September 2011
15 posts
Awlaki's killing wasn't justice
I have no issue with the U.S. killing him with a Hellfire from a drone, but let’s not pretend this is justice - a term with very specific meaning in the United States most often associated with due process and courts. Which Awlaki was not afforded. This was a military operation or a reckoning, but it certainly wasn’t “justice.”
Ten years of muddling our conflict with al...
Father of Money - reviewed at Ink Spots
Even though I’m pretty sure everyone who reads HD reads Ink Spots, I’m going to link anyway. Jason Whiteley’s Father of Money is an exceptional book about being on the ground in Iraq and the moral dilemmas junior leaders face. You should all buy and read it.
I didn't buy the HASC argument
Details over at Ink Spots. The report is terrible.
"Fuzzy" doesn't even begin to describe this math -...
HASC Chairman Buck McKeon says that cuts to the defense budget will result in a draft. (Thanks to Doctrine Man for the link via Twitter) Uh, okay. If current cuts remove “over 200,000” personnel from the force, how does the logic work that this leads to a draft? If you don’t have the money for the all volunteer forces, you don’t have the money for drafted forces....
Good Riddance
DADT ended this morning as you undoubtedly heard and not a day too soon. Seems that our forces in Afghanistan and Iraq have not yet been routed, ships are not crashing into each other, and planes are not falling from the sky. Crazy world we live in. Now let’s all figure out the fallout policies (marriage, benefits, etc), put this ugly chapter of military history behind us, and get back to...
Interesting study on the targeting of civilians
Duck of Minerva highlighted a new study on the targeting of civilians (I can’t remember who linked to it on twitter, so if you want credit speak up). I haven’t read the study itself yet, but if the analysis is solid, there are some surprising conclusions. Per the Duck:
First, the majority (61%) of all formally organized actors in armed conflict during 2002-2007 refrained from killing...
One last comment on this Auftragstaktik business
This is my last comment on this topic until people who disagree with me can adequately show that:
Centralization is inherently bad - especially with the administration of large units;
Long orders (almost all of which is support and admin) are inherently bad;
That the U.S. Army’s mixture of execution- and mission-type command styles makes it less effective and is harming its combat...
2 tags
Higher commands are not inherently bad
It strikes me that a lot of the support for pure Auftragstaktik (see here and here) is that a lot of people think that higher headquarters are inherently bad and unnecessary organizations. That if only we let the staff sergeants and captains run our wars everything would work out just fine.
What a load of crap. Those staff sergeants and captains are as important to the war as any 3- or 4-star...
The death of victory and its consequences
I tweeted this link earlier, but I think Anne-Marie Slaughter is really on to something in this post for the New Atlanticist (a great blog edited by James Joyner). I’m specifically referring to her third paragraph wherein she states that governments will not “win wars” in this new century and instead will look to influence and shape better outcomes through military and...
The real problem with "Courtney"
Some people are upset by the fact that Messerschmidt wasn’t a real person. Others don’t much care. Others say it’s a form of performance art. Others have complained about their use of female sexuality to sell their wares (which is probably the real big reason why what they did was wrong given how hard it makes things for other, real, serious women to make their way in this...
Tom Ricks: wrong again
Anyone who knows me knows I love to give Tom Ricks (or his numerous guest posters) a hard time. Most of the time I don’t have many issues with what he has on Best Defense, but then I came across this gem from a guest author:
Doctrine, however, is either based on past wars or on theory and thus can be no guideline for an officer in a present-day conflict.
What a fantastically incorrect...
“To command troops is certainly the greatest pleasure of military life, but above...”
– Another gem from Foch - the foreword and preface are great reading and full of fantastic insights. To the U.S. military, he’s virtually unknown as a theorist, which is a shame. I won’t bore you with more quotes as the rest of the book is about his actions during the war.
“In what concerns especially the army officer, the future probably will merely...”
– No, this is not SWJ’s latest oped on the need for officers to be well rounded in the humanities in the interest of better COIN. This was Marshal Foch in his memoirs in 1931. Even if the “young and manly” bit doesn’t much apply with the AVF, his point remains unchanged.
Back in DC
After 10 great days of vacation in France I’m back in DC. 10 days of small villages and no internet access - I don’t remember the last time I was unplugged for that long and damn it felt good. Anyway, work piled up, as did correspondence and catching on blog reading, so I highly doubt there will be much posting this week on any medium. More like listening silence while I work on a...
