5:23AM
Reading Nagl's book
Thursday, October 26, 2006 at 5:23AM "Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam."
It is brilliant and written to be read by anyone. I really recommend it. First three chapters on mil reform, Brit mil culture/history and same for U.S. are worth price of book alone.
But rest is even more amazing: everything we've relearned or got smart on in Iraq was previewed by the Brits in Malaya--right down to "ink spots." And every mistake and bad instance of non-learning was previewed in Vietnam.
Going into the book, I feared it would be too dry and academic, but it really is an exciting read for someone trying to think his or her way through this stuff.
Reader Comments (2)
Ironic yesterday I was just reading about Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, who led the Malayan Emergency. He is famous for coining the term "winning hearts and minds". What I found fascinating is that he went to Vietnam and tried to relay to British and the United States his experiences in Malaya and was ignored. Even more fascinating is that the Malayan Emergency was a lot like Iraq in that there were several different insurgent groups that they British were fighting. By most accounts the British seem to have "won" the fight in Malaysia though it took them 12 years.
I will have to get a copy of "Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam." I have heard before that it is a must read.
Templer was a giant in all of this, and Nagl makes that point very well.