For receiving 59 comments (at last count — wait a minute — 62) on his post about John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. The question of qualification to hold the most powerful office in the world is an interesting one.  The Constitution does set out qualifications, but they are minimal: No […]

Like a Mirage in the Desert: U.S. exit from Iraq may recede into the time horizon by Charles Knight Key advisors to Barack Obama have put forward an Iraq withdrawal policy which they have labeled “conditional engagement.” In their words: “Under this strategy, the … time hori­zon for redeployment would be negotiated with the Iraqi […]

William S. Lind August 18, 2008 Despite the recent drop in the price of oil, the world economy is still sailing into troubled waters. The U.S. credit crisis is intensifying and spreading to Britain. Europe is moving toward recession. The international financial system continues to depend on mountains of debt. If the financial panic the […]

William S. Lind August 18, 2008 What interests does the United States have at stake in the war between Russia and Georgia? Only one: that we remain out of it. It almost passes belief to think that the Bush administration, bogged down in two wars and planning a third (with Iran), might move toward a […]

The second in the series of manuals and revisions from the 4GW Seminar at MCB Quantico, FMFM 1-3A, A Tactical Handbook for Counterinsurgency and Police Operations. Here’s the preface: Why another hip-pocket guide for counterinsurgency? What makes this different? This handbook is an offering from a group of Marine officers who feel that current doctrine […]

The 4GW Seminar at Quantico has produced a new draft, 4.3, of FMFM-1A: Please note that FMFM-1A is offered here in draft form. We (the seminar) welcome suggestions for changes and improvements. When the seminar reconvenes each fall, we will consider and evaluate any suggestions that we receive, although as the nature of Fourth Generation […]

By William S. Lind As the neo-cons celebrate a “victory” in Iraq that has yet to be won, they also proclaim the downfall of Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Mahdi Army militia and staunch opponent of the American occupation.  The headline of the August 5 Wall Street Journal announced, “Radical Iraq Cleric in Retreat.” Well, […]

By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has declined to formally endorse an interagency “white paper” on nuclear deterrence strategy, Global Security Newswire has learned (see GSN, July 25, 2007). The roughly 30-page document, which has yet to be publicly released, is intended to expand on a […]

Bret Stephens has an editorial in today’s Wall St. J. justifying the war.  He makes the point that if we hadn’t invaded, we (meaning, I guess, his fellow neocons) would still think that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.  I am not kidding: Saddam is dead. Had he remained in power, we would likely still […]

Chuck Spinney voices his opinion on this subject, and proposes a thought experiment, in Counterpunch. Here’s the premise: At the heart of this question is the nature of the conflict in Afghanistan, specifically the question of whether or not it has mutated into something that is more akin to a classical guerrilla war as opposed […]