Gang, I’d like to apologize for my lackluster performance in the REFLECTIONS department today. The mirror was. . . not cracked, exactly, but. . . smudged. Smudged with the frustration of actually having to read all these stupid goddamn reflections in the New York Times special REFLECTIONS section.

This evening’s reflection comes from Frederick Kagan, one of those dough-faced guys who’s always going on about how the primary challenge of the United States military in the 21st-century will be training peasants how to mount cyber-centric counterinsurgencies against each other using the nine-dimensional datafield-slash-battlezone, or whatever.

(Actually, it might be Fred Kagan’s brother, Robert, who writes about that. All I remember is, once The Atlantic had a cover article about how one of those douches went over to Africa with some Marines and how great it was to watch the Marines teach Africans how to kill each other.)

ERROR ALERT (3/19/08): Thanks to blog reader JK who points out that it was Robert KAPLAN, not Robert KAGAN, who wrote the Atlantic article referenced above. Even when I try to keep these saggy-joweled chest-thumpers straight, I can’t.

Here’s yer reflecto-snippet:

Within a year, our forces (in Iraq) went from imminent defeat to creating the prospect of success, using a great deal of firepower, killing and capturing many enemies, but binding the local population to us at the same time.

(My emphasis, because: Yay!)

Anyway, you know what’s coming next. . .

REFLECTIONS.

Photo credit: Fotosearch.

I’m sorry, what did you say? You want to see a picture of Frederick Kagan? Happy to oblige:

REFLECTIO— WAIT, WHERE IS THE MIRROR???

Answer: He cracked it because he’s so fat. LOL!

OK, seriously, seriously: Looking at this photo, would you ever in a million years guess that this is the type of guy who fantasizes about a culture defined by ever-increasing militarization and macho, warrior-based codes of honor and confrontation?

Homeboy probably cried when Gary Gygax died.

Photo credit: The American Enterprise Institute.