Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 at the Fort Hood, Texas, Army base, communicated 10 to 20 times with a radical Islamic cleric in Yemen who on Monday called Maj. Hasan a "hero" and criticized US Muslim groups that condemned the killing spree.
AFGHANISTAN / PAKISTAN
Afghans React To Possible US Troop Surge - Sean Maroney, Voice of America. As US President Barack Obama debates with his advisers on whether to increase the number of American troops in Afghanistan, Afghans have their own opinions. This year has been the deadliest for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban government eight years ago. For several weeks in Washington, US President Barack Obama has been hearing counsel from his advisers about the best course to take with the war-torn country. But half-a-world away, ordinary Afghans have their own advice for the US president. "Sending the troops to Afghanistan will not solve the problem. If the United States or Afghanistan start talks with the Taliban, it will be better," said Akhter Tutakhil, a medical student from Khost, a city in eastern Afghanistan. Zainudin Wehadet is unemployed, living in the Afghan capital of Kabul. He says history has shown that no force can occupy Afghanistan. He says that no matter how many troops are sent, it will not end the fighting. He believes his government should start talks with the Taliban. Ahmed Wali Mohmand is a student from Paktika province, next to the border with Pakistan. He says foreign governments should use their resources for something other than troops. "They should help with all our people and make universities and schools and other things which our people and society need," he said. Daud Sultanzoi is a member of Afghanistan's parliament. He says he believes more foreign troops are needed and that the US and Afghan governments have not done a good job of communicating the real reason for troops being sent to Afghanistan. "How can you build schools if you don't have security? How can you build schools if you cannot go to the districts to build them? You cannot build schools in a barrack and then transport it somewhere. You have to go to each district and secure those districts," he said.
Envoy: Europe Relies on US Shield - Eli Lake, Washington Times. NATO members' reluctance to assume a larger role in Afghanistan is partly the legacy of US military protection, which allowed Europeans to stress social programs over defense for decades, the Greek ambassador to the United States said. "For 40 years, you have a system [of] not bothering about military, security and stability expenses," Vassilis Kaskarelis told editors and reporters of The Washington Times. "Because these issues were handled by the United States after World War II ... everybody was happy." Mr. Kaskarelis, 60, served as Greece's ambassador to NATO from 2000 to 2003, before a five-year stint as his country's top envoy to the European Union. The Obama administration is weighing whether to send thousands of additional American troops to augment the 68,000 already in Afghanistan. Other NATO members are contributing about 40,000 troops. Only Britain has agreed to send more. The Netherlands and other nations have announced that they intend to withdraw troops in the next two years. European nations have been watching with concern the Obama administration's prolonged deliberations over Afghanistan strategy and have been waiting for Washington to make up its mind before announcing their own troops decisions.
US, Germany Press Afghan President on Reform - David Gollust, Voice of America. The United States and Germany say the new Afghan government being formed by President Hamid Karzai needs to embrace reforms and curb corruption if it is to enjoy broader international support. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed Afghanistan with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on the sidelines of observances marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. The Obama administration and the new German government that took office late last month are reviewing their military commitments in Afghanistan and both are serving notice on President Karzai that they expect major reforms now that his new term in office has been assured. The issue dominated Secretary Clinton's talks with Chancellor Merkel and her new Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. Secretary Clinton and her German counterpart made clear at a joint press event that they expect Mr. Karzai to try to broaden his government and tackle the country's well-documented corruption problems. Westerwelle, who was in Washington for talks with Secretary Clinton last week, said Afghanistan needs a government that represents all its people and one that adheres to the "yardsticks" of good governance. Clinton said the United States and NATO allies are not in Afghanistan for altruistic reasons, but rather to counter a real security threat from what she termed a "syndicate of terrorism" led, funded and inspired by al-Qaida. She said commitments of additional troops must be met by greater efforts by Mr. Karzai to improve governance.
Japan Pledges $5 Billion in New Afghan Aid - Mark McDonald, New York Times. Japan said Tuesday it will dramatically increase its non-military aid to Afghanistan, pledging $5 billion for a range of projects that includes building schools and highways, training police officers, clearing land mines and rehabilitating former Taliban fighters. The announcement of the new aid package, which is to be disbursed over the next five years, comes just days before the arrival of President Barack Obama in Japan. Mr. Obama is due to arrive Friday in Tokyo, his first stop on a weeklong visit to Asia. During meetings with senior Japanese diplomats in Tokyo last month, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urged Japan to “implement strong assistance towards Afghanistan and Pakistan that matches Japan’s international status,” according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. At the time, Katsuya Okada, the foreign minister, said Japan was considering a new aid package for Afghanistan.
For Taliban Fighters, a Fading Memorial - Dexter Filkens, New York Times. The locals call the place “The Taliban Cemetery,” a weed-clotted memorial to the men who died for the movement during its fiercest campaigns in the years before 9/11. The graveyard, next to this tiny village north of Kabul, sits a few miles from what was once the front line against the rebels who fought the Taliban after the group captured Kabul in 1996. Those rebels, then known as the Northern Alliance, finally overran the Taliban and captured Kabul - with American help - in November 2001. Eight years after the last fighter was buried here, the cemetery has fallen into decrepitude. Many of the gravestones are broken and smashed - the vandalism, the villagers say, of a marauding anti-Taliban militia. Weeds and rocks and tattered prayer flags obscure much of what is left. The villagers of Tarakhel, though Taliban enthusiasts, have given up trying to care for the place. But with a little digging and scraping, the Taliban cemetery reveals itself, and the time that it preserved. Together, the surviving graves offer a history of the Taliban’s early years, and of the tumultuous era when young jihadists from around the world traveled to Afghanistan to train and fight.
Suicide Bomber Kills 3 in Northwestern Pakistan - Voice of America. Pakistani police say a suicide bomber in a rickshaw has killed three people in Peshawar, a day after another suicide bomber killed 13 people in a crowded market outside the northwestern city. Police say the suicide bomber detonated his explosives Monday at a checkpoint on a frequently traveled road that runs around Peshawar. Officials say a constable was among the dead. The blast wounded five other people. The earlier bombing on Sunday killed a local mayor, Abdul Malik. He was once a Taliban supporter, but switched sides and mobilized villagers to form a tribal militia against militants. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Also Sunday, police in Islamabad killed a suicide bomber as he ran toward a checkpoint in the capital. In other violence, the Pakistani army said Sunday it killed 20 insurgents during the latest stage of its South Waziristan offensive against the Taliban. Since the army launched the anti-Taliban campaign in South Waziristan on October 17, it says military forces have killed more than 480 militants. At least 44 soldiers also are said to have died in the operation.
IRAQ
Iraqi Arabs and Kurds Pursue a Common Ground - Gina Chon, Wall Street Journal. Arab and Kurdish military commanders here are making efforts at cooperation despite their bitter political differences - a surprising development that offers some hope that one of Iraq's most difficult ethnic divides may be narrowing. Kurdish and Arab politicians in Iraq have clashed over contested land, petroleum legislation and a draft constitution that the Kurdish semiautonomous enclave is pushing. Most recently, the two sides squabbled for weeks in Parliament over an election law governing next year's parliamentary polls. Lawmakers finally passed the legislation on Sunday. Gen. Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, has said Arab-Kurd tensions are the country's biggest security threat. But over the past six months, in parts of Iraq's north, American commanders have brokered a quiet, if uneasy, détente between the two sides' military forces. Officers from Iraq's mostly Arab national army have started working with counterparts from the Kurdish regional government's armed militia, the peshmerga. American military officers in Kirkuk have persuaded Arab and Kurdish commanders to cooperate partly by emphasizing what it means to be a professional soldier, which is not being involved in politics. They tell them that the problems between Kurdish and Arab politicians in Baghdad, and between the Kurdish regional and Iraqi governments, need to be solved by the politicians - that their job as soldiers is to take care of security.
Iraq Electoral Official Says Vote Will Happen On Time - Elizabeth Arrott, Voice of America. Election officials in Iraq say the next general election will take place January 21. The announcement one day after a last-minute deal on the nation's electoral law, means the vote will be held within the time limits set by the constitution. Holding the vote will clear the way for the scheduled withdrawal of the bulk of US troops in Iraq next year. Electoral official Hamdeya el Hosseiny says the election commission is completing its preparations to hold the vote during the first month of next year. She noted the reason for the delay from the originally scheduled date of January 16 was because the commission had stopped working while the lawmakers debated the law. Failure to hold the vote by the end of January, a deadline set by the constitution, threatened the creation of a political void. The commission has numerous logistical obstacles to overcome to hold a general election in a country recovering from war. Officials had originally hoped to have three months to organize the poll. But Iraqis and others have expressed relief that at least now a vote seems all but assured. Lawmakers had repeatedly postponed adopting an electoral law, and continued their squabbling much of Sunday.
Prominent Member of Awakening Movement Arrested in Iraq - Caesar Ahmed and Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times. A Sunni paramilitary leader and budding politician who had been trying to avoid arrest on murder charges since the summer has been jailed by Iraqi security forces, authorities said Monday. Brig. Gen. Mustafa Kamal Shibeeb was taken into custody last week in connection with the deaths of five known members of the group Al Qaeda in Iraq who were killed in 2007 in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, where Shibeeb commanded paramilitary fighters better known as the Awakening. Shibeeb's forces played a key role that year in defeating Al Qaeda in Iraq in Dora and the Baghdad suburb of Arab Jabour, from which militants had launched dozens of car bombings and suicide attacks in the capital. On Thursday, an elite unit from the Interior Ministry detained Shibeeb without the knowledge of the US military or Iraqi army units in the area that had previously prevented his arrest. The US military had counseled Shibeeb to hire a lawyer and contest the murder case in court and had worked to keep him out of jail. They worried that if Shibeeb was arrested or fled the country, Al Qaeda in Iraq might exploit the vacuum. US support notwithstanding, Shibeeb has blamed the military for failing to protect leaders of the Awakening movement from prosecution in Iraqi courts, despite the group's role in helping reestablish order in the country.
Women Ascend to Iraq’s Elite Police Officer Corps - John Leland, New York Times. As one, the stony faces broke into a free-for-all of kisses, hugs and tears on Monday as the 50 women who called themselves the Lioness group became the first female graduates of Iraq’s police officer training academy. On a vast concrete parade ground, the women joined 1,050 male classmates in what American military officers, who provided advice on the training, called a step forward for the country and its women. “Some people have a view of Iraqi women that for them to join the police academy is a shame,” said Alla Nozad Falih, 22, wearing a star on her epaulet that marked her as a first lieutenant. Like about half of the group’s members, she wore her hair uncovered except by a uniform blue beret, and like 26 of her female classmates, she joined the academy after finishing law school. The job of officer in the national police force is among the highest paying available in Iraq, but also one of the most dangerous; officers and trainees are favorite targets of insurgents. Women have long worked in the lower police ranks here, directing traffic or searching other women at checkpoints, but until now they have been ineligible for the elite officers’ corps. The government changed the rules this year. Several police officials who were questioned did not have an explanation for either the change or the previous prohibition.
In Iraq, Tensions Bubble Inside and Outside an Iranian Exile Camp - Timothy Williams, New York Times. There seems, as with many problems in Iraq, no good answer for Camp Ashraf, as tensions here rise and American soldiers get closer to leaving: what to do with the few thousand Iranian dissidents here trained in explosives and proficient with tanks and machine guns who have sworn to overthrow the government in Tehran? The group that lives here, the People’s Mujahedeen, has had a long and winding history. It killed Americans, supported the takeover of the United States Embassy in Iran during the 1970s and was given sanctuary in Iraq by Saddam Hussein. But after the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the group was protected by the United States after supplying information about Iran’s nuclear program. Still, the United States regards it as a terrorist organization. The Iraqi government, allied with the group’s enemy, Iran, is now losing patience: In July, the Iraqi Army launched a raid on the camp with the purpose of establishing a police station there. Police officers and soldiers opened fire and ran over people with military vehicles, killing 11 and wounding more than 500. The government wants to throw the group out of Iraq.
Democracy and Iraq - Wall Street Journal editorial. As spectacles of democracy go these days, we'll take Iraq over Congress. They're both messy, but at least Iraqis are making progress. On Sunday night, Baghdad's various sectarian and political factions came together and passed a compromise election bill, backed by 141 of the 195 legislators present. The law clears the way for a January 21 vote, the first national poll since 2005. "There was a lot of discussion, a lot of arguing, but we finally were forced to listen to each other," Kurdish lawmaker Ala Talabani told the Washington Post. "It's a nice feeling - that we're on the path of real democracy." Disputes among the three largest Iraqi communities - Kurd, Shiite and Sunni - can be bitterly fought. But now the setting is usually in the halls of parliament or Iraq's many media outlets, and these fights don't pose a danger to a unified Iraq. The sticking point for months in parliament had been oil-rich Kirkuk, a previously Kurdish-dominated city that Saddam Hussein ethnically cleansed and resettled with Arabs. Arab Iraqis were uncomfortable about the growing number of returning Kurds. The compromise allows the use of 2009 voter registration rolls in January but adds safeguards against voter fraud demanded by the Sunni Arabs. Their compromise sounds better than what we normally get in, say, New Jersey.
IRAN
Iran Charges 3 US Detainees with Espionage - Voice of America. Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reports three detained US citizens have been charged with espionage. Tehran's general prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, said Monday a final decision about the detainees would soon be announced. He added that investigations are continuing. The three Americans were detained on July 31 for entering Iran illegally, after they apparently strayed across the border while on a hike in northern Iraq. Speaking in Berlin Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington believes there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever. She again appealed to Iranian authorities to exercise compassion and release the trio. Last week, the detainees' families said Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have had two consular visits with Swiss diplomats at Evin prison in Tehran. The first visit was in September and the second was last Thursday. Switzerland represents US interests in Iran. The families say the hikers are in good physical shape.
3 Americans in Iran Charged with Spying - William Branigin, Washington Post. Three Americans who were arrested by Iranian border guards in late July after crossing into Iran from neighboring Iraq have been charged with espionage, a top Iranian prosecutor said Monday. Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi said that an investigation is continuing and that a "final decision" about their case would be announced soon, a state-run news agency reported, leaving it unclear whether Iran would go ahead with a formal trial on spying charges, which carry the death penalty. The three - Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal and Sarah Shourd - were hiking in the mountains of Iraq's northern Kurdish region on July 31 when, according to their families, they strayed across the border accidentally. Authorities in Tehran confirmed three days later that the three had been arrested, and an Iranian Arabic-language television network quoted police sources as saying they were "CIA agents." In Berlin, where she was attending ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the release of the Americans.
Iran Accuses US Hikers of Espionage - Jack Healy and Nazila Fathi, New York Times. Three American hikers who were arrested in Iran this summer after straying across its border with Iraq have been accused of spying, an Iranian state news agency reported on Monday. The Tehran prosecutor told Iran’s official IRNA news agency that the Iranian authorities were pursuing espionage charges against the Americans, who were detained in late July after trekking through the Kurdistan region of Iraq and toward the Iranian border. News of the spying accusations drew a quick rebuke from the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, with each reiterating calls for the Iranians to release the hikers, Shane M. Bauer, 27, of Emeryville, Calif.; Joshua F. Fattal, 27, of Cottage Grove, Ore.; and Sarah E. Shourd, 31, of Oakland, Calif. “We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever,” Mrs. Clinton told reporters in Berlin. “And we would renew our request on behalf of these three young people and their families that the Iranian government exercise compassion and release them so they can return home.” The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said the three were innocent.
3 US Hikers Face Spying Charges in Iran - Borzou Daragahi and Liz Sly, Los Angeles Times. Iran's president on Monday likened three Americans held in his country on possible espionage charges to drivers violating city traffic rules, saying he hoped they would have a "good response" to the court proceedings and "convince the judge that they had no ill intentions." Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Joshua Fattal, 27, who were arrested by Iranian authorities in July during what their families say was a hiking expedition in northern Iraq near the border with Iran, face espionage charges, a leading Iranian judiciary official said Monday. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Turkey for a summit, was asked about their fate during a news conference in Istanbul. He said the three had violated the law and would have to face the consequences. "If a number of drivers keep crossing red lights in a city and disrupt traffic in city, would you ask the police not to give them a ticket for humanitarian concerns?" Ahmadinejad told reporters in an exchange broadcast by Iranian state television. "Illegal crossing of borders has heavy punishment in all countries."
Clinton Urges 'Compassion' for Americans Detained in Iran - David Gollust, Voice of America. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is urging Iran to show compassion and release three Americans held since July for apparently crossing into Iranian territory while hiking in Northern Iraq. Iran says the three are being charged with espionage. Clinton met with families of the three Americans last week in action that raised the profile of the case. But her reaction Monday to word they are being charged with spying was relatively low-key, with the Secretary telling reporters the charges are without merit and that Iran should free the Americans - two men and a woman - on humanitarian grounds. "We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever and we would renew our request on behalf of these three young people and their families that the Iranian government exercise compassion and release them, so they can return home," said Clinton. "And we will continue to make that case through our Swiss protecting power who represents the United States in Tehran," she said. Iranian authorities have allowed Swiss diplomats to make only two consular visits to the detained Americans, the first in September and the second last week. The three - Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, had been hiking in the rugged Kurdish region of northern Iraq and their families say they strayed across the border accidentally.
UNITED STATES
US Knew of Fort Hood Suspect’s Tie to Radical Cleric - David Johnston and Scott Shane, New York Times. Intelligence agencies intercepted communications last year and this year between the military psychiatrist accused of shooting to death 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., and a radical cleric in Yemen known for his incendiary anti-American teachings. But the federal authorities dropped an inquiry into the matter after deciding that the messages from the psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, did not suggest any threat of violence and concluding that no further action was warranted, government officials said Monday. Major Hasan’s 10 to 20 messages to Anwar al-Awlaki, once a spiritual leader at a mosque in suburban Virginia where Major Hasan worshiped, indicate that the troubled military psychiatrist came to the attention of the authorities long before last Thursday’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood, but that the authorities left him in his post. Counterterrorism and military officials said Monday night that the communications, first intercepted last December as part of an unrelated investigation, were consistent with a research project the psychiatrist was then conducting at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington on post-traumatic stress disorder.
Hasan, Radical Cleric Had Contact - Evan Perez and Keith Johnson, Wall Street Journal. Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 at the Fort Hood, Texas, Army base, communicated 10 to 20 times with a radical Islamic cleric in Yemen who on Monday called Maj. Hasan a "hero" and criticized US Muslim groups that condemned the killing spree. Federal officials said Monday that terrorism investigators conducted a summary look into the contacts that began last year and continued into this year between Maj. Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki. Mr. Awlaki was once the imam, or spiritual leader, at a Virginia mosque frequented by Maj. Hasan and his family. The communications between the men appeared related to Maj. Hasan's work at Walter Reed Medical Center and his pursuit of a master's degree and didn't raise any red flags with US law enforcement or result in any follow-up action, according to federal investigators, who declined to be named. The content of the messages appeared social: Maj. Hasan sought religious guidance in some cases, a senior investigator said. US authorities detected the communications during ongoing intelligence collection. The investigators from two joint terrorism task forces, which are led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, contacted military officials who provided information about Maj. Hasan, one official said. The communications between Maj. Hasan and Mr. Awlaki continued until about six months ago, another federal official said.
Fort Hood Suspect Warned of Threats Within the Ranks - Dana Priest, Washington Post. The Army psychiatrist believed to have killed 13 people at Fort Hood warned a roomful of senior Army physicians a year and a half ago that to avoid "adverse events," the military should allow Muslim soldiers to be released as conscientious objectors instead of fighting in wars against other Muslims. As a senior-year psychiatric resident at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan was supposed to make a presentation on a medical topic of his choosing as a culminating exercise of the residency program. Instead, in late June 2007, he stood before his supervisors and about 25 other mental health staff members and lectured on Islam, suicide bombers and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting in the Muslim countries of Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a copy of the presentation obtained by The Washington Post. "It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims," he said in the presentation. "It was really strange," said one staff member who attended the presentation and spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the investigation of Hasan. "The senior doctors looked really upset" at the end. These medical presentations occurred each Wednesday afternoon, and other students had lectured on new medications and treatment of specific mental illnesses.
Hasan E-mails to Cleric Didn't Result in Inquiry - Philip Rucker, Carrie Johnson and Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post. Maj. Nidal M. Hasan corresponded by e-mail late last year and this year with a radical cleric in Yemen who has criticized the United States for waging war against Muslims, but the contact did not lead to an investigation, federal law enforcement officials said Monday. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian here on Thursday, will be tried in military court, the officials said. US intelligence agencies intercepted 10 to 20 e-mails from Hasan to Anwar al-Aulaqi, a US citizen who once was a spiritual leader, or imam, at the suburban Virginia mosque where Hasan had worshiped, said a law enforcement official who spoke about the investigation on condition of anonymity. Aulaqi responded to Hasan at least twice, according to Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House intelligence committee. "For me, the number of times that this guy tried to reach out to the imam was significant," Hoekstra said. "Al-Qaeda and radical jihadists use the Internet to spread radical jihadism. ... So how much of [Hasan's] lashing out is a result of ... his access to radical messages on the Internet and the ability to interact?
Fort Hood Suspect Is Conscious, Hospital Officials Say - James C. McKinley Jr. and Joseph Berger, New York Times. Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of shooting to death 12 soldiers and a civilian here at Fort Hood, is conscious and able to talk, officials at an Army hospital in Texas said Monday. But they declined to say whether Major Hasan had been interviewed by Army or law-enforcement investigators. Major Hasan, who was posted to Fort Hood in July and assigned to assess soldiers before they were deployed to combat, is accused of methodically using a FN Hertsal, 5.7 millimeter pistol he bought last summer to gun down soldiers who were gathered Thursday in a processing center to receive medical attention before being sent overseas. At a news conference here on Monday, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the base’s commander, said Fort Hood officials were checking to make sure that all soldiers who carry weapons onto the installation had registered them with the base. He said he was not sure whether the high-powered pistol Major Hasan is accused of using in the attack was registered. General Cone also said base officials were reviewing their records to see if any other soldiers had problems that might cause for concern about future incidents. “What we’re looking for is people with personal problems, not at all related to their religion - not at all,” the general said in response to a reporter’s question. The aim of both steps, the general said, is to make sure the people who live and work at the base feel safe. “I believe this was an isolated incident, a very unfortunate isolated incident,” he said.
After the Fort Hood Massacre - Wall Street Journal editorial. There are two irreconcilable views of Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan's murder of 13 people last Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas. One is that Major Hasan should be seen as not much different than many other disturbed individuals, whose demons pitch them into homicidal frenzies. The other is that the Hasan murders raise hard questions about the ability of Muslims to serve at all in the American military. Neither view is acceptable. It will be the job of public and military officials in weeks ahead to shape a policy response that recognizes the hard political and ethnic realities of the Fort Hood massacre. The central reality is that 13 people are dead on American soil, all but one in service to the country as a member of the US Army. Sergeant Amy Kreuger of Kiel, Wisconsin, enlisted explicitly in response to 9/11, she said, to oppose the forces that caused that day. These appear to be the same violent forces that turned Major Hasan into an instrument of terror. So no, Major Hasan is not just another nut. He volunteered himself into a larger Islamic jihad, whose political weapon of choice is the murder of innocents across the globe. The Fort Hood massacre makes clear, again, that Islamic terror is unavoidably a domestic US problem as well. There is a strain in American thinking that deludes itself in believing that somehow this force will occupy itself mainly with blowing up marketplaces in faraway Pakistan or Afghanistan. On Thursday, their problem was our problem.
The Rush to Therapy - David Brooks, New York Times opinion. A shroud of political correctness settled over the conversation. Hasan was portrayed as a victim of society, a poor soul who was pushed over the edge by prejudice and unhappiness. There was a national rush to therapy. Hasan was a loner who had trouble finding a wife and socializing with his neighbors. This response was understandable. It’s important to tamp down vengeful hatreds in moments of passion. But it was also patronizing. Public commentators assumed the air of kindergarten teachers who had to protect their children from thinking certain impermissible and intolerant thoughts. If public commentary wasn’t carefully policed, the assumption seemed to be, then the great mass of unwashed yahoos in Middle America would go off on a racist rampage. Worse, it absolved Hasan - before the real evidence was in - of his responsibility. He didn’t have the choice to be lonely or unhappy. But he did have a choice over what story to build out of those circumstances. And evidence is now mounting to suggest he chose the extremist War on Islam narrative that so often leads to murderous results. The conversation in the first few days after the massacre was well intentioned, but it suggested a willful flight from reality. It ignored the fact that the war narrative of the struggle against Islam is the central feature of American foreign policy. It ignored the fact that this narrative can be embraced by a self-radicalizing individual in the US as much as by groups in Tehran, Gaza or Kandahar. It denied, before the evidence was in, the possibility of evil. It sought to reduce a heinous act to social maladjustment. It wasn’t the reaction of a morally or politically serious nation.
Jihadists in the Military - Cal Thomas, Washington Times opinion. By now, the script should be disturbingly familiar. Whether in the Middle East or, increasingly, in America, a fanatical Muslim blows up or goes on a shooting spree, killing many. This is followed quickly by "condemnations" from "Muslim civil rights groups," such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. We are then warned by the president and some newspaper editorials not to jump to conclusions or to stereotype. Yasser Arafat wrote this script, which he used with great success throughout his bloody career as a terrorist. Suddenly, the issue of gays in the military doesn't seem as important as jihadists in the military. If you were an enemy of America, not only would you fight overseas and develop nuclear weapons (Iran), you also would engage in an even more effective strategy by striking at America's underbelly. This is our most vulnerable region because we tolerate virtually everything, indulge in political correctness and subscribe to a bogus belief that if radical Islamists can see we mean them no harm, they will mean us no harm. The federal government at all levels has hired and promoted Muslims to influential positions. It requires "sensitivity training" for federal employees, including those who work at the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee, dominated by liberal Democrats, defied the White House and removed from the USA Patriot Act a tool for tracking non-US citizens in anti-terrorism investigations. As our enemies grow stronger and more emboldened, they see us becoming weaker and less committed.
Dr. Phil and the Fort Hood Killer - Dorothy Rabinowitz, Wall Street Journal opinion. It can by now come as no surprise that the Fort Hood massacre yielded an instant flow of exculpatory media meditations on the stresses that must have weighed on the killer who mowed down 13 Americans and wounded 29 others. Still, the intense drive to wrap this clear case in a fog of mystery is eminently worthy of notice. The tide of pronouncements and ruminations pointing to every cause for this event other than the one obvious to everyone in the rational world continues apace. Commentators, reporters, psychologists and, indeed, army spokesmen continue to warn portentously, "We don't yet know the motive for the shootings." What a puzzle this piece of vacuity must be to audiences hearing it, some, no doubt, with outrage. To those not terrorized by fear of offending Muslim sensitivities, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's motive was instantly clear: It was an act of terrorism by a man with a record of expressing virulent, anti-American, pro-jihadist sentiments. All were conspicuous signs of danger his Army superiors chose to ignore.
AMERICAS
Women Play a Bigger Role in Mexico's Drug War - Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times. In the story making the rounds here in Mexico's drug capital, the setting is a beauty parlor. A woman with wealth obtained legally openly criticizes a younger patron who is married to a trafficker. The "narco-wife" orders the hairdresser to shave the first woman's head. Terrified, the hairdresser complies. Urban legend or real? It almost doesn't matter; it's the sort of widely repeated account that both intimidates and titillates. And it highlights a disturbing trend: As drug violence seeps deeper into Mexican society, women are taking a more hands-on role. In growing numbers, they are being recruited into the ranks of drug smugglers, dealers and foot soldiers. And in growing numbers, they are being jailed, and killed, for their efforts. Here in Sinaloa, the nation's oldest drug-producing region and home to its most powerful cartel, the wives of drug lords were long viewed as trophies with rhinestone-studded fingernails and endless surgical enhancements. Now wives - and mothers and daughters - are being used by male traffickers because women can more easily pass through the military checkpoints that have popped up along many drug-transport routes. As Mexico has become a nation that also consumes drugs, women have become addicts, which sucks them into the narcotics underworld.
The Way Forward in Honduras - Lanny J. Davis, Wall Street Journal opinion. For months Honduras has faced a political crisis. In June, its president, Manuel Zelaya, attempted to subvert the country's constitution and was removed from office. He has since pushed to return to power, called the current president - Robert Micheletti - illegitimate, and has cast a shadow over presidential elections to be held at the end of this month. On Oct. 30, it appeared the crisis might come to a close when representatives of Mr. Zelaya signed an agreement with representatives of Mr. Micheletti to create a reconciliation government to oversee the country until the next president is seated (among other provisions). But in recent days, that agreement - known as the Tegucigalpa/San Jose Accord - fell apart. It's more accurate to say Mr. Zelaya moved to destroy the accord. It called for him to propose members of the reconciliation government by Nov. 5, and it also gave Honduras's Congress the right to vote whether to reinstate him as president. But Mr. Zelaya refused to make his appointments, even while Mr. Micheletti proposed his appointments on time. On Friday, Mr. Zelaya declared the accord null and void before Congress could vote on whether to restore him to power. Interestingly, he had insisted on adding the congressional vote to the agreement, so his decision to blow up the process before the vote is an indication that even he realizes he would lose a vote in a Congress controlled by his liberal party.
ASIA PACIFIC
US Lowers Goals for Asia Trip - Jonathan Weisman, Wall Street Journal. President Barack Obama jets to Asia on Thursday for a four-nation swing that White House officials say will highlight the centrality of the continent to US economic health and security. But administration officials say the president isn't likely to bring along tangible concessions on hot-button issues, nor will he return with concrete achievements. Unfinished business - from the shape of US military bases in Okinawa, to a South Korean free-trade agreement, to climate change, trade and currency issues with China - will remain unfinished. Instead, Mr. Obama will likely rely heavily on oratory and personal popularity to try to boost US influence while maintaining close economic ties to a region that has become the biggest creditor to the US. With the trip, Mr. Obama will have visited 20 countries in his first year in office, a record for a US president, according to Jeffrey Bader, senior director for East Asian affairs for the National Security Council. All that travel is not out of "wanderlust," he said, but because "it is essential to restore American leadership, influence, image, and standing in a world where all have suffered in recent years."
Obama Will Send Top Diplomat to North Korea for Direct Talks - Scott Wilson, Washington Post. President Obama has agreed to send a senior US diplomat to North Korea for the first direct talks with the government there in more than a year, hoping the mission will lead to the renewal of multi-nation negotiations designed to end its nuclear program. Senior administration officials said Monday that Obama decided last week to dispatch Stephen W. Bosworth, his special representative for North Korea, to Pyongyang after months of "intensive" discussions with US allies in East Asia over how to reengage North Korea on its nuclear program. Although a date has not been set for the visit, senior administration officials say it probably will occur before the end of the year. Bosworth's mission will follow Obama's first presidential visit to Asia, and conclude a year during which North Korean leader Kim Jong Il tested the new US administration with a series of missile practice firings and the detonation of a nuclear device in May.
Korean Navies Trade Fire in First Incident in Seven Years - Choe Sang-Hun, New York Times. In the first shooting incident between North and South Korea in seven years, patrol boats from both countries exchanged fire off the western coast of the Korean peninsula on Tuesday. “Our high-speed patrol boat repelled the North Korean patrol boat,” the South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. “We are fully prepared for further provocations from the North Korean military.” The skirmish, which took place in disputed waters, comes just days before President Barack Obama is due to begin a weeklong visit to Asia. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program will be a key topic when Mr. Obama stops in Seoul next week to meet with President Lee Myung-bak. One North Korean warship was partially destroyed in the fighting on Tuesday, according to a report by the Yonhap news agency, and the vessel managed to retreat to the North. The military said there were no casualties on the South Korean side.
China Executes Nine Ethnic Uighurs in July Unrest - Voice of America. China has executed nine Uighurs for taking part in July's ethnic unrest in the western city of Urumqi. The official Xinhua news agency says the nine were the first of those convicted in the riots to be executed. It said the sentences were carried out with the approval of the country's supreme court. Violence erupted in the Xinjiang regional capital of Urumqi on July 5, after Uighurs protested the deaths of two Uighur factory workers in a brawl with Han Chinese in southern China's Guangdong province. Uighurs say the protests turned violent when police cracked down on the rally. Protesters then attacked ethnic Han people in the regional capital. Two days later, Han Chinese staged revenge attacks. Nearly 200 people are believed to have been killed, but the official toll is much lower. At least 21 people have been sentenced in connection with the Urumqi riots, in crimes ranging from murder to arson, robbery and destruction of property. Twelve people have been sentenced to death.
MIDDLE EAST
Future of Palestinian Authority Is in Question - Ethan Bronner, New York Times. The collapse of the Palestinian Authority, Israel’s negotiating partner, was raised as a possibility on Monday, as several aides to its president, Mahmoud Abbas, said that he intended to resign and forecast that others would follow. “I think he is realizing that he came all this way with the peace process in order to create a Palestinian state, but he sees no state coming,” Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian peace negotiator, said in an interview. “So he really doesn’t think there is a need to be president or to have an Authority. This is not about who is going to replace him. This is about our leaving our posts. You think anybody will stay after he leaves?” Mr. Abbas warned last week that he would not participate in Palestinian elections he called for, to take place in January. But he has threatened several times before to resign, and many viewed this latest step as a ploy by a Hamlet-like leader upset over Israeli and American policy. Many also noted that the vote might not actually be held, given the Palestinian political fracture and the unwillingness of Hamas, which controls Gaza, to participate. In the days since, however, his colleagues have come to believe that he is not bluffing. If that is the case, they say, the Palestinian Authority, which administers Palestinian affairs in the occupied West Bank and serves as a principal actor in peace negotiations with Israel, could be endangered.
Netanyahu Offers No Advance in Peace Talks - Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called for an "immediate" resumption of Middle East peace talks, but Palestinian and Arab leaders responded coolly to the speech, which had been seen by the White House as an opportunity for new concessions by Israel. Mr. Netanyahu's address here, delivered hours ahead of a meeting with President Barack Obama, came as concerns mounted in Washington and Arab capitals that the Obama administration's plan to promote Mideast peace was unraveling. "I want to be clear: My goal is not to have endless negotiations. My goal is not negotiations for negotiations sake. My goal is to reach a peace treaty, and soon," Mr. Netanyahu told a gathering in Washington of the Jewish Federations of North America. "I want to assure you, Israel is willing to make great concessions for peace." The Israeli leader appealed to his Palestinian counterpart: "So I say today to the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas: Let us seize the moment to reach an historic agreement. Let us begin talks immediately." Mr. Netanyahu didn't offer any new commitment about Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - which the Palestinians have demanded be fully stopped as a precondition for peace talks - or list any specific terms for holding new negotiations.
Hariri Names New Lebanese Government After Five Week Vacuum - Edward Yeranian, Voice of America. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced the formation of a new Lebanese government late Monday following weeks of bickering and a five month political vacuum since parliamentary elections. The breakthrough comes at a price, though, since Mr. Hariri has had to give the Hezbollah-led opposition key ministerial positions. The list of members in Prime Minister Saad Hariri's new government was announced at the presidential palace in Baabda, Monday night, after a day of marathon deal-making and last-minute courtesy calls to both allies and adversaries. Lebanon has been without a government since June 7 parliamentary elections which Mr. Hariri's coalition won. Mr. Hariri had failed during a previous attempt to form a unity government. Mr. Hariri addressed reporters gathered at the palace for the announcement, saying that he was pleased that a difficult page was now being turned, and urging Lebanese to unite to build a better future for their country. He says that he doesn't wish to repeat the difficult period of negotiations, again, and that it is time for Lebanese to move forward and build a better future for their country.
Impasse Over, Lebanon Forms Cabinet - Robert F. Worth, New York Times. More than five months after holding parliamentary elections, Lebanon formed a new cabinet on Monday, ending a long period of gridlock that illustrated once again the myriad dysfunctions of this country's bitterly divided political class. The June elections yielded a clear victory for the Western-aligned bloc led by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, and a loss for the alliance led by Hezbollah, the militant Shiite movement backed by Syria and Iran. But shifting regional realities, local power struggles, and the imperative of a coalition government prevented the parties from agreeing on a cabinet until now. “I want a government that is true to Lebanon, and not to the image of political and sectarian discord that some see in us,” Mr. Hariri said as he announced the accord at the presidential palace on Monday night. He spoke of the need to focus on issues like anticorruption measures and administrative reform, on which there is widespread agreement. Yet for all the relief surrounding its formation, the government will continue to face deep rifts that go to the heart of Lebanon’s still-unresolved identity, with one camp defining itself through resistance to Israel and the West, and the other aspiring to a more commercial and cosmopolitan role.
Lebanon Rivals Form Unity Government - Borzou Daragahi and Meris Lutz, Los Angeles Times. After a months-long deadlock, Lebanon's rival political camps agreed to a unity government that includes both American-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim political party and militia that the United States considers a terrorist organization. Resolution of Lebanon's political crisis could ease regional tensions between US-backed Sunni Arab states on the one hand and Iran and Syria, which back Hezbollah, on the other. But the question of Hezbollah's arsenal - which is in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions - will probably remain unresolved in the short term. Israel last week seized what it claimed were Hezbollah-bound weapons from Iran found aboard a vessel headed to Lebanon. Hezbollah denies the charge. Israel and Hezbollah fought a war in 2006 that ended inconclusively but led to increased demands for the militia's disarmament. Amid a recent surge in rocket attacks and mysterious explosions along the Israeli-Lebanese border, some worry that another war between Hezbollah and Israel is looming. Lebanon is a kaleidoscope of religious communities divided politically into two camps - one led by Hezbollah and the other by Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia as well as the US. Hariri, a Sunni, and his Christian allies defeated a Hezbollah-led coalition in June 7 elections, but he ultimately agreed to give the opposition the Cabinet seats it had demanded, including the Telecommunications Ministry.
Yemen Rebels Routed, Saudi Arabia Says - Robert F. Worth, New York Times. Fighting continued for a sixth day on Monday between the Saudi military and Yemeni rebels on their countries’ border, with the rebels releasing a videotape of what they said was one of several captured Saudi soldiers. Saudi Arabia hammered the rebels with airstrikes and artillery fire, and captured about 280 rebel fighters, said a Saudi military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Saudi Arabia’s entry into the conflict last week escalated a five-year-old battle between the Houthi rebels and the government of Yemen. It began on Nov. 3 when the Houthis seized a strategic mountain on the border - accusing the Yemeni government of using it for attacks on them - and encountered a Saudi border patrol. In the ensuing gun battle, the Houthis killed a Saudi border guard; another guard died later of his wounds. The Saudis then began a fierce bombing campaign to flush the rebels from the area. In the videotape released by the Houthis on Monday, a man identified as a captured Saudi soldier was shown lying in bed, with facial wounds and wearing a military uniform. A doctor in white tends to him. The tape identifies the soldier as Staff Sgt. Ahmad Abdullah al-Omari of the Saudi Special Forces. The rebels also released a photograph of a military ID card bearing his name.
EVENTS
The US Military Academy’s Department of History is pleased to invite you to a West Point Symposium on the History of Irregular Warfare, 18-20 November 2009. The symposium will feature the scholarship of five cadet panel presenters with commentary by distinguished guest scholars, including: Dr. Stephen Biddle as our keynote speaker, Dr. Jeremy Black, Col. Robert Cassidy, Dr. Conrad Crane, Dr. George Herring, Dr. Brian Linn, and Dr. Peter Mansoor. Additionally, Dr. James Le Sueur (Uncivil War: Intellectuals and Identity Politics, 2005) will present a special lecture on Algerian society since 1963. Col. Gian Gentile, a History faculty member, will participate as part of the “Visiting Scholars Panel” with Dr. Crane, Dr. Mansoor, and Col. Cassidy. (Invitation and POC Information) (History of IW Symposium Agenda)
BOOKS
Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan - Doug Stanton.
Horse Soldiers tells the important story of the Special Forces soldiers who first put American boots on the ground in Afghanistan in 2001. Fighting alongside the Northern Alliance, the troops, often riding on horseback, achieved several important victories against the Taliban.
War 2.0: Irregular Warfare in the Information Age - Thomas Rid and Marc Hecker.
War 2.0: Irregular Warfare in the Information Age argues that two intimately connected trends are putting modern armies under huge pressure to adapt: the rise of insurgencies and the rise of the Web. Both in cyberspace and in warfare, the grassroots public has assumed increasing importance in recent years. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, Web 2.0 rose from the ashes. This newly interactive and participatory form of the Web promotes and enables offline action. Similarly, after Rumsfeld's attempt to transform the US military into a lean, lethal, computerized force crashed in Iraq in 2003, counterinsurgency rose from the ashes. Counterinsurgency is a social form of war - indeed, the US Army calls it armed social work - in which the local matrix population becomes the center of strategic gravity and public opinion at home the critical vulnerability.
The New Counterinsurgency Era: Transforming the US Military for Modern Wars - David H. Ucko.
Confronting insurgent violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military has recognized the need to "re-learn" counterinsurgency. But how has the Department of Defense with its mixed efforts responded to this new strategic environment? Has it learned anything from past failures? In The New Counterinsurgency Era, David Ucko examines DoD's institutional obstacles and initially slow response to a changing strategic reality.
Journey into Darkness: Genocide in Rwanda - Thomas P. Odom.
In July 1994, Thomas P. Odom was part of the US Embassy team that responded to the Goma refugee crisis. He witnessed the deaths of 70,000 refugees in a single week. In the previous three months of escalating violence, the Rwandan genocide had claimed 800,000 dead. Now, in this vivid and unsettling new book, Odom offers the first insider look at these devastating events before, during, and after the genocide.
Joker One: A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage - Donovan Campbell.
Donovan Campbell, first as a Marine and then as a writer, shows us that the dominant emotion in war isn’t hatred or anger or fear. It’s love. His story stands as a poignant tribute to his men–their courage, their dedication, their skill, and their love for one another, even unto death.
The Battle for Peace: A Frontline Vision of America's Power and Purpose - Anthony Zinni and Tony Koltz
The intellectual complement to Zinni and Clancy's bestselling Battle Ready (2004), a narrative memoir salted with specific policy recommendations, this volume provides the former US Central Command chief's analysis of America's current global position. Zinni begins by asserting that America's status as "the most powerful nation in the history of the planet" has created a de facto empire. The US has no choice: if it fails to take the lead, nothing significant happens. At the same time, Americans must recognize that, in a global age, there can be no zero-sum games.
The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education - Craig Mullaney
The Unforgiving Minute is the ultimate's soldier's book - universal in its raw emotion and its understanding of the larger issues of life and death. Mullaney, a master storyteller, plunges the depths of self-doubt, endurance, and courage. The result: a riveting, suspenseful human story, beautifully told. This is a book written under fire - a lyrical, spellbinding tale of war, love, and courage. The Unforgiving Minute is the Three Cups of Tea of soldiering.
Great Powers: America and the World after Bush - Thomas P.M. Barnett
In civilian and military circles alike, The Pentagon’s New Map became one of the most talked about books of 2004. “A combination of Tom Friedman on globalization and Carl von Clausewitz on war, [it is] the red-hot book among the nation’s admirals and generals,” wrote David Ignatius in The Washington Post. Barnett’s second book, Blueprint for Action, demonstrated how to put the first book’s principles to work. Now, in Great Powers, Barnett delivers his most sweeping - and important - book of all.
The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One - David Kilcullen
A remarkably fresh perspective on the War on Terror. Kilcullen takes us "on the ground" to uncover the face of modern warfare, illuminating both the big global war (the "War on Terrorism") and its relation to the associated "small wars" across the globe: Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Chechnya, Pakistan and North Africa.
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.
