Sledkisti itibaren 8530 Rostock, Avusturya
I was fascinated with Jayanti's story - both by how extraordinary and how relatable it seemed. I cannot help but be in awe of her for breaking free of her past and building such a beautiful life for herself. One thing that gnaws at me: when she mentioned that her original manuscript was almost twice the size of the final book, I found myself wishing that the editing process hadn't been quite so aggressive. I think her story is one that merits more details/background/context - not less.
Galula and Trinquier on Insurgency and Counterinsurgency (from a longer paper for Bruce Hoffman's SEST-520 Counterinsurgency class) David Galula and Roger Trinquier: both French officers, both warriors through the Second World War, the French Indochinese War, and the Algerian War for Independence. In 1964, each wrote a manual on the lessons he had learned about the new form of war fought in the last two of these conflicts. Called “revolutionary warfare” by Galula and “modern warfare” by Trinquier, it spanned the spectrum from a Maoist-inspired, mostly rural insurgency in Indochina, to a mixed urban and rural insurgency in Algeria. Each author strived to abstract his experience in order to transform the conventional military and the political establishment and to meet the demands of counterinsurgency warfare and to achieve victory. While the two mostly agreed on definitions and implications, they began to diverge on the question of strategy and tactics. Trinquier tends to focus on the tactical and operational level, and although he acknowledges the importance of politics in counterinsurgency, he tends to address military issues. Galula examines larger strategic issues, and describes both military and political actions that are necessary for a successful counterinsurgency campaign. Yet whatever their differences, both have effective advice for the counterinsurgent, and both of the books should be used in conjunction when planning and preparing for counterinsurgency operations.
This guy tells some pretty great stories from everywhere from Turkey to western China. made me want to get back into turkey.
Each author is brilliant alone, combined they are great. "Just imagine how terrible it might have been if we'd been at all competent."
Very good book. Sure to make you cry. Would recommend to anyone.
read 1/1/07 reread in audio 11/25/13 reread in audio 7/28/15