Obama: Narcissus Unbound

The Daily Caller‘s description of post bin Laden White House celebrations as “Obama Administration takes victory lap in clown car,” cannot be improved upon. In the rush to capitalize on a P.R. boon, the administration’s amateurishness was on full display, with the narrative changing constantly to suit the president’s re-election prospects. And when it comes to grabbing credit, no one does it better than Obama. Despite years of intelligence work and detailed operational planning and preparation that went into the raid, the president’s speech to the nation was riddled with the personal pronoun. Wait… that’s every speech. Sorry.

McChrystal’s Network: It takes a Sea Change

“It Takes a Network,” General Stanley A. McChrystal’s uneven and idiosyncratic essay on his tactical and operational challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan, shows how an adaptive enemy using 21st century technology changed his thinking about the “new front line of modern warfare.” McChrystal correctly identifies the characteristics of an emerging threat and details his adaptation to that threat. Unfortunately, he misses an opportunity to show how the institutional Army, and its obsession with doctrine and process, puts Army creativity in a headlock when facing new, non-linear phenomenon.