Interesting items of interest:
- Efficient markets and entrepreneurial guerrillas: CNN. "This soldier and three Afghan soldiers were captured by low-level militants and then quickly "sold" to the clan and network led by warlord Siraj Haqqani -- believed to be deeply involved in the action."
- The new counter-insurgency "beltway think tank" at CNAS (the Center for New American Security) gets some push-back from Bill Lind and The American Conservative. The reason? They abhor the idea that military, armed with a "new" counter-insurgency doctrine bulked up by social welfare programs, can manufacture democratic capitalists in every corner of the world. Essentially, they think this is merely a reprise of the now thoroughly discredited neo-con theory (as in, all you need to do is topple the government and the people will immediately become democratic capitalists auto-magically), and doomed to failure/tears.
- One more point on CNAS. Isn't this organization really the brain child of Tom Barnett given the sys-admin approach to foreign policy they are promoting? I believe it is.
- Samuel Logan, fresh from his new book on the MS-13, thinks that looming leadership crisis/rift between the Gulf Cartel and the growing Zetas, will spark widespread violence/death not only Mexico, but in US cities.