Francis J. "Bing" West served as assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration. He is currently a correspondent for The Atlantic. He has written three books about the Iraq war. His latest, entitled The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics and the Endgame in Iraq, has appeared on both the New York Times and Foreign Affairs bestseller lists. The book is based on 15 extended trips to Iraq, where he was embedded with over 60 units and interviewed 2,000 participants from the frontlines to the White House.
A graduate of Georgetown and Princeton Universities, he served in Marine infantry in Vietnam, he was as a member of the Force Reconnaissance team that initiated "Operation Stingray" - attacks deep behind enemy lines. He also saw action in the villages with the Combined Action Platoons.
He has written six books, including The Village, which has been on the Commandant's Reading List for 30 years. He is the recipient of Marine Corps Heritage Award for nonfiction, the Colby Military History Award and the VFW National Media Award. The Los Angeles Times named him "one of the top ten journalists covering Iraq". He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Middle East Institute, Military Order of the Carabao and the Infantry Order of St. Crispin. His articles appear in The Wall St. Journal, New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. His web site is www.westwrite.com.
If the Taliban were a propaganda rather than a killing force, we wouldn’t be sending soldiers with automatic rifles. We are in a war and haven’t decided how to fight. We have invented four counterinsurgency principles: 1) protect the population; 2) provide free services; 3) institute the Western rule of law; and 4) roll out an uncorrupt and caring government. Under this model, the population is treated as a passive blob that is expected to do nothing of its own accord. The population is not asked to sacrifice. They may dislike the Taliban, but they are not asked… Read more
After Doug Macgregor’s posting, Sydney asked if I would add a few words re: Is Afghanistan a proper priority for the US or is American hegemony a costly dead end (at least in that poor country)? I came back from my latest month (July) in the field in Afghanistan disquieted about our basic military mission. Is the militarymission to engage, push back and dismantle the Talbian networks, with population protection being a tactic to gain tips and local militia, or is the military mission to build a nation based on US soldiers protecting the widespread population, with engagements against… Read more
President Obama has said $40 billion can be saved by Defense procurement reforms. Let’s assume he achieves most of that and straightens out the “mess”, despite Norm Augustine’s reservations about the nature of the legislative system and the disincentives to recruit professional managers. At the same time, the Wall St Journal has projected that Obama’s budget proposals add $6.5 trillion in additional debt – before the problems with social security and medicare are addressed. It is equally a matter of national security to scour the rest of the federal budget for “messes”. The current budget assumes Defense spending will be… Read more
President Obama has pledged “to stabilize Pakistan and win in Afghanistan.” Secretary Gates has said, ‘if we try for a Valhalla ,we will fail.’ So it seems the new strategy will quietly shelve the notion of robust nation-building and focus upon restoring security. There are three tasks. First, create a local security system tied into the Afghan army to react to larger threats. Our military knows how to do this. It’s reasonable it can be largely accomplished within three or four years by 60,000 US and 30,000 other NATO forces, followed by a withdrawal of about half that number. The… Read more
President Obama has neither the time nor the apparent inclination to devote much attention to Iran in 2009. The issue is whether State believes Iranian possession of nuclear weapons would severely and negatively affect US interests in the Middle East. If so, the US probably has hefty financial leverage with Europe this year to apply serious sanctions that would pave the way for negotiations at a later date. On the other hand, if State is unwilling to expend political capital now to box Iran in, it is unlikely that at a later date the Obama administration will kick up much… Read more
We're fighting irregular wars that most of the books and articles treat academically as a branch of sociology; to wit, combine a dollop of economic aid with a pinch of rule of law, stir in good governance, listen sympathetically to local complaints and withdraw gracefully. Staff officers with advanced degrees draw theories in the air at ten thousand feet. There has been a dearth of books describing what really counts in today's irregular wars; namely, a willingness to risk death by engaging in small unit combat. Some realistic books, though, are coming out. Watch for Campbell's Joker One re Ramadi,… Read more
The sooner our combat troops are withdrawn, the better. The military war ended a year ago. Al Qaeda, our mortal enemy, has suffered a sharp defeat in Iraq, earning the enmity of the Sunnis. Many of our troops are bored. Rifle platoons are not organized and trained to rebuild nations whose sovereign leaders resist reforms. Our troops aren’t engaged in firefights; instead, they act as the buffer between the Sunnis who had been resisting and the Shiite-dominated government brought to power by the US. The freedom extolled by President Bush threatens to create the tyranny of the majority in Iraq.… Read more
Related Link: http://www.westwrite.com
