Project White Horse Forum

As the day closed on September 11 2001, we began the process of “doing what we know”- we had been attacked – strangely suprising to some in other lands, Americans strike back hard when treaded upon – so we went to war in the way we know how.  The events of September 11, 2001 were of such magnitude, […]

There was a time when Americans seemed to view suicide attacks as a sign of the complete conviction of the enemy, an immutable dedication to their cause that many people found terrifying and cause for soul-searching.  “What could we have done to provoke such anger?” Yet with time, American views of suicide attacks have matured […]

See Targeted for death -  the killing of Hamas’ Mahmoud Mabhouh.  (See  background report on the operation itself) Los Angeles Times’ Marjorie Miller sought the views of an array of military and human rights lawyers on the legality and legitimacy of targeted killings. So what kind of war or warfare or confrontation or conflict against non-state […]

 Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness   ( From The Counter Terrorism Puzzle; A Guide for Decision Makers, used with permission of the author, Dr. Boaz Ganor, the Associate Dean of the Lauder School of Government, at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel, and the founder and Executive Director of the International Institute […]

Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness There seems to be a trend toward treating events of terrorism as if they were specifically a law-enforcement problem , rather than  enemy operations in the context of war and warfare. Both require application of force  “but for force to be effective the desired outcome of […]

 Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness America has an impressive record of starting wars but a dismal one of ending them well. Andrew J. Bacevich is professor of history and international relations at Boston University. He is a retired Army Colonel, graduate of  West Point, serving in Vietnam in 1970 and 71.  In […]

Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness  To say “warfare is changing” is banal, obvious and thus irrelevant. When did warfare ever not evolve? The acts of Sept. 11 changed nothing in the Thucydidean and Clausewitzian nature of war, or even its modern practice. America’s choice of response did change U.S. foreign policy […]

 Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness  … familiar arguments about what can and should be done to reduce America’s vulnerabilities are again filling the airwaves, editorial pages and blogosphere. Several of these arguments are based on assumptions that guided the U.S. response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and unfortunately, they […]

 Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness A  ”lesson in aerodynamics” might be of interest as painting- hopefully- a useful “picture” of the period from  shortly before the September 11, 2001 8th hour, 46th minute, 40th second impact of American Airlines Flight 11, on through the remainder of the day as initial reaction and response […]

Essential Elements of Information for a Culture of Preparedness  As stated previously this site is not specifically focused on war and warfare, and most specifically, it has never been intended as one providing political commentary.  The “kind of war” – as essential element of  information- series is being extended because today’s war,  how we define it, […]