Last week a strangely bylined article was quietly released by the Woodrow Wilson School for Scholars. The only clue to its author was the byline, "By Mr. Y."
Now, Mr. Y could be anyone, and by the gist of the article one would assume it was likely penned by some center-left member of Congress. The main point made by the essay was that the US needs to stop seeing the world as a grab bag of never-ending threats, stop over-reacting to terrorism and stop sending troops to straighten out countries that, in the larger picture, really don't matter all that much.
But the essay wasn't written by a some nuance-snorting liberal. It was written by two of Joint Chief of Staff, Admiral Mullins top two assistants at the Pentagon.
Imagine that, Pentagon brass stating that spending more time and energy educating our youth will make us stronger than picking off tribal leaders in the hills of Pakistan.
Why the anonymous byline? Well, duh. Just look at he new crop of politicians the Pentagon has to deal with, the mouth-breathers swept into office by the Tea Party types. These two officers felt compelled to risk their military careers by sounding this alarm, but wanted some degree of protection from that pack of mindless jumping bean hare brains on Capitol Hill. (Of course they should have known better. As Reagan Secretary of State, George Schultz, said when leaving office, "Anyone who thinks they can keep a secret in this town should have their head examined.")
I am going to give you a link to this important essay, right after I say this;
Whether you look at the fiscal turmoil sweeping the developed world, or this country's calcified Cold War foreign policies, or our gross over-reaction to all things terrorist, all our current policies have failed. And continuing them will only push the world further into failure, misery and insecurity. Everything has changed, except how we think.
It's time for leaders, and would-be leaders, to start showing intellectual rigor, to start thinking outside those old musty boxes, to start discussing exactly what kind of economy, what kind of country and what kind of world we want to pass on to future generations.
These two Pentagon officers did just that in this important piece. Please read it and pass it along. Instead of wasting our airtime, newsprint and neurons on trivial matters, like birth certificate conspiracy theories and such, we need to push exactly this kind of fresh thinking onto talk shows and front pages.
A NATIONAL STRATEGIC NARRATIVE [1]
From Containment to Sustainment
By Mr. Y
This Strategic Narrative is intended to frame our National policy decisions regarding investment, security, economic development, the environment, and engagement well into this century. It is built upon the premise that we must sustain our enduring national interests - prosperity and security - within a "strategic ecosystem," at home and abroad; that in complexity and uncertainty, there are opportunities and hope, as well as challenges, risk, and threat.The primary approach this Strategic Narrative advocates to achieve sustainable prosperity and security, is through the application of credible influence and strength, the pursuit of fair competition, acknowledgement of interdependencies and converging interests, and adaptation to complex, dynamic systems - all bounded by our national values.
Full Essay [2]
_______
newsforreal.com
[4] | 
[5] | 
[6] | 
[7] | 
[8] | 
[9] | 
[10]