The Many Faces of Asian Security Book

This was not a book per se but a compendium of papers on various subjects regarding warfare, evolutions in warfare, intelligence and many other various topics related to military strategy and operations. I did not enjoy this one as much as others due to the various authors that sometimes had diverging opinions and the relative hap hazardous way of some of the papers. Yet, many of the topics were refreshing even though they were dated.

The main aspects of the papers were regarding the need to move forward with reorganization and realignment. Warnings on reliance of too much technology were apparent in all topics. Our admirals and generals love their gadgets. Rice bowls were another topic which hits close to my heart. This is my rice bowl and mine alone. I will not share...no I won't! That attitude has cost more lives than were lost at Stalingrad. Transparency and sharing knowledge amongst organizations and the lack thereof was a consistent topic. We do play for the same team correct? Many do not know that the CIA was well aware the 9/11 hijacker terrorists were in the US. They did not share that information with the FBI. We all know what happened there. Many more frustrations about the derelictions of the intelligence community regarding their 9/11 failure and their ineptitude regarding Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction claims were very interesting. I use the word dereliction on purpose. They simply were. Two of the greatest intelligence derelictions caused the United States the greatest harm since Pearl Harbor. Those derelictions were essentially criminal in nature. What would have happened to those responsible if this dereliction had happened in the Soviet Union, China, or North Korea? What if the lack of WMDs was known and Iraq was invaded anyway? Very interesting questions.

Overall, I recommend this one to all professionals based on the failures of our organizations. We must learn from our failures or we are doomed to repeat them. Or are we already?