Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror by Matthew M. Aid

Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror 
by Matthew M. Aid 


 This book describes the American intelligence apparatus throughout the first Obama administration. I actually read it before the current issues with the NSA came to light though it does have some interesting things to say about that why they thought prism was a good idea and the probable outcomes.

The book is divided into sections most of them geographical. The largest are on Afghanistan, Pakistan Iran and North Korea. There are smaller sections on the Americas and Europe. Should be noted there is coverage of homegrown terrorism though as one of the analysts points out to the author it's almost impossible to know what's going to happen till it actually does. Which of course was something that was demonstrated by the Boston bombing.

Perhaps most interesting is what the book does not talk about. The biggest gap is the lack of material on China except for a brief section in the conclusion. For that matter Russia is dealt with in just a few pages mostly describing intelligence failures. I could be charitable about this and assume that the reason why there wasn't more was that such operations are extremely sensitive for geopolitical concerns.

He identifies various problems with American intelligence gathering. The biggest of this is something he calls "data crush". The idea is that the Americans are excellent at gathering all sorts of intelligence but terrible at refining it into usable end product. One of his interviewees describes it as being like if you hired someone to paint a painting but all they do is keep buying paint. This makes sense in light of the NSA program. They were excited about the idea of getting a look at everyone's email and other data but probably have no useful way to look at it beyond keyword searching. He describes how databases at the CIA often provide no-hit responses even when they should be there. He also highlights the bureaucratic infighting between the various agencies. How Homeland Security failed to become a true clearinghouse for information. How both the FBI and CIA managed to undermine the attempts to rationalize the structure of the community.

Much of the reporting is based on interviews many of them anonymous. The rest appears to be gleaned from public congressional hearings as well as declassified documents.

Highly recommended all sorts of interesting tidbits here about the 2008-2012 era.

With suppliers like this who needs enemies?

U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed with Secret "Jesus" Bible Codes.

The Deniable Agent: Undercover in Afghanistan by Colin Berry

The Deniable Agent: Undercover in Afghanistan by Colin Berry I'm never really sure how to review these things.  This is a biography however there are certain things that are obscured for security reasons.  So not exactly that good as a source but a very good read.  This describes the authors time in Afghanistan recovering weapons that were given to the Afghans by the west in their war with the Soviet union.  Berry is double crossed and finds himself in prison in 2002-03.  Considering the detainees controversy in Canada the torture this westerner experienced is chilling. Berry writes with wit and sarcasm that had me chuckling a few times.

Highly recommended!

They're done

Government knew of Afghan detainee abuse risk: general.

Afghan detainees

I haven't said anything on here about my views on the Revelations over the Afghan detainee issue that is coming to light in Canada. To be honest I find the topic depressing. With the ongoing Revelations it's become apparent to me that at the very least Peter MacKay must resign. I'm starting to think that a full blown judicial inquiry would be worthwhile. Queue handwringing about the expense from certain quarters. With parliament lacking the mechanisms to adequately delve into this issue the inquiry would make sense. I'm not holding my breath though.

Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib by Seymour M. Hersh

Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib by Seymour M. Hersh is a collection of Hersh's columns from the New Yorker. As the subtitle would suggest most of them are on the War on Terror. As well as the scandal around Abu Ghraib. Each column is introduced with updates up to 2004 when the book was published. When these first came out they were earth shattering but now they have seemingly fated into the backround. If you've been following the story over the last several years there isn't much that isn't referenced by everybody else. It's still interesting to be reading the columns that broke the news.

Recommended.

Hay Fox news!

Fu%k you!

I'm confused....

Canada, allies will never defeat Taliban, PM says.

Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army by Christie Blatchford

Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army by Christie Blatchford is a book on Task Force Orion that served in Afghanistan in 2006. Blatchford a journalist for the Globe and Mail has here basically done one long newspaper piece. She pulled out 15 days that she considers significant and writes about them providing back story. Now I'm treating this like a piece of military history because that's my background. That being said it can be rather frustrating and places. Most of the stories involve death or serious injury to Canadians. There's no real sense that what we're being told about is at all. typical of operations. In places the book almost comes off like a series of obituaries. That being said the stories of combat are riveting I only wish there could have been a little more.

This is up for a Governor General’s Literary Award should it win? Honestly I have no idea but if you're interested in the Afghanistan mission this is part of the first crop of books that deal with the combat experience for the CF.

Mildly recommended!

Note: this book was provided through Mini Book Expo.

Natynczyk wakes up

From CTV

"You have a worsening security situation, especially localized in three areas -- the Kabul area, in the Regional Command East, where the Americans are, and in the south where we are with the British forces and the Dutch,"

So how is this different than one week ago when he gave such a rosy analysis?

The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual Forewords by John A. Nagl, David H. Petraeus, James F. Amos

The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual Forewords by John A. Nagl, David H. Petraeus, James F. Amos this is the current manual published by Chicago press. The introductory material contains a discussion of American policy or lack thereof as well as a description of the writing process well worth the cost of the book. The manual itself is what one would expect. The British school of counterinsurgency seems to have strongly influenced this. There's some not very subtle criticisms of the strategy used in the Vietnam War. I wouldn't recommend reading at cover to cover its rather hard going rather a thematic chapter at a time could be easier. No counterinsurgency or Iraq bookshelf would be complete without this.

Highly recommended!

For more reviews take a look at My Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Partisan and Guerrilla Warfare bookshelf.

Support Canadian Forces bloggroll

No matter where people stand on the issue on the mission in Afghanistan I believe or anyway hope that most support our troops. This and my feeling that there hasn't been much blog activity on this has led me to create this bloggroll.

The rules for inclusion are pretty easy. You must be willing to add the code to your blog's sidebar and do a posting on why you support the troops. Your page doesn't have to specifically talk about the mission in Afghanistan or Canadian politics. This isn't just for the military and political junkies. After you do so drop me a comment with your post URL. I’ll take a look I'll add you. Here's the code to add just cut and paste what's inside the box.


<p>Supporter Canadian Forces bloggroll</p><script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display.php?r=aa0cd6c4ad0b204d4c000aa729de4d69"></script> <p><a href="http://jmnlman.blogspot.com/2007/04/support-canadian-forces-bloggroll.html">How to join</a>

Naturally I reserve the right not to add web sites with pornographic content or hate speech.

Disclaimer: this is completely unofficial and has no relationship with either the Canadian Forces or the government of Canada.

New tanks good idea

It feels good to be right. Now if they had only decided to do this a few months back the equipment could actually be in the field now. Canadian Forces to refresh aging fleet of tanks.

"Make mail free for Canadian Forces overseas " Paul Zed

A superb idea from Saint John Liberal MP Paul Zed. Let's see Stephen "I love the troops" Harper shoot this down. Remember it is what you do not what you say. And yes before anyone points it out currently postage is the same price as domestic mail.

15 months

Just watch Defense Secretary Robert Gates's news conference on CNN. The armshare strategist in me says that unit familiarity with the local situation can only be good but man this is going to play havoc with recruitment and retention. It also makes me wonder about unit effectiveness. Something there hasn't been much research done for counterinsurgency. Most have been done on fixed deployments. Algeria had a combination of both but there were political variables that makes the analysis pretty difficult. It has not been easy to get numbers for recruitment and retention recently wonder why.

Afghanistan casualtys

This Toronto star article is interesting reading. Basically we have more casualties than other NATO countries. Problem is in the analysis this means maybe we should get out. Where the more obvious conclusion is that we need to get better protection. The peace tried to dismiss this by saying when we get better equipment the insurgents will be better to. This is true partially but other NATO countries apparently have this equipment now and it's saving their people.

Update: it's nice to be right.

New US Army uniform bad idea

Apparently those who designed the new U.S. Army uniform [the Army Combat Uniform] weren't terribly bright. This review describes the good, bad and ugly aspects of it. Perhaps most terrifying is that it's made from 50% cotton and 50% nylon. Let me repeat that it's made from 50% nylon! When I was in Boy Scouts we were being constantly warned about nylon and fire. Apparently these idiots never received the memo. Now they have to hand out tan Nomex flight suits to at risk personnel.