03-21-2003, 12:26 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-21-2003, 12:37 AM by Occhidiangela.)
I have been looking for that word in my memory for three days.
It is a Russian word that we Americans might translate as "deception" or "grand deception."
I bring this up for the following reason. The Deception Plan. It is doctrine.
Sec Def Rumsfeld was heard to tell the media today, "you don't know our plan, and I am glad that you don't know our plan." Doubtless the usual grin accompanied this quip. (Some think he enjoys the game of media baiting too much.)
That little snippet floored me, and reminded me, for reasons unknown beyond caffeine deprivation, of that Russian term.
No Soviet Op Plan of any merit was absent maskirovka (if I spelt it wrong, please blast me, I cant find my old notes. Lost in a move, methinks.) The American Army in particular has a doctrine that virtualy requires any plan of significance to have a "grand deception" as an element. It is not an option, unless things are just too danmed easy, which in this modern world is not often. Self deception, ala Somalia or Vietnam, is of course common currency.
Is the immensely touted Shock and Awe Buzz Word Du Jour an enormous exercise in maskirovka? Is it merely an element of psychological warfare? Is it, to paraphrase a Styx album title, a Grand Illusion?
The Iraqi's are fully aware that US and friends can wreak massive havoc and destruction at will. The capability is simply there. Given 1991, they can credibly believe that we not only can, but with a seemingly simple minded leader in charge, will. Appearances are the key element in any sleight of hand, ask any stage magician.
Is Secretary Rumsfeld that clever?
What your post triggered in my Scotch enhanced brain this afternoon, as the kids played on the trampoline (Eureka moments know no bounds, even to a spotter!) was the inverse application of that thought: what if the liberals were right, and the deception was internal, not external? What if the deception plan is about two years old?
Jesus wept, I hope that thought is wrong. I had always thought that Pres Bush is, even if not an elegant orator, a man with his heart in the right place. If that thought is right, per your own misgivings, then Tricky D!ck Nixon was an amatuer. :o
It is a Russian word that we Americans might translate as "deception" or "grand deception."
I bring this up for the following reason. The Deception Plan. It is doctrine.
Sec Def Rumsfeld was heard to tell the media today, "you don't know our plan, and I am glad that you don't know our plan." Doubtless the usual grin accompanied this quip. (Some think he enjoys the game of media baiting too much.)
That little snippet floored me, and reminded me, for reasons unknown beyond caffeine deprivation, of that Russian term.
No Soviet Op Plan of any merit was absent maskirovka (if I spelt it wrong, please blast me, I cant find my old notes. Lost in a move, methinks.) The American Army in particular has a doctrine that virtualy requires any plan of significance to have a "grand deception" as an element. It is not an option, unless things are just too danmed easy, which in this modern world is not often. Self deception, ala Somalia or Vietnam, is of course common currency.
Is the immensely touted Shock and Awe Buzz Word Du Jour an enormous exercise in maskirovka? Is it merely an element of psychological warfare? Is it, to paraphrase a Styx album title, a Grand Illusion?
The Iraqi's are fully aware that US and friends can wreak massive havoc and destruction at will. The capability is simply there. Given 1991, they can credibly believe that we not only can, but with a seemingly simple minded leader in charge, will. Appearances are the key element in any sleight of hand, ask any stage magician.
Is Secretary Rumsfeld that clever?
What your post triggered in my Scotch enhanced brain this afternoon, as the kids played on the trampoline (Eureka moments know no bounds, even to a spotter!) was the inverse application of that thought: what if the liberals were right, and the deception was internal, not external? What if the deception plan is about two years old?
Jesus wept, I hope that thought is wrong. I had always thought that Pres Bush is, even if not an elegant orator, a man with his heart in the right place. If that thought is right, per your own misgivings, then Tricky D!ck Nixon was an amatuer. :o
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete