Inside Tad's Mind

In my last post, I discussed the strategic ramifications of Donald Trump's proposal to halt all Muslim travel to the U.S. A good friend of mine asked, quite reasonably, how I would propose to protect Americans from terrorist attacks on American soil. Another good friend pointed out in a separate Facebook post that Reagan and Obama have both proclaimed bans on certain people entering the U.S., giving Trump's plan the appearance of precedent. These questions give rise to an analysis of the tactical measures available to combat terrorism, either here in the US or in any country. First, let us look at the nature of recent terrorist attacks. Wikipedia has a list of all "Islamist" terrorist attacks going back to November 11, 1982.  The most recent in the US is the San Bernardino shooting, which claimed the lives of 14 Americans at a holiday party on December 2. On November 13, 137 people were killed and 368 wounded in a series of coordinated attacks in Paris.  These two ...

Donald Trump today called for a "complete shutdown" of Muslim travel to the US.  While I can appreciate the emotional appeal of Mr. Trump's statement, it is nevertheless frightening. It is clear that Mr. Trump has no understanding whatsoever of the nature of the conflict or how to combat it. His audience can be forgiven for not understanding the military relevance of such a move. It is not forgivable in a presidential candidate-- It marks him as singularly unqualified to become "Commander-in-Chief." It is a well know maxim that, in war, one must know one's enemy. It follows from that maxim that one must also know what the enemy's objectives are. Since Mr. Trump's comments play into the hand of he enemy and could very well hand the enemy victory, it is very clear that Mr. Trump doesn't understand the situation. Either he underestimates the threat, or he doesn't understand why it's a threat.  Lets see if we can get to know our enemy a b...