Recommended Reading
A crisp but cool Sunday morning yields some intriguing reads….lotta mil-theory out there today….
Chuck Spinney at DNI – “Will A Strategic Bombing Campaign Defeat Iran?”
As much a critique of EBO as it is of the wisdom of a making war on Iran by one of Colonel John Boyd’s collaborators.
Adam Elkus at Dreaming5GW – “Darknet: A Model For 5GW Organization”
John Robb at Global Guerillas – “GUERRILLA GROUP SIZE IN IRAQ”
Steve DeAngelis at ERMB – “Modeling Swarm Behavior”
Robert Kaplan – ” It’s the Tribes, Stupid”
Fabius Maximus – “The Essential 4GW reading list: chapter 3, David Kilcullen”
A comprehensive online bibliography of Dr. Kilcullen’s work.
The PMC Blackwater has signed up Graf von Zeppelin !! ( Hat tip to JR at Edgewise and to Blackwater Facts)
That’s it!
UPDATE: Matt at Mountainrunner was all over the airship thing a long, long time ago.
November 25th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
The effects of dropping the bomb…
Chuck Spinney, one of the Boyd Acolytes, discusses the problems of a strategic bombing campaign on Iran.
Though he doesn’t say the words he is criticizing the EBO logic that dates back to Douhet. I think it is a solid point. To get the other s…
November 26th, 2007 at 1:17 am
Good to see Chuck back on D-N-I. He’s been touring the Med in his sailboat for the past few years (since retiring from OSD). Perhaps the only rank-and-file GS-grade analyst to grace the cover of TIME magazine when he blew the whistle on air platform overspending, his logic is that "Versailles on the Potomac" is more palatable when viewed from afar….
November 26th, 2007 at 3:59 am
Hi Shane,
I recall that Spinney exposed enormous cost overruns for equipment with faked test results ? Something like that. Made a huge splash.
November 26th, 2007 at 6:48 am
[B]ombing yet another Islamic country that had nothing to do with 9-11, in the seething caldron of Southwest Asia, could very well unleash a regional conflagration that escalates far beyond our diminished our moral, mental, and physical capacity to control or contain.
Good insight; too bad it’s five years too late.
November 26th, 2007 at 7:15 am
Thanks for the nod!
Also, Spinney’s work is always a delight to read.
November 26th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Hi Mithras,
I’m not all that familiar with Spinney’s views but DNI, which Spinney co-founded, while focused on effective military strategy and performance, tends toward anti-interventionism in foreign policy. William Lind, the arch-paleocon at DNI, also writes for Antiwar.com, for example.
Chime in if you like here A.E. as you write for DNI as well and have had more contact than I.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:53 am
I cannot speak for the other authors on DNI, but my read is that few are "anti-interventionist in foreign policy."
How many types of intervention do they write about? Foreign aid. Recommending greater human rights by means of moral suasion. Intervention by use of diplomacy and international agencies. There is a large spectrum of means about which I see little written on DNI — and even less in opposition.
The bomb and shoot interventions are another matter. Expensive. Frequent and serious blowback. Poor record of efficacy, plus frequent and massive failure. Yes, I agree that "military interventions" are often opposed by most of the folks writing on DNI.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:32 am
A good qualifier FM – thank you.