Blogs to Watch

[Condor]

Link:http://defenceindepth.co/about/

Twitter: @DefenceResearch

So I guess Kings of War went dark? What a shame, was one of my spots I liked to visit.

[zenpundit]

Geitner Simmons, Editorial Page editor of The Omaha World Herald and blogger at Regions of Mind has a post up featuring an interview with Robert Kaplan, author of Imperial Grunts.

An excerpt:

"TAE: Why do so many reporters, academics, and some everyday Americans think that people who go into the Army or Marines must be folks who didn't have bright prospects in college or the civilian work force?

Kaplan: To be diplomatic, I think it's class prejudice and snobbery. Because most of the people I meet in the lower ranks aren't poor or from the ghetto — they're the solid working class, which does still exist. They're from non-trendy places in between the two coasts, or from working-class urban neighborhoods.

Look, for example, at one of the Special Forces teams I was with in Algeria. The executive officer, a graduate of The Citadel, was from a farming family in Indiana. The master sergeant was from a farming family in New Hampshire. The warrant officer grew up in an Italian section of Queens, New York. That's America. Whites in the barracks get very insulted if you confuse them with so-called white trash, and African Americans in the barracks get tremendously insulted if you confuse them with people in the inner city. With both groups, some of them may have come from the underclass, but they've long since separated themselves from it. They have no class envy."

[Merv Benson]

One of my enduring memories of my time in the Marine Corps is the high quality of the people I encountered. When I went to OCS I was impressed with the intelligence and quality of the other candidates. I had similar experience when I worked with the troops in Vietnam. My observation of our current forces suggest if anything the quality has improved.

[SWJED]

The Officers' Club - Great stuff - check it out.

Small Wars Journal Blog Roll.

[SWJED]

Check it out - OPFOR...

Based on John and Charlie's history with The Officer's Club this should be a great read and resource.

[SWJED]

Quoted in the Wall Street Journal's Best of the Web.

... And reader Merv Benson:

The al Qaeda document you reported on described the media strategy as one in which al Qaeda bombs and the media blames the U.S. and Iraqi forces for not stopping it. Sure enough, that is exactly the spin that the Washington Post puts on the Tal Afar story. Shouldn't they at least acknowledge that they are following the enemy's script?

Just to be different, how about discussing the wickedness of fooling noncombatants into thinking they are getting bargain flour so that they can be murdered and be part of a story attacking people not responsible for their murder?...

Merv's Blog can be found here - Prairie Pundit.

[SWJED]

Two blogs added to the SWJ blogroll:

Midnight in Iraq - US Marine currently deployed to Fallujah, Iraq.

AfghaniDan - US Marine currently deployed to Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

[SWJED]

MilBlogs - and a hat tip for the link...

[davidbfpo]

Via Twitter:

Intelligence Studies articles free for download for a week. Topics include intelligence failure, intelligence analysis, intelligence education, intelligence oversight, counterintelligence, covert action, etc

A variety of academic articles from various journals, for example David Betz in 2010 wrote 'Insurgency and Counterinsurgency'.

Link:http://internationalstudies.oxfordre...subSite=oreisa

[davidbfpo]

Agile Warrior is a new official UK Army quarterly publication, available online via a UK NGO (so inquiry made with the publisher). OK, not really a blog, but this is the best place for this!

The official preface opens with:

Agile Warrior (AW) is the Army’s intellectual examination of current and emerging threat and opportunities for land capability. It generates an evidence base to inform the continual transformation of land forces and force structures across all lines of development.It aims to be both reflective and progressive, challenging current assumptions where necessary.

The second issue has two interesting articles, one by the Anglo-Australian academic Professor Patrick Porter - who is very challenging (copied to another relevant thread) - and the second by the NGO Remote Control Project (part of the Oxford Research Group), on the lessons from contemporary theatres 'Can We Win?'.

Link:https://remotecontrolproject.org/wp-...arrior_2-1.pdf

[davidbfpo]

An update this international, free on-line journal is moving to a new web address:https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/pe...s-on-terrorism

It can be a useful resource and you can subscribe to get notification of publication.

They explain their role:

Our free and independent scholarly online journal is a publication of the Terrorism Research Initiative (TRI) and the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) of Leiden University's Campus The Hague. Now in its twelfth year, Perspectives on Terrorism has close to 8,000 regular subscribers and many more occasional readers and website visitors worldwide. The Articles of its six annual issues are fully peer reviewed by external referees while its Research and Policy Notes, Special Correspondence and other content are subject to internal editorial quality control.

[davidbfpo]

Actually this is not a pointer to a blog, rather a new DC think tank within a university. Their 'About' says:

is an interdisciplinary research hub designed to address the wide-ranging impacts of new technologies and non-traditional threats. Our participants are experts in fields ranging from cyber security, great power conflict, malicious nonstate actors, climate impacts, global health security, data analytics, and technological innovation. The center engages students and professionals in cross-cultural dialogue on the advantages and disadvantages of emerging technologies across the globe. We are committed to a balanced, forward-thinking approach that fosters serious engagement about the future impacts of technology across a broad spectrum of fields.

Link:https://www.american.edu/sis/centers...ty-technology/

The founder, Audrey Kurth Cronin explains:https://www.american.edu/sis/centers...-statement.cfm

They are on:https://www.facebook.com/CSINTAU/ and Twitter CSINT_AU

[SWJED]

Yea, I know, it's from the folks at the Federation of American Scientists. But like their old site (which John Pike took with him to Global Security) Secrecy News may be a source of intel on intel...

[SWJED]

New Blog added to the SWJ Blogroll - Arms and Influence - check out the thread EBO? BFD...

[zenpundit]

A&I is an excellent addition.

Since the importance of COIN is very high on this board, members will be very interested in the extended " Counterinsurgency" series in the A&I archives.

[SWJED]

From the Midnight in Iraq blog - Arab Life: An Outsider’s View.

Since I have had the opportunity to see a few Arab homes, and to observe and interact at some length with the populace here in Falluja, I thought it might be interesting to point out a few of the similarities and differences between the life we know and that of an Iraqi. Hundreds of customs and courtesies surround the Arab culture. Upon my arrival here, I didn’t know what to believe and what to shrug off as nonsense. I quickly realized that most things I had learned from Ustatha Samir during “culture time” in Arabic class held true in the real world. It’s always rather surreal to imagine life drastically different than American culture without actually experiencing it, but after seeing this small part of the Arab world with my own eyes, I know I’ll never forget it...

[SWJED]

Vets for Freedom's Wade Zirkle and David Bellavia have returned to Iraq - this time as embeds to report on the training and efficacy of Iraqi Security and Police Forces, and to gauge the morale and combat effectiveness of US forces.

Here are the latest posts:

The Mighty MiTT!

OK…I’m back to a computer. I have just spent a few days embedded with Military Transition Team 10. MiT Team 10 is responsible for advising an infantry battalion in the Seventh Iraqi Army Division in Ramadi. This unit is not as experienced as the First Division in which David was embedded. They are a newer, younger unit, but they show great promise. The MiT team is made up of a group of handpicked US Soldiers and Marines that have been selected to be advisors to the Iraqis. The Iraqi to MiTT ratio is about 10:1. The most impressive thing about this Iraqi unit is that they are running their outfit themselves (as opposed to the US running their unit). The Iraqi Company Commander tells the MiT Team when and where they will patrol. Usually, the MiT Team only follows along and offers guidance along the way when necessary...

Ramadi... with the Iraqi Army

This is amazing. I have not spoken to wade in three days. And I have to return this laptop to its owner in two mintues... the Iraqi army is taking real estate from the enemy. Seeing these men in action is amazing. The people of Ramadi trust them. THey give them bread and tea. Kids are playing soccer and riding donkeys in the street. THe unit I am with (1st Iraqi division) is the oldest of the Iraqi army units. They have literally fought in every named and unnamed operation in Iraq. From Sadri City, Najaf, Fallujah, Haditha, Baghdad.. you name it. It is unbelievable. This unit has been bloddied... but more impressively they have bloodied the enemy 10 to 1. They drive their own Humvees, conduct their own patrols and plan their invidual movements...

Back in the Saddle

I have finally made it to Ramadi. I hopped on a logistics convoy for the final westerly leg of this trip. This was my first ride in a 7-Ton truck since a suicide bomber hit my platoon while I was riding in one on Labor Day of 2004. It was a catastrophic hit that killed 10 men (seven Marines and three Iraqi Special Forces) and wounded five others including myself. The 7-Tons now have upgraded armor systems that make the vehicles a much harder target. The convoy was about 2/3 military trucks and 1/3 KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root) contractor-driven tractor-trailers. There was also a security element of MP Humvees that was intermixed into the column. The same KBR team and the Marine logistics platoon work almost exclusively together and work well as a team. I am amazed at the number of contractors that are working here in-country to help make the maintenance, supply and logistical aspects of this war effort work. To my knowledge this is unprecedented in American warfare. I will have more to write on that when I get back to the states...

[SWJED]

Bruce Kessler at Democracy Project - Veteran Reporters.

Thanks to the Internet, major media reporting on Iraq is challenged by milbloggers, and others, with first-person reporting and with facts that don’t fit in the major media, whether for reasons of space, contradiction to anti-war meme, or MSM incompetence.

For an earlier generation of now middle-aged Vietnam servicepeople, whose voices largely went unheard and whose reputations were tarred by major media echoing of Kerryesque fabrications, the rise of the milbloggers is cheered, and many are now getting their voice heard...

At least Military.com’s 8-million online readers, well larger than any national newspaper, will soon start seeing the milbloggers posts there from Milblogging.com....

Much more at the link...

[SWJED]

Ran across this blog (diary) sponsored by FOX News - Soldier's Diary. The link goes to the archive of the blog's posts. The blog is the work of CPT Dan Sukman in Iraq.

[SWJED]

Post by Jim Brown of the Menorah Blog - To Hell and Back. H/T - Power Line blog.

Israeli video journalist Itai Anghel went into Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon with the Nahal Brigade and shot 25 minutes of riveting house-to-house combat footage with a night vision lens. The Hezbollah fighters wore Israeli uniforms.