Folks,From an H-War posting, a review in the Weekly Standard of a recent book written by a West Point professor of English. Basically, it touts the Academy as a place where a book based intellectual journey is important and one that continues for many after they leave the institution. I would contrast this finding with [...]
Our friend in Washington passed along a very interesting analysis:
Three reasons why USAF is under attack:
1. The national security strategy vacuum: From 1981 through 2001, our national security strategy was deterrence and containment, with airpower playing the largest single role. During that period, the USAF enjoyed a position of respect and support. Since 2001, our national security strategy [...]
This was posted on IntelliBriefs Blogspot a few days ago. The tag line is superb: “Strategy is to process as Clausewitz is to a PowerPoint.” Read on …
The executive summary of a report by the CIA’s Office of the Inspector General was declassified and released on Tuesday. Originally published in 2005, the report states that [...]
In case you did not see this missive in either your daily AFA spam or on the Early Warning (more like Distant Early Warning down here at Maxwell) Blog…..
Buzz About Obama and Airpower: Making the rounds of traditional and Web media are remarks Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) made in New Hampshire earlier this [...]
The first notion the military strategist must discard is victory, for strategy is not about winning. The pure strategist understands that war is but one aspect of social and political competition, an ongoing interaction that has no finality. This is not to say that victory has no place in strategy. The outcome of battles and [...]
The growing association of international terrorist organizations and transnational criminals, initially and primarily as a funding source, is well documented. Some terrorist organizations, including the FARC in Columbia and the KLA in southeastern Europe have wholly subsumed the illegal enterprises upon which they once relied, and no run them directly. It is past time that [...]
[The following editorial appeared in The Wright Stuff, 8 Feb 07]
Just over a year ago the US Air Force expanded its mission statement, declaring its commitment “to fly and fight in Air, Space, and Cyberspace.” [Mitch Gettle, “Air Force Releases New Mission Statement,” Air Force Print News, December 8, 2005. Emphasis added] Highlighting its newly raised [...]
Saturday’s Science Section of the New York Times had a colorful piece by William Broad on the problem of space debris complicated by the reckless destruction of one of its weather satellites by the Chinese. The gist is that a terrible problem in space navigation is getting catastrophically worse. There is no doubt the Chinese ASAT [...]
Many of those in the blog and MSM spheres feasting on the remains of William Arkin’s Jan 30th Early Warning column, “The Troops Also Need to Support the American People,” have unfortunately missed the crucial point of his argument.
Arkin’s thesis – clearly and unambiguously presented at the opening of his post – was this:
I hope [...]
Change is an arduous thing. In scientific theory and military strategy the process is similar, and exceptionally brutal. Established beliefs and practices are threatened by new ideas. Innovators champion the new paradigm while traditionalists circle the wagons. Thinkers are labeled heretics, and persecuted. Traditionalists stop thinking, and rely instead on dogma, rote learning, and a [...]