Center for a New American Security

I got the heads up on a battle brewing in southern Afghanistan a few months ago. Not a battle between Marines and insurgents, mind, but one over the appropriate tactics to fight the Taliban. Specifically, I heard the staff of Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson's MEB was getting frustrated by being forced to essentially camp out on the population and, Marines being Marines, wanted to go chase the bad guys. Now this from today's Washington Post:

Well, CNAS loses a great intern, but the Naval Postgraduate School gains a new research assistant. Nick Masellis has left CNAS, but he has another contribution on SWJ:

A good op-ed from a fellow Iraq veteran. Just one quibble: sometimes being sensitive to cultural nuances is war-fighting prowess.

Sec. Gates really slapped down the U.S. Air Force today:

Organizing a protest or boycott has always been a difficult affair. After all, the individual logic simply doesn't add up. For example, "why should I boycott a product that I like when it causes me harm but is unlikely to cause harm to a company or change practices that I don't like? "

(see, for instance, Dogbert's great quip to Dilbert about buying a fuel efficient car)

Allegedly, this blog is meant to be a resource for folks wanting to learn more about counterinsurgency. So there's really no excuse or reason why we have not done a better job highlighting the new issue of Small Wars Journal's magazine -- available via the same Small Wars Journal website you check every day.