[Air-l] peace

[Mark Tempestilli]

Colleagues,
   I would begrudge none their right to air their opinion about Operation Iraqi Freedom.  In
any traditional classroom setting this week at my institution, everything tends to relate to the
war.  My affiliation explains why this is so, although I would bet most institutions are finding
similar trends.  This seems to be natural and healthy.  The questions on what we should expect
from this list--as a community medium--are important.  I for one, would like to ensure that the
on-list discussion maintain a relationship to "internet research," which in and of itself is
broad and shifting in definition, but clearly relates to the internet and associated media.  Any
issue that has a triangular relationship with "internet research" seems to me to be fair game. 
For example, how the internet is used as a medium of war opinionmaking is "in."  I would also
say that the fact that we are using the internet for our discussion doesn't qualify everything
as "in."  It would be a useful enterprise, perhaps over the summer period to crunch through what
we expect from aoir as a "community" and how we expect to use email/web/internet media as tools
to that end.  In other on-line communities I have participated in, the communities generally had
a set of "business rules" roughly governing online behavior and themes.  This would indeed be
useful in two ways, since we could "research," discuss, and contemplate the roles and functions
and behaviors of online communities in the process.
  On another note, I would like all to know, from a professional warrior's point of view, that
I love peace as much as anyone.  I just don't believe peace at all costs is wise.  I also would
like to point out that few nations or their armed forces go to such great lengths to avoid
harming noncombatants and even reasonably innocent erstwhile combatants (as in Saddam's
conscripted Army) in war as the U.S. does.  I think this is exceptionally humane, lofty, and
absolutely necessary.  Would it be that one day we could even achieve a priority that
"collateral" human harm is above even that of our own men & women of the armed forces.  This is
an even worthier goal.  As far as the relationship to the internet goes, it is the internet
(TCP/IP) systems that are now deployed with our armed forces that enable them to achieve unique
speed (compression of time), precision (compression of space), and adaptability (expansion of
organizational behavioral potential), without which we could not continue to reduce the human
cost of armed conflict. ("in")  There is indeed also political-psychological dimension of the
war, partially playing out via the internet.  And this is another topic of continued worthy
discussion. ("in")
  Regards, swift victory, and peace,
 
Mark Tempestilli
Captain, United States Navy
Director of Network Centric Warfare
U.S. Naval Academy
email:  tempesti at usna.edu 
phone:  410-293-1458
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"Those who will not risk, cannot win."
- John Paul Jones