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 […]

Well, no wonder Karen Hughes has sucked as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs:
Threatened abroad, U.S. diplomats have been hit with unprecedented security restrictions, confining many to fortress-like compounds and frustrating Bush administration efforts to get out and counter anti-U.S. sentiment.
Lockdowns and prohibitions on travel now apply to Americans posted to […]

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 […]

The New York Times:
G.O.P. Support for Iraq Policy Erodes Further
Support among Republicans for President Bush’s Iraq policy eroded further on Thursday as another senior lawmaker, Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, broke with the White House just as Congressional Democrats prepared to renew their challenge to the war.
“We cannot continue asking our troops […]

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 […]

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 […]

Let’s get something out of the way here first. I love The Tank. It’s right up there with OP-FOR and Danger Room to me. So I’m happy just to have been noticed and referred to by W. Thomas Smith Jr. — even if it is only to take me to task for this post.
I want […]

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 […]

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 […]

Two great ads have appeared in recent weeks pointing out the harm caused to our country and our fellow citizens by continuing to follow the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue” policy and the failure of our government to yet provide hate-crimes protection to the GLBT community, respectively.
[Hotel Tango: Sam Smoot]