Read and Download eBook Full
Author: Robert K. Brigham
Publisher: Public Affairs
Published: 2008-07-22
Total Pages: 241
ISBN-13: 1586484990
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe book that answers the question on everybody's mind--with wisdom and authority that cannot be ignored
Author: Lloyd C. Gardner
Publisher: New Press, The
Published: 2008-06-01
Total Pages: 336
ISBN-13: 1595583459
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom the launch of the "Shock and Awe" invasion in March 2003 through President George W. Bush's declaration of "Mission Accomplished" two months later, the war in Iraq was meant to demonstrate definitively that the United States had learned the lessons of Vietnam. This new book makes clear that something closer to the opposite is true--that U.S. foreign policy makers have learned little from the past, even as they have been obsessed with the "Vietnam Syndrome." Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam brings together the country's leading historians of the Vietnam experience. Examining the profound changes that have occurred in the country and the military since the Vietnam War, celebrated historians Marilyn B. Young and Lloyd Gardner have assembled a distinguished group to consider how America has again found itself in the midst of a war in which there is no chance of a speedy victory or a sweeping regime change. Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam explores how the "Vietnam Syndrome" fits into the contemporary debate about the purpose and exercise of American power in the world. With contributions from some of the most renowned analysts of American history and foreign policy, this is an essential recovery of the forgotten and misbegotten lessons of Vietnam. Contributors: Christian G. Appy Andrew J. Bacevich David Elliott Alex Danchev Elizabeth L. Hillman Gabriel Kolko Walter LaFeber Wilfried Mausbach Alfred W. McCoy Gareth Porter John Prados Marilyn B. Young
Author: Shannon Cain
Publisher:
Published: 2008
Total Pages: 172
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKLiterary Nonfiction. Poetry. Women's Studies. POWDER brings us poetry and personal essays from 19 women who have served in all branches of the United States military. Contributors to POWDER have seen conflicts from Somalia to Vietnam to Desert Shield. Many are book authors and winners of writing awards and fellowships; several hold MFAs from some of the country's finest programs. The essays and poems here are inspired by an attempted rape by a Navy SEAL; an album of photos of the enemy dead; heat exhaustion in Mosul; a first jump from an airplane; fending off advances from Iraqi men; interrogating suspected terrorists; the contemplation of suicide; and a poignant connection with women and children in Bosnia. Their writing exposes the frontline intersection of women and soldiering, describing from a steely-eyed female perspective the horror, the humor, the cultural clashes and the fear.
Author: James H. Lebovic
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2019-03-07
Total Pages: 257
ISBN-13: 0190935332
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe United States national-security establishment is vast, yet the United States has failed to meet its initial objectives in almost every one of its major, post-World War II conflicts. Of these troubled efforts, the US wars in Vietnam (1965-73), Iraq (2003-11), and Afghanistan (2001-present) stand out for their endurance, resource investment, human cost, and miscalculated decisions. Because overarching policy goals are distant and open to interpretation, policymakers ground their decisions in the immediate world of short-term objectives, salient tasks, policy constraints, and fixed time schedules. As a consequence, they exaggerate the benefits of their preferred policies, ignore the accompanying costs and requirements, and underappreciate the benefits of alternatives. In Planning to Fail, James H. Lebovic argues that a profound myopia helps explain US decision-making failures. In each of the wars explored in this book, he identifies four stages of intervention. First and foremost, policymakers chose unwisely to go to war. After the fighting began, they inadvisably sought to extend or expand the mission. Next, they pursued the mission, in abbreviated form, to suboptimal effect. Finally, they adapted the mission to exit from the conflict. Lebovic argues that US leaders were effectively planning to fail whatever their hopes and thoughts were at the time the intervention began. Decision-makers struggled less than they should have, even when conditions allowed for good choices. Then, when conditions on the ground left them with only bad choices, they struggled furiously and more than could ever matter. Policymakers allowed these wars to sap available capabilities, push US forces to the breaking point, and exhaust public support. They finally settled for terms of departure that they (or their predecessors) would have rejected at the start of these conflicts. Offering a far-ranging and detailed analysis, this book identifies an unmistakable pattern of failure and highlights lessons we can learn from it.
Author: Jeffrey Record
Publisher:
Published: 2014-07-04
Total Pages: 76
ISBN-13: 9781312329881
DOWNLOAD EBOOKU.S. political and military diffi culties in Iraq have prompted comparisons to the American war in Vietnam. How, in fact, do the two wars compare? What are the differences and similarities, and what insights can be gained from examining them? Does the Vietnam War have instructive lessons for those dealing with today's challenges in Iraq, or is that war simply irrelevant? In the pages that follow, two highly qualifi ed analysts address these questions. Dr. Jeffrey Record, formerly a civilian pacifi cation advisor in Vietnam and author of books on both the Vietnam and Iraq wars, and W. Andrew Terrill, author and co-author of several SSI studies on Iraq, conclude that the military dimensions of the two confl icts bear little comparison. Among other things, the sheer scale of the Vietnam War in terms of forces committed and losses incurred dwarfs that of the Iraq War.
Author: Spencer D. Bakich
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2014-03-20
Total Pages: 344
ISBN-13: 022610785X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKCommon and destructive, limited wars are significant international events that pose a number of challenges to the states involved beyond simple victory or defeat. Chief among these challenges is the risk of escalation—be it in the scale, scope, cost, or duration of the conflict. In this book, Spencer D. Bakich investigates a crucial and heretofore ignored factor in determining the nature and direction of limited war: information institutions. Traditional assessments of wartime strategy focus on the relationship between the military and civilians, but Bakich argues that we must take into account the information flow patterns among top policy makers and all national security organizations. By examining the fate of American military and diplomatic strategy in four limited wars, Bakich demonstrates how not only the availability and quality of information, but also the ways in which information is gathered, managed, analyzed, and used, shape a state’s ability to wield power effectively in dynamic and complex international systems. Utilizing a range of primary and secondary source materials, Success and Failure in Limited War makes a timely case for the power of information in war, with crucial implications for international relations theory and statecraft.
Author: James A. Stone
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Published: 2010-10
Total Pages: 263
ISBN-13: 1437934935
DOWNLOAD EBOOKContents: (1) Interrogation of Japanese POWs in WW2: U.S. Response to a Formidable Challenge. Military leaders, often working with civilian counterparts, created and implemented successful strategies, building on cultural and linguistic skills that substantially aided the war effort for the U.S. and its Allies. (2) Unveiling Charlie: U.S. Interrogators¿ Creative Successes Against Insurgents. Highlights the importance of a deep understanding of the language, psychol., and culture of adversaries and potential allies in other countries. (3) The Accidental Interrogator: A Case Study and Review of U.S. Army Special Forces Interrogations in Iraq. Offers recommendations that are likely to increase the effectiveness of U.S. interrogation practices in the field. Illus.
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2010-03-31
Total Pages: 193
ISBN-13: 0309152852
DOWNLOAD EBOOKNearly 1.9 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001. Many service members and veterans face serious challenges in readjusting to normal life after returning home. This initial book presents findings on the most critical challenges, and lays out the blueprint for the second phase of the study to determine how best to meet the needs of returning troops and their families.
Author: Raymond M. Scurfield
Publisher: Algora Publishing
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 244
ISBN-13: 0875864864
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA nationally renowned PTSD authority reveals the psychiatric impact of war on soldiers and veterans, dented or minimized by government and the military. Through efforts to treat veterans of past conflicts he illustrates the inevitability of lifelong psychiatric scars from today's conflicts as well.
Author: Gary R. Hess
Publisher: JHU Press
Published: 2009-03
Total Pages: 345
ISBN-13: 0801891248
DOWNLOAD EBOOKand the elder Bush, George W. Bush's White House actively sought to change the international order through preemptive war and aggressive democracy building." --Book Jacket.
