Steven Pressfield's Blog, page 145

COIN in a Tribal Society: an interview with William S. "Mac" McCallister

William S. "Mac" McCallister is a retired military officer, a U.S. Army major, who served in numerous special operations assignments specializing in civil-military, psychological and information operations, with focuses in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

I was introduced to Mac a few weeks ago, when he forwarded to Maj. Jim Gant his paper "COIN and Irregular Warfare in a Tribal Society," which he'd written in 2007, and which focuses on Iraq. Mac was in Iraq around the same time Maj. Gant...

Happy Christmas/Hannukah/New Year!

My wish is that our readers are taking this season off, just like I am.  I do want to take this moment, though, to say special thanks to the friends and partners who helped get this blog off the ground six months ago and whose hard work has kept it aloft ever since.

Chief Ajmal Khan Zazai, right, greets Haji Marjan, Tribal Chief and member of the tribal council in Zazi

Extraordinary thanks to Amanda Tunnell, who started everything; to Jeff Simon and Printer Bowler, who designed everything; and ...

Writing Wednesdays #21: Sticking Points

Have you ever hit the wall? I have. Over and over. On any project–I don't care how dazzlingly it starts out–inevitably the truck runs into a lake of goo.

Here's what I've learned about sticking points.

Why there'll always be an England

First, though they feel like defeats, sticking points are actually good signs. A sticking point means we've arrived at a threshold. We're on the brink of moving to a higher level. That's the good news. The bad news is that when Resistance gets wind of our...

Guest Blog by Andrew Lubin: Let the Afghan Army Fight

[Again, we're pleased to have this fresh post from independent correspondent Andrew Lubin, who has just returned from six weeks in Afghanistan, where he was embedded with Army and Marine troops and spent time with their Afghan National Army counterparts. Here's Part Two of Prof. Lubin's report.:]

Training the Afghans how to shoot and move is the easy part. A typical Afghan soldier can probably beat an American tri-athlete up a steep hill; add in the flak, Kevlar and other equipment our troops...

Interview w/Tribal Chief #11: Pakistan, continued

SP: Chief Zazai, last week we were talking about Pakistan and you said there were in fact four Pakistans: the bureaucrats who are always in power, the current elected government, the army, and finally what you called the "Shadowy government" of ex-ISI and army officers who exert tremendous unseen influence.

This week let's get local and focus on your home district, the Zazi Valley in Paktia province in Afghanistan, where you are the paramount chief of eleven Pashtun tribes. You have said in...

Writing Wednesdays #20: Giving It Away

[Apologies to our "One Tribe" readers--and to Andrew Lubin, whose post was slated for today. We had to move up Wednesday's Writing Post to today.]

I know Giving It Away is supposed to work as a web marketing strategy, bringing in new customers. (Like when rock bands offer free downloads of their songs and the new listeners then go out and buy the group's CDs or attend their concerts.) I've tried this. I must confess that so far the only part I've mastered is giving it away. But there's one...

Interview w/Tribal Chief #10: Pakistan

SP: Chief Zazai, I'd like to talk to you today on the subject of Pakistan. More than any other aspect of the Afghan conflict, I think, the subject of Pakistani involvement is confusing to Americans. Even extremely well-versed observers ask, "Whose side is Pakistan on?" You, more than anyone I know, are in a position to really "tell it like it is." So let me ask you first, what do you think is the Pakistani agenda in the current Afghan conflict? What does the government of Pakistan want?

Chief...

Writing Wednesdays #19: Having A Practice

Last Wednesday I wrote a post called "Self-Doubt." It shared a rough patch I was going through on the book I'm working on now. I put it out there because I wanted other writers and artists (who know this already but perhaps needed a little reminder, as I do) to remember that they aren't alone when they themselves struggle with this demon. People wrote in. I want to say thanks to all of them, to those friends and trench-mates who said thanks and who offered me encouragement. I appreciate it.

One Tribe At A Time #10: A Report from embedded journalist Andrew Lubin

[We'll be hearing again from Maj. Jim Gant in three weeks, but for this Monday and the next, I'm very pleased and honored to feature a "report from the trenches" from independent foreign correspondent Andrew Lubin, who has just returned from six weeks in Afghanistan where he was embedded with Army and Marine troops. Mr. Lubin's son Phil is a Marine artilleryman; Andy loves the troops; nothing gives him greater pleasure than to get out there in the tall cane with young Marines and soldiers...

Interview w/Tribal Chief #9: Thoughts on Corruption

SP: Chief Zazai, I'd love to get your take today on the subject of corruption, because so much has been written about it recently in the American press–that cleaning up the Karzai government has become a major priority of the new Obama plan, that benchmarks will now be enforced and so on. The Western media have reported that corruption is simply a part of Afghan life, that it can never be eradicated. What do you say to this? Is it true? Is there a tribal component to corruption?

Chief Zazai...