OpSec or Democracy?

http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_quarterly/purple_dragon.pdf - 3484k

(C) From its inception in 1966 and 1967, PURPLE DRAGON proved a major success at

improving the combat effectiveness of the units and operations it surveyed. PURPLE

DRAGON was so successful, in fact, that before the war was over the Joint Staff made

operations security programs, based on the PURPLE DRAGON model, mandatory for all U.S.

commands everywhere in the world. Operations security would prove so successful in the

end that President Ronald Reagan would make it a requirement for every U.S.

government department or agency, military and civilian, with a national security mission.

(U) It is the goal of this study to explore why and how operations security in general

and PURPLE DRAGON in particular came about. It will attempt, furthermore, to show how

the concept and methodology of OPSEC were developed; how OPSEC came to prove itself in

the rice paddies and jungles of Vietnam; how it came to win acceptance, first among the

U.S. military in Southeast Asia and the U.S. Pacific Command, then by the U.S. military

establishment worldwide; and, at last, how operations security came to become an official

policy of the United States government. Finally, it will seek to document the vital role

that the National Security Agency has played in the development of operations security,

from the birth ofOPSEC during the conflict in Vietnam to the present day.

From- PURPLE DRAGON:

The Origin and Development of the

United States OPSEC Program

by Redacted Author

This monograph is a product of the National Security Agency history

program. 1993

Not really worth read in entirety because sooo much is redacted but an interesting point is made which is only strengthened by the redactions.

When did Texas Want to Secede Again? And Who Wants to Stop Them?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/23/education/23texas.html?scp=2&sq=&st=nyt

Remember when Governor or Texas Rick Perry (who, by the way, refused stimulus money) railed outside on the Capitol Building's steps, brimming with messages about the evils of big government, secession from the United States, and misquoting Thomas Jefferson's writings about the tree of liberty and necessary perennial, bloody revolution. Perhaps we should have let the state have its good-bye, because the Lone Star is yet again complaining the texts our American youth read, specifically about the anti-American, anti-Christian, and anti-white nature of American's national textbooks used in public schools. The Board of Education suspects that texts portray Islam too positively, much to the detriment of the history of Christianity. All of this should bring back heinous memories when the Texas School Board of Education altered history's curriculum to better portray America positively. For example, slavery became 'triangular trade," "triumphant" capitalism won out as a way to explain proper economic theory in America, Joe McCarthy's egregious behavior was largely ignored, Hispanic leaders and role models were deliberately overlooked, and it was rewritten that men in Congress were most responsible for the granting of women's suffrage (a "fact" that only trivializes and erases the near century of effort on the part of women to gain the right to vote). The list continues and what's worse, the Board of Education (as of March 2010) consisted of no historians, sociologists, or economists. The Board did, however, include a dentist, Dr. McLeroy, who has seen been ousted from his membership on the Board. Worse, the Board of Education (as of March 2010) consisted of no historians, sociologists, or economists. The Board did, however, include a dentist, Dr. McLeroy, who has seen been ousted from his membership on the Board. Video and written record of all these proceedings can be found on Texas' Board of Education Website. (I've read and watched parts ... with proper horror.)

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=5173

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html?scp=11&sq=&st=nyt

This time around, the mention of Islam vs. Christianity in the secondary classroom setting screams to me of the new controversy surrounding the Ground Zero Mosque, Pastor Jones' threat to burn copies of the Koran, FOX News' ranting about 'terror babies,' America's general bouts of xenophobia, and America's fights over immigration in a struggle to preserve what certain people define as out American-ness. To me it also reeks of the Teabaggers' influence. To these sorts of people, the Muslim community appears (and the key work is 'appears') far too foreign and hostile to what America thinks defines its own nation. In my opinion, that definition is far to narrow and arbitrary.

Some articles about Rick Perry's references to secession:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/us/politics/18texas.html
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/News/Blogs/index.html/objID827588/blogID/
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6986402.html