I thought Col Gentile's article was both thought provoking and balanced - nothing less that one would expect from a knowledgable professional.
However: for my money he is guilty of a slightly...
Type: Posts; User: kingo1rtr; Keyword(s):
I thought Col Gentile's article was both thought provoking and balanced - nothing less that one would expect from a knowledgable professional.
However: for my money he is guilty of a slightly...
I read the following link from the BBC about life in Kandahar.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8203830.stm
It set me to thinking that in some places where there is a degree of...
A book entitled Arabs by Mark Allen is woth a crack. It was well read by the Brits in Basra - some cynics might say that would be enoiugh to put you off! It shouldn't.
...
Drop a line to the boys at the War Studies Department in Kings London - they will have strong links with groups in the US and may be able to suggest soemthing.
If you hit a brick wall there, come...
Still very much with us. I'm hopeful that it might be possible to persuade a wee publisher to consider a bio of him while it is still possible to get first hand accounts with him.
I would say...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/5967728/David-Cameron-would-appoint-Minister-for-Afghanistan.html
This link takes you to an interesting article about alleged proposal by...
Saifullah - I dare say you don't have a library close by (if you do then alls the better) but if you can get hold of Frank Kitson's 'Low Intensity Operations' he offers a very good set of...
I was in Basra during 2006 and 2007. IMO the author makes an accurate observation about how we planned and executed the extraction from Basra. However, I'll take some convincing that the same is...
A wee bit more detail just to square the circle of where General Sir Nick is headed next. He is also Colonel Commandant of the Rifles.
...
David
Very strong stuff. I simply add the following link to underline the powerful article you had posted. I understand that they are all keeping each other amused in Selly Oak!!!!!
...
Another good article. Well thought out and accurate on a number of levels. Its encouraging that the debate in the media is moving gently towards a more sophisticated level that just pure equipment...
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/will-pike-and-patrick-little-we-are-at-war-but-where-is-the-leadership-1752208.html
Well worth a read. Most of the points land on target.
- its a very useful link. I think that Rory Stewart's views are beginning to resonate in the upper echelons of the military chain. No doubt the military do find some of his views uncomfortable, but I...
At the strategic level the support is there and senior military figures have appeared to achieve a concensus amongst poilitical leaders (note - not necessarily their followers) that this may be a...
One of the early contentions in this thread was the premise that war is war. I wonder if we ought to be making security in Afghanistan, not war. Why?
Armies can make war in the classic sense - but...
At some point, if one accepts the premise that victory against the Taliban is unachievable, negotiation must be an option. This article by James Fergusson, now over a year old (15 Jun 08) is of...
Leslie Gelb has a very good one-pager about Robert McNamara in this week's Time. It gives a sharp treatise on the difficulties of McNamara's approach. I highlight because the last paragraph is of...
Alot of this debate, both within the media and also to mainstream politics, in UK and US, highlights the effects of a distinct lack of a coherent strategic narrative on the coalition effort in...
Ken
Thats a very taut and accurate summary of the debate to date. I'll start reading these strings from the bottom in future!
I agree that there is much to support and admire in this essay - however I fundamentally believe that we must maintain the 'hearts and minds' concept at the core of what we do out there. It is in...
Tom, you have it accurately there. 5 British service men have lost their lives this week in Afghanistan; they have had to fight for media space with Michael Jackson and the Wimbledon tennis finals. ...