Murder in Iraq

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This is kind of an amusing story, unless of course you are the guy that got killed.  When I was deployed to Iraq in 2004 with C Troop 1/4 Cav we had a platoon of National Guard soldiers assigned to my FOB to assist with Force Protection (Guard Duty).  The Guardsmen pulled duty in the towers ringing the perimeter of the FOB.  Along with the Americans, Iraqi National Guardsmen (ING) pulled duty, supposedly it was some sort of trust building thing although I was never certain of the logic behind that decision.  That set up the circumstances whereby the murder could occur.  I was at FOB Wilson, which is about … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Battle Tactics of the Western Front by Paddy Griffith

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Battle Tactics of the Western Front: The British Army`s Art of Attack, 1916-18 by Paddy Griffith is a very interesting book. The premise is that despite what many historians have said about the inertia of the British Army in WWI and it’s resistance to tactical change, that is not true and the British were committed to innovation throughout the war in an effort to break the deadlock of the trenches. The book itself is not long, 219 pages of text including appendices. There are extensive endnotes and the bibliography is fairly extensive as well. The book is organized topically and though it purports to only deal with the developments of the … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor: The Forging of American Independence, 1774-1776 by Richard R. Beeman

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[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor: The Forging of American Independence, 1774-1776 by Richard Beeman is the tale of the First and Second Continental Congresses from the opening of the First until the Declaration of Independence in July, 1776. It was serendipitous that I received this book from the publisher when I did because the events leading to and surrounding the Declaration of Independence have recently become an area of interest of mine. The book is 418 pages of text separated … More after the Jump…

Database Migration & Unavoidable Errors

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I migrated my database today to a new server that has more storage.  I have noticed since then that most posts have replaced the occasional space with this character Â.  I have fixed the most recent of my posts but to honest, I will be damned if I have the time or energy to go over all 332 posts I have made over the past 3 years and remove them.  Call me lazy or whatever you want.  I will remove these crazy characters from posts as I go along but I will probably tire of the exercise long before I finish.  I just wanted to give a heads up and explanation.

Politics is going elsewhere

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I have decided to take my political musings and move them elsewhere. I don’t want my personal politics to drive any readers away so I am going to try and focus this blog on history and reviews of books I have read.  The only vaguely political thing I will keep up are my monthly updates in the area of world conflict and geopolitics. All my political stuff will in the future be hosted at my new political and everything else site @: www.thepointyend.us  Join me there for lively debate.

Barbarossa/Eatern Front Timeline in WWII

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Over the past few days I have had an email conversation with Mr. George Toomes, one of my readers, and he brought up a very interesting question. It started with asking if I had or knew where to find a map of the Russian counter-attack outside Moscow in the winter of 1941. In a follow up he mentioned that he was trying to get an idea of when and where the Germans and Russians stopped in their various offensives and counter-offensives in the war in the East. I don’t think I have ever seen a video or graphic that lays out the back and forth of the eastern front in … More after the Jump…

D-Day 69th Anniversary

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Just a reminder for everyone to stop today and take a moment to reflect on the events that happened 68 years ago today on the shores of Normandy in France.   This is the day that the Allies opened up the long-awaited Second Front against Hitler’s Germany.   The invasion took place along almost 50 miles of French coast using five named invasion beaches.   From south to north the beaches were named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.   The first days objectives were not reached over most of the front and in many places it would take weeks to reach objectives that were supposed to have been taken … More after the Jump…

Book Review: The Roman World by Nigel Rogers

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The Roman World by Nigel Rogers is one of the best surveys of the Ancient Romans I have run across in years. This is not a military history of Rome, or even a history at all. It is rather a description and explanation of Roman life and culture as we understand it was lived. The book itself is 249 pages long and divided into 12 chapters that are thematically organized. There is a small six page index but no bibliography. The lack of a bibliography does not really detract from the book because this is not meant to be a scholarly work so much as a detailed introduction to Ancient … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Shadow Warrior: William Egan Colby and the CIA by Randall B. Woods

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[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Shadow Warrior: William Egan Colby and the CIA by Randall B. Woods is one of the best all around biographies I have read in a good long while. It tells the story of one of the most interesting figures of the past century in a very readable and enjoyable style. The book is 478 pages of text separated into 21 chapters with extensive notes and a very good index. The chapters are organized chronologically and chronicle Bill Colby’s life from his birth … More after the Jump…

Ralph Peters is Correct Once Again

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Too late for Syria: Radicals now rule the rebellion is the latest Piece from Ralph Peters in the New York Post and this one deals with the wisdom or folly of US intervention in Syria. I generally agree with Col. Peters as he is one of the few national security commentators that seems to have a realistic grasp of what America can and should do in the world. His ultimate take here is that the US should not touch the Civil War aspect of Syria with a ten foot pole and we should only act to secure chemical weapons stockpiles if that becomes necessary. I disagree with him that we … More after the Jump…

Support the Syrian Rebels?: How stupid can the West be?

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 Video shows Islamist rebels executing 11 Syrian soldiers:  Yet for some unfathomable reason the Administration is talking about providing support to the rebel groups in Syria.  The video is below (Warning, it is graphic). After watching just contemplate that these are the folks some in the West want us to help.  How they differ from the regime thugs I have no idea. Compare the picture in the linked article with the video.  Notice there is no mention of the cries of Allahu Akbar in the article although they do mention in passing that the group is Islamist.  Now also remember the constant refrain about Islam being a Religion of Peace, which Muslim’s give the lie … More after the Jump…

Book Review: July 1914: Countdown to War by Sean McMeekin

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I have probably read 30-40 books exploring the origins of World War I in the past 5-6 years and I thought that just about everything relevant there was to be known about the events of the month leading up to the war were known and historians have just been stirring the ashes and finding trivia in trying to determine a more accurate chain of causation. July 1914: Countdown to War by Sean McMeekin disabused me of that notion.  This work has made me aware of several things about the critical month between the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the outbreak of World War I that I am amazed have not … More after the Jump…

“Middle War”: The new normal going forward

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The Center for Strategic and International Studies has just released Beyond the Last War: Balancing Ground Forces and Future Challenges Risk in USCENTCOM and USPACOM.  The report makes for interesting reading.  What I found the most interesting aside from the scenarios considered was the realization that air power and spec-ops troops cannot win wars by themselves.  Conventional military forces will be required into the foreseeable future.  That view alone is a breath of fresh air given the Pentagon’s lamentable tendency over the past few years to tour both types of forces while the simple ground-pounders are out there doing Yeoman’s work trying to make an unstable world more stable.  High profile raids and airstrikes do not … More after the Jump…

First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run; Which Should it Be?

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This post is more in the nature of a question.  I am currently putting together a post on the First Battle of Manassas/Bull Run.  Typically, those from the South refer to the battle as First Manassas and the North as First Bull Run. I personally like First Manassas both because I am from the South and I just think the name rolls off the tongue better.  I have to admit though that First Bull Run is more descriptive as that creek bisects the battlefield while Manassas is just the nearest decent sized town to the battlefield. My question is:  What should the battle be named; First Manassas or First Bull … More after the Jump…

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