A fascinating development of the Iraq War are the “war bloggers”, like Michael Yon and Bill Roggio, providing disintermediated news — non-journalists reporting directly from Iraq. Free from the commercial and political entanglements of the major media, war bloggers can precisely target their audience. Many of them report events using the narrative that brought Tom Clancy fame and fortune. It …
In Surrender in Al Anbar province I described the tactical retreat we made in Anbar, and why it may prove a wise move. History shows that apt tactical retreats have ocassionaly led to strategic gains, and often ended fruitless and expensive engagements. While a big step backwards in terms of our strategic goals — to establish a strong, friendly Iraq State — this …
Part V of this series provoked many emails requesting more symptoms showing the decline of the State (DOTS) in America. I wish all the questions I received were so easy to answer. This essay will give some general background and a specific example. The ur-text for DOTS is Martin van Creveld’s The Rise and Decline …
