Be an example to your men, in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself, and let the troops see that you don't in your endurance of fatigue and privation. Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your subordinates to do the same. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.

--Field Marshall Erwin Rommel

ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS

Israeli Forces Enter Gaza Strip - Griff Witte, Washington Post

Israel launched a major ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, moving in tanks, infantry and artillery units after eight days of relentless air attacks failed to halt Hamas rocket fire from the narrow coastal territory.

Israeli officials indicated that the incursion would be lengthy but said they have no intention of reoccupying the densely populated strip more than three years after withdrawing troops and settlers. Less clear is whether Israel intends to use the ground assault to try to topple Hamas, which has been in control of Gaza for 18 months.

Hamas officials called on Palestinians to rise up against Israel with suicide attacks and vowed to make Gaza "a graveyard" for Israeli soldiers.

More at The Washington Post and:

Israeli Troops Cross Gaza Border - Wall Street Journal
Israeli Troops Launch Attack on Gaza - New York Times
Israeli Forces Seeking Gaza Missile Sites - Washington Times
Israel Pushes Ground Battle into Gaza - Los Angeles Times
Battles Rage Between Israeli Ground Troops and Hamas - The Times
Israeli Tanks Roll into Gaza to Destroy Hamas Rockets - Daily Telegraph
Israeli Troops Enter Gaza Strip - BBC News
Invading Israeli Troops Battle Hamas - Agence France-Presse
Escalation in Gaza - Washington Post editorial

IDF Divides Gaza Strip into Several Segments - Yaakov Katz, Jerusalem Post

Palestinian sources on Sunday morning said that the IDF had divided the Gaza Strip into several segments, in a move apparently aimed at cutting off the flow of arms, supplies and fighters to the northern Strip, as tanks were seen in the area of former Israeli settlement Netzarim and troops reportedly reached the outskirts of Gaza City.

According to Israel Radio, eye witnesses told Arab media that IDF tanks and bulldozer were seen in the area between Gaza City and Netzarim.

British Sky News channel also reported that some 150 IDF tanks had arrived in the Netzarim area.

On Saturday night, 30 IDF soldiers were wounded in clashes with Palestinian gunmen, encountering fierce resistance from Hamas forces entrenched in fortifications just over the border.

More at Jerusalem Post.

Is the Real Target Hamas Rule? - Ethan Bronner, New York Times

As Israel’s tanks and troops poured into Gaza on Saturday, the next phase in its fierce attempt to end rocket attacks, a question hung over the operation: can the rockets really be stopped for any length of time while Hamas remains in power in Gaza?

And if the answer is determined to be no, then is the real aim of the operation to remove Hamas entirely, no matter the cost?

After her visit to Paris on Thursday to explain to French authorities why she thought this was not the time for a quick cease-fire, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel said, “There is no doubt that as long as Hamas controls Gaza, it is a problem for Israel, a problem for the Palestinians and a problem for the entire region.”

More at The New York Times and:

Invasion Offers Benefits but Also Risks to Both Sides - Washington Post
The New Meaning of an Old Battle in the Mideast - New York Times
Attacks Further Split Arab Rulers, People - Washington Post
Security Council: No Agreement on Gaza - Agence France-Presse
US Blocks UNSC Action on Gaza Strip - Jerusalem Post
Attack Begins Amid Diplomatic Deadlock - Jerusalem Post
Hamas Rockets Block the Birth of a Palestinian State - Daily Telegraph editorial
For Obama, a Tough Page to Turn - Washington Post opinion
Bracing for What's Next - Washington Post opinion
Wary Obama will Make the Middle East Wait - The Times opinion
Why My Son Has to Fight - Washington Post opinion

INDIA / PAKISTAN

‘Light the Fire’ Order Set Mumbai Ablaze - Barney Henderson, The Times

Tensions between India and Pakistan, the rival nuclear powers, are on a knife edge this weekend as Islamabad refuses to admit that the Mumbai terrorist outrage was planned and carried out by Pakistanis.

Zarar Shah, a leading commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, has admitted under interrogation in Pakistan that he advised the terrorists by telephone as the attack unfolded.

Controllers in Pakistan watched live television and warned the gunmen of the arrival of Indian commandos, according to evidence amassed by the FBI and handed over to the Pakistani government.

The American agency had decoded Skype calls over the internet that were made between the gunmen in the two five-star hotels and a Jewish hostel in Mumbai with their Lashkar controllers in Pakistan, identified as Shah, Abu Hamza and Abu Qafa.

More at The Times.

NEWS & OPINION NOTES

Afghanistan / Pakistan Tribal Areas

Taliban Bomber in Bloody Revenge - The Times
Pakistan Arrests Senior Taliban Aide - Los Angeles Times
Pakistan Arrests Taliban Leader - Associated Press
Afghan Shiites Gain Acceptance - Washington Post

Iraq

Iraqi Station Rebuts US Account of Employee's Shooting - Washington Post
Soldiers Shoot, Wound Woman in Baghdad - Associated Press

Iran

Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki Visits Iran - Los Angeles Times
Countering Iran in Gaza and Beyond - Washington Post opinion

United States

Navy Sets Hearing on Status of Missing Gulf War Pilot - Associated Press

Africa

Opposition Leader to Be Ghana's President - Washington Post
Opposition Leader Wins Presidency in Ghana - Associated Press
Opposition Leader Wins Ghana Poll - BBC News
Mugabe Preparing to Install New Cabinet in Zimbabwe - Reuters
Members of Kenya Tribes Work Toward Reconciliation - Los Angeles Times
Somali Police Stations Taken Over - BBC News
Islamic Militias Battle for Power in Somalia - Associated Press

Americas

Mexico: US Smooths Border Wrinkle - Los Angeles Times
Church Challenges Power Grab in Bolivia - Washington Times
Cuba Offers Direct Talks with US - BBC News
The Hellish Mindset of Cuba-enthusiasts - The Times opinion

Asia-Pacific

China Rattled by Sun King Attack on Economic Reforms - The Times
Kim Jong-il's Women Banned from Planning Succession - Daily Telegraph
Independent, Tajiks Revel in Their Faith - New York Times
Cambodia: If This Isn’t Slavery, What Is? - New York Times opinion

Europe

Fears as Russian Gas Cuts Start to Hit Europe - The Times
Russian Gas Embargo On Ukraine Hits Europe - Washington Post
Gas Dispute Has Effects Past Russia and Ukraine - New York Times
Ukraine Warns EU of Gas 'Problem' - BBC News
Russia Halts Natural Gas to Ukraine for Third Day - Los Angeles Times
Ukraine: Serious Gas Shortages Possible - Associated Press
Europe Is Ready to Work With Obama - New York Times

South Asia

Sri Lankan Forces Move to Crush Tigers - Daily Telegraph
Sri Lanka Pushes into Tiger Areas - BBC News

BOOKS

The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 - Thomas Ricks

Thomas E. Ricks uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and extraordinary on-the-ground reportage to document the inside story of the Iraq War since late 2005 as only he can, examining the events that took place as the military was forced to reckon with itself, the surge was launched, and a very different war began.

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

13 January - The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948: A Discourse to Shape America’s Discourse (Symposium). Washington, D.C. – at the Reserve Officer’s Association at the intersection of First Street and Constitution Avenue, NE. The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 was passed as the U.S. was beginning a "war of ideology... a war unto death," as America's Ambassador to Russia described it at the time. But, beginning in the 1970's, instead of promoting international engagement through information, cultural and educational exchanges, the law was distorted into a barrier of engagement. From its propaganda and counter-propaganda intentions, it transformed into an anti-propaganda law for reasons that had little to nothing to do with concerns over domestic influence and far removed from the original intent of the law. Keynotes will be given by Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy James K. Glassman and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Support to Public Diplomacy Michael Doran. There will be four 90 minute panels – past, present, future, and Congress – that will emphasize Q&A, discourse, and debate and not presentations or monologues. Registration is free, open to the public, and required to attend. The event will be on the record with a transcript available after the event. A public report based on the proceedings will be produced. Registration and other information can be found at http://mountainrunner.us/symposium.

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.