First off this morning, I’d like to point you to abu muqawama’s comments on a critique of Gen. Petraeus, our current commander in Iraq, by Andrew Bacevich in The New Republic.
A couple of his comments that I completely agree with (and many of which I’ve posted here about before):

[T]he big problem, as Bacevich sees […]

Great column by John Noonan at The Daily Standard:
FOR NEARLY 200 years, cadets at the United States Military Academy have been guided by the “Thayer System,” a rigid structure of unyielding regulation, austere discipline, fierce loyalty, and strong emphasis on math, science, and engineering. The method is calculated to produce Army officers of the highest […]

Samantha Power, of “A Problem from Hell:” America and the Age of Genocide fame, an insightful book studying America’s indifference to various genocides throughout the 20th Century, had a great book review in last Sunday’s The New York Times.
While I started reading her review just because I respected her and wanted to read her thoughts […]

Now this is what I’m talkin’ ’bout.
Great guest post over at The Gunner’s World by Col. Michael Visconage explaining the role of field historians. He then goes into the current situation in Iraq, from his unique perspective.
My job as the Multi-National Corps Iraq Historian is to collect as much data for the military archives as […]

I’m going to post select excerpts from this article in today’s The New York Times that I think display the heart of COIN operations and the changes happening in the Sunni-populated areas outside of Baghdad. The article, of course, has some sour notes, but I think the overall conclusion is fairly optimistic.
Capt. Ben Richards had […]

Oooh, here’s an interesting local Austin story just put out by Central Command that connects with Iraq:
In order to help Iraqi local governments move to self-sufficiency, the 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalary Division is utilizing expertise from the Austin, Texas city manager’s office to examine concepts of governance from the standpoint of a […]

The Los Angeles Times:
The number of U.S.-paid private contractors in Iraq now exceeds that of American combat troops, newly released figures show, raising fresh questions about the privatization of the war effort and the government’s capacity to carry out military and rebuilding campaigns.
More than 180,000 civilians — including Americans, foreigners and Iraqis — are working […]

Here are a couple of interesting video interviews of troops on the ground in Iraq taking part in current operations southwest of Baghdad.
Note how young the captain appears.
Soldiers talk to a military reporter about securing a main supply route for coalition forces and Iraqi nationals, Operation Crazyhorse Thunder, and working with Iraqi local nationals.

SSG Todd […]

From The Wall Street Journal:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and some allies in the Bush administration are seeking to build bipartisan political support for a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq by moving toward withdrawing significant numbers of troops from Iraq by the end of President Bush’s term.
The complicating factor is how long the administration will […]

The Wall Street Journal (sub. req’d, those mofos) is a bit tardy to the story of Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling’s blistering critique (”A failure in generalship,” Armed Forces Journal, May 2007) of America’s generals.
I think, and, according to the WSJ article, junior officers concur, his critique is generally true, especially when it focuses on […]