A Momentary Escape: A U.S. Army soldier reads from a book duringa break in northern Baghdad. David Furst / AFP-Getty Images
Defense Industry Consultant Launches Blog, Insults Bloggers -- War Is Boring
Loren Thompson, a defense industry analyst with the conservative Lexington Institute, has launched a new blog, Early Warning. His goal, Thompson wrote in his inaugural post, is to be “long on facts — especially little known, useful facts — and short on opinions.”
Most military-industry blogs, Thompson contends, are “tendentious nonsense. For every interesting, competent effort like DoD Buzz, there are dozens of ill-mannered rants masquerading as insight. To say that blogs have lowered the standards of public discourse on policy matters is an under-statement — there are no standards. Anybody can say anything.”
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My Comment: As usual, David Axe writes a though provoking article.
So .... are most military-industry blogs, as Thompson contends, “tendentious nonsense". Hmmmm .... on an average day I easily go through (at least) 40 blogs that focus on defense/military/strategy related issues, and about 20 to 30 news websites, military forums, and wire services. I always find something interesting, though provoking, and informative. I may disagree with some of it .... but I always find that when finished, I am slightly more knowledgeable than before.
I have (rarely) felt that I was reading "tendentious nonsense".
But when I do go "off the reservation" from the blogs and news websites that I usually read .... which is everyday .... I do find a lot of silly stuff, but rarely those that cover strategy and/or military-industry related news.
As a rule, almost all blogs that cover military/defense related news are written by people who have had some experience in the military, and what they blog about usually reflects their own experiences and training.
Those who do not .... they never last more than one year.
As for myself, I am an oddity in this business. I have never served in the military, and I have never worked for a defense related industry. All of the members of my family have (with the exception of my brother) . My father served in the Soviet Army during the Second World War, one of my uncles became the equivalent of a Lieutenant General in the Soviet Army in the 1980s, and another uncle became Director of the Soviet Union's military space program in the late 70s early 80s. They all taught me well, and it is what I learned from them that I bring to this blog.
For example, I learned about counter insurgency methods and tactics from my uncle when I visited him in 1993, and he learned about it when he was fighting the mujaheddin in Afghanistan in the early 1980s. When I read or see David Kilcullen talk about counter-insurgency today .... I sometimes wonder if he is channeling my uncle.
I have also been fortunate to know many Canadians and Americans who have served in the military and/or defense related projects. Like a sponge .... I have also learned a lot from them.
As for War News Updates .... this is a blog in which I try my best to gather as much information as possible .... and present it to you .... the reader .... in a form that is simple to read and understand.
I have wanted to change the format of the blog on numerous occasions. Focus on a story or two, and present it with background information and an analysis that would inform and provoke the reader. Sighhhh ..... but I just do not have the time.
I stick with what I know, and considering the feedback that I have received over the years .... I know that I have succeeded beyond my wildest expectations.
On a side note .... the only experience I have had in a war zone was in 1993. I was in Moscow visiting my uncles/aunts/cousins/etc. when I decided to visit my cousin who was at the barricades of the Russian White House during the Russian Constitutional crisis of 1993. I went to the Russian White House late at night thinking it would be the safest time to visit .... that if the Russian Army was going to storm the parliament it would only be in the early morning hours.
I was wrong.
I will never want to be targeted and fired at by a T-80 tank again. Never again.
I was very lucky (obviously) .... but (to be honest) being shot at has not helped me one iota in this blog. Instead .... it has only made me more grateful to the men and women who serve. And if this blog can communicate this feeling .... and I know that it does .... as well as successfully promote and expose those blogs that do make a difference in military/intelligence/strategy/defense related discussions .... then a happy camper I am.