Information and Security: Where Truth Lies? [Paperback]

Col. Anil Bhat (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2006

In this book, the author also argues that although the operation in Afghanistan appeared to have been a masterpiece of military creativity, the US executed its display of power.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hy S. Rothstein, a retired colonel in the U.S. Army with a Ph.D. in international relations, served as a Special Forces officer for more than 26 years, spending many years training and advising governments threatened by active insurgencies. He is now senior lecturer in the department of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: Manas Publications (August 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8170493064
• ISBN-13: 978-8170493068
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,988,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fixing Special Forces, May 2, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Afghanistan and the Troubled Future of Unconventional Warfare (Hardcover)

Generals fight the last war. In the last war they were lower ranking officers in charge of troops actually doing the fighting. This gives them a lesson in how wars are fought. Most United States troops are skilled in the fighting of conventional wars. They well understand what the M-1 tanks did in Gulf War I, they understand about air power, logistics, all kinds of things that enable a heavily mechanized army to fight. They proved this well when a much smaller force quickly overcame the much larger Iraqi army in Gulf War II.

Unfortunately winning on the battlefield in Iraq and in Afghanistan didn't mean the end of the war. Instead, as we all know, the real battle was just beginning, and we haven't done very well with it.

Dr. Rothstein, a West Point graduate and a thirty year career Special Forces officer uses this book to explain how unconventional warfare has not received the attention it should in the modern military. He uses the experience in Afghanistan to illustrate the points he is describing and makes several recommendations as to how the unconventional forces of the US need to be improved, mostly at the command level.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An analytical study of conventional and unconventional uses of tactics in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan, June 3, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Afghanistan and the Troubled Future of Unconventional Warfare (Hardcover)

Afghanistan And The Troubled Future Of Unconventional Warfare by Hy S. Rothstein (Department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California) is an analytical study of conventional and unconventional uses of tactics in the "War on Terrorism" as it is currently being waged in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan. Arguing that although the operation in Afghanistan was presented as unconventional the Bush administration, but was in actuality, a case of America's military power being employed in a segmented and quite conventional manner, Afghanistan And The Troubled Future Of Unconventional Warfare provides an in-depth overview of the Afghan war and why certain situational intricacies may imply, but not require, unconventional or irregular tactics. An important and seminal contribution to Military Studies reference collections and reading lists, Afghanistan And The Troubled Future Of Unconventional Warfare is very strongly recommended work of impeccable scholarship.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What is the core of the problem?, November 16, 2006

By 

Stratiotes Doxha Theon "2 Thes 2:15" (Richmond, Missouri) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Afghanistan and the Troubled Future of Unconventional Warfare (Hardcover)

In this book, the author first asserts that after the initial success of a conventional war in Afghanistan, the US has failed to prosecute a successful unconventional war as is required. Then, through a brief introduction of organization theory, he describes the problem as symptomatic of the organizational mindset of conventional forces. He makes the point, and well I believe, that the conventional warfare thinking continues to take over and attempt to shape all forces under its structure to the conventional model. This does seem often to be the case and it is a valid point. The author's recommendations for remedying the problem are, in effect, a new separate branch of the military that is more attuned to the CIA unconventional model than the DoD conventional model. Unfortunately, this seems to still leave open the probability that the regular military will slowly take over this new force and attempt to mold it also in its own image. It seems a bandaid solution to a problem requiring more than bandaids to this reviewer. I think a better solution would be something along the lines that the late Col. Hackworth proposed - a new military altogether. Still, this is an important work about how organizational structure can affect the ability of the military to perform in unconventional warfare settings. It is not specifically regarding Afghanistan as it might seem, rather, the experience in Afghanistan is only the latest symptom of a long standing disease that needs drastic treatment. A very helpful book to raise some more thoughtful ideas for the healing.