George Orwell: You and the Atom Bomb

It is a commonplace that the history of civilisation is largely the history of weapons. In particular, the connection between the discovery of gunpowder and the overthrow of feudalism by the bourgeoisie has been pointed out over and over again. And though I have no doubt exceptions can be brought forward, I think the following rule would be found generally true: that ages in which the dominant weapon is expensive or difficult to make will tend to be ages of despotism, whereas when the dominant weapon is cheap and simple, the common people have a chance. Thus, for example, thanks, battleships and bombing planes are inherently tyrannical weapons, while rifles, muskets, long-bows and hand-grenades are inherently democratic weapons. A complex weapon makes the strong stronger, while a simple weapon--so long as there is no answer to it--gives claws to the weak.

Found via Tim Swanson

Plastic: Bowling For M.Bison -- War Game Uses Actual Iraq War Footage

"A new war game, Kuma," cloudzeye writes, "is about to launch enabling players to simulate participation in the Iraq war using actual newsclips from the Associated Press, Reuters and ITN as well as exclusive raw video shot by U.S. troops stationed in the region.

USA Today, May 12, 2003

"The transition to mechanized weaponry is key to the military's transformation from heavy ground forces to smaller human units fortified with robotic weapons. The goal: to limit casualties.

"Within 20 years, squadrons of unmanned planes will swarm enemy sites like killer bees, launching missiles and avoiding detection with sophisticated jamming devices.

"Self-programmed submarines will replace dolphins to detect and disarm mines. Robotic mules the size of pickups will haul ammunition, medical supplies and food.

"Drone ambulances will load wounded soldiers and cart them to hospitals. Crablike robots will crawl into buildings to sniff out chemical stashes."

Is the U.S. Waging a Virtual War? - "Computer viruses, worms, and electronic "pulses" could be doing substantial damage in Iraq" The best way to win a virtual war is to just get any .goviraq e-mail address and subscribe them to the best porn websites. Even the best spam filters won't save 'em!

War-Gamed - Why the Army shouldn't be so surprised by Saddam's moves. By Fred Kaplan "For instance—and here is where he displayed prescience—Van Riper used motorcycle messengers to transmit orders to Red troops, thereby eluding Blue's super-sophisticated eavesdropping technology. He maneuvered Red forces constantly. At one point in the game, when Blue's fleet entered the Persian Gulf, he sank some of the ships with suicide-bombers in speed boats." But this was too cunning, and in the war game of Blues vs. Reds, the Blue chose to just reset the game and start over. So, conclusion, the war games we spent $250 mill on were dumb. (not really, but sure)... (note, red vs. blue pill symbol)

UPDATE: the way to make a good war-game would just to learn from the Dungeon Master kids from High School. All you need is like one really fair DM, and then you get a bunch of ppl rolling dice and making moves. Bam, that'll cost you, like, nothing. Star Wars nerds would pay $ and antiques just to participate in such an event.

UPDATE2: And, ironically and sadly, the Iraqi's DID end up using suicide bombers.

Wired News: An Antidote for Flying Blind - The US can adapt as well. In the face of sandstorms, we now have onboard computers that digitally renders the pilots' surroundings when they can't rely on the real one to guide them.

The Flaw in Shock and Awe - Rumsfeld's theory of warfare isn't working, at least so far. By Fred Kaplan Despite "the lethality and precision of the attacks," the study concluded, Saddam's command-control "system turned out to be more redundant and more able to reconstitute itself than first thought. Fiber-optic networks and computerized switching systems proved particularly tough to put out of action."

The clincher is that this is in regards to Gulf War I, not the Operation Iraqi Freedom. "shock and awe" didn't work then.

What I'm inferring from this is that the Iraqis and Arabs are evolving like a species in response to the threat of the American l'tour de hammeur. Instead of keeping a central form of command, like the US, they are adapting into a disconnected network of self-commanding units. Individual, disconnected nodes, all with the same general objective, jihad or kill-Americans. Sure, kill the brain, the body dies, but within the brain, there is no one "controlling" neuron or separate "soul" that ports in somewhere and tells the brain what to do. Through the collectivite effort of independent units, emerges the intelligence. That's how guerrilla warfare stopped the US in Vietnam.

Adaptation, it's a bitch.

I also discovered that Iraq is letting Al-Jazeera into their country. Al-Jazeera, which is ironically more free than American press in showing dead bodies of War, has had a rallying effect in the Arab world. So what's interesting about Iraq's permission is that maybe the Arab world will discover the benefits of democracy, such as freedom of press, not through America's installment of our values, but rather in natural response to environmental stressors. Maybe this "Operation Iraqi Freedom" will free the Iraqi's regardless of whether we win or not.

MSNBC Images of War