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What Books on Foreign Affairs Should a U.S. Senator Read?
Daniel Drezner, chuckling along with the rest of us at a passage in Ryan Lizza's profile of the president's foreign policy, has a great challenge: what books should a junior senator seeking to bone up on foreign affairs read?
I have spent entirely too much time over the past 48 hours thinking about Drezner's challenge, and on reflection, I have one objection to the challenge itself and two guiding principles that inform my own recommendation.
First, the guiding principles:
1. Whatever text one recommends, the material should be written to be accessible and interesting to the non-specialist. You should not need a graduate education in the social sciences or two semesters of graduate-level statistics to understand what is being written. That rules out books using quantitative methods like The Logic of Political Survival but also, sadly, books like Waltz's Theory of International Politics, Aron's Peace and War, Katzenstein's (ed.) The Culture of National Security
Now, a commenter on this blog once made the case that politicians have a duty to educate themselves in order to keep up with the scholarly literature in political science ... no, go ahead, take a minute ... have you stopped laughing yet? Good. Look, I have met and briefed a lot of really smart congressmen over the past two years, but in general, I share Drezner's cynical assessment of their priorities -- and I can't really bring myself to fault them for those priorities! They are merely responding to the incentive structures in place while, in most cases, trying to do their best to support intelligent policies. (Okay, maybe I am now the one being naive here, but to call some people out, two senators who have really impressed me with their curiosity and intelligence in meetings have been my former mayor, Bob Corker, and Mark Udall of Colorado. I am convinced we have more intelligent, hard-working public servants in the legislative branch than you would guess by watching Fox News or MSNBC.)
2. We area studies geeks need to give up on the idea that just because a congressman expresses concern about radical Islam that he or she is going to spend the afternoon reading Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939. And just because someone says they are concerned about the Middle East and wants to support Israel does not mean they will then wade through A Political Economy of the Middle East, The International Relations of the Persian Gulf, or A History of the Modern Middle East. So classics of area studies are also out.
Those guiding principles lead to my objection to Drezner's challenge: why just books?
A lot of the reading material I digest comes from blogs as well as newspaper and magazine articles. A lot of it comes from scholarly and policy journals as well. Journals like the American Political Science Review and Perspectives on Politics are out because of Principle #1, and the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies is out because of Principle #2. I generally find articles in International Security, Survival, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, though, to be both accessible and thought-provoking. And asking a senator to read a few articles in Foreign Affairs each month en route back to his or her constituency actually sounds like a reasonable request. So I am not sure I would actually recommend a junior senator read a book so much as I would ask him or her to read a few carefully selected articles or scan through ForeignPolicy.com every other day. (John McCain, actually, went so far as to hire one of the very people who led the ForeignPolicy.com re-design.)
But if I am going to ask a junior senator to read a book on international relations, I think I would want the preface to the book to include language like this:
I have tried to write a short book in a style that is accesible to the intelligent reader rather than aimed at an academic audience, but with a careful analytical structure disclosed in the footnotes.
That exact language can be found in Joe Nye's The Future of Power, which I have been reading and enjoying. If I were to recommend a single book to a senator looking to expand his or her understanding of foreign affairs or international relations, I would probably recommend Nye's book -- not because I agree with everything in it (I don't) but because it is highly readable and is bound to get a legislator thinking through some of the issues that affect U.S. interests and policy abroad.
And that's what I would really want out of a book: I don't so much want to convert a legislator to a particular way of viewing the world. Realism, liberal internationalism, blahblahblah, who cares. I want, rather, to get a legislator to think systematically and critically about foreign policy and international relations. They can then choose for themselves what explanations they feel best describe how international relations should work -- or in fact do.
A quick update: (1) The chuckling provoked by that Ryan Lizza article had more to do with the revelation the president had been reading Tom Friedman and less that he had been reading Fareed Zakaria, whose The Future of Freedom I read and enjoyed. But readers of this blog know how much I enjoyed reading Tom Friedman's reporting from Civil War-era Lebanon when I waded through the newspaper archives in 2008, and Drezner makes a strong case that Friedman actually does about as well as you could expect from an op-ed columnist on international affairs. (2) A lot of people on Drezner's blog have suggested Mearsheimer's Tragedy, which I read in 2005 but just pulled off my shelf and flipped through. I'll give it this: it is clear, intelligent and accessible. I still think, though, that it might be too Inside Baseball for a non-specialist reader.
I answered "Tragedy" to
I answered "Tragedy" to Drezner's query (as well as to Starbuck's). Its language is not particularly technical, in my opinion, although there I can disputed, I suppose. Equally if not more importantly, perhaps, though, I lauded that "Tragedy" lacks footnotes in favor of endnotes, and has a relatively big font. In that spirit, yes, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, perhaps particularly the latter given its standard magazine-size format, make the cut.
Also, I'm surprised Abu M is willing to support "International Security" and "Survival," both of which strike me as more technical than FA/FP.
I actually think that a time-pressed legislator or incoming policymaker, with little subject matter expertise, ought to concentrate little on area studies, except to get a handle, possibly, on current happenings. In 2000, would it have appeared that the Middle East would be the focal point of American foreign policy, or would one have recommended readings about, say, China?
ADTS
An incoming junior senator
An incoming junior senator should hire very intelligent, well rounded staffers who have read these books and more. The amount of books i have read for my Masters is more than any Senator could hope to or should read while in office and I still consider myself a novice in training. I hate when people assume Senators should be something more than a smart, level headed person you can rely on others for information and guidance. So what should they be reading? My resume in a few months when I'm done with my dissertation hahahaha
Is Fareed Zakaria really such
Is Fareed Zakaria really such a bad place to start for an intelligent novice? His writing is obviously accessible, and it at least presents ideas that would not necessarily be obvious to a casual observer of foreign affairs. I imagine that more than one junior senator would benefit from understanding that the development of responsive institutions is more important to good governance than holding elections, for instance, which is a point that Zakaria makes well in "The Future of Freedom."
Tom Friedman, of course, is another story.
Yes, Visitor 3:52, what of
Yes, Visitor 3:52, what of Zakaria I have read I have enjoyed. I think the chuckling was directed solely at Friedman. See update.
ADTS: good points regarding
ADTS: good points regarding "Tragedy." See update.
Considering the narrow range
Considering the narrow range of acceptable political opinion and the powerful economic and ideological forces that dominate US policy-making, it doesn't matter what your hypothetical senator or his eager staffers have read. Politics always trumps reality.
Do you think, for one second, that in the lead up to the Iraq war any level-headed or informed discussion of Iraq would have mattered?
If writers like Waltz or
If writers like Waltz or Mearsheimer are judged too inaccessible, and the aim is to let the legislator choose for his/herself, then why not an introductory undergraduate-level text?
For instance, Woods's collection 'Explaining International Relations Since 1945', or simply any one of the many books titled 'Introduction to International Relations.'
I think the idea of journals
I think the idea of journals such as International Security and Survival (and I'd add SWJ--very accessible, but admittedly pretty narrow in focus). Those being fairly extensive publications, what about specific articles from them or others? In the time it would take to read one book, the senator could read multiple articles. Most of those books will have a corresponding published article from the author anyhow, and 30 pages would be an easier sell than 300.
George Friedman. period.
George Friedman. period.
Perhaps this is a bit too
Perhaps this is a bit too cynical, but if you take the idea of playing to your audience or engaging students by relating events to their context, I would point to more political history books than theory in a question like this. In other words, even if not so basic and possibly less than comprehensive, I would point a Senator to those works that are easy to get through and to which they can relate - i.e. politics. While Accidental Guerrilla and Eating Soup with a Knife are great comparative texts on the application of military policy to small wars/insurgency campaigns, Things They Carried is better to equip a politician to even the most basic frame of reference when speaking to a group of veterans on policy that effect them. Although there are any number of great texts on Chinese politics, culture, and history, "America's Response to China" allows a politician to envision what he/she would have done in Nixon / Bush / Clinton's shoes if they had been faced with similar challenges to sell back at home.
Of course, the challenge with this approach is that so much political history is written as a study in personality politics (would /love/ to hear from the group on book you think counter this argument - I've yet to come across a good one), whereas Congressional politics and policy is both very individualistic (will this security policy/bill/budget/etc help my constituents, or at least not harm them) and very broad stroke (all foreign acquisitions will follow these set of rules no matter the circumstance or context). However, I think that get's back to Ex and McGregor's points that in the immediate term, reading up on current events in FP or Foreign Affairs (or having your staffers well read as such) is the most important for continuous learning, but to engage on the basic level it's a lot easier to hold a conversation with a politician on the lines of "President X implemented Y policy regarding Z country and it resulted in A and B. Do you consider those positive or negative results? What would you have done? Why?"
From there, it doesn't matter the issue, you're creating the circumstances for a politician to make a political argument. If they feel comfortable doing that, then you are doubly likely to engage them on international issues via debate on the values they present than a theoretical argument of realism versus neo-liberalism.
I ran into a similar problem
I ran into a similar problem designing terrorism training for law enforcement officers post 9/11. What do they need to know? Every terrorism expert thought every investigator should have a MA in Middle East History and be fluent in Arabic. Ideology folks and experts wanted investigators to know everything UBL ever said, have a complete understanding of Milestones (read in an Agent's free time between 1130 PM and 1 AM), and be culturally smart on the more than a 100 different cultures a law enforcement officer might encounter. Based on the expectations of terrorism experts, FBI agents would train and be certified after their first 19 years, spend one year in the field and retire.
So the same dilemma, what does the person need to know? Whether a junior senator or investigator or senior military officer.
I agree with above comment, senator must have a diverse staff picked on merit, and the staff members must have read the needed material and be able to break down complex dynamics in digestible chunks for their bosses. I was lucky that we had 5 academics training the law enforcement guys that could do just that. They were great presenters (they would all have been excellent givers of TED talks) and they would take their key lessons for investigators and write them into 4-5 page well written articles designed for leaders. I saw Senior leaders (And a couple congressmen) carry these around everywhere to prep on the move for interviews, briefings, etc.
Also recommend having a good journalism/communications person on the staff that isn't focused on public relations and instead integrates with policy analysts to craft products for the senator. Have that journo/commo person focus inward on the staff and the senator and not necessarily outward. Making complex topics and intricate dynamics useful. I've seen this work well before.
Man, the State, and War is
Man, the State, and War is still relevant and is as good a starting point as any.
Thinking critically?
Thinking critically? Concentrating on thought processes and quality methodology for people responsible for our nations future? Making useful recommendations vice idealistic opining? Mr. Muqawama, you've lost it.
But please- keep on. I might even get the The Future of Power, and that's saying something for a knuckle dragger like meself.
Hey, what's wrong with using
Hey, what's wrong with using the technique pioneered by the commanding officer in the film Restrepo? Reading just gives you the authors' biases... better to just form your opinnions in the heat of the moment on the ground!
You know what they say about
You know what they say about the wealth of the Indies. My comment on Dan's thread sought to convey that the kind of aspiring statesman you've got will influence the kinds of books he should read.
By the way, AM looks to have a commercial comment spam issue.
I would say anything by Vali
I would say anything by Vali Nasr. Both the Shi'a Revival and Forces of Fortune were fantastic, and not terribly difficult reads.
I have a more interesting
I have a more interesting question for the group: What should Leon Panetta and David Petraeus be scrambling to read? Let's start Panetta on "Message to Garcia" and Petraeus on Ludlum.
Craziness.
The problem with Tragedy of
The problem with Tragedy of Great Power Politics isn't that it's not accessible to someone like a US Senator. The problem is that it gets a ton of stuff, including a lot of really important stuff, completely and absolutely wrong. Just to give 2 examples:
1. "The stopping power of water" - seriously? Really?
2. This was Mearsheimer when he was still asserting that domestic politics have *nothing* to do with the way that countries behave (he still thinks domestic politics *shouldn't* influence foreign policy, but he does recognize the impact of domestic politics in The Israel Lobby)
Scott Wedman: I'll argue on
Scott Wedman:
I'll argue on Mearsheimer's behalf with respect to the two "stuff [he gets] completely and absolutely wrong."
1) The stopping power of water. China can project power at the US as easily as it can Vietnam?
2) Mearsheimer argues domestic politics do not matter in international politics, but does with respect to Israel/US. Mearsheimer's work is expected to explain all variance, just like all other social science theories? A theory of great power politics is supposed to involve the same causal mechanisms as one of an account of ostensibly warped foreign policies?
(I'll concede, my response in 1) is stronger than my response in 2).)
I'll agree that there may be, as Abu suggests, too much Inside Baseball in "Tragedy:" "Mearsheimer concurs with Waltz that the third image explains international politics but departs in that he (Mearsheimer) thinks the international system causes perennial revisionist statecraft." Fair enough. But is looking at the Big Picture bad for policymakers?
What would *you* have policymakers read? I probably would go with Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. I'd excise International Security and (even) Survival as too technical. Besides, IPE matters as much as international security (arguably), so journals' content should reflect this.
ADTS
On point #1, your response is
On point #1, your response is about *distance*, not water. I agree about distance. But there's nothing about *water*, per se, that makes it harder to project power over 5000 miles if there's an ocean in between point A and point B than if you could drive the whole way on land. To paraphrase Owen Cote, if you have naval superiority, water is like a highway that makes it *easier* to project power over greater distances than it would be to do so over land?
Thus, there's no actual "stopping power" for water beyond distance. And even then, water arguably makes overcoming distance easier than land. . .
I think Zakaria is a good start. And I see Drezner's point about Friedman. Maybe John Gooch and Eliot Cohen on failure to help encourage humility? Thoughts?
Scott: I'm not sure I concur
Scott:
I'm not sure I concur with you, or Owen Cote for that matter. It took the Allies two-plus years to build and grow the force structure and conduct the planning that Operation Overlord required. Your point makes a lot of sense, and perhaps the same effort would have been required even had there been no English Channel between the Allies and the Germans. But I'm inclined to think the fact that a water barrier existed made a difference which would not have been present had the English Channel been a land barrier. I concur: distance may matter more than water. (It probably does.) And comparatively frictionless surfaces (i.e., water) would seem to make for better "highways" than land if one has naval (and presumably air) supremacy.. I wonder if someone has done work on the offense-defense balance with respect to trains, roads, air/planes, and water/ships. I know (a nice way of saying, haven't read it) that "War and the Engineers" deals somewhat with trains. This is actually a nice puzzle.
I haven't read Zakaria, other than "From Wealth to Power," and have only read Friedman's NYT columns, seen him on the requisite TV shows (including Letterman!), and read "Lexus" (which I actually thought was pretty good) and "Beirut" (different genre). I'm relatively dismissive of both public intellectuals. And quite frankly, not to sound cavalier or dismissive of your prompt, I'm just a tad too lazy at the moment to look up Drezner's original post (again). With respect to Gooch and Cohen, I actually have the book out at the moment, ironic as that may be. I read it a while ago, though, and thought it was only so-so. Again, I commented at "Wings over Iraq" on roughly the same topic, and I think one could say that with respect to the point I think you're raising about Gooch and Cohen, reading Betts, "Analysis, War, and Decision" (WP, 1978) or Jervis on intelligence (his recent work on the WMD fiasco, as well, at least in his newish book, the Iranian Revolution). More generally, I'd probably recommend excerpts of Khong, "Analogies at War," in that it should induce caution about invoking historical precedent(s). And I'm a bit tempted to suggest, although I'm influenced (biased) in part because one of the authors was something of an undergraduate mentor, "The Kimchi Matters," as something of a basic primer on comparative politics. For something easily digestible and relevant to PC-COIN, I'd actually suggest "The Ugly [not Quiet] American." (Many lessons can be learned in Sarkhan.) But for a good, digestible IR tract? I must confess, I'm stuck.
ADTS
How about the US
How about the US constitution.
..........Then the War Powers act.
Seems Congress and POTUS never get those right.
Don't they take an oath to protect them?
@SelectedWisdom (9:18pm) Your
@SelectedWisdom (9:18pm)
Your comment reminds me of a problem that was identified and discussed at a CNAS event last year sometime, when Gen Mattis was invited to the Willard to give the keynote to a debate about the education of junior officers in the military. A plurality of those involved agreed that a more enlightened, better educated young officer corps, with better foreign language skills and an MAs / MSs in recent memory or the close future would best be able to navigate the nuances of the Three Block War. Naturally, I ate it up. I had studied Middle Eastern culture, structural anthropology, Arabic and French at Columbia, and was attending the event as a recently commissioned Marine lieutenant. At the time, I was vying for an intelligence MOS, and thought that my undergrad experience might actually serve me in that role.
The opposing side of the argument, akin to those who'd wince at the thought of your young agents carrying a copy of Messages to the World around with their Starbucks, made the point that once enough specialized knowledge is gleaned by enough capable junior leaders for it to make an impact, the threat will have changed and all will have been in vain.
I don't subscribe completely to that conclusion, but fast forward from that conference to my most recent mission in Afghanistan, on which I was met with quizzical stares from locals who spoke Dari, Pashto, Farsi, Baluchistani... but not the Arabic I was trying out on them (I knew it was a long shot but thought I'd try.)
Perhaps my next deployment will be to the Arab world, inshallah.
I think Zakaria offers better
I think Zakaria offers better value as a talk show host. His opinions are better than Friedman's but still a little sensationalist. He certainly doesn't have the same problem with hyberboles. He show is great because he brings on real experts, not just talking heads. Who on a standard news network brings in guys like Kissinger, Shultz, Baker, Brzezinski... King Abdullah, David Cameron, Mohamed ElBaradei, Pervez Musharraf, etc.
Nobody else does. Period.
You won't learn how to
You won't learn how to conduct foreign policy from reading a few books. The best preparedness is simply reading heading history (for perspective) and following the news over a long period of time. Even then, you're still fucked, because the world is too complicated to permit anything but the most basic predictions.
The one trillion dollar
The one trillion dollar question.
What books are these Congressmen going to read to serve their districts better ???????????
From were I sit, they could buff-up a little on domestic issues. It is what they are paid $174,000/year for.
I never really understood why so many Congressmen take so many junkets to Europe and beyond. Are they serving their districts or serving them selves????? Think about it. America pays some serious salaries and benefits to US Generals fighting the war in Afghanistan. Taxpayer pays for all the briefing rooms with the wide screen TV's. There is a constellation of communication satellites in orbit around the earth. The continents are connected by wide-band fiber optic.
And Congress still has to fly on military jets to A-stan, burning up Jet A like they are not paying for it, staying in four star hotels along the way, and taking their staff with them. Is A-stan a campaign stop? Why is the taxpayer paying for it.
How does that serve the United States?
Many Senators should read their travel budgets from time to time. Then read the instructions on how to make long distance phone calls and use SKYPE.
ADTS- Yeah, I don't know if
ADTS-
Yeah, I don't know if Cote is necessarily right either, but I do agree that it's distance, not water, that is the big thing. Thus, I've never found "the stopping power of water" to be a great concept.
I think your reading list is terrific! All very excellent stuff. That Betts piece is great, and anything that induces caution is good - so agreed about Khong, though you'd have to excerpt out the IR theory part. But since the whole point of Gooch and Cohen was to encourage humility, Khong could certainly serve that purpose as well.
Thanks, Scott. One other
Thanks, Scott.
One other book that came to mind: Robert Dahl's "On Democracy" from Yale UP. It's intended to have a "basic" audience and while I found myself underlying, that's because such is my wont, not because I think one would have to. It'd ideally set someone to thinking about why we have democracy, what democracy means, what democracy's benefits are, and the like - all good things for a policymaker to bear in mind. I definitely think it has its merits.
Another book - squarely in the area studies population, which for reasons I stated above, I do *not* think ought to be the focus of book-length treatments for senators or senatorial staff - is one of the most erudite, if not *the* most erudite book I've ever read written by a journalist: Karl van Wolferen's "The Enigma of Japanese Power." My only additional fear or objection (beyond it's being an area studies book) is that it's *too* erudite, or thickly written.
Still no luck on a basic IR primer, though. No need to respond, but I wonder why that is?
Thanks again.
Regards
ADTS
"He read popular books on
"He read popular books on foreign affairs by Fareed Zakaria and Thomas Friedman. "
Were they the color by numbers kind? That's about this guy's speed and level of interest. Off to war Soldier, now I'm gonna duck out to Brazil.
It's like recommending the
It's like recommending the best works of Marx-Lenin Studies for a new member of the Politburo in 1983.
Still, if you're a member of Congress, you can always check out the great American historian Charles Beard's A Foreign Policy for America (1940). In fact the LoC might be one of the few places you can find this work. It's not available at all, so far as I can tell, on the used-book market.
(Someone has put a copy of Beard's Devil Theory of War (1936) on line, however. "R2P" might be the DTW at its highest stage of historical development, albeit with comical little devils like Qaddafi or Gbagbo - no Hitlers or Tojos here, boss. When the alligators have been slain, the frogs must suffer.)
Over at Drezner the first
Over at Drezner the first commenter mentioned Walter McDougall's PROMISED LAND, CRUSADER STATE, and I would second that as loudly as possible. And perhaps advise a particularly close reading of chapter 8, "Global Meliorism."
If our senator, unlike Obama, hasn't already read Reinhold Niebuhr's THE IRONY OF AMERICAN HISTORY, get him to a monastery and sequester there 'till read.
Everyone should read Bilton and Sim, FOUR HOURS IN MY LAI. Some parts should be memorized. (On ROE, law of war, etc.: "Wars are not fought by jurists--they are fought by boys.")
Walt Whitman, WALT WHITMAN'S MEMORANDA DURING THE WAR. But really, what kind of psychotic masochist wouldn't have read this wonderful book?
Julian Zelizer, ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY--indispensable.
One could read a lot of memoirs and reportage--and should--from our recent wars, but if forced to pick just one, it's be David Finkel's THE GOOD SOLDIERS. I would demand that they underline it, and inspect their underlining, and then demand again they re-read their highlights once a year.
Kent Graham, GETTYSBURG: A MEDITATION ON WAR AND VALUES.
Graham Greene, THE QUIET AMERICAN.
Overall, I'd absolutely warn them away from all political sciency, IR-like things, and advise they stick to history and the humanities. It will be readable. But more importantly, the latter fields are generally far too "hey, we can do this!" in general approach--optimism saturates whatever they write. And they'll be getting enough of that in a nutshell from their aids, anyway. Read history to get down with reality, and to become wise.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning . . .
Why is this a question about
Why is this a question about Senators???? POTUS makes FP, Congress is in the back seat, makes funding decisions, ratifies treaties, and guides legislation.
My concern is Obama's judgment.
One only needs to look at today's headlines about NATO killing Gadhafi's son and grand children.
Obama took the US into this Libyan war to avoid a massacre, the real goal was to remove Gadhadi from power because of the decisions that he makes, what does that say about the judgment US President that makes a decision to kill grand children to prevent a massacre?
How does a person learn about judgment in a book?
.
Judgment comes from a lifetime of experiences.
A Harvard degree has never made a person wise or made a career.
PS...
1) ObamaCare is about judgment, who signs something that half the nation does not want? Funded by stupid 1099 requirements.
2) Obama widened a conflict in Afghanistan that had no future, what does that say about judgment?
3) The US has the highest deficit ever, Obama's solution is to spend more money. That is poor judgment.
4) That brings us back to Libya.
If you want to understand
If you want to understand U.S. policy in the Middle East and Central Asia, here are a few key resources:
Afghanistan/Pakistan background:
1) Ghost Wars, by Steve Coll
2) The New Great Game: Bood and Oil in Central Asia by Lutz C. Kleveman
3) Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons, by Adrian Levy & Catherine Scott-Clark
Middle Eastern background:
1) The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt
2) The Arab Lobby: The Invisible Alliance That Undermines America's Interests in the Middle East, by Mitchell Bard
3) Arming Iraq: How the U.S. and Britain Secretly Built Saddam's War Machine, by Mark Phythian
4) The Organized Criminal Activities of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International: Essays and Documentation, Alan Block (ed.)
5) Oil, God, and gold: the story of Aramco and the Saudi kings, by Anthony Cave Brown
You have to think that many
You have to think that many members of the congress are neither foreign affairs academics nor enthusiasts. My suggestion would be to peruse the Oxford short introduction series on international relations, globalization, neo-liberalism, geopolitics, and terrorism. There somewhat like "a for dummies" series but not as insulting.
Ace of spades has been
Ace of spades has been brought to justice.
OSAMA BIN LADEN, DEAD,
OSAMA BIN LADEN, DEAD,
PAKISTAN you protected him for the last 10 years. FUCK YOU, we should bomb your country back to the stone age!
We went in with a GROUND
We went in with a GROUND TEAM!! Yes!! and they took his body from his Guards!!
Fck you Bin Laden. LET THERE BE PIGS IN HELL. And Yes Kudo's to Obama. This is his hour, and I say let him and of course OUR MILTARY, CIA, and the rest who guard us. And their families, and those who lost on 9/11. Tonite I salute our President and all those who defend us.
Someone buy Dalton Fury a
Someone buy Dalton Fury a beer!
Can't wait for the Call of
Can't wait for the Call of Duty Expansion Pack!
On a serious note Here's to Ex and his brothers and sisters of all forces, to all those who lost a part of themselves, or lost loved ones leading to this night. starting with the heroic passengers of Flight 93 through those guys today.
And when i wake up tomorrow I'll start trying to figure out where we go from here.
oops forgot to ask
oops forgot to ask this?
Anyone seen Chuck Norris in the last 2 days?
USA!
JCS should declare May 1st,
JCS should declare May 1st, "Buy a Navy Seal a Beer Day."
This will be the best recruiting tool for the Navy., EVER. FORCE and DELTA will be jealous!
POTUS - Thank you for authorizing this amazing mission, that should have gone GREEN years ago.
To the NAVY SEAL's, you are our BEST, never forget that. God Bless you and your family's.
Haven't heard much information considering "cooperation" from the Pakistan Government.
One of the new's outlets stated that several Pakistan citizen's have received reward, one-way plane ticket's to the United States and safe-haven, for assisting the U.S. Government locate and terminate OBL's command.
God Bless you (whoever you are) and I wish you and your family's peace, happiness and fruitful lives.
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
http://i.imgur.com/IDsF2.gif
http://i.imgur.com/IDsF2.gif
IF the DOD was smart- The
IF the DOD was smart-
The Departed's body should be ordered to be cremated immediately and ashes spread at sea in the next 24 hours.
He should not be allowed to be a martyr.
WHY CNN is saying that his body is going to be treated with respect and interned and buried, is BEYOND ME!
Wolf Blitzer is a jackass.
At least I'll be able to tell
At least I'll be able to tell my grandchildren about living in a country which knew how to kill its enemies. I'm glad it wasn't done by some guy with a joystick 10,000 miles away. Could this be our last national moment of genuine, old-fashioned military glory? And is there video? Stay tuned for robot death from the sky, reflective belts, and lots and lots of pro-bono legal work.
Special highlight: B.H. Obama telling us Osama was not a real Muslim. Sure. You're the expert, dude. As I recall, Woody Wilson also filled us in on how Nick II was not a real Russian. We're America, we contain multitudes. We're more Muslim than Osama, more German than Hitler and more Ivorian than Laurent Gbagbo. Even our Chinese food is more authentic than anything you can get in Shanghai. It's good to be the universal nation.
There was a genuine glory, a baraka, to OBL as well. Too bad the planet was too small for him and our fat asses. I'd still like to give Afghanistan back to the Afghan-Arabs as a 7th-century theme park, suitably fenced. Plus we could send Daisy Khan there to teach them all about the true, NPR Islam. Drinks all around!
yay VE day! bring on VJ day.
yay VE day!
bring on VJ day.
heads down comrades.
Lol. The Paks gave OBL up.
Lol.
The Paks gave OBL up. The compound is practically next to a Pak military academy.
Two weeks ago Panetta met with his Pak counterpart over l’affaire du “contractor” Davis and droning. Panetta was being very tough, he said the US would fly drones out of Afghan bases if Pakistan closed airbases to drones.
I think Panetta said give us OBL so we can GTFO, and the Pak spy chief gave him up.
Fo’sure the Paks knew where he was.
Ah, 13D chess. I was wunderin’ what the new exit strat was since the mini-surge failed.
Now we know.
A great symbolic victory for President Obama.
A trillion dollars and 7k soldier lives is cheap enough considering OBL touched off the economic conflagration that burned down America’s house of cards.
A great good if we can GTFO before Kabul turns into the Fall of Saigon redux.
This is the new exit strategy, since the mini-surge failed.
meep meep.
Oh, and my recommendation for
Oh, and my recommendation for a book?
Maynard-Smith, Evolution and the Theory of Games.
But tell them to stay out of the appendices. Congresscritters can't do maths.
Oh, and you can go, too,
Oh, and you can go, too, "Rabi'a." (Are you by any chance from Teaneck, New Jersey? Is your real name Crystal, and do you by any chance have a door-sized poster of Johnny Walker Lindh on your dorm-room ceiling?) I'm sure you can teach Obama's, I mean Osama's, remaining associates all about that true, democratic Islam you learned from the comparative-religion professors at Teaneck Community.
Sorry ADTS I got distracted.
Sorry ADTS I got distracted. Still thinking about it.
How about The Forever War, by
How about The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins? Sometimes, the stories are more important than science.
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