Update: for more current information about the Texas killings, see Update about the killings in Texas, perhaps another crack in an Army near the breaking point.
This problem has deep roots, which the military knows and has taken steps to address. To learn about this, please see the following from the FM reference page: An Army near the Breaking Point – studies & reports, section I — Articles about the Army’s fitness, and the mental and physical fitness of its people:
News and DoD reports:
- “Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence“, Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence, 28 February 2001 — Last report of the 3 year project.
- “U.S. Army Isn’t Broken After All, Military Experts Say“, Fox News, 19 March 2008. This provides data suggesting that the US Army is in better shape than many believe. Of special note are the data they show in these nine charts.
- “Military check-up time“, Michael O’Hanlon, Washington Times, 4 May 2008 — O’Hanlon presents data that refutes widely held perception that the Army is breaking under the strain of the long war.
- “Reagan and the draft“, Lawrence Korb, Washington Times, 16 May 2008 — A powerful rebuttal to Michael O’Hanlon’s Washington Times article of 4 May.
- “Invisible Wounds of War“, RAND (2008) — “Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery”
- “America’s Medicated Army“, Time, 5 June 2008 — About the growing use of anti-depressants by US army personnel. Also see my post about this article.
- “Prescription Drugs and the U.S. Military — The War…on Drugs“, Melody Petersen, Men’s Health magazine, current issue (undated) — “Our Military is fielding one of the most heavily medicated fighting forces in the history of war. Our soldiers aren’t just fighting our enemies, they’re often also fighting their prescriptions.”
- “Alcohol abuse by GIs soars since ‘03“, USA Today, 19 June 2009
Posts on the FM website, mostly about DoD reports:
- 28 Articles: a guide to a successful insurgency against America, 7 May 2007 — About harassment and rape of women soldiers.
- “VA testing drugs on war veterans” – The Washington Times and ABC News, 18 June 2008
- Is post-traumatic stress disorder more common now than in past wars?, 17 July 2008
- Suicides skyrocket among US soliders, 26 March 2009
- Background info to the “U.S. Soldier Opens Fire on Comrades” incident, 12 May 2009
- Did exposure to “burn pits” in Iraq and Afghanistan harm our troops?, 1 July 2009
- Another important story about out army nearing the breaking point, 28 July 2009 — about the Ft Carson killings.
An update — summary of the above
The 15 articles listed above discuss the following subjects:
- Domestic violence, rape (2)
- Is the military breaking? (3; two yes, one no)
- Psychological and head injuries (3; only 1 is exclusively about PSTD)
- Excessive prescription of drugs by DoD (2)
- Alcohol abuse (1)
- VA testing drugs on soldiers (2)
- Incidents of violence (2)
Afterword
Please share your comments by posting below. Per the FM site’s Comment Policy, please make them brief (250 word max), civil and relevant to this post. Or email me at fabmaximus at hotmail dot com (note the spam-protected spelling).
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Your very nice PC argument seems to break down in light of the fact this Moslem convert has never been in a battle zone.
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FM note: Your comment makes no sense. This post gives facts about incidents (e.g., domestic violence, over-medication, chemical exposure) and DoD reports about those incidents. It is described as a “reference page” giving “background.” There is zero analysis. What is this “PC argument” you refer to?
Never in a war zone AND evidently posting pro-suicide bomber nonsense on a blog. Your theory doesn’t hold water.
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FM reply: What theory is that? This post refers only to new stories and DoD reports. With which do you disagree? I give no comment or analysis.
This is not about PTSD. He’s never been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. However, from the details so far he’s had issues for quite some time and should have been discharged years ago.
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FM reply: Apparently so. It also not about domestic violence, over-medication, or the other things listed in this post. It might result from a new problem, which is certainly not good news for our already over-stressed military.
Rather than engage in Mulder & Scully cigarette man conspiracy associated with Saddam-era spooky alien chemical weapon burn pits and soldiers taking alien dope pills causing soldiers to slowly go crazy; how about the simple explanation?
The Ft Hood shooter is/was a ‘lone gunman’ who went nuts. Signing off for now. They want me back at the mothership ;-);-);-)
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FM reply: If this was a one-time event, your “simple explanation” would be appropriate. Since there is a name for this — SHS — we see that it is not a one-time event, and hence not so simple.
“This problem has deep roots, which the military knows and has taken steps to address.”
The narrative you and the MSNBC crowd would prefer is a two-war stress on the military when the truth is jihadist ideology. At what university was multiculti thinking drummed into your head?
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FM reply: If we are experiecing an substantial number of servicepeople adopting Jihadist ideology, that would be a new source of stress resulting from our wars. I don’t see your point.
The investigation is just beginning. All first reports are almost always wrong. FM is simply offering some food for thought.
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FM reply: Yes. This is just another bead on a chain. Previous incidents and DoD reports provide valuable context to such events. Insights from people like Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, Marine Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Hernandez, and others help us to understand what’s happening.
My comment #5: “The Ft Hood shooter is/was a ‘lone gunman’ who went nuts.”
Correction – the “going nuts” disorder in this case might actually a case of “sudden jihad syndrome”
Reference here: “Sudden Jihad Syndrome (in North Carolina)“, Daniel Pipes, New York Sun, 14 March 2006. Perhaps if I too selectively cherry-pick “facts about incidents, and reports about those incidents” then I too can create a “zero analysis” comment that might be either “politically correct” or “politically incorrect”
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FM reply: What are you saying? This makes no sense to me.
If you AREN’T making an argument, then please explain these “deep roots” to which you are referring. Mr. Carroll is not alone in picking up on what you are implying.
Think you should update your post in light of the reports coming out this evening on MAJ Hasan and his history. The roots may indeed be deep, but think you’re digging in the wrong place.
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FM reply: This is not the first incident of its kind, hence cannot be seen in isolation. Therefore the various DoD reports about these things are relevant, as are the many comments by officers and NCO’s about the needs of servicemen returning from our war zones. What are you saying?
You lost me, but you revealed yourself. This is clearly SJS (sudden Jihad syndrome). You would not go there-you had to be consistent with your false narrative. You had to stuff that narrative. Very disappointing, I enjoyed so many of your writings and articles.
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FM reply: While your instant diagnosis is awesome, almost all the citations I give are from DoD reports, or officer’s or NCO’s opinions. Please explain specifically which of them you disagree with. And why. Then you will have said something worth reading.
Comments 1, 2,and 3 all seem to infer from your “this problem has deep roots” line that you are suggesting that the cause here relates to what one (at least I) might characterize as deployment stress. If that’s not correct, what “problem” did you have in mind?
Based on the early reports (with all the caveats that implies), its seems that the guy had no personal deployment history, is Muslim, and had made sufficiently vigorous comments opposing US military operations in “Muslim lands” that it had been noticed.
Occam’r Razor suggests Sudden Jihad Syndrome, i.e. a religious/political motivation strong enough to shoot fellow soldiers. We’ll see as more info comes out, but that’s the way I’d bet right now.
Your analysis (as brief as this is, its at least implied) is usually much better than this.
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FM reply: Unlike the folks commenting so confidently here, I’ll wait for expert analysis before drawing conclusions. Preliminary news reports are dross.
The DoD reports I cite clearly show some problems worth our attention. Perhaps some attention to the actual needs of our vets might be more helpful than the kind of bs seen above. Rather than posting belligerent comments here, how many have written to their congresscitters about the poor medical care of wounded servicement, the difficulty of their relatives in visiting them and helping them, and their often non-extistent care upon returning to the US? How many have volunteered in the USO or Blue Star Moms?
“This is not the first incident of its kind, hence cannot be seen in isolation. ”
Exactly, there are the 9/11 attacks, and there are all the suicide bombings just for starters. These things should not be seen in isolation.
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FM reply: And your point is ….?
Ummm … there was the Muslim SGT in Kuwait who tossed a grenade in a tent full of his fellow American soldiers becasue he did not want to go into Iraq and have to kill Muslims. Is that what you mean by “not the first incident of its type.” ?
I don’t think the other commenters here are disagreeing with your collection of links to information about stressed soldiers. They are pointing out this incident doesn’t fit the pattern you are apparently trying to establish.
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FM reply: This is a print of a reference page, a fixed page on the FM website. Posted before much information about this incident (at midnight GMT). My primary interest is in drawing attention to the needs of our servicemen. If this is a new problem, it’s hardly good news — just another section added to the problems ilisted on this reference page.
Holy Cow — The mental contortions to avoid the obvious have got to be tiring.
“Soldier suspected of killing 12 at Fort Hood is alive, in custody“, The Daily Mail, posted 2:27 Zulu {2 hours 27 minutes after this post}, 5 November 2009 — Excerpt:
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FM reply: Thank you for posting. Now which of the DoD reports do you disagree with? Perhaps you could write to the officers and NCO’s I cite, telling them that their concerns are bogus. Please report back on their replies.
I think what Leatherneck is saying, Fabius, is that your argument (or theory) makes no sense. The murderer is a military psychiatrist and a lifelong Muslim who has apparently posted bizarre defenses of jihadism on websites. He has never been deployed to a war zone before. All your scientific studies above are utterly meaningless in this context. You may as well have linked to studies linking cell phones with brain cancer for all the relevance they have.
This is not the first Muslim in the military to go postal and kill his fellow men in arms. There is a reason for this, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the “Invisible Wounds of War.”
Fabius Maximus – you are correct, correlation is NOT causation. However, that cuts both ways: just because this incident appears facially similar to others does not mean that it is identical to others, or shares the same causes.
If, as some reports indicate, Major Hasan has never been in combat, then all the information regarding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders and/or combat veterans “snapping” thus killing or injuring their comrades is immaterial, as Major Hasan would most likely NOT be suffering from that disorder. That isn’t to say that those suffering PTSD have or could do this, just that PTSD *as a cause* is contra-indicated *in this particular instance*.
I don’t *know* if this is, as others surmise, an example of “Sudden Jihad Syndrome,” but time will tell one way or the other. If, as some report, Major Hasan *did* make pro-jihad remarks, internet posts, or other publicly noted comments, then those are points in favor of the SJS, rather than a PTSD-related instigation.
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FM reply: If this is “sudden Jihad syndrom”, it is clearly not the first incident of its kind — and as such it is a problem with deep roots. But, as you note, a different problem than that described by these citations.
“This is not the first incident of its kind” – what kind is that? How can you know what kind of incident this is, and know it is a manifestation of a particular problem with “deep roots”, without any analysis? Why deny you are offering any comment or analysis when you state unambiguously that “This problem has deep roots, which the military knows and has taken steps to address”? That’s a comment. It’s a boneheaded comment, but there it is.
How are the comments about the needs of servicemen returning from war zones relevant to a crime committed by a serviceman who had never been in a war zone?
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FM reply: As above, if it is SJS then it is not the first incident of its kind. And certainly SJS has deep roots. Do you believe this is the first incident of its kind? If so, what are its roots?
Jeez FM. Careful here, a bit of Sudden Jihad Derangement Syndrome by Proxy could obliterate all you have wrought. You might try “This is not the Malik I knew,” but you need a do-over here. Punt, do what you must, but don’t nail your colors to the masthead on this one bro.
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FM reply: Based on current info, it appears that this is a problem unlike those described in the citations I give. But it is certainly of the general type described in this series, about an “Army near the breaking point.” It is yet just another example of a different type of fracture. I don’t understand your point.
We agree…this is not the first incident of its kind, and should not be viewed in isolation. Where we disagree is what those other previous incidents are. Little Rock and Fort Dix come to my mind.
The links you posted have appear irrelevant in this case. If Hasan has not previously deployed, how do they apply? Do you believe that his Muslim status had nothing to do with his motivations?
BTW, I think my post and those of others are quite clear on this, and you’re being just a little bit obtuse.
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FM reply: No, I think you are just missing the point. See the above comments. BTW, this post was written over 5 hours ago.
FM: “What theory is that? This post refers only to new stories and DoD reports. With which do you disagree? I give no comment or analysis.”
Please don’t be coy, you obviously were suggesting that this shooting was somehow related to the Army being near some breaking-point. The fact that you decided to be a little creative (lazy?)and not write what you meant down in your own words doesn’t hide that. However, it evidently had nothing to do with that and now you’re trying to swim backwards.
BTW, for what it is worth, I’m a vet and just as concerned about the stress our military, and our military members, are under and anyone. But this shooting had nothing to do with that and, from the looks of it, everything to him being a lone wolf jihadist.
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FM reply: Yes, I agree. Which is why I posted this as background, drawing no conclusions on the little data available 5 hours ago. But this clearly supports the general theme that our Amry is nearing the breaking point. This is just a different fracture than the ones described in the citations given.
FM: I fear you’re wasting your breath. There are simply those who know in the hearts (maybe God whispered it to them) that this is all part of the continuum of Muslim perfidy. No rational argument will dissuade them, they know!
Calm heads are good, but not when the mob is baying for blood.
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FM reply: I just wish they had more concern for our service people who execute these wars. If all of them were either in the service or volunteers in a service organization America would be in better shape. Some are, but in my experience only few of them. Posting belligerent comments is so much easier.
Ain’t it great to be “blessed” with an Instalanche? I agree with the comments saying this is clearly not caused by PTSD related to previous combat deployment.
I also suspect this is Domestic terrorism. Thank goodness for the Interwebs and the plethora of information it provides or we’d be stuck watching CNN Headline “News” for updates…
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FM reply: Are we learning much about this from sources other than the mainstream news? If so, any examples?
Its possible to be both Muslim and crazy. He simply cracked toward his background and religion, and his deamons finally won out. I don’t see this as Al-Queda terrorism. Its sounding more and more like Columbine. A great tragedy related more to insanity than to politics or the military. A great tragedy.
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FM reply: Interesting. We’ll have to wait to see the experts’ analysis of this.
FM, I have to agree with the majority of the other posters here, that Nidal Malik Hasan does not really fit the pattern of the 15 items listed just under your title byline. We may well have “an army at the breaking point,” but in the absence of further evidence to support your point, I do not see how this story fits into that pattern. I must agree with others that this is case of “sudden jihad syndrome.”
I just heard on the news that Hasan is alive, and not dead as originally reported, so he may provide additional details to investigators during interrogation – that either support or refute your thesis.
Hasan, according to the latest reports a Muslim since birth, served for six years as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after completing medical school at the Uniformed Services University of HEalth Sciences. He received at least one poor fitness report while at WRMC, and had received counseling for difficulties with patients. He was a loner, according to his associates. He came to the attention of LE authorities about six months ago, for making postings on extremist websites, defending suicide bombers and their tactics. He reputedly argued with soldiers who supported the war effort in Iraq, and fought his upcoming deployment to that nation.
Hasan may have been at the breaking point, but it cannot be blamed on repeated deployments to either theater of war, because he had not served in either war zone, and never in a combat zone or under fire.
If the comments in post #14 are correct, i.e., “‘He was reacting with open glee at the death of some soldiers by a suicide bomber. I told him, “You might not agree with this but this is the army and we are here to serve the country.’Mr Lee said Hasan repeatedly said: ‘Muslims should rise up against the aggressors.’” then it seems pretty obvious that Hasan’s allegiance was no longer to the USA or the army in which he served, but for the enemy, for those our armed forces have been tasked to fight.
Another aspect to this concerns his psychological profile, which according to the data I have seen, fits that of the classic lone-wolf sociopath assassin. Alienation, detachment from others, festering resentments, thinking of himself or his identity group as victims, and free-floating anger or anger problems all fit the pattern. Former behavioral profiler, and internationally known FBI investigator John Douglas has written extensively in his books on this type of offender, if anyone is interested in learning more about it.
Fabius, I’d be more inclined to buy your line of reasoning if they guy had resigned his commission, asking for relief on the grounds of conscience and then walked away. That he choose to kill his fellow soldiers, people among whom he worked and presumeably formed friendships, and was willing to lose his life in the process… if that does not make this guy a jihadist, I don’t know what does. He had options, and he willfully chose the most extreme one available to him. Correct me if I am mistaken, any active military/veterans, but my understanding is that military healthcare professionals, especially ones not deployed to a hot zone, do not routinely carry arms, and certainly not heavy weapons. This was premeditated.
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FM reply: As I said above, the data streaming in since I wrote this post supports the theory that it is SJS. Still, that just shows yet another fracture in the Army. More evidence of an “Army nearing the breaking point”.
The facts really don’t matter – what matters is that the finest man America can produce,
someone who’s morals and trustworthiness was above reproach, who was praised constantly for selflessness and dedication at every occasion — must be turned into a monster as quickly as possible.
He was a muslim, dark skinned, weak, nobody liked him, didn’t like guns, didn’t enjoy pork, wasn’t really a soldier, had bad acne — Is the sort of thing.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, the good news is that there are 12 glorious new martyrs to celebrate.
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FM reply: Please explain this a bit more.
i love oblat.. he is a perfect example of the kind of commenter that is attracted to typical paleo-con websites like dailykos, huffingtonpost, and fabius maximus.
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FM reply: What evidence can you cite that the Huff Post site and Daily Kos are “paleocon” in ourlook?
I await the return of the authentic FM, instead of this obvious hacker who has fooled us all with this most un-FM-like post. The genuine FM possesses formidable analytical power and the simple courage of a man who lets arrows fly without concern about where they might land.
This ersatz FM reminds me how little a man is when he succumbs to the PC overlords.
None of the links provided above by the ersatz FM illuminate Hasan’s motives, theological imperatives, or history. After about the fifth one, I was muttering, “where’s the pony”? They frankly wasted my time. That’s the first time I’ve ever felt that way about an FM link.
The FM site lost some of its luster today. Not over a difference of opinion – which is never a problem – but over a loss of respect for trying to slide the PC explanation under the tablecloth, and then for failing over and over to own it.
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FM reply: I dont’ understand your point. This posted over 5 hours ago (written earlier than that), and intended to illustrate the many fractures in our Army. This incidence of SJS is yet another fracture in our Army. Adding to those listed here. Do you believe this makes those listed less serious, or that another fracture makes the structure stronger?
I think, Fabius, that it is beyond dispute that the military is overstretched, and is presently being ordered to carry out a mission that would not have a high probability of success even if they had adequate resources for the task, which they do not. That having been said, nothing that happened in Texas has anything to do with any of that. The man was a jihadist. This is obvious to anyone with eyes to see. Your articles, however worthy of discussion at another time are, with respect to today’s outrage, utterly irrelevant.
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FM reply: This has been hashed over in the dozen previous comments. Do you have anything to add? Perhaps explaining how this does not add to the stress of an “Army near the breaking point”? Or how this makes the Army stronger? Then I’d be inclined to take this seriously, as something other than denial of the military’s problems.
I usually enjoy reading your posts and the comments that follow. This one seems out of character for you. I read the first dozen or so comments and your replies, and you seem intentionally obtuse. You must know what is bothering your commenters, but you act as though you don’t. It’s cute, but disappointing.
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FM reply: The feeling is mutual, denial to the point of obtuseness about the stress on the US military — and the seriousness of yet another fracture. Perhaps you find “cute” these commenters refusal to see their significance. I don’t.
FM, I’m struck by a common element in several of your responses here, that SJS “shows another fracture in the Army”.
SJS, as I understand it, is short for a violence motivated by Muslim religious/political beliefs. There have been a number of these in the US. IIRC, including at the LA airport, driving an auto into a crowd in North Carolina, and the DC sniper murders. I’m sure others I don’t recall now. There was also a military fragging incident before the Iraq assault, in an airborne unit staging in Kuwait I believe.
I don’t see what any of these have to do with a “fracture in the Army”. Could you explain a bit?
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FM reply: A central element in the theory of 4th generation war is the decline of the state, as originally concieved by Martin van Creveld — and developed by many others (e.g., John Robb). This implies that the loyalty to the state will fade over time, replaced by loyalty to larger entities (e.g., Islam) or smaller (ethnic groups, clans, gangs). If true, we will see increasing number of incidents like this, as well as increased criminality (e.g., the concern about increased number of gang members in the military).
What I take from this, especially from the response to #18, is that FM leapt to use this incident to make an argument that, whatever its overall merits, seems to have nothing to do with what actually happened. Nothing wrong with bucking the conventional wisdom, but the conventional wisdom isn’t always wrong.
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FM reply: I disagree. While the facts clearly show the citations given were not relevant, this does appear to be yet another fracture in the US military structure — which is the overall theme of this post. A small crack as of now. But 4GW theory suggests that it might widen over time, and hence deserves attention.
oblat would never post at a paleo-con site. he is antiwar and left wing. he is here agreeing with you. kool aid religiously. that puts you in ling with huffpo et al. but not in the realm of william buckley et al.
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FM reply: That’s nuts. People all over the political spectrum post here, sometimes agreeing and sometimes disagreeing with me. Your absurd characterization has been refuted here — a rebuttal to your comment here. As usual you ignored it, just repeating your nonsense again elsewhere.
The response to #30 at least helps me understand the argument. Guess I was too obtuse to pull that from the original post.
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FM reply: The discussions here are about things on the edge of the known. Always difficult to understand and follow. When we look back in 5 years all this will appear obvious.
(In response to my post #27)
FM reply: I dont’ understand your point. This posted over 5 hours ago (written earlier than that), and intended to illustrate the many fractures in our Army. This incidence of SJS is yet another fracture in our Army. Adding to those listed here. Do you believe this makes those listed less serious, or that another fracture makes the structure stronger?
The tack taken in the reply to #30, concerning the erosion of loyalty to the state, and the replacement of that with loyalty to more distinctly tribal entities (a religion, clan, gang, etc.), actually sounds like the authentic FM. It is insightful, and would win approval from William of Ockham.
What’s driven most of the comments here on this thread, mine included, is not that the original post omitted the obvious, but that the omission seemed to be for an ignoble and transparent reason. If you end up amending it, perhaps nothing more than adding links to relevant selections from Creveld and Robb would remove that perception.
I think I now see where you were coming from. Geology is the study of pressure over time. Fractures are only the visible aftermath of the clash of forces below.
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FM reply: This post was clear that these links were from the “FM reference page” and given as “background information.” There is a problem with increasing violence by members of the US military, of which this is an example. It’s a new type of violence, but (to use a bad medical analogy) a cancer metastasizing into new forms is worse than just simple spreading.
All I see here is denial of the problem, just like in every post on this site about these problems. Fortunately the DoD does not share the attiude of most of those commenting here. It takes these seriously, and is acting to mitigate them.
Here is an angle I haven’t heard yet: Why the hell was he still in the army 6 months after praising suicide bombers blowing up American soldiers? His ass should have been gone right then and there, unless of course there isn’t anyone in reserve to replace him.
‘At the breaking point’ is just another way of saying that the reserves are exhausted. Not enough spare parts for planes due to too many flying hours per airframe, retaining marginal personnel such as this guy because of the lack of sufficient volunteers, &c., &c.
“Alpha” much FM? There’s a HUGE fine-line between impressive and jerk. Don’t make me walk the distance, because IF I do? “I just might get cranky”. But you LIKE “cranky”…don’t you? Or do you?
Update: for more current information about the Texas killings, see Update about the killings in Texas, perhaps another crack in an Army near the breaking point.
Emerging “media narrative” described over at Patterico’s Blog: Coverage of the Fort Hood Shooting: Hot Air vs. the L.A. Times; UPDATE: Shooter Still Alive; UPDATE: L.A. Times Flushes Original Story Down Memory Hole
Although some will say this “doesn’t make sense” it looks more like “Sudden Jihadi Syndrome” (SJS) described here: “Sudden Jihad Syndrome – It’s Now Official“, Daniel Pipes, 2 January 2008
Previous cases of SJS:
(0) Very recent FBI raids (“it doesn’t make sense” to connect dots)
(1) Little Rock Recruiting Station (neither casualty rcv’d Purple Heart)
(2) Buffalo NY (Cheek-to-wog-ga suburb?)
(3) Somali Immigrants returning to Somalia to die during Predator strikes
(4) South Carolina Naval Station
(5) Fort Dix Pizza Delivery Drivers
(6) LAX Ticket Counter shortly after 9/11
(7) the teenage kid flying a small plane into a Florida building shortly after 9/11
(8) University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill
(9) Seattle Jewish Center
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FM reply: Also note “Jihad at Fort Hood“, Robert Spencer (Director of Jihad Watch), Frontpage, 6 November 2009 — Excerpt:
Whether or not the major simply went nuts or was a jihadi all along remains to be seen. If he survives his wounds, at trial the motives will be revealed. Presuming he is tried by the military and sentenced to death (unless found not guilty by way of insanity) the road from sentencing to death may well occur while Obama is president. I wonder if Obama would sign the death warrant.
FM? Pretend you are the President. May we hear what you would do first?
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FM reply: Read these posts for the answers.
* What happens next? Advice for the new President, part one., 17 October 2008
* “What to do? Advice for the new President, part two.“, 18 October 2008
* My “wish list” for the climate sciences in 2009, 2 January 2009