Angry Planet

How many soldiers does America need to turn the tide in Afghanistan? The Taliban controls half the country and continues to gain ground. The Pentagon and generals in the field want U.S. President Donald Trump to send an additional 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers to Afghanistan to help win the war. But we’ve been here before. In 2009, Stanley McChrystal famously requested a troop surge and got it. In the long run, an extra 30,000 soldiers didn’t matter. This week on War College, journalist and author Douglas Wissing tells us why he thinks a troop surge in Afghanistan a terrible idea. Wissing has embedded with U.S. forces in Afghanistan three times in the past 16 years. He’s written two books on the country and he’s not optimistic about America’s long-term military prospects in a war that’s almost two decades old. By Matthew Gault Produced by Bethel HabteSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Submarines are an accepted part of a strong navy and the cornerstone vessel of a superpower. But these stealth-killers of the ocean were once as derided and feared as the drone is now. This week on War College, former journalist and current naval historian Iain Ballantyne takes us through the history of the submarine. From the American Revolutionary War to the modern age of the nuclear triad, few weapons have been as controversial and as feared as the submarine. Find out why on this week’s episode. By Matthew Gault Produced by Bethel HabteSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia's aircraft carrier may be creaky, but its submarines are among the best in the business and they ply the currents beneath the Arctic at will - though not unchallenged. So, who's challenging Russia and what are the world's powers fighting over in the warming waters? (This is a rebroadcast of "The next Great Game may be played for the North Pole" from December 2016).Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America is at war with the Islamic State. Typically, citizens think this war comes in the form of drone strikes, signals intelligence and cooperation with regional partners. But that’s only part of the story. Even while popular opinion has shunned U.S. “boots on the ground” in the Middle East, U.S. Special Operations Forces are the boots. They conduct complicated operations that take the fight to the Islamic State, fighting and dying in covert operations all across the globe. But the strategy might not be sustainable. This week on War College, freelance journalist Joseph Trevithick walks us through the ins and outs of the SpecOp’s war on Islamic State and the strange trick journalists have to use to uncover information about a class of warriors that does its best to go unnoticed. By Matthew Gault Produced and edited by Bethel HabteSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even if you think a government program to fund research into extra sensory perception, remote viewing and mind reading is crazy, U.S. taxpayers have paid for it. This week on War College, Pulitzer-prize finalist Annie Jacobsen walks us through the years she spent digging through government documents and researching the U.S. military’s interest in the paranormal. Jacobsen uncovered once-classified material detailing these covert programs intended to help intelligence agencies access secret documents, locate hostages and read minds. By Matthew Gault Produced and edited by Bethel HabteSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pyongyang launches missile test after missile test. A carrier strike group moves through the Pacific with its sights set on the peninsula. U.S. President Donald Trump has called the entirety of the U.S. Congress to attend a briefing on the North Korean threat on April 26, 2017. And Seoul faces an election that could dramatically change the country’s relationship to both its neighbor to the north and its oldest ally. But what does North Korea want? This week on War College, B.R. Myers will help us figure that out. Myers is a professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea. He’s visited the north, speaks the language, and reads the literature and propaganda alike. He takes Pyongyang at its word when it says it wants to reunify the peninsula and he’s not hopeful for the future.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a year of protests, Standing Rock began to die down in late winter this year. But to one observer, the standoff stood out for how much it resembled a war zone. Marty Skovlund Jr. is a U.S. Army veteran who served in the 1st Ranger Battalion. He served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Since coming home he’s run a small business, written books and freelanced for several news outlets. In December, he chronicled the final days of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, where state and local police milled with private military contractors and some of the remaining protesters set structures on fire. This week on War College, Skovlund Jr. walks us through the end of one of the largest protracted protest in American history. According to Skovlund, the scene reminded him of forward operating bases in Iraq. In the end, he thinks the police changed the paradigm for how to deal with peaceful protests and, to this day, he can’t believe that no one died.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My father had a low draft number and always told me he couldn’t see himself trudging through the jungle with a machete. It was the early ‘70s and Vietnam would be over soon, but young Americans were still dying in Southeast Asia. So dad joined the Navy and served aboard the USS Enterprise. Unlike a lot of the other men of his generation and demographic, dad did his duty.While dad sweated on the Pacific Ocean and learned the joys of monsoon season, millions of other American men protested the unjust, expensive and bloody war and helped bring it to an end. The popular conception of that period is one of free love and political turmoil. It was an era when old men started unpopular wars and the righteous stayed behind.But that’s not an accurate picture, according to this week’s War College guest, Bruce Cannon Gibney. He lays out the case against the Boomer’s collective memory in his new book “A Generation of Sociopaths: How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America.”Boomers overwhelmingly...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

War nerds love tanks. The battlefield behemoths drove onto the scene in the early days of World War I, replaced the cavalry and became synonymous with war. But which one is the best? This week on the show, author Steven Zaloga walks us through the ins and outs of armored vehicles. He explains how the French Renault doesn’t get enough credit, how the Sherman came to dominate Europe and how people always forget about the Russians. It’s everything you ever wanted to know about tanks but were afraid to ask on War College this week. How have wire guided missiles changed the game? What’s reactive armor and why does it explode? And what, if any, is the point of tanks in low intensity warfare?Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the past decade, unmanned aerial vehicles have been a cornerstone of America’s campaign against Islamic insurgents in the Greater Middle East. Predator and Reaper drones crisscross the globe firing hellfire missiles on U.S. enemies. Other countries have operational drone fleets, but few match the might and ubiquity of America’s. But journalists on the front lines in Iraq have seen a disturbing new trend - Islamic State using retail quadcopters to drop their own munitions with surprising accuracy. Mosul is the frontline in the fight against ISIS as well as the frontline in a new arm’s race. One that pits the tiny drones of the Islamic State against the budding anti-drone technology of the West. To be clear, Islamic State’s commercial quadcopters rigged with grenades and manufactured missiles is nothing compared to the power of a Predator firing off hellfire missiles with pinpoint accuracy. But that’s cold comfort to a civilian killed by a handmade explosive dropped by a quadcopter over the streets of Mosul. This week on War College, Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Kesling walks us through the drones of Islamic State. He’s back from the fighting in Mosul and saw his share of quadcopters as well as the innovative solutions coalition and Iraqi forces are using to fight against them.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.