Finding Bin Laden - The Science

There was an interesting side story to the OBL strike - a couple of scientists had applied scientific method usually used (ironically enough) to find endangered species and came up with an interesting model for where he might be hiding. This tallies with a book written by two of OBL's family members (a wife and son) that reportedly talked about his preference for populated areas "kept safe houses in Kabul because he believed the Americans would never bomb a big city for fear of killing innocent civilians." (Washington Post story linked above).

This is an interesting insight into the intelligence process.

Sen Lugar's Race and the Tea Party

In turbulent times immoderation is easy and makes people feel good, but is it a basis for running a superpower? The harder course is to think deeply about the problem and come up with realistic solutions. Having a man of Sen Lugar's judgement and experience, with a long view of history, is a valuable national asset for both sides of the aisle. This is one of those 'canary in a coal mine' indicators my students often hear about. It is a small piece of a mosaic - but one that is worth watching for what it says about the bigger picture.

Bin Laden's Great Escape - The Tora Bora Files

I was doing some background reading for a book chapter I am writing on intelligence in the search for OBL and came across a Senate Report, a related USSOCOM report and NYT story on OBL's escape from Tora Bora. Previously I had only seen the Dalton Fury book and Jawbreaker.

The Onion Reveals CIA behind Facebook

Thinking about the Facebook Revolution in Iran or the Arab Spring? Social media cuts both ways.

TRANSFER - Assessing ISAF's Efforts to Hand Over Security to GIROA

Tom Johnson of NPS has issued a new analysis and critique of the critically important transfer piece of 'clear, hold, build, transfer' strategy in Afg.

General Mike Flynn's Works

Readers will be familiar with MG Mike Flynn's Fixing Intel report for CNAS. He has just released a new article on SWJ entitled Sandals and Robes to Business Suits and Gulf Streams: Warfare in the 21st Century

Underestimating a Competitor - China's Investment in HST

In INT there are many temptations to under or over estimate a competitor or enemy. This short opinion piece on the impact of financial management of the explosive growth of China's high speed train network is a brief case study.

Soviet Strategy in Afg - Parrallels?

I urge colleagues to read "PARALLELS WITH THE PAST –
How the Soviets Lost in Afghanistan, How the Americans are Losing", By Larry Goodson and Thomas H. Johnson. Clearly SOF and Strategic Intelligence are making serious inroads into the enemy but can the same be said with the approach of the general purpose forces? This is a thought provoking work and the discomfort you might feel reading it is a sign its worth reading.

Use a Network to Fight a Network

A few items have come out of late that in general terms discuss mirroring the enemy in order to defeat it.

General McChrystal's piece in FP, It Takes A Network, briefly recounts how JSOC and later ISAF adapted to the threat they faced.

NDU's Chris Lamb and Evan Munsing, have recently released "Secret Weapon: High-value Target Teams (HTT) as Organizational Innovation", as their release states:
All three innovations—networked-based targeting, fusion of intelligence and operations, and counterterrorist-counterinsurgency integration—required unprecedented collaboration between diverse departments and agencies and between SOF and conventional forces. Together, these innovations set the stage for the dramatic reversal of the security situation in Iraq in 2007.

PBS' great Frontline program has added a video coda to these writings in its "Kill/Capture" program and its inside the Taliban look at enemy operations in Afghanistan, "Fighting for bin Laden"

MILINT innovation is taking place here.

Bin Laden - Special CTC Sentinel Edition

This is an excellent first beyond the newspapers analysis of the BL take down and its consequences. If you click on the link the PDF file will download.

Amazon Wish List

Folks like to know what a war college professor is reading. I use my Amazon wish list as an electronic bibliography. You can see what I am reading, have read, or am about to read across the span of my interests. There are over 300 listings - I try to find the best each discipline or subject has to offer and hope you find the list useful.

The DoD Bin Laden Transcript

A useful transcript for facts on the attack on the compound.