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WAR IN THE MODERN WORLD

Welcome to the website!

Most of the papers here are from my studies at King's College London in an online "programme" for mid-career British Army officers called War in the Modern World. About half were indeed British Army, including a captain who deployed to Afghanistan midway through the four years. (Alas, upon his return he dropped out of the course, left the army, and began to study law instead.) The rest of us were from other militaries or civilian life, from a Danish pilot to an assistant to the prime minister of Singapore. I learned a great deal, and these web pages are to share it more broadly.

But first, my thoughts over the past few weeks:

May 1: A Jew-hater in the state of Maine

No Jews have had their throats cut at Kennebunkport, but it's probably just a matter of time. Maine's Democratic governor has dropped her bid for the US Senate nomination, so the coast is clear for the Man With the Nazi Tattoo to become the nominee. Indeed, Chuck Schumer -- himself a Jew! -- has pledged millions of dollars to support the Jew-hater in the November contest against the decent and moderate Susan Collins. I plan to send her a thousand dollars and I hope some of you will do the same.

April 30: From Bondi Beach to Golders Green

Two "visibly Jewish" men were stabbed yesterday in Golders Green in north London. The attacker was a Somali immigrant, apparently recruited by an Iranian program that targets Brits to do Iran's dirty work.

Golder's Green! If there ever was a prettier name for a suburb, it cab only be rivaled by Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, where 15 people were murdered in a first-day-of-Hanukkah celebration last year. The victims were mostly Jews, including several rabbis and an elderly Holocaust survivor. The "alleged gunmen" were a Muslim immigrant from India and his Australian-born son. No word on how they were recruited.

Not entirely unrelated, "Mohammed" (variously spelled) was the most popular name for male newborns in England and Wales last year.

April 29: King Charles Tiptoes Into the Breech

Well, Charles III's address to Congress was a bit short of what Winston Churchill would have achieved, but perhaps it was right-sized, reflecting Britain's much-diminished role in Europe and the world. (His country today, including reserves and Gurkha mercenaries, can muster about half the number of British soldiers who were rescued from Dunkirk in the spring of 1940.)

The king wisely pointed out that the only time NATO's common-defense article has been exercised was to support the US after 9/ll: 457 Brits died in Afghanistan, along with 159 Canadians, 90 Frenchmen, 63 Germans, 53 Italians, 44 Poles, 44 Danes, 41 Australians, and troops from 23 other nations. "Today," he added, "... that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine and her most courageous people."

We keep hearing that President Trump has a curious affection for the British royal family, including King Charles. Let's hope that the king's visit will remind him that we too have a stake in supporting Ukraine against its monstrous invader.

April 24: The Warmth of Trump's Collectivism

We are fast becoming Leninism 2.0, what with Mayor Mamdami promising a $30 million dollar city-owned supermarket in East Harlem, not far from a capitalist Aldi store that probably cost about $10 million. How will that work out? (The Babylon Bee suggests that, if you need a loaf of bread, you'd better get in line right now.)

Meanwhile, in DC, President Trump is thinking of buying Spirit Airlines. What could possibly go wrong with a federally-owned budget carrier? Not to worry! Unlike New York's Bolshevik mayor, our president doesn't plan to run Spirit for the long run. "We'd be getting it virtually debt free," he explains. "They have some good aircraft, some good assets, and when the price of oil goes down, we'll sell it for a profit."

When Lenin eased off on the Bolshevism, he called it the New Economic Program, and the NEP actually worked for a time. Then came the warmth of Stalin: if you didn't work, you didn't eat, and the workers didn't eat much because the shelves were usually empty. Let's hope the price of oil comes down soon!

April 12: Hungary is back in Europe

Victor Orban was trounced today by a guy name Magyar, which is kind of neat because "magyar" means -- Hungarian. Not only that, but his party, founded just a couple years ago, seems to have won two-thirds of the seats in parliament. Since Hungary is still a democracy, despite 16 years of Orban's rule and his sly changes to the government, Prime Minister Magyar should be able to do just about anything he wants. Let's hope that means distancing himself and his country from Moscow, warming up to Ukraine next door, and quit taking advantage of the EU's and NATO's effective veto, which Orban has been using on Putin's behalf.

April 11: A one-sided cease-fire

What's a cease-fire when only one side ceases fire, and how does it differ from a surrender?

April 9: A cease-fire is not a victory

Messrs Trump and Hegseth will no doubt spin it as a dazzling victory, but I'm sure the New York Times and CNN will not, and the mullahs in Tehran have their own spin upon the events of Tuesday. Note that "enrichment" means purifying uranium to the state where it can be made into nuclear bombs. I've boldfaced that and a few other notable claims:

"Iran has achieved a great victory and forced the criminal United States to accept its ten-point plan.

"In this plan, the United States has, in principle, committed to non-aggression; the continuation of Iran s control over the Strait of Hormuz; acceptance of enrichment; the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions; the termination of all United Nations Security Council and Board of Governors resolutions; compensation to Iran; the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region; and the cessation of war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic resistance in Lebanon. We congratulate all the people of Iran on this victory and emphasize that until the details of this victory are finalized, continued resilience and prudence by officials, and the preservation of unity and solidarity among the Iranian people, remain necessary."

April 7: A brilliant, brave, and heartening rescue

The New York Times has a mostly wonderful account this morning about the "Wizzo" colonel snatched from his hiding place in a rocky crevice atop a 7000-foot ridge in Iran. Like the kidnapping of Venezuela's dictator three months ago, it was a masterpiece of high-tech special ops. More than that, it was a tribute to the American military pledge to "leave no man behind." (Once a boast of the US Marines, it has since spread service-wide.) Bravo to the unnamed weapons system officer, to the US Air Force, to our special operations teams, to the CIA, and yes, to Donald Trump and his so-called War Department.

But the NYT, being what it is these days, then concluded its spellbinding story with four paragraphs ranting against Trump and the war. Come on, Timespersons! Couldn't you have celebrated an American feat of arms, just this once?

April 5: Cheap at the price

Our pundits keep whining about how much money we're spending to punish Iran, with the latest being the loss of two special-ops aircraft that cost about $115 million each. They were destroyed on the ground during the mission to rescue an American airman shot down 36 hours earlier. Cheap at the price!

The C-130J Commando is an extraordinary update of the four-engine Lockheed Hercules transport. It can be refueled in flight, and in turn can refuel helicopters and other aircraft on the rescue mission. It's armed with Hellfire missiles and a rapid-firing 30mm cannon, can deploy parachute troops at high and low altitude, and is able to land and take off from a short runway. That we would expend two of them to rescue one man speaks well of us.

April 2: Back to the moon

With a properly diverse crew aboard, and a perhaps symbolic Roman numeral after her name, the moonship Artemis launched yesterday on a grand figure-eight that, if nothing goes wrong, will take her crew farther into space than humans have ever gone before, looping around the far side of the moon. The last time we set out in that direction, in the 1960s, we were in a race with Soviet Russia; today the great competitor is China. Artemis is an all-of-enterprise spacecraft, with contributions by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northop Grumman, and Airbus. Godspeed to her and her crew!

The essays (in more or less chronological order)