Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Terror could be coming to the Western Hemisphere, part 2

From BBC: Venezuela trains for guerrilla war Greg Morsbach, BBC News
Venezuela - Under the blazing midday sun, at an army base outside Caracas, middle-aged Venezuelan military commanders were being told how to teach the civilian population in guerrilla warfare... Hundreds of officers in olive combat dress were shown practical displays of Venezuela's new military thinking: The use of civilians to fight a war of resistance in the event of an invasion......The concept of a civilian militia ss nothing new in Venezuela. Almost half a year ago, small neighborhood groups of Chavez supporters began holding informal gatherings on a weekly basis. The meetings were limited to military drill... At an office inside the headquarters of Venezuela state owned oil company, PDVSA, Alfredo Carquez reflects on his experiences as a new recruit for the territorial guard... However, former military officers close to the opposition warn that the territorial guard could be used to quash popular dissent against President Chavez... Retired Vice Admiral Mario Ivan Carratu Molina said: "Remember that the territorial guard is directly answerable to the president. So he could use it as an instrument of repression against a popular uprising, for example." Story from BBC NEWS: Published: 2006/03/06 10:57:56 GMT
Bos'uns analysis: Unfortunately it is going to get worse, before it gets better. Daniel Ortega may be making a comeback in Nicaragua. We have a Hezbollah presence in South America that is getting stronger by the year. North Korea and Iran have entered trading packs with Chavez (the imports are questionable and ships could be used to bring Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) into the Americas.)

Most people are yawning and saying Chavez is nuts. We can all agree on that. But, there are a lot of nuts who want to unseat the United States at whatever the cost. We have something to be concerned about. Hope that we do not get caught sleeping like we have so many times before.

I am going to transgress to another time several years ago to illustrate a point that complacency kills. Nine months before Khobar Towers, I had a discussion with someone in the community. He told me that I was over exaggerating and that there were no threats in the world that would challenge the United States. Well, we all know what happened a Khobar Towers. He and a lot of others in the community were complacent along with the General in charge. Notice that the Security Officer did not get hammered. (Fortunately he kept good notes on who he talked with and what he talked about.) I called the complacent "kum by ya" whom I had my discussion with and reminded him of what he told me, and used some harsh language in the process.

Back to the present. I hope any pray that I am wrong. But, I operate on the premonition that if something can go wrong, it will. Remember, we have to be right every time, they (socialists, communists, evil doers, Islamofacists and their perverted views of their own world orders) have to be right only once.

Theoretically, a weaker party should relent to the will of the stronger and the world would settle into a hierarchy with a Clearly delineated pecking order. Unfortunately to the chagrin of many an economist, man is not a rational creature and fights even when he cannot possibly hope to win. This sets the stage for desperate polities and non-state actors to take enormous gambles and recreate themselves to effectively wage asymmetric warfare. History teaches us that the weaker party generally adopts the most radical transformations as opposed to the conservative strategy of the stronger power. Stronger powers utilize asymmetric warfare to a lesser degree; they have no need to take risks on technological revolutions as opposed to technological evolutions, as guarantors of the world system they are less likely to attack the infrastructure of the world system or undermine the nation-state model for fear of creating safe havens for non-state actors like Al-Qaida (1) (and other enemies of the United States.)

We have not heard the worst or the last of this piss-ant, Chavez, and those whom he is aligning. Even his retired Generals are growing concerned about him. Chavez just won an election; and perhaps the former military personnel are weak and are going by the wayside, as the Cubans did before and shortly after Castro and Che took the country of Cuba.

It was over in a complacent flash...

There are many factors in the Americas equation.

(1) Asymmetric warfare From Wikipedia

Be ever vigilant.

Respectfully,
Bosun