Air Power Against Terror

Air Power Against Terror PDF

Author: Benjamin S. Lambeth

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 0833037242

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 plunged the United States into a determined counteroffensive against Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network. This report details the initial U.S. military response to those attacks, namely, the destruction of al Qaeda's terrorist infrastructure and the removal of the ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The author emphasizes several distinctive achievements in this war, including the use of precision air-delivered weapons that were effective irrespective of weather, the first combat use of Predator unmanned aerial vehicles armed with Hellfire missiles, and the integrated employment of high-altitude drones and other air- and space-based sensors that gave CENTCOM unprecedented round-the-clock awareness of enemy activity.

Command Of The Air

Command Of The Air PDF

Author: General Giulio Douhet

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 1782898522

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.

Bombing to Win

Bombing to Win PDF

Author: Robert A. Pape

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2014-04-11

Total Pages: 547

ISBN-13: 0801471508

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From Iraq to Bosnia to North Korea, the first question in American foreign policy debates is increasingly: Can air power alone do the job? Robert A. Pape provides a systematic answer. Analyzing the results of over thirty air campaigns, including a detailed reconstruction of the Gulf War, he argues that the key to success is attacking the enemy's military strategy, not its economy, people, or leaders. Coercive air power can succeed, but not as cheaply as air enthusiasts would like to believe.Pape examines the air raids on Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq as well as those of Israel versus Egypt, providing details of bombing and governmental decision making. His detailed narratives of the strategic effectiveness of bombing range from the classical cases of World War II to an extraordinary reconstruction of airpower use in the Gulf War, based on recently declassified documents. In this now-classic work of the theory and practice of airpower and its political effects, Robert A. Pape helps military strategists and policy makers judge the purpose of various air strategies, and helps general readers understand the policy debates.

Airpower Versus Terrorism

Airpower Versus Terrorism PDF

Author: Todd R. Phinney

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 93

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This study analyzes the effectiveness of airpower versus terrorism using three case studies. The first case study is America's response to Libyan state-sponsored terrorism, Operation El Dorado Canyon. The second case study is America's cruise missile response to the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Operation Infinite Reach. The final case study is the Israeli use of airpower versus the current (second) Palestinian Intifada. Each of the case studies addresses multiple common questions: what was the context; why was airpower selected; how was airpower employed; what were the objectives and were they achieved; and finally what lessons learned emerge. Additionally, each case study looks at the impact of military action on domestic opinion and third party opinions. Overall, these three case studies reveal a spectrum of responses with which states can respond to terrorism. Operation Infinite Reach shows that when a nation is unwilling to commit itself seriously against an enemy, the message it sends is one of timidity and inaction. Operation El Dorado Canyon was a significant airpower response that showed Qadhafi that his support of terrorism would not be without cost. Further, Libya offered multiple high-value targets that could be destroyed - thus revealing a major weakness of states that sponsor terrorism. The Israeli use of air and ground power to combat terrorism has been effective, but this case also shows that military power alone cannot stop terrorism, at some point diplomacy must prevail.

Not War, Not Peace?

Not War, Not Peace? PDF

Author: George Perkovich

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-08-04

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0199089701

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The Mumbai blasts of 1993, the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, Mumbai 26/11—cross-border terrorism has continued unabated. What can India do to motivate Pakistan to do more to prevent such attacks? In the nuclear times that we live in, where a military counter-attack could escalate to destruction beyond imagination, overt warfare is clearly not an option. But since outright peace-making seems similarly infeasible, what combination of coercive pressure and bargaining could lead to peace? The authors provide, for the first time, a comprehensive assessment of the violent and non-violent options available to India for compelling Pakistan to take concrete steps towards curbing terrorism originating in its homeland. They draw on extensive interviews with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, in service and retired, to explore the challenges involved in compellence and to show how non-violent coercion combined with clarity on the economic, social and reputational costs of terrorism can better motivate Pakistan to pacify groups involved in cross-border terrorism. Not War, Not Peace? goes beyond the much discussed theories of nuclear deterrence and counterterrorism strategy to explore a new approach to resolving old conflicts.

Why We Lost

Why We Lost PDF

Author: Daniel P. Bolger

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 565

ISBN-13: 0544370481

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A high-ranking general's gripping insider account of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how it all went wrong. Over a thirty-five-year career, Daniel Bolger rose through the army infantry to become a three-star general, commanding in both theaters of the U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. He participated in meetings with top-level military and civilian players, where strategy was made and managed. At the same time, he regularly carried a rifle alongside rank-and-file soldiers in combat actions, unusual for a general. Now, as a witness to all levels of military command, Bolger offers a unique assessment of these wars, from 9/11 to the final withdrawal from the region. Writing with hard-won experience and unflinching honesty, Bolger makes the firm case that in Iraq and in Afghanistan, we lost -- but we didn't have to. Intelligence was garbled. Key decision makers were blinded by spreadsheets or theories. And, at the root of our failure, we never really understood our enemy. Why We Lost is a timely, forceful, and compulsively readable account of these wars from a fresh and authoritative perspective.

The Rise of American Air Power

The Rise of American Air Power PDF

Author: Michael S. Sherry

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13: 0300036000

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This prizewinning book is the first in-depth history of American strategic bombing. Michael S. Sherry explores the growing appeal of air power in America before World War II, the ideas, techniques, personalities, and organizations that guided air attacks during the war, and the devastating effects of American and British "conventional" bombing. He also traces the origins of the dangerous illusion that the bombing of cities would be so horrific that nations would not dare let it occur - an illusion that has sanctioned the growth of nuclear arsenals.

A Different Kind of War

A Different Kind of War PDF

Author: Donald P. Wright

Publisher: www.Militarybookshop.CompanyUK

Published: 2010-07

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 9781907521157

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Based on hundreds of oral interviews and unclassified documents, this study offers a comprehensive chronological narrative of the first four years of Operation Enduring Freedom.