Monthly Archives: July 2009

Iraq – The New Rules: 'Hard Lessons' from Iraq, for Afghanistan and Beyond

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World Politics Review – The New Rules: ‘Hard Lessons’ from Iraq, for Afghanistan and Beyond

Thomas P.M. Barnett writes that the recurring theme of “Hard Lessons,” the recent report by the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, is that of somebody finally “taking charge.” The description is patently disproven, however, by the sheer volume of its use to describe the procession of all those who tried to do so. In fact, moving “from crisis to crisis,” and creating “ad hoc offices and systems” along the way, U.S. officials reinvented the Iraq wheel darn near annually.

US Navy – Military kills mini-sub effort, repair cost too high

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Virginian Pilot – Military kills mini-sub effort, repair cost too high

The U.S. Special Operations Command has canceled its mini-submarine program, a project designed to deliver Navy commando s close to their target and protect them on the way. Northrop Grumman’s Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) hit numerous hurdles since it was conceived in the late 1990s.

Afghanistan – The Long Walk: Afghanistan (and Its Future) as You've Never Seen It

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Esquire – The Long Walk: Afghanistan (and Its Future) as You’ve Never Seen It

C.J. Chivers writes that eight years into the war we were compelled to wage, the ground mission in Afghanistan remains just as brutal as war there has been for centuries. And now, after years of inattention from Washington, this war begins again. On the hunt with the men of Viper company.

Afghanistan – Marines Face Stiff Taliban Resistance

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Washington Post – Marines Face Stiff Taliban Resistance

Marines pushing deep into a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province battled insurgents in a day of firefights around a key bazaar Sunday, as an operation designed as a U.S. show of force confronted resistance from Taliban fighters as well as constraints on supplies and manpower.

Russian Navy – The Fleet That Has To Die: The Russian Navy's "Irreversible Collapse"

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Weekly Standard – The Fleet That Has To Die: The Russian Navy’s “Irreversible Collapse”

The reality now is that not only is the idea of Russia building and operating aircraft carrier battle groups an impossible dream, but just building enough new ships to replace those that are worn-out after decades of use is also not feasible. A recent analysis by the authoritative Moscow-based weekly, the Independent Military Review (NVO), entitled “BMF RF (Naval Military Fleet of the Russian Federation) on Foreign Warships” states that the Russian Navy is currently in a situation of irreversible collapse.

US Navy – Carrier culture shock

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Armed Forces Journal – Carrier culture shock

As the Obama administration formulates its approach to national security policy, it would do well to start with reading “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower,” the Navy’s new maritime strategy. The document is at once a bold argument for a new direction in foreign and national security policy, an inadequate plan for a U.S. maritime grand strategy, and a symptom (and perhaps call for help) of the Navy’s current operational crisis.