As the war for Libya stretches into its fifth month next week, it’s easy to question the wisdom of entering into a conflict with as many caveats on it as this one. But there’s no questioning the gee-whizzedness of the Air Force’s initial strikes carried out by five bombers from bases in the United States. While that “quick symphony …
Afghan Steppingstone: Slippery When Wet
Iraq: Pentagon Is All Ears, But No One’s Asking
It has been striking to watch the U.S. beg for months for the Iraqi government to request that at least some U.S. troops stay in Iraq beyond the end of this year. That’s the deadline set in a pact between the two nations, and U.S. forces will be able to stay after December 31, 2011, only at the request of the Baghdad government. But …
Brigadier General Loretta Reynolds, Combat Commander Extraordinaire
As the author of Breaking Through the Brass Ceiling: Strategies of Success for Elite Military Women, I was recently interviewed for an upcoming edition of the CBS Early Show. They’re doing a segment on Brigadier General Loretta Reynolds, USMC, who has recently been assigned as the Commanding General of the Marine Corps Recruiting …
“Counter-Insurgency versus Counter-Terrorism?”
Since President Obama announced his plan to begin pulling 33,000 troops out of Afghanistan by the end of next summer, there’s been a lot of debate over whether this marks the end of a counter-insurgency campaign and the beginning of a counter-terror strategy. Is it really a binary choice — does it have to be one or the other — …
Why Obama’s Military Aid Cut is Unlikely to Change Pakistan’s Behavior
The Obama Administration clearly wants the American public to know it is not allowing Pakistan’s double game in Afghanistan and on militant jihadists to go unpunished: The New York Times reports that the U.S. is withholding some $800 million — one third of the aid designated for the Pakistani military — to send a message that …
The Medal of Honor: How It Happened
President Obama awarded the nation’s highest award for valor to Army Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry Tuesday afternoon. He earned it en route to losing his right hand in 2008 when he and his fellow soldiers came under attack in Afghanistan. The Army has put together a visual account of how this Ranger became a hero.
As China Rises Militarily, Eventually the Golden Rule Should Be Applied
Wash Times piece on Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen’s counterpart in China (Chen Bingde) saying that US naval ex’s in regional waters with local friends (Vietnam, Philippines, etc.) are “inappropriate.” Mullen replies that they’re not directed at China, which, of course, is the whitest of lies. The US sells beaucoup …
Rumsfeld Wins!
Former Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld stopped by Battleland‘s suite Monday for a super-secret project we can’t talk about just yet. Although he’s walking with a cane due to recent back surgery, he says that’s just a temporary setback for the one-time college wrester who turned 79 Saturday. (“Joyce got me this tie,” he said of his …
“Is Counter-Insurgency Dead?”
Here’s our second take on President Obama’s Afghan policy in our new video series featuring John Nagl of the Center for a New American Security and your Battleland scribe. We’re chatting this week with Dr. Nora Bensahel, a noted COIN expert formerly at the Rand Corp. and now at CNAS, and Dave Barno, the top U.S. commander in …
A Kandahar Killing: What Does It Mean for the U.S. Military Mission?
A huge power vacuum has opened in southern Afghanistan with the assassination on July 12 of Ahmed Wali Karzai, a half brother of President Hamid Karzai and, fundamentally, the godfather of Kandahar. U.S. officials are debating whether he will be followed by a more benign tribal autocrat or someone alleged to be just as bad — and …
Rin Tin Tin Info: Now Off Limits
The Pentagon is cracking down on the data it posts on its websites. The latest example: the Army manual on its use of dogs. The 2005 version used to be public, but it has been scrubbed off Pentagon websites, according to Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists (although he managed to snare a copy, which you can …
Showtime: TIME and CNAS Launch “Command Post”
TIME and the Center for a New American Security have just launched Command Post, a series of regular video conversations on the key national-security challenges of the 21st Century. The joint effort by the magazine and the Washington-based national-security think tank begins with a week-long series of videos examining President …
