It is clear by now that the protracted war in Iraq uncovered fissures and dysfunctional elements involved in American civil-military relations. Indeed, there has been a dangerous undertow in civil-military discourse for some time. Before the war, Dr. Richard Kohn of UNC Chapel Hill concluded that relations were "extraordinarily poor" and that a tear in the national fabric existed. One could argue that the fabric is now completely rent, but we can hope it is not beyond repair. The war has exacerbated the situation appreciably, enough to suggest that a sequel to Colonel H.R. McMaster's classic book Dereliction of Duty is in order.
The nation's leadership, civilian and military, need to come to grips with the emerging "stab in the back" thesis in the armed services and better define the social compact and code of conduct that governs the overall relationship between the masters of policy and the dedicated servants we ask to carry it out. Our collective failure to address the torn fabric and weave a stronger and more enduring relationship will only allow a sore to fester and ultimately undermine the nation's security.
A Triangle Comes Full Circle -- Michael Ruane of the Washington Post discusses the upcoming paperback release of Dorothy Fall's biography of her husband Bernard Fall.
Bernard Fall's name is not one you will find on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, though he died like so many whose names are etched into its black granite. He knew better than most what a soldier, and an army, faced in that war.
His name is carved, instead, on his tombstone in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery, above the legend, "He believed in truth and sought it at its source."
He sought it, indeed. From the battleground, he detailed the agony of the French army's defeat in Vietnam in his 1960s books "Street Without Joy" and "Hell in a Very Small Place."
He wrote passionately, and when he was silenced by death his memory was set aside amid the pain of his passing and the new life his family was forced to begin. The haunting tape was still in the damaged tape recorder that Dorothy Fall received along with other personal effects: his smashed camera with film also still in it, his helmet and the clothes he had on when he died.
Fall, now 77, always wanted to write a book about her husband. And she began it in 1972 -- five years after he and one of the Marines he was with were killed that afternoon near Hue. But her emotions were still raw. She was not yet ready to relinquish him to history.
Bernard Fall: Memories of a Soldier-Scholar -- Dorothy Fall.
Hell in a Very Small Place - Bernard Fall. "The definitive account (Saturday Review) of the battle that paved the way for American involvement in Vietnam. The 1954 battle of Dien Bien Phu ranks with Stalingrad and Tet for what it ended (imperial ambitions), what it foretold (American involvement), and what it symbolized: A guerrilla force of Viet Minh destroyed a technologically superior French army, convincing the Viet Minh that similar tactics might prevail in battle with the U.S."
Street Without Joy - Bernard Fall. "Reprint of the Stackpole Books account of the French defeat in Vietnam originally published in 1961."
Panel discussion on Counterinsurgency: U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24 and Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 3-33.5 with LTC John Nagl and Sarah Sewall -- Center for a New American Security video, audio, briefing slides and transcript of the 23 November panel discussion.
Contributing Writer Discusses Counterinsurgency Manual -- John Kruzel of the American Forces Press Service on LTC John Nagl.
A contributor to the Counterinsurgency Field Manual yesterday discussed the doctrine that codifies how the U.S. military can most effectively conduct asymmetric warfare.
The doctrine, officially titled U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24 and Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 3-33.5, is a unique joint effort published in December 2006 by the two branches to help military and civilian operators face challenges posed by insurgencies that blend with civilian populations.
--Dave D.