Connecting the dots?

[Seascamp]

This seems to be the latest buzzword inside the belt way and it appears that all hands are dashing about shouting this new mantra. Perhaps rightfully so as our Fed agencies have simply got to get over all the old inhabitations and get with this new day and new challenge. Connecting old dots is not a particularly relevant task as much as figuring out what is going on right now, today. Are they up to the task? Well I?m not particularly optimistic as it will take a lot more than all the King?s horse and men to put that humpty dumpty back together again or together for the first time, depending upon opinion.

I can?t help but think of Vietnam, January 1968. There it was, a land area much smaller than the state of California, 500,000 US troops present and constantly patrolling, borders and inland mountain areas covered by Marine and Army recon units. Cross border areas covered by MACV-SOG. Coastal, estuary and river areas were covered by the USN. No fewer than two Carrier battle groups on station at any given time and dozens and dozens of DDs, DEs and smaller Navy craft always patrolling everything all the time. Then add an uncounted number of spook aircraft up with ECM, photo and infrared gear, not to mention the infamous McNamara?s E-wall. Add to this the largest CIA facility outside Langley, VA, and two matching equal sized South Vietnamese versions of the CIA. (Funny enough I suppose, but the second VN CIA reported to the then VN President and supposedly kept an eye on the first VN CIA.)

Then one dark night, up out of hidey-holes pop the rough equivalent of eight (8) light infantry divisions of VC and NVA and the whole place was ablaze from end to end. Big surprise and I really wonder about the ?dot connecting? that was supposed to be going at MACV and/or Siagon's CIA. TET 68 was on and any hope of finishing that war on US terms was over, there and then.

As time marches forth there was no dot connecting when 260 Marines got blown away in Lebanon and there was no dot connecting when the Cole got hit and 17 Sailors killed in the port of Aden. It seems to me that we have a bad habit of shooting the barer of bad news and therefore the vital dots get filed away to never see the light of day. Or alternatively, we ignore the dots for the purposes of political expediency.
I know, I know, I got an attitude and am a bit jaundiced about all this sort of thing but then the highest offices of the land are saying we are going to get hit again and again. I believe them I just hope they believe it them selves and get cracking about sorting out the dot connecting counter culture.

Fair seas, Bill