Tag Archives: Lawrence of Arabia

Why So Many Western Covert Operations Have Failed Since World War II

by in Ancient Military History, Brush-Up On Your History, Civilian Operator 101, COIN, Cold War Files, Cold War History, Counter-Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism 101, Counterintelligence, Current Events, Dark Arts For Good Guys, Deconstructing Terrorism, European History, Examining Terrorist Tactics, Fieldcraft, Guerilla Warfare, Guerilla Warfare History, Historical Study, History Roundup, Iran, ISIS, Learning from Terrorist Tactics, Middle East, Military History, Military History Books Worth A Damn, Obscure WW2 History, Small Unit Tactics, Studies in Warfare, Syria, Syrian Civil War, Tactics, Tradecraft, Urban Skill Sets, Urban Warfare, Warfare, Warrior Poet, World History, World War II History, World War Two Book's Worth A Damn, WW2 Era Weapons and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Shots in the Dark – Why So Many Western Covert Operations Have Failed Since WW2

 

A Great read both from a historical point of view and practical, Civilian Operator POV on the RELEVANCE of Guerilla Warfare in the 21st Century.

You have to Understand the Lessons of History in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past….this is why every Warrior needs to be a Scholar and Historian FIRST!

Read this article twice and look up the links and read about them…this is a study worthy of your time I promise you.

Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!

 

History of Guerilla Warfare: How Would Lawrence of Arabia Defeat ISIS?

by in Asymmetrical Warfare, Counter-Insurgency, Counter-Terrorism, Current Events, Guerilla Warfare, ISIS, Military History, Syria, Tactics, Terrorism, Warfare and tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Turkish fighter of the jihadist group Al-Nusra Front, bearing the flag of Al-Qaeda on his jacket (C-back), holds position with fellow comrades on April 4, 2013 in the Syrian village of Aziza, on the southern outskirts of Aleppo. AFP PHOTO / GUILLAUME BRIQUET (Photo credit should read Guillaume Briquet/AFP/Getty Images)

Lessons from the Early 20th century for the Chaotic, Modern Middle East

By James Stavridis

A Colleague of mine recently watched the Oscar-winning classic 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. His brief comment on its merits in regard to understanding the Middle East of today: a cynical shrug of his shoulders and the words “nothing has changed.”

Obviously, in the aggregate, a great deal has changed since the early 20th century, something of which he is actually quite aware. But there is a central grain of truth in his comment, which is that we could profitably spend some time looking at the life and times of Thomas Edward Lawrence, otherwise known to posterity as “Lawrence of Arabia.” From his story emerges some potentially helpful insights that could inform our badly constructed policy, such as it is, toward the region generally and Syria in particular.

Lawrence was born in Victorian England, and his parents moved to Oxford when he was a child. He intensely studied the Arab world there from 1907 to 1910, taking first-class honors in archaeology. He spent time excavating and traveling through the Near East in the run-up to World War I. In the months before the war’s outbreak, he surveyed the Negev Desert (strategically important, as an Ottoman army would have to cross it to attack British Egypt).

Read the Remainder at Foreign Policy