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Showing posts with label report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label report. Show all posts

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Syria residents Surveyed - Know the Facts !

Full Article is HERE

The report was developed by interviewing citizens in Aleppo, Syria on a monthly basis. It is a street block by street block analysis.

The citizens were asked a variety of questions such as:
Who do you think is the legitimate representative of the Syrian people?
Who provides security?
Where do people turn to settle their disputes, or in the event of a crime or theft?
Who controls the checkpoints?
How restrictive are the checkpoints?
How often do you let your children out of the home?
How frequent are crimes?
The report also focuses on:
Location of check points and road blocks
Location of bakeries
Price of bread
Access to electricity
I am currently still reviewing the report, and I will be writing several articles/blog posts with summaries, findings, and links to additional sources of reliable information/data regarding Syria.
So far I can state a few things in regards to Aleppo and Syria:
  1. The center of Aleppo was not rebelling against the regime, so the rebels took the fight to those areas. The center of the city is now the most fought over and the residents movement is now very restrictive.
  2. Regime forces control about 45% of Aleppo. The Syrian Air Force Intelligence oversees regime-controlled areas away from the front lines. The Republican Guard is deployed to protect some of Aleppo’s most tense front lines.
  3. Bread in regime held areas is about 1/3rd to 1/5th the cost compared to rebel held areas.
  4. 40% of the people feel that “no one” represents them,
  5. Al Qaeda-affiliates remain strong in Aleppo. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS controls 1/3rd of all opposition held neighborhoods. Their checkpoints are the most restrictive and........ READ MORE HERE 
Dr. David Kilcullen and Mr. Nate Rosenblatt of Caerus Associates who will provide a briefing on findings from what may be the most detailed, publicly available assessment of the ongoing conflict in Syria to date.

Findings are based on four months of in-depth, time-series research from within Aleppo, Syria’s largest, most diverse, and most economically relevant city. Today, Aleppo is one of the most divided cities in the country. Tomorrow, its future may resemble that of other, large, non-capital cities in post-conflict Middle Eastern states such as Libya’s Benghazi or Iraq’s Mosul.

Video Link HERE

Friday, November 23, 2007

Air Power in the New Counterinsurgency Era

The Strategic Importance of USAF Advisory and Assistance Missions


 

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG509.pdf

This technical report (MG-509-AF) was published by The RAND Corporation in 2006 and was written by Alan J. Vick, Adam Grissom, William Rosenau, Beth Grill and Karl P. Mueller. Often treated by Americans as an exceptional form of warfare, insurgency is anything but. Spanning the globe, centuries, and societies, insurgency is quite common. Given the threat insurgency presents to U.S. interests and allies around the world, the importance of counterinsurgency is no surprise. However, history has shown that insurgencies are rarely defeated by outside powers. Rather, the best role for outsiders is an indirect one: training, advising, and equipping the local nation, which must win the war politically and militarily. And while counterinsurgency might seem to be a task most suited to ground forces, air power has much to contribute. These facts combine to suggest that advising, training, and equipping partner air forces will be a key component of U.S. counterinsurgency efforts worldwide. The authors note that, if the Air Force is to participate in these tasks, it will need to make counterinsurgency an institutional priority, developing the capabilities of its personnel both as advisors and trainers and as combatants, as well as developing the necessary institutional support structures. [Taken from abstract]. This is a PDF file, so Adobe Acrobat software will be required in order to read it.

http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2006/RAND_MG509.pdf

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Afghanistan : Reconstituting a Collapsed State

This is the full text pdf version of a Strategic Studies Institute monograph published in April 2005 and written by Raymond A. Millen. It looks at the reconstruction of Afghanistan following Operation Enduring Freedom, the role of warlords in impeding Afghanistan's revival and examines strategies for post conflict operations and counterinsurgency.

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Recommended reading (recommended by David Kilcullen - Australian Counter Insurgency Expert)
Stephen Hosmer

http://www.rand.org/pubs/authors/h/hosmer_stephen.html

 

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Petraeus troop withdrawal plans

WASHINGTON - The top U.S. general in Iraq outlined plans Monday for the withdrawal of as many as 30,000 troops by next summer, drawing praise from the White House but a chilly reception from anti-war Democrats.

Gen. David Petraeus said a 2,000-member Marine unit would return home this month without replacement in the first sizable cut since a 2003 U.S-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein and unleashed sectarian violence.

Further "force reductions will continue," he told a nationally televised congressional hearing that was frequently interrupted by anti-war protesters.

Petraeus said it would be "premature to make recommendations on the pace," and he recommended that President Bush wait until March 2008 to make any decisions.

The cuts he outlined would return the U.S. force appoximately to levels in place when Bush ordered a buildup last winter to allow the Iraqi government time to forge a reconciliation among feuding factions.

Click Here for complete Article

Off the Wires

INDEPENDENT COMMISSION IRAQ

SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

Public Law 110-28 directed the entity created by §1314 (e) (2) of that Act to make its report to

the following committees of Congress:

Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate
Committee on Armed Services, United States House of Representatives
Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate
Committee on Foreign Affairs, United States House of Representatives
Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate
Committee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives
Select Committee on Intelligence, United States Senate
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, United States

House of Representatives

Dear Chairmen and Ranking Members:
As you know, Public Law 110-28, enacted on May 25, 2007, commissioned an independent private entity made up of individuals with credentials and expertise in military and law enforcement matters to conduct an independent assessment of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). This report is to be submitted to the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services, Appropriations, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations/Affairs within 120 days of enactment. As members of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq we are pleased to submit, within the statutory timeline, our findings and recommendations in the attached report.

Click here for the PDF report

Iraq Update 2 - September 10, 2007

I have been listening to various sources that seem to have some further intel. on what the Petraeus Report and the Government Report will have to say on the effectivness on the Surge, to date. When the final reports are submitted and made public I will try and get the PDF, Audio and video links from various sources.

I had mentioned previously that the Iraqi police have been seen as curupt and I have more recently found out that the major problems are with the National police, which appears to be still highly secterian and ineffective. The National police at this point in time can not travel far from Baghdad. This should be of a major topic and I look forawrd to General Petreaus's view of this and his recommendations. The National Police is about 30,000 men and the other police forces make up approx. 200,000 men. The Iraqi army has been hailed on both sides and is doing great.

U.S. Military Rejects Call To Disband Iraqi Police - Click Here
Ann Scott Tyson and Glenn Kessler. Washington Post, 07 September 2007. (See Independent Commission report).

SAD NOTE ABOUT SAG

I just sat and spoke for a short time with a friend of mine in SAG (Screen Actors Guild). I haven't seen him in a long time maybe a few years. When I told him about my blog and some of the things I do now he asked what I thought about tower 7. lol, well my first response was "what is the buzz on the set" (movie sets). So after speaking for a while it is my view that it appears he has fallen into the grip of the SAG View, with all it's conspiracy theorys, and over the top Hollywood dogma.

Until we confront the ignorance it will continue to inhibit our future efforts, on the home front and overseas. - Ian Bach.