Pakistan: Occupation by the Ephemeroptera

"We live among the walking dead here Tammy, potential victims of a suicide bomber lurking somewhere amongst us."

The above words came into my email today after a discussion with a professional friend from Pakistan regarding the concept of occupation forces.

While many journalists opine regarding American military forces on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan there is a distinct intellectual negation that other means of occupation exist within volatile regions of the world. It is an occupation brought about by politico-cultural milieu and the aspirations of those who concurrently wield the ability to trigger the imaginations of their followers.

In regard to Pakistan, the government is suffering under the occupation of those who embrace a world where a "day of wings" exists in which death ushers in eternal life. A promise of Paradise springs up as surely as the mayfly larvae make their way from streams of water to a world of brief flight.

The military boot does irrevocably effect the landscape where it is placed; sometimes for tremendous good, other times with mixed results. There is no disagreement on my part with my friend. This remains inescapable fact.

America has been completely thrashed up one side and down the other for her theaters of operation in a post 9/11 environment. Sadly, what has not received equal thrashing is the political and educational milieu within nations such as Pakistan which have allowed for the rise of the Ephemeroptera. Physical occupation is one thing. But psychological occupation leaves the footprint of a different animal, one which is much harder to remove. It is the mole in the ground, the blind animal which gains mimicry through the blinding of the God-given senses of Pakistani nationals who believe that rapid flight is attained on the wings of a well-executed suicide bombing.

(The blog will be dormant for 3-4 days while I organize a bit of research.)

Tammy Swofford

Afghanistan: Options with Limited Warranty

Life teaches many lessons. When faced with limited options it remains important to still make a choice, not wavering after the decision-making process is complete. Choose and move forward. Such is the task of my Commander-in-Chief as he considers the request for additional troops in Aghanistan.

In this case two options exist: increase troop strength or draw down the troops and bring them home. Maintaining the current level of operations shows indecisive leadership. Honor the request or refuse the request. But the request must be addressed.

Yes, we need an exit strategy for Afghanistan. President Barack Obama may mandate force augmentation. Even so it is possible to set in motion an exit strategy as additional forces are moved into the region. But the American people are deserving of a clear voice on this issue.

Folk wisdom requires that prior to a guest moving into the home a date of departure be established. "Aunt Suzy" cannot occupy the guest bedroom until she affirms that she will vacate the space on a subsequent agreed upon date.

The government of Afghanistan also needs to be able to mark the date at this point in time. Plans exist in a vacuum until coupled with a time element. Choose the option, set the date for goal completion, keep the foot in motion.

Troop augmentation or troop draw down? These are the options which exist within a limited time warranty.

Tammy Swofford

Stand up and Shout!

Business Week ran an article titled, "The Accidental Hero". The frame for the picture was wrong. The decision of Stuart Frankel, a Subway franchise owner to knock a dollar off the price of a sandwich to generate weekend sales was a calculated business decision. I would have titled the piece, "The Power of Ideas". This success story is one which is now being heralded and the reverberation is being felt across the marketplace. A decision to engage a malleable price structure to attract a larger consumer base paid off. It has allowed for economic growth within the food industry with a trickle down effect into other markets.

Government intrusion into the private sector is taking the testicles off the bull. Bureaucratic meddling brings castration. And once the kahunas are off the bull we can forget about the next generation of viable growth. When you read about President Barack Obama's appointment of "czars" to oversee industry repeat the word "Burdizzo" three times and then check your pulse.

It is good to remember that market surges can be born on the crest of the wave of just one damn good idea. May Stuart Frankel receive a huge bonus.... which the current administration will then Burdizzo away for the "greater good".

The Czar's Favorite Economic Tool

Business Week Article


Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Veteran's Day

One of my dearest personal friends is James McEachin. I also consider him a national treasure. His talent and advocacy for the American veteran community is well-known.

Old Glory

Voices


Have a blessed Veteran's Day!

Tammy Swofford

State of Mourning: Aftermath of Attack on Fort Hood

A morning headline greeted me as I powered up the laptop. The "Healer-in-Chief" was to visit Fort Hood.

President Barack Obama is the Commander-in-Chief. It is not his job to "heal" anymore than it is to serve as a community activist involving himself in petty police matters. But he is the Commander-in-Chief of a large active duty military with a vibrant reserve military backbone. Justice is the salve for the wound here. We will receive platitudes.

Healing will be hard for many in my community. A terror act visited upon a large Texas army base was the tactical end of the journey for a seed germinated within an ideological stream. That seed, germinated to produce a destructive murderous force against fellow American officers. Our ranks have been violated.

I remember the thrill of flying to Fort Hood in a Chinook, hearing the thunder of the tanks, and on another occasion a cold weather training evolution. Each training evolution increased my understanding of the need for a national shield.

I stop and reflect. In the Navy I am promised a response in three business days if a fellow officer slaps me on the rear, requests sexual favors or behaves in a manner unbecoming an officer. Apparently, protecting my female derriere is of great importance. The same mechanism was not in place to report through the chain of command complaints and concerns regarding a Muslim officer who justified suicide bombings and made seditious statements against his oath and his government.

I will leave you to reflect on the intelligence failure of the F.B.I. and the investigative branch of the Army. Dots connected. Dots ignored.

Tomorrow my spouse and I will attend a MOAA dinner. It will be little comfort to spend the evening with fellow officers. Families and friends, will be putting their soldiers into the ground.

LCDR Tammy Swofford, USNR, NC

Gestalt. Islam!

Nidal Malik Hasan: The oath

"Allahu Akbar! Ash-hadu an la ilaha illa-Allah. Ash-Hadu anna Muhammadan Rasul-ullah."

Allah is the Most Great.
I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

Gestalt. Islam!

"There is no other God but Allah. This beautiful phrase is the bedrock of Islam."
Abul a'la Mawdudi

The Qur'an has two dominant and dynamic algorithms: governance and war.

The algorithm for war is outpacing that of governance in certain regions. A farrago of "scholars" with romanticized thoughts lead the way. Jihad of the pen. And now, jihad of the internet. Message boards exhibit revolutionary zeal against the West. Cross worshippers. The "enemy" has been identified.

There exists a vibrant global Islamic ideological front. Thoughts precede action. These thoughts, vetted through an algorithm for war, provided for a terrible fratricidal assault on Fort Hood soldiers last week.

Gestalt. Islam!

Renegade pollination for the seeds of war are moving globally at rapid rate via an indoctrination process aided by 21st century communications applications.

Nidal Malik Hasan was not a "lone wolf" in the truest sense of the word. He is part of a greater passionate melange.

I detest the term "homegrown terrorist." The term supports a convenient political lie. American culture is not rapacious and we remain largely peaceful amongst ourselves. Our culture does not support suicide bombings or 9/11 events. Look elsewhere.

What grows in the mind may be "homegrown" but don't slap me around with concepts supportive of proxy victimization or guilt to be shouldered by the innocent for the accountability which squarely belongs on the shoulders of the perpetrator of acts such as the one at Fort Hood. I am too smart to swallow the pill.

I was at work when news of the attack broke. Friday night I waited.... I waited for an hour to meet with a Sunni lawyer, a man trained in Damascus. He was late. He had attended prayers at the area mosque. Seeking dialogue regarding the attack at Fort Hood, he was dismissive. "The man was probably a Shi'a Muslim."

Truth: Lack of moral clarity, rampant corruption and ineffective leadership in Muslim majority nations must be acknowledged and failures of Islam must be addressed. But the algorithm of war? Ask the soldiers at Fort Hood.

"Islam. It will be the most potent ideological geopolitical system of belief moving forward in powerful manner in the 21st century.... Caliphate. We scoff at the word. It is a term birthed in antiquity and discounted as distinct impossibility. Yet the concept of a world dominant government of Allah is something which has been swaddled through the centures in a neonate state. Islam has waited for a time such as this 21st century. The confines of a radical political ideology which has been nourished in secret observance and carried along since the seventh century has now been stripped of its bindings. America is walking into a historical timeline which will shake to the core our diplomats, top strategy analysts and leaders of government...."


Predictive Analysis of the Forward Movement of Islam in the West

(Based on the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad)

LCDR Tammy Swofford, USNR, NC

10 February 2008

Gestalt

DEFINITIONS:

Intellectual Battlespace: A term which I coined several years ago upon realization that I was functioning within a vibrant corridor of thought, previously unfamiliar to my Western mind.

ge·stalt or Ge·stalt (gə-shtält', -shtôlt', -stält', -stôlt') n. pl. ge·stalts or Ge·stalts or ge·stalt·en or Ge·stalt·en (-shtält'n, -shtôlt'n, -stält'n, -stôlt'n) A physical, biological, psychological, or symbolic configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that its properties cannot be derived from a simple summation of its parts.

Islam. There are approximately 1.3 billion Muslims across the globe. Before 9/11 I did not know they existed. Securing mentorship with a well-recognized Muslim scholar opened the door to me for additional relationships within the Muslim community. I have functioned within the Intellectual Battlespace for many years now. This is not a collateral duty in the Navy, nor is it research performed under any chain of command structure or for monetary reimbursement. I entered the ring, when women jumped from windows to their deaths on 9/11.

My work within the Intellectual Battlespace is contained within four briefs which examine different aspects of Islam and its impact on the West and a fifth brief, newly released, into the Occidental stream of thought. It was with quite a sense of urgency and working within a highly compressed time environment for both research and writing that the fifth brief was released in September. It resides within the hands of many influential Muslims, as well as within IB circles in the West. The briefs, in chronological order:

*Domestic Policy and Islam:
2006

*Tactical Islam: Crafting American Policy in the Middle East
2007

*Predictive Analysis of the Forward Movement of Islam in the West
(Based on the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad)
2008

*Rise as One Man: Islam in the 21st Century
2009

Al-Qai'da: Deconstruction of the Deen.
2009

These works represent my thoughts and personal opinion culled from hundreds of hours of reading and countless hours of mentorship and also personal dialogue with top Islamic scholars and lawyers.

Gestalt. Islam. How little is understood and tremendous lack of perception exists. I will allow you to tinker with the edges of my thoughts on Monday.

Soldiers are being prepared for burial and others are recovering from the wounds of an attack perpetrated by a American Muslim military officer who invoked the same oath of office which passed my own lips years ago.

Gestalt. Islam. Let's talk.

Tammy Swofford

Pick Your Cup of Tea

Jason Sigger

Anwaar Hussain

The Scholars of Deoband


Sites where I have posted comments this week.

Tammy Swofford

Attack on Fort Hood

Yes, I have trained at Fort Hood.

Yesterday, I was at NAS Fort Worth.

This hits me hard.

Suspect: Nidal Malik Hasan

*I refuse to honor him with his rank.

Some already proclaim this was not a "terror attack".

Tell that to the families of the 12 dead and 31 wounded.

News organizations are talking about "deployment stress".

No one cares to be straightforward with their thoughts.

The Jihad message boards are buzzing tonight.

My stomach is queasy.

A Muslim who drives a produce truck in America is posting this tonight:

"Attack on American base in U.S. - Allahu Akbar!"

We have a Muslim high school student doing a clinical rotation in my hospital unit. I spoke with him before he left for home tonight. I had waited for the release of the name of the suspect. Somehow the gut knew.

"Brace yourself, Hisham, it was a Muslim."

I remember an appeal I made on a Muslim message board months ago after Muslim men were apprehended for planning an attack on soldiers at Fort Dix.

I don't use the term "homegrown terrorist". The word is an invention.

What else I am reading on message boards tonight is better left off the blog.

My stomach is queasy.


LCDR Tammy Swofford, USNR, NC

Tammy Hacks up a Hairball Against Home Depot

Confession is good for the soul. I admit it. I engaged deceptive journalism. A friend sent along her letter to Home Depot chiding them for firing Trevor Keezer for wearing a pin which stated, "One Nation, Under God, Indivisible". I decided to sing with the choir as she had forwarded her note to all the addresses in her contact list. I again forwarded her email to Home Depot and hacked up a hairball. It was gut-wrenching drama. Naturally, I received what I wanted in return: their response to the public regarding this issue.

Here is one of several interview videos of Trevor Keezer.

I have apologized to Home Depot for my journalistic deception and wish to address this issue one more time in an additional blog post. Let me share my personal conviction on society and human liberty. But for now, take a moment and read the response from Home Depot.

"Thank you for your email regarding the associate we terminated for wearing an unapproved button. We want to clarify a few things. His lawyer has alleged, and some parts of the media have reported, that we fired this associate for being patriotic and religious.

So to set the record straight: We don’t fire people for being religious or patriotic.

This particular associate was given multiple opportunities to find an alternate way of expressing his religious and patriotic beliefs consistent with our company policy. He chose not to. And it is not true that he wore his button for over a year and only encountered an issue when he brought his Bible to work.

We have a long-standing policy that only company-provided pins and badges can be worn on our aprons. With 300,000 associates, we have to have consistent rules rather than getting into store-by-store debates about what is appropriate.

Again, we appreciate your input. We take comments like yours seriously and we thank you for taking the time to read our note back to you."

Customer Care Department: Home Depot

Restrained Liberty

Benchmarks of civilization are flourishing arts and sciences, mathematics and literature. But survival of any given civilization is dependent on social cohesion. It is an intangible yet necessary element for societal integrity. A nation is best guarded by an understanding of the merits of restrained liberty. Without this mechanism in play, a Balkanization occurs.

I love liberty. But I cherish restrained liberty the most. Liberty without restraint is anarchy. Our forefathers understood this concept. While we are guaranteed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a Constitution is also set into place and provision for balance of power within the three branches of government has been made. It is a government built upon a concept of restrained liberty.

Within the family, the smallest representative unit of society, restrained liberty is exemplified. As a man and woman enter the marriage covenant it is with an acknowledgement that the marital bond allows them a restrained liberty: human sexuality. Marital cohesion whether enjoyed or endured (smile) is meant to curb rampant sexual promiscuity.

Children enter the picture. They also enjoy restrained liberty. As parental boundaries and training ensue throughout the formative years it is hoped the generation which is coming of age will in turn produce the next generation to sustain society.

Education employs use of restrained liberty. I am most appreciative for the restraints on my liberty while I pursued a university education. These years allowed for a maturation process as I spent endless hours with my nose buried within the books of the university library.

As young adults enter the job market they encounter a new level of restrained liberty. The relationship between employer and employee, and coworkers is a restrained environment. If each chooses to do what is right in his own eyes surely no two of us will agree with each other. Hence, the need for those dreaded rules and policies.

Having not been present when Trevor Keezer took his stand to wear his religio/patriotic pin on his Home Depot apron, I cannot be certain regarding the sequence of events. Had he worn it for months without a complaint? Did he feel that his new routine of bringing a Bible to work had something to do with being asked to remove his pin? I don't know. Was there a new manager who wished to bring employees into compliance with company policy or was Trevor being too zealous about his faith during work hours?

But for society to work properly there are times where we all just grit our teeth and fall in line with a "Yes, Sir!" and a smile on our face. I have done it before. It is because I cherish restrained liberty. And it is because I love America.

Tammy Swofford


tammyswofford@yahoo.com

Victorious Karzai Vows to Tackle Himself

Yeah, yeah. The headline was really this:

"Victorious Karzai vows to Tackle Corruption"

What came to mind immediately when I read the headline was the comment by a former boss when an employee put us in a cluster. She stated, "There is immediate responsibility and there is ultimate responsibility. I will deal with the immediate responsibility of the employee action, but I take the ultimate responsibility for the mistake because I am the boss." My respect went up tremendously for this particular nurse manager as she explained her role in rectifying a wrong.

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Let me take a moment and familiarize you with a passage from one of my favorite books, "The Yacoubian Building":

El Fouli asked his helpers for pen and paper. Then he started to draw and for a few moments was so absorbed in his task that Hagg Azzam thought that something was wrong. El Fouli soon finished, however, and turned the piece of paper toward Azzam, who was astonished to see that the drawing represented a large rabbit. He said nothing for a moment, and then asked in an amicable way, "I don't understand what you mean, Your Excellency."

El Fouli answered quickly, "You want to guarantee your success in the elections, and you're asking what's needed."

"A whole 'rabbit'? A million pounds, Kamal Bey? That's a huge amount!"

Azzam had been expecting the amount but preferred to bargain, just in case. El Fouli said, "Listen, Hagg, as God is my witness.... (Here all present repeated, "There is no god but God.")

".... in constituencies smaller than Kasr el Nil I take a million and a half, two million, and my son Yasser is standing here in front of you and he can tell you. But I love you, I swear to God, Hagg, and I really want you with us in the assembly. Plus I don't take all that for myself. I'm just the postman- I take from you and deliver to others, and a nod's as good as a wink."

Hagg Azzam put on a show of uneasiness for a moment, then asked, "You mean, if I pay that sum, Kamal Bey, I'll be sure of winning the elections, God willing?"

"Shame on you, Hagg! Your talking to Kamal el Fouli! Thirty years experience in parliament! There's not a candidate in Egypt can win without our say-so, God willing!"

Alaa Al Aswany, The Yacoubian Building, The American University in Cairo Press, English translation copyright 2004 by Humphrey Davies, pp. 83,84

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The Yacoubian Building is an excellent reading selection, and I also recommend the film version. And may President-for-Life Karzai not spend too much time drawing rabbits.



Tammy Swofford

tammyswofford@yahoo.com