6 Comments
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Ben Morgan's avatar

Hi Peter, Thanks for your comments and support. Happy New Year. I think we can learn a lot from study what people say and how they say it, especially people used to having the their words interpreted and re-interpreted. Appreciate your kind words.

Peter's avatar

My thanks for your balanced and measured analysis and reporting of this extraordinary event, Ben.

I hadn't appreciated this nuance (extract from your report): "Rubio used the term ‘raid’ to describe the operation rather than ‘attack,’ ‘special military operation’ or similar warlike terminology. Police conduct raids, and Rubio’s statements aim to reinforce the law enforcement motivation."

I look forward to any further sitreps you produce on this!

Phil's avatar

I like it how you examines what happened; I examined how it was made to feel justified. Well, I attempt to. If Maduro’s extraction demonstrates U.S. force projection, the memetic aftermath demonstrates narrative projection.

Those two now run in parallel with kinetic strikes on the ground, cognitive strikes in the feed.

Hmm. Is this the new playbook? Or a reaction to power in play?

Ben Morgan's avatar

Hi Phil, Thanks for the comment. As I recollect 'memetic' is a term coined by Richard Dawkins to describe the transfer of cultural norms. If my recollection is correct then I agree, it is a good point. Modern conflict involves a wide range of actions that can include kinetic, information and cognitive domains. Significantly increasing the complexity of both operations and analysis.

Re: your questions - I'm not sure of answer. Let me think some more.

Phil's avatar

You are correct with the term coming from Richard Dawkins!