William S. Lind

The suicide bombings in Jordan recently carried out by al-Qaeda in Iraq seem to have blown back on the jihadis. According to Western press reports, almost all those killed were Muslims, including a Palestinian wedding party. Outrage among Jordanians has compelled al-Qaeda to issue a quasi-apology, saying the wedding party was not its target. Had … Continue reading “It Ain’t Fair”

One day late in the Vietnam war, a Senator called his defense staffer into his office. Like too many Senators (though neither of the two I worked for), the distinguished legislator depended entirely upon his staff but treated them like peons. Although the end of the day had come and gone, the Senator snarled at … Continue reading “Engagement: An Exit Strategy”

On Oct. 19, 2005, the American secretary of state, AKA the Tea Lady, did something extraordinary for the Bush administration. She told the truth. According to the Oct. 20 Washington Times, in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ms. Rice said “that it was always the Bush administration’s intent to redesign the Middle East … Continue reading “Condi’s True Confessions”

Georgie Ann Geyer, who may be America’s most perceptive international affairs columnist, wrote in the Saturday, September 17 Washington Times about a recent Washington conference concerning the mess in the Middle East. That could, of course, have been a conference topic back as far as the First Triumvirate, when an earlier Crassus lost his head … Continue reading “Important Distinctions”

I spent last week in Pittsfield, Maine, at a symposium on modern war called by Colonel Mike Wyly, USMC retired. Col. Wyly was one of the heroes of the maneuver warfare movement in the Marine Corps in the 1970s and ’80s, and when he suggests it’s time for a new effort, people listen. My hope … Continue reading “National Defense for a Republic”

In the 16th century, Europe was devastated by wars of religion, a fact that gives that unhappy time some relevance to our own. The foremost soldier and commander in 16th-century Europe was the duke of Alba. An excellent new biography of the duke by Henry Kamen offers some less than encouraging lessons. In the 1560s, … Continue reading “Discouraging Lessons From Imperial Spain”

Until very recently, an article titled "Hunt for Cops" might have described a city’s effort to recruit more police officers. Sadly, that was not the message of an article in the July 3, 2005, Cleveland Plain Dealer, my hometown newspaper. "Residents of the capital of the poor and chaotic Russian province of Dagestan have come … Continue reading “Hunting for Cops”

For the first time since 1942, Japan has resumed the strategic offensive. Since the beginning of the year, Japan has claimed the island of Takeshima, now occupied by South Korea; seized control of an area in the South China Sea also claimed by Beijing; and, most ominously, announced that Tokyo might intervene militarily to defend … Continue reading “The Sun Also Rises”

In view of the steady stream of bad news from Iraq – five dead Marines in Saturday’s paper, two more in Sunday’s, and four soldiers in Monday’s, along with the Ba’athist element of the resistance so "weakened" it is now striking targets in Iran – it is easy to forget that we are fighting, and … Continue reading “The Other War We’re Losing”

The recent votes in France and the Netherlands against the proposed constitution of the European Union are not merely political phenomena. They represent significant actions in the development of Fourth Generation war. Why? Because the root cause of Fourth Generation war is a crisis of legitimacy of the state, and the two referenda saw the … Continue reading “Striking Back at the Empire”