I just hate to see him head down the Hackworth/Peters path. Starting out with some really on-target stuff and get bogged down on kooky side issues and rants that alienate most people from the gold nuggets found in their writing, allowing people to dismiss their writings out of hand.
25% of Hackworth's stuff was absolutely brilliant. 75% was craptastic ranting. After "About Face" was published he went steadily downhill as his ranting drove those originally receptive away. Same with Peters. His stuff up until "Beyond Terror" was insightful and brilliant, and he's had a few since then. (I worshipped his "Parameters" articles from the 90s) However, todayit gets so lost in the vitrolic "New York Post" op-eds that now getting people to take him seriously is a challenge.
Agreed on all counts. Peters' early stuff was fascinating, and at least was serious enough that it got some people to think and debate it based on its merits. Now, like you say, he's really wandered down the Hackworth path.
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
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