A few months ago, I tweeted about how demoralizing it would be to go to war in the Twitter age.
My point, was that as someone who is now plugged into the social media universe, I can imagine how demoralizing it would feel to be suddenly unplugged, deployed, and forward in a fight, fully knowing that there is a cadre of Twitterarti in Snarkistan talking shit about my every move. Things that happen today on the battlefield are instantly captured, written about, analyzed, and then snarked-up before lunch.
General Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently hinted at this at a recent talk:
“For the first time our competence and character are being evaluated by experts and pundits while we fight.”
I also saw it a couple of days ago, as another Egyptian leader was deposed through the massing of people in Tahrir Square. Less than 24 hours had passed and already people were decrying the whole thing as a fraud or an American plot, before the party in the street had even ended.
I’m really not making any striking points in this post, but to say this is the way the world is heading, and it is high time to accept that instead of lament and thrash at history. Future war will involve us going forward, doing things, and having those things beamed back and dissected and becoming memes before we re-enter the forward operating base. Raging against the machine will just make you nuts.
Just something to think about.
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Carrying the Gun 