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  1. #1
    Council Member Van's Avatar
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    Default What Are You Currently Reading? 2009

    Air Power Against Terror was well worth the effort. Two thirds of it is a robust, well sourced history of the first seven (roughly) months of the GWOT, from 9/11 through Operation Anaconda, and the last third of it is a pretty solid critique of the use of air power during this period. The history part gets a little dry and long winded, but the analysis makes it worth it.

    It's important to hear the rest of the story about Operation Anaconda, but it is an emotionally loaded subject, so I don't want to derail the "Currently Reading" thread.

    What concerns me is that this book is ripe to be cherry-picked by Douhet/Mitchell worshippers. But this should be motivation for ground forces guys to read it, so they can equally cherry-pick the problems and failures section.

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    Council Member Van's Avatar
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    Default Next up

    David Kilcullen's Accidental Guerrilla. I should be receiving a reviewers' copy in a few days, and am really looking forward to it.

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    Thesis: Political Institutions and Military Change: Lessons from Peripheral Wars by Deborah Avant

    Work: Legitimacy Among Nations by Thomas Franck (again)

    Pleasure: in between books at the moment, but i always have an open atlas on the desk

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    "Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seduction of Islamism"

    Started reading it awhile back, put it down, and now picking it back up again.

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    Research:

    Steel Chariots in the Desert - SC Rolls
    Armoured Cars in Eden - Kermit Roosevelt

    Pair of WWI armored car memoirs, from Lawrence's driver and TR's son. Both very good, similar books, both spend a little more time on local flora and fauna than on combat against the Turks.

    Personal:

    Frontsoldaten - Stephen G. Fritz

    Not bad, but kind of wish I'd just read Guy Sajer instead, given how much he gets quoted by the author.

    The New American Militarism - Andrew Bacevich

    Excellent book, found myself agreeing with him a lot more often than not. Should be required reading for all soldiers, civil servants and (especially) politicians.

    Flashman at the Charge - George MacDonald Fraser

    Maybe the best one in the series so far. Great stuff.

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    Council Member 120mm's Avatar
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    Orson Scott Card's

    Ender's Game

    Speaker For the Dead

    Xenocide

    Original trilogy. There is a critical lesson(s) in each book, imo.

    Ender's Game is primarily about leadership

    Speaker For the Dead is primarily about cultures and cultural differences and how they affect relationships

    Xenocide is primarily about ethics. It's built around a set of "wicked problems".

    All three should be military and academic required reading.

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    Council Member Van's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Granite_State View Post
    Frontsoldaten - Stephen G. Fritz

    Not bad, but kind of wish I'd just read Guy Sajer instead, given how much he gets quoted by the author.
    The Forgotten Soldier is powerful and incredibly depressing.
    It should be required reading for military policy makers and political leaders, to keep them mindful of wh is on the far end of their decision process.

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    Council Member Van's Avatar
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    Default Douhet?

    David Kilcullen's The Accidental Guerrilla was excellent. It really make the case for counter insurgency as the graduate level of warfare.

    Having mentioned Douhet and Mitchell in reference to Air Power Against Terror, it crossed my mind that I have heard Douhet cited and on rare occasion quoted, but I never read his works. That's on my desk now. He was quite the visionary. but very easy to quote out of context.

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    I cannot agree more. It's a good mix of daily conditions, TTPs and a testament to the soldier's exposure to chickensh*t in multiple forms. It reads like a diary. Good stuff.


    Quote Originally Posted by Van View Post
    The Forgotten Soldier is powerful and incredibly depressing.
    It should be required reading for military policy makers and political leaders, to keep them mindful of wh is on the far end of their decision process.

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    Council Member AmericanPride's Avatar
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    I'm wrapping up Tanner's the Military History of Afghanistan -- interesting series of events in Afghan history, but I had expected more analysis of what drove those events.

    I'll be moving on to Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival next.
    When I am weaker than you, I ask you for freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am stronger than you, I take away your freedom because that is according to my principles. - Louis Veuillot

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    Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
    ODB

    Exchange with an Iraqi soldier during FID:

    Why did you not clear your corner?

    Because we are on a base and it is secure.

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    Council Member CPT Foley's Avatar
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    Default Where's The Fiction?

    I mentioned it recently in another post, but I'll raise it again. I'm worried about our (U.S. Military) lack of appreciation for literature/fiction/poetry as valuable tool to enhance cultural awareness in the GWOT.

    Tom Friedman & Judith Milller & Robert D. Kaplan are great journalists, I'd recommend them too. But I think they would be the first to admit that they don't know the cultural nuances of the Arab world that Alaa Al Aswany or Naguib Mahfouz convey in their fiction.

    If you wanted to truly understand mentality of a 19th Century Russian, what really made them tick, would you read history, or would you read Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Gogol? You would read both! And we don't. I realize there is a major dearth of Arab literature, but get your hands on what you can, if you are serious about understanding the Arab world.

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    Default recent

    In response to the fiction request, which is really valid, I was waiting at the PX for a haircut and came across a random novel on the rack. "The Underdogs" by Mariano Azuela. Apparently it is "the greatest novel of the Mexican Revolution" about a Mexican Indian that fights with rebels and becomes a general under Pancho Villa. I started reading it while waiting for a barber, and its pretty good so far. Not a long read.

    Also reading: "The Idea of Pakistan" by Stephen Cohen. Really interesting history and analysis of Pakistan, with a focus on the idea vs the actual state of Pakistan, and the inherent problems that arise from the difference. I have Weaver's "Pakistan: In the Shadow of Jihad and Afghanistan" and Ahmed Rashid's "Descent into Chaos" on the shelf to follow it (When I get some quality reading time."

    "Utility of Force" by Rupert Smith. Excellent book, but I'm reading it a little bit as a time as there are a ton of ideas to absorb and think about. Very worth the time!
    "What do you think this is, some kind of encounter group?"
    - Harry Callahan, The Enforcer.

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    Currently reading Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna

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    Just finished reading three books on PMC's in Iraq. None were very good, though "Big Boy Rules" was the best of the three. Anyone know of better books that don't either make contractors out to be superheroes "these brave men and women of Blackwater can leap over tall buildings and kill terrorists with laser beams from there eyes!" or supervillains, "these neofascits of Blackwater kill small children and innocent Iraqis to help Bush's cronies make more money"
    Reed
    Quote Originally Posted by sapperfitz82 View Post
    This truly is the bike helmet generation.

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    The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven.

    One of the most memorable novels I've read. Far better than the movie. There is a passage describing a small Mexican Army unit attacking a hacienda. Very impressive if at all true. After reading that, I never much worried about the Mexican Army's ability to handle things inside Mexico.
    "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." Gen. Nathanael Greene

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    Quote Originally Posted by reed11b View Post
    Just finished reading three books on PMC's in Iraq. None were very good, though "Big Boy Rules" was the best of the three. Anyone know of better books that don't either make contractors out to be superheroes "these brave men and women of Blackwater can leap over tall buildings and kill terrorists with laser beams from there eyes!" or supervillains, "these neofascits of Blackwater kill small children and innocent Iraqis to help Bush's cronies make more money"
    Reed
    I thought Robert Young Pelton's "Licensed to Kill" was pretty good. He talked about the many negatives of using PMCs, spent some time on the Sandline adventures in Africa and Papua New Guinea, but also didn't demonize the men out there with the guns. A friend of mine worked for a smaller British PMC in Iraq, and the book was pretty in line with what he told me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Granite_State View Post
    I thought Robert Young Pelton's "Licensed to Kill" was pretty good. He talked about the many negatives of using PMCs, spent some time on the Sandline adventures in Africa and Papua New Guinea, but also didn't demonize the men out there with the guns. A friend of mine worked for a smaller British PMC in Iraq, and the book was pretty in line with what he told me.
    Thank you.
    I keep hearing good things about the book, but I have not found it yet. I'll keep looking.
    Reed
    Quote Originally Posted by sapperfitz82 View Post
    This truly is the bike helmet generation.

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    Council Member CPT Foley's Avatar
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    Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely check out "The Underdogs."

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    you can download The Underdogs for free at Project Gutenburg.
    Last edited by Jedburgh; 05-17-2009 at 05:12 AM. Reason: Added link.
    "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." Gen. Nathanael Greene

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