Until tonight, I believed that winning wars requires killing. I’d tempered my viewpoint somewhat, based on what I’ve seen in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq, but now I’m ready to say without any doubt that sparing lives—not taking them—is the only way to make war obsolete. I used to agree with the sentiment below. Yes, that’s…
Incrementalism is how great change is made permanent
April 26, 2016
It’s official: The Saudis are remaking the Middle East. Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman gave his first press conference to foreign journalists, and he confirmed what retired Saudi General Anwar Eshki said at the Council on Foreign Relations on June 4, 2015. The key to successful change is incrementalism. You have…
Undisclosed versus covert versus clandestine
April 14, 2016
Military operations are classified as open, clandestine, covert, and undisclosed. Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom were open operations. A clandestine operation was Neptune Spear, the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALs of DEVGRU. Though secret at the time, we admitted to it when it was over. Covert operations are actions that everyone…
Cataclysm averted…but maybe not for us
April 4, 2016
That which lacks a sense of self-preservation will not survive. The Middle East has avoided a cataclysm, but only because level-headed and skilled leaders worked hard to find solutions. Here in the West, the goal has been to make us stupid and malleable, in the name of expanding the power of government—both liberal and conservative….
Jihadists in Syria fall into the Saudi trap
April 2, 2016
In August of 2015, General Anwar Eshki gave an amazing interview to the Wall Street Journal. A former Saudi National Security Adviser, Eshki laid out in plain language what would happen in the Middle East. The Saudis had prepared a trap for the Islamic State; what nobody knew at the time was that this strategy…
Weapon descriptions for Colonel Richard Kemp
March 29, 2016
In answer to a question by Colonel Richard Kemp, this post contains videos of new weapon systems used in the Syrian civil war. My theory is that the Arab League and its Asian, Central Asian, and African allies have created new units called “C6ISR forces,” a term coined by IDF Brigadier General Gal Hirsch (retired)….