Witness to Extraterrestrial Saucer at Groom Lake

"Life on earth could not possibly happen. 
 The chances are too remote. You could 
  easier make gold out of lead than find 
   the right mix of chemicals and atomic 
    bondings to entice inert molecules to 
     reproduce. Proposing that this life 
      might later become intelligent--capable 
       at least of changing TV channels and 
        nuking up dinner in the microwave--far 
         exceeds the bounds of credulity. 
          You have to laugh at those alleged 
           scientists who claim it is so. 
            Living in Vegas, we know for sure you 
             can't beat the odds because we never 
              have. Therefore, it cannot be true: 
               There is no life on earth, and none 
                of this is real." --Glenn Campbell
http://www.ufomind.com/area51/desertrat/1995/dr31/
 "The Groom Lake Desert Rat is an online newsletter 
 by Glenn Campbell. It was operational from 
 Jan. 1994 through October 1996, when it collapsed 
 under its own weight. It was reincarnated in 
 November 1997 as The Desert Rat. It then died 
 after only one new issue (not enough time)."
      http://www.ufomind.com/area51/desertrat/

Meanwhile.... back in the real-surreal-whirld-order: 

Strategic Studies Institute (SSI)
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/index.html

Crack in the Foundation: Defense Transformation 
and the Underlying Assumption of Dominant 
Knowledge in Future War by LTC H. R. McMaster 
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usacsl/index.asp
Executive Summary: The author argues that 
acceptance of the assumption of certainty in 
future war is illogical because the claimed 
source of certainty - technology - is unable to 
remove or even reduce significantly principal 
sources of uncertainty in war.
The idea that future war will be near-certain 
fails to account for enemy actions, reduces the 
complexity of warfare to identifying and 
targeting things, and ignores the human and 
psychological dimensions of war. Instead of 
pursuing situational certainty, only an embrace 
of the ambiguity of war, and the development of
balanced Joint Forces, effective joint 
integration, and adaptive leaders will permit 
the flexibility that is the true key to future
victories.  
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usacsl/index.asp


U.S. Army War College
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/


         Maj. Gen. Bentley B. Rayburn
               is Commandant, Air War
          College and Vice Commander,
          Air University, Maxwell Air
              Force Base, Ala. As AWC
                  Commandant, General
        Rayburn directs and evaluates
              the post-graduate-level
             programs of the U.S. Air
          Force's senior professional
    military educational institution.
http://www.af.mil/bios/bio_6857.shtml

		
Study Published by Army Criticizes War on Terror's Scope  
By Thomas E. Ricks 
Washington Post Staff Writer
  
A scathing new report published by the Army War College 
broadly criticizes the Bush administration's handling 
of the war on terrorism, accusing it of taking a detour 
into an "unnecessary" war in Iraq and pursuing an 
"unrealistic" quest against terrorism that may lead to 
U.S. wars with states that pose no serious threat.

The report, by Jeffrey Record, a visiting professor at 
the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, 
warns that as a result of those mistakes, the Army is 
"near the breaking point."  It recommends, among other 
things, scaling back the scope of the "global war on 
terrorism" and instead focusing on the narrower threat 
posed by the al Qaeda terrorist network. 

"[T]he global war on terrorism as currently defined and 
waged is dangerously indiscriminate and ambitious, and 
accordingly . . . its parameters should be readjusted," 
Record writes. Currently, he adds, the anti-terrorism 
campaign "is strategically unfocused, promises more than 
it can deliver, and threatens to dissipate U.S. military 
resources in an endless and hopeless search for 
absolute security." 

Record, a veteran defense specialist and author of six 
books on military strategy and related issues, was an 
aide to then-Sen. Sam Nunn when the Georgia Democrat was 
chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. 
In discussing his political background, Record also noted 
that in 1999 while on the staff of the Air War College, 
he published work critical of the Clinton administration. 

His essay, published by the Army War College's Strategic 
Studies Institute, carries the standard disclaimer that 
its views are those of the author and do not necessarily 
represent those of the Army, the Pentagon or the 
U.S. government. 

But retired Army Col. Douglas C. Lovelace Jr., director 
of the Strategic Studies Institute, whose Web site
<http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/pubs/2003/bounding/bounding.htm> 
carries Record's 56-page monograph, hardly distanced 
himself from it. "I think that the substance that Jeff 
brings out in the article really, really needs to be 
considered," he said. 

Publication of the essay was approved by the Army War 
College's commandant, Maj. Gen. David H. Huntoon Jr., 
Lovelace said. He said he and Huntoon expected the study 
to be controversial, but added, "He considers it to be 
under the umbrella of academic freedom." 

Larry DiRita, the top Pentagon spokesman, said he had not 
read the Record study. He added: "If the conclusion is 
that we need to be scaling back in the global war on 
terrorism, it's not likely to be on my reading list 
anytime soon." 

Many of Record's arguments, such as the contention that 
Saddam Hussein's Iraq was deterred and did not present 
a threat, have been made by critics of the administration. 
Iraq, he concludes, "was a war-of-choice distraction from 
the war of necessity against al Qaeda." But it is unusual 
to have such views published by the War College, the 
Army's premier academic institution. 

In addition, the essay goes further than many critics in 
examining the Bush administration's handling of the war 
on terrorism. 

Record's core criticism is that the administration is 
biting off more than it can chew. He likens the scale 
of U.S. ambitions in the war on terrorism to Adolf Hitler's 
overreach in World War II. "A cardinal rule of strategy is 
to keep your enemies to a manageable number," he writes. 
"The Germans were defeated in two world wars . . . because 
their strategic ends outran their available means." 

He also scoffs at the administration's policy, laid
out by Bush in a November speech, of seeking to transform 
and democratize the Middle East. "The potential policy 
payoff of a democratic and prosperous Middle East, if there 
is one, almost certainly lies in the very distant future," 
he writes. "The basis on which this democratic domino 
theory rests has never been explicated." 

He also casts doubt on whether the U.S. government will 
maintain its commitment to the war. "The political,
fiscal, and military sustainability of the GWOT [global 
war on terrorism] remains to be seen," he states. 
The essay concludes with several recommendations. 
Some are fairly noncontroversial, such as increasing the 
size of the Army and Marine Corps, a position that appears 
to be gathering support in Congress. But he also says the 
United States should scale back its ambitions in Iraq, 
and be prepared to settle for a "friendly autocracy" 
there rather than a genuine democracy. 
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/pubs/2003/bounding/bounding.htm


Welcome to Maxwell Air Force Base, the home of Air University. 
Air University plays a vital role in fulfilling the mission of the 
United States Air Force. Service members must place the nation's 
defense above self and possess an in-depth knowledge of war 
and the military sciences to meet national security challenges in 
today's world. http://www.au.af.mil/

Strategic Studies Institute (SSI)
http://www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/index.html