got geoint?

Last week, President Obama issued the 2010 National Security Strategy, which outlines the administration’s strategic approach and priorities for advancing American interests. Now that many of the pundits have had a week to digest the document, many are coming out questioning the validity of the NSS. Washington Post Op-Ed columnist Michael Gerson chides the administration for trying to tie in healthcare reform and infrastructure redevelopment into the NSS. According to Robert Maginnis of Human Events, the NSS “dangerously shifts our military’s focus from counterterrorism to nation building and subordinates aspects of our foreign policy to international organizations like the United Nations.” And, the National Review did a post about the “sins of omission” of the NSS — meaning it full of platitudes and “self delusion.” All interesting commentary. We would welcome your thoughts on the NSS. Is it the right strategy we need for these ever-changing times? Please provide all thoughts and insights!

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The U.S. military has access to the world’s best topographic maps. It is now trying to build “culture maps” that include details such as a region’s tribal affiliations, ethnicity, religion and language. The commander of U.S. Central Command, Army Gen. David Petraeus, in a number of speeches has repeatedly said that “human terrain” is the decisive element in counterinsurgency operations. “His remarks have had a rippling effect across the intelligence community,” said Jesse Wilson, who works at the command’s Afghanistan Pakistan Intelligence Center of Excellence. Officials there are pairing human terrain analysts with traditional intelligence teams. Traditional intelligence, based upon satellite and aircraft imagery of the geophysical environment, worked well in past wars where open battle spaces far removed from civilians were the norm. Commanders needed to know the lay of the land in order to attack the opposing force. But in current conflicts, they are relying upon soldier interactions with the local people to gather information. Check out the full article from the NDIA’s National Defense Magazine here.

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