Wednesday Reading List

Today's blogger roundtable with U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Lawrence Rice, director of the Chief of Naval Operations Environmental Readiness Division, discussed the upcoming Supreme Court battle regarding sonar use off the coast of California. Eagle1, Blackfive, and DoDBuzz asked the questions, and we learned a lot from the discussion. This topic will come up in more depth in the future as we continue our research, but the transcript from the blogger roundtable (PDF) is a great backgrounder on the topic.

Eric is weighing in on the UCAS-N Naval aviation discussion. This is another topic we are researching before discussing. We tend to think CSBA did a good job with the timing of this discussion, the FY10 purchase of more Super Hornets as a replacement will likely be the last easy decision for Congress regarding naval aviation for awhile.

Speaking of the CSBA report on the UCAS-N (PDF), because it is long we assume that many have not read it in full yet. We did, and we highly recommend the section starting about page 161 regarding China. I get a feeling elements of this section will find its way into one of CDR Salamanders "Long War" analysis posts in the future. If you are an observer of the Chinese strategy and military power, that section is a must read.

Defense of the Realm goes all in with Part1 of Winning the War. We read it as an interesting analysis that lays context for development of British military strategy in The Long War.

Danger Room tips to this interesting research (PDF) that associates the levels of insurgent violence with the level of criticism for the Iraq war. With this kind of data, mutating it into statistics can allow one to reach almost any conclusion, but the conclusion we draw from the data is that a country united to fight a war is better off than a war that lacks unity in purpose. Hardly groundbreaking analysis, we know, but relevant nonetheless given the political climate in an election year, and something to keep in mind looking to the future... say as the administration ponders how to handle Iran.

Photo courtesy Chinese BBS. Click for better resolution.