| Small Wars Journal

"I have never seen the like."

That is what a helicopter pilot who had watched a 21-year-old Marine stave off a Taliban ambush that threatened to overrun his unit told "60 Minutes."

The Marine was Dakota Meyer a Kentucky farm boy who just this past Thursday received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award, from President Obama at the White House. Meyer was on a mission in the Ganjgal Valley of Afghanistan, where he repeatedly ran a gauntlet of enemy fire in a desperate effort to save his fellow Marines.

Russia’s Military Supply-Demand Conundrum

Russia is under no illusion that its military is very capable. Low morale, poor training and living conditions, insufficient funding, and ageing equipment and infrastructure, among other problems, plague Russia’s armed forces. Much of these deficiencies, however, are largely attributable to Russia’s deficient manpower and the inability of its arms industry to furnish adequate military materiel. The 2008 Georgia-Russia War underscored the shortcomings of Russia’s deteriorating armed forces and recent calls by President Medvedev, leader of the world’s second largest arms exporter, to import weapons from abroad to ensure Russian forces are properly armed highlights the decrepit state of Russia’s arms industry.

The ambitious and long overdue military reform led by Russian Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov aims to build a leaner Russian military that is more responsive to pressing threats, such as internal unrest and regional Islamic extremism. This reform, however, has placed great demand upon Russia’s already deficient arms industry to adequately supply Russia’s military reform. Recent criticisms of Russia’s arms industry, however, make clear that it struggles to support this reform effort and raises concerns as to whether Russia will be able to complete it. Indeed, at an international air show hosted outside Moscow last month, Russia's much anticipated new generation stealth fighter aborted takeoff because of mechanical failure.

At the same time, nuclear weapons play the predominant role in sustaining Russian international security and prestige, and remain the only military component that still makes Russia a global power. This is particularly so because Russia’s conventional armed forces are starkly inferior to the militaries of the United States, NATO and China. But the importance Russia affords its nuclear weapons places added demand upon its arms industry to maintain a sophisticated nuclear arsenal. This demand, however, comes into tension with Russia’s diminished ability to supply new nuclear systems, in great part because its arms industry, which suffers from deficient manpower and lacking technology, cannot keep up with the Kremlin’s demand to maintain a robust nuclear arsenal.

A reformed Russian military will likely increase the role nuclear weapons play in Russian security and foreign policy because while Russia’s military will be more effective at addressing pressing threats, such as regional terrorism, nuclear weapons will remain the ultimate deterrent to global powers with superior conventional forces. This reliance, however, will temper Russia’s enthusiasm for further arms control and place continued demand on its arms industry to maintain a robust nuclear arsenal.

Russia’s leadership must recognize that nuclear weapons are an inadequate response to the pressing conventional threats facing Russia. Russian military reform should thus instead focus on developing non-nuclear systems that offer a better deterrent and repellant to the more pressing and challenging conventional threats facing Russia which do not require expensive, high-tech destructive responses such as nuclear weapons. Unlike its strategic nuclear force, Russia’s decision to not modernize its tactical nuclear arsenal is an indication that Russian leaders have in part come to this realization. But Russia’s recent purchase of two Mistral class helicopter carriers from France are a far cry from the type of conventional military systems Russia needs.

In a vicious cycle, Russia’s military reform suffers from not only misplaced Russian demands for a robust nuclear arsenal and unnecessary conventional military systems, but also deficient supply from a derelict Russian arms industry that cannot provide adequate weaponry to meet reform demands or reduce Russia’s dependence on nuclear weapons. Reform will fail if Russia does not first improve its arms industry and curb the rampant corruption and overpricing that plagues it. But Russia’s arms industry has already lost ground at home and with time is likely to lose its pedestal as a top global supplier.

At the same time, Russia needs to further adjust its demand for military materiel. There is no longer a convincing security rationale for maintaining a robust, sophisticated Russian nuclear arsenal. Unlike during the Cold War, the likelihood of a nuclear war with the United States today is negligible. Russia should thus continue to actively participate in the process toward nuclear disarmament not because it necessarily supports its aims, but rather because it represents an opportunity to buttress Russia’s prestige by showcasing its role as a nuclear power and because disarmament is in line with Russia’s treaty obligations, military-industrial capacity and natural force obsolescence. Importantly, Russia’s security or prestige will not diminish with nuclear disarmament. China offers a vivid example: even with a smaller and relatively less sophisticated nuclear arsenal, Chinese interests receive attention and no country thinks about attacking it.

As Russia moves forward with its military reform it will need to balance an urgency to regain the relevance of its arms industry, modernize its military to confront pressing conventional threats, develop effective conventional weaponry to reduce its dependence on nuclear weapons, and measure its bellicose temptations as its armed forces become more effective. Doing so will test the patience of Russia’s arms industry and military brass, and as President Medvedev’s words evoke, requires much pressure from above. Whether Russia is up to the task is yet to be seen, but recent criticisms of its arms industry are not an encouraging sign.

Read more about Russia’s Military Supply-Demand Conundrum

18 September SWJ Roundup

US Naval Institute Daily - USNI

Afghanistan

Haqqani Network Announce Support for Taliban Peace Talks - TT

Reintegration Builds Confidence in Afghanistan, General Says - AFPS

Roadside Blast Kills 9 Civilians in Afghanistan - AP

Bomb Kills NATO Service Member in Afghanistan - AP

Pakistan

US Ambassador: Evidence Links Pakistan to Haqqani Network - VOA

Haqqani 'Link to Pakistan State' - BBC

US Says Evidence Ties Militant Group to Pakistan - AP

US Links Pakistan to Group it Blames for Kabul Attack - Reuters

Joint Chiefs Chairman Presses Pakistan on Militant Havens - NYT

Pakistan Troops Battle Taliban for US Drone Debris - AP

Fifteen Killed in Pakistan as Militants Attack Tribe - Reuters

Militants Attack Pakistani Checkpoint, Kill 3 - AP

Israel / Palestinians

UN Once Again Center Stage for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - WP

Palestinians See UN Bid as Most Viable Option - NYT

Israel Says Palestinian Statehood Bid at UN is 'Futile' - VOA

Palestinians See UN Bid as Their Most Viable Option - NYT

Palestinians Warned on UN Bid - SMH

UN Recognition Bid Met with Apathy on Facebook - LAT

Jewish Settlers Prepare for Expected Demonstrations - LAT

No W. Bank Violence Unless Settlers Start It - JP

Abbas Has Shown Israel He is Not Like Arafat - Haaretz

US Fails to Sway Palestinians - WSJ

Palestinian Anger at US Fuels Diplomatic Crisis - TG

PA to US: Veto at UN Would 'Destroy' Two-State Solution - JP

“50-70 Countries Won’t Support Palestinian UN Bid” - WT

For Obama, UN Vote May Have Silver Lining - LAT

Mideast Quartet Envoys to Meet in New York on Sunday - Reuters

Israel: Adrift at Sea Alone - NYT opinion

Showdown at the United Nations - WS opinion

UN Vote on Palestinian State Might Offer Way Forward - PI opinion

Palestine May Win a Vote, But Won't Be a State - BW opinion

Palestinian Mirage - WT opinion

An Israel in Trouble Makes Peace Deal More Urgent - CSM opinion

Israel and Turkey, Foes and Much Alike - NYT opinion

Libya

West to Play Pivotal Role in Libya Rebuilding - VOA

Probing Libya’s Rampant Corruption - WP

Gadhafi Loyalists Prolong Endgame - WSJ

Battle for Kadafi Hometown Sees Heavy Fighting - LAT

Libyan Forces Battle Gaddafi Loyalists - WP

Anti-Qaddafi Forces Capture, Then Lose, Last Redoubts - NYT

Battle for Sirte Steps Up after Rebels Overhear Radio Chatter - TT

Rebels 'Advance' in Sirte Battle - BBC

Pro-Gaddafi Forces Thwart Eastern Advance on Sirte - Reuters

Libyan Fighters Inch Forward in Gadhafi Hometown - AP

Libyan Conflict Thrusts Niger into Unwelcome Spotlight - TT

Lead from the Front in Libya - WT editorial

Iraq

Iraq Tries to Quell Tensions Over Pilgrim Killings - Reuters

4 Suspects Freed in Iraqi Bus Massacre - AP

Syria

Defiant Ambassador Says Change Under Way in Syria - CNN

Syrian Opposition Hold Damascus Talks - BBC

Syrian Opposition Meets to Boost Nationwide Uprising -AP

Funerals Again Turn into Syrian Anti-Govt Protests - DPA

Prisoner in Syria Says He Aided Hezbollah Killing - AP

Syria Says Spy Helped Israel Kill Hezbollah Chief - Reuters

Egypt

No Rest for an Egypt Revolutionary - LAT

Egypt to Start Parliamentary Vote on November 21 - Reuters

Yemen

Clashes Erupt in Yemen, and a Sit-In Is Attacked - NYT

Anti-Government Protesters Storm Yemeni University - AP

Iran

West Fears Possible Iran-North Korea Nuclear Links - Reuters

Iran Considers Release of US Hikers - VOA

Court to Commute Sentences for 2 Americans - AP

Iranian Leader Warns Arabs Not to Trust US, NATO - AP

Middle East / North Africa

Tumult of Arab Spring Prompts Worries in Washington - NYT

Tensions Rise Ahead of Bahrain Elections - VOA

Latest Developments in Arab World's Unrest - AP

The Arab Uprising - BBC full coverage

Bahrain Protests and Obama's 'Drop by' Diplomacy - CSM editorial

US Department of Defense

Dakota Meyer Inducted Into Pentagon Hall of Heroes - AFPS

Schwartz to USAF Leaders: Don't Endorse Religious Programs - S&S

Marine Sentry Suicide Sparks Hazing Inquiry - S&S

NRO Maintains Nation’s Intel Satellite Edge - AFPS

Runaway Spending on War Contractors - NYT editorial

Congress Resists Rush for LGBT Military - WT opinion

United States

Reno Fans Struggle with Horrors of Air Show Crash - LAT

America's Costly War Machine - LAT opinion

How Not to Catch a Terrorist - LAT opinion

Abolish the Department of Homeland Security - WT opinion

World

Technology that Protects Protesters - LAT opinion

Africa

World Reacted Too Slow to East Africa Crisis - Reuters

As Congo Subdues Some Armed Groups, New Ones Emerge - CSM

Ethiopian Police Deny Using Terror Law to Silence Opposition - VOA

Probe of Arms Deal Draws Widespread Reactions in South Africa - VOA

S. Africa Youth Leader Could Face Party Expulsion - AP

Accused Nigeria Bombers Are Not Senior - Reuters

Nigeria: Relative of Slain Sect Leader Killed - AP

15 Killed in Ivory Coast Villages Near Liberia - AP

Attack in Western Ivory Coast Kills 15 - Reuters

Madagascar Deal for New Elections - BBC

Glimpses of the Next Great Famine - NYT opinion

Americas

Venezuela: Chavez Criticizes Human Rights Court Over Ruling - AP

Venezuela: Chavez Heads to Cuba Saying Cancer Is History - AP

Colombia Ex-Prez Makes Waves, In and Out of Office - AP

Asia Pacific

Energy Dispute Brews in South China Sea - WP

Taiwan Opposition Chief Open to China Unification - AP

Reports: US Will Not Sell Fighter Jets to Taiwan - VOA

Obama Opposes F-16 Sales to Taiwan - DN

Japan Tries to Repair Ties with US - WP

US Warns Japan of Missile Delay - JT

West Fears Possible Iran-North Korea Nuclear Links - Reuters

Thai Violence Kills 4 - VOA

Europe

China Charms Europe, but Beijing Has Own Agenda - AP

EU Finance Ministers Fail to Agree on New Debt Measures - VOA

Serbs Block Roads in Northern Kosovo - VOA

Why EU Peacekeepers Occupied Serbia-Kosovo Border Posts - CSM

Pro-Russia Party Tops Latvia Poll - BBC

Pro-Russia Party Wins Snap Latvian Election - AP

Two Arrests in Finland Linked to Terrorism - AP

17 September SWJ Roundup

US Naval Institute Daily - USNI

Afghanistan

Afghan Parliament Mired by Standoff - WP

Haqqanis Would Follow Taliban on Afghan Peace - Reuters

Pakistan Army Doubts Afghanistan Ready for Pull-Out - Reuters

Photo Essay: Marines Fight on in South Afghanistan - AP

Pakistan

US Suspects Pakistan Link in Kabul Attack - WSJ

Pakistan PM Cancels US Trip to Deal with Floods - VOA

Pakistan PM Cancels Trip to UN Because of Floods - AP

Libya

US Searches for Libyan Arms, Warns of Terror Risk - AP

US Believes Gadhafi Still in Libya - AP

UN Approves Libya Seat for Former Rebels - AP

Libyan Fighters Make Concerted Push on Gaddafi Bastions - WP

Pro-Kadafi Forces Counter Offensives in 2 Cities - LAT

NTC Forces Driven Back from Bani Walid - BBC

Gadhafi Loyalists Beat Back Assault on Strongholds - AP

Forces Regroup to Tackle Gaddafi - BBC

Libyan Forces Plot Moves After Bani Walid Setback - AP

Libya Counts Its Martyrs, but the Bodies Don’t Add Up - NYT

Man of God and Technology, Trying to Steady Libya - NYT

Niger Says Libyan Instability Undermines Security, Economy - VOA

Iraq

Engineers on Track as Iraq Deadline Nears - AFPS

Iraqi Girl Recounts Bus Massacre - AP

Thousands in Iraq Demonstrate for Better Services - Reuters

A Troop Drawdown that Would Fail Iraq - WP opinion

Israel / Palestinians

Obama Tries to Look Beyond Palestinian Bid at UN - AP

Abbas to Seek Full UN Membership for Palestinians - VOA

Palestinians Set Bid for UN Seat, in a Clash With the US - NYT

Abbas Announces UN Member Bid - WP

Palestinians to Seek Full UN Membership - BBC

Palestinian Leader Will Ask for Full UN Membership - AP

The Turkey-Israel Crisis - WP opinion

Syria

Violence May Signal a Shift in Syria’s Protests - NYT

Activists: Syrian Forces Kill At Least 15 in Hama - VOA

Syrian Forces Chase South Defectors, Kill 6 Farmers - Reuters

Army Defector Hussein Harmoush in TV 'Confession' - BBC

Our Man in Damascus - WP editorial

Egypt

Military Rulers Revive and Broaden Detention Powers - WP

Yemen

Yemenis Take New Hardships in Stride - NYT

Thousands in Yemen Demand President Step Down - VOA

Protests in Yemen, New Signs President May Quit - AP

US Increases Yemen Drone Strikes - WP

Iran

Iran Lawyer for Jailed Americans Files Bail Papers - AP

Oman Plane in Iran, Awaiting US Citizens' Release - Reuters

Tehran’s Ambitions - NYT editorial

Middle East / North Africa

Turkey’s Tough Talk Boosts Mideast Stature - AP

Latest Developments in Arab World's Unrest - AP

US Department of Defense

DOD Cuts: Amos Takes Marine Corps Case Directly To Panetta - AOL

Researchers Skeptical DOD Can Use Social Media to Predict Conflict - S&S

Combat Medics Suffer Higher Rates of Depression - S&S

Lawmakers Press DOD for Better Bookkeeping - S&S

Hale: DOD Strives to Improve Financial Management - AFPS

6 Indicted in Fraud Scheme Involving Army Recruiters - WT

The Pentagon’s Big Fear - WP opinion

United States

On Day Devoted to Constitution, a Fight Over It - NYT

Obama Adviser Discusses Using Military on Terrorists - NYT

FBI Chided for Training That Was Critical of Islam - NYT

NYC Billboard Battle Latest in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - NYT

Head of Drug-Smuggling Ring Arrested in Arizona - WT

Reno: 3 Dead and Dozens Injured in Crash of Vintage Plane - NYT

3 Dead, 56 Injured at Nevada Air Show - WP

Reno Air Show Crash Kills at Least 3 - LAT

Africa

British Tourist Kidnapped in Kenya 'Held by al-Shabab' - BBC

Sudan Bars 17 'Southern Parties' - BBC

Nigeria: 4 Could Face Death Over UN HQ Bombing - AP

Niger 'Destroys al-Qaeda Convoy' - BBC

Uganda Jail for World Cup Bombers - BBC

Mozambique Holds 4 US, 1 UK 'Pirate Hunters' - BBC

Eritrea Urged to Free Dissidents - BBC

Americas

Colombia: Killings Persist After Fighting is Over - LAT

Captured Drug Kingpin Pets Strain Mexico's Zoos - AP

Court Clears Venezuela Candidate to Challenge Chavez - Reuters

Venezuela: Rights Court Sides With Chavez Opponent - AP

Cuba Dissidents' March Thwarted - BBC

Haiti Closer to Forming Government - WP

Haiti's Prime Minister Nominee Clears First Hurdle - AP

Asia Pacific

Once a Redoubt Against China, Taiwan’s Outpost Evolves - NYT

Obama Agrees to Sell Arms to Taiwan - WT

US-Taiwan Deal Excludes New Jets -WP

Officials: Koreas' Nuke Envoys to Meet Next Week - AP

S. Korea Trying to Scuttle North's Tour Program - AP

Bombings in Southern Thailand Kill 3, Wound Dozens - AP

Thai Police: Drug Dealers Funded Southern Bombings - AP

Europe

US Urges Bolder EU Measures - WP

Finance Ministers Reach No Accord on Debt Crisis - LAT

EU Toughens Budget Rules But Stalls on Greece - AP

Peacekeepers Take Serbia-Kosovo Border Posts - NYT

EU Forced to Fly Forces to Kosovo Border Crossings - AP

Little Protest From Paris Muslims as Street Prayer Ban Begins - NYT

Finnish Police Arrest 2 on Terror Suspicions - AP

Spain Court Convicts Basque Leader of Terrorism - AP

Dutch Government Drafts Burqa Ban Legislation - NYT

Poor Central Asians Migrate to Moscow - WP

Latvia Votes in Anti-Oligarch Election - Reuters

Ex-IRA Guerrilla McGuinness to Run for Irish President - Reuters

Growing Mistrust Among European Banks - WP opinion

Read more about 17 September SWJ Roundup

This Week at War: The New Pacific Theater

My Foreign Policy column discusses a new deployment plan for the southwest Pacific. Also, does the Army need to be ready for another Afghan-sized training mission?

The U.S. and Australia try a new military deployment plan for the southwest Pacific

This week Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flew to San Francisco to meet with their counterparts from Australia. The occasion was the anniversary of the ANZUS mutual defense treaty, signed 60 years ago in San Francisco's Presidio. That treaty was signed near the start of the Cold War, while the United States and its allies were locked in bloody combat against the Chinese army in Korea. This week's event in San Francisco was an effort to update the defense pact, with China again looming over the meeting.

Six decades later, the Korean War still seems to have a strong influence on the positioning of U.S. military forces in East Asia. U.S. ground, air, and naval forces remain concentrated in Japan and South Korea in the northwest Pacific, seemingly focused on the prospect of renewed fighting in Korea. North Korea's continued belligerence since 1950 created a requirement for a U.S. military presence in the northwest Pacific. Over the decades, the United States, Japan, and South Korea built up a basing structure to support this permanent deployment, which they have long settled into.

But China's improving air and naval power and its assertion of claims in the South China Sea are very likely moving the most important defense mission 2,000 miles south from where U.S. forces in the region are now concentrated. This mismatch is presumably not lost on the U.S. and Australian ministers gathered in San Francisco.

In addition to pledging greater cooperation on cyberdefense (a problem increasingly blamed on sources in China), the United States will gain greater access to Australian military training areas, pre-position military equipment in Australia, obtain access to Australian facilities and ports, and establish options for more joint military activities in the region.

This step-up in military coordination with Australia follows similar U.S. diplomatic forays around the South China Sea. In 2005, the United States and Singapore signed a strategic framework agreement on military cooperation that was expanded this year with an agreement to deploy new U.S. Navy littoral combat ships to Singapore. The deepening of this agreement will enhance the ability of the U.S. Navy to support the multilateral military training exercises it leads every year with partners around the South China Sea.

However, Washington appears to be taking a notably different approach in the southwest Pacific. Unlike its agreement with Japan and South Korea, the new agreements with Australia and Singapore, along with other low-key arrangements with the Philippines and others in the region, do not call for the permanent basing of U.S. combat units in these countries. Both the United States and its partners in the region have an interest in maintaining the "forward presence" of U.S. military forces in the region. But the permanent bases and garrisons in South Korea and Japan have become corrosive, especially on Okinawa, where the local population has become hostile to the U.S. military presence. In addition, restrictions on training areas in Japan and South Korea are impairing the readiness of U.S. forces there and reducing the utility of their presence.

The model the U.S. planners appear to have in mind for Australia, Singapore, and around the South China Sea involves regular and frequent training exercises, temporary access to host countries' facilities, and frequent consultation by staff officers and advisors. For training exercises or in response to crises, U.S. air and ground forces would fly in and meet up with pre-positioned equipment, with naval forces arriving soon thereafter. This method would avoid the political friction the United States has encountered in Japan and South Korea and allow U.S. soldiers to remain at bases inside the United States that have better training facilities and provide better living arrangements for soldiers and their families.

This new method of providing security for the southwest Pacific remains mostly a theory and will face increasing pressure if Chinese forces eventually threaten easy access to the region. But if the model succeeds, it could call into question the utility of maintaining the existing garrisons on Okinawa and South Korea, which in any case are increasingly untenable as the Chinese missile threat expands. The trick for U.S. military strategists and diplomats will be implementing this more flexible deployment model while simultaneously reassuring regional partners that U.S. security commitments are as firm as ever. As pressures increase, that trick may not be easy to pull off.

Does the Army need to prepare for another Afghanistan-sized training effort?

It took 20 hours this week for Afghan police and international troops to subdue the Taliban insurgents who attacked several high-profile sites in downtown Kabul, including the U.S. Embassy compound. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker described the attack as "not a very big deal," while the coalition military commander, Marine Gen. John Allen, conceded that the Taliban "did get an IO [information operations] win on this." Eleven Afghan civilians, four police officers, and 10 insurgents were killed during the battle.

Although the attack did not display much Taliban expertise or have much lasting effect, it raises questions about whether the effort to train Afghan security forces is on track. Last week the RAND Corp. released "Security Force Assistance in Afghanistan," a detailed study of the training program and its lessons for future large-scale training efforts. The report described the immense challenges specific to the Afghan case and cataloged numerous suggestions to improve the program.

The Pentagon and the rest of the U.S. government have learned quite a lot about security force assistance from Afghanistan. There is a near-consensus among policymakers that successful assistance programs elsewhere in the world should be an effective and low-cost way of both preventing conflict and lowering the probability of future U.S. military interventions. The question for the Pentagon is whether the Afghanistan case, with its high level of difficulty, should be the standard scenario that U.S. forces prepare for.

The RAND authors found numerous shortcomings with the Afghan security force assistance program during the time of their field research. That research wrapped up in 2009 just at the time U.S. policy in Afghanistan was undergoing a major overhaul, many changes in top leadership occurred, and a large infusion of additional troops, equipment, and money came in. The researchers found that the assistance effort in Afghanistan lacked a tight linkage to the actual security requirements in the country, lacked appropriate measurements for tracking progress, and did not match up well with the enfeebled capacities of the rest of the Afghan government. In spite of the steep challenges of training an indigenous army in war-torn and largely illiterate Afghanistan, much has improved since 2009, some perhaps due to the interaction between the researchers and the training staff in Afghanistan.

U.S. policymakers have high hopes for using security force assistance to build up regional deterrence, help partners prevent insurgencies and lawlessness, and reduce the demand on U.S. forces for global security. Security force assistance and foreign internal defense training are normally tasks for special operations forces. But the training requirements in Afghanistan and Iraq were so large that conventional forces were drawn into the effort. The U.S. Army established new doctrine and wrote training manuals for conventional combat units reassigned to assistance duties.

But a sharp reduction looms for the Pentagon's budget, with the Army facing a substantial cut to both its force structure and very likely its training budget (indeed, the assistance effort in Afghanistan is getting a big cut). The Army envisions its combat forces having mastery of "full spectrum operations," which could range from complex high-intensity offensives to "wide area security," peacekeeping, support to civil authorities -- and security force assistance.

But reductions in manpower and money for training will likely require officials to set priorities and make choices. Regarding security force assistance, Pentagon leaders will have to make a judgment about how many training resources should be consumed preparing conventional ground combat units for training duties. Do policymakers predict another "worst case" Afghanistan-scale assistance scenario, requiring training resources far above the capacities resident in the special operations forces? If so, in what other areas of conventional readiness are they —to take risks?

Over the past decade, U.S. soldiers have learned a lot about training indigenous security forces. Skill at security force assistance is a major U.S. asset just like aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and missiles. And it will have to compete with those other assets during the looming budget crunch.

Book Review: Cables from Kabul

Cables from Kabul: The Inside Story of the West's Afghanistan Campaign

by Sherard Cowper-Coles, Harper Press, 312pp

Reviewed by Matthew Partridge

While several books on the Soviet campaign in Afghanistan have been released recently to wide acclaim, there are still relatively few serious books on NATO operations that have received comparable attention, from press, academics and the officers’ mess. However, with all combat troops set to leave in less than three and a half years, this neglect is likely to change. In Cables from Kabul: The Inside Story of the West’s Afghanistan Campaign, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the former British ambassador to Afghanistan and later Special Representative to the British Foreign Secretary on Afghanistan and Pakistan, details his views on the NATO’s military and political strategy.

Although initially lambasted in the British press for calling policy in the region “a thirty-year marathon”, Cowper-Coles quickly became, and remains in Cables from Kabul, a proponent of the view that a solution can come about “only once America is prepared to talk direct[ly] to its enemies”, a euphemism for surrendering significant power to the Taliban. At the same time he is deeply critical of American policy, contending both that the counterinsurgency programme was futile and the attempts to reorient the Afghan economy away from the production of narcotics were deeply counterproductive.

In contrast, Cowper-Coles is unstinting in his praise of Afghanistan’s previous rulers. The Soviet puppet Najibullah is praised as “a strong Afghan leader”, while the Taliban are praised for standing “for law and order…they could be hardly worse than the appalling anarchy which had preceded them”. Indeed, one nameless official, who served both the Soviets and the Taliban, is twice described (without apparent irony) in the space of two pages as an “Afghan patriot”, and the assertion that it was only American impetuosity that stopped the Taliban from handing over Bin Laden goes unchallenged.

In case the reader is left in any doubt about the type of political system he supports, Cowper-Coles argues that, if they must stay, Britain and American should abandon institution building, and instead devolve all power to tribal leaders, whose loyalty would be purchased. Under this arrangement NATO forces would be restricted to lobbing the occasional missile at insurgents and recalcitrant tribes, or, in his words, “Imperial Air Policing”. In a particularly revealing passage, he complains about being misquoted as endorsing the idea of a dictator, not because he disagrees with the principle, but because he thinks Afghanistan is unsustainable as a unitary state.

In the epilogue, Cowper-Coles even suggests that, instead of intervening after 9/11, America should have followed the British, Russian and Roman empires which responded to attacks by launching “a punitive expedition to deter and punish those responsible for the offence, and withdrew as quickly as possible”. At the very most the United States, should have “established a client kingdom in the offending territory”.

As well as attacking the idea of nation-building, Cowper-Coles is extremely critical of the senior British and American military leadership. He believes that they are deceptive towards their civilian leaders, deliberately underestimating the amount of men and materiel needed to accomplish an objective, then publicly lobbying until the subsequent overstretch is rectified by increased resources. In the author’s view this cycle of intervention, followed by complaints and increased spending is accentuated by a civilian unwillingness to confront, or even question, the advice given by military leaders. He also suggests that diplomats and foreign policy analysts have been pressured into agreeing with the military.

Even ignoring the implications of letting Afghanistan revert to tribal anarchy or Taliban domination, Cowper-Cole’s analysis overlooks several inconvenient facts. Ironically, the Clinton administration attempted to follow his strategy, launching hit-and-run attacks on Bin Laden within Afghanistan in 1998 and 2000 and attempting to negotiate with Mullah Omar’s government. Instead of leading them to surrender Bin Laden, appeasement policies merely emboldened the Taliban, while the failed assassination attempts increased Bin Laden’s stature. Similarly, the decision to liberate Kabul with airstrikes and support for the Northern Alliance, rather than with American ground troops, was one of the root causes of the subsequent instability.

The claim that American intervention in Afghanistan administration policies broke with the Cold-War idea of “containment” overlooks the fact that Kennan’s idea was a pragmatic response to the fact that impossibility of directly challenging Soviet control of Central and Eastern Europe. Indeed, when the opportunity presented itself, especially in Africa and Latin America, the Truman, Kennedy and even Eisenhower administrations were not afraid to aggressively intervene in a series of small (and not-so-small) wars to “roll-back” Soviet and communist influence. At the same time the Truman administration engaged in unapologetic nation-building in Japan and West Germany.

While the leaking of the internal debates over Afghan strategy between the Pentagon and the White House, and the increasing outspokenness of the British High Command about the quality of vehicles and the sustainability of operations, clearly undermines civilian control of the military, and are both inexcusable. However, the author fails to consider the other side of the argument, namely that talk about negotiating with the Taliban and setting a withdrawal timetable impacts negatively on the willingness of the Afghan people to fight and emboldens insurgents. Given that Junior Officers are currently trained to “keep your extraction plan secret” at the village level (to quote David Killcullen’s advice) it is strange to see the Commander-in-Chief pledging that “After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home”.

Ironically, Cables from Kabul itself appears to have been revised to remove some especially contentious material, although it is not clear whether this was requested by the Foreign Office or was simply the authors’ personal decision. While there is a lot of detail about the political debates in 2007 and 2008, there is strangely little about either the November 2009 “surge” or the controversy that resulted in Cowper-Coles’s departure. While the former may have been a largely internal debate, the latter is a serious omission, and reduces the books’ scholarly value. It might have better if publication had been delayed for a year or two, so more material could have been included.

Of course, Cowper-Coles’ advice is not clearly useless. His account of the disastrous effects of attempts to reduce the drugs trade by purchasing opium from Afghan farmers should be required reading for those naïve enough to still believe in the viability of such schemes. The fact that Zahir Shah, the former King of Afghanistan, was respected enough for Karzai to consult him regularly suggests that he could have played an important symbolic role as a constitutional (non-governing) monarch, like Hirohito in post-war Japan. It would clearly have been easier for all parties to hold Karzai to account for his corruption and misbehaviour had he been Prime Minister of a parliamentary democracy rather than a directly elected President.

Overall, this is a useful book. However, this is because it provides a foretaste of the arguments that will be made by those opposed to both counterinsurgency and intervention in the coming years, rather than because of the strength of its critique or the quality of the revelations about British policymaking in the region.

16 September SWJ Roundup

US Naval Institute Daily - USNI

Afghanistan

Young Afghan Fighters Eager to Rejoin Taliban - WP

Congress Probes Corrupt Afghan Trucking - WP

ISAF Operations Roundup - AFPS

Pakistan

CIA Kills Top Qaeda Operative in Drone Strike - NYT

US Officials: Al-Qaida Ops Chief Killed by CIA - AP

Al-Qaeda Leader in Pakistan Abu Hafs al-Shahri Killed - BBC

Kabul Attackers Toted Juice, Weapons from Pakistan - McClatchy

Bomb Kills Many at Pakistan Funeral - BBC

Suicide Bomber Kills 26 Funeral Mourners in Pakistan - NYT

Pakistan PM Cancels Trip to UN Because of Floods - AP

Libya

French, British Leaders Vow to Help Rebuilding Libya - VOA

Sarkozy, Cameron Vow to Support Libya - WP

Cameron of Britain and Sarkozy of France Visit Libya - NYT

Cameron, Sarkozy Visit Post-Kadafi Libya - LAT

UK, French Leaders Take the Stage in Libya - AP

Erdogan to Visit Libya as Sirte Battle Rages - Reuters

Anti-Gadhafi Forces Enter Sirte, Face Strong Resistance - VOA

NTC Fighters Meet Sirte Resistance - BBC

Anti-Gaddafi Forces Speed Towards Bani Walid - Reuters

Libyan Rebels Urge More NATO Airstrikes - WT

Iraq

Iraq Rounds Up Men Accused of Killing Shiite Pilgrims - WP

10 Suspects Arrested in Deadly Iraqi Bus Hijacking - AP

Israel / Palestinians

UN Showdown Could Test US Role in Mideast - WP

Palestinians Resist Appeals to Halt UN Statehood Bid - NYT

Palestinians Vow to Pursue Statehood at UN - VOA

Palestinians Set Date for UN Bid - BBC

Defying US, Palestinians Press Forward with UN Bid - AP

EU Seeks Limited Upgrade of Palestinians' UN Status - Reuters

Israeli-Arab Militant Cell Held - BBC

Britain Stops Activists from Arresting Foreigners - AP

Why Palestinian Statehood a Question for UN - WP opinion

Syria

Syrian Opposition Announces Formation of National Council - VOA

Syrian Opposition Unveils National Council - BBC

Effort to Create Opposition Council Announced - WP

Ban Calls for ‘Coherent’ Global Response to Syrian Violence - VOA

In Syrian Town, Uprising Turns Into Grim Standoff - NYT

The Right Call on the Syrian Threat - WP opinion

Egypt

Egypt PM Says Peace Deal With Israel Not Sacred - Reuters

Steel Tycoon With Links to a Mubarak Sentenced - NYT

Egyptian Steel Magnate Ezz Jailed - BBC

Former Mubarak Official Sentenced in Egypt - LAT

Yemen

In Yemen, Revolution Moves at a Crawl - LAT

Protesters Wounded in Taiz - BBC

Explosions Shake Yemen Capital, Blasts in South - Reuters

Iran

Turkey Agrees to Host US Radar Site - WP

US Hails Deal With Turkey on Missile Shield - NYT

US Remains Hopeful Iran Will Release Hikers - Reuters

Iran's `Damaged' President Heads for UN Spotlight - AP

Middle East / North Africa

Anti-Israel Rally in Jordan Also Exposes Arab Rifts - NYT

Bahrain Boils Under the Lid of Repression - NYT

Arabs to Avoid Targeting Israel at UN Atom Meeting - Reuters

Latest Developments in Arab World's Unrest - AP

US Department of Defense

Dakota Meyer Awards Medal of Honor - SWJ roundup

Panetta: DOD Cuts Could Up Jobless Rate by 1 Point - AP

Spokesman: Additional Budget Cuts Would Devastate Military - AFPS

Joint Chiefs Chairman Reflects on Wars, bin Laden - USAT

Accounting for POWs, MIAs a Year-round DOD Mission - AFPS

DADT Repeal: Lawmakers Ask DOD for a Delay - S&S

United States

White House Weighs Limits of Terror Fight - NYT

9/11 Panel: US Remains Vulnerable to 'Lone Wolf' - AP

US Task Force: Deportation Effort Impairs Police Work - LAT

Deportation Program Sows Mistrust, US Is Told - NYT

Australia

US, Australia Inch Towards Troops, Military Deal - SMH

Deal is Near on More US Military Access in Australia - AP

Cyber Attack Threats Added to US, Australia Treaty - Bloomberg

World

Making Tyrants Do Time - NYT opinion

Africa

Nigeria Restructures Security Services to Combat Terror Attacks - VOA

Niger Seeks Help in Policing Border with Libya - VOA

Cattle Raiders Kill 46 in South Sudan - Reuters

Afrikaner Farmers Migrating to Georgia - VOA

S. Africa Weapons Inquiry to be Reopened - BBC

Ethiopian 'Flees' over Wikileaks - BBC

Togo Leader's Brother Convicted - BBC

Famine Ravages Somalia, World Less Likely to Intervene - NYT

Aid for Somalia - WP editorial

Americas

Belize and El Salvador Added to US Drug Blacklist - BBC

Mexico Policeman's Family Killed - BBC

Mexico Drug Gangs Menace Web Critics With Murder - Reuters

Gunmen Force Mexico Mayor to Cancel 'El Grito' - AP

Venezuelan Oilmen Thrive in Colombia - WP

Honduras: Land Struggles Highlight Post-Coup Polarization - NYT

Americans and Cubans Still Mired in Distrust - NYT

Cuba Accuses Bill Richardson over Alan Gross Visit - BBC

Haitian Protesters Demand Ouster of UN Troops - VOA

Report Argues Science Key to Rebuilding Haiti - AP

Asia Pacific

US, China Jockeying for Space in Orbit - S&S

Independent Poll Candidates on the Rise in China - AP

China Sentences 4 Ethnic Uighurs to Death - VOA

China Sentences Four Uighurs to Death Over Unrest - NYT

China Arrests More Than 2,000 in Gang Crackdown - AP

Obama Agrees to Sell Arms to Taiwan - WT

Koreas' Nuclear Envoys to Meet Next Week - AP

N. Korean Arrested in Plot Against Fellow Defector - NYT

N. Korean Defector Arrested in Attack Plot - AP

'Poison-Needle Plot' N. Korean Held - BBC

Yingluck Visit Boosts Thai-Cambodia Relations - VOA

Malaysia Ends Unpopular Security Law - VOA

Malaysia to Scrap Security Laws - BBC

Ex-Philippine General Rearrested for Hiding Assets - AP

Europe

Central Banks to Provide Additional Loans for Europe - VOA

European Banks Face Major Reckoning - WP

Public Anger a Hurdle in Europe Debt Fix - LAT

UN Security Council Meets on Kosovo - VOA

NATO Chief Urges Kosovo, Serbia for Restraint - AP

NATO Says Ready to Act to Stop Violence in Kosovo - Reuters

Kosovo Set to Take 2 Key Border Posts - NYT

Kosovo Serbs Block Border Crossings - AFP

Kosovo, EU Deploy Customs, Police in Restive North - Reuters

Moscow Destroys Century-Old Mosque - WP

A Russian Party, Out of Bounds - WP

Billionaire Condemns Party He Led as a Kremlin ‘Puppet’ - NYT

Denmark's First Woman PM Elected - BBC

Denmark to Be Led by Female Premier as Leftists Win - NYT

New Danish Leader Juggles Far-Left With Center - Reuters

Norway Massacre: Killer Filmed on CCTV Before Attacks - BBC

Europe Must Stand or Fall Together - NYT editorial

South Asia

India Seeks to Counter Internal Terrorist Threat - VOA

India’s Gandhi Resumes Work After Surgery - BBC

Press Rights Group Alarmed by Nepal Amnesty Plans - AP

Read more about 16 September SWJ Roundup

Marine Dakota Meyer Awarded Medal of Honor

President Presents Medal of Honor to Marine

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2011 – President Barack Obama today draped the pale blue ribbon suspending the Medal of Honor around the neck of Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota L. Meyer, the first living Marine to receive the award for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“It’s been said that where there is a brave man, in the thickest of the fight, there is the post of honor,” the commander in chief said. “Today we pay tribute to an American who placed himself in the thick of the fight again, and again, and again.”

Obama said Meyer, who is now 23 and was just 21 that day in Afghanistan, is “one of the most down-to-earth guys you will ever meet.”

When the president’s staff called the young Marine so the commander in chief could officially notify him of the medal, Obama said, Meyer was at work on his new civilian job at a construction site.

“He felt he couldn’t take the call right then because, he said, ‘If I don’t work, I don’t get paid,’” Obama said.

“So we arranged to make sure he got the call during his lunch break,” the president added.

Obama then turned to the events of Sept. 8, 2009, the day Meyer earned the medal as a corporal serving with Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8, Regional Corps Advisory Command 3-7, in Kunar province, Afghanistan.

Just before dawn, a patrol of Afghan forces and their American trainers, on foot and making their way through a narrow valley, was planning to meet with a group of village elders, the president said.

“Suddenly, all over the valley, the lights go out – and that’s when it happens,” Obama said.

About a mile away, Meyer and Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez could hear the ambush over the radio.

Gunfire poured from houses, the hillsides, and even the local school, Obama said.

Soon, the patrol was pinned down, taking ferocious fire from three sides. “Men were being wounded and killed, and four Americans – Dakota’s friends – were surrounded,” he said.

After asking four times to go closer to the fight and help, and hearing each time that it was too dangerous, the two Marines got inside a nearby Humvee and headed into the fight, Rodriguez-Chavez at the wheel and Meyer manning the gun turret.

“They were defying orders, but they were doing what they thought was right,” the president said.

On two solo trips into the ambush area, Meyer repeatedly got out of the Humvee to help Afghan troops, many wounded, inside the vehicle and back to safety.

“A third time they went back, insurgents running right up to the front of the Humvee, Dakota fighting them off,” Obama said.

This time, the men drove right up to the line of fire, and helped a group of wounded Americans battle their way to safety.

They then headed back on the fourth trip with Meyer wounded in the arm and the vehicle riddled with bullets and shrapnel, the president said.

“Dakota later confessed, ‘I didn’t think I was going to die, I knew I was.’ But still, they pushed on, finding the wounded [and] delivering them to safety,” Obama said.

On the fifth trip, the two Marines drove through fire “that seemed to come from every window, every doorway, every alley,” he said.

Finally, the two reached the four Americans who had been surrounded.

“Dakota jumped out and he ran toward them, drawing all those enemy guns toward himself; bullets kicking up the dirt all around him,” Obama said.

Meyer and others who had joined him picked up the fallen Marines and, “through all those bullets, all the smoke, all the chaos, carried them out one by one – because as Dakota says, that’s what you do for a brother,” the commander in chief said.

“Dakota says he’ll accept this medal in their name,” the president said. “So today, we remember the husband who loved the outdoors, Lt. Michael Johnson; the husband and father they called ‘Gunny J,’ Gunnery Sgt. Edwin Johnson; the determined Marine who fought to get on that team, Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick; the medic who gave his life tending to his teammates, Hospitalman 3rd Class James Layton; and a soldier wounded in that battle who was never recovered: Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook.”

Obama said while he knows Meyer has thought of himself as a failure because some of his teammates didn’t come home, “as your commander in chief, and on behalf of everyone here today and all Americans, I want you to know it’s quite the opposite.”

“Because of your honor, 36 men are alive today,” the president said. “Because of your courage, four fallen American heroes came home, and in the words of James Layton’s mom, [their families] could lay their sons to rest with dignity.”

Meyer’s father, Mike, grandparents, and more than a hundred friends and family members attended today’s ceremony.

Because of Meyer’s humble example, children all across America will know that “no matter who you are or where you come from, you can do great things as a citizen and a member of the American family,” the president said.

The commander in chief then asked Rodriguez-Chavez, now a gunnery sergeant, and all those present at the ceremony who served with Meyer, to stand “and accept the thanks of a grateful nation.”

Meyer joined in the applause.

Just before the citation reading and medal presentation, Obama said, “Every member of our team is as important as the other – that’s a lesson that we all have to remember, as citizens and as a nation, as we meet the tests of our time here at home and around the world. To our Marines, to all our men and women in uniform, to our fellow Americans, let us always be faithful.”

Meyer, who has left the active Marine Corps, and is a sergeant in the Inactive Reserve, is the 298th Marine ever to have received the medal, created during the Civil War. The nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor is awarded for risk of life in combat beyond the call of duty.

Meyer is the third living service member to receive the Medal of Honor for actions during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, following Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore A. Giunta, who received the medal Nov. 16, 2010, and Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, who accepted the award July 12.

Of ten Medal of Honor recipients for actions during the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, the only other Marine is Cpl. Jason E. Dunham, who died April 22, 2004, of wounds received when he covered a live grenade with his own body to save the lives of fellow Marines in Iraq. Dunham’s parents accepted his posthumous Medal of Honor Jan. 11, 2007.

Related Sites and News:

Special Report: Medal of Honor Heroes of Iraq and Afghanistan - DoD

The Congressional Medal of Honor - CMOH Society

The Congressional Medal of Honor - TNY

The Afghan Rescue Mission Behind Today's MOH - WSJ

President Obama Awards Medal of Honor - VOA

Marine Receives Medal of Honor - NYT

Obama Praises Honor, Courage of Newest MOH Recipient - S&S

Marine Who Saved 3 Dozen Lives Receives Medal of Honor - McClatchy

Defying Orders, Hero Marine Saved Other Troops - Forbes

President Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Former Marine - WP

Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Kentucky Marine - LAT

Marine Who Disregarded Orders Awarded Medal of Honor - CSM

For A Marine Hero, A Medal Of Honor - NPR

Marine Receives Medal of Honor at White House - NJ

Dakota Meyer and His Medal of Honor - USAT

Marine Receives Medal of Honor at White House - CNN

Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Marine - Time

Defying Orders, Hero Marine Saved Other Troops - AP

Marine Awarded Medal of Honor Believed He Would Die - Reuters

Obama Honors Afghan War Hero Marine - AFP

Medal of Honor for Kentucky Marine - Politico

Sgt. Dakota Meyer Tells His Story -DoD Live

Humble Medal Of Honor Recipient Felt 'Like A Failure' - NPR

Meyer, Obama Share a Beer at White House - MCT

Marine Gets Medal of Honor, and a Beer with Obama - USAT

Obama Beer for Honored US Marine - BBC

Dakota Meyer's Beer Summit with Obama - MT

Infinity Journal Issue 4 Now Online

The fourth issue of Infinity Journal has recently been published. It includes “Another Blood Century” by Colin S. Gray, “Why China Will Not Become the Next Global Power” by Edward N. Luttwak, “Limitations of Strategic Maneuver: The Israeli Case” by Kobi Michael, “Future Threats and Strategic Thinking” by Frank G. Hoffman, “The Second Lebanon War: A Strategic Reappraisal” by Gur LaLaish, and “Explaining Strategic Theory” by M.L.R. Smith and John Stone.

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