2008-05-08T15:59:11Z tag:blog.washingtonpost.com,2008:/earlywarning//75 Copyright (c) 2008, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2008-05-08T15:59:11Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-08:/earlywarning/2008/05/a_secret_afghanistan_mission_p.html

Those predicting war with Iran or some Bush-Cheney October surprise attack on Tehran are constantly looking for signs of military preparations: a B-52 bomber that mistakenly takes off from North Dakota with nuclear-armed cruise missiles; a second or third aircraft carrier entering the Persian Gulf; a B-1 crashing in Qatar. Since the most likely path to war with Iran is not Marines storming the beach but a strike on nuclear facilities and "regime" targets, signs...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-05-07T16:14:35Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-07:/earlywarning/2008/05/the_iran_consensus_grows_more.html

As I've noted, the three candidates share a consensus, backed by the national security community, that Iran is the new strategic threat. It is radical, anti-American, anti-Israel, terrorist-supporting, nuclear-armed and provocative. But just because this is the consensus view does not mean it is right. The danger, regardless of who is the next president, is that officials have already begun military preparations, and shaping public opinion, to build momentum for the inevitable....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-05-06T22:04:59Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-05:/earlywarning/2008/05/another_general_cashing_in.html

Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the Iraq commander from June 2003 to June 2004, is the latest soldier to head into the media spotlight in retirement. Coming tomorrow to a bookstore near you is "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story." So we are supposed to listen to the guy who presided over Iraq's implosion and Abu Ghraib?...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-05-02T15:56:18Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-02:/earlywarning/2008/05/asking_the_wrong_questions_at.html

It was a big day for apologies to the troops yesterday. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates apologized once again for the sub-standard treatment the war wounded receive, security rules are being modified to avoid the stigma that mental health treatment disqualifies one for a clearance, and the Secretary labeled the barracks conditions of soldiers in North Carolina "appalling." Though it is true that a Secretary of the Army and a few generals and other officers...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-05-01T16:13:08Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-01:/earlywarning/2008/05/war_with_iran_that_will_be_for_1.html

There was a moment in April 1990, when Saddam Hussein was appearing on the covers of all of the news magazines, threatening to "burn" half of Israel and brandishing new chemical and biological weapons, when we should have known that the United States would eventually go to war with Iraq. It was almost four months before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and most people hadn't thought much about the country, but war gamers and planners in...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-30T10:05:50Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-30:/earlywarning/2008/04/unmanned_and_dangerous_the_fut.html

The controversy over the availability of unmanned reconnaissance and strike drones in Iraq and Afghanistan has become one of those quintessential Washington dramas that plays while Rome burns. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates is pushing for more drones to support the troops, while the self-interested Air Force is resisting. The false solution, as I have written, is as simple as more equipment and more money. Oh, and Rome? We're still going nowhere in Iraq...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-28T15:28:59Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-28:/earlywarning/2008/04/in_the_war_against_terrorism_i.html

Finding a "needle in a needle stack": That's how the head of Army intelligence training described the new challenge of spying in the war on terrorism. Searching for a "needle in a haystack" would be much easier, he says, because at least "there's a visible difference." In a place like Iraq, the needles are terrorists and their support infrastructure, such as small-scale works where improvised explosive devices are manufactured. Very little is behind the walls...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-25T15:38:35Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-25:/earlywarning/2008/04/syrias_nuclear_weapon_so_what.html

The "news" that North Korea and Syria were cooperating in the development of nuclear weapons, a "charge" the Bush administration made yesterday, is not news to anyone who has been closely following the September incident in which Israel mysteriously attacked a remote facility in Syria. It may not even be true. I say may not be true because it is important to understand that the intelligence -- both American and Israeli -- is limited and...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-24T13:56:47Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-24:/earlywarning/2008/04/king_david_at_the_helm.html

Gen. David H. Petraeus -- "King David," the man behind the surge, the author of the new counter-insurgency strategy, the savior of Iraq, the photogenic Washington star -- has been nominated to be the top U.S. commander in the Middle East. It is the expected and only sensible choice for the Pentagon: Petraeus had already been in line for a reward and promotion and there really isn't anyone else who would want to take the...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-23T13:30:52Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-23:/earlywarning/2008/04/gates_moderate_to_a_fault.html

As secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates has certainly changed the overall tone of civil-military relations from that of his prickly and arrogant predecessor. Friendly and not prone to gaffes or mistakes, Gates exudes Washington moderation. Given his short tenure (by the end of the Bush administration he will barely have been in the job two years), it will be hard to criticize him for not getting much done. He inherited a multitude of conflicts,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-22T13:46:50Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-22:/earlywarning/2008/04/television_generals_make_for_a.html

From 1999 until the end of last year, I was a military analyst for NBC News, one of the few non-generals in that role. During the wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, I worked with generals who were retained by NBC and MSNBC and found them mostly to be valuable. I saw the tasks they did behind the scenes, from educating correspondents and producers to facilitating access to the military. The New York Times' investigation...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-16T11:35:14Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-16:/earlywarning/2008/04/beware_military_calls_for_bala.html

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke yesterday at the Heritage Foundation and gave a tour of the strategic horizon beyond Iraq. The word he stressed was "balance." It is one of those Washington words that on close examination is meaningless. Like most military leaders and national-security sages, Mullen embraces the reality of global unpredictability and argues that the military needs more resources to confront it. But unpredictability is not code...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-15T16:50:52Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-15:/earlywarning/2008/04/john_mccains_nightmare_in_iraq.html

Last week's hearing on Iraq may have showcased three presidential candidates but one showed himself completely out of touch with the American people: John McCain. The retired Navy captain and Arizona senator may claim superior knowledge of Iraq, but his description of the situation is so colored by his personal legacy of sacrifice and betrayal, of a certain view of Washington ("four years of mismanaged war") and of the American people (self-indulgent hippies and elitists,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-14T16:25:06Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-14:/earlywarning/2008/04/for_the_american_military_iraq.html

The handsome and articulate Gen. David Petraeus has come and gone, surviving the Washington insurgency. He triumphed on the surge, succeeded in obtaining his "pause," and, intentionally or not, cleared his own path out of Iraq, passing the baton of command on to the next Medal of Freedom winner. But his victory has no traction. The almost universal battle cry remains: "When we are getting out?" The military, which a year ago was talking about...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin 2008-04-10T15:12:55Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-04-10:/earlywarning/2008/04/the_military_commands_bush.html

The decision to reduce the length of Army combat tours in Iraq is an internal matter of policy for the Pentagon. It doesn't require presidential approval. So why does the administration make such a show of President Bush announcing it? The White House will announce today that soldiers deploying will in the future have 12-month combat tours instead of the current 15. The decision, administration officials say, is meant to repair a damaged military stressed...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

William M. Arkin