America in Afghanistan and Iraq:
- Nathaniel Fick, To Defeat The Taliban: Fight Less, Win More, The Washington Post, 12 August 2007.
Fick discusses his experience in training U.S. and Afghan soldiers in Afghanistan in Counterinsurgency. He explains four "paradoxical" (his term) principles of Counterinsurgency: (1) "The first tenet is that the best weapons don't shoot. Counterinsurgents must excel at finding creative, nonmilitary solutions to military problems." (2) "The second pillar of the academy's curriculum relates to the first: The more you protect your forces, the less safe you may be. To be effective, troops, diplomats and civilian aid workers need to get out among the people." (3) "The third paradox hammered home at the academy is that the more force you use, the less effective you may be." (4) "The academy's final lesson is that tactical success in a vacuum guarantees nothing. Just as it did in Vietnam, the U.S. military could win every battle and still lose the war." - Glenn Greenwald, The truth behind the Pollack-O'Hanlon trip to Iraq: An interview with Michael O'Hanlon highlights the scope and breadth of this P.R. fraud, Salon.com, 12 August 2007.
- British MPs Urge Break With Bush On Iraq, Escalation ‘Not Likely To Succeed’, ThinkProgress.org, 13 August 2007.
Financial System:
- Paul Craig Roberts, In the Hole to China: Uncle Sam, Your Banker Will See You Now ..., CounterPunch.org, 08 August 2007.
- Julian Delasantellis, Central banks' easy virtue, easy money, Asia Times, 13 August 2007.