Air Force Buys 3,320 Copies of "Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America" for Officers

[CorpGovActivist]

"The 42nd Contracting Squadron at Maxwell AFB, AL intends to award a sole source contract to Random House Incorporated, located at 400 Hahn Road, Westminster, MD 21157-4627 to purchase the following Chief of Staff reading books: 3,320 each of Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America by K.M. Pollack. This will be firm-fixed price contract. If there are any other businesses that can provide the specified items, they must respond to this notice before 1200 hrs (central time) on 28 April 2006. If no responses are received by the above date, a sole source contract with Random House will be pursued. The point of contact (POC) for this notice is Donald R. Perkins, which can be contacted by the following mail: 42nd Contracting Squadron, 50 LeMay Plaza South, Bldg 804, Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6334; Fax: [phone]; Phone: [phone]; email: [email protected] or [email protected]."

For the full solicitation: http://www.fbo.gov/servlet/Documents/R/510562

FYI...

- Dave

[knitter4democracy]

1. I guess that makes it clear, then, doesn't it?

Are they starting with a bombing campaign?

[CorpGovActivist]

3. This Hasn't Been Reported in the MSM...

... and yet, it's highly indicative of the planning.

- Dave

[knitter4democracy]

7. It should be.

Scary.

[CorpGovActivist]

8. Independently Verifiable...

... and a great "gotcha" question for Tony Snow to fumble.

- Dave

[Nikki Stone1]

2. Isn't it a little late to be purchasing books on a country you were supposed to invade in 2005?

And got delayed by a civil war in a country you were supposed to invade and easily subdue?

[CorpGovActivist]

4. War Plans Quickly Become...

... "inoperative," to borrow a term of art from Rummy.

; )

- Dave

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Why does a president who likes to surround himself with low expectations,

allowed to do it with such force?

[Sal316]

5. I've read this book.

It should be required reading for anyone wondering why US/Iranian relations are so effed up. Very detailed in history, very balanced in "atta boys" and finding blame.

Seriously... it's great.

[CorpGovActivist]

6. It's on My List Now...

... for sure. I want to see what the top brass has been asked to read re: Iran.

- Dave

[bobthedrummer]

11. The politicization of the leadership of our military can also be discerned by what they wrote

and who they referenced. A prime example US Military Intelligence, which would be involved in any operations against anyone. Fwiw, Dave, check this out.

"Titles of Master's Theses From The Joint Military Intelligence College, 1973-2002"
by Michael Ravnitzky
http://www.thememoryhole.com/spy/jmic-theses.htm

[CorpGovActivist]

29. Interesting Reading List

I wonder why the cutoff is 2002, and if it has been updated since?

- Dave

[leveymg]

33. This one's intriguing: "Deciphering the Torah for Intelligence Information Domestic Port Terrorism

Warning"

Here's a reader review: "Based on a Kabbalahic tract recently deciphered by the NSA - intelligence warnings from five millenia ago about container shipping threats. Timely and actionable."

[bobthedrummer]

41. And that was in 2001. It caught my eye too Mark. n/t

on edit: corrected year to 2001

[leveymg]

30. Anyone know if the military bought lots of books about Iraq in 2002?

By the way, is this normal practice to distribute literature to officers?

[CorpGovActivist]

31. Air University Library

"Award will be made based on best value for the Government. This requirement is for the Air University Library."

See the full solicitation by following the link for "Solicitation 01" at the top of this page, just below the AF logo: http://www.fbo.gov/servlet/Documents/R/510562

The Air University Library: http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/lane.htm

The #1 "Topic of Interest"?

"Nuclear Iran"...http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/ni.htm

- Dave

[More Than A Feeling]

9. Deja vu. This author also wrote a pro-Iraq war text

http://www.amazon.com/Threatening-Storm-Case-Invading-Iraq/dp/0375509283/sr=1-8/qid=1170526155/ref=sr_1_8/102-7325393-0444142?ie=UTF8&s=books

[Joanne98]

13. Well that's interesting!

[ShortnFiery]

18. And speaks volumes! We must glean our empiric delusions from one source! n/t

[Laurab]

16. Unfortunately, I read that one

"The Case for Invading Iraq". It was well before I found DU, and of course the book scared the shit out of me. Anyone who was uninformed and read that book would probably be convinced that we HAD to invade Iraq. I was selling books at the time, and that one sold very well for quite a while, so a LOT of people were misinformed by it.

I do hope the new book isn't similar - he was proven SO wrong in the first one, I would hope he would think twice about writing another "must invade" book, but who knows who he might be working for...

[Sal316]

19. Actually, in the Iran book.....

....he says that invasion is the absolute worst option.

There's alot of detail about the seemingly schizophrenic nature of Iranian politics. There's a tremendous amount of detail about our dealings with the Shah, and how no matter who was President, the Iranian Revolution was a foregone conclusion. Carter just kinda got screwed being in office during that time.

The one thing I didn't know was that Nixon opened up the US non-nuclear arsenal as the Shah's personal 'home shopping network'. The other thing I learned was that every move we took in Iran following WWII was out of fear of the USSR.

[Laurab]

22. Well that's somewhat reassuring

I think I'll add that one to my list, since he's not advocating invasion. Thanks.

[Sal316]

17. I read that one too....

....and it's not so much a 'pro-Iraq war' text as it is a 'what should we do and how should we do it' text. Granted he said that the best option was to remove Saddam, but the devil is in the details here.

In his book he details everything that should be done to make it happen. What's kind of ironic about it is it's the opposite of everything this administration has done. From troop levels, to reconstruction operations, to setting up the new Iraqi government.... alot of it is what we 'Murika hatin' librul commies' have said.

Pollack is smart. I may not agree with everything he says, but he knows his shit.

[Laurab]

20. The problem is that Iraq was NOT a "Threatening Storm"

and yes, he may have done it differently, but he was still making the case for doing it. This "Murika hating librul commie" doesn't think it had to be done at all.

[Sal316]

26. Me neither...don't get me wrong....

I believe Iraq is our biggest fuckup that I can remember.

The point was that even though he advocated a course of action we all found repulsive, the details are what we, and others, have been saying.

[Laurab]

42. I must have been one of those referred to in this snip

from the review in one of the posts before:

"Few read the book's final section, which laid out the steps Pollack insisted the United States take before roaring toward Baghdad (smashing al Qaeda and tamping down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among others)."

I actually probably did read it, but back then, I think I still thought our warmongers knew what they were doing. I've gotten quite an education since then!

[cui bono]

24. Yep. Here's an excerpt from a reader's review that describes its agenda:

"Some books are convincing because the author appears genuinely disinterested in the outcome of his book's argument, as if he or she is just laying down facts and lines of reasoning without regard for where they might lead. Other books are convincing because the author is so passionate, knowledgable, and even partisan about his argument, that he is able to develop good objections to his own case, and yet still demolishes them.

"The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq" is the latter kind of book. It is an astonishing and timely analysis that seeks to explain the range of all possible U.S. policy options in dealing with Iraq, and convincingly makes the case that a U.S.-led invasion is the best one. While Pollack is up front about what he thinks the U.S. should do, he is fair in setting out the other main potential policy options: containment, deterrance, and covert action."

:scared:

[conscious evolution]

10. ITMFA

[MethuenProgressive]

14. "...by 28 April 2006." -- 2006???

[blogslut]

15. This Kenneth M. Pollack?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Pollack

In late August of 2005 confirmed to Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) News Service that he was one of the unnamed U.S. government officials known only as "USG0-1"; referred to in the indictment of Larry Franklin and two employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), filed by prosecutors as part of the AIPAC espionage scandal. He denies any wrongdoing, and has not been charged with any crimes.

Pollack is married to the well-known TV journalist Andrea Koppel.

[TahitiNut]

25. Yep. That's him. 100% AIPAC neocon shill.

:shrug:

[DemReadingDU]

43. and Andrea Koppel

is the daughter of television journalist Ted Koppel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Koppel

[Sir Jeffrey]

21. Oh. my. god.

They're really going to do it soon aren't they.

A few years back, one of my profs stumbled across this article. Apparently, the US military had been buying "The Arab Mind" in bulk to help train soldiers against the enemy. Here is the story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1223525,00.html

"Patai died in 1996, but his book was revived by Hatherleigh Press in 2002 (nicely timed for the war in Iraq), and reprinted with an enthusiastic introduction by Norvell "Tex" De Atkine, a former US army colonel and the head of Middle East studies at Fort Bragg.

"It is essential reading," De Atkine wrote. "At the institution where I teach military officers, The Arab Mind forms the basis of my cultural instruction."

In a speech last week, the US president, George Bush, congratulated himself on having removed "hateful propaganda" from the schools in Iraq.

Perhaps it is now time he turned his attention to military schools in the US."

[Blackhatjack]

23. Nice Catch Dave! Isn't It A Day Late, Dollar Short? .....

IF the attack on Iran is going to happen, don't you think that decision has already been made?

The only utility to be gained from reading this (if you are an officer) would be if you are going to be 'stuck' in a conflict in Iraq/Iran for years to come. That scares me more than a propaganda piece designed to skew public opinion in the lead up to bombing Iran.

[CorpGovActivist]

32. A Lot Depends...

... on how widely this gets reported, and where. This is the sort of thing that oversight committees could really delve into, with "rogue" elements of the military brass giving candid answers - under oath - about the contours and timing of the Administration's Iran planning.

- Dave

[OneBlueSky]

27. fwiw . . . Washington Post's review of this book . . .

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
as reprinted on amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Persian-Puzzle-Conflict-Between-America/dp/0812973364/sr=1-1/qid=1170532450/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6405060-2683341?ie=UTF8&s=books

Rarely has a policy wonk made such a splash as Kenneth M. Pollack did two winters ago. His 2002 bestseller The Threatening Storm convinced hundreds of otherwise liberal opinion leaders -- and, in turn, thousands and possibly millions of their readers and viewers -- that invading Iraq was a good thing to do. Few read the book's final section, which laid out the steps Pollack insisted the United States take before roaring toward Baghdad (smashing al Qaeda and tamping down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among others). But Pollack too brushed aside his caveats, appearing on innumerable TV news shows to argue eloquently for war -- a campaign for which he has since apologized, claiming that he, too, had been snookered by bad intelligence.

Now the specter of Iran, whose nuclear ambitions and resources seem very real, looms before us. Another debate rages over what is to be done. And here comes Pollack with another all-too-pertinent book, The Persian Puzzle.

Many will be relieved, and others dismayed, that Pollack opposes war this time out. (In a clear reference to his earlier book, which was subtitled The Case for Invading Iraq, he labels one section of this new work "The Case Against Invading Iran.") An invasion, he notes, is impractical. Iran is four times as large as Iraq and three times as populous, and its terrain is forbiddingly mountainous; besides, as long as the United States is stuck in Iraq, there aren't enough troops. As for launching a coup, the CIA lacks assets; Iran's security apparatus is impenetrable; and, bitterly as most Iranians detest their regime, they hate interlopers even more.

The most tempting option is to bomb Iran's nuclear reactors, as the Israelis did with Iraq's Osiraq facility in 1981. But, Pollack laments, the Iranians -- precisely to avoid a repetition -- have dispersed their facilities in underground sites whose locations are unknown.

- more . . .

http://www.amazon.com/Persian-Puzzle-Conflict-Between-America/dp/0812973364/sr=1-1/qid=1170532450/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6405060-2683341?ie=UTF8&s=books

[CorpGovActivist]

38. The Use of Tactical Nukes to Take out the Iranian Program...

... is one option that keeps coming up: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=tactical+nukes+iran

- Dave

[Pachamama]

28. Maybe the Congress should suggest Scott Ritter's Book "Target Iran" and then let our Officers and

Military think about what the real agenda is...

Oops! My mistake....I forgot that our military isn't taught to think, its to follow orders...and sadly, the ones who do think and speak out are fired or smeared or court-martialed. And meanwhile our military has to follow Bush as the Commander in Chief...who doesn't think...

We are so screwed....

[CorpGovActivist]

35. It's a "Featured New Book" at the Air University Library

http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/lane.htm

https://catalog.au.af.mil/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=435623

Main Author: Ritter, Scott.
Title: Target Iran : the truth about the White House’s plans for regime change / Scott Ritter.
Portion of Title: Truth about the White House’s plans for regime change
Subject(s): Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946-
Ritter, Scott.
Imperialism.
Weapons --Inspection --Iran.
Nuclear weapons --Iran.
United States --Foreign relations --2001-
United States --Politics and government --2001-
United States --Military policy.
United States --Foreign relations --Iran.
Iran --Foreign relations --United States.
Publisher: New York : Nation Books, c2006.
Description: xxviii, 228 p. : map ; 24 cm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. <221>-224) and index.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Location: Fairchild Bookstacks
Call Number: 327.73055 R614t
Copy Number: 1
Number of Items: 1
Status: Not Charged

Cover Image: Additional Information
Additional Information

[sanskritwarrior]

34. Everybody chill out

The military put out reading lists for Officers and Senior NCO's every quarter......These lists are not required reading, but recommended......Sometimes Chomsky is on there, sometimes Eisenhower, sometimes a neocon author......Right now for this quarter my reading list my Brigade commander put out:

Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror / Rohan Gunaratna
Based on over five years of research, Inside al Qaeda provides the definitive story behind the rise of this small, mysterious group to the notorious organization making headlines today. An essential read for senior officers and NCOs in this Global War on Terrorism

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order / Samuel Huntington
A prescient and controversial analysis of post–Cold War world challenges that sees the poverty and religious extremism of the Third World as the next great threat to world order. In this incisive work, the renowned political scientist explains how “civilizations” have replaced nations and ideologies as the driving force in global politics today. While not all will agree with the author’s main thesis, one cannot afford to ignore this important and persuasive book.

Showdown: Why China Wants War with the United States / Jed Babbin
Will the U.S. go to war with China over Taiwan or oil? Yes-bestselling authors Jed Babbin and Ed Timperlake say Chinese aggression is virtually inevitable and in their new book, Showdown, they address the threat of mainland China and Bush's promise to defend Taiwan-at any cost. Showdown offers indispensable strategies and tactics for the U.S. to respond to the Chinese military threat in this ongoing battle for democracy and freedom.

[CorpGovActivist]

36. The Difference Between a Reading Recommendation and a Procurement of 3320 Copies

To my mind, the procurement of 3000+ copies of this particular text suggests more than a reading recommendation.

- Dave

[sanskritwarrior]

37. I don't buy

these books myself......there is a much longer list, I make a choice, the Brigade buys them for me.......

sounds like 3300 air force officers want to read this book......In an Air force with over 70,000 officers, it doesn't make my soldier alarm go off.......

[CorpGovActivist]

39. Fair Enough

Thanks for the context. I'll poke around and see what other procurements of at least that size I can find, to see if any other books have been ordered in that quantity for the Air University Library.

- Dave

[CorpGovActivist]

44. Point Well Taken: 3320 Copies of "General George Washington, a Military Life" Ordered, Too

http://www.fbo.gov/servlet/Documents/R/1368797

Your point is well taken.

- Dave

[leftchick]

40. He is from the Brookings Inst. and a regular ME expert on CNN

He did not sound so eager for a war with Iran the other day. When asked about Iran messing around in Iraq he went at length saying Jordan, Saudi Arabi and other Sunni countries were making mischief in Iraq backing the Sunni insurgents. Iran was very unlikely to be carrying out the activities the US is accusing them of.

Interesting to hear....

[CorpGovActivist]

45. Interview with Author in Mother Jones

http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/01/kenneth_pollack.html

- Dave

[bobthedrummer]

46. Reading is fundamental-kick.