Thomas E. Ricks's Blog, page 122

Not with a bang but with a whimper: An obituary for the Prov. Reconst. Teams

By
"Pierre Tea"

Best
Defense guest columnist

Two
months from now, in May 2013, the debate on COIN, as applied to Iraq and
Afghanistan, will become academic, historical, and ripe for serious
post-application analysis beyond the walls of the Pentagon.

The
COINs will have all been spent, the PRTs' tents folded, and whatever hearts and
minds purchased, leased, or lost can be counted, weighed against our costs, and
their results. To quote Omar Khayyam, "The moving finger writes, and
having writ, moves on."

No
credible analysis could avoid the obvious: that "something" had to be
done about Saddam Hussein who ruthlessly threatened his neighbors (our allies)
and his own populations, and about Osama bin Laden and his list of supporters,
who directly attacked the United States. 
How did the "something" done work out?

As
a first-hand civilian witness to the application and aftermath of "money
as a weapon" surged by the billions into active and highly-fragmented war
zones, I look forward to post-application debates on the key questions of COIN
and PRTs: Did they help, hurt, or just
fuel the multi-year conflicts to which they were continuously re-applied?

The
U.S. dream of a peaceful and democratic Iraq and Afghanistan, however, has not been
realized, and instability in adjacent Syria and Pakistan threatens to unravel
anything enduring that we may have, through COIN, hoped to purchase from these
two countries without any agreement with the Old Man in the Mountain (Iran),
whose negative influence remains substantial, and undermines an accurate audit
of what actual hearts and minds were purchased, for how long, and to what end.

My
suspicion is that once all the COINs are spent, serious post-engagement
analysis will end and the domestic shroud of myths needed to justify the
honored dead and injured's contributions will drop in place, with little
institutional learning, and even less than myths to show for it.

Leave
it to Hollywood to mythologize the region, its history, and the heroism of
individuals and incremental missions accomplished and we guarantee that history
will repeat itself.

We'll
see.

"Pierre
Tea" probably has shaken more Afghan sand out of his shorts than you've walked
on. This post doesn't necessarily reflect the official views of anyone but it
sure does reflect the unofficial views of some.

Rosa Brooks, is your life really more complex than it was a century or two ago?

That's what my friend Rosa Brooks assumes,
writing that, "Even if humans are somewhat less nasty to one
another than they used to be, the complexity of our world has increased
exponentially, and our ability to inadvertently mess the world up has similarly
increased."
I know and like Rosa, but I think she's wrong here.

Yes, we can mess up the world pretty well. But
I disagree with her other assertion. That is, I don't think life is infinitely
more complex these days than it was in the 18th or 19th centuries. I think life
changed faster then than now. Those times saw huge leaps in the capabilities
and reach of the human race. Until the Industrial Revolution, it was hard to
move people or goods much faster than six miles per hour, and that depended on
the vagaries of sail. And almost all information moved at the same
tortoise-like pace. Then came the railroad, the telegraph, and the precise
measurement of time and goods. This all was accompanied by a massive shift of
people from farms to factories, from countryside to cities. In response, the
professional governments we know now in the West were created. (London didn't
have a police force until the 19th century, for example.)

In my view, the Internet is just a faster, more
colorful telegraph. And the sense of change was greater in the 19th century than it is now.

That said, I think historians will regard
global warming as the most important trend of our time, and will wonder why we
didn't focus on it more. So I think Rosa B. might be fundamentally correct that
we are in the handbasket, which was her real point. 

To do this weekend: Finish the Army War College library’s suggested reading list

Here it is.
Time to get going!:

Acemoglu,
Daron, and James A. Robinson. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity
and Poverty. New York: Crown, 2012. 529pp. (HB74 .P65A28 2012)

Acemoglu
and Robinson, scholars from MIT and Harvard University, strive to solve the
reason why some nations thrive and others fail. Supported by years of original
research, the authors draw from historical examples spanning the globe to
support their theory of political economy as the foundation of a nation's
success.

Allison,
William Thomas. My Lai: An American Atrocity in the Vietnam War.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012. 170pp. (DS557.8 M9A44 2012)

"On
March 16, 1968, American soldiers killed as many as five hundred Vietnamese
men, women, and children in a village near the South China Sea. In My Lai,
William Thomas Allison explores and evaluates the significance of this horrific
event. How could such a thing have happened? Who (or what) should be held
accountable? How do we remember this atrocity and try to apply its lessons, if
any?" -- Publisher description.

Bacevich,
Andrew J. Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War. New York:
Metropolitan Books, 2010. 286pp. (UA23 .B334 2010)

Bacevich
examines the Washington consensus on national security and why long held
assumptions must change.

Barfield,
Thomas J. Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2010. 389pp. (DS357.5 .B37 2010)

Leading
anthropologist Thomas Barfield traces the historic struggles of the region,
weaving the complex threads of culture, politics, economics, and geography.

Bergen,
Peter L. The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and al-Qaeda.
New York: Free Press, 2011. 473pp. (HV6432 .B47 2011)

CNN
national security analyst Peter Bergen offers a comprehensive history of the
war with al Qaeda; from the strategies devised in the wake of the 9/11 attacks,
to the fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond. The Longest War
provides the perspectives of both the United States and al Qaeda and its
allies.

Betros, Lance. Carved
from Granite: West Point Since 1902. College Station: Texas A&M
University Press, 2012. 458pp. (U410 .L1B48 2012)

In Carved
from Granite, author Lance Betros, provost of the U.S. Army War College,
addresses a range of historical and contemporary issues concerning the United
States Military Academy. An Academy graduate and later faculty member, Betros
draws from his own experience, oral histories, and archival sources to devote
chapters to West Point's history, governance, admissions, academics, military
training, and leader development. This authoritative history examines the
challenges faced by the Academy, and offers subjective and interpretive insight
for its future.

Brzezinski,
Zbigniew. Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power. New
York: Basic Books, 2012. 208pp. (JZ1313 .B79 2012)

Brzezinski,
former national security advisor to President Carter, draws from decades of experience
to reflect on the changing distribution of global power and why America's
global standing is waning. Forecasting some of the possible geopolitical
consequences of America's decline, Brzezinski argues we must create a long-term
strategic vision for the future.

Chandrasekaran,
Rajiv. Little America: The War within the War for Afghanistan. New York:
Knopf, 2012. 368pp. (DS371.412 .C53 2012)

Chandrasekaran, Washington
Post senior correspondent and associate editor, follows his 2006 award-winning
book on Iraq, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, with this critical
examination of the 2009 Afghanistan surge and the Obama administration.

Chernow, Ron. Washington:
A Life. New York: Penguin Press, 2010. 904pp. (E312 .C54 2010)

In Washington:
A Life, noted biographer Ron Chernow provides a detailed portrait of an
iconic leader and the father of our nation, while exploring the history of
America's founding. 2011 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Biography.

Chun, Clayton K.
S. Gothic Serpent: Black Hawk Down, Mogadishu 1993. New York: Osprey,
2012. 80pp. (DT407.42 C58 2012)

Containing
detailed maps and declassified information, Gothic Serpent recounts Task
Force Ranger's attempt to capture the lieutenants of a Somali warlord during
the 1993 U.N. humanitarian relief mission and their ensuing fight for survival.
U.S. Black Hawk helicopters, struck by rocket-propelled grenades crashed,
stranding the crew in Mogadishu where they waged a brutal battle against
hostile gunmen until their rescue by a combined U.N. and U.S. relief force.
Winner of the 2012 Colonel John J. Madigan, III U.S. Army War College Staff and
Faculty Published Writing Competition.

Collins, James
C., and Morten T. Hansen. Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck --
Why Some Thrive Despite Them All. New York: HarperCollins, 2011. 304pp.
(HF5386 .C652 2011)

"Ten years
after the worldwide bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins returns with
another groundbreaking work, this time to ask: Why do some companies thrive in
uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? Based on nine years of research,
buttressed by rigorous analysis and in-fused with engaging stories, Collins and
his colleague, Morten Hansen, enumerate the principles for building a truly
great enterprise in unpredictable, tumultuous, and fast-moving times." --
Publisher description.

Crist, David. The
Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran.
New York: Penguin Press, 2012. 638pp. (E183.8 .I55C75 2012)

Crist, a
government historian and advisor to the United States Central Command, spent a
decade researching the conflict between the United States and Iran. Drawing
from the documents of several U.S. administrations and numerous interviews, The
Twilight War offers new insight on this intricate history.

Donnelly,
Thomas, and Frederick W. Kagan, eds. Lessons for a Long War: How America Can
Win on New Battlefields. Washington, DC: AEI Press, 2010. 169pp. (UA23 .L47
2010)

Donnelly and
Kagan lead a group of U.S. military officials and national security experts in analyzing
the American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan thus far and mapping a way
forward --
not
only for the military, but also for diplomats, elected officials, and the
American public. Though written in 2007 and 2008, these essays remain relevant
to the current administration.

Friedman, Thomas
L., and Michael Mandelbaum. That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in
the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back. New York: Farrar, Straus
and Giroux, 2011. 380pp. (JK275 .F75 2011)

Friedman and
Mandelbaum analyze the four challenges that face the United States:
globalization, revolution in information technology, the nation's chronic
deficits, and the pattern of excessive energy consumption. That Used to Be
Us concludes with suggestions for how to sustain the American dream and
preserve American power.

Gaddis, John
Lewis. George F. Kennan: An American Life. New York: Penguin Press,
2011. 784pp. (E748 .K374G34 2011)

"This is
the authorized, definitive biography of one of the most fascinating but
troubled figures of the twentieth century by the nation's leading Cold War
historian. In the late 1940s, George F. Kennan wrote the ‘long telegram' and
the ‘X' article. These two documents laid out United States' strategy for ‘containing'
the Soviet Union. Based on exclusive access to Kennan and his archives, this
landmark history illuminates a life that both mirrored and shaped the century
it spanned." -- Publisher description. 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner for
Biography.

Greenblatt,
Stephen. The Swerve: How the World Became Modern. New York: Norton,
2011. 356pp. (PA6484 .G74 2011)

"One of the
world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an
innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one
manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of
human thought and made possible the world as we know it." -- Publisher
description. 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner for General Nonfiction.

Heath, Chip, and
Dan Heath. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. New York:
Broadway Books, 2010. 305pp. (BF637 .C4H43 2010)

Drawing upon a
multitude of behavioral studies, business case studies, and hypothetical
examples to illustrate their principles, Chip and Dan Heath weave together
decades of research to shed new light on how to effect transformative change.

Hill, Charles. Grand
Strategies: Literature, Statecraft, and World Order. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2010. 368pp. (PN56 .D55H55 2010)

Through lucid
and compelling discussions of classic literary works from Homer to Rushdie, Grand
Strategies represents a merger of literature and international relations,
inspired by the conviction that "a grand strategist... needs to be
immersed in classic texts from Sun Tzu to Thucydides to George Kennan, to gain
real-world experience through internships in the realms of statecraft, and to
bring this learning and experience to bear on contemporary issues." --
Publisher description.

Junger,
Sebastian. War. New York: Twelve, 2010. 287pp. (DS371.4123 .K67J86 2010)

"Junger,
author of The Perfect Storm, turns his eye to the reality of combat in
this on-the-ground account that follows a single platoon through a 15-month
tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal
Valley." -- Publisher description.

Kagan, Robert. The
World America Made. New York: Knopf, 2012. 149pp. (JZ1313 .K34 2012)

"What would
the world look like if America were to reduce its role as a global leader in
order to focus all its energies on solving its problems at home? And is America
really in decline? The author paints a vivid, alarming picture of what the
world might look like if the United States were truly to let its influence
wane." -- Publisher description.

Kan, Paul
Rexton, with a foreword by Barry R. McCaffrey. Cartels at War: Mexico's Drug-Fueled
Violence and the Threat to U.S. National Security. Washington, DC: Potomac
Books, 2012. 193pp. (HV5840 .M4K36 2012)

Cartels at War examines how
Mexico's ongoing conflict has spilled over into the United States, affecting
policy issues ranging from immigration to gun control. Drawing on fieldwork
along the border, and interviews with U.S. government officials and Mexican
military officers, Paul Rexton Kan contends that careful policy consideration
is necessary to prevent further cartel violence, reduce the incentives of drug
smuggling, and to stop the erosion of Mexico.

Kaplan, Robert
D. Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power. New York:
Random House, 2010. 366pp. (DS341.3 .U6K37 2010)

"In Monsoon,
a pivotal examination of the Indian Ocean region and countries known as ‘Monsoon
Asia,' Robert D. Kaplan shows how crucial this dynamic area has become to
American power in the twenty-first century. With Kaplan's mix of policy
analysis, travel reportage, sharp historical perspective, and fluid writing, Monsoon
offers an exploration of the Indian Ocean as a strategic and demographic
hub and an in-depth look at issues most pressing for American interests." -- Publisher
description.

Kaplan, Robert
D. The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts
and the Battle Against Fate. New York: Random House, 2012. 403pp. (JC319
.K37 2012)

Kaplan,
bestselling author of Monsoon, builds on the insights and theories of
great geographers and geopolitical thinkers, examining the critical turning
points in history -- to better understand what might lie ahead.

Kilcullen,
David. Counterinsurgency. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
251pp. (U241 .K55 2010)

Counterinsurgency
brings
together Kilcullen's most prominent writings on this vitally important topic.
This book includes a previously unpublished essay entitled "Measuring
Progress in Afghanistan," written for Gen. Stanley McChrystal during his
field work in Afghanistan.

Kissinger,
Henry. On China. New York: Penguin Press, 2011. 586pp. (JZ1480 .B49
2012)

Drawing from
notable records and his own forty year history with China, Kissinger examines
how this country has approached strategy, diplomacy, and negotiations
throughout its history. On China provides insightful perspective on the
evolution of U.S.-China relations that can be applied to present day.

Kupchan, Charles
A. How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2010. 442pp. (JZ5538 .K87 2010)

How Enemies
Become Friends provides
an innovative account of how nations escape geopolitical competition and
replace hostility with friendship. Through compelling analysis and historical
examples, Kupchan explores how adversaries can transform enmity into amity.

Lieven, Anatol. Pakistan:
A Hard Country. New York: Public Affairs, 2011. 566pp. (DS389 .L54 2011)

"Anatol
Lieven's book is a magisterial investigation of this highly complex and often
poorly understood country: its regions, ethnicities, competing religious
traditions, varied social landscapes, deep political tensions, and historical
patterns of violence; but also its surprising underlying stability, rooted in
kinship, patronage, and the power of entrenched local elites." --
Publisher description.

Luvaas, Jay,
Harold W. Nelson, and Leonard J. Fullenkamp, eds. Guide to the Battle of
Gettysburg, 2nd ed., rev. and expanded. Lawrence: University Press of
Kansas, 2012. 346pp. (E475.53 .U333 2012)

"The
long-anticipated revised edition of one of the most respected and popular
guides to the Gettysburg National Military Park. The authors have made
significant changes to the guide, addressing alterations to the park during the
past fifteen years and adding new information and improved maps that enrich
park visitors'
understanding
of one of the bloodiest and most momentous battles in American history."
-- Publisher description.

Maddow, Rachel. Drift:
The Unmooring of American Military Power. New York: Crown, 2012. 275pp.
(UA23 .M33 2012)

Rachel Maddow's Drift
contends that America as a nation has drifted away from its original ideals
and become at peace with war. Spanning the Vietnam War to today's war in
Afghanistan, Maddow explores the political debate of how, when, and where to
apply America's military power -- and who gets to make those decisions.

Manwaring, Max
G., with a foreword by John T. Fishel and afterword by Edwin G. Corr. The
Complexity of Modern Asymmetric Warfare. Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press, 2012. 208pp. (U163 .M2687 2012)

"Today more
than one hundred small, asymmetric, and revolutionary wars are being waged
around the world. This book provides invaluable tools for fighting such wars by
taking enemy perspectives into consideration. Using case studies, Manwaring
outlines vital survival lessons for leaders and organizations concerned with
national security in our contemporary world." -- Publisher description.

Marlantes, Karl.
What It Is Like to Go to War. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011.
256pp. (DS559.5 .M375 2011)

Marlantes,
author of the award winning novel Matterhorn, takes a deeply personal
and candid look at the experience and ordeal of combat, drawing on his own time
in Vietnam. He critically examines how we might better prepare young soldiers
for the psychological and spiritual stresses of war, and what it means to truly
return home.

Matheny, Michael
R. Carrying the War to the Enemy: American Operational Art to 1945.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011. 334pp. (U153 .M38 2011)

Carrying the War
to the Enemy draws
on archival materials from military educational institutions, planning
documents, and operational records of World War II campaigns to provide a
clearer understanding of the development of American operational art.

Morris, Ian. Why
the West Rules -- For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal about
the Future. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010. 750pp. (CB251 .M67
2010)

"Why has
the West dominated the globe for the past two hundred years, and will its power
last? Describing the patterns of human history, the archaeologist and historian
Ian Morris offers surprising new answers to both questions." -- Publisher
description.

Moten, Matthew,
ed., with a foreword by Martin E. Dempsey. Between War and Peace: How
America Ends Its Wars. New York: Free Press, 2011. 371pp. (E181 .B48 2011)

America's
leading historians examine the path of America's wars, from the Revolution to
the first Gulf War: their initial aims (often very different from their
conclusions), their principal strategies, their final campaigns, and the future
ramifications of the wars' ends for the nation.

Neiberg, Michael
S. Dance of the Furies: Europe and the Outbreak of World War I.
Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011. 292pp. (D511 .N45
2011)

Neiberg's Dance
of the Furies contributes to the understanding of the World War I's origins
and nature. Drawing on letters, diaries, and memoirs of citizens across Europe,
Neiberg shows that the peoples of Europe did not expect, or desire, war in
1914.

Nye, Joseph S.,
Jr. The Future of Power. New York: PublicAffairs, 2011. 300pp. (JC330
.N94 2011)

Nye, a leading
international relations scholar, adds to his previous work on power (Soft
Power, 2004) by examining the role of the state in the context of shifting
power in the 21st century.

Ricks, Thomas E.
The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today. New
York: Penguin Press, 2012. 558pp. (E745 .R43 2012)

"From the
bestselling author of Fiasco and The Gamble, [The Generals is]
an epic history of the decline of American military leadership from World War
II to Iraq. Ricks has made a close study of America's military leaders for
three decades, and in his hands this story resounds with larger meaning: about
the transmission of values, about strategic thinking, and about the difference
between an organization that learns and one that fails." -- Publisher
description.

Rose, Gideon. How
Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 2010. 413pp. (E181 .R67 2010)

Rose, editor of Foreign
Affairs, recreates the choices that presidents and their advisers have
con-fronted during the final stages of each major conflict from World War I
through Iraq.

Silver, Nate. The
Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail -- But Some Don't. New
York: Penguin Press, 2012. 534pp. (CB158 .S54 2012)

Silver, one of
America's most influential political forecasters, explores the world of
prediction, investigating how we can distinguish a true signal from a universe
of noisy data.

Snow, Donald M.,
and Dennis M. Drew. From Lexington to Baghdad and Beyond: War and Politics
in the American Experience, 3rd ed. Armonk, NY: Sharpe, 2010. 335pp. (UA23
.S66 2010)

This book, by a
political scientist and a career military officer and historian, has been
updated and revised with new chapters on the Afghan and Iraq wars. For each
conflict, the authors review underlying issues and events; political
objectives; military objectives and strategy; political considerations;
military technology and technique; military conduct and the ultimate
disposition of the original political goals.

Terrill, W.
Andrew, with a foreword by Anthony H. Cordesman. Global Security Watch:
Jordan. Santa Barbara: Praeger Security International, 2010. 187pp.
(DS154.13 .T47 2010)

Middle East
specialist Andrew Terrill examines Jordan's role in Middle Eastern politics and
regional security, and provides an overview of the country's history, economy,
military system, and relations with other Arab states. Library also has online
in Praeger Security International.

Thomas, Evan. The
War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898. New
York: Little, Brown, 2010. 471pp. (E721 .T46 2010)

Newsweek editor Evan
Thomas leads readers through the Spanish-American War of 1898, revealing
insights into the minds of the major leaders of the time: advocates of the war;
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst -- and two opponents; Speaker
of the House Thomas Reed, and philosopher William James.

West, Francis J.
The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan. New York:
Random House, 2011. 307pp. (DS371.412 .W47 2011)

"From one
of America's most renowned war correspondents comes the definitive account of
the Afghanistan war, a damning policy assessment, and a compelling and
controversial way forward." -- Publisher description.

Woodward, Bob. Obama's
Wars. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. 441pp. (E908.3 .W66 2010)

Obama's Wars tells the inside
story of President Obama's critical decisions regarding the Afghanistan War,
the secret campaign in Pakistan, and the worldwide fight against terrorism. Library also
has sound recording.

Woodward, Bob. The
Price of Politics. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012. 428pp. (HC106.84
.W67 2012)

Woodward's
latest book is a detailed assessment of how President Obama and Republican and
Democratic leaders in the United States Congress endeavored to restore the
American economy and improve the government's fiscal situation between 2009 and
2012.

Yergin, Daniel. The
Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World. New York:
Penguin Press, 2011. 804pp. (HD9502 .A2Y47 2011)

Energy
authority Daniel Yergin resumes the account of global energy he first began in
his Pulitzer Prize-winning 2009 book, The Prize. The Quest details
inside stories and historic accounts, examining energy as an overarching global
quest at the heart of geopolitical and economic change.

George Orwell, after being subjected to drone attacks, asked: What’s the big deal?

For some reason I've been reading a lot of H.L.
Mencken and George Orwell lately. Both are terrific writers and interesting
political observers. I enjoy both but prefer Orwell's politics as well as his
prose.

I noticed that in June 1944, Orwell wrote
this about the German buzz bombs hitting London:

I notice that apart from the widespread
complaint that the German pilotless planes "seem so unnatural" (a bomb dropped
by a live airman is quite natural, apparently), some journalists are denouncing
them as barbarous, inhumane, and "an indiscriminate attack on civilians."...
But I would not deny that the pilotless plane, flying bomb, or whatever its
correct name may be, is an exceptionally unpleasant thing, because, unlike most
other projectiles, it gives you time to think. What is your first reaction when
you hear that droning, zooming noise? Inevitably, it is a hope that the noise
won't stop. You want to hear the bomb pass safely overhead and die away into
the distance before the engine cuts out. In other words, you are hoping that it
will fall on somebody else.

Tom
again: Speaking of Orwell, I bet he wouldn't be surprised to see that the
Chinese parliament now features 83
billionaires. Some animals are just more
equal than others.  

Rebecca’s War Dog of the Week: Bubbles, the dog who led planes in Vietnam

By Rebecca Frankel

Best Defense Chief Canine Correspondent 

In the early 1970s, pilots taxiing their planes on the east
ramp of Bien Hoa Air Base may have been ferried to their final
destination by a dog named Bubbles.

The odd mix of golden lab and dachshund,
whose 40-pound body reminded at least one airman of a Heinz 57 bottle, belonged
to Staff Sgt. John E. Molnar, whose job it was to marshal in aircraft along the
flight line marked by a yellow stripe. Bubbles, having watched Molnar do the
job and apparently not afraid of the large planes, began to mimic his routine
and took to walking ahead of them. "Once in awhile we put a headphone set and
sunglasses on him and it really cracks up the pilots," Molnar told Stars and Stripes in 1971.

The job did come with certain hazards -- Bubbles had a close
call with the "prop blasts of a C130 and was blown 15
feet through the air." Another time he "was almost sucked into the turbine of a
commercial 707."

But that didn't stop Bubbles from taking the occasional nap
on the runway. So at home was this dog among the planes and pilots that he
often refused to budge. The pilots who had had grown fond of their assistant
and mascot knew how to get him to "move in a hurry" -- revving up a nearby
engine was all it took.

Tip of the hat to Tom who spied this gem earlier this week
in Stars and Stripes's most excellent
daily feature, Archive
Photo of the Day. 

Rebecca Frankel is away from her FP desk,
working on a book about dogs and war.

Signed copies of 'The Generals' available

A nice offer from the
Barnes & Noble at Seven Corners in Northern Virginia. Just e-mail Mike
McCormick, the store manager, at crm2712@bn.com
or call him at 703-536-0774.

Five centuries from now, how will historians explain what Communism was?

The passing of Hugo Chávez provides a moment to consider the
question of the waning of the Communist era. The history of the origins of the Industrial Revolution that I've been reading led to that question.

My tentative answer is this: I suspect Communism, while it
played a major role in the 20th century, will be hardly remembered
by historians 500 years from now. After all, it was a blip empire that lasted
about as long as a human life. Its significance, I am guessing, will be seen as
just one spinoff from the Industrial Revolution. Maybe like global warming but
far less important.

In sum: Communism may
be the Albigensian heresy
of our time. Sure, that belief system covered a smaller geographical area (but
I think a larger chunk of the known
world). And there is no question that it lasted much longer.

What Warren Buffett did in 1942: Doubled down on the future of the United States

Early 1942 was the low point of World War II, at least for the American newcomers. Britain was running out
of men and arms. The United States had not really gotten in the game. Germany
and Japan were triumphantly expanding, and it was thought possible they might
link up in Iran or that region after Egypt and India fell.

Warren Buffett mentions in his new annual report that it was then that he began buying American stocks. He was 11 years old. "I made my first stock purchase in the spring
of 1942 when the U.S. was suffering major losses throughout the Pacific war zone," he writes. "Each day's headlines told of more
setbacks. Even so, there was no talk about uncertainty; every American I knew believed we would prevail."

Management tip: Buffett also gives his
subordinates plenty of autonomy. In an aside, he notes that he voted for
President Obama, but that 10 of the 12 daily newspapers his company owns that
endorsed a candidate instead chose Governor Romney.

Who is the world's largest oil importer?

Not us.

Any guesses?

Soldier poets of the Great War (VII): The enduring power of Wilfred Owen’s words

Of
all the World War I poets, Wilfred Owen stands up best, I
think (and yes, I do know I am far from alone). His words feel much more modern
to me, almost contemporary. "And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds." Great word control.

Here
are two other passages from him:

The
burying-party, picks and shovels in their shaking grasp,

Pause
over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice . . . .

And
then there is this:

Happy
are those who lose imagination:

They
have enough to carry with ammunition.

And
of course if you haven't read his great poem about a
gas attack,
you should do that right now.