In December 2008, the Greek government was slowly and agonizingly keelhauled by anarchists, young street thugs, high school student gangs, and more than enough foreign looters (some of whom apparently had invisible connections worthy of a determined intelligence sweep,) and nearly drowned in its own deep black sea of dull headedness, incompetence, indecisiveness, and downright fear of actually governing.
War has an eternal way of chewing at the innards of Nations. Even the best prepared, most militarily adept countries will sooner or later come to the critical question of deciding whether the costs and benefits of prosecuting a war outpace those of a “measured” withdrawal. Since we have graduated past the times of the Mongol Horde, and the pursuit of war as the means of total dominance upon “enemies,” the above question occupies center stage in decisions that can affect many generations to come and, rightfully, demands the best answers a “sophisticated” polity, like our current own, could possibly discover.
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.
--- Albert Einstein
One of the most crucial areas of potential cooperation between Greece and Israel is the totality of defense and security. Defense cooperation is hardly just juggling guns and other hardware. Defense cooperation means, most importantly, sharing thoughts, ideas, methods, and practices that benefit preparedness, enhance the understanding of the complexities of war, streamline thinking about defense spending (especially in an era of austerity,) and prepare one for the vagaries of “the fog of battle” that can easily scuttle the most meticulously constructed campaign plans.
Recent developments in Israel-Turkey relations have rekindled debate in Greece regarding the Greek posture vis-à-vis the Israeli-Turkish strategic relationship that now appears rapidly fraying at the edges but, also, weakening at its core.
The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept
Thucydides
It was announced that the Greek government has decided to abolish national military service for the Hellenic Navy and the Hellenic Air Force and man both with long-term “professional” volunteers. The Army, meantime, the last branch of the armed services to continue to engage conscripts, will have to create fighting troops out of raw recruits in nine short months -- this is now the length of the compulsory military service for the land forces in Greece down from 24 it once was.
In February 2009 we posed the question: “Does Greece have an internal security problem”? Then, our answer to the question was affirmative. In light of recent developments, we cannot but return to the same question, this time with the emphasis on the rapidly evolving urban guerrilla challenge to the Greek Government and valid expectations of “revolutionary” escalation, if the situation is allowed to develop according to familiar Greek political standards and long-established criteria of not acting in order to demonstrate tin-plated “democratic sensitivity”.