Difficult to follow the theme through the book

books:

	• Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror Thomas McInerney Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2006 - 212 pages average customer review:based on 42 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

great read

I really enjoyed this book. It is a well written, quick read, that makes you proud of our military efforts overseas.

The naked truth

Speaking as an American: Our daily world is full of a tremendous variety of stimulation factors. We have the unparalleled luxury of selecting what we want to experience and what we prefer to believe, no matter how much influence of authority and/or domination we endure in our personal lives. Want to find out how that may end in a veritable flash?

When you read this book, your sense of awareness of our "status" as American citizens/targets becomes quite acute, especially if you already acknowledge that our security -- our precious cocoon -- is quite different from what we thought prior to the wake up provided by 9/11 events and aftershocks. A very special thank you to the authors for providing this type of insight. Are the decision makers listening?

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Some good bits

The book was fairly thin and I got through it pretty quick (that may have also been do to the Iced Cafe Americano I was drinking).

The book makes no mention of, nor does it acknowledge anything like 4GW. All of the commentary on US Forces is 3GW related. I didn't really find that part of the book interesting or useful. The suggestion that the Army Reserves and National Guard should be heavy forces (and not what I think: Military police, engineers, civil affairs, intel/counterintel, and logistics) is just one example.

It did find several of the non-armed forces ideas interesting:

* A new Five Freedoms as a global statement of values
* reform of US Diplomatic efforts
* Allow rapid appointment of vacant house seat in case of national emergency
* Method for emergency succession of federal judges to Supreme Court vacancies in case of national emergency
* Disperse Federal Agencies geographically across the US
* Lay out specifically the rules and powers for Executive Branch to avoid confusion (and Lawfare opportunities, I think)
* Special Terrorism Courts

I like the idea of Global Values/Aspiration statement like FDR's 4 Freedoms (of speech, from fear, from wants, of religion). The authors suggest the following Five Freedoms:

1. Freedom of Education
2. Freedom of Economy
3. Freedom of Information
4. Freedom of Person
5. Freedom of Governance

This was the strongest idea in the book. I have been mulling over the need of the west and it allies and potential allies to have shared core values that they can rally around. FDR's Four Freedom just didn't seem to be quite right and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights is too lengthy to memorize. The author's Five Freedoms are short, get to the point, don't exclude allies and potential allies and work well as a meme.

The other part of the book I liked was a the short section on Special Terrorist Courts (an idea I have blogged on before). Here are the highlights:

* create special federal terrorist courts
* Three judge panel that presides over the trial and acts as the jury
* Special rules of procedure to protect witnesses and intelligence
* provides security for judges and prosecutors
* Another panel of judges picks the defense attorney(s) from a vetted pool (I am thinking a sort of Special Terrorism Courts Bar)

Lastly, the book had a section on dealing with Iran. Here is the stated plan:

1. Get a US Nuclear deterrence and shield in place - Regional Nuclear Umbrella
2. Train a Free Iran Guerrilla Force
3. Unleash US Air-power
4. Coastal Navel/Marine Raids
5. Raids from Iraq along the boarder
6. Call on Iranian Citizens to rise up in rebellion

It sounded like a Persian Bay of Pigs plan to me.

It thought is was strange that the military specific parts of a book written by military guys were the weakest.

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Endgame

This is a must read for anyone concerned about the war on terror. If you want an honest understanding of what is going on in Iraq. Both of these guys are retired generals. They were at the forefront before they retired and have kept abreast of the worldwide situation since. They have a clear understanding of what has happened in the middle east and what needs to happen.

Difficult to follow the theme through the book

These dual authors had a real story to tell but seemed to have some difficulty saying it clearly enough

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

This book will break news and dramatically challenge assumptions about what the American military can achieve with high-tech weaponry--even more that it did in Iraq--and what must be done-- more than people think--if the War on Terror is to be won.

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