Blogs to Watch

**SWJED** · 12-26-2005

26 Dec. London Daily Telegraph - Battlefield Blogs Take Iraq War Into Homes of America.

... In a development that is increasingly worrying US military commanders in Iraq, a growing number of American soldiers - 200 at the last count - have set up their own blogs, or internet diaries, and are updating them from the battlefield.

The phenomenon, facilitated by the provision of internet cafes at almost all US camps to permit soldiers regular contact with home, has for the first time allowed personal reports of the reality of combat to be read as they happen...

A US military spokesman said that failing to maintain some form of control of what soldiers were writing would be tactically naive as it could provide information that could aid the enemy.

"We don't have a problem with most of what they write," he said. "But we don't want them to give away the farm."

**SWJED** · 04-19-2006

Best of luck to both outstanding blogs... Here is the news from the sources:

CT Blog to Merge With "Fourth Rail" and Move - New Foundation to Fund Our Efforts - The Counterterrorism Blog

Merging with the Counterterrorism Blog, the Creation of the Counterterrorism Foundation and I'm Heading to Afghanistan - The Fourth Rail

**SWJED** · 09-13-2006

The Adventures of Chester - From Every Mountainside.

Tom Ricks’ book FIASCO: The American Military Adventure in Iraq has been climbing the charts of late. Ricks lists the work Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice by David Galula as being very important to understanding the fight in Iraq today. Galula was a French officer who served in Greece, Algeria, and China, and observed various different insurgencies firsthand. His work is peppered with colorful anecdotes such as the things he learned after being captured by the Chinese Communists. Nevertheless, it very much attempts to develop a theory of counterinsurgency warfare that is extremely relevant today, despite the differences between Communist fighters and those of the Islamic ilk...

Vital Perspective - Military Beefing Up Training, Instruction on Counter-Insurgency Techniques.

Jane's Defence Weekly (subscription) reports that the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are putting the finishing touches on a new counter-insurgency manual that is designed to fill a crucial gap in U.S. military doctrine.

Military leaders describe the new manual as part of a larger cultural shift that will affect the way the services train, equip and fight. The growing emphasis on counter-insurgency will require more language training and cultural awareness, skills traditionally the domain of special operations forces...

More at both blogs...

**bourbon** · 09-01-2008

New blog by Dr Mark Galeotti: In Moscow's Shadows

This blog's author, Dr Mark Galeotti has been researching Russian security issues since the late 1980s. Educated at Cambridge University and the LSE, he is currently head of the History department at Keele University in the UK as well as director of its Organised Russian & Eurasian Crime Research Unit. From January 2009, he will be Clinical Associate Professor of Global Affairs at New York University. His books include the edited collections 'Russian & Soviet Organized Crime' (Ashgate) and 'Global Crime Today' (Routledge) and he is a regular contributor to Jane's Intelligence Review, Oxford Analytica and many other outlets.

For good measure lets add Johnson's Russia List to this thread.

**bourbon** · 09-04-2008

The great Steve Coll (Ghost Wars, The Bin Ladens) has started a blog at The New Yorker called Think Tank. SWJ is sitting pretty on the blogroll already. Coll joins George Packer and his Interesting Times blog at the NYer.

**sullygoarmy** · 09-09-2008

Thanks...some interesting reading there. Two great authors of some must read books.

**zenpundit** · 09-11-2008

On both counts. Nice job !

**bourbon** · 10-19-2008

War and Peace - by Mark Urban, BBC News Night diplomatic and defense editor. Urban authored Big Boys' Rules: The SAS and the secret struggle against the IRA, which I imagine many here have read.

IS IT SAFE?, by Sam Fadis, former CIA officer runs a blog discussing terrorism and homeland security for The Capital of Annapolis, Md. Fadis is the author of Operation Hotel California: The Clandestine War Inside Iraq which was just published.

**bourbon** · 12-04-2008

Eeben Barlow's Military and Security Blog

About Me
Eeben Barlow
I founded the Private Military Company (PMC) Executive Outcomes (EO) in 1989. The company operated primarily in Africa helping African governments that had been abandoned by the West. EO also operated in South America and the Far East. I have lectured, and still lecture, to military colleges and universities on security and defence issues in several countries. I believe that only Africans can truly solve Africa’s problems. I currently consult to a USA-based company.

[h/t: Feral Jundi]

**davidbfpo** · 02-14-2009

Via searching for another item I came across this site: http://www.jihadica.com/ , now being run by a Norwegian team and this is from their 'About Us' page:

Jihadica is a clearinghouse for materials related to militant, transnational Sunni Islamism, commonly known as Jihadism. At the moment, much of this material is diffuse, known only to a few specialists, and inaccessible to the public and policymakers unless they pay a fee. Jihadica provides this material for free and keeps a daily record of its dissemination that can be easily searched and studied. These records are accompanied by the expert commentary of people who have the requisite language training to understand the primary source material and advanced degrees in relevant fields.

davidbfpo

**marct** · 02-15-2009

Nice catch, David!

**Rex Brynen** · 02-15-2009

Originally Posted by davidbfpo

Via searching for another item I came across this site: http://www.jihadica.com/ , now being run by a Norwegian team and this is from their 'About Us' page:

It is an excellent site, and the new Norwegian team is top notch (Brynjar Lia in particular has published some excellent studies on jihadist groups, as well as his previous books on the Palestinian security forces).

**LawVol** · 02-15-2009

Can anyone recommend a blog discussing national security issues and related topics from central and south America? Many thanks.

**bourbon** · 02-15-2009

Originally Posted by LawVol

Can anyone recommend a blog discussing national security issues and related topics from central and south America? Many thanks.

Check out Samuel Logan's Security in Latin America.

**davidbfpo** · 03-28-2009

Found via jihadica a new site that comments on events in the Yemen:
http://islamandinsurgencyinyemen.blogspot.com/

Not a place I watch much, so will leave others to judge how useful.

davidbfpo

**Valin** · 08-13-2009

A very good blog following international criminal organizations
Friends Of Ours

**Greyhawk** · 09-15-2009

http://www.quattozone.com/
Blog by

Tadd Sholtis
An Air Force public affairs officer for 15 years, the views expressed here are my own and (sometimes sadly, sometimes mercifully) not those of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense or Air Force.

Currently in Afghanistan, and much more interesting than a public affairs release.

**Sigaba** · 09-28-2009

Mark Grimsley, an associate professor of history at The Ohio State University, has a nice blog at Blog Them Out of the Stone Age. This blog may be particularly useful to those interested in the historiography of war and the teaching of military history in the Ivory Tower.

Journalists for The Economist have blogs here.

**davidbfpo** · 10-05-2009

Formed in Berlin in May 2009 and just id'd (hat tip to 'Red Rat'), The Afghanistan Analysts Network: http://www.aan-afghanistan.org/index.asp?id=1

davidbfpo