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Military Review: January - February 2009 Issue

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 8:20pm | 1 comment

Since 1922, Military Review has provided a forum for the open exchange of ideas on military affairs. Subsequently, publications have proliferated throughout the Army education system that specialize either in tactical issues associated with particular Branches or on strategic issues at the Senior Service School level. Bridging these two levels of intellectual inquiry, Military Review focuses on research and analysis of the concepts, doctrine and principles of warfighting between the tactical and operational levels of war.

Military Review is a refereed journal that provides a forum for original thought and debate on the art and science of land warfare and other issues of current interest to the US Army and the Department of Defense. Military Review also supports the education, training, doctrine development and integration missions of the Combined Arms Center (CAC), Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Military Review is printed bimonthly in English, Spanish and Portuguese and is distributed to readers in more than 100 countries. It is also printed in Arabic on a quarterly basis. Widely quoted and reprinted throughout the world, it is a readily available reference at most military and civilian university libraries and research agencies.

Here is the January - February 2009 lineup:

Systemic Operational Design: Learning and Adapting in Complex Missions by Brigadier General Huba Wass de Czege, U.S. Army Retired

Complexity on the modern battlefield demands a new professional culture that embraces collaborative adaptation in operational art.

The Truth is Out There: Responding to Insurgent Disinformation and Deception Operations by Cori E. Dauber

Being first and rigorous with the truth has become the new necessary combat skill of the information age.

Sentinels of Afghan Democracy: The Afghan National Army by Samuel Chan

Developing Afghanistan's army will take persistence, courage, and understanding.

Thickening the Lines: Sons of Iraq, a Combat Multiplier by Lieutenant Colonel John S. Kolasheski, U.S. Army, and Major Andrew W. Koloski, U.S. Army

Indigenous militias composed of concerned citizens have become an essential component of counterinsurgency in Iraq.

Oil, Corruption, and Threats to Our National Interest: Will We Learn from Iraq? by Luis Carlos Montalvan

Oil production feeds corruption worldwide and creates strategic threats to U.S. interests.

Reconstruction and Post-Civil War Reconciliation by Major John J. McDermott, U.S. Army

Americans involved in nation building and stability operations abroad need not look far from home for lessons.

The Making of a Leader: Dwight D. Eisenhower by Colonel Robert C. Carroll, U.S. Army Retired

Greatness and high office presented no ready-made path to the president most remembered as a general.

Ethical Challenges in Stability Operations by Sergeant Jared Tracy, U.S. Army

An occupying army's obligations lay naked to the world in the information age. Soldiers should be prepared properly for their moral responsibilities.

Reassessing Army Leadership in the 21st Century by Major Jason M. Pape, U.S. Army

Rank and legal authority can simulate leadership, but a new age needs a new understanding of following and leading.

The Future of Information Operations by Major Walter E. Richter, U.S. Army

Information warfare operates off a defunct paradigm sorely in need of revision.

Current U.S. Policy of Provoking Russia is Fundamentally Flawed by Major John M. Qualls, U.S. Army Retired

With so much at stake, Americans might do well to consider Russia's perspective.

Book Review - Contemporary readings for the professional.

Remarks by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 1:48pm | 0 comments

Remarks by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley

Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.

7 January 2009

As Prepared for Delivery

In less than two weeks, a new President will take the oath of office. And a watching world will witness the greatest of democratic traditions -- the peaceful transfer of power. President Bush's Administration has been working closely with the President-elect's team to make this transition the smoothest in history. The stakes are clear. America is a Nation at war. And in the post Nine-Eleven world, we face complex challenges that will not pause for a change in administrations.

Last month, President Bush delivered a series of speeches about how we have worked to confront these challenges over the past eight years. At the Saban Forum, the President discussed how our approach to the Middle East changed after Nine-Eleven. At West Point, the President explained how the military has transformed to meet the dangers of a new century. And at the Army War College, the President outlined the steps we have taken to keep America safe here at home, and to promote liberty abroad as the great alternative to terror.

Today I would like to talk to you about the core convictions that have formed the basis of President Bush's foreign policy -- what this Administration has accomplished in key regions of the world -- and what opportunities and challenges await the next Administration...

Why Hezbollah is Laying Low

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 01/07/2009 - 7:29am | 2 comments

Tom Ricks and Andrew Exum asked the question and David Kenner at FP Passport throws in:

... Because he isn't suicidal. IDF generals have made clear that another war with Hezbollah would likely be far more destructive than the 2006 confrontation and would likely include a ground invasion. Hezbollah is adept at fighting an insurgency in South Lebanon because they have always been able to draw on the support of the Lebanese Shia and capitalize on a weak or complicit central government in Beirut. If Hezbollah initiated a war with Israel, there is no guarantee that it would benefit from either of these factors...

Charlie Rose: Update on Israel and Gaza

by SWJ Editors | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:35pm | 0 comments

Charlie Rose Show: An update on Israel and Gaza with Aluf Benn of Ha'aretz, David Ignatius of The Washington Post, Martin Indyk of The Brookings Institute and Ghaith Al-Omari of The New America Foundation.

Rogue Cousin Says "Eat It"

by Dave Dilegge | Tue, 01/06/2009 - 9:57pm | 0 comments

Ex does a victory dance in his post on the latest from John Nagl and Brian Burton - Striking the Balance: The Way Forward in Iraq at World Policy Journal. All I can say is how about them Ravens?

Gaza is not Lebanon; Hamas is not Hezbollah...

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 01/05/2009 - 7:12pm | 1 comment

Gaza Is Not Lebanon and Israel's campaign against Hamas may succeed says Thomas Donnely and Danielle Pletka at The Weekly Standard.

The conventional wisdom about the incursion by Israeli ground units into Gaza, mirrored in Sunday's Washington Post, is that "Israeli leaders run the risk of repeating their disastrous experience in the 2006 Lebanon war, when they suffered high casualties in ground combat with Hezbollah." Apparently, reporters and pundits are even more prone to refighting the last war than generals: Gaza is not Lebanon; Hamas is not Hezbollah and, most critically, Israel now is not Israel in 2006.

Andrew Exum, at Abu Muqawama, asks why is it so quiet along the Blue Line? He lists three points on why Hezbollah has been so quiet these past two weeks and solicits AM's readership to sound off in the comments. Ex also points to what he considers as good an article on the fighting in Gaza as any he has read in an American newspaper by Charles Levinson at The Wall Street Journal.

As forces move deeper into Gaza, Israel's leaders seek to avoid the mistakes made in the ambitious 2006 invasion of Lebanon.

Tom Ricks also wants to know why Hezbollah is being so quiet on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

One Busy Guy and the New FP

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 01/05/2009 - 6:49pm | 0 comments

As mentioned earlier - Tom Ricks - the special military correspondent for The Washington Post and author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq - is writing a blog for Foreign Policy (Passport) called The Best Defense. From SWJ friend Tom:

This is the first day this blog has been live. As you can see from the last couple of weeks of postings, I aim to offer commentary and news on national security and related issues. I appreciate tips and feedback, especially when it is civil.

That's only part of today's news on Tom - the Center for a New American Security announced that he has joined CNAS as a Senior Fellow.

Prior to becoming a Senior Fellow, Ricks was affiliated with CNAS as a Senior Writer in Residence, at which time he completed his new book, The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-08, published on February 10, 2009 by The Penguin Press. In The Gamble, Ricks documents the inside story of the Iraq war from 2006 through 2008. Using hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and extraordinary on-the-ground reporting, Ricks -- working in the tradition of his highly lauded Fiasco -- examines the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began.

You can read more on the new Foreign Policy here - and along with the new "look" they have added other first-rate writers to their lineup at Passport.

Harvard's Stephen Walt, coauthor of The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, will inject a dose of realism into the online political debate. Superclass author David Rothkopf will give readers an inside look at the global powerbrokers who really run the world. FP senior editor Carolyn O'Hara and a crack team of Clinton-watchers will be obsessively following all things Hillary at Madam Secretary. And a coterie of conservative foreign-policy heavyweights, including Peter Feaver, Philip Zelikow, and FP's newest editor -- and Condoleeza Rice's longtime speechwriter -- Christian Brose, will be on hand to critique the Obama presidency at Shadow Government: Notes from the loyal opposition.

Some blogging veterans are also adding their names to our digital masthead. Daniel Drezner's readers already know that he has brought his must-read blog on foreign policy, international economics (and occasionally the Red Sox) over to FP. Marc Lynch's essential Middle East politics blog Abu Aardvark has also come aboard. And investigative journalist Laura Rozen will be writing The Cable, featuring original coverage, scoops, and behind-the-scenes reporting about the making of Washington's foreign policy in the age of Obama.

We'll also feature partnerships with the Small Wars Journal and a new column, The Call, with political forecasting by Ian Bremmer and the political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group.

Robert Haddick will write the SWJ-FP feature, adding that to his writings at Westhawk, The American, and elsewhere.

Counterinsurgency Field Manual: Afghanistan Edition

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 01/05/2009 - 1:51pm | 3 comments

Counterinsurgency Field Manual: Afghanistan Edition by Nathaniel Fick and John Nagl in the January / February 2009 issue of Foreign Policy.

For the past five years, the fight in Afghanistan has been hobbled by strategic drift, conflicting tactics, and too few troops. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, got it right when he bluntly told the U.S. Congress in 2007, "In Iraq, we do what we must." Of America's other war, he said, "In Afghanistan, we do what we can."

It is time this neglect is replaced with a more creative and aggressive strategy. U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, is now headed by Gen. David Petraeus, the architect of the U.S. military's counterinsurgency strategy widely credited with pulling Iraq from the abyss. Many believe that, under Petraeus's direction, Afghanistan can similarly pull back from the brink of failure...

Much more at Foreign Policy to include a conversation with John Nagl and Nathaniel Fick and an exclusive interview with General David Petraeus on how Afghanistan is not Iraq, it's harder.

SWJ partnership with the "new & improved" Foreign Policy.com

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 01/05/2009 - 7:33am | 0 comments

Foreign Policy launches its new

look today and rolls out its

new A-list of bloggers, headed by Tom Ricks. Small Wars Journal will be

publishing a weekly op-ed / week-in-review of what's hot in Small Wars and

what's been hot at SWJ, appearing Friday nights at FP. We're happy to be

partnering with FP, and wish Susan, Blake, and everyone there all the best with

their expansion and growth. We are also very lucky to be joined here at

SWJ by Robert Haddick. Robert will write the SWJ-FP feature, adding that

to his writings at Westhawk, the

American, and elsewhere.

A Conversation with Tom Ridge

by SWJ Editors | Mon, 01/05/2009 - 12:24am | 0 comments

Charlie Rose Show - A conversation with Tom Ridge on the challenges ahead for the new administration.

Stone-Cold Robot Killers

by SWJ Editors | Sun, 01/04/2009 - 2:18am | 6 comments

John Pike of Global Security in today's Washington Post opinion section - Coming to the Battlefield: Stone-Cold Robot Killers.

Armed robotic aircraft soar in the skies above Pakistan, hurling death down on America's enemies in the war on terrorism. Soon -- years, not decades, from now -- American armed robots will patrol on the ground as well, fundamentally transforming the face of battle. Conventional war, even genocide, may be abolished by a robotic American Peace...

More at The Washington Post.

So Che, So True

by SWJ Editors | Sat, 01/03/2009 - 5:45am | 4 comments

It is a sad reflection of our time that Che Guevara is seen as a hero. So says Nigel Jones at The DailyTelegraph and Mary Anastasia O'Grady at The Wall Street Journal.

We could not agree more.

Book Review -- Africa's World War

by SWJ Editors | Fri, 01/02/2009 - 9:26am | 5 comments

Oxford University Press Enters

the Tabloid Market

A review of:

Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe

by Gerard Prunier.

Published by Oxford University Press, 2008.

Reviewed by:

Thomas (Tom) P. Odom

LTC US Army (ret)

Author,

Journey Into Darkness: Genocide In Rwanda

In early 1994 while serving as the US Defense Attaché in

Kinshasa, Zaire I had an unexpected visitor, a Zairian army lieutenant colonel

who told the Marine Security Guard that he had "urgent business" to discuss with

"le Colonel Odom." Since he knew my name, I asked my NCO, Stan, to go get him.

As I sat down with my visitor, I signaled Stan to stay and listen.

The Zairian began with a blast against US perfidy,

imperialism, and assorted rot until I asked him to explain what had him all

excited. Swelling even more, he proclaimed he had written proof that the US had

secretly invaded Zaire in the 1970s. Intrigued I asked him to show me and he

handed me a dog-eared copy of Michael Crichton's novel, Congo.

Crichton's book began with a introduction that treated a

fictional infiltration of the Congo in 1979 as fact to entice a would be reader.

Central to the story was a heretofore unknown breed of super apes who would

wreck havoc on the 12-person invasion force.

The literary slight of hand worked on the Zairian colonel,

so well in fact that he then tried to blackmail me with a threat to go public.

He was crushed when I told him that a movie made from the book was already

available. I offered to find him a copy but offered no cash. He left no doubt in

search of further conspiracies whose revelation might help his cash flow.

Reading Gerard Prunier's latest book,

Africa's World

War, made me feel like I had that Zairian colonel back in my office. A

tale of dark conspiracy woven with incompetence made me wonder if there was

indeed a fictional Congo with an eastern neighbor, Rwanda, out there. Prunier's

writings suggest there has to be a parallel universe. Certainly there are

elements of recognizable truth involved in Prunier's tale if you have the

regional expertise to recognize them. Without a firm grounding in the region,

however, one risks being fooled just like the Zairian colonel back in 1994.

"High Time" To Move Marines To Afghanistan

by SWJ Editors | Thu, 01/01/2009 - 5:03pm | 2 comments

"High Time" To Move Marines To Afghanistan - Cami McCormick, CBS News

The Commandant of the US Marine Corps says it's "high time" his troops leave Iraq and take their battle skills to Afghanistan. "We are a fighting machine," Gen. James Conway tells CBS News, and the fight is now in Afghanistan...

Their role in Iraq, he says, has been reduced to nation building...

"That's not what we do," Conway told Marines in Afghanistan. "Where there's a fight, that's where the Marine Corps is needed."

More at CBS News.

US Hands Over Green Zone Authority to Iraq

by SWJ Editors | Thu, 01/01/2009 - 1:23pm | 0 comments

US Hands Over Green Zone Authority to Iraq - Edward Yeranian, Voice of America

US forces in Iraq have handed over control of Baghdad's Green Zone to the Iraqi government. Iraqi officials hailed the move, which was mandated under a new US Iraq security arrangement that also calls for US forces to withdraw from Iraq by 2011.

An Iraqi army band played the country's national anthem, during the handover ceremony, as the Iraqi flag was raised over the presidential palace for the first time since a U.S.-led invasion toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki presided over the emotional ceremony. Addressing a crowd in the foyer of the Presidential Palace, Maliki described the historic moment.

He says that Iraqis should consider today the day of sovereignty and a new beginning, where Iraq regains every bit of its soil, in addition to its national will and sovereignty...

General Barry McCaffrey: Mexico Trip Report

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 12/31/2008 - 1:54pm | 1 comment

General Barry McCaffrey (USA, Ret.) an Adjunct Professor at West Point, visited Mexico 5-7 December 2008 as part of an International Forum of Intelligence and Security Specialists.

In his report, General McCaffrey notes that drug-related violence in Mexico is as severe as terror-related violence in Afghanistan and calls on the new Administration to urgently focus on the growing security threat to the US southern border.

Latest Academic Mexico Trip Report - December 2008 (Full AAR)

A Few Big Ideas at The NY Times

by SWJ Editors | Wed, 12/31/2008 - 5:01am | 0 comments

A Few Big Ideas - New York Times editorial

Over the past several months, we've discussed the many, severe challenges confronting America's military services and recommended a set of urgent fixes to relieve the stresses on the men and women fighting overseas and keep the country safe. It is also worth exploring more long-term ideas. Here are three that have particularly impressed us, that we hope will help stimulate a wider debate.

Mr. Gates Champions Diplomacy... So What About Transformation?.. Jointness...

More at The New York Times.

Public Affairs and Information Operations

by SWJ Editors | Tue, 12/30/2008 - 7:30pm | 41 comments

By The Armorer - Cross-posted at Argghhh!

Public Affairs and Information Operations are seemingly competing and complementary missions and agendas, complicated by regulatory language created in a much different strategic communications environment, overlain with a frisson of the biases of persons of sensitive politics - from both ends of the spectrum.

The "Flies in Amber" and "Dueling Information Operations" posts, regarding the decision of CJT-101 to aggressively get ahead of a story out of Afghanistan have produced some discussion on the issue of Public Affairs and Information Operations. I for one have been pleased to see the change that started appearing when CJTF-82 was running the show has been continued, and arguably accelerated under Colonel O'Hara's CJTF-101 PAO section. I just wish they would write the stuff so as to be more readable and less stilted.

I invited Jack Holt, of the OSD Public Affairs office offer up his *personal* view on the subject as an insider. As that was done as a comment to a post, I decided to make it a post - and to post Cannoneer #4's response to Jack's comment, as a favor to my 60-odd Twitterers and those who follow the blog via Facebook and RSS readers, to see if we can't generate some more discussion on the topic. I invite those few professional wordsmiths who visit to weigh in as well - we're all players in this, in some fashion or another. We'll start with Jack, and he's followed by Cannoneer #4. Pass it around to your buddies and people with an interest in the topic, we're looking for some discussion.

I now hope I was paying close enough attention in the "Negotiating a mine field" class...

And I also must caveat this with the disclaimer that this is my opinion only and not necessarily the view of the Dept. of Defense, and is based on my 20+ years in communication, public affairs, and the U.S. Army.

That said, let's see if we can understand what's going on ...

We're talking about perceptions and semantics, for the most part. First we must understand that public affairs is a function of leadership and information operations a function of, well, operations. In the organizational structure, public affairs works for the commander as part of the special staff, along with the Chaplain, the JAG and to some extent the Provost Marshall. IO is a function of the J/G/S-3. The terms "propaganda" and "counter-propaganda" are the language of IO. "Counter-propaganda" is NOT a responsibility of public affairs.

Now we get into the really tricky areas of discussion which is going on not only here, but in many different areas and levels of our government. I don't have the room here to go into the history behind why some things are the way they are, and papers are in the process of being written both in government and academia laying this out, hopefully some will be published soon, but for now:

Public affairs derives it's existence from Title 10 of the U.S. Code as a primary function of the offices of the various service secretaries. It is separated from "publicity" and "marketing" in the wording of the appropriations from Congress and the Code of Federal Regulations and is broken down into three specific focus areas: Public Information, Command Information, and Community Relations.

IO derives it's existence from military doctrine and has many aspects all of which are operational in nature. For example when it comes to deception operations, a legitimate military operation targeting the population of a contested area, any documents released for that operation is not considered "public information" even though in this new Global Information Environment with our New Media technologies anything published can be replicated on the Web for all the world to see.

PA and IO must work together, but must also remain separated. For PA to engage in "counter-propaganda" it would give legitimacy to the adversary's "propaganda."

The dynamics are changing and we are adapting, hence the DoDLive Bloggers Roundtables and the ability to release the video of the attack which has brought us to this discussion. Our recognition, as an institution, that we have the ability to show what actually happened and to release that video documentation in a timely manner is a great step forward in our attempts to streamline our communication abilities.

Now let's hear from Cannoneer #4:

Good to see you over here, Jack. CJTF-101 did great coming out with a product so rapidly. It is not my purpose to detract from the impact of this story.

When I first read

One of Public Affairs' primary responsibilities is to ensure factual reporting of events to the public

and to counter enemy propaganda.

I thought I as a member of the domestic target audience was being strategically communicated with and assured that somebody is indeed conducting counterpropaganda, which has been a pet peeve and perpetual blog topic of mine for some time. It was always my understanding that Psychological Operations conducted tactical and operational counterprop within an operational area and Other Government Agencies were supposed to perform the counterprop mission and attempt to mitigate some of the damage enemy propaganda does to the will and morale of the American people (domestic TA). IMO, OGA's have not covered themselves with glory on that, giving rise to civilian irregular virtual militias and People's Information Support Teams in the Counter Insurgent Supportive blogosphere.

Communication of operational matters to internal and external audiences is just one part of PA’s function. In performing duties as one of the primary spokesmen, the PA officer’s interaction with the IO staff enables PA activities to be integrated, coordinated, and deconflicted with IO. While intents differ, PA and IO ultimately support the dissemination of information, themes, and messages adapted to their audiences. PA contributes to the achievement of military objectives, for instance, by countering adversary misinformation and disinformation through the publication of accurate information.

I hope the young journalist at Bagram who slipped that new PA mission into the first sentence of the story doesn't lose too much of his fourth point of contact over it.

-----

Comment here, at Argghhh!, or at Small Wars Council.

British Foreign Secretary on Gaza

by SWJ Editors | Tue, 12/30/2008 - 1:59am | 7 comments

Via e-mail from Brendan O'Grady, Deputy Press Secretary, British Embassy, Washington DC:

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary are following developments in Gaza with grave concern. The UK supports an immediate ceasefire. The rise in rocket attacks on Israel since 19 December, and the massive loss of life in Gaza, makes this "a very dangerous and very dark moment", as the Foreign Secretary has described it.

The deteriorating humanitarian situation is deeply disturbing. The Prime Minister has spoken to Prime Minister Olmert of Israel. We have made clear that Israel must abide by its humanitarian obligations. The UK supports the prompt and sufficient delivery of food, fuel and medicine into the Gaza Strip.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has spoken to Condoleezza Rice today, to discuss how the international community can support efforts in 2009 to secure peaceful negotiations towards the ultimate goal of a viable Palestinian state existing alongside a secure Israel.

'Cease Hostilities' - BBC Radio 4

Israeli air force jets have bombed the Islamic University in the Gaza Strip, a significant cultural symbol for Hamas. Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Deputy Israeli Ambassador in London Talya Lador-Fresher, discuss the origins of this current upsurge in fighting.

Earlier Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned of a "very dark moment" in the Middle East peace process as Israel continued air strikes on Gaza.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he was concerned about the impact on the chances for achieving a peace agreement and the danger the raids would radicalise more people.

"This is very dangerous and a very dark moment," he said.

Nice Piece at Building Peace

by Dave Dilegge | Sun, 12/28/2008 - 3:46pm | 2 comments

A very nice post by Reach 364 at the Building Peace blog entitled Warrior Intellectuals.

I finally read John Nagl's counterinsurgency book Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam. I'd heard the book was good, but I had no idea HOW good. It's fantastic. The beauty of the book is that it's not merely about counterinsurgency; it's about building adaptive learning organizations that know how to defeat insurgencies. That's something I'm passionate about, so I devoured the book over my Christmas break, when I should have been busy opening presents and eating pumpkin pie...

Read it all - BP is added to our blogroll.

Israel / Gaza Strip Situation (Updated)

by SWJ Editors | Sun, 12/28/2008 - 9:30am | 1 comment

At Least 280 Palestinians Killed as Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Continue - Voice of America

Israeli warplanes have struck Hamas militant targets in the Gaza Strip on the second day of an offensive that has killed at least 280 Palestinians.

Palestinian health workers say Israeli aircraft destroyed Hamas' main security complex in Gaza City Sunday, killing four people. Earlier, Israel's military bombed a Gaza City mosque that it says was a terrorist base, killing two people.

Israel's military deployed ground troops on the edge of Gaza while the Cabinet approved a callup of 6,500 reservists, suggesting plans to expand the offensive.

Gaza militants responded by firing scores of rockets into southern Israel today. Two rockets landed near the Israeli port of Ashdod, reaching deeper into Israel than any rocket previously fired from Gaza. No casualties were reported.

Gaza's streets were deserted and schools were closed. Israel also allowed an aid convoy into Gaza, slightly easing its blockade on the Hamas-run territory.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas, saying it could have avoided the air strikes if it had extended a six-month truce with Israel. Mr. Abbas was speaking today on a visit to Cairo.

More at Voice of America.

IDF Masses Forces Near Gaza Ahead of Possible Ground Op - Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post

The IDF was beefing up forces around the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening in preparation for a possible ground operation following a massive air assault earlier in the day.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi were holding consultations on the army's next course of action.

Defense officials estimated that Hamas was capable of firing 150-200 rockets a day, adding that the operation could last for weeks.

Israel's goals, officials added, were to end Hamas rocket fire, end smuggling of arms into Gaza and severely disrupt any Hamas military activity.

More at The Washington Post.

Israelis Say Strikes Against Hamas Will Continue - Taghreed El-Khodary and Ethan Bronner, New York Times

Waves of Israeli airstrikes destroyed Hamas security facilities in Gaza on Saturday in a crushing response to the group's rocket fire, killing more than 225 — the highest one-day toll in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in decades.

Israeli military officials said the airstrikes, which went on into the night, were the start of what could be days or even months of an effort to force Hamas to end its rocket barrages into southern Israel. The operation could include ground forces, a senior Israeli security official said.

Palestinian officials said that most of the dead were security officers for Hamas, including two senior commanders, and that at least 600 people had been wounded in the attacks.

More at The New York Times and:

Israel Strikes Gaza in 2nd Day of Attacks - Associated Press

Israel Pounds Hamas Targets for Second Day - United Press International

Destruction Continues in Gaza - BBC News

Israel to Mobilise Some Military Reserves for Gaza - Reuters

Israeli Gaza Strike Kills More Than 200 - New York Times

Israel Hammers Hamas in Gaza - Washington Times

Israel Strikes Hamas Targets in Gaza, 230 Dead - Los Angeles Times

Israeli Jets Kill 'More than 200' in Gaza Strikes - The Times

Israel Rains Death on Gaza - Arab News

Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Strip Leave Scores Dead - Los Angeles Times

Massive Israeli Air Raids on Gaza - BBC News

At Least 228 Die as Israel Hammers Hamas-run Gaza - Agence France-Presse

Heaviest Air Strikes in Gaza History Kill Hundreds - Daily Telegraph

Israeli Assault on Hamas Kills More than 200 - Associated Press

Palestinians: Israeli Airstrikes Kill More Than 200 in Gaza - Voice of America

'All Police HQs in Gaza Destroyed' - Jerusalem Post

Hamas 'Bars Injured Leaving Gaza' - BBC News

Olmert: Israelis' Lives are Not Forfeit - Jerusalem Post

Hamas' Mashaal: We Still Want Cease-fire - Jerusalem Post

After IAF Strike Kills 225 in Gaza, Hamas Chief Vows Third Intifada - Haaretz

Britain and US Refuse to Demand End to Israeli Airstrikes - The Times

World Leaders React to Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza - Voice of America

UN Security Council Calls On Israel, Palestinians To Halt Violence - VOA

Arabs Throughout Middle East Protest Israel Airstrikes - Los Angeles Times

White House Puts Onus on Hamas to End Escalation of Violence - NY Times

Region Waits to See How Obama and Clinton Handle the Crisis - The Times

Iran Orders Muslims to Defend Palestinians in Gaza - Reuters

'Hamas Could Have Prevented Massacre' - Jerusalem Post

Israeli Leaders Face Crucial Choice in Gaza - Daily Telegraph

A Gournd War: The Hamas Army - Jerusalem Post

Analysis: The Policy of Restraint is Over - Jerusalem Post

How the Gaza Offensive Came About - Haaretz

Israel Changed the Rules Forever with Gaza Airstrike - Daily Telegraph

Israel's Version of 'Shock and Awe' - Haaretz

Fragile Peace Shattered Again - Daily Telegraph

Analysis: Hamas Unlikely to be Toppled - Associated Press

Analysis: Israel to Reprise Lebanon War in Gaza? - Reuters

'There is a Time for Calm, Now is the Time to Fight' - The Guardian

Gaza Raids Expose Israeli Failure - The Times

Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Strip Imperil Obama's Peace Chances - Washington Post

Israel Strikes - Washington Post editorial

SWJ Current Book List Update

by SWJ Editors | Sun, 12/28/2008 - 5:06am | 0 comments

The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 - Thomas Ricks

Thomas E. Ricks uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and extraordinary on-the-ground reportage to document the inside story of the Iraq War since late 2005 as only he can, examining the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began.

Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned - Rufus Phillips

Phillips details how the legendary Edward G. Lansdale helped the South Vietnamese gain and consolidate their independence between 1954 and 1956, and how this later changed to a reliance on American conventional warfare with its highly destructive firepower. He reasons that our failure to understand the Communists, our South Vietnamese allies, or even ourselves took us down the wrong road. In summing up US errors in Vietnam, Phillips draws parallels with the American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and suggests changes in the US approach. Known for his intellectual integrity and firsthand, long-term knowledge of what went on in Vietnam, the author offers lessons for today in this trenchant account.

Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq - Peter Mansoor

This is a unique contribution to the burgeoning literature on the Iraq war, analyzing the day-to-day performance of a US brigade in Baghdad during 2004-2005. Mansoor uses a broad spectrum of sources to address the military, political and cultural aspects of an operation undertaken with almost no relevant preparation, which tested officers and men to their limits and generated mistakes and misjudgments on a daily basis. The critique is balanced, perceptive and merciless - and Mansoor was the brigade commander. Military history is replete with command memoirs. Most are more or less self-exculpatory. Even the honest ones rarely achieve this level of analysis. The effect is like watching a surgeon perform an operation on himself. Mansoor has been simultaneously a soldier and a scholar, able to synergize directly his military and academic experiences.

The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq - Bing West

From a universally respected combat journalist, a gripping history based on five years of front-line reporting about how the war was turned around - and the choice now facing America. We interpret reality through the clouded prism of our own experience, so it is unsurprising that Bing West sees Iraq through the lens of Vietnam. He served as a Marine officer there, and he thinks politicians and the media caused the American public to turn against a war that could have been won. Now a correspondent for the Atlantic, West has made 15 reporting trips to Iraq over the last six years and is almost as personally invested in the current conflict as he was in Vietnam; this book, his third on Iraq, is his attempt to ensure that the "endgame" in Iraq turns out better than in his last war.

Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq - Linda Robinson

After a series of disastrous missteps in its conduct of the war, the White House in 2006 appointed General David Petraeus as the Commanding General of the coalition forces. Tell Me How This Ends is an inside account of his attempt to turn around a failing war. Linda Robinson conducted extensive interviews with Petraeus and his subordinate commanders and spent weeks with key US and Iraqi divisions. The result is the only book that ties together military operations in Iraq and the internecine political drama that is at the heart of the civil war. Replete with dramatic battles, behind-doors confrontations, and astute analysis, the book tells the full story of the Iraq War's endgame, and lays out the options that will be facing the next president.

The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008 - Bob Woodward

Woodward interviewed key players, obtained dozens of never-before-published documents, and had nearly three hours of exclusive interviews with President Bush. The result is a stunning, firsthand history of the years from mid-2006, when the White House realizes the Iraq strategy is not working, through the decision to surge another 30,000 US troops in 2007, and into mid-2008, when the war becomes a fault line in the presidential election. As violence in Iraq reaches unnerving levels in 2006, a second front in the war rages at the highest levels of the Bush administration. In his fourth book on President George W. Bush, Bob Woodward takes readers deep inside the tensions, secret debates, unofficial backchannels, distrust and determination within the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the intelligence agencies and the US military headquarters in Iraq. With unparalleled intimacy and detail, this gripping account of a president at war describes a period of distress and uncertainty within the US government from 2006 through mid-2008. The White House launches a secret strategy review that excludes the military. General George Casey, the commander in Iraq, believes that President Bush does not understand the war and eventually concludes he has lost the president's confidence. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also conduct a secret strategy review that goes nowhere. On the verge of revolt, they worry that the military will be blamed for a failure in Iraq.

We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam - Harold Moore and Joe Galloway

In their stunning follow-up to the classic bestseller We Were Soldiers Once... and Young, Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joe Galloway return to Vietnam and reflect on how the war changed them, their men, their enemies, and both countries - often with surprising results. It would be a monumental task for Moore and Galloway to top their classic 1992 memoir. But they come close in this sterling sequel, which tells the backstory of two of the Vietnam War's bloodiest battles (in which Moore participated as a lieutenant colonel), their first book and a 1993 ABC-TV documentary that brought them back to the battlefield. Moore's strong first-person voice reviews the basics of the November 1965 battles, part of the 34-day Battle of the Ia Drang Valley. Among other things, Moore and Galloway (who covered the battle for UPI) offer portraits of two former enemy commanders, generals Nguyen Huu An and Chu Huy Man, whom the authors met - and bonded with - nearly three decades after the battle. This book proves again that Moore is an exceptionally thoughtful, compassionate and courageous leader (he was one of a handful of army officers who studied the history of the Vietnam wars before he arrived) and a strong voice for reconciliation and for honoring the men with whom he served.

In a Time of War: The Proud and Perilous Journey of West Point' Class of 2002 - Bill Murphy

The West Point cadets Murphy follows through their baptism by fire are an admirable sample of young American men and women: intelligent, ambitious and intensely patriotic. Most come from career military families and hold conservative opinions. Murphy describes their four years at West Point with respect even when discussing their love lives and marriages. All yearn for battle, and most get their wish. The book's best passages describe the confusion of moving to Iraq or Afghanistan and fighting insurgents, for which they lack both training and equipment. All feel something is not right but concentrate on the job at hand; some inevitably die or are grievously wounded.

Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy - Steven Metz

Today the US military is more nimble, mobile, and focused on rapid responses against smaller powers than ever before. One could argue that the Gulf War and the postwar standoff with Saddam Hussein hastened needed military transformation and strategic reassessments in the post--Cold War era. But the preoccupation with Iraq also mired the United States in the Middle East and led to a bloody occupation. What will American strategy look like after US troops leave Iraq? Metz concludes that the United States has a long-standing, continuing problem "developing sound assumptions when the opponent operates within a different psychological and cultural framework." He sees a pattern of misjudgments about Saddam and Iraq based on Western cultural and historical bias and a pervasive faith in the superiority of America's worldview and institutions. This myopia contributed to America being caught off guard by Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, then underestimating his longevity, and finally miscalculating the likelihood of a stable and democratic Iraq after he was toppled. With lessons for all readers concerned about America's role in the world, Dr. Metz's important new work will especially appeal to scholars and students of strategy and international security studies, as well as to military professionals and DOD civilians. With a foreword by Colin S. Gray.

All Counterinsurgency Is Local

by Dave Dilegge | Sat, 12/27/2008 - 3:03pm | 1 comment

Had some time today to reread and think about several articles we've linked to over the last several months. In case you missed this one - or not - I'd recommend a first or second read of All Counterinsurgency Is Local by Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason in October's The Atlantic. Here are several take-aways:

1) As in Vietnam, the U.S. has never lost a tactical engagement in Afghanistan, and this tactical success is still often conflated with strategic progress. Yet the Taliban insurgency grows more intense and gains more popular traction each year.

2) The U.S. engagement in Afghanistan is foundering because of the endemic failure to engage and protect rural villages, and to immunize them against insurgency. Many analysts have called for more troops inside the country, and for more effort to eliminate Taliban sanctuaries outside it, in neighboring Pakistan.

3) Politically and strategically, the most important level of governance in Afghanistan is neither national nor regional nor provincial. Afghan identity is rooted in the woleswali: the districts within each province that are typically home to a single clan or tribe. Historically, unrest has always bubbled up from this stratum—whether against Alexander, the Victorian British, or the Soviet Union. Yet the woleswali are last, not first, in U.S. military and political strategy.

4) The Taliban are well aware that the center of gravity in Afghanistan is the rural Pashtun district and village, and that Afghan army and coalition forces are seldom seen there.

5) To reverse its fortunes in Afghanistan, the U.S. needs to fundamentally reconfigure its operations, creating small development and security teams posted at new compounds in every district in the south and east of the country.

Much more at The Atlantic about a COIN approach concentrating on the rural areas in Afghanistan.

Treading Softly in the Philippines

by SWJ Editors | Sat, 12/27/2008 - 6:48am | 4 comments

Max Boot and Richard Bennet discuss why a low-intensity counterinsurgency strategy seems to be working in the Philippines at The Weekly Standard.

The war on terror that the Obama administration is inheriting comes with a decidedly mixed record. Stopping attacks on the American homeland since 2001 has been the Bush administration's biggest accomplishment. Turning around the war effort in Iraq, which was on the verge of failure in 2006, has been another signal success. But, as the Mumbai attacks remind us, the threat of Islamist terrorism has hardly been extinguished...

Almost forgotten amid these major developments is a tiny success story in Southeast Asia that may offer a more apt template than either Iraq or Afghanistan for fighting extremists in many corners of the world. The southern islands of the Philippines, inhabited by Muslims known as Moros (Spanish for "Moor"), have been in almost perpetual rebellion against the Christian majority ruling in Manila...

More at The Weekly Standard.

Wall Street Journal Best Books - Bing West Scores Again

by Dave Dilegge | Fri, 12/26/2008 - 2:58pm | 0 comments

Bing West's newest book The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq has been named a Wall Street Journal Best of 2008. Congrats, Semper Fi, as well as fair winds and following seas to you and yours Bing.

In preparation for writing The Strongest Tribe, former Marine infantry officer Bing West "traveled with 60 U.S. and Iraqi battalions and interviewed 2,000 soldiers... His chronicle is full of eyewitness accounts of nerve-wracking patrols, improvised-explosive detonations and small-unit gunfights," wrote reviewer Jonathan Kay, the managing editor for comment at Canada's National Post newspaper. The resulting book -- about the implementation of the American troop surge in 2007 - provided a bracing counterpoint to the usual scornful portraits of the war in Iraq, Mr. Kay said. The book "deserves to be read as an authoritative testament to this historic achievement."

Description: From a universally respected combat journalist, a gripping history based on five years of front-line reporting about how the war was turned around--and the choice now facing America.

During the fierce battle for Fallujah, Bing West asked an Iraqi colonel why the archterrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had fled in women's clothes. The colonel pointed to a Marine patrol walking by and said, "Americans are the strongest tribe."

In Iraq, America made mistake after mistake. Many gave up on the war. Then the war took a sharp U-turn. Two generals--David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno--displayed the leadership America expected. Bringing the reader from the White House to the fighting in the streets, this remarkable narrative explains the turnaround by U.S. forces.

In the course of fourteen extended trips over five years, West embedded with more than sixty front-line units, discussing strategy with generals and tactics with corporals. He provides an expert's account of counterinsurgency, disposing of myths. By describing the characters and combat in city after city, West gives the reader an in-depth understanding that will inform the debate about the war. This is the definitive study of how American soldiers actually fought --a gripping and visceral book that changes the way we think about the war, and essential reading for understanding the next critical steps to be taken.

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