Current Intelligence - The Complex Terrain Laboratory

David Axe has got an interesting piece up at DR on the incoming Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), US Navy Admiral James Stavridis. Axe makes some interesting points about the relevance of Stavridis' narco-busting experience in South America, but what struck me was how details about his and General Stanley McChrystal's respective roles have gotten garbled.

â€”Filed On:

Jun 20, 2009 at 22:03

â€”Index:

doctrine,

war

Wednesday

17Jun

It Wasn't The Plan, It Was The Implementation...

Politics & Society | â€”Author:

SHAIKH SHAHZAID CAMP, Pakistan -- U.S. envoy Richard C. Holbrooke, red-faced and sweaty, sat on the dirt floor of a stifling tent as Aslam Khan, a 38-year-old laborer, spoke haltingly of his family's panicked flight from a Pakistani army offensive against Taliban forces in their mountain village, three hours north of here.

â€”Filed On:

Jun 17, 2009 at 20:51

â€”Index:

Tuesday

16Jun

Rise Of The Uzbeks

War & Peace | â€”Author:

Updated on Jun 17, 2009 at 20:24 by Mike Innes

As if there weren't enough problems in the neighborhood... after years of moribund existence, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is in the news. See these two items in The Economist: Unrest in Uzbekistan: Fata Fergana and The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan: Here Comes Trouble. CTlab friend and Jihadica frontman Thomas Hegghammer has also pointed out a new Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) report on an IMU successor organization of sorts, the Islamic Jihad Union, authored by FFI Fellow Einar Wigen.

â€”Filed On:

Jun 16, 2009 at 18:35

â€”Index:

links,

Sunday

14Jun

Bold New Village: Tom Johnson In Afghanistan

War & Peace | â€”Author:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — International forces have failed to quash the insurgency in Afghanistan because they have failed to understand the Taliban’s common-touch campaign, a key architect of Canada’s bold new "model village" strategy said Sunday. At its heart, Prof. Thomas Johnson said, the counter-insurgency is "essentially an information war" the Taliban have been winning hands down. "We need a change in strategy," said Johnson, the director

â€”Filed On:

Jun 14, 2009 at 22:34

â€”Index:

ideas,

Thursday

11Jun

The "Tactical" Excuse

Culture & Technology | â€”Author:

Two posts on strategic focus helped crystalize a major criticism I've had of the kind of work done in the puzzle palace... natch, make that the kind of work required of the big thinkers sitting in the puzzle palace, who are ultimately responsible for answering the requirements laid out by the stars and bars who run the place.

â€”Filed On:

Jun 11, 2009 at 7:49

â€”Index:

war