For Millennia

For John, BLUF:  Conflict in the Middle East is not new.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Over at The Instapundit is this excerpt from a Bloomberg OpEd by Yale Law Professor Stephen L Carter.  The article is "Islamic State's Centuries-Old Strategy".

What the debate is lacking is a sense of history.  And the historical antecedents do supply an early analogy to Islamic State — a warrior people who came out of nowhere, defeated mightier forces in battle, accumulated wealth and, in their bloody ferocity, terrified every civilization with which they came into contact.

I refer to the steppe nomads.

The steppe nomads were fearsome horsemen of varying ethnicity who first encountered the great empires of antiquity around 700 B.C., and reappeared with regularity well into the Middle Ages.  They lacked the sophisticated technology, wealth and professional bureaucracy of the great powers like Rome and China.  Instead they had horses.  Cavalry was something new, and the traditional empires had difficulty adjusting to the tactics of the unanticipated invaders, who although loosely organized slowly conquered vast swaths of territory.

Like Islamic State. As a matter of fact, back in the seventh century B.C., a group of steppe warriors, the Scythians, actually ruled a region roughly contiguous with the territory now controlled by Islamic State.

Ironies abound. For example, CNN has reported that the black robes and turban worn by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi intentionally “harken back” — one assumes the writer meant “hark back” — “to Arab rulers from 1,500 years ago.”  But if we go back that millennium and a half, to the era al-Baghdadi’s attire is meant to evoke, we find ourselves very close to the time when steppe warriors led by Attila the Hun came swarming into the remains of the Roman Empire, finally sacking the walled cities that had defied earlier invaders, because they had mastered the Roman technology.  The Huns used battering rams and scaling ladders to take the fortified cities, and Attila spent his plunder wisely, hiring the finest engineers (many of them Romans) to figure out how to outwit the defensive technologies of the supposedly more advanced cultures of the West.

Underlying the impact of Islam in the Middle East is a more ancient history.  We need to think about all of it.

Hat tip to the Instapundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

The US Statistical Abstract RIP

For John, BLUF:  Lack of data is not a good thing.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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My Brother John just noted in an EMail that the US Statistical Abstract is no more.  I was shocked and in disbelief.  I have several of the yearly editions.  I have purchased them from the Government Printing Office by mail and by driving by the sales office on North Capital Street in DC.  Now, poof, it is gone.  Well, gone as an entity.  And gone from the Internet as an entity.

Old copies are still there, going back to 1878.  But they aren’t making any new ones, and haven’t since 2012.

This is from the Bureau of Census webpage:

The U.S. Census Bureau is terminating the collection of data for the Statistical Compendia program effective October 1, 2011. The Statistical Compendium program is comprised of the Statistical Abstract of the United States and its supplemental products - - the State and Metropolitan Area Data Book and the County and City Data Book. In preparation for the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY 2012) budget, the Census Bureau did a comprehensive review of a number of programs and had to make difficult proposals to terminate and reduce a number of existing programs in order to acquire funds for higher priority programs. The decision to propose the elimination of this program was not made lightly. To access the most current data, please refer to the organizations cited in the source notes for each table of the Statistical Abstract.

I wonder to what degree this is a function of the high cost of Government Printing Office publishing.  That could have driven the price out of bounds.

Or maybe this is just the Obama Administration outsourcing a government function.  At Amazon you can purchase the ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States 2014, for $147.44 only.  It is in a Hardcover edition of 1048 pages (11.3 x 8.6 x 1.9 inches), from Bernan Press.

The data is still there, but on the internet you have to look at different places, rather than in one place.

Regards  —  Cliff

Charlie Baker on Welfare Reform

For John, BLUF:  Hard to keep the record straight in an election year.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here is a nice letter to the editor of The Boston Globe, "Don’t dismiss Charlie Baker’s stances on gas tax, welfare reform".

Regards  —  Cliff

Making An Alliance

For John, BLUF:  Fighting ISIL will be up hill for a while.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Night Watch early this morning, we have this:

Reaction to the US President's speech.  The so-called moderate Syrian Islamists announced that they are allied to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).  That destroys any expectations that moderate Muslims would work with the US effort.

Turkey announced that the US cannot use any of its bases or resources in fighting ISIL Turkey also will permit no US soldiers in Turkey for the purpose of fighting ISIL.

CIA announced that the upper limit of ISIL fighting strength is 31,500.  This number is significantly higher than the number used earlier in the week.  The nature of the fight continues to escalate.

The ISIL count from CIA is not such a big deal for me.  The disappearance of a moderate Syrian opposition means we have NO base to build on in Syria.  Having Turkey say no means it will cost us more to conduct air operations against ISIL.  And building alliances requires high diplomatic skill.

Regards  —  Cliff

Famous Last Words

For John, BLUF:  Dead Carl tells us no plan survives the impact of battle.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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This mission will not be like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.  This effort will be a steady and relentless approach to take out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting our partners on the front lines.

"Famous last words?" asks a current Army officer I know from the Internet.

Regards  —  Cliff

Sports Mascots

For John, BLUF:  As you say, times change and meaning changes.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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At the Nate Silver FiveThirtyEight Blog♠ we have a discussion of the Washington Redskins imbroglio.  The headline is "The 2,128 Native American Mascots People Aren’t Talking About" and the author is Ms Hayley Munguia.  While the article mentions Natick High School, it does not mention Tewksbury High School (Redmen).

Of course none of this gets to my point that the most offensive naming in these United States is where US Route 1 is named after that despicable President, Jefferson Davis.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  As in 538 votes in the Electoral College.

Vote Suppression

For John, BLUF:  If there is fraudulent registration, does that not dilute my vote?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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More Republican harassment of Democrat voters.♠  From Atlanta, Georgia, TV Channel 2:

ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned Georgia's secretary of state is investigating allegations of forged voter registration applications and demanding records from a voter registration group with ties to one of the state's highest ranking Democrats.

Georgia's Secretary of State is Republican Brian P Kemp.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Or voters who might vote Democrat.