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Assumptions Determine War Strategy By Col. Tom Snodgrass (Ret.), Right Side NewsTypes of Assumptions  Assumptions that determine government war strategy formulation can be categorized into three genres:1)  Historical-Cultural Assumptions are derived from national and international traditions and practices that comprise “strategic culture”;2)  Politically-Imposed Assumptions are derived from political restrictions that are mandated as “off-limits”;3)  Consensus-Derived Assumptions are agreed upon in governmental deliberation processes.Obama’s Assumptions Examining President Barack Obama’s strategy-determining assumptions for the purposes of this article will be restricted to those assumptions only associated with countering the Islamic jihadist war being waged against the United States. This is not to...

~ EXCERPT ~ KABUL — Two more NATO soldiers, including one American, are reported dead in the latest fighting in Afghanistan. A NATO statement says the U.S. soldier died of wounds suffered in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan on Sunday. The statement says a second service member died of wounds in a roadside bombing Monday in southern Afghanistan. NATO is not releasing the service member's nationality.

When the war on terrorism began, the task seemed straightforward -- deter, disrupt and destroy the terrorist network threatening the United States. Through the years, however, as our awareness of the nature of the threat has grown, our strategies have not kept pace. Today, there are significant gaps in American counterterrorism strategy, a problem that my colleague, Ilan Berman, seeks to address in his new book "Winning the Long War."

LOSING GROUND By ADAM BRODSKY August 13, 2006 -- AS Israel and Hezbollah wrap up their warring, the winner may not yet be clear - but the loser is: us. The enemies of modernity and freedom have grown stronger in the past weeks. So our fight ahead will be tougher. In Lebanon, much of the outcome is now known. Israel won't deliver a coup de grace to the terrorists; they're too numerous, shadowy and well-armed. Jerusalem isn't willing to sustain large lossses (who can blame it?) or kill large numbers of "civilians." So a rump Hezbollah will reconstitute, with losses...

August 13, 2006 -- ISRAEL'S war against the Middle East's first true terrorist army provides tough military and strategic lessons - old, new, and all too often disheartening. Israel's been winning on the ground. And still losing the war. Lesson 1: You can win every tactical engagement and still lose at the strategic level. Lesson 2: The global media can overturn the verdict of the battlefield. Lesson 3: If you start off on the wrong foot in war, you may never recover your balance. Lesson 4: Technology alone can't win 21st-century wars. Lesson 5: Never underestimate your enemy. Lesson 6:...

ECONOMIC TERRORISM: THE RADICAL MUSLIM WAR AGAINST THE WESTERN TAX BASE INTRODUCTION: This paper outlines a theory concerning why Muslim terrorists attacked the World Trade Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, bombed London’s subway during the G-8 economic summit on July 7th, and detonated blasts in an Egyptian resort on 23rd July. The reason for these attacks was to create ‘Economic Terrorism.’ Economic Terrorism is defined here as the attempt to assault and destroy a foe through decimation of the enemy’s tax base via rank economic sabotage. Such attacks on economic infrastructures lower net tax yield, thereby shrinking the capital pool...

WASHINGTON - Coalition commander Gen. Tommy Franks won't begin his ground attack against the Republican Guard divisions on the outskirts of Baghdad until U.S. air power has whittled Saddam Hussein's frontline units down to less than half-strength. The trouble is that it may be hard to know when or whether that goal has been reached. So far, Saddam has managed to preserve many of his best forces by moving, dispersing and sheltering them - and, some U.S. officials say, by using decoys to deplete American stocks of precision munitions. U.S. assessments of bomb damage and of the exact locations...