IN THE NEWS
Is it me, or is the quality of journalism and commentary about counterterrorism, Iraq, intelligence, and related topics suddenly better than it has been since 9/11? It might be just coincidence, or my own limited perspective on the world. Whatever the explanation, I've read several excellent articles in the course of the last week:
- The Armed Forces Journal has an excellent piece by Sean Naylor about the Taliban's "lay low" strategy. Naylor also provides an excellent look into the multinational counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan.
- Also in the Journal is a persuasive article about the reasons why the US government needs to devote more attention to Al Qaeda's presence in sub-Saharan Africa. While some countries like Djibouti, Somalia, and the Sudan are targets of quiet American counterterrorism efforts, Al Qaeda is recruiting and operating in more country than just those.
- The Atlantic Monthly has a superb article about two British spies in the IRA. I'll have a lot more to say about this must-read piece in another posting.
- Also in The Atlantic Monthly are a handy summary of the history of the NSA by James Bamford, and Robert Kaplan's excellent profile of what's working and what's not in the joint American-Iraqi counterinsurgency efforts in the Mosul region.
- Parameters has a good summary of the British approach to counterinsurgency, as exemplified by its campaigns in Malaya and Kenya.
It's a shame that it has taken five years since the 9/11 attacks, and three years since the invasion of Iraq, to see a regular stream of good publications about counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. I just hope that this information reaches the opinion-makers and the general public before the United States swings from one misguided set of strategies to their equally misguided opposite.
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