On... The Marines

With the increase of soldiers in Afghanistan in preparation for the summer offensive and the conclusion of the HBO miniseries The Pacific past, Victor Davis Hanson has Marines on the mind. And rightfully so. Even with all their peculiarity and bravado, the Marines are useful and their style is useful. Perhaps not the best in all situations but there are times when Marines do what they have been bred to do. Yes, bred. But not always liked. See the article below

Marinestan

On...The Petraeus Doctrine

Most of the blogsphere and MSM have been focusing on the Markets or McCain v Obama, but the articles that I have been most interested in the last few days have been about our little forgotten war in Iraq (remember that place). Anyway The Atlantic Monthly has a couple of interesting articles online. You should check them out regardless of the brouhaha over their dubious cover and the wackjob photographer they now regret hiring (they are actually suing her).

The first is ...

The Petraeus Doctrine

Iraq-style counterinsurgency is fast becoming the U.S. Army’s organizing principle. Is our military preparing to fight the next war, or the last one?

by Andrew J. Bacevich

The second article from the Atlantic is a look back at the Rumsfeld years in the Pentagon, beyond Iraq.

What Rumsfeld Got Right

How Donald Rumsfeld remade the U.S. military for a more uncertain world
by Robert D. Kaplan