Random Weekend Reading

Well done. Good comedy is hard to come by, and Iran's missile launch and public theater deserves ridicule. Without a nuclear warhead, the Iranian ballistic missile program is the most overrated military system in the Middle East, and in conventional war would be proven as such. While Noah has a great mix of the photo nonsense and some classics like the Boing Boing contribution, this one at Little Green Footballs is our favorite.

This is great blogging. We think it is interesting how David indirectly highlights the similarity of United Nations bureaucracy and African government efficiency.

Fabius Maximus takes a look at Vice Admiral Winnefeld's article in this months issue of Proceedings. He also has an interesting follow up here. Excellent analysis over there, always something to think about.

Historyguy99 does economics. We really liked this analysis alot, and ended up reading every link. This is a complicated problem that doesn't need a complicated solution, but it does need smart action if solutions will be found. My only comment would be Thomas Friedman is looking to the wrong place, political action and inaction on energy has been a disaster, but as one who has seen the face of private industry solutions, the best thing government can do is get the hell out of the way and let the industry bloom without interference. That's my small tangent rant to an otherwise brilliant post covering a broader subject.

Jim Dolbow asks whether the Coast Guard needs language skills. If the Navy doesn't reset itself towards its own maritime strategy soon, the answer is yes. I think the Navy is on the fast track to making itself irrelevant, and by action making the case that half the shipbuilding budget should be shifted to the Coast Guard. We will be discussing the declining relevance of the Navy, due almost entirely due to their own lack of priorities, in a lot more detail this week. If the Navy is not going to fill the role of securing and protecting the national economic interests in the global maritime domain, and leave that role to the Coast Guard, then what do we need a Navy for short of major hostilities?

Just taking a quick historical view, in peacetime the British would put their battleships in ordinary, and send hundreds of other ship in squadrons across the globe. The modern equivalence is to stick the US Navy in ordinary, and send the Marines and Coast Guard in squadrons across the global. We think the Navy is who is making the best case for this scenario to be applied in the 21st century.