I’m just going to lift John’s entire post on OP-FOR regarding a piece posted today by Gen. David Kilcullen, Senior Counterinsurgency Adviser, Multi-National Force–Iraq, on the Small Wars Journal Blog:

Via Small Wars Journal:
I’ve spent much of the last six weeks out on the ground, working with Iraqi and U.S. combat units, civilian reconstruction teams, Iraqi […]

The major offensives (Phantom Thunder, Arrowhead Ripper, et cetera) in Iraq continue today. The Washington Post has a story here that’s okay. I’m assuming it’s rather hard to find and report “both sides” of the story when the subject is changing so quickly — that is to say, I’m not certain that all the “naysaying” […]

Thank God for PBS. I watched FRONTLINE’s “Endgame” last night on their Web site. If you want to know how we ended up where we are in Iraq, and the new strategy that’s being employed by Gen. Petraeus and American forces in-country, you have to watch this. In fact, it should be required viewing for […]

Badgers Forward says we need to vet and then accept former insurgents into Iraqi Forces. It’s the only way to move forward, he says.
CENTCOM reports that unmanned aerial vehicle teams from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade (ACB) have amassed 20,000 flight hours in the skies over Baghdad.
Last, but certainly not least important, Mary Beth Harrell, the […]

David Axe, reporting from Baghdad on his blog (as I noted yesterday), discusses the opposition in the Netherlands to keeping Dutch troops in Afghanistan.
At Kamp Holland, the Dutch base in southern Afghanistan, the troops are mourning the loss of a second soldier: 44-year-old Sergeant Major Jos Leunissen, who died in a mortar accident during combat […]

A couple of interesting stories for your reading pleasure this Wednesday:

David Axe over at War Is Boring is writing eloquently on his time with Dutch and Australian troops in Afghanistan. Plus, his firsthand accounts are often posted before any major papers pick up the stories. There are a number of posts — at least one […]

After only just recently extending combat tours from 12 months to 15 months, the Army is again looking at extending tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to The Associated Press (via Military.com):
The Army is considering whether it will have to extend the combat tours of troops in Iraq if President Bush opts to maintain […]

Michael Yon, reporting from Iraq on his blog, notes that a large American offensive has started in Iraq — an offensive that has yet to to be reported by the American media. Further, he agrees with me that Gen. Petraeus is the man for the job.
Using the analogy of Iraq as a patient, Michael writes:
We […]

Abu Aardvark has a thought-provoking post about jihadi’s use of the Internet for more than just recruitment and training. They use its ability to facilitate communications over wide ranges to define their larger ideas, values and strategies. As is often noted, they use the technology of the present to push for a return to the […]

With the recent takeover of Gaza Strip by Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist group, and Fatah’s continuing hold on the West Bank, are we suddenly seeing the arrival of a need for a three-state solution?
This is one case where one-plus-one may equal three. We have (or had) two parties in a Palestinian coalition government that […]