Perilous Options

Author : Lucien S. Vandenbroucke
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Special forces (Military science)
ISBN : 9780195045918

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Perilous Options by Lucien S. Vandenbroucke Pdf

Throughout the history of warfare, small battalions of warriors have repeatedly conducted sudden strikes on enemies deep within enemy lines with limited resources. These strikes rely largely on surprise, speed, and maneuver to defeat an often numerically superior enemy. In the past three decades, the United States has repeatedly used such special operations in an effort to achieve key foreign policy objectives. Many of these operations carried out by highly trained commando forces have failed. In Perilous Options: Special Operations as an Instrument of U.S. Foreign Policy, Lucien Vandenbroucke examines the use and misuse of special operations through an in-depth analysis of four operations - the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Sontay raid to rescue POWs in North Vietnam, the Mayaquez operation, and the Iran hostage rescue mission. He identifies recurrent problems in the way the United States government has prepared and executed such operations that account for their poor outcomes. These include faulty intelligence, poor interagency and interservice cooperation and coordination, inadequate information and advice provided to decisionmakers, wishful thinking on the part of decisionmakers, and micromanagement from outside the theater of operations. In addition to identifying the recurrent problems that have plagued U.S. special operations in the past. Vandenbroucke explores the extent to which recent efforts to revitalize the U.S. operations capability have addressed these problems, identifying additional changes that can improve the government's ability to plan, evaluate, and execute such operations. Drawing extensively on recently declassified government documents, interviews with keydecisionmakers and participants, and other primary material, Perilous Options is the first systematic in-depth analysis of the way the United States plans and executes strategic special operations. This-original analysis will be essential reading for scholars and students of United States foreign policy, contemporary diplomatic history, and political science.

Author : Lucien S. Vandenbroucke
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 1993-10-28
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780195364439

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Perilous Options by Lucien S. Vandenbroucke Pdf

In the past three decades, the United States government has used special operations repeatedly in an effort to achieve key foreign policy objectives, such as in the overthrow of Fidel Castro in Cuba and the rescuing of American hostages in Iran. Many of these secret missions carried out by highly trained commando forces have failed. In Perilous Options, Lucien Vandenbroucke examines the use and misuse of such special operations through an in-depth analysis of four operations--the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Sontay raid to rescue POWs in North Vietnam, the Mayaguez operation, and the Iran hostage rescue mission. Drawing extensively on declassified government documents, interviews with key decision makers and participants in these episodes, and other primary material, Perilous Options identifies recurrent problems in the way the United States government has prepared and executed such operations. These recurrent problems, outlined by key participants in these four special operations, include faulty intelligence, poor interagency and interservice cooperation and coordination, inadequate information and advice provided to decisionmakers, wishful thinking on the part of decisionmakers, and overcontrol of mission execution from outside the theater of operations. Vandenbroucke also explores the extent to which recent efforts to revitalize the U.S. operations capability have addressed these problems, identifying additional changes that can improve the government's ability to plan, evaluate, and execute such operations.

Author : Richard M. Pious
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Page : 330 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2008-07-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780742563391

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Why Presidents Fail by Richard M. Pious Pdf

Presidents are surrounded by political strategists and White House counsel who presumably know enough to avoid making the same mistakes as their predecessors. Why, then, do the same kinds of presidential failures occur over and over again? Why Presidents Fail answers this question by examining presidential fiascos, quagmires, and risky business-the kind of failure that led President Kennedy to groan after the Bay of Pigs invasion, 'How could I have been so stupid?' In this book, Richard M. Pious looks at nine cases that have become defining events in presidencies from Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U-2 Flights to George W. Bush and Iraqi WMDs. He uses these cases to draw generalizations about presidential power, authority, rationality, and legitimacy. And he raises questions about the limits of presidential decision-making, many of which fly in the face of the conventional wisdom about the modern presidency.

Author : Mark Moyar
Publisher : Basic Books
Page : 432 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2017-04-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9780465093014

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Oppose Any Foe by Mark Moyar Pdf

Oppose Any Foe is the epic story of America's most elite warriors: the Special Operations Forces. Born as small appendages to the conventional armies of World War II, the Special Operations Forces have grown into a behemoth of 70,000 troops, including Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, Air Force Night Stalkers, Special Operations Marines, Rangers, and Delta Force. Weaving together their triumphs and tribulations, acclaimed historian Mark Moyar introduces a colorful cast of military men, brimming with exceptional talent, courage and selflessness. In a nation where the military is the most popular institution, America's Special Operations Forces have become the most popular members of the military. Through nighttime raids on enemy compounds and combat advising of resistance movements, special operators have etched their names into the nation's registry of heroes. Yet the public knows little of the journey that they took to reach these heights, a journey that was neither easy nor glamorous. Fighting an uphill battle for most of their seventy-five year history, the Special Operations Forces slipped on many an occasion, and fell far on several. Presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama have enthusiastically championed Special Operations Forces, but their enthusiasm has often surpassed their understanding, resulting in misuse or overuse of the troops. Lacking clearly defined missions, Special Operations Forces have had to reinvent themselves time and again to prove their value in the face of fierce critics-many of them from the conventional military, which from the start opposed the segregation of talent in special units. Highlighting both the heroism of America's most elite soldiers and the controversies surrounding their meteoric growth, Oppose Any Foe presents the first comprehensive history of these special warriors and their daring missions. It is essential reading for anyone interested in America's military history-and the future of warfare.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 456 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Military art and science
ISBN : UIUC:30112027343471

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Special Warfare by Anonim Pdf

Author : Lawrence Freedman
Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
Page : 561 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : History
ISBN : 9780195152432

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Kennedy's Wars by Lawrence Freedman Pdf

Focusing on the Cold War mindset of JFK, this unique portrait of his presidency introduces readers to the wars he inherited and started all over the world.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Jeffrey Frank Jones
Page : 2427 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2024-06-11
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Publications Combined: Russia's Regular And Special Forces In The Regional And Global War On Terror by Anonim Pdf

Over 2,400 total pages ... Russian outrage following the September 2004 hostage disaster at North Ossetia’s Beslan Middle School No.1 was reflected in many ways throughout the country. The 52-hour debacle resulted in the death of some 344 civilians, including more than 170 children, in addition to unprecedented losses of elite Russian security forces and the dispatch of most Chechen/allied hostage-takers themselves. It quickly became clear, as well, that Russian authorities had been less than candid about the number of hostages held and the extent to which they were prepared to deal with the situation. Amid grief, calls for retaliation, and demands for reform, one of the more telling reactions in terms of hardening public perspectives appeared in a national poll taken several days after the event. Some 54% of citizens polled specifically judged the Russian security forces and the police to be corrupt and thus complicit in the failure to deal adequately with terrorism, while 44% thought that no lessons for the future would be learned from the tragedy. This pessimism was the consequence not just of the Beslan terrorism, but the accumulation of years of often spectacular failures by Russian special operations forces (SOF, in the apt US military acronym). A series of Russian SOF counterterrorism mishaps, misjudgments, and failures in the 1990s and continuing to the present have made the Kremlin’s special operations establishment in 2005 appear much like Russia’s old Mir space station—wired together, unpredictable, and subject to sudden, startling failures. But Russia continued to maintain and expand a large, variegated special operations establishment which had borne the brunt of combat actions in Afghanistan, Chechnya, and other trouble spots, and was expected to serve as the nation’s principal shield against terrorism in all its forms. Known since Soviet days for tough personnel, personal bravery, demanding training, and a certain rough or brutal competence that not infrequently violated international human rights norms, it was supposed that Russian special operations forces—steeped in their world of “threats to the state” and associated with once-dreaded military and national intelligence services—could make valuable contributions to countering terrorism. The now widely perceived link between “corrupt” special forces on the one hand, and counterterrorism failures on the other, reflected the further erosion of Russia’s national security infrastructure in the eyes of both Russian citizens and international observers. There have been other, more ambiguous, but equally unsettling dimensions of Russian SOF activity as well, that have strong internal and external political aspects. These constitute the continuing assertions from Russian media, the judicial system, and other Federal agencies and officials that past and current members of the SOF establishment have organized to pursue interests other than those publicly declared by the state or allowed under law. This includes especially the alleged intent to punish by assassination those individuals and groups that they believe have betrayed Russia. The murky nature of these alleged activities has formed a backdrop to other problems in the special units.

Author : J. Ransom Clark
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 307 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2015-07-14
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9798216045663

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American Covert Operations by J. Ransom Clark Pdf

Traces our country's long history of covert and special operations, focusing on the similarities and differences in the practice from the Revolutionary War to the present. Long before the creation of the CIA, the American government utilized special intelligence strategies with varying degrees of success. Even though critics throughout time have questioned the effectiveness and legitimacy of these tactics, presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama have employed secret operations to benefit the nation's best interest. This book follows America's history of intelligence gathering, undercover operations, and irregular warfare. Through chronologically organized chapters, the author examines secret military maneuvers, highlighting the elements common to covert and special operations across historical eras, and concluding with a chapter on national security since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Author : Christopher Jon Lamb
Publisher : Office of Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Cambodia
ISBN : 0160945038

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The Mayaguez Crisis, Mission Command, and Civil-military Relations by Christopher Jon Lamb Pdf

Preface -- Abbreviations -- Key figures in the Mayaguez Crisis -- Introduction -- Day one: Monday, May 12 -- Day two: Tuesday, May 13 -- Day three: Wednesday, May 14 -- Day four: Thursday, May 15 -- Critical crisis decisions -- Explaining decisions, behaviors and outcomes -- Refining the explanation: rationality, bureaucracy and beliefs -- Findings, issues, prescriptions -- Conclusion.

Author : Michael Smith
Publisher : Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Page : 452 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2011-07-28
Category : History
ISBN : 9781908059062

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Killer Elite by Michael Smith Pdf

The first book about SEAL Team Six and Bin Laden America's most secret Special Forces unit does not even have a name. Formed as the 'Intelligence Support Activity', it has had a succession of innocuous titles to hide its ferocious purpose. It exists to 'undertake activities only when other intelligence or operational support elements are unavailable or inappropriate'. Translated from Pentagon-speak, this means operating undercover in the world's most dangerous places, penetrating enemy organizations including Al Qa'eda, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 'The Activity' combines the spy work of the CIA with the commando/SAS role of the Green Berets. It not only provides the intelligence on the ground - it translates it into 'direct action'. This is the unit that located Saddam Hussein, and recently led the intelligence operation that found and killed Osama Bin Laden. This is the untold story behind the world's most secret Special Operations organisation.

Author : Piero Mella
Publisher : Springer
Page : 287 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2017-05-11
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9783319548050

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The Combinatory Systems Theory by Piero Mella Pdf

This study adopts the logic of Systems Thinking and Control Systems, presenting a simple but complete theory called the Theory of Combinatory Systems. This new theory is able to describe, interpret, explain, simulate and control collective phenomena and their observable effects. Despite specific differences among these phenomena – many of which are “one way", non-repeatable or reproducible – they can all be described or explained, and thus understood, using the model, as simple as it is general, of combinatory systems; that is, systems formed by collectivities, or populations of non-connected and unorganized individuals of some species, which appear to be directed by an invisible hand that guides the analogous actions of similar individuals in order to produce an emerging collective phenomenon. Combinatory Systems function due to the presence of micro control systems which, operating at the individual level, lead to uniform micro behavior by individuals in order to eliminate the (gap) with respect to the objective that is represented – or revealed – by the global information (macro behavior or effect). The book also examines Combinatory Automata, which represent a powerful tool for simulating the most relevant combinatory systems. In stochastic combinatory automata, when both probabilities and periods of transition of state are agent/time/state sensitive, the probabilistic micro behaviors are conditioned by the macro behavior of the entire system, which makes the micro-macro feedback more evident. The Combinatory Systems Theory: Understanding, Modeling and Simulating Collective Phenomena is composed of four main chapters. Chapter 1 presents the basic ideas behind the theory, which are analysed in some detail. Chapter 2 describes the heuristic models of several relevant combinatory systems observable in different environments. Chapter 3, while not making particular use of sophisticated mathematical and statistical tools, presents the Theory of Combinatory Automata and builds models for simulating the operative logic of combinatory systems. Chapter 4 tries to answer three questions: are combinatory systems “systems” in the true sense of the term? Why is this theory able to explain so many and so varied a number of phenomena, even though it is based on a very simple modus operandi? Are combinatory systems different than complex systems? The book has been written with no prerequisite required to read and understand it, in particular math, statistics and computer knowledge.

Author : Leonard Rubenstein
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 213 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2021-09-21
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780231549820

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Perilous Medicine by Leonard Rubenstein Pdf

Pervasive violence against hospitals, patients, doctors, and other health workers has become a horrifically common feature of modern war. These relentless attacks destroy lives and the capacity of health systems to tend to those in need. Inaction to stop this violence undermines long-standing values and laws designed to ensure that sick and wounded people receive care. Leonard Rubenstein—a human rights lawyer who has investigated atrocities against health workers around the world—offers a gripping and powerful account of the dangers health workers face during conflict and the legal, political, and moral struggle to protect them. In a dozen case studies, he shares the stories of people who have been attacked while seeking to serve patients under dire circumstances including health workers hiding from soldiers in the forests of eastern Myanmar as they seek to serve oppressed ethnic communities, surgeons in Syria operating as their hospitals are bombed, and Afghan hospital staff attacked by the Taliban as well as government and foreign forces. Rubenstein reveals how political and military leaders evade their legal obligations to protect health care in war, punish doctors and nurses for adhering to their responsibilities to provide care to all in need, and fail to hold perpetrators to account. Bringing together extensive research, firsthand experience, and compelling personal stories, Perilous Medicine also offers a path forward, detailing the lessons the international community needs to learn to protect people already suffering in war and those on the front lines of health care in conflict-ridden places around the world.

Author : Elizabeth Marie Pope
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 1974
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 0618150730

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The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope Pdf

In 1558 while imprisoned in a remote castle, a young girl becomes involved in a series of events that leads to an underground labyrinth peopled by the last practitioners of druidic magic.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 711 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2020-09-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9789004433243

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Conflicting Memories by Anonim Pdf

Conflicting Memories is a study of historical rewriting about Tibetans' encounter with the Chinese state during the Maoist era. Combining case studies with translated documents, it traces how that experience has been reimagined by Chinese and Tibetan authors and artists since the late 1970s.

Author : Michael S. Pritchard
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Education
ISBN : UOM:39015035771289

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Reasonable Children by Michael S. Pritchard Pdf

The public outcry for a return to moral education in our schools has raised more dust than it's dispelled. Building upon his provocative ideas in On Becoming Responsible, Michael Pritchard clears the air with a sensible plan for promoting our children's moral education through the teaching of reasonableness. Pritchard contends that children have a definite but frequently untapped capacity for reasonableness and that schools in a democratic society must make the nurturing of that capacity one of their primary aims, as fundamental to learning as the development of reading, writing, and math skills. Reasonableness itself, he shows, can be best cultivated through the practice of philosophical inquiry within a classroom community. In such an environment, children learn to work together, to listen to one another, to build on one another's ideas, to probe assumptions and different perspectives, and ultimately to think for themselves. Advocating approaches to moral education that avoid mindless indoctrination and timid relativism, Pritchard neither preaches nor hides behind abstractions. He makes liberal use of actual classroom dialogues to illustrate children's remarkable capacity to engage in reasonable conversation about moral concepts involving fairness, cheating, loyalty, truthtelling, lying, making and keeping promises, obedience, character, and responsibility. He also links such discussions to fundamental concerns over law and moral authority, the roles of teachers and parents, and the relationship between church and state. Pritchard draws broadly and deeply from the fields of philosophy and psychology, as well as from his own extensive personal experience working with children and teachers. The result is a rich and insightful work that provides real hope for the future of our children and their moral education.