Defense and the National Interest

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 [...]

By William S. Lind
October 20, 2008
I have suggested in previous columns that the al Qaeda model of 4GW may be failing for inherent reasons, i.e. for reasons it cannot fix. “Tom Rick’s Inbox” in the October 19 Washington Post offers some confirmation of that assessment. Ricks writes:
Where did al Qaeda in Iraq go [...]

By William S. Lind
October 15, 2008
As the military situation in Afghanistan deteriorates, there may be at least the possibility of better news on the political front. Nightwatch for October 7 reported that
Multiple news services have reported meetings hosted by Saudi Arabian King Abdallah between representatives of the Kabul government and the Taliban. Both [...]

William S. Lind
September 16, 2008
A few weeks ago I wrote a column explaining why Senator John McCain is wrong on Iraq. In contrast, Senator Barack Obama is largely right on Iraq. Whether he would follow through on his plan for withdrawing U.S. troops is another question. The Democratic foreign policy establishment is [...]