RC/CA

I regret to report that, now that I’m home, thinking about...

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:30:06 +0430

I regret to report that, now that I’m home, thinking about war makes me a bit physically and a bit more mentally ill. I may come back when I feel I have something interesting to show you. Thanks for listening.

Corey

Jealousy and envy are powerful emotions and, if acted upon, can cause serious problems. Leaders must always watch out for them. A jealous commander may behave in ways that inhibit and soon paralyze his or her subordinates, who eventually turn off and tune out. The antidote lies in trying to make the people who work for you feel needed and highly valued. Help them believe in that wonderful old truism “A rising tide lifts all boats.” With perhaps a few exceptions, every organization’s success is a collective achievement.

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:44:23 +0430

Jealousy and envy are powerful emotions and, if acted upon, can cause serious problems. Leaders must always watch out for them. A jealous commander may behave in ways that inhibit and soon paralyze his or her subordinates, who eventually turn off and tune out. The antidote lies in trying to make the people who work for you feel needed and highly valued. Help them believe in that wonderful old truism “A rising tide lifts all boats.” With perhaps a few exceptions, every organization’s success is a collective achievement.

At the tip of the surge

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:44:09 +0430

At the tip of the surge

A comparable failure of imagination besets present-day Washington. The Long War launched by George W. Bush in the wake of 9/11 has not gone well. Everyone understands that. Yet in the face of disappointment, what passes for advanced thinking recalls the Churchill who devised Gallipoli and godfathered the tank: In Washington and in the field, a preoccupation with tactics and operations have induced strategic blindness. As President Obama shifts the main U.S. military effort from Iraq to Afghanistan, and as his commanders embrace counterinsurgency as the new American way of war, the big questions go not only unanswered but unasked. Does perpetuating the Long War make political or strategic sense? As we prepare to enter that war's ninth year, are there no alternatives?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:40:37 +0430

A comparable failure of imagination besets present-day Washington. The Long War launched by George W. Bush in the wake of 9/11 has not gone well. Everyone understands that. Yet in the face of disappointment, what passes for advanced thinking recalls the Churchill who devised Gallipoli and godfathered the tank: In Washington and in the field, a preoccupation with tactics and operations have induced strategic blindness. As President Obama shifts the main U.S. military effort from Iraq to Afghanistan, and as his commanders embrace counterinsurgency as the new American way of war, the big questions go not only unanswered but unasked. Does perpetuating the Long War make political or strategic sense? As we prepare to enter that war's ninth year, are there no alternatives?

An Anecdote

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:16:17 +0430

An Anecdote:

savagemike:

Three years into my military career, I switched from the US Air Force to the US Army. One of the inprocessing actions was to meet with the unit Chaplain.

So, I did. We had a perfectly congenial conversation.

On my way out the door, his assistant asked me if I was religious. I replied that I was not.

He told me “You will be, the first time you get IED’d”

He was wrong. I never sought deliverance from a higher power, even in the most dire of circumstances, IED-born or otherwise.

Getting mortared is a strange experience. Modern technology being what it is, we usually have advance warning that a mortar is incoming.

This leaves you with 30 seconds to basically run for a bunker or shelter in-place in your trailer. It seems cliche, but 30 seconds can seem like an incredibly long time.

Hunkered down in my trailer under my bunk and body armor, it never even occurred to me to pray.

Atheists DO exist in foxholes. And usually we’re just angry about the religious idiocy that leads to wars in the first place.

Afghan Civility (An Example)

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:59:41 +0430

From: •••••••••••• [mailto:•••••••••••••••••••••••••••]
Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 10:45 PM
To: ••••••••••••••••••••••
Subject: Hello

Dear Sir,

I hope this email finds in a good health, since I heard from you that
your team will leave soon and I request that if you can come to my
office and have Mantoo your favorite food with us and since we have a
very good freindship so I want to have a good time before you leave
Afghanistan. If you don’t come I don’t eat Mantoo anymore because
whenever I eate Mantoo I remember you. Thanks looking forward to see
you,

Best regards,
•••••••••••••••••

Mantoo is a traditional but somewhat hard-to-come-by Afghan dish, sort of like sheep ravioli.

Photo

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:05:13 +0430

We must fight the insurgents, and will use the tools at our disposal to both defeat the enemy and protect our forces. But we will not win based on the number of Taliban we kill, but instead on our ability to separate insurgents from the center of gravity--the people. That means we must respect and protect the population from coercion and violence--and operate in a manner which will win their support.

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:03:58 +0430

We must fight the insurgents, and will use the tools at our disposal to both defeat the enemy and protect our forces. But we will not win based on the number of Taliban we kill, but instead on our ability to separate insurgents from the center of gravity--the people. That means we must respect and protect the population from coercion and violence--and operate in a manner which will win their support.:

Gen. McChrystal’s new Tactical Directive for Afghanistan.

Chateaubriand hit the nail on the head when he wrote that: "Men don’t allow themselves to be killed for their interests, they allow themselves to be killed for their passions." That’s true of modern war, but what about postmodern? How long can you sustain non-existential wars when the population is apathetic at best, albeit that it remains well disposed to its small professional armed forces? The answer is, I think, that we don’t really know: we’ve only been here once before in Iraq, and that’s not a hopeful example.

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:03:30 +0430

Chateaubriand hit the nail on the head when he wrote that: "Men don’t allow themselves to be killed for their interests, they allow themselves to be killed for their passions." That’s true of modern war, but what about postmodern? How long can you sustain non-existential wars when the population is apathetic at best, albeit that it remains well disposed to its small professional armed forces? The answer is, I think, that we don’t really know: we’ve only been here once before in Iraq, and that’s not a hopeful example.

drymouth: Six NATO soldiers killed today and four of them in...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:49:25 +0430

drymouth:

Six NATO soldiers killed today and four of them in Kunduz, where I was last month on patrol (obligatory sunset shot before we were shot at with AKs above).

Kunduz, as a Pastun area, has seen increased Taliban activity over the last year as Taliban are ‘squeezed’ up from the South. And I reckon we’ll see a lot more attacks in the West and North of Afghanistan.

Why? Well, if I were a Taliban commander, faced with the might of the ‘uplift’ (it’s not a ‘surge’, people) down in Helmand, I wouldn’t waste valuable resources on fighting a battle I couldn’t win. Rather, I’d beat a tactical retreat, lay as many IEDs and booby traps as I went as possible and leave my less experienced, younger, and probably newly recruited foot soldiers to snipe away at the NATO forces.

Meanwhile, I’d take the important chaps, the brains and the experience, to focus on the ‘softer’ targets of the North and West. ‘Softer’ because there’s fewer of them and because they have they’re own caveats.

For example, the German soldiers who control the Northern region aren’t allowed to use lethal forces unless they’re under attack or an attack is imminent. This pretty much rules out ‘capture or kill’ missions. Additionally, Germany is facing an election pretty soon, and the Germans are famously uncomfortable, not just with fighting this war, but fighting wars abroad at all. They’ve got this rather strong history, you see.

The Italians in the West have their own rules about how and where they’re allowed to fight, although I’m not so qualified to comment on those. With increasing pressure from insurgent attacks in these areas, aimed well, aimed quickly before other NATO troops can get there (I, as Taliban commander, also have the advantage of being able to move through the country much more quickly and easily than NATO troops), countries like Italy and Germany are going to find it very hard to remain as they are in Afghanistan. They either evolve, or they could simply leave.

What we have on our hands here is an ultimate test of NATO solidarity. Do we do a frog chorus and all stand together? Or are we bound to put our national interests first? This question will come rushing to the forefront if we see, as I believe we will, more attacks in hitherto relatively peaceful areas.

The Obscenity of War

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:40:06 +0430

The Obscenity of War:

Read this.

"The most fundamental incompetence in the Vietnam War was the misapplication of the social and mental..."

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:02:28 +0430

“The most fundamental incompetence in the Vietnam War was the misapplication of the social and mental model of an industrial process to human warfare.”

- Jonathan Shay, “Achilles in Vietnam” (via jakelodwick) (via mikehudack)

emptyage: Missing (via Laughing Squid)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:40:55 +0430

emptyage:

Missing (via Laughing Squid)

"The number of female service members who have become homeless after leaving the military has jumped..."

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:20:44 +0430

“The number of female service members who have become homeless after leaving the military has jumped dramatically in recent years, according to new government estimates, presenting the Veterans Administration with a challenge as it struggles to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. As more women serve in combat zones, the share of female veterans who end up homeless, while still relatively small at an estimated 6,500, has nearly doubled over the last decade, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. For younger veterans, it is even more pronounced: One out of every 10 homeless vets under the age of 45 is now a woman, the statistics show. And unlike their male counterparts, many have the added burden of being single parents.”

- Bryan Bender | The Boston Globe (via retropolitics) (via mikehudack)

“People are hostages of the Taliban, but they look at the coalition also as the enemy, because they have not seen anything good from them in seven or eight years,” said Hajji Abdul Ahad Helmandwal, a district council leader from Nadali in Helmand Province.

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:14:48 +0430

“People are hostages of the Taliban, but they look at the coalition also as the enemy, because they have not seen anything good from them in seven or eight years,” said Hajji Abdul Ahad Helmandwal, a district council leader from Nadali in Helmand Province.

It’s not often you see an honest-to-goodness,...

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:14:35 +0430

It’s not often you see an honest-to-goodness, non-Hollywood firefight. Here’s one.

[via Afghan Desk]

Listen Aggressively – Leaders don't simply listen, they hear what their Sailors say to them. They know that those on the deckplates are the ones most familiar with how operations can be more effective.

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:14:22 +0430

Listen Aggressively – Leaders don't simply listen, they hear what their Sailors say to them. They know that those on the deckplates are the ones most familiar with how operations can be more effective.

backseatbanter: an image of Iraq by Christoph Bangert

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:16:38 +0430

backseatbanter:

an image of Iraq by Christoph Bangert

sierradawn: Photo Journal : Pictures of the Day Susan...

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:15:33 +0430

sierradawn:

Photo Journal : Pictures of the Day

Susan Springle, left, and her son, U.S. Marine Cpl. Charles K. Springle Jr., and other family members sat during interment services for her husband, Commander Charles K. Springle, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Tuesday. According to the Defense Department, Mr. Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C., was killed in a shooting at a combat stress clinic at Camp Liberty, Iraq, on May 11.

"It’s not religion that keeps women back. It’s poverty; it’s war-torn chaos like that in Sudan and..."

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:12:22 +0430

“It’s not religion that keeps women back. It’s poverty; it’s war-torn chaos like that in Sudan and Somalia; it’s high illiteracy like that in Pakistan; it’s tribal customs like that in Afghanistan; it’s authoritarian regimes like Iran’s and Egypt’s; and it’s misogynistic culture like that in Saudi Arabia. Most often, in developing countries like Muslim countries, it’s a combination of these.”

- Sumbul Ali-Karamali: Stoning Soraya, Murdering Neda, and the Hope of Muslim Women (via igather)