Defense and the National Interest

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 Federal Reserve [...]

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 confrontation with Russia. [...]

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, maybe.  But [...]

By William S. Lind
July 28, 2008
Senator John McCain’s position on the situation in Iraq is wrong on two counts, which means his criticism of Senator Obama is also wrong.  The twin pillars of McCain’s assessment of the war are a) the surge worked and b) because the surge worked we are now winning.  Neither of [...]

By William S. Lind
July 23, 2008
Two recent news stories added important evidence to issues raised in On War columns.  The first concerns a Fourth Generation war taking place on America’s doorstep, that between the Mexican state and drug gangs.  The July 14 Financial Times, one of the world’s best newspapers, reported that the head of [...]

By William S. Lind
July 15, 2008
The war as in life, the secret to success is having a wide range of options. That was the basis of von Moltke’s approach to operational art, as opposed to the Schlieffen school’s myopic focus on one option. The list of commanders and nations whose single option failed is a [...]

By William S. Lind
July 14, 2008
The war between the Colombian state and the Marxist FARC is not a Fourth Generation conflict, because it is fought within the framework of the state. The Colombian government seeks to maintain control of the state, while the FARC want to replace it. It’s all about who runs [...]

By William S. Lind
July 2, 2008
Pat Buchanan’s new book, Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, is causing a stir, which is a good thing. Buchanan argues that both World War I and World War II were unnecessary wars; that Britain bears at least [...]

By William S. Lind
June 23, 2008
A person my age has watched many things decline in America, and few get better. As one of my neighbors says, everything good is gone or going. In that category we must now include good reporting. When I started work in Washington in 1973, it was axiomatic that a newspaper [...]

By William S. Lind
June 16, 2008
Improbably, an opportunity has arisen in Iraq for the U.S. to attain two of its most important goals, namely obtaining some legitimacy for the al-Maliki “government” and getting American troops out. This could be the last international express leaving Baghdad Central Station, and we should be on it.