--Yochi Dreazen, Wall Street Journal
2025
Panel foresees lesser US Role - Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times
The top US intelligence panel this week is expected to issue a snapshot of the world in 2025, in a report that predicts fading American economic and military dominance and warns of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
The predictions come from the National Intelligence Council (NIC), part of Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell's office.
The NIC report, a draft copy of which is titled "Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World," is slated for release as early as Thursday.
The report also predicts "a unified Korea" is likely by then, and that China will be the world's second-largest economy and a major military power.
"The United States will remain the single most powerful country, although less dominant," according to a "working draft" of the document obtained by The Washington Times. "Shrinking economic and military capabilities may force the US into a difficult set of tradeoffs between domestic and foreign-policy priorities."
More at The Washington Times.
IRAQ
US Security Agreements and Iraq - Greg Bruno, Council on Foreign Relations (Washington Post)
As the United States prepared for a presidential transition, the Bush administration was negotiating long-term agreements with Iraq's government that could shape legal, economic, cultural, and security relations between the two countries well into President-elect Barack Obama's first term. US and multinational forces have been in Iraq since 2003 under a UN Security Council mandate renewed annually. But because Iraq's government has requested that the Security Council not renew the mandate upon its expiration at the end of 2008, US officials have had to accelerate negotiations on a detailed legal framework for the US presence in Iraq. One of two major agreements, a security pact long stalled on the issue of legal immunity for US troops and dates for a full withdrawal, cleared a major hurdle in mid-November 2008 when the Iraqi cabinet overwhelmingly approved (NYT) a draft of the agreement. But implementation is dependent on approval by Iraq's parliament, where opposition among some Sunni and Shiite lawmakers remains.
More at The Washington Post.
Maliki Defends U.S.-Iraq Deal To Public, Criticizes Opposition - Mary Beth Sheridan, Washington Post
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki addressed the nation Tuesday to defend a security pact that would let US troops stay in Iraq three more years and expressed concern that some lawmakers were trying to block it for political reasons.
The agreement was approved over the weekend by the cabinet and submitted to the parliament, where the government is seeking as strong a vote as possible to shield itself from political fallout.
In his televised speech, Maliki lashed out at politicians who were taking "double positions" on the accord -- speaking one way in public and another in private meetings.
More at The Washington Post and:
Iraqi Cleric Defers on US Pact - Voice of America
Iraqi Premier Defends Security Accord - New York Times
Iraq's Maliki Defends Security Pact - Los Angeles Times
Iraq Leader Defends US Troop Deal - BBC News
Iraq PM Tries to Rally Support for Security Pact - Associated Press
Pentagon Wants to Tie Withdrawal to Conditions - Agence France-Presse
US-Iraq Pact Getting Mixed Reviews in Iran - New York Times
Iraq Pact - National Review editorial
AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN TRIBAL AREAS
US Troops in Eastern Afghanistan Won't Rest for Winter - Julian Barnes, Los Angeles Times
US troops in Afghanistan will continue pursuing extremists in the eastern part of the country over the brutal winter months, but lack the forces in southern areas to mount the same offensive, the top US commander there said Tuesday.
US efforts in eastern Afghanistan could be helped by pressure on extremist groups from Pakistan, said Gen. David D. McKiernan, the US and NATO commander. But US and allied commanders in the south must await the arrival of extra troops sought by McKiernan. Southern Afghanistan includes Helmand province and the city of Kandahar, traditional areas of greater Taliban strength.
In an address to the Atlantic Council of the United States think tank in Washington, McKiernan said that his standing request for about 20,000 additional troops would be approved -- "hopefully quickly" -- by US officials. McKiernan is seeking combat brigades, aviation support and logistics specialists. One brigade already approved is scheduled to arrive by February.
More at The Los Angeles Times.
US Commander Hopes To Have More Troops to Afghanistan - Al Pessin, Voice of America
The US and NATO commander in Afghanistan says he hopes President-elect Barack Obama moves quickly to send more troops to Afghanistan, because he does not have enough force to provide security in some parts of the country.
General McKiernan disputed the recent US National Intelligence Estimate, which said the situation in Afghanistan is in a downward spiral. But he said that may be true in some areas, and he said there is support in the US chain of command for his request for four additional combat brigades, plus support and specialized forces - a request that could total 20,000 troops.
The first of the additional troops is expected to arrive in Afghanistan in January, but further deployments will be decided on by President-elect Obama, who takes office January 20.
More at Voice of America.
US Seeks New Supply Routes Into Afghanistan - Candace Rondeaux and Walter Pincus, Washington Post
A rise in Taliban attacks along the length of a vital NATO supply route that runs through this border town in the shadow of the Khyber Pass has US officials seeking alternatives, including the prospect of beginning deliveries by a tortuous overland journey from Europe.
Supplying troops in landlocked Afghanistan has long been the Achilles' heel of foreign armies here, most recently the Soviets, whose forces were nearly crippled by Islamist insurgent attacks on vulnerable supply lines.
About 75 percent of NATO and US supplies bound for Afghanistan -- including gas, food and military equipment -- are transported over land through Pakistan. The journey begins in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi and continues north through Pakistan's volatile North-West Frontier Province and tribal areas before supplies arrive at the Afghan border. The convoys then press forward along mountain hairpin turns through areas of Afghanistan that are known as havens for insurgents.
More at The Washington Post.
SOMALIA / PIRACY
US Admiral 'Stunned' by Pirates' Reach - Agence France-Presse
The top US military officer said Monday he was "stunned" by the reach of the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker off the east coast of Africa, calling piracy a growing problem that needs to be addressed.
But Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there were limits to what the world's navies could do once a ship has been captured because national governments often preferred to pay pirates ransom.
"I'm stunned by the range of it, less so than I am the size," Mullen said of the seizure of the Sirius Star Sunday by armed men.
The huge, oil laden prize, which is three times the size of a US aircraft carrier, was some 450 miles east of Kenya when it was boarded, he said.
More at Agence France-Presse.
Tanker Capture Raises Alarm over Somali Piracy - Lee Keath and Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press
It seems inconceivable: Somali pirates in speedboats foil warships from the world's most powerful navies to prey on shipping lanes crucial to the oil supply.
How do they do it? Basically, it's a big ocean and no one wants to be top cop.
NATO and the US Navy say they can't be everywhere, and American officials are urging ships to hire private security. Warships patrolling off Somalia have succeeded in stopping some pirate attacks. But military assaults to wrest back a ship are highly risky and, to this point, uncommon.
More at The Associated Press.
Call for Navies to Seek Out Pirates’ Ships - Robert Wright, Financial Times
Naval forces off Somalia must take firm action to tackle the vessels pirates are using as bases for long-range attacks, shipping organisations said on Tuesday after Saturday’s audacious seizure of a huge oil tanker.
Since the weekend hijack of the Saudi tanker, pirates have seized two more ships - a Greek bulk carrier, in the Gulf of Aden with about 25 crew on board, and a Hong Kong-flagged ship carrying grain and bound for Iran.
Peter Hinchliffe, marine director of the International Chamber of Shipping, said naval forces could identify the “motherships” from which attacks were launched and that there was a legal right to search them and seize weapons.
“We want [naval forces] to go on board, look for evidence of piracy, confiscate the weapons, confiscate the ships if possible and arrest the pirates,” he said.
More at Financial Times.
After Hijacking, Saudi Foreign Minister Says Nation Will Join Anti-Piracy Efforts - Faiza Saleh Ambah, Washington Post
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Tuesday condemned the hijacking of a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude oil, calling piracy "a disease that has to be eradicated."
The 1,080-foot Sirius Star was seized by Somali pirates Sunday off East Africa. Its owner, Vela International, said the tanker is now believed to be anchored off the coast of Somalia.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country would join international efforts to battle piracy, which has surged to levels unseen in modern times.
More at The Washington Post.
Pirates' Delight - Wall Street Journal editorial
The latest ship to fall into the hands of pirates off the coast of northern Africa is a Hong Kong-registered cargo vessel captured yesterday in the Gulf of Aden. The unfortunately named Delight is now steaming toward Somalia, where it presumably will be held for ransom. It joins the Saudi supertanker, Sirius Star, seized over the weekend.
The assault on the Delight is one of 90-plus attacks on ships this year by Somali pirates, more than double last year's tally, according to the International Maritime Bureau. It says that pirates are currently holding 15 ships and more than 250 sailors. That includes a Ukrainian ship carrying Russian tanks intended for southern Sudan; it was captured in September.
The pirates' headquarters is Somalia, whose dysfunctional government lacks basic law-enforcement agencies, on or off shore, to disrupt pirates. It has a 1,000-mile coastline along the Gulf of Aden, where marauders and their boats can hide easily. Yemen and Djibouti, which also border the Gulf of Aden, are more politically stable, but have few capabilities. The same is true for Kenya, off whose coast the supertanker was taken.
More at The Wall Street Journal and:
Oil Capture Spotlights Somali Pirates' Reach - Christian Science Monitor
Conflicting Reports on Seized Saudi Oil Tanker - Voice of America
Seized Tanker Anchors off Somalia - BBC News
Hijacked Supertanker Drops Anchor - New York Times
Grain Ship Seized as Pirates Hold World to Ransom - The Times
Pirates Hijack Another Merchant Ship off Africa - Los Angeles Times
Hong Kong Grain Ship Hijacked by Pirates - Reuters
Ships Diverted after Saudi Oil Tanker Hijacked - Associated Press
Indian Navy Battles Pirates off Somalia Coast - Voice of America
Indian Navy Says it Fought Off Pirate Ship - Associated Press
Somali Pirates Try to Seize British Ship - Daily Telegraph
Somali Pirates Hijack Thai Fishing Boat - Associated Press
Impoverished Land Awash with Millions of Dollars - The Times
Maritime Terrorism - The Times editorial
At War with Pirates on the High Seas - Los Angeles Times editorial
We Must Defend our High Seas - The Times opinion
SOMALIA
Somalia's Prime Minister Defends Government - Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times Q&A
Islamic insurgents already controlling most of southern Somalia now stand on the outskirts of the nation's capital, Mogadishu. Despite the presence of 20,000 Ethiopian troops for security, President Abdullahi Yusuf has stated that the government could collapse. And suspected Somali pirates repeatedly draw international attention for hijacking ships off the East African coast.
Amid the chaos, Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, part of the United Nations-recognized transitional government formed in 2004, sat down Tuesday with The Times to discuss the troubled Horn of Africa nation.
More at The Los Angeles Times.
CONGO
Confusion Reigns on Congo’s Front Line - Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times
A certain sense of desperation - and weirdness - seems to be creeping across eastern Congo as more territory slips into a jumbled world between government and rebel control.
Most of the fighting has stopped, and on Tuesday the rebels agreed to vacate certain areas to allow aid workers unfettered access to the thousands of needy Congolese. But it seems that the longer the instability continues - it has been about three weeks since the rebels began a major offensive, casting this whole region into crisis mode - the more dysfunctional and confusing life here gets.
The front line, as people here call it, is basically a blurry edge, where the government and rebel zones peter out. There are no checkpoints or fortified positions. No troops eyeballing each other through carefully calibrated rifle scopes. Definitely no formal demilitarized zone.
More at The New York Times and:
Desperation Reigns on Congo’s Blurry Front Line - New York Times
Congo Rebels Ask for UN Intervention During Ceasefire - Voice of America
Congo Rebels 'to Withdraw Troops' - BBC News
Congo Rebels Pull Back 'For Peace' - Agence France-Presse
NEWS & OPINION NOTES
Afghanistan / Pakistan Tribal Areas
Karzai's Bid for Negotiations with Taliban Roundly Rejected - CS Monitor
US to Move Troops from Iraq to Afghanistan - Toronto Star
US Says it Fired at Insurgents in Pakistan - Associated Press
Terror Groups Along Afghan-Pakistan Border Feel Pressure - AFPS
Coalition Forces Kill Militants, Destroy Weapons Cache in Afghanistan - AFPS
Pakistan
Pakistan's Bailout - Wall Street Journal editorial
Iraq / OIF
US Arrests Suspected Iranian Agent in Iraq - Associated Press
Troops Disrupt Terrorist Leadership, Bombing Networks in Iraq - AFPS
Leaders Seek Ways to Boost Iraq’s Agricultural System - AFPS
Iran
Iran Hires a New Interior Minister - New York Times
Aide to Ahmadinejad Approved as Interior Minister in Iran - Washington Post
The Long War
Nuclear Terrorism Still a Threat - Toronto Star
Detainee Will Face New War-Crimes Charges - New York Times
Closing Guantanamo Could Mean Release of Unrepentant - Washington Post
US Department of Defense
Mullen Issues Guidance Listing Priorities for Joint Staff - AFPS
Combat Medic Training Evolves to Save Lives - AFPS
Guard's First Four-Star General Takes Office - AFPS
A Grateful Nation Needs To Do More - Los Angeles Times opinion
United States
US Colleges Regain Luster for Foreigners - Christian Science Monitor
National Security Adviser Candidates - Washington Post
Clinton Said to Be Unsure About Cabinet Job - New York Times
Madam Secretary? - New York Times opinion
Secretary Clinton? - Washington Post
A Force for Good, But Not at State - Washington Post opinion
Public Diplomacy Expectations - Washington Times opinion
United Kingdom
Britain Grapples With Role for Islamic Justice - New York Times
Non-European Immigrants Coming to Britain Double in a Year - Daily Telegraph
Grenade Camera to Aid UK Troops - BBC News
Australia
Australian Navy Sets 2-Month Leave - New York Times
Defence Ridicules Terror Plot Case - The Australian
Africa
Zimbabwe: Hunters Now the Hunted - Los Angeles Times
UN Panel Denounces Darfur Arms Violations - Associated Press
Gadhafi's Son Meets Senior US Officials - Voice of America
Americas
Quiet Rise of Latin America's Center - Christian Science Monitor
Russia to Build Nuclear Reactor for Hugo Chavez - Daily Telegraph
Can Chavez Accept Defeat? - National Review opinion
China's Hu Strikes Deals in Cuba - BBC News
Mexico's Police Liaison for Interpol Arrested in Drug Probe - Washington Post
500 Police Officers Replaced in Tijuana - Los Angeles Times
Mexican Army Purges Corrupt Police Near US Border - Reuters
Asia Pacific
United Nations Official Warns of Social Strife in Asia - Washington Post
Maritime Hijackings Decrease in Asia - New York Times
Thousands Battle Police In China’s Northwest - New York Times
2,000 Riot in China's Gansu Province - Los Angeles Times
Beijing Chief Hatches Plan to Combat Internet News - The Times
China Pulls Back on Environmental Efforts - Washington Post
Europe
Serbia to Countersue Croatia for War Crimes - Agence France-Presse
Spanish Judge Drops Inquiry Into Atrocities of Franco and Allies - New York Times
Middle East
UN: Israel Violating Law in Gaza - Voice of America
David Miliband Asks Syria to Help Stabilise Middle East - Daily Telegraph
Britain Strikes Spy-deal with Syrians - The Times
The Trouble with Syria - Daily Telegraph editorial
South Asia
Sri Lankan Military Captures Key Rebel-Held Towns in North - Voice of America
China Says Tibetan Separatism 'Doomed' - Voice of America
Election in Kashmir Begins Amid Boycott Calls - Voice of America
BOOKS
Why Vietnam Matters: An Eyewitness Account of Lessons Not Learned - Rufus Phillips
Phillips details how the legendary Edward G. Lansdale helped the South Vietnamese gain and consolidate their independence between 1954 and 1956, and how this later changed to a reliance on American conventional warfare with its highly destructive firepower. He reasons that our failure to understand the Communists, our South Vietnamese allies, or even ourselves took us down the wrong road. In summing up US errors in Vietnam, Phillips draws parallels with the American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and suggests changes in the US approach. Known for his intellectual integrity and firsthand, long-term knowledge of what went on in Vietnam, the author offers lessons for today in this trenchant account.
Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander's War in Iraq - Peter Mansoor
This is a unique contribution to the burgeoning literature on the Iraq war, analyzing the day-to-day performance of a US brigade in Baghdad during 2004-2005. Mansoor uses a broad spectrum of sources to address the military, political and cultural aspects of an operation undertaken with almost no relevant preparation, which tested officers and men to their limits and generated mistakes and misjudgments on a daily basis. The critique is balanced, perceptive and merciless - and Mansoor was the brigade commander. Military history is replete with command memoirs. Most are more or less self-exculpatory. Even the honest ones rarely achieve this level of analysis. The effect is like watching a surgeon perform an operation on himself. Mansoor has been simultaneously a soldier and a scholar, able to synergize directly his military and academic experiences.
The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq - Bing West
From a universally respected combat journalist, a gripping history based on five years of front-line reporting about how the war was turned around - and the choice now facing America. We interpret reality through the clouded prism of our own experience, so it is unsurprising that Bing West sees Iraq through the lens of Vietnam. He served as a Marine officer there, and he thinks politicians and the media caused the American public to turn against a war that could have been won. Now a correspondent for the Atlantic, West has made 15 reporting trips to Iraq over the last six years and is almost as personally invested in the current conflict as he was in Vietnam; this book, his third on Iraq, is his attempt to ensure that the "endgame" in Iraq turns out better than in his last war.
Tell Me How This Ends: General David Petraeus and the Search for a Way Out of Iraq - Linda Robinson
After a series of disastrous missteps in its conduct of the war, the White House in 2006 appointed General David Petraeus as the Commanding General of the coalition forces. Tell Me How This Ends is an inside account of his attempt to turn around a failing war. Linda Robinson conducted extensive interviews with Petraeus and his subordinate commanders and spent weeks with key US and Iraqi divisions. The result is the only book that ties together military operations in Iraq and the internecine political drama that is at the heart of the civil war. Replete with dramatic battles, behind-doors confrontations, and astute analysis, the book tells the full story of the Iraq War’s endgame, and lays out the options that will be facing the next president.
The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008 - Bob Woodward
Woodward interviewed key players, obtained dozens of never-before-published documents, and had nearly three hours of exclusive interviews with President Bush. The result is a stunning, firsthand history of the years from mid-2006, when the White House realizes the Iraq strategy is not working, through the decision to surge another 30,000 US troops in 2007, and into mid-2008, when the war becomes a fault line in the presidential election. As violence in Iraq reaches unnerving levels in 2006, a second front in the war rages at the highest levels of the Bush administration. In his fourth book on President George W. Bush, Bob Woodward takes readers deep inside the tensions, secret debates, unofficial backchannels, distrust and determination within the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the intelligence agencies and the US military headquarters in Iraq. With unparalleled intimacy and detail, this gripping account of a president at war describes a period of distress and uncertainty within the US government from 2006 through mid-2008. The White House launches a secret strategy review that excludes the military. General George Casey, the commander in Iraq, believes that President Bush does not understand the war and eventually concludes he has lost the president's confidence. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also conduct a secret strategy review that goes nowhere. On the verge of revolt, they worry that the military will be blamed for a failure in Iraq.
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam - Harold Moore and Joe Galloway
In their stunning follow-up to the classic bestseller We Were Soldiers Once... and Young, Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joe Galloway return to Vietnam and reflect on how the war changed them, their men, their enemies, and both countries - often with surprising results. It would be a monumental task for Moore and Galloway to top their classic 1992 memoir. But they come close in this sterling sequel, which tells the backstory of two of the Vietnam War's bloodiest battles (in which Moore participated as a lieutenant colonel), their first book and a 1993 ABC-TV documentary that brought them back to the battlefield. Moore's strong first-person voice reviews the basics of the November 1965 battles, part of the 34-day Battle of the Ia Drang Valley. Among other things, Moore and Galloway (who covered the battle for UPI) offer portraits of two former enemy commanders, generals Nguyen Huu An and Chu Huy Man, whom the authors met - and bonded with - nearly three decades after the battle. This book proves again that Moore is an exceptionally thoughtful, compassionate and courageous leader (he was one of a handful of army officers who studied the history of the Vietnam wars before he arrived) and a strong voice for reconciliation and for honoring the men with whom he served.
In a Time of War: The Proud and Perilous Journey of West Point' Class of 2002 - Bill Murphy
The West Point cadets Murphy follows through their baptism by fire are an admirable sample of young American men and women: intelligent, ambitious and intensely patriotic. Most come from career military families and hold conservative opinions. Murphy describes their four years at West Point with respect even when discussing their love lives and marriages. All yearn for battle, and most get their wish. The book's best passages describe the confusion of moving to Iraq or Afghanistan and fighting insurgents, for which they lack both training and equipment. All feel something is not right but concentrate on the job at hand; some inevitably die or are grievously wounded.
Iraq and the Evolution of American Strategy - Steven Metz
Today the US military is more nimble, mobile, and focused on rapid responses against smaller powers than ever before. One could argue that the Gulf War and the postwar standoff with Saddam Hussein hastened needed military transformation and strategic reassessments in the post–Cold War era. But the preoccupation with Iraq also mired the United States in the Middle East and led to a bloody occupation. What will American strategy look like after US troops leave Iraq? Metz concludes that the United States has a long-standing, continuing problem “developing sound assumptions when the opponent operates within a different psychological and cultural framework.” He sees a pattern of misjudgments about Saddam and Iraq based on Western cultural and historical bias and a pervasive faith in the superiority of America’s worldview and institutions. This myopia contributed to America being caught off guard by Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, then underestimating his longevity, and finally miscalculating the likelihood of a stable and democratic Iraq after he was toppled. With lessons for all readers concerned about America’s role in the world, Dr. Metz’s important new work will especially appeal to scholars and students of strategy and international security studies, as well as to military professionals and DOD civilians. With a foreword by Colin S. Gray.
EVENTS OF INTEREST
6-7 December - Boyd Conference 2008 (Conference). Charlottetown, Prince Edward, Canada. There is an opportunity to hold a short, intense seminar on the applicability of Boyd’s ideas, particularly operating inside the OODA loop and grand strategy (sustaining our own morale and attracting the uncommitted), on the weekend of December 6-7 at the University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI. Canada. The theme would be applying these ideas to conflict in the post-Iraq era, and more specifically to the types of diffused, networked, “open source” armed conflicts that some have called “fifth generation warfare.” We are also interested in exploring solutions, such as the role of “resilient communities” (RC), for countering them. As Oil and food prices have climbed and the mortgage crisis has grown, the need to think more about Resilient Communities has become more urgent. We may have to re-invent our world! We envision this as a working seminar to help shape the policy agenda in the first year of the new administration.
8 December - Counterinsurgency Leadership Seminar (Seminar). Quantico, VA. On 8 December 2008 the US Marine Corps Center for Irregular Warfare (CIW) will host a Counterinsurgency Leadership Seminar at Little Hall (Base Theater), Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia, featuring Colonel Stephen Davis (USMC), Colonel David Maxwell (USA) and Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling. This seminar is cosponsored by CIW, US Joint Forces Command Irregular Warfare Center (IWC), the US Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Center (COIN Center) and Small Wars Journal (SWJ). Seminar Panel Members: Colonel Stephen Davis, USMC. Col Davis is currently the Deputy Commanding Officer of Marine Corps Special Operations Command. Previously, Col Davis commanded Regimental Combat Team 2 in Iraq. Colonel David Maxwell, USA. COL Maxwell is currently the G-3 (Operations Officer) of the US Army Special Operations Command. Previously he commanded the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines. Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling, USA. LTC Yingling is the Commander of 1st Battalion, 21st Field Artillery and is currently deployed to Iraq performing detainee operations. He has served two previous tours in Iraq, and has also deployed to Bosnia and Operation Desert Storm. Colonel Daniel Kelly, USMC, will moderate. Col Kelly is the Director of the US Marine Corps Center for Irregular Warfare. He has held a wide variety of command and staff billets and participated in numerous operations to include Operations Restore Hope / Continue Hope (Somalia), Operations Allied Force / Joint Guardian, (Kosovo) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF I and II).
13 January - The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: Past, Present, and Future (Symposium). Washington, D.C. Mark your calendar for January 13, 2009. That is the confirmed date for “The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: Past, Present, and Future”, a symposium to discuss the legislation on which America’s arsenal of persuasion is anchored. The one-day event will be hosted in Washington, D.C., with the location and co-sponsor all but confirmed. The format is four 90 minute panels and will emphasize Q&A, discourse, and debate and not presentations or monologues. The four panels will focus on past, present, future, what to do, respectively. Panelists will be drawn from practitioners (State and Defense Departments), academics, Congress, and the media. The event is free and open to the public but registration will be required (see below). This is a first of its kind in-depth discussion into the legislation that continues to set the parameters of our global engagement. Enacted at the beginning of the First War of Ideas, it is long past time to discuss it ten or more years into the Second War of Ideas, a struggle that goes beyond terrorism and insurgency and into economic and financial power.
26-28 February - Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA) (Conference). Texas A&M University - Memorial Student Center Complex, College Station, TX. Sponsored by Texas A&M University. The Student Conference on National Affairs at Texas A&M is in its 54th year. This years conference topic is US Interventions in Problematic Area's Around the World. It will take place from February 26th to the 28th. While the conference activities are focused toward Graduate and Undergraduate students, the speakers we have are open to the general public. Two of the at least five speakers we have confirmed are, Joe Galloway, Author of We Were Soldiers Once and Young, and James Olson, former Director of Counter Intelligence for the CIA. The other speakers will be the best individuals we can find in military, humanitarian, and business issues. We are currently interested in any individuals with a background in Humanitarian issues to speak, or individuals with professional knowledge on the topic to facilitate our student delegate roundtables. More information can be found at scona.tamu.edu and interested parties can contact scona.information@yahoo.com.
