[konaice]

There is a book titled "Arabs at War" which I think explains Arab military incompetence from a cultural perspective.

No, it explains arab performance based on how they run their army, with very little cultural emphasys, other than the total distrust by higher ranks of any underlings having any power. http://www.strategypage.com/bookreviews/196.asp

Pollack finds a number of problems that have consistently bedeviled the Arabs in every war they have fought in modern times. These are tactical leadership, information management, weapon handling, and logistics and maintenance.

Googleing around abit will find virtually the whole book on line.

[bill1952]

other than the total distrust by higher ranks of any underlings having any power

Other than? Other than??

That has to be job one, and is the recipe for building a group of fellows sharing common dress and then pretending that this group is an army.

however I'm now intrigued, and I'll have to read it.