Mo-Tzu 2K9

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Mozi 2K9

 

 

During...discussion of The Art of War in [class], I learned about the ancient Chinese philosopher Mozi, and was intrigued by this:

 

...the Mohist community...functioned as an international rescue organization that dispatched members versed in the arts of defensive military techniques to the aid of small states under threat from military aggressors.

 

 

So basically, Mozi and company went around intervening in wars on the side of the just. This got me thinking about what I would do if I could raise my own military force and go Mozi-ing around the globe. Now, clearly, a force like this probably wouldn't be a good thing, and would probably end up causing more problems than it solved. But a blogger can dream...

 

For the purposes of this fantasy, I'm going to assume that:

 

a) My intervention force is pretty darned powerful and actually has the resources to make a significant impact on some of these conflicts and

 

b) The international public has an indifferent to positive view toward my intervention force. If I am simply going to start an anti-me insurgency everywhere I go then there probably wouldn't be much point in intervening.

 

So let's give this a try...

 

IRAQ-I would use my intervention force to take over the US advising mission so that the America could completely withdraw forces in 19 months and not have to keep residual forces in Iraq. Hopefully, my presence in Iraq would carry less baggage than that of the US, and the Americans could focus on Afghanistan and their domestic economic woes.

 

AFGHANISTAN-I would talk to General Petraeus and volunteer to use my force to either a) patrol the Af-Pak border to keep insurgents from escaping across or b) augment US force levels to better conduct COIN in Afghanistan, since, even with the Obama mini-surge, many analysts believe that more troops will be needed to conduct proper COIN.

 

PAKISTAN-I would offer to provide intelligence services in rooting out insurgents in FATA and Swat, since the ISI is incredibly unreliable and in bed with many of the more unseemly elements there.

 

SUDAN-I got nothin'. I can't really think of any use for my force here, other than perhaps augmenting the UNAMID peacekeeping force.

 

SOMALIA-Conduct COIN against Al-Shabab and try to peel off the more moderate elements of the insurgency. Work toward a power sharing agreement between these moderate elements and the transitional government. Resist Ethiopian influence in Somalia to prevent their attempts to weaken new government. Add ships from my navy to international anti-pirate effort and possibly provide equipment to merchant vessels to help resist pirates (electric rails? something to make the rails slippery? I dunno).

 

DRC/RWANDA/UGANDA-I would completely wipe out the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and the DRC and the FDLR in the DRC. Don't think I would even really need to use COIN, since there isn't much support for these groups.

 

MEXICO-Again, I got nothin'. Don't see a military solution to the drug wars.

 

CAUCASUS-This is interesting, since I think both sides messed up here. But I think Georgia is ultimately the more just side. I would chase the Russians out of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and encourage the Georgians to make them mostly autonomous. While the Georgians were assholes to the breakaway regions, that's no excuse for Russia's actions.

 

IRAN/N. KOREA-I would use my special operations capabilities to sabotage the nuclear programs in both of these states.

 

I give up. In conclusion, I don't think I'd be very good at the Mozi thing. This stuff's way too complicated. I started to think about some other problematic areas like Tibet, Kashmir, and Ukraine, but really had no idea how to solve these problems. Guess this enlightened private army stuff is going to have to be resigned to the annals of Chinese history.

 

 

NOTE: This is from a class blog post by me, but thought it might generate discussion here.

[dubq 0]

So you'd be kinda like GI Joe?

[Xavier Cromartie 0]

SOMALIA-Conduct COIN against Al-Shabab and try to peel off the more moderate elements of the insurgency. Work toward a power sharing agreement between these moderate elements and the transitional government. Resist Ethiopian influence in Somalia to prevent their attempts to weaken new government. Add ships from my navy to international anti-pirate effort and possibly provide equipment to merchant vessels to help resist pirates (electric rails? something to make the rails slippery? I dunno).

I disagree with your method here, but I praise you for having the intentions of ending violence in Somalia.

 

The noble and honorable people of Somalia will never have "an indifferent to positive view" of yet another foreign military intervention. Foreign intervention is not the solution to Somali problems; it is the major cause of them. The British, the Italians, the Belgians, the Americans, the Canadians, the Kenyans, the Ethiopians, and the Ugandans have all been self-interested entities who had no respect for the Somali people nor the interests of Somalia. The Somali people will never accept the great injustice of having their destiny imposed on them by a foreign power. Somalia has been, both figuratively and literally, raped and murdered by foreign invasions into their marvelous land.

 

Additionally, there is the issue of the foreign naval vessels in Somali waters. European countries illegally dump their nuclear waste on the Somali shoreline—killing thousands of fish, destroying the Somali environment, and causing sickness and death in Somali people. Myriad countries around the world—France, Japan, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Honduras, and Thailand, to name just a few—illegally yet brazenly trawl in Somali waters, costing the Somali fishermen US$300 million per year in lost potential earnings. What does the UN do about these crimes? Nothing. What does the UN do when the courageous fishermen decide to fight back and defend the culture, resources, and dignity of Somalia? The UN quickly authorizes international military action against these privateers.

 

Somalia needs to choose its own leaders, not have a horrible and weak entity like the TFG chosen for them. They need visionary and peaceful leaders who are not corrupted by greed and who reject clan-based politics. And so, no more warlords and no more 4.5 formula. And especially no more dishonorable traitors like former President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. More than anything, the Somali people need a government that can provide them with security, both domestically and from foreign forces. If that government rules in accordance with Sharia law, so be it, as long as it supports the culture (e.g., the xeer) and the legitimate interests of a united and peaceful Somali nation.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

While I agree that my blog post was a silly exercise, I disagree about piracy in Somalia. The pirates may be brave, but they're hardly noble. Trawling and dumping is a serious problem that should be addressed by the international community, but capturing cruise ships and oil tankers is not a legitimate response. Not to mention that they've slowed food relief, which is basically keeping a whole lot of Somalians from starving right now.

 

Pirates are, in general, in it for the money and power. And the money coming into Somalia through piracy is only going to enrich a few. Ransom money is also going to the extremist Al-Shabbab, which is a terrorist group (and this is coming from me, who thinks the overthrow of the ICU was dumb), whose victory would be a disaster for the country, and to otherwise finance the war there. While I understand the cost-benefit analysis of the average Somali pirate, piracy is hardly a net positive for the country.

 

And that's not even getting into the international costs of piracy. The UN was right to authorize attacks on pirates.

 

I pretty much agree with everything else you said, while I found it a little melodramatic. Although I'm not sure how American intervention in Somalia in the 90s was self-interested...

[Xavier Cromartie 0]

Your view of seafaring Somalis is understandable, I just favor the privateer interpretation. I've previously posted a sufficient amount of my thoughts about them.

 

I pretty much agree with everything else you said, while I found it a little melodramatic.

Somalia has been, both figuratively and literally, raped and murdered by foreign invasions into their marvelous land.

Italian troops systematically raped Somali women, Belgian troops burned Somali civilians on open fires, Canadian troops tortured and killed a Somali teenager, American troops killed ~1,500 Somalis in a span of 16 hours, Ugandan 'peacekeepers' killed Somali civilians, and Ethiopian troops raped and killed thousands of Somali civilians.

 

Although I'm not sure how American intervention in Somalia in the 90s was self-interested...

The food & medicine humanitarian intentions were good, but surely the Americans wanted to create a US-friendly government in Somalia, and Mohamed Farrah Aidid wasn't US-friendly. When I included America in the group of self-interested entities, I was thinking more of America's supplying weapons to Somalis when Somalia was a Soviet puppet, supplying warlords with funding to fight against the ICU, and, obviously, George W. Bush's usage of Ethiopian troops as his tools to remove the ICU.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I agree with all that. You the man.

[Xavier Cromartie 0]

Last night, I got an idea for a theoretical companion thread to my Somali Privateer thread. This one would be a daily account of foreign entities' disruption of Somalia. For example:

 

Somalia: AU Troops Wound Fisherman

"We were fishing about 40 miles south of the airport when Ugandan troops on small boats reached us they suddenly opened fire on our boats with out talking to us. One fisherman became injured and they destroyed our boat," said Hassan Mohamud Jiisow, a Somali fisherman.

 

"We thought they were peacekeepers but after this time we will consider them as enemies. We are not pirates we are fisherman who are chasing their daily bread in the sea," he added.

This space would be used for a paragraph in which I berate the non-Somali country.

 

Eventually, I'd hold a 'Foreign Countries That Have Fucked Somalia the Most' draft, and the United States would probably be the #1 pick, but I'd have to consider about five other countries for the #1 spot, too. I could probably go 4 rounds of 12 picks.

 

Anyway, I won't actually execute this idea.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

I'd read that thread.

[Guest Vitamin X]

so that the America

and the everywhere like such as?

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I make one grammatical mistake in my whole history of posting and you're there to harass me, you bastard.