Category: The Simon Tao

Winning the Peace (Ch. 3)

Past being prologue, it is not likely that either the Department of State or CIA is going to beat back the onslaught of Salafism. The intent here is to provide leadership with a notion of the type of Foreign Area Officer (FAO) required to develop and implement strategy. The current “strategy,” whatever it may be, … Continue reading Winning the Peace (Ch. 3) →

Winning the Peace (Ch. 2)

Anyone who believes that we are winning the so called “Global War on Terrorism” has not endured an airport screening lately. Winning the peace would mean that you could board a plane as stress free as you did before 9-11. No, what we see and feel in today’s America is not what peace looks like. … Continue reading Winning the Peace (Ch. 2) →

Winning the Peace Ch. 1 (AKA: Not Nation-Building Ch. 96)

I’ve had opportunity to work overseas with many of Uncle Sam’s alphabet soup agencies (DEA, CIA, DOS, USAID, etc.) and have generally been underwhelmed by their lack of foreign language skills and understanding of the local culture. On the other hand they are filled with lot of really intelligent people with advanced degrees who speak … Continue reading Winning the Peace Ch. 1 (AKA: Not Nation-Building Ch. 96) →

All US Military War Veterans Are Not Same-Same

It seems that some veterans want to create an impression that a veteran is a veteran is a veteran. Then there are guys like me who think combat arms veterans, in particular, have paid one hell of a lot more dues than the majority of vets, especially those we call rear echelon mother fuckers (REMF). … Continue reading All US Military War Veterans Are Not Same-Same →