--President Abraham Lincoln - Gettysburg, 1863
AFGHANISTAN
US Seeks Surge in Afghan Troop Numbers - Ben Farmer, Daily Telegraph
A draft White House review of US strategy in Afghanistan, which President George W. Bush will recommend to his successor when President-Elect Barack Obama takes office, states that bolstering the best way to fight the country's increasingly deadly insurgency and pave the way for international troops to leave is to train thousands more Afghan soldiers.
The proposal, which was reported by the Associated Press, comes just two months after the US and Afghan governments agreed to increase personnel in the Afghan National Army by almost 70 per cent over six years, taking it from an earlier target of 80,000 men to 134,000.
However the review concluded that the force should now be expanded even further.
Commanders in Afghanistan have complained that a lack of troops is undermining attempts to halt the insurgency against the Western-backed government in which an estimated 4,000 have died this year alone.
More at The Daily Telegraph.
PAKISTAN
Airstrike Kills 12 in NW Pakistan - Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post
At least 12 people were killed Friday when two missiles slammed into a village in northwestern Pakistan in a suspected US airstrike near the border with Afghanistan, according to a Pakistani intelligence official.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly on such matters, said the identities of those killed were still unknown as of early Friday evening. He initially said 19 people were killed in the strike but said other reports suggested the figure might be closer to 12 or 13.
The missile strike on the tribal village of Kam Sam in North Waziristan was the first since Pakistan's top defense official warned the newly appointed head of the US military's Central Command, Gen. David H. Petraeus, to halt air assaults inside Pakistan.
More at the Washington Post and New York Times.
IRAQ
Followers of Shiite Cleric Reject Iraq Security Pact - Katherine Zoeph, New York Times
As Iraqi political blocs considered Washington’s latest counteroffer in the long-fought security pact between the United States and Iraq, some Shiite politicians have seemed to soften their opposition. But one influential Shiite group, the Sadrists, remained solidly in the “No” column.
In Sadr City, the sprawling Shiite zone in northeastern Baghdad, Sattar al-Battat, a top aide to the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, told thousands of followers that the group remained steadfast in rejecting the pact, known as the status of forces agreement, that sets the conditions for continued United States military presence in Iraq.
More at The New York Times.
US Troops Find a New Tactic to Thwart Suicide Bombs in Iraq - Deborah Haynes, The Times
US special forces stand guard, rifles raised, as soldiers lug two stretchers into a building in this restive city northeast of Baghdad.
Not long ago the stretchers might have carried the dead and wounded from the latest suicide bomb attack or bloody skirmish with insurgents. Now, however, they hold nothing more sinister than colourful strips of dressmaking material for an Iraqi women’s conference. Pieces of fabric are given to each woman who attends the meeting in Baquba.
Providing security at a women’s morning contrasts with the more action-packed image associated with special forces operations, but it illustrates one of a range of softer tactics also being employed to crack the insurgency. The hearts-and-minds mission is particularly important in Diyala province, the scene of most of the 32 female suicide bombings in Iraq this year.
More at The Times.
US Military: Senior Al-Qaida Leader Killed in Iraq - Voice of America
The US military said a senior al-Qaida in Iraq leader has been killed in a weapons cache-clearing operation north of Baghdad.
A statement Friday said Abu Ghazwan was killed Thursday in the Tarmiyah area.
It said the operation was carried out by coalition-supported Iraqi security forces and Sons of Iraq, [also known as Awakening Councils], the Sunni paramilitary groups composed mainly of former insurgents who now work with US forces to fight al-Qaida in Iraq.
The US military said Ghazwan led many terrorist cells in the Tarmiyah and Taji areas, and that he advised and financed other terrorist cells in northern Iraq.
It also said he was responsible for building roadside bombs in the Baghdad area, and for terrorist groups that recruit children and women to conduct suicide attacks against international and coalition forces in Iraq.
More at Voice of America.
Jihadi Leader Says Radicals Share Obama Victory - Michael Slackman and Souad Mekhennet, New York Times
The leader of a jihadi group in Iraq argued Friday that the election of Barack Obama as president represented a victory for radical Islamic groups that had battled American forces since the invasion of Iraq.
The statement, which experts said was part of the psychological duel with the United States, was included in a 25-minute audiotaped speech by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization that claims ties to Al Qaeda. Mr. Baghdadi’s statement was posted on a password-protected Web site called Al Hesbah, used to disseminate information to Islamic radicals.
In his address, Mr. Baghdadi also said that the election of Mr. Obama - and the rejection of the Republican candidate, Senator John McCain - was a victory for his movement, a claim that has already begun to resonate among the radical faithful. In so doing Mr. Baghdadi highlighted the challenge the new president would face as he weighed how to remove troops from Iraq without also giving movements like Al Qaeda a powerful propaganda tool to use for recruiting.
More at The New York Times.
AFRICA
UN Chief and African Leaders Seek Congo Peace- Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times
There was an obvious place setting missing Friday at the emergency summit meeting called to bring peace to war-ravaged eastern Congo.
The placards were neatly laid out for the presidents of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and the Congo Republic, as well as United Nations officials and Western diplomats. They huddled together in an oak-paneled conference room in a secluded Nairobi hotel, surrounded by a battalion of bodyguards.
But conspicuously absent was the man who started the crisis in the first place: Laurent Nkunda, the rebel general who has threatened to take over all of Congo and whose fighters recently brought central Africa to its most turbulent moment in years.
More at The New York Times.
Rebels, Government Troops Clash Again in Congo - Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times
A shaky cease-fire in eastern Congo ruptured again Friday when a brief skirmish between rebels and government troops sent thousands of civilians fleeing a displacement camp as they lined up to receive food aid.
In what is becoming a familiar scene, panicked families ran at the first sound of gunfire, dashing toward the city of Goma.
United Nations peacekeeping officials said the skirmish started when a squad of rebels fired their guns in the air. Fearing they were under attack, government troops lobbed mortar and artillery shells at the rebels, prompting a 40-minute battle.
More at The Los Angeles Times.
NEWS & OPINION NOTES
Afghanistan / Pakistan Tribal Areas
Bush Readies Afghanistan Options for Obama - Associated Press
2 Alleged US Spies Found Dead in Northwest Pakistan - Associated Press
Pakistan: Bomber Kills Tribal Chiefs - The Australian
Troops Disrupt Terrorist Networks in Afghanistan - AFPS
Reconstruction Team Saves Time, Money by Mapping Improvements - AFPS
Iraq / OIF
Combined Operation Kills al-Qaida in Iraq Leader - AFPS
The Long War
FBI Threat Tracking Improves, Report Says - Washington Post
United States
Obama's Big Policy Decisions on Iran, N. Korea and Mideast - Washington Post
Russia Aims to Be High on Obama’s Agenda - New York Times
Africa
Scramble for Minerals 'Dooms' Peace in DRC - The Times
Congo: Child Soldiers Recruited - Daily Telegraph
Angolan Troops Fighting in Congo - Daily Telegraph
Angolan Troops Reported Assisting Congolese Soldiers - Washington Post
Southern Africa Gears up for Zimbabwe Summit - Voice of America
US Objects To Arrest Of Politician In Burundi - Washington Post
Americas
The Secrets of Colombia's Murderous Castaño Brothers - Daily Telegraph
Asia Pacific
North Korea 'Run by Kim's Brother-in-Law' - The Times
Chinese Activists Tell UN of State Torture - Daily Telegraph
Bali Bombers Likely to Survive Another Night - The Australian
US-Japan Alliance Transformation Continues, Admiral Says - AFPS
Europe
US Says Georgia Erred in August Attack in South Ossetia - Voice of America
Protesters Condemn President of Georgia - New York Times
Despite Large Protest Georgian President, Job Seems Secure - Washington Post
Split Over Russia Grows in Europe - Washington Post
Middle East
Rice: Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Has Not Failed - Voice of America
Rice Tours Former Militant Stronghold in West Bank - Associated Press
South Asia
Top Indian Army Officer Arrested Over Bomb Attack - The Times
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.
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.
