What Are You Currently Reading? 2009

[The Cuyahoga Kid]

Finished Reading
Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq by Peter R. Mansoor

Next Books
Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood by Donovan Campbell
The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen

[Schmedlap]

Human Intelligence, Counterterrorism, & National Leadership by Gary Berntsen

This is very short book. I read about chapter at a time while on the subway. If I had a longer attention span, I could probably read it cover to cover in an hour or less. It is written as a series of recommendations to the current administration (written before the election) and each chapter ends with a bullet-format summary of those recommendations.

Thus far, I particularly like his idea of getting rid of the polygraph for everyone except those in the counterintelligence center. He points out the unreliability of it (lots of false positives) and the deterrent effect it has upon individuals whom we need to recruit.

I have taken a polygraph as part of an investigation into the conduct of my Soldiers. I took it voluntarily, but midway through I was starting to regret it. It turned out well - as a result of the test the investigation rightfully ended. But as the interview progressed and the interviewer kept adjusting the questions to box me into a yes or no response, I really didn't like it. "Have you ever stolen someone's trust?" WTF does that mean? I answered every question truthfully. When it was over, the interviewer said, "you're good, everything's fine - there was one question that was kind of iffy, but everything pertinent to the case checks out." What question was that? Like I said, I answered them all truthfully. I was already a bit unsure of whether it was going to misread me. Now I am even less inclined to take one in the future. I know a few guys who are unwilling to take full-scope polygraphs, not because they've done anything wrong but because, as they put it, the answer to most questions is, "none of your business." The author also points out that people who have conducted espionage in the past have taken the polygraph and "passed."

[Sergeant T]

Enormous digression for this thread. Taken a half dozen polygraphs for employment in my time. They almost always break down to the same questions, but the results can vary greatly. There is simply too much sway in the results due to the polygraph administrator. Some approach it as an interrogation, some approach it as a conversation. There is a very good reason they are not admissible as evidence in a criminal trial. The test is only as good as the person administering it. It has become one of those devices organizations wrap themselves in to feel warm. Adlrich Ames passed two polygraphs while engaged in espionage. Because he was able to pass the Agency never looked for other obvious clues. It's become a lazy shortcut for organizations not willing to expend the effort looking into a person's character. (Had an acquaintance 25 year old female fail because the 50+ year old male administrator kept digging for details about her sex life while the tape was running.) Part of the fixation with metrics rather than qualitative measures.

[carl]

Not such a big digression. A book called The Lie Detectors got a very good write up in the Wall Street Journal sometime back. I have not yet read it but mean to.

I have read other books and articles on lie detectors and if you are so inclined they are pretty easy to beat; at least in the sense that you can easily foul up the result to the point it won't be usable.

[selil]

Not a book, but watched the movie "Defiance". Not what I expected. Insurgency v. high intensity conflict. The special features section of the DVD was interesting too.

[Old Eagle]

Ran across two pubs that provide a lot of insight into what we're discussing here.

Flashback #1 CGSC Field Circular 100-20 Low-Intensity Conflict, of 1986. Many of the same tensions, confusions and frustrations rear their ugly heads in this pub. Remarkably, the schoolhouse had a decent insight into many of the challenges and potential solutions in Small Wars.

Flashback #2 The Trailwatcher -- a TRADOC complilation of many of the writings of the very prolific Mike Malone. I worked a major project with M2 (as he refered to himself) back in the 80s. M2 was truly an Army treasure, understanding the essence of soldiering, leadership, organizational behavior and information technology (in an era before advanced computer communication!!)

[Tom Odom]

Ran across two pubs that provide a lot of insight into what we're discussing here.

Flashback #1 CGSC Field Circular 100-20 Low-Intensity Conflict, of 1986. Many of the same tensions, confusions and frustrations rear their ugly heads in this pub. Remarkably, the schoolhouse had a decent insight into many of the challenges and potential solutions in Small Wars.

Bruce

Steve Metz and I were there when that FC was written. Note that it was published by the dept of logistics managemenet and operations--not the department of tactis or joint andf combined operations. I read parts of it because i was writing LP 14 on the Simbas in the Congo--originally sold as a peacekeeping study to get it past my boss who thought a look at the Congo wars might be seen as racist--and they wanted me to look at the parts on peacekeeping. I think Steve may have worked it as well.

Best
Tom

[Blackjack]

Oddly enough, I am reading How To Deal With Tribesmen.

[selil]

I'm reading "The accidental guerilla" by some ape named Kilcullen. I keep waiting for a Jane Goodall moment but so far it is about a bunch of guys running around in circles. Talking about an instructor he says ".. internal or ethno-religious conflicts weren't really wars, and civil wars didn't count under the classical definitions of war either.." (page 2)..

[zenpundit]

Wired for War by PW Singer, of which I am more than halfway finished and Emergence by Steven Johnson, which I started today. Next on the rotation is The Anabasis of Cyrus by Xenophon ( Ambler trans.)

One nice thing about Wired for War is as you read through it, a fair number of names that pop up here at SWJ and the SWC in discussions or as participants/contributors are quoted, sometimes at length.

My summer reading list is here, for those interested. Some of the links are askew due to a coding error, unfortunately, but most of them just go to Amazon anyway.

[davidbfpo]

A good book on the theme of de-radicalization is: 'Leaving Terrorism Behind: Individual and collective disengagement', edited by Tore Bjorgo and John Horgan (Pub by Routledge 2009). Some theoretical and general chapters, then case studies and not just featuring Islam. Took time to read and worthwhile.

davidbfpo

[Uboat509]

I am about to start reading On Combat, The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace by LTC(R) Dave Grossman. I heard the LTC speak back in 2006 prior to our group's deployment to OIF V. I had heard some of his controversial views on Combat and killing before and did not agree with them but he did have some very good stuff in his seminar about PTSD and mindset. I never did get around to reading his book, though. Now I am taking a General Psychology course and I have to do a book report on a book that realates to one of the topics we will be studying. This one seemed an obvious choice.

SFC W

[AnalyticType]

I'm reading "The accidental guerilla" by some ape named Kilcullen. I keep waiting for a Jane Goodall moment but so far it is about a bunch of guys running around in circles. Talking about an instructor he says ".. internal or ethno-religious conflicts weren't really wars, and civil wars didn't count under the classical definitions of war either.." (page 2)..

selil, I recently put this book on my "to read" list. I'm thinkin' it'll be removed now.

Currently I'm reading The Utility of Force by Gen. Rupert Smith. It's a dense read but I'm learning a great deal.

Victoria

[J Wolfsberger]

Just finished A Problem From Hell. Now I need some light reading, so I bought a copy of the Rand Corporation monograph: In the Middle of the Fight: An Assessment of Medium-Armored Forces in Past Military Operations

Just biding time until July, when Eye of the Storm (Legacy of the Aldenata), by John Ringo, and By Heresies Distressed, by David Weber, both come out on the same day.

[davidbfpo]

Analytic Type,

I enjoyed reading Killcullen's book, although it was read in stages during a holiday and now I can see why many in the military praise it. The chapters on Afghanistan and Iraq were excellent; those on less well known conflicts at least helpful and that on Western Europe not as convincing. Makes good arguments on the accidental guerilla and avoiding intervention.

I'd certainly put it on a reading list, as so many will cite it.

davidbfpo

[selil]

selil, I recently put this book on my "to read" list. I'm thinkin' it'll be removed now.

Currently I'm reading The Utility of Force by Gen. Rupert Smith. It's a dense read but I'm learning a great deal.

Victoria

Don't take my criticism to strongly. It is a a good book. The author is a good writer. I on the other hand can be a hyper critical curmudgeon. YMMV

[AnalyticType]

...I've finally finished wading through 16 pages of this thread, and investigating a significant proportion of the books mentioned. I have added a substantial number of them to my reading queue. And here I was, for years thinkin' that I'm well read...

As for your adjusted advice, selil, it's noted. I am willing to read a great deal, even if I don't agree with it necessarily. But I'm not willing to waste my time on inaccurate or 'inventive' non-fiction. So I may well reapply The Accidental Guerrilla to my list, to be consumed with a grain or two of salt.

Don't take my criticism to strongly. It is a a good book. The author is a good writer. I on the other hand can be a hyper critical curmudgeon. YMMV

I noticed, somewhere back about midway in this 2+ year-long thread, that someone had mentioned reading Strategikon. I read that, along with Machiavelli's The Prince and the 'condensed' version of CvC's On War, and Sun Tzu, among others, for my various undergrad classes. While I've read and re-read Sun Tzu many times over the last 30 years, I only recently read the others. Loved Machiavelli, by the way. I'm thinking that I need to revisit the Strategikon, for it did not receive my full attention at the time.

Currently, or should I say concurrently, with Rupert Smith's Utility of Force, I'm also re-reading Heuer's Psychology of Intelligence Analysis and Morgan Jones' The Thinker's Toolkit.

Some of the others that I've read in the last couple years are Moment of Truth in Iraq by Michael Yon, Roughneck Nine-One by Frank Antenori, 'Dalton Fury's Kill Bin Laden, and the one I just finished last week, Ghost by Fred Burton (Stratfor VP). And then there's Plato, Cicero, St. Augustine, Locke, Mill, and the rest... I'm currently mulling over Just War Theory as a result of all of my political theory reading, and how it applies to current events and the type of threats we face.

[William F. Owen]

A good read. I figure the author (William F. Owen) must be full of himself (poke poke poke poke), but I must say I wish he had gone ahead and written more fiction. I gave the book to my dad to read and he was in much of that territory (61-63). No real idea what he did there but his commentary will be interesting. Mr. Owen should have written more fiction he has a talent for it.

Thanks for that. Yes, may well start writing fiction again. Some say I never stopped !!

[William F. Owen]

Over the last couple of months I have read (Relevant to SWJ) :

Wired for War - Singer: As someone who writes about UAVs for a living, I thought it disappointing. Very frothy stuff, with quite a lot writing piled on to no useful purpose. The odd interesting snippet, which had they comprised the entire book, would have been a winner.

Accidental Guerilla - Kilcullen: It's OK, but it's not on my "Want to know something, then read this list." Some of it I just don't agree with. It's in the same box as "Utility of Force - Smith" I'd also add that rank and reputation are no excuse not to hold the author to rigour. If it helps, read that last sentence again.

The Scientific Way of Warfare - Bousquet: Recomended by some here. Not an easy read, but actually some of it is pretty good stuff. Not a great book, but I feel better for having read it.

[pjmunson]

Hugh Kennedy's "The Great Arab Conquests" - Very interesting and well written.
Ahmed Rashid's "Descent into Chaos" - Recommended. This book seems to be a good, current look by Rashid, who has what must be unparalleled access to key players in the area. I'm finding it much more helpful than "Taliban" although having read that one adds to the background for "Descent into Chaos."