E. L. Koba wrote:


To be fair, only Western (and in particular British and American) armies have a proper NCO system. Pretty much any other military evaluated is going to come up lacking in that regard. The ability for to have important decision and initiative spawn at lower levels really is an unfair advantage we have.

To call a few random terrorists who have figured out how to blow themselves up "A new way of war" is giving them way to much fucking credit. It's more like a childs tantrum. Do they have realistic political goals? Are their operations in any way related to acheiving those goals? Do they have any chance in hell? No. They are naive and angry and just want to lash out.

Even if you disagree with his conclusions (which you will), there are enough anecdotes and stories that you will probably get something out of it. The real weakness (he has the same problem in From Beirut to Jerusalem) is that he runs out of steam somewhat about 2/3rds of the way through and starts repeating stuff and telling stories about his great-aunt Mable or whatever.