Blood Year: The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism

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2014 has the potential to go down as a crucial year in modern world history A resurgent and bellicose Russia took over Crimea and fueled a civil war in Eastern Ukraine Post Saddam Iraq, in many respects a creature of the United States because of the war that began in 2003, lost a third of its territory to an army of hyper violent millennialists The peace process in Israel seemed to completely collapse Finally, after coalescing in Syria as a territorial entity, the Islamic State swept into northern Iraq and through northeastern Syria, attracting legions of recruits from Europe and the Middle East In short, the post Cold War security order that the US had constructed after 1991 seemed to be coming apart at the seams David Kilcullen was one of the architects of America s strategy in the late phases of the second Gulf War, and also spent time in Afghanistan and other hotspots In Blood Year, he provides a wide angle view of the current situation in the Middle East and analyzes how America and the West ended up in such dire circumstances Whereas in 2008 it appeared that the U.S might pull a modest stalemate from the jaws of defeat in Iraq, six years later the situation had reversed After America pulled out of Iraq completely in 2011, the Shi ite president cut Sunnis out of the power structure and allowed Iranian influence to grow And from the debris of Assad s Syria arose an extremist Sunni organization even radical than Al Qaeda Unlike Al Qaeda, ISIS was intent on establishing its own state, and within a remarkably short time they did Interestingly, Kilcullen highlights how embittered former Iraqi Ba athist military officers were key contributors to ISIS s military successes Kilcullen lays much of the blame on Bush s initial decision to invade Iraq which had negative secondary effects in Afghanistan , but also takes Obama to task for simply withdrawing and adopting a leading from behind strategy As events have proven, Kilcullen contends, withdrawal was a fundamentally misguided plan The U.S had uncorked the genie, and it had a responsibility to at least attempt to keep it under control Instead, the U.S is at a point where administration officials state that the losses of Ramadi and Palmyra are manageable setbacks Kilcullen argues that the U.S needs to re engage in the region, whether it wants to or not, because it is largely responsible for the situation that is now unfolding Blood Year is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding not only why the region that the U.S invaded a dozen years ago has collapsed into utter chaos, but also what it can do to alleviate the grim situation. New Read [ Blood Year: The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism ] By [ David Kilcullen ] – kino-fada.fr An incredible, timely book Kilcullen was a major participant in the formation of strategies used in our wars in the Middle East Africa He readily acknowledges the mistakes that we made by concentrating on the theory of disaggregation mainly going after the leaders of Al Qaeda, it was assumed that it would break up the group into smaller entities, which local the local government could deal with, but in reality it just dispersed the group to other areas and allowed them to start up new gr An incredible, timely book Kilcullen was a major participant in the formation of strategies used in our wars in the Middle East Africa He readily acknowledges the mistakes that we made by concentrating on the theory of disaggregation mainly going after the leaders of Al Qaeda, it was assumed that it would break up the group into smaller entities, which local the local government could deal with, but in reality it just dispersed the group to other areas ...Kilcullen is an Australian expert on counterinsurgency who helped the U.S try and salvage the Iraq War, a conflict that he shows no hesitance denouncing as the worst strategic error since Hitler s decision to invade the Soviet Union in WW2 he compares the two scenarios quite compellingly in fact The Blood Year of the title refers to 2014 2015, when ISIS began its rampage through Iraq and Syria and undid whatever fleeting gains the U.S had made in staunching the bleeding that their invasio Kilcullen is an Australian expert on counterinsurgency who helped the U.S try and salvage the Iraq War, a conflict that he shows no hesitance denouncing as the worst strategic error since Hitler s decision to invade the Soviet Union in WW2 he compares the two scenarios quite compellingly in fact The Blood Year of the title refers to 2014 2015, when ISIS began its rampage through Iraq and Syria and undid whatever fleeting gains the U.S had made in staunching the bleeding that their invasion had initiated.Some of the interesting points in here are his description of al Qaeda s operational model, showing how they twist specifically local grievances and try to combine them into one global struggle, despite the often divergent interests of the parties involved ISIS does something similar with its Wilayat model, and Kilcullen s description of leaderless resistance and the d...Kilcullens self reflections and analysis of the current situation in Iraq and Syria is bold and refreshing He presents the Disaggregation strategy designed to counter al Qaida in 2002 03 Painting a somber picture of the future of the region and its spillovers he addresses the lack of western political commitment to develop useful strategies You cannot fight without fighting , our enemies understand that, but do we I enjoyed Kilcullen s strategic thinking and historical overview of MENA de Kilcullens self reflections and analysis of the current situation in Iraq and Syria is bold and refreshing He presents the Disaggregation ...A succinct, if depressing, overview of the collapse of the War on Terror and subsequent rise of ISIS across the Blood Year of 2014 Kilcullen, a brilliant thinker, spreads the blame for the ongoing strategic catastrophe equally across nearly every party involved in containing and combatting ISIS.In sum, Kilcullen argues that Bush s 2003 Iraq invasion destroyed regional partnerships and eventually laid the groundwork necessary for the birth of al Qaeda in Iraq AQI A counter terror strategy t A succinct, if depressing, overview of the collapse of the War on Terror and subsequent rise of ISIS across the Blood Year of 2014 Kilcullen, a brilliant thinker, spreads the blame for the ongoing strategic catastrophe equally across nearly every party involved in containing and combatting ISIS.In sum, Kilcullen argues that Bush s 2003 Iraq invasion destroyed regional partnerships and eventually laid the groundwork necessary for the birth of al Qaeda in Iraq AQI A counter terror strategy tending toward the disag...I don t usually review books I ve read , but putting this out there there s misinformation in this book presented as fact Anwar al awlaki did not radicalize Nidal Hasan through emails like the author states on p.56 Hasans emails to Awlaki went mostly unignored , and Awlaki only came out in praise of him after the shooting The FBI released all the emails between Awlaki Hasan, so this information is easy to find It seems the fact checkers at Oxford Press missed this obvious error O I don t usually review books I ve read , but pu...Revised below in critique David Kilcullen has written a very good book on the rise of ISIS as a military force and the failure of Western counterinsurgency in the period following the success of the surge in Iraq He focuses the book around the breakout of ISIS as a major force in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere over 2014 and 2015 He provides a detailed account of the rise of ISIS following the near extinction of AQI during the surge and provides the context of the contributing factors leading to Revised below in critique David Kilcullen has written a very good book on the rise of ISIS as a military force and the failure of Western counterinsurgency in the period following the success of the surge in Iraq He focuses the book around the breakout of ISIS as a major force in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere over 2014 and 2015 He provides a detailed account of the rise of ISIS following the near extinction of AQI during the surge and provides the context of the contributing factors leading to the growth of ISIS, including the US drawdown from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, the US NATO intervention in Libya, the Syrian civil war, the refugee crisis, and the increasing involvement of Russia inn the region.Kilcullen is the perfect person to write this book He is a soldier, a scholar, and has direct experience with all of the participants in western counterinsurgency warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places He is also a wonderful writer I first encountered his work in The Rel...Well written and expertly analysed look at the absolute cluster the West has created in the Middle East.Two of his quotes are memorable and unfortunately true If Bush was reckless in running into war too quick, Obama was feckless in pulling out too quick.Policy makers need to ask themselves, Am I ready to put flesh against steel to kill their people and lose ours in order to win If the answer is No, then we shouldn t get into these conflicts at all.The Islamic State understands that so do Well written and exper...Kilcullen, an Australian counterterrorism expert, writes about the bloody year of 2014 2015 and how it was linked to American s overreaction to the 9 11 attacks under Bush and to the under reaction to terrorism under Obama.Why I started this book Kilcullen, is an academic with boots on the ground experience, combining theory and practice Always a fascinating read For example, he compared the invasion of Iraq by Bush to the invasion of Russia by Hitler Both were wars of choice, started in the Kilcullen, an Australian counterterrorism expert, writes about the bloody year of 2014 2015 and how it was linked to American s overreaction to the 9 11 attacks under Bush and to the under reaction to terrorism under Obama.Why I started this book Kilcullen, is an academic with boots on the ground experience, combining theory and practice Always a fascinating read For example, he compared the invasion of Iraq by Bush to the invasion of ...Close to five stars Kilcullen has entered the realm of Andrew Bacevich here as a soldier scholar The book s strength lies in Kilcullen s inside out perspective He s deeply informed as an important player in these wars, but removed from the constraints of govt policy His interpretation of events is from a unique and valuable perspective His recommendations for future action are thus troubling, but hard to argue with At the core of Kilcullen s argument is an oft repeated refrain 1 Iraq 200 Close to five stars Kilcullen has entered the realm of Andrew Bacevich here as a soldier scholar The book s strength lies in Kilcullen s inside out perspective He s deeply informed as an important player in these wars, but removed from the constraints of govt policy His interpretation of events is from a unique and valuable perspective His recommendations for future action are thus troubling, but hard to argue with At the core of Kilcullen s argument is an oft repeated refrain 1 Iraq 2003 screwed everything 2 The West s subsequent failure to match actions with lofty rhetoric and unobtainable policy goals has undermined its credibility to control events.And the descripti...Totally depressing and also required reading if you want to understand what is happening in the Middle East, and with the American counter terror effort Blood Year refers to 2015, when basically everything fell apart in the Western fight against terrorism when ISIS overran large parts of Iraq and Syria, and radicalized locals staged attacks in Paris and elsewhere Kilcullen an Australian soldier scholar who became an important part of American war strategy post 9 11 is a very effective Totally depressing and also required reading if you want to understand what is happening in the Middle East, and with the American counter terror effort Blood Year refers to 2015, when basically everything fell apart in the Western fight against terrorism when ISIS overran large parts of Iraq and Syria, and radicalized locals staged attacks in Paris and elsewhere Kilcullen an Australian soldier scholar who became an important part of American war strategy post 9 11 is a very effective writer and analyst He comes across as entirely dispassionate, in the sense that he is willing to admit his own error he had a la...

Blood Year: The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism
  • 16 June 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 312 pages
  • 0190600543
  • David Kilcullen
  • Blood Year: The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism