On 14 November 1965 the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) flew to the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam, initiating the first major battle between the North Vietnamese and American armies. This marked our transition from our role as advisers to direct combatants. After the battle lessons were drawn by both sides that determined the course of the war. With …
Lest we forget: lessons for us from the Battle of Ia Drang Read More »
Summary:  This is Part 3 of this series, looking at more pathways to failure in Iraq. Only when we abandon our dreams of victory can salvage what we can and plan for successes after Iraq. Links to the other chapters are at the end. . History repeats itself because we fail to learn from it. “Our nation …
More paths to failure in Iraq. Part III of a series. Read More »
Summary: This is part 2 in a series looking at the Iraq War. Advice from past to the present. Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable. — Advice from Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith in a letter to President Kennedy, dated 2 March 1962, printed in Galbraith’s Ambassador’s …
