ROLLING STONES AND THE SENTIMENTAL SOLDIER

Author: TWI


The Unsentimental Warrior by Lucian K. Truscott IV (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/opinion/24truscott.html?_r=0) is an interesting, and to me, inciting read. I would have let Gen McChrysthal’s (Top US Commander in Afghanistan) sacking by President Obama pass as there-goes-another-one, martyr in the ever existent tussle between civil and military kind of issue. A la Fonseka, if you will. But Lucian K. Truscott IV, celebrated author of a few Army centric books and articles, makes me sit up and take notice. While others are raving about McChrythal’s naivety and impudence, Mr Lucian chose to concentrate on something lesser mortals overlooked. McChrysthal’s apparent attempt to drive home a Three Muskeeter-esque – One for All, All for One- feel of camaraderie and bonhomie within Team America, his clutch of advisers (sidekicks?), is what Mr Lucian finds most revolting and he makes that (“All these men, I’d die for them. And they’d die for me”, he reportedly commented gesturing towards his Team) the subject of his ire. And in seeking to break the monotony and compose an unconventional piece, Mr Lucian sputters, gasps and wheezes his way through an entirely forgettable tirade.

Training of Para SF Commando | Toughest Military Training in India | Veer by Discovery

In the 36 hours stress test during Para SF training, commandos are tested beyond their physical limits and mental fears. They are kept sleep deprived with only 2 hours of sleep. The commandos are tested with a continuous series of gruelling exercise, a simulated battle situation. And when the body starts giving up, they have to do a speed march of 10 KM with a 30 KG battle load and their personal weapons. Watch the short video...

10 Elite Special Forces of the World

Ok, don't fret just yet. Your favourite may be missing but this is just one list of the many out there...

JOINT CURFEW PLAN FOR INTERNAL SECURITY SITUATIONS: SENSING TROUBLE AROUND THE CORNER

Civil unrest is the making of the civilians (politicians and administrators) and they must shoulder the responsibility to control it with their resource, the police. The current curfew plan is a master-stroke to prevent the Army from staying away from unruly mobs and ensuring its involvement abinitio. However, given the drawbacks, the premature commitment of troops as part of the police curfew plan must be scrapped.

Introduction

          The curfew plan, evolved by the civil police post the 2010 protests that rocked the Valley, envisages the occupation of cut-off points by the Army whenever the civil police activate the plan ahead of expected unrest or protests. The Army, blinded by its zeal for synergy, has no say in the activation of the curfew plan and readily complies. While it may seem a matter that is trivial when we encourage police-led rehearsals in the absence of violent mobs to confront, it is the pragmatic analysis of the likely repercussions that must be taken note of.

India, Pakistan & Partition: Borders of Blood

On August 15, 1947, the Partition of the Indian subcontinent created two nation states - India and Pakistan.

In this two-part special, 101 East traces the events and conflicting politics that led to the greatest migration of people in human history, and unleashed a wave of communal violence that claimed more than a million lives.

The Partition sparked three wars, the birth of Bangladesh, and transformed Kashmir into the world's most militarised zone. As tensions between India and Pakistan persist, 101 East explores the Partition's troubled legacy and the unresolved geopolitics between the two nuclear powers.

India, Pakistan & Partition: Borders of Blood Part 1 - 101 East

India, Pakistan & Partition: Borders of Blood Part 2 - 101 East

Taliban Say Haqqani Founder Is Dead. His Group Is More Vital Than Ever. - The New York Times

"KABUL, Afghanistan — For the first time, the Taliban have confirmed the death of Jalaluddin Haqqani, an American ally from the Cold War who later turned his weapons against the United States as the founder of the feared Haqqani militant network, behind some of the deadliest attacks of the 17-year Afghan war. In their announcement on Tuesday, the Taliban gave no details on the timing of Mr. Haqqani’s death. Throughout his 70s, he remained ill even as his followers continued in his name to stage huge bombings and suicide commando attacks in Afghan cities."

Read more...

Pakistan:The State that Refuses to Fail

Author: TWI T

he discourse on failed states, dominant through the 1990s, is fuelled afresh by the Failed States Index (FSI)[1]sponsored by the Fund for Peace and supported by Foreign Policy since 2005. Expectedly, the applicability of the 12 indicators[2] being used to judge the extent of failure of Nation States has been debated for their apparent common treatment of disparate circumstances in societies spanning the nether to the first world. Consider a social factor like ‘Continual Human Flight’ described as ‘brain drain’ of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents, intentional emigration of the middle class or ethnic population to other places of the State or any other State. Or an economic indicator like ‘Imbalance in Economic Development’ defined as inequality and injustice against a group or a tribe in education, jobs, and economic status according to their communal or religious identity. Any discerning analyst, without a goose to cook, will amplify incessantly the resultant discrepancy from applying the same yardstick to States that have evolved and stabilised over seven centuries as against those having a history countable in mere decades.