Chicago Boyz (Free subscription) | 05/31/2008
Abu Muqawama is an excellent blog that is on my daily blog reading list. It focuses on counterinsurgency issues, as well as wider issues in military affairs. I tend to favor it because of the humility of the authors. Often they comment on issues, and are authoritative, yet allow for the fact that ladies and [...]
Outside the Beltway (Free subscription) | 05/30/2008
Andrew Exum confesses to being the man behind the “Abu Muqawama” and resigns his post to spend more time with his family scholarship. I suspect he’ll be back. Copyright © 2008 Outside The Beltway | OTB . This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact...
MountainRunner (Free subscription) | 05/30/2008
Friend Andrew Exum, who can down pitchers of Yuengling just fine, removes the mask and exits stage left . But while Ex's superb near-daily analysis will be gone, we'll still have his serious authorship to read, learn, and comment even if it will be without the snarkiness. Abu Muqawama will continue to be a fine blog under the most-able Charlie and it will continue to be a valuable resource....
Grasping Reality with Both Hands (Free subscription) | 05/20/2008
abu muqawama: Orientalism, reconsidered: Okay, this has little to do with counter-insurgency, but Abu Muqawama was stumped for something to post today and figured he would pass along this interesting review essay from the TLS by Robert Irwin. > So many academics want the arguments presented in Edward Said's Orientalism (1978) to be true. It encourages the reading of novels at an oblique...
SWJ Blog (Free subscription) | 07/02/2008
We received an e-mail several days ago concerning the new American University of Iraq and getting an entry posted here has been at the top of our list… Our partners in the Afghan COIN Academy book-drive have done so and with the kind permission of Erin Simpson (aka Charlie) at Abu Muqawama we bring you the following – with a hearty SWJ endorsement of helping stock the University’s library. Most...
Headline Junky (Free subscription) | 06/23/2008
Dr. iRack over at Abu Muqawama has emerged recently as an authoritative analyst of the Iraq War (and everything that term implies), so I recommend this rundown of the current situation that he posted over the weekend. Without getting too much into the details of his post (which is pretty comprehensive), it's reassuring to see that I'm not the only one who finds it difficult to make any meaningful...
SWJ Blog (Free subscription) | 06/24/2008
SWJ echoes Abu Muqawama's hearty congratulations to Colonel / Doctor Thomas X. Hammes (USMC Ret.) who successfully defended his doctoral dissertation last week. Job well done Dr. T.X.! COMPLEX OPERATIONS MNF-I Commander’s COIN Guidance - Will Hartley, Insurgency Research Group The Small Wars Journal has made available an excellent COIN primer produced by the Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I)...
Firedoglake (Free subscription) | 06/25/2008
... other. In any event, get ready for the inevitable -- and inevitably valuable -- response pieces at Abu Muqawama and Small Wars Journal . Guys?
SWJ Blog (Free subscription) | 06/22/2008
... is able to appoint Mahdi Army officers into command positions. Big Gains in Iraq? - Dr. iRack, Abu Muqawama Dr. iRack took note of two good pieces on security progress today, one in the WaPo and the other in the NYT . The Times article is an especially comprehensive and balanced overview. Riffing off that piece, we can pause and take stock of the emerging security and political landscape...
The Captain's Journal (Free subscription) | 06/17/2008
... insurgency. His background comes out in his analysis, and his blind spot is Iran. Dr iRack at Abu Muqawama (or Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution) has a lot to say about this subject, here and elsewhere. Says O’Hanlon, among a great many other things, “Maliki’s government could call our bluff and cave into (sic) the delusion that they don’t need us.” Kazimi, discussing the campaign...
SWJ Blog (Free subscription) | 06/11/2008
More on the debate that has played out (and is ongoing) here at the Small Wars Journal, on the Small Wars Council discussion board and the counterinsurgency blog Abu Muqawama. For background see Eating Soup with a Spoon by LTC Gian Gentile at Armed Forces Journal: The Army's new manual on counterinsurgency operations (COIN), in many respects, is a superb piece of doctrinal writing. The manual,...
Westhawk (Free subscription) | 06/09/2008
Last year, the U.S. and Iraqi governments began serious negotiations on two agreements, a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and a Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA). “Dr. iRack” at the blog Abu Muqawama is following these negotiations . In many ways, the SOFA and SFA negotiations are the culminating event of the American expedition into Iraq. Or at least the U.S. government would like these...
Blood & Treasure (Free subscription) | 06/02/2008
A couple of days ago, Andrew Exum outed himself as the begetter of the Abu Muqawama counterinsurgency blog. Alex writes: I'd read and been impressed by Exum's work on Hezbollah and Iraq, but I'd never have thought it was him,...
The Skeptic الشكاك (Free subscription) | 06/02/2008
... Horny Qutb : ‘Aqoul highlights Sayyid Qutb’s rhapsody on the seductive charms of American women. Abu Muqawama is dead. Long live Abu Muqawama : Friend Andrew Exum outs himself and bows out of the blog on counterinsurgency he started. The blog continues, maintained by three/four contributors.
The Lede (Free subscription) | 05/30/2008
Abu Muqawama turns out to have a real name and track record.
