Post Scripts

Script Writer Jack “Top Kick” Lee

0700 hours. Counter-terrorism studies, Bldg 602b, Camp Chico; Your instructor today will be Samuel L. Jackson in the role of MSG Jackson CT Instructor. MSG Jackson, the class is yours

Alright class listen up! Weve got a lot to cover here and I wont be messin around, now lets begin:

You ever wonder how our shadowy friends in dark trench coats quantify statistical data on terrorism to formulate policy…. policy we carry out? Well, wonder no more. Welcome to CT-101, sit back, shut up and prepare to learn. But first, if you’re not yet cleared to be in this class, be advised this information is restricted and YOU can’t be here! So, go take a break and read the Washington Post, The News & Review or surf over to MoveOn.org, but you can’t stay here!

Im sure most of you will be surprised to discover that statistical analysis, although helpful, isn’t the most important thing to intel gathering. Stats are more like a one dimensional view of the problem, its just one cog in the machine. We require correlation with other things to be relevant and well discuss those things in just a moment. But, first, where do our stats come from? Who supplies us our stats? What we use and what all intel agnecies use are acquired from open source data, like newspaper reports from around the world. At our Ops Center we have over 100 analysts that are fluent in 34 of worlds most popular languages and all they do is read open source reports like any one of you could do… if you could decipher all those languages. Then they summarize it and report as verified terrorist events, this means they set it apart from criminal events that may look the same, but are not the same.

Now lets consider what those stats mean. Here’s one example: The hard statistics for terrorist bombings in Iraq during April- May of this year show 12% fewer bombings than in Feb.-Mar. This doesn’t necessarily mean we’re 12% more effective nor their side is 12% less active. It is what is…. it is a stat, a tool, and until stats are combined with many other factors determined by the boots on the ground, like enemy concentration and activity, target types, or the physical nature of the attacks, you really don’t have much. It’s just a stat and it doesn’t tell us what we really need to know, like the who, what, when and where; and that’s what every good cop needs to

Continue reading “<font color=red><b>Counter Terrorism Class – Day One </font></b>” »

Posted by Tina

What is it with our more left leaning representatives? They cant find a way to support the good guys,,,but they sure do concern themselves with the rights of thugs:

MEXICO CITY – Suspected drug gang hitmen shot dead a mayor in western Mexico as he drove back from a day out with his family, the latest politician to die in Mexico’s drug war, a state attorney general’s office said on Monday. Gunmen caught up to Mayor Marcelo Ibarra on a highway and shot him in the head on Sunday night as he was returning to his hometown of Villa Madero in Michoacan state – Reuters

MEXICO CITY The Mexican government warned Monday it would not accept conditions the U.S. Congress has imposed on an aid package to combat drug trafficking. The Merida Initiative would provide US$1.4 billion over several years to help Mexico, Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti combat drug trafficking. But the U.S. House and Senate have imposed several conditions on the aid, including guarantees of civilian investigations into human rights abuses by the Mexican military. – AP

Posted by Tina

If youve ever wondered what people are so upset about when they complain about the main stream media have I got a story for you! The following is a comparison that perfectly illustrates the way the media tries to manipulate the attitude and mood of the country. (It also reflects the differences between current generations and those that came before usthey were survivors, with grit and a finely honed sense of personal responsibility for the future.)

I encourage you to read the full storyits a hoot!

The Economy Isn’t Hopeless; It’s The Press, by Dan Gainor

As the stock market reeled from the Bear Stearns collapse back in March, ABC News asked: Is the “economy heading over a cliff?” Journalists made it seem so, calling the American financial system everything from “bleak” to in a “meltdown.” ** ABC, CBS and NBC made comparisons to America’s worst economic turmoil the Great Depression more than 40 times in the first four months of 2008. ** Compare that with how the New York Times summed up its own market outlook in an Oct. 30, 1929, story after billions of dollars were lost in record trading. “Despite the drastic decline, sentiment in Wall Street last night was more cheerful than it has been on any day since the torrent of selling got under way,” wrote the paper. ** Words like “optimism” and “hope” shouted off the pages of major newspapers. The Oct. 31, 1929, Times described the devastating six-day decline: “The market quickly regained its poise and stability.” * The same day, the Washington Post discussed “the passing of the crisis.” ** The difference between how the media handled a crisis in 1929 and 2008 was astounding. Network news was four times more negative about the Bear Stearns buyout than major newspapers were about the 1929 crash, which many historians link to the beginning of the Depression.

Is it any wonder people today tune out?

Posted by Tina Grazier

People are beginning to notice…theres been a void, a remarkable absence of messagewhat in the world has happened to the hammering negative news about the war in Iraq??? Its off the front pages and off the top of every fifteen minute news segmentwhat happened?

Looks like there might be a very promising story to tellbut the news is all GOOD:

A Glaring Omission, by Abe Greenwald Commentary Magazine

After years of telling us the war on terror was creating more terrorists, the mainstream media has mysteriously woken up to the fact that Islamic extremism is on the wane. Newsweek is the latest publication to run a support-for-jihad-is-fading piece. Readers of CONTENTIONS should by now be familiar with the evidence: Iraqis have turned against radical clerics, Pakistani voters have rejected Islamist leaders, Turkeys ruling AKP party is trying to modernize Islam, etc. The critical thing is the shift in Islam, not the acknowledgment from Newsweek, of course. ** But there is an important omission in the sudden coverage of moderate Muslims: No one talks about the effect of the Iraq War. The MSM can dodge the issue all they like, but the fact remains that the Coalitions toppling of Saddam facilitated the first organized rejection of fanatical Islam in the Middle East. Back in November 2005, while everyone stateside was crying fiasco, a group of Sunnis in Anbar province joined forces with a clutch of U.S. Marines and began to wrest their country back from al-Qaeda and its sympathizers. That effort grew into a statewide political movement that saw AQI on the run within two years. The Sunni Awakening in itself would not have been enough to stave off the deadly threat of extremism in Iraq. Without Prime Minister al-Malikis commitment to take on fanatical Shia militias, both the indiscriminate killing and the political torpor would have continued to hamper any truly national progress.

Stay tuned and start digging in the closet for the fireworks and buntingwhen we do welcome home the last of our troops it should be in celebration of a job well done…some of us might want to reconsider our opinion of the Comander-in-Chief too.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
– George Bernard Shaw

Our runner up quote was worth publishing too…

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
-Douglas Casey, (Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University)

Over the last week or so we have had a problem that has made it impossible for anyone to post a comment to Post Scripts, including Jack and Tina. One thing this experience has taught us is that you, our faithful readers and commenters, are what make the blog truly fun, rewarding and interesting.

Needless to say both Jack and I hope this wrinkle will be ironed out soon. We miss your brilliant comments, your thoughtful comments…even your comments taking us to task. We miss the helpful references you offer and of course, the fact that you seem to have and enjoy a great sense of humor.

Let’s hope we’re all back on board real soon!!