Marines in Syria

Started by topside, March 08, 2017, 07:38:49 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

topside

I've never understood this.

My experience in war is limited to books I've read in studying strategy and history - but is limited. Ok - I've worked on improving products that the warfighter holds in their hands - so I do understand a little. But still very limited. But even from the little that I know, it a sure thing that the element of surprise is a very important weapon.

Why are we broadcasting the moves of our Marines and other soldiers to the bad guys? Even the number of troops that we're putting against them. Apparently the failing NYT has reported on the movement of our Marines.The NYT isn't failing fast enough. And Fox then repeats the story with added detail and sites the NYT. Fox should know better and help the conservatives skin the NYT alive - not add to the mistakes.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/03/08/marines-arrive-in-syria-in-support-fight-for-raqqa-defense-official-says.html

The press is a load of fools that can't even make a reasonable decision on when to publish and when not to even based on the lives of our own troops that are going against terrorists. The press may as well tell the terrorists to have their women and children to get the IED's armed and strap on the suicide vests. Tell the terrorists to look for movements and line up and get the soviet version of the Stingers ready to launch.

If they can't police themselves on this, why does anyone think they can be objective in other more nuanced situations. Sensationalism for the sake of revenue - they're just a lot of selfish thieves that produce nothing and solve no problems. Yes - free speech is guaranteed under the First Amendment, but no one has to interact with them or let them be open to wander in war time scenarios. When they stick a microphone in your face, stick a hand in their. When they ask a question, refuse to answer them. Reward the press that publishes objective fact and punish (banish) those who can't control themselves.

Trump has it right when he keeps some of them out of the pressers - he should do it more. He also tweets his news because he doesn't need the press. The military needs to take a few pages from his notes. The press can serve as a check after the fact - when no one cares anymore unless something critical and well supported is covered.

Can there be a responsible press group?



Solar

Read Sun Tzu. Using the media is just as valuable a weapon as is the element of surprise, usually inseparable.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

quiller

Quote from: Solar on March 09, 2017, 04:27:34 AM
Read Sun Tzu. Using the media is just as valuable a weapon as is the element of surprise, usually inseparable.

Geraldo Rivera was thrown out of a war zone for drawing battle-lines maps on-camera, live. He rightly should have been tried by summary military tribunal and shot dead by firing squad, that very same hour.

topside

Quote from: Solar on March 09, 2017, 04:27:34 AM
Read Sun Tzu. Using the media is just as valuable a weapon as is the element of surprise, usually inseparable.

I'll take a look - thanks for the reference.

Here's another line of thought:

Occam's Razor: Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. (published)
Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. (published)
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. (published)

Corollary: Don't assume bad intentions over neglect and misunderstanding. (published)
Corollary: Don't assume intelligence behind a situation when poor decision making will suffice as an explanation. (personal adaptation)

Application: Don't assume that the military is using an embedded media to accomplish their goals when it's just as likely that the press is reporting information that they shouldn't to satisfy their appetite to sensationalize at the expense of all else. 

Hoofer

Quote from: Solar on March 09, 2017, 04:27:34 AM
Read Sun Tzu. Using the media is just as valuable a weapon as is the element of surprise, usually inseparable.

On your TV screen comes images of irresistible force, and you recognize some of the landmarks in the background - they're closing in on you!

Just as valuable as posting videos of "Flying Jihadis" on Weaselzippers.us.  Some of those guys get launched hundreds of feet into the air, quite a sight, and demoralizing to the emery.  Join ISIS and realize you can be vaporized at any time, without warning... be afraid, be very afraid!
All animals are created equal; Some just take longer to cook.   Survival is keeping an eye on those around you...

topside

#5
Quote from: Hoofer on March 09, 2017, 05:30:32 AM
On your TV screen comes images of irresistible force, and you recognize some of the landmarks in the background - they're closing in on you!

Just as valuable as posting videos of "Flying Jihadis" on Weaselzippers.us.  Some of those guys get launched hundreds of feet into the air, quite a sight, and demoralizing to the emery.  Join ISIS and realize you can be vaporized at any time, without warning... be afraid, be very afraid!

No doubt that information is power and can be used to demoralize the enemy - your example makes that case. But our media doesn't seem to work with our forces. The media gets the part where they are to be a check on what those in power are doing - but one sided. They don't seem to get the part where they are supposed to add constructively to what we do in this republic and what we stand for.

The press is mostly irresponsible and definitely not objective in promoting US interests consistent with our republic's constitution. They are more aligned with the concept of a democracy turning Marxist than with our constitutional republic.

je_freedom

Quote from: topside on March 09, 2017, 05:28:03 AM
Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. (published)

That's actually kind of a mis-statement of Murphy's Law.
The original was actually more like:
"If there is a wrong way to do something, then someone will do it."

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law
Here are the 10 RINOs who voted to impeach Trump on Jan. 13, 2021 - NEVER forget!
WY  Liz Cheney      SC 7  Tom Rice             WA 4  Dan Newhouse    IL 16  Adam Kinzinger    OH 16  Anthony Gonzalez
MI 6  Fred Upton    WA 3  Jaime Herrera Beutler    MI 3  Peter Meijer       NY 24  John Katko       CA 21  David Valadao

topside

Quote from: je_freedom on March 11, 2017, 06:37:51 PM
That's actually kind of a mis-statement of Murphy's Law.
The original was actually more like:
"If there is a wrong way to do something, then someone will do it."

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law

Yes - that's right. I quoted the more common restatement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law

Solar

Quote from: je_freedom on March 11, 2017, 06:37:51 PM
That's actually kind of a mis-statement of Murphy's Law.
The original was actually more like:
"If there is a wrong way to do something, then someone will do it."

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law
You do know, Wiki is full of other peoples opinions, right?
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

topside

Quote from: Solar on March 12, 2017, 06:51:49 AM
You do know, Wiki is full of other peoples opinions, right?

I just use it for pretty benign stuff when it's easier to grab from there rather than looking for another reference. But I agree that much of the material is opinion and may of the contributors are libs.

Where do you prefer to pull simple references from? For example, where would you find a more pure site to quote Murphy's law - a kind of non-opinion saying.

Solar

Quote from: topside on March 12, 2017, 08:10:09 AM
I just use it for pretty benign stuff when it's easier to grab from there rather than looking for another reference. But I agree that much of the material is opinion and may of the contributors are libs.

Where do you prefer to pull simple references from? For example, where would you find a more pure site to quote Murphy's law - a kind of non-opinion saying.
You can use Wiki for the innocuous stuff, I just found it funny that JD would use an opinion piece to support an opinion. It's the irony that I found funny, I just forgot to add a smiley. :biggrin:
But seriously, using Wiki is pretty much a copout where supporting an argument is concerned, for all we know, the person referring to Wiki may be the author of the very page he sites.
It's not so much that the forum has a preference as to where one gathers evidence to support their argument, it's how it reflects on the individuals' inability to support their argument with credible sources.

There actually is a Murphy's law site.

http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-true.html/

Funnier than shit. :biggrin:

Murphy's laws origin
Dr. Stapp on the Deceleration Track The following article was excerpted from The Desert Wings
March 3, 1978

Murphy's Law ("If anything can go wrong, it will") was born at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949 at North Base.

It was named after Capt. Edward A. Murphy, an engineer working on Air Force Project MX981, (a project) designed to see how much sudden deceleration a person can stand in a crash.

One day, after finding that a transducer was wired wrong, he cursed the technician responsible and said, "If there is any way to do it wrong, he'll find it."

The contractor's project manager kept a list of "laws" and added this one, which he called Murphy's Law.

Actually, what he did was take an old law that had been around for years in a more basic form and give it a name.

Shortly afterwards, the Air Force doctor (Dr. John Paul Stapp) who rode a sled on the deceleration track to a stop, pulling 40 Gs, gave a press conference. He said that their good safety record on the project was due to a firm belief in Murphy's Law and in the necessity to try and circumvent it.
Aerospace manufacturers picked it up and used it widely in their ads during the next few months, and soon it was being quoted in many news and magazine articles. Murphy's Law was born.

The Northrop project manager, George E. Nichols, had a few laws of his own. Nichols' Fourth Law says, "Avoid any action with an unacceptable outcome."

The doctor, well-known Col. John P. Stapp, had a paradox: Stapp's Ironical Paradox, which says, "The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle."

Nichols is still around. At NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, he's the quality control manager for the Viking project to send an unmanned spacecraft to Mars.



http://people.howstuffworks.com/murphys-law1.htm
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

topside

Quote from: Solar on March 12, 2017, 09:05:54 AM

The doctor, well-known Col. John P. Stapp, had a paradox: Stapp's Ironical Paradox, which says, "The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle."


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Solar

Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!