I want to express my sincere condolences to the friends, and family of Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford. The former president passed away on Tuesday.

Often regarded as the "accidental president" Very few hve been so uniguely matched to the time during which they served. His service as president, and before that in Congress, and the U.S. Navy will continue to be appreciated.

EDITORS NOTE: THIS SHORT PIECE IS FROM THE GLOBAL AMERICAN SERIES BY MICHAEL FJETLAND. MICHAEL HAS SEVERAL YEARS EXEPERIENCE NEGOTIATING IN THE MIDDLE EAST FOR LARGE CORPORATIONS. HE HAS IN FACT NEGOTIATED THE RELEASE OF HOSTAGES FROM SOME OF THE SAME GROUPS WE ARE CONCERNED WITH IN THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR. FOR MORE ON MICHAEL VISIT HIS WEBSITE ATMichaelFjetland.com

Colin Powell said a shocker today on the morning talk show -- we
are losing in Iraq. He also said that it is still "winnable" but not
by doing the same old thing.

If Powell says it, pay attention. He produced the successful
first Gulf War. Senator McCain argues for more troops; Powell says
they won't help at this point. It's a battle of the titans. So what
is the answer?

Simple. The billions we spend gassing up our SUV's also finance
Iran's nuclear ambitions. Stolen Iraqi oil is helping finance the
insurgency. The Saudis are using petro-billions to fund Saddam's Sunnis in Iraq those responsible for starting the insurgency that has killed nearly 3,000 American troops. Russia's Putin is using his oil power as a sledgehammer on democracy and his opponents. Venezuela's Chavez uses his oil wealth to help Cuba's Castro. We have to get energy independence from the power of the "big five" oil producers – Russia, Iraq, Iran, Saudi and Venezuela.

The U.S. is wearing out its military equipment and troops on
repeated tours of duty in Iraq. Meanwhile, India and China are becoming economic giants. They are raking up billions of our dollars in surplus funds. South Asia is replacing our factories and service sectors as our soaring budget and trade deficits finance Middle East oil monarchs, whose money, missiles and mayhem are making us less
secure. We cannot continue this trend without dire consequences for our country and our childrens' future.

The military is testing a new fuel for B-52's that uses a
substitute for kerosene. We need more hybrid vehicles, biofuel, ethanol,hydrogen, electric, wind, solar power -- and higher vehicle
mileage standards. We need to develop fusion nuclear power which doesn't produce weapons fuel as a byproduct. Our oil addiction is
financing the development of dangerous technologies that could be used against us as well as Europe and even Asia. Oil companies would be wise to invest in these future energy producers as part of their 21st century business strategy.

Until we are a country (and world) that runs more on alternative
fuels and less on oil, the next "mushroom cloud" we see could be the
one financed by our oil addiction. We may not be able to save Iraq
but we can save ourselves by becoming energy independent.

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2006 - "Learn" and "adapt" are the key
messages of the new Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field
Manual, which just hit the streets.

The Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24 and Marine Corps
Warfighting Publication 3-33.5, is a unique joint effort between
the Army and Marines to put in place doctrine to help operators as
they face the challenges of asymmetric warfare.

The manual codifies an important lesson of insurgencies: it
takes more than the military to win. "There are more than just
lethal operations involved in a counterinsurgency campaign," said
Conrad Crane, director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute,
in Carlisle, Pa., and one of the leaders of the effort.

He said the team working on the manual decided early on to
emphasize the interagency aspect of counterinsurgency fights. "The
military is only one piece of the puzzle," Crane said. "To be
successful in a counterinsurgency, you have to get contributions
from a lot of different agencies, international organizations,
non-governmental organizations and host-nation organizations. There
are so many people involved to make counterinsurgency
successful."

All of these organizations bring important weapons to the
campaign, "and you've got to bring unity of effort if you can to make it effective," he said.

Lt. Col. Lance McDaniel, a branch head at the Marine Corps
Combat Development Center at Quantico, Va., said the manual is aimed
at battalion-level officers and NCOs, but felt that all who read
it could gain some insight into the difficulties of a counterinsurgency war. "We see this being part of the pre-deployment
training units undergo," McDaniel said. "Once on the ground they can
adapt the ideas from the manual to their particular location and
enemy."

The Army and Marine Corps have shared field manuals in the past,
but this is the first on which the two services worked closely
to write, both Crane and McDaniel said. "This was a real team
effort of Army and Marine writers," Crane said. "What I tell people
is we had about 20 primary writers on the manual and about
600,000 editors."

Crane said many soldiers and Marines commented on the manual and
provided input to the final product. "We received more than
1,000 comments from people actually doing the mission," he said.

But it didn't stop with military feedback. State Department
employees, CIA officials, academic experts and representatives of
the international human rights community contributed insights to
the manual, McDaniel said. "I hope the publication will make it
easier for other agencies and organizations to work with us," he
said.

Chapter 4, a discussion on Campaign Design, is a unique aspect
of the manual. "The Marines brought that to the manual," Crane
said.

Before beginning a campaign, planners must identify the problem
that needs solving, then be ready to change the plan as conditions change on the ground, Crane said. "In counterinsurgency, that is so important because it is a complex situation," he said.

A counterinsurgency campaign is much more complex than a
traditional military-on-military conflict. The make-up of the
community, the needs of the various groups, the history of the area,
traditional allies in the region, and many other things contribute
to understanding how to design a counterinsurgency campaign. "It
takes a lot more analysis before you jump into it, because if
you do the wrong thing, it could have major implications," Crane
said. "You have to be sure you are applying the right solution to
the right problem."

Crane said the idea of campaign design will probably permeate
other Army field manuals.

The new counterinsurgency manual uses examples from fighting in
Afghanistan and Iraq, but also uses examples from the Napoleonic
War, the U.S. experience in Vietnam, and counterinsurgency
efforts in the Philippines, Malaya (now Malaysia) and South America.

Crane and McDaniel agree that insurgencies are the wars of the
future. The idea of a nation taking on the United States army to
army or navy to navy is remote, given the U.S. conventional
expertise. "Enemies will make us fight these kinds of wars until we
get them right," Crane said. "Then they'll switch."

The manual is informed by Afghanistan and Iraq, but also
informed by history, Crane said. "We tried to glean what was useful
from the historical record, but also with the realization that
there are a lot of things that are new out there, Crane said.
"Trying to grapple with the nature of contemporary insurgency was one of the toughest parts of writing it."

The manual is not limited to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"If we've created a manual that is just good for Iraq and
Afghanistan, we've failed," he said. "This thing has got to be focused on the future and the next time we do this."

The manual is going to be useful in Iraq and Afghanistan, but
much of what the manual covers is already being done in those
theaters. "The manual is future-focused," Crane said. "The manual
gives you the tools to do your analysis and the guidelines to
apply it with the understanding that every situation is going to be
unique."

It also will be rewritten, as needed, the men said.

Both men said the manual is receiving a good reception. "This is
not a doctrine that is being jammed down peoples' throats,"
Crane said." This is a doctrine that they are demanding."

THE FOLLOWING IS THE TEXT OF AN OFFICIAL NEWS RELASE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

WASHINGTON - The Department of Homeland Security issued today a notice of proposed rulemaking to vastly strengthen the security of the nation's rail systems in the highest threat urban areas. The proposed rule is part of a package of new security measures that will require freight rail carriers to ensure 100 percent positive hand-off of Toxic Inhalation Hazard (TIH) materials, establish security protocols for custody transfers of TIH rail cars in the high threat urban areas, and appoint a rail security coordinator to share information with the federal government, as well as formalizing the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) freight and passenger rail inspection authority.

“A toxic emission from an attack against a chemical facility or hazardous chemicals in transit is among the most serious risks facing America's highest threat areas,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “We're going to take a significant percentage of that risk off the table.”

The freight rail industry has already begun to implement several key security measures, such as tracking and substantially reducing the standstill time for unattended freight cars transporting TIH materials in high threat urban areas, developing site-specific security plans with access controls, and providing security training for employees. Using industry data, TSA will create a tracking system that will allow the federal government to determine the location of rail cars carrying TIH materials within minutes.

Once finalized, the proposed rule will address the transport of TIH materials by rail, from start to finish, including predictable standstill points and unpredictable stops during shipment. TIH materials, which are potentially harmful but essential chemicals like chlorine or anhydrous ammonia, represent less than 1 percent of all rail shipments. In addition to this proposed rule, the Department of Transportation is introducing a proposed regulation that will require railroads to analyze safety and security concerns when determining the route for a freight train carrying certain types of hazardous materials.

TSA has the authority to impose up to $10,000 in fines per security violation, per day.

TSA's proposed rule is available at www.tsa.gov. It will be posted to the Federal Register on Dec. 21, and it will be open for public comment for 60 days.

The Emergency Information Infastructure Partnership (EIIP) held a live online chat on emergency responder credentialing on December 13th. The transcript has just been posted online. The "guest speaker for the event was Frank Disimino of the Standards and Compliance Branch at the FEMA NIMS Integration Center. The discussion centered on the developing requirements for emergency medical personnel. EMS Working Group at the NIMS Integration Center has identified 19 positions that are likely to be requested in a multi-state response. They are currentlt reviewing comment from around the country, and finalizing definitions and baseline qualifications for these 19 positions.

Among other topics there was discussion of how to handle international volunteers. This is a particular issue in border states of course. Discussion here centered around the NIMS Integration Center Requirement that persons being credentialed hold a valid social security number. The justification for this requirement is identity verification.

This brief chat makes for reasonably interesting reading. At a minimum it gives us a good snapshot of how the integration center is going about the process of developing a common set of nationwide standards.