Defense and the National Interest

A Certeza de Vencer — Estratégia Militar e Competitividade Empresarial

25.11.2008 — “Não quero receber nenhuma mensagem dizendo, «Estou a segurar a minha posição». Não estamos a segurar coi­síssima nenhuma. Os alemães que o façam.Nós estamos a avançar constantemente e não estamos interessados em segurar nada, a não ser o inimigo.” General George S. Patton, Jr.
As [...]

By William S. Lind
November 17, 2008
The arriving Obama administration will be handed not merely a can of worms but a bucket of asps. Somewhere, I suspect the ghost of Herbert Hoover is smiling. The inherited foreign policy problems are no less daunting than the economic mess. But on the latter front, there [...]

Now available from the publisher, the Center for Defense Information.
Click here (2.6 MB PDF).
[Click on image for a larger view]

By William S. Lind
November 10, 2008
President Obama’s first test in the national security arena is likely to come not from al Qaeda or Iran or the Taliban but from within his own Democratic Party. Powerful constituencies in that party, the Feminists and the gays, will demand that he open the ground combat arms to women [...]

[Click for a larger image] Here in the United States, we just wrapped up a hard fought — sometimes bitterly so — passionate, and hideously expensive election campaign.  Without any incidents of rioting or significant violence.  For our overseas visitors: We elected a president, one-third of the Senate, all of the House, and numerous offices [...]

John P. Sullivan and Adam Elkus
November 6, 2008
Special to Defense and the National Interest
Grenades are thrown at popular gatherings. Mutilated corpses flood the morgues. Heavily armed gunmen blast police to shreds with high-powered automatic weapons. Just another day in Iraq or Afghanistan? No-all of the events described occur regularly in Mexico. Our [...]

William S. Lind
November 3, 2008
In standard military theory, a culminating point is where an offensive runs out of gas. The troops are exhausted; vehicles urgently require maintenance; fuel, ammo and rations are all short. No matter how alluring the potential results of continuing the offensive, the attacker has to take a break. Often, a culminating [...]

A real American hero has passed away at age 69.

lots of other stuff, including defense, joins in.  Rob Paterson has a detailed look at this issue, along with an extensive review of America’s Defense Meltdown, on his blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
What America does confront are “people’s wars”. Our “enemies” are not states at all. Aircraft carriers are impotent when facing a guerrilla movement. So are [...]