Reviews
ReviewMichael Schrage "Washington Post": "[A] highly regarded counterinsurgency manual." - Michael Schrage, "Washington Post"
Tom Baldwin Times (UK): "The success of DPhil papers by Oxford students is usually measured by the amount of dust they relate to library shelves. But it is one that is so influential that General George Casey, commander of the US Iraq, spoke to him with him everywhere. Most of his employees were ordered to read it and he pressed a copy in the hands of Donald Rumsfeld during his visit to Baghdad in December. learning to eat soup with a knife (a title, by TE Lawrence-locking in a lot of guerilla war) is a study of how the British Army succeeded in snuffing the Malaysian insurgency between 1948 and 1960-and why the Americans are not in Vietnam .... It helps with the transformation of the American soldiers in the face the biggest test since Vietnam. "- Tom Baldwin, Times (UK)
Frank G. Hoffman eedings the United States Naval Institue: "A very relevant text. Those interested in understanding the difficulties faced by the coalition forces in Iraq and in Afghanistan, or want to understand the intricacies of the most common form of the conflict in the near future win applicable lessons . [learning to eat soup with a knife] offers insights on the form America''s armed forces in the modern learning organizations. How the Pentagon is considering his future in the Quadrennial Defense Review, one can only hope that Nagl 'is invaluable lesson in learning and adaptation will be used. "- Frank G. Hoffman, Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute
Greg Jaffe Wall Street Journal: "Brutal in its criticism of the Vietnam era army as an organization that does not learn from its mistakes, and tried in vain to fight guerrilla groups insurgents the same way it fought the Second World War. [Learning to eat with a knife Soup ], Col. Nagl, served a year in Iraq, unlike the United States Army 'with the failure of the British experience in Malaya in the 1950s. difference: The British, finally, and quickly became the folly of using massive power to destroy a shadowy existence communist enemy .... Col. Nagl 'book is one of half a dozen Vietnam stories -- most of them highly critical of the American military in Vietnam -- the change in the military' views How to Fight guerrilla groups wars .... The band already has an influence on the ground in Iraq. Last winter, General Casey opened a school for U.S. commanders in Iraq to help officers adapt to the demands of a guerrilla-style conflict, in which the enemy hides under the people and tries to provoke a reaction. idea for the training center, said General Casey, came from Col. Nagl's book, which chronicles how the British Malaya uses a similar school to educate British officers in the country .''Pretty much everybody on Gen. Casey 'staff had read Nagl's book, "says Lt.. Col. Nathan Freier, for a year in Iraq as a strategist. A British Brigadier-General says that "General Casey carried the book with him everywhere .''"- Greg Jaffe, Wall Street Journal
Nick Ayers arms: "Since the United States in its fifth year of the war on terror, military leaders are conducting low intensity and counter-insurgency in various areas around the world. From the various books on the subject, LTC John Nagl ''s learn to eat soup with a knife is a must for those who want to gain valuable insights about some of the hard lessons of the struggle against the insurgents, before actually always on the ground. Fachmännisch The book combines theoretical foundations the riots, with detailed historical lessons from Malaya and Vietnam to produce some very deep and current impact on the ongoing military operations. The true success of the book is that Nagl discuss all these complex issues in an easy-to-follow and easy way .... I have this book after coming back from my tour in Iraq after a company commander on the ground for one year. I was surprised how sensitively und''echte''den conclusions, and wished that I had read it before I . "Nick Ayers, arms
Nathaniel Fick Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute: "Nagl, currently a military assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, focuses on the organizational culture as the key to victory over riots: successful armed forces learn and adapt." - "Recommended Reading on Counterinsurgency" Nathaniel Fick, Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute
RF Nigel Aylwin-Foster Military Review: "The ability to adapt is always a major contribution to military success. Nagl combines historical analysis with a comprehensive examination of the organizational theory to rationalize why so many of his readers already intuitively sense,''military organizations often showing remarkable resistance to change educational talks ", and not as adaptable as needed. His analysis is helpful in determining why the US Army, the so-innovative in some ways, and yet, paradoxically slow to adapt, and in others. "RF-Nigel Aylwin-Foster, Military Review
Trudy Rubin Philadelphia Inquirier: "One of the most important army text learn to eat soup with a knife by Lt. Col. John Nagl, focusing on counterinsurgency lessons from the 1950s war in Malaya and the Vietnam War. Phrase became the title of Lawrence of Arabia in describing the messy and time-consuming nature of the defeat insurgents. Nagl focuses on the ability of the troops to learn from their mistakes and adjust their strategy and tactics skills, in which he states, the American armed forces are missing. It shows how the Brits Malaya was brisk enough to defeat a communist insurgency, while the American military in Vietnam clung to a doctrine of no force. Regrettably, the Pentagon is not absorbed those findings before invading Iraq. Nagl himself says that he has a lot more in a year the tour in Iraq. his ideas, if they are back in the middle of the year 2003, may have the growth of Sunni insurgents in Iraq and Sunni Islamists prevented from provoke a civil war with the Iraqi Shiites. It may be too late for the Army ', the new Among doctrine stop Iraq falling apart .... It''s past time to learn eating soup with a knife is required reading in the White House. "Trudy Rubin, Philadelphia Inquirer
The Jerusalem Post Michael Leeden: "As the Baker / Hamilton association believes America''s options in the Middle East, its members would do well to browse books currently hot on counterinsurgency [including] learn to eat soup with a knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam ... encourage thoughtful and serious. "- Michael Ledeen, The Jerusalem Post
About the Author
Lieutenant Colonel John A. Nagl is a military assistant to the deputy secretary of the Defense Ministry. Nagl led a tank train in the first Cavalry Division in Operation "Desert Storm", taught national security studies at West Point Department of Social Sciences, and served as operations officer of Task Force 1-34 Armor in the First Infantry Division in Khalidiyah , Iraq.
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