The VonFrederick

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October  2008 Volume 5 Issue 9

  Feature Article:

The 2008 French White Book on Defense 

and Homeland Security

Eric Chevreuil, Retired Captain, French Military, The VonFrederick Group

The French government has just released its 2008 White Book on defense and homeland security, the first extensive official French threat assessment and forces reorganization plan since 1994. The book was commissioned in July 2007 by President Sarkozy and the extensive reforms it details are the result of no less than 40 audits involving 52 personalities from 14 different nations. Senior officers of the French Armed Forces, representatives of every French political party, CEOs, European politicians, journalists, representatives of the major religions, and respected “strategists” took part in the debates that are fully reported in the second volume of the document. 

It would be difficult to cover the wide ranging reforms in detail, as the thousand or so pages of the two volumes are heavy reading, even in English. However, this paper presents the gist of the recommendations and presents some of the reactions. 

For the first time the White Book has addressed French security concerns globally without limiting them to defense or military issues. It redefines a National Security Strategy involving the implementation of a defense policy, a Domestic Security Policy (global domestic security), a Civil Security Policy (security of individuals, civil order), and also, to a certain extent, a Foreign and an Economic Policy. 

Because the world has undergone deep changes since 1994, new threats have emerged and called for reorganization. The White Book details how “globalization” has given birth to a faster exchange of information, goods, and people that have both positively and negatively impacted the international and domestic, economic, social, and politic environments. It lists what it describes as the European continent’s “direct vulnerabilities” to terrorism and to weaponry such as ballistic missiles being developed by emerging powers such as Iran. It also lists new threats such as possible crises in Asia; medical, sanitary, or ecological disasters; mass migrations of people; and cyber attacks. It presents a strategic analysis covering the next 15 years.

The results of that analysis define the 2008 National Security Strategy built around five combined strategic functions that defense and security forces must master. These functions are: Knowledge and Anticipation, Protection, Prevention, Intervention, and finally, Deterrence. Knowledge and Anticipation: Intelligence is described as most critical since it provides the first line of defense in preserving France’s strategic initiative. It is anticipated that Intelligence will be obtained via a wide spectrum of new and modernized media such as ballistic missile launch-detection, early warning surveillance satellites, and radars. This national missile defense system might become the first component of a more global European initiative. The role of unmanned aerial vehicles will be increased (UAV) to complement traditional air combat equipment. Signal intelligence assets will be extended to space (CERES satellite program). New all-weather all-time satellites will replace the current Helios imagery systems (MUSIS program). The whole array of satellites will fall under a new Joint Spatial Command under the control of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. An intelligence academy will also be created. 

Protection: New threats such as terrorism stress the need to refocus on the domestic protection of the population and of the national territory. France needs to be protected from major disasters and its resilience needs to be nurtured. In this case, the document describes the term “protection” as “the capability for the public administrations and civilian population to react to a major crisis and quickly restore normal processes.” To achieve these goals, the White Book recommends adapting the current and future intelligence gathering network to domestic intelligence needs, the development of a better response capability from the various public administrations, the implementation of a national alert and information network, and stronger cooperation between the military and the civil security organisms. Twelve sectors of national vital activities have been defined and will be the focus of special protective measures that France would like to promote at the European level for a more global approach (energy, food supply, water management…). Finally, defense against cyber war, the possible hacking of communication and computer networks, has been made a priority; offensive and defensive technologies and systems will be developed to protect France’s information systems. 

Prevention: The White Book recommends concentrating conflict prevention capabilities and possible intervention to a vast geographical area of critical strategic importance for both France and Europe. Roughly contained between the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, this wide zone of interest includes Asia, which has become increasingly important to the world’s security. France will also revise its defense agreements with its African partners and shift them toward a new European/African partnership for peace and security while keeping all its options open for prevention and/or action along the occidental and oriental coasts of Africa, the Sahel region included in-between. France will also maintain a significant military presence in the Antilles-Guyana area, mainly to benefit its space facilities at Kourou. 

Intervention: The White Book provides a variety of scenarios regarding the use of the military. It defines three major types of intervention: military domestic operations, military operations (abroad), and joint military and civil operations abroad. Domestic military operations would be exceptional and limited to such national emergencies as natural or technological disasters or major terrorist attack. The military forces would be required to support and/or complement other public or civilian agencies. Military operations would most likely be conducted abroad and fall into two major categories: stabilization operations (1000 to 5000 men plus support) and high intensity operations. Stabilization and high intensity operations are not mutually exclusive and one could precede or follow the other. Joint military and civil operations may also precede, complement, or complete military operations, especially in a reconstruction or a “peace consolidation” phase. France recognizes the predominant role of the United Nations but also deplores the lack of coordination among its components. The paper stresses a new concept: international military operations must be followed by international civil operations! It is all about a “Crisis Exit Strategy” that requires the full involvement and tight collaboration of civilian specialists, such as administrators, economists, magistrates, financial and legal counsels, who are left behind to support emerging local political institutions, manage international aid, and assist in economic development.

Deterrence: Nuclear deterrence will remain the cornerstone of France’s national strategy and its role as the ultimate guarantor of the national security and independence is stressed again in the newly released document. France defines it nuclear deterrence as a unique tool to prevent aggression by a foreign state against the vital interests of the country. To face emerging threats and to maintain its credibility, France will upgrade its two nuclear components composed of ballistic and airborne missiles. The White Book provides for the development of four to six new stealth nuclear attack submarines capable of carrying and launching new long range cruise missiles. These high precision missiles will also be compatible with other naval and airborne assets. At the same time, France pledges that it will take an active role in proposing and supporting nuclear disarmament and anti-proliferation measures.

The White Book also reiterates France’s commitment to the European Union and to NATO. It proposes steps for the European Union to finally become a major international player when it comes to managing international security crises. These steps include the creation of a global permanent European intervention force of 60,000 and the development of a European planning and command structure for military and civil operations. The paper also calls for four critical actions aiming at the security and protection of European citizens (cooperation against terrorism and organized crime, implementation of European civil protection assets, coordination against cyber war and protection of the energy grid and strategic supplies) and for the redaction of a “European White Book on Defense and Security.” 

NATO is turning sixty years old and since the early 1990, Europe and the alliance have undergone many major changes. France sees a need for a renovation of the alliance and will seek a new balance between the American and the European influence within the organization. France sees both the European Union and NATO as complimentary and is committed to fully participate in the alliance as long as its nuclear forces remain independent and no French military force is placed under permanent peacetime NATO command. 

Again, there, France underlines principles expressed by General de Gaulle: France is and shall remain independent, preserve its freedoms of analysis and decision. That concept is also reflected in a new approach to the military industry. 

No European country can master, develop, and maintain the defense related technological capabilities necessary for total independence. France will focus on the “first industrial strategic circle,” on domains that are critical to its strategic and political autonomy – nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, nuclear attack submarines, Information systems security - and will give the European market, the “second circle,” top priority for other military equipment – aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles, electronics. The remaining exterior world would become a “third circle.” 

To achieve these revolutionary goals, the government intends to begin with a wave of restructuration that will involve the dissolution or relocation of major units and the laying off of about 54,000 defense personnel or employees. The relocated units will be regrouped by affinity to maximize their efficiency and support. The money saved by these measures will be entirely funneled toward new equipment. All together, by the year 2020, the government is planning to spend $580 billion toward the defense effort (377 billion Euros). Furthermore, while obsolete or redundant agencies will disappear, new ones will flourish from the top level of the French government down: Defense and Homeland Security Council, National Intelligence Council, Information Systems Security Agency, Inter-ministry Committee for the Coordination of the Defense against NBC Threats, Inter-Ministry Center for Crisis Management, European Center for Civil Protection, Space Joint Command, Defense Financial Committee, Intelligence Academy, Mixed (Civil and Military) NBC Training Center, etc. The White Book stresses the need for highly professional soldiers, the extensive use of the traditional reserve, as well as the “enlistment’ in the active reserve of highly qualified civilian human resources (reservists will be able to serve up to 200 active days a year), and the adhesion of the nation to the new National Security Strategy. It also addresses the opportunity for a voluntary “Civic Service” for young adults. 

In raw numbers, the future French Army would be composed of an operational force 88,000 strong and almost as many support personnel. This Ground Operational Force (FOT: Force Operationnelle Terrestre) would be able to simultaneously deploy and support a 30,000 men force over six months, while maintaining 5000 personnel on permanent alert and dispatching 10,000 to intervene in a major domestic disaster. By 2020, that army will be completed with about 650 new armored combat infantry vehicles (VCBI), 25,000 new “digitized” infantry combat systems “Felins”, some 200 IED proof vehicles, and single rocket launchers to comply with the ban on cluster bombs. The Air Force will manage both Air Force and Navy aircraft and the total combat fleet of 300 will be entirely made of Rafale and upgraded Mirage 2000. 

On top of its new Nuclear Submarines, the Navy will also be outfitted with four new “Projection and Command” frigates (Mistral type) and 18 intervention frigates. Satellites, UAVs, Offensive and defensive cyber warfare systems, missile defense systems and other Intelligence assets will provide the government and its forces with the information necessary to guarantee France’s independence within Europe and NATO. 

President Sarkozy disclosed the White Book June 17 2008. The next day, a group of senior officers, signing the name of a famous French corsair “Surcouf,” wrote anonymously to a major paper and sharply criticized the plan, describing it as “amateurish” and saying that it literally abandoned European military predominance to Great Britain. Other general officers also came public and said that while the US and British have learned with blood that ground components should be increased, France was shamefully going the opposite way. If everybody seems to agree with the geopolitical assessment and the future threats to France, it seems that the emerging debate is concerned with the future. While the White Book does not provide funding prior to 2012, it does propose immediate major money- saving measures that would directly affect the forces. Around 400 military bases are going to be closed or moved in the biggest consolidation project ever and about 54,000 defense jobs are going to be lost. Experience has often shown that the geographical relocation of bases often ends up costing more than it saves. Experience has also shown that politicians have always had a tendency to cut military positions and preserve unionized civilian defense positions. The French army’s nickname is “The great mute” because it has always endured critics or cost-cutting reforms silently while other state employees have taken it to the streets with large and long lasting union backed demonstrations and strikes (teachers, transportation, power companies). 

The question today is about how operational the French military forces are going to be in the next few years while enduring a huge geographical and structural reorganization and losing tens of thousands of personnel. French forces are still heavily committed in Africa, the Middle East, former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan and also must be ready to quickly react to any new international or domestic crisis. 

Politics and economics are also at play now that the reform plan is out there. Local officials who see their cities or districts directly affected by the loss of a lucrative military base (average of 800 personnel and dependants per base) are bringing it up to Paris and strings are currently being pulled by power players trying to preserve what they have, or trying to get more. For now, the debate has changed and until the list of the 400 “dissolved” or displaced garrisons has been finalized, it is not going to be about soldiers, equipment, alliance, strategy or defense but about politics, regional economy and money. 

“You French only fight over money…we fight for honor!” said the defeated British officer to a bunch of French Corsairs. 

“People always fight for what they lack!” replied Surcouf. 

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Violence In The Workplace Part 1

Dr. Lionel C.M. von Frederick Rawlins, President & CEO, The VonFrederick Group

Murder and violence have come to a place where Americans have come to spend the majority of their waking hours. Between 15 and 20 Americans are murdered on the job each week, triple the workplace homicides committed in the 1980s. Guns are the weapon of choice, accounting for 71 percent – or 822 of 1,034 homicides committed in the workplace in 2002.

Victims of workplace violence are overwhelmingly white, male, and between the ages of 25 and 54, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, blacks, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics have incurred a disproportionate share of workplace homicides compared with total workplace fatalities. 
Workplace homicide is the leading cause of death for women who work and the third main killer of men who work, according to the BLS. In a recent report, the bureau showed that while total workplace fatalities decreased over the previous decade, intentional killings increased. Homicide accounted for 25 percent of work fatalities in 2002.

Workplace violence is mostly an urban problem. Four-fifths of workplace homicides are committed in metropolitan areas. New York City leads the nation in workplace homicides. Los Angeles, the second largest city based on population, comes in second.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, has declared workplace violence an epidemic. Piggybacking on the CDC’s proclamation, the U.S. Surgeon General Office vowed to approach workplace violence as a public health concern. The reasoning was that “public health focuses on prevention, and violence is a problem much more easily prevented than stopped,” according to an address for a U.S. Post Office symposium on workplace violence. 

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Children who grow up in violent families are more likely than other children to be violent as teenagers. Children who are maltreated are more likely to become violent than those who are not maltreated. Additionally, children who experience multiple forms of violence are twice as likely to become violent as those who experience no violence (Thornberry, 2006). 

Compared to other industrialized nations, America rates of criminal violence are unacceptably high. Pervasive violence adversely affects our streets, schools, work places, and even our homes. While we have come to recognize the extent of family violence, we know much less about its consequences, particularly its effects on children growing up in violent families. 

Practitioners and researchers have long been interested in whether early childhood victimization is a significant risk factor for later involvement in violence. In a recent study, information was collected from the Child Protective Service files of the Monroe County, New York, Department of Social Services.

In the study, sixty-nine percent of the youths who had been maltreated as children reported involvement in violence as compared to fifty-six percent of those who had not been maltreated. In other words, a history of maltreatment increases the chances of youth violence by twenty-four percent. Other analyses of these data indicate that maltreatment is also a significant risk factor for official delinquency and other forms of self-reported delinquency; for the frequency and prevalence of delinquency; and for all these indicators when gender, race/ethnicity, family structure, and social classes are held constant. 

For each type of family violence, adolescents who live in violent families have higher rates of self-reported violence than do youngsters from non-violent families. The result from partner violence shows that seventy percent of adolescents who grew up in families where the parents fought with one another self-reported violent delinquency as compared to forty-nine percent of the adolescents who grew up in families without this type of conflict. The highest rates were reported by youngsters from multiple violent families. In these families, more than three-quarters of the adolescents self-reported violent behavior. 

Bottom line; set the example in your homes. Children mimic what they see and hear – say and do only the things that you would proudly expect from your children.

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Obamania… The Land of Oz

 George A. Torres, MBA, Law Enforcement Specialist, The VonFrederick Group

“I will be for change and I'll bring you change”… Fidel Castro

Watching the sycophant Liberal media hero-worshiping Barack Obama and struggle to remarket 
their fledging candidate is very entertaining. While the “Empty Suit” stammers and stutters for a 
coherent thought when not guided by a teleprompter, those not bowing at the Alter of Liberalism 
ask, how can so many be deceived? A question historians often asked of the German people. 

Liberals pretend Obama's resume qualifies him to be president. He was a Harvard Law professor, yet didn't produce any notable scholarly work. They tout his experience as a Chicago community activist then misrepresent his achievements like his failed effort to remove asbestos from Altgeld Gardens. He was an insignificant Chicago attorney and Illinois State Senator for eight years who championed infanticide by voting against the Born Alive Infants Protection Act (2003). Now he lies about it. He's been a US Senator for only three years and his only piece of legislation was the Global Poverty Act of 2007, a proposal to force American taxpayers to pay for the elimination of global poverty.

Liberals ignore his arrogant elitism. The presumptuous Empty Suit had a quasi-presidential seal affixed to his podium. He lectured Americans about not speaking Spanish and claims embarrassment of Americans not being multilingual like Europeans. Obama chastised greedy Americans for driving SUV’s, eating as much as theywant and keeping their homes at 72 degrees at all times because other countries won’t like it and warned, “That's not going to happen."

Yet, Liberals continue to dismiss Obama’s incoherent ramblings and repeated gaffes. In May Obama informed, “In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas and 10,000 people died an entire town destroyed.” The death toll was only 12. He announced, “… because of what happened in Selma, Alabama, because some folks are willing to march across a bridge. So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born.” Just like Hillary lied about her name Obama lied about his birth. Obama was born in 1961 and the Selma march occurred in 1965. He revealed his geographical expertise stating, “Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.” 

Obama illustrated his military expertise regarding the lack of translators in Afghanistan: “We only have a certain number of them and if they are all in Iraq, then it’s harder for us to use them in Afghanistan.” The problem is that Iraqis speak Arabic or Kurdish and Afghanis primarily speak Pashto or Farsi. He revealed his inability to assess foreign affairs. He dismissed Iran, “… they don't pose a serious threat to us.” The next day he “changed” and said, “I’ve made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave.” When asked at the Saddleback Church forum at what point did he think a baby gets human rights, Obama illustrated his inability to make a decision and said, “… answering that question with specificity is above my pay grade.” So is being president! 

Yet, Obama thinks so highly of himself. When describing his candidacy in his own “Sermon on the Mount” he acclaimed, “...I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal;…” He claimed America's greatest moral failure is “we still don't abide by that basic precept in Matthew that whatever you do for the lest of my brothers, you do for me.” Like maybe an impoverished brother in Africa?

In Obama’s book, "Dreams From My Father" he bragged, "I chose my friends carefully." Yet, now he and his minions attack those who question his judgment in befriending the likes of racist Jeremiah Wright, Father Pfleger, Louis Farrakhan and terrorist bomber, William Ayers

Liberals continually over look the flaws of the anointed one. When challenged, liberals like Alan Combs continuously expresses the party line, what does any of it have to do with being president? Obama is the new messiah, the agent of change. Why even Palestinians in Gaza are engaging in phone banking activities for Obama. Liberals chose him so he should not be challenged. 

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Did You Know? Michelle Glisan Blevins       

• That aside from the WWII Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941, Ethiopia has maintained self rule while the rest of the continent succumbed to colonial rule- making Ethiopia the oldest country in Africa

• That the life expectancy in Ethiopia is just under 50 years of age

• That Rastafari movement (which began in 1930s Haiti) considers Ras Taffari Makkonen, the former Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, the messiah

• That some believe the biblical Ark of the Covenant is stored within a chapel at Saint Mary of Zion church in Axum, Ethiopia

• That even though the country is plagued by frequent droughts, they have an agricultural based economy with coffee being their primary export
  

The Ethiopian flag has three equal horizontal bands of green (top), yellow, and red with a yellow pentagram and single yellow rays emanating from the angles between the points on a light blue disk centered on the three bands; and the three main colors of her flag were so often adopted by other African countries upon independence that they became known as the pan-African colors

AMELIA EARHART

Amelia Mary Earhart

July 27, 1897 to (went missing on) July 2, 1937

Born on her grandparent’s farm in Kansas, this tomboy- who at the age of ten saw her first airplane and described it as “…a thing of rusty wire and wood and not at all interesting”- went on to become a world famous aviator. In 1917 she trained as a nurse’s aid and worked as a nurse in a military hospital. Later Amelia attended Columbia University to study pre-med, only to leave one year later to be with family- shortly after this she took her first flight and decided to become a pilot. In 1925 Amelia found work as a social worker, though she continued to fly and promote flying. She frequently wrote articles for Cosmopolitan magazine and other publications, wrote two books (a third credited to her was published after she disappeared), spoke publicly, and in 1935 she became a counselor on careers for women at Purdue University..

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How To Survive A High-Rise Hotel Fire

Always treat a hotel fire alarm seriously, and exit following hotel procedure. If the fire is nearby, use the following procedure.

1. Feel your hotel room doorknob with the back of your hand.
   If the doorknob is hot to the touch, go to step 2 and then skip to step 5. If it is not hot follow the steps in order

2. Partially fill the bathtub with cold water 
   Soak towels, washcloths, bedsheets, and blankets in the water. If the water is off, use water from the toilet tank. Put a wet washcloth over your mouth and nose and a wet sheet or towel over your head.

3.  Open the door.
   Select a way out that is not easily observed. Exits include windows, vents, or even the roof. 

4. If the hallway is smoke-filled, get as low as possible- one to two feet above the floor.
   Make your way to an emergency exit. Never use the elevator.

5.  If the door or doorknob is hot, do not open the door.
   Wedge wet towels in the crack under the door to keep smoke out.

6. Try calling the front desk or rooms on other floors to check on conditions in other areas.

7.  Turn off fans and air conditioners that could draw smoke into the room, and open the window slightly
   If the fire is on a floor below you, smoke may enter the room through the window, so keep the opening narrow. If the fire is not below you, open the window a third or halfway..

8. Make a tent of wet towels and sheets at the window.
   Do not build the tent if smoke is billowing into the room. Hold or attach one side of the towel or sheet to the window and allow the other side to fall behind you, so you are protected from smoke and are breathing outside air. The towels should help to cool the air and make it easier to breathe.

9. Signal rescue personnel with a white towel or a flashlight.
   Wait for rescue.

10. If the air in the room is getting worse, breathing becomes difficult, and no rescue is forthcoming, try to kick through the wall into the adjacent room. 
    Closets are the best locations to try to break through. Sit on the floor of the closet, and knock on the wall until you hear a hollow sound. (Wall studs are normally spaced 16 inches apart.) Use both feet to kick through both surfaces of drywall. You may survive by using this as a breathing hole, or you may need to continue breaching the wall until you can escape into the next room.

11. If you cannon breach the wall, go to a window and look at the outside of the building.
    If the rooms have balconies that are close together, consider climbing to another balcony on the same floor. If there are no neighboring balconies, you can tie bedsheets together and climb to a balcony directly beneath yours. Use square knots (the first step in tying your shoes, done twice) and lower yourself one floor only. Consider this option only as a last resort, and only do it if you are attempting to escape an immediate danger or to reach rescue personnel.

Be Aware

• Ladders on fire trucks usually reach only to the seventh floor of a high-rise building. Consider booking a room below this level.
• Poolside or courtyard rooms are likely to be inaccessible to ladder trucks, even if they are below the seventh floor. Consider staying in a streetside room.
• Upon check-in, make sure the hotel has smoke detectors and fire sprinklers.
• Count the doors between your room and the nearest fire exit. This will help you get out safely if smoke reduces visibility.
• Keep your room key where it can be found in the dark.
• Never jump from a height of more than two floors or you risk death.

(Piven and Borgenicht)

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The VonFrederick Group

Phone: (877) 207-1300
Fax:     (916) 488-7531
Email:

Dr. Lionel C.M. von Frederick Rawlins
Lionel@VonFrederick.com

George A. Torres, MBA
George@VonFrederick.com

Eric Chevreuil
Eric@VonFrederick.com

Pat McLane
Pat@VonFrederick.com

Albert Globus, MD
Al@VonFrederick.com

General Clifford L. Stanley, Ph.D.
Cliff@VonFrederick.com

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