The heart and the fist

Greitens, Eric . (2011). The heart and the fist: the education of a humanitarian, the making of a Navy SEAL. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

This book is mentioned in an article that appears today in the Journal.


The men who conducted the assault on bin Laden's compound are part of a proud tradition of service that traces its roots back to the Underwater Demolition Teams that cleared the beaches at Normandy. The SEAL teams themselves were born on Jan. 1, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy commissioned a new force of elite commandos that could operate from the sea, air and land (hence the acronym, SEALs). Though SEALs remain the nation's elite maritime special operations force, part of what Kennedy wanted and needed from them—and what the nation still asks of SEALs—is that they be a flexible force, capable of operating in any environment.

Targets vary, but the objective of the planning is always the same: accomplish the mission and bring everyone home alive.


Over time, our picture of the al Qaeda network grew more complete. More and more terrorists were revealed, and the targets became so numerous that other forces had to be recruited to take them down. I had once imagined—probably based on watching bad movies about cops battling the mafia—that somewhere we would find a hierarchical chart of al Qaeda with bin Laden sitting at the top and pictures of men like this sniper near the bottom of a pyramid. In fact, no such clear picture existed, and every piece of new information seemed to offer a different way of interpreting what we thought we knew. 

Declare victory, and leave

LBJ and Nixon shoulda done this: Obama Cites Afghan Gains as Report Says Exit Is on Track. It's over; go.

“I simply misremembered it wrong”

It happened again. Another candidate for office is struggling to reconcile misleading statements he made about his record in the military. This time, it is Representative Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois running for the Senate, apologizing for misleading statements he made about, among other things, serving in the first Iraq war and in Kosovo.

“I simply misremembered it wrong,” he said, a remark that was blared across the front page of The Chicago Sun-Times on Friday. A few weeks ago, it was Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general and Democratic candidate for Senate, trying to explain misstatements suggesting he had served in Vietnam.

Who knows better?

Lawmakers from both parties, including the top two House Republicans, are pressing in a vote Thursday to add $485 million to the defense budget for a fighter-jet engine that the Pentagon says it doesn't want. The White House and Defense Secretary Robert Gates say the backup engine for the next-generation Joint Strike Fighter is a waste of money that will deplete funds for military priorities.

Provincial concerns cloaked in national defense rhetoric show that "It's another classic example of politics being local," said Rep. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican who opposes the engine spending. Mr. Flake said supporting the spending undermines Republicans' description of themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility. "If we can't rein in this type of spending now, how are we going to do it later?" Mr. Flake asked.

Ain't.

Petraeus: Times Square bomber likely acted alone

On 7 May this item was released by the AP.

Gen. David Petraeus says the Times Square bombing suspect apparently operated as a "lone wolf" who did not work with other terrorists. The general who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan tells The Associated Press that alleged bomber Faisal Shahzad was inspired by militants in Pakistan, but didn't necessarily have direct contact with them. Authorities say Shahzad told investigators he went to a terror training camp in Pakistan, but they have yet to confirm that. Shahzad is a U.S. citizen, accused of an attempted terror attack nearly a week ago in New York's Times Square. He was caught late Monday night trying to leave the country

Immediately, my question was: how does he know? He's military. Why is he saying that? Does a military get the right to make policy judgments? Is this for future use, if the General decides to run for public office.

Now that the government has said that it is probable that Shahzad had collaborators, what does the General think?

John Boyd (military strategist)

Found out about him through one of David Ignatius's books.