Posted on 03/19/2021 4:59:22 AM PDT by MtnClimber
A candid book about small wars, Muslim conflicts in particular, is a rare volume these days. Government sponsored and/or commercial authors are loath to touch anything Islamic, especially fascist religious states like ISIS, in any context tactical, operational, or strategic.
Writers with the grit to challenge or take on CENTCOM, the USAF, or the strategic conventional wisdom at the Pentagon should be read if for no other reason than as a salute to literary bollocks. After all, small wars aren’t just trending anymore, conflict in the Ummah is now an American military albatross.
Mind you, Ben Lambeth is no Daniel Ellsberg, although both are products of the same think-tank wars at RAND Corporation, Santa Monica. Lambeth, with 37 years in situ, is probably one of those unfortunate souls who was always smarter than his employer. Such are the vicissitudes of civil or contract service these days.
Before we get to Lambeth’s argument, a few words about RAND are in order. There were two RAND Corporations, before and after Daniel Ellsberg (1971). Ellsberg was the egghead who leaked the TOP SECRET Pentagon Papers, a report on another pyrrhic war, a study commissioned by Robert McNamara. That research blew up any illusions America had about winning in Southeast Asia.
Alas, speaking truth to power has a darker side. Unfortunately, for many observers, classification, not content became the issue when Ellsberg leaked the Papers to the press. Predictably, Uncle Sam shot the messenger, in Ellsberg’s case a righteous target.
SNIP
Back to Lambeth, now researching and writing for and by himself. His volume, Airpower in the War Against ISIS, is old school, a truth-seeking missile.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
A good article, but hard to excerpt in 300 words or less!
A lot of words for what seems to basically be an informercial for a book.
A better article would have used maybe the same total number of words, but skipped the history lessons about RAND and done more direct one-on-one issue by issue comparison of positions taken by the RAND report versus positions taken by Lambeth.
Wordy and doesn’t really nail the point, though it sounds like the point in in there.
Wordy and doesn’t really nail the point, though it sounds like the point is in there.
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