in aid from eastern powers(read China here) if the West gives support to their rebels,Saudi Arabia trying to expand it's influence farther,and the anti-Israel terrorist group,Hamas,is trying to merge with the equally anti-Israel country of Syria.
I want your opinion on how things will turn out.How will the USA come out of it?Do you think that that President Obama is doing the right thing by riding the diplomatic "fence"?

My opinion is that these democracies are too young,too fragile,and too heavily biased, to withstand the pressures that are thrust upon them.(e.g:Muslim population,Autocratic heritage,corruption, international pressures) They need some form of support to keep them up.

2 All I have a random question for you guys if you could choose, would you have been born in: The past present or future?

The Most Efficient Way of Warfare in History

If you are asked what the most efficient way of warfare in the 21st century you might give many different military doctrines(or if you are like my brothers you just say,"Hydrogen Bomb+Bad guy=

KA-BOOM!=HAPPINESS!"I love the KA-BOOM theory!)But the answer is Guerrilla warfare!

Sometime during the Cold War Guerrilla warfare became the national pastime for every half-witted revolutionary and nationalist;It has been employed against our country time and time against our military with varying effects.The reason why Guerrilla warfare is so effective is summed up in the phrase by Henry Kissinger(a failure as a foreign diplomat,but has some good quotes...kinda like Solomon.)

"The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose."

Henry Kissinger

The Countries of the West have long held dear the ideals of a disciplined army:Alexander The Great's Phalanx formation smashed the Persian immortals against the impervious wall of their spears and adamant discipline,Rome conquered the world with the best trained Army in history,England's Rank-and-File formation provided the framework for European engagements for years,America's military is founded on the honor and discipline that allows it to be the most powerful in the world.But with all these positive examples of European discipline their is another for

loose guerrilla warfare:Hannibal,Sassanids,and Huns resisted and dismantled Roman Legions that attacked them,Muslim raiders cut the crusaders to pieces using hit-and-run,Terrorists using the acclimation of the people to commit atrocities.

Now that we have seen some of the historical examples of guerrilla warfare,I would like to look at what exactly a guerrilla warfare entails.As the previous quote states the guerrilla does not have to win because he is fighting a losing battle,As long as he does not lose he can continue.And losing does not mean death,even in death he can become a martyr for his cause.The guerrilla is usually defined in four categories: Religious(one who fights for his Religious beliefs)political,(one fights to form a new government)social,(one who fights for social change)or defensive(one who fights against an invading army or entity).There are exceptions to these categories to be sure,but most of the guerrillas can fit into this framework.Motivation is important to the Guerrilla,he needs to have at least nominal support from the populace for he depends on them to provide him with(a)food(b)shelter(c)recruits(d)logistics.The Guerrilla can use multiple strategems to complete his goals there is:LIT(low intensity terrorism)A force that is made up of cells should stage attacks and uprisings in certain areas to deprive the populace of necessary items(eg:food,water,housing,transportation),the attacks should cause suffering to areas,but no death,and should target lower income areas.discontent will begin to simmer slowly,but the cells should continue to hit targets of necessities.The people will begin to clamor for the government to do SOMETHING!The government will begin to instate more and more stringent laws to attempt to capture the insurgents,which cause the people to eye the government with suspicion asking themselves why the government is attacking the "good" people while the "bad" people run free.Eventually the guerrilla's attacks will continue with higher frequency,and the government will have to make a choice between becoming a Police-state,letting themselves be ripped to shreds by the "terrorists",or giving in to the demands of the rebels.Any of these are good for the guerrilla.If the government becomes a police state it provides recruits and sympathy for the insurgency,and proves that the government IS the monster that the guerrillas have been purporting.

If the government lets themselves get ripped to shreds....they let themselves get ripped to shreds!

If the government gives in the guerrilla can retire and be happy with his gains,or he can modify his demands to get more.This method has proven to be powerful tactic over and over again.(eg: Weimer Republic,Bolshevik Revolution)The largest reason that this works is it preys upon basic human fear and jealousy,when one neighbor sees that someone else has something that he was denied he will make up his own reasons to be angry.LIT just speeds this up by depriving people deliberately and pointedly,making the guerrillas look like a welcome substitute.

The opposite tactic is HIT(High intensity terrorism).If LIT appeals to the populaces Fear and Jealousy then HIT appeals to the populaces anger!HIT is the most common form of guerrilla warfare,they are out there in the open.They call themselves "patriots","Enlightened",and "heroes"!

They use the masses to rise up in mobs.These movements are started by many types reasons,but they all evolve the same.The movement takes hostages,kills government officials,makes demands,and is an all-around pain for the current government.This is a risky business.Because on one hand if the people are around you you can take over a government,but ingrained into the people is to NOT trust these rabble-rousers who resort to murder and hostages.There are many other was to attack using guerrilla methods but they tend to differ depending on how far the rebels are willing to go with their "movement".

So I do not know how interested this was to everyone,but I had some fun researching this.

viva la homeschoolers!

DEATH!!!!!!!

okay with that start you can not get much worse.Here goes!

In my mad wondering,I have come across these two articles that I thought were sobering/interesting.(in that order)

story #1:Today,anyone reading the paper would come across a story on the front page about a 110 year-old man that had recently died!Usually our "fair" media would not print anything about this,but there is something special about Mr. Frank Buckles.He is one of the last WW1 veterans.During the war(April 1917 in fact)a 16 year old Buckles wanted to join the fight in Europe.Due to his age he was rejected time after time,until he finally lied about his age;He was then accepted.He served in an ambulatory unit on the French Front.This patriot,after the war,has campaigned for greater recognition of veteran and soldier alike in his long lifetime,and with his passing America has lost one more of it's links to it's gloried past.

story#2:When I say to you that we had a casualty in 2003 from WW2 you may look at me and say,"huh?"But we did!In the ending of WW2 the Germans were making bullets out of anything they could get their hands on,and one of these makeshift bullets made their way into the body of a certain soldier on d-day.This soldier had a x ray done when he got back,and the doctors found nothing!Well the ex-soldier continued with his life,getting a job as a teacher at college.But disaster struck this soldier on his 72 birthday,he was found dying on his bed.When examined it was found that the German bullet he been hit by had been slowly killing him.Through further study it was found that the bullet did not show up on the X-ray because it was made up of a reflective metal that "bounced" the rays(do not ask me how).So dies the worlds oldest WW2 casualty!