Ghost Wars

The United States entered the Second World War following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  The United States and Great Britain agreed on the need to defeat NAZI Germany before Japan.  U.S. military leaders favored an immediate invasion of Western Europe across the English Channel.  The British argued that Allied forces weren’t ready to land in Europe and instead proposed landing in North Africa.  Landing in North Africa would relieve pressure on the Soviets, secure shipping lanes, and give the Allies an opportunity to decisively defeat a large German force.  President Roosevelt agreed with the British and November 8, 1942 an Anglo-American force of over 100,000 troops landed on the beaches of Vichy-controlled Morocco and Algeria.  This was the first big move of America’s untested army.  Rick Atkinson tells the story in “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943”.

James Ellman the author of Patton Reconsidered joins the Odin and Aesop podcast to discuss his latest book.   James conducted exhaustive research into the General George S Patton as wartime commander.  He went back through the primary sources and has tried to correct many of the myths that surround a man that many consider America’s finest combat commander.  Tonight we sit down and discuss his results and get a feel for what he has learned while conducting his research for his recently published book Patton Reconsidered.  

Fidel Catro overthrew Fulgencio Batista and assumed power in Cuba in January 1959.  Relations between Cuba and the United States soured.   Castro's government nationalized American-owned property, implemented land reforms, and established diplomatic and economic ties with the Soviet Union.  By 1960, President Eisenhower had decided to overthrow Fidel Castro.  The Central Intelligence Agency recruited and trained a brigade of Cuban exiles for the job.  Peter Wyden tells the story of what happened in April 1961 when they landed in Cuba in “Bay of Pigs: The Untold Story”. 

By the middle of 1942 Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sought a reckoning with the United States Navy.  The Japanese wanted to neutralize the United States Navy and consolidate their early gains.  Yamamoto’s plan was to draw the United States Navy’s aircraft carriers into a decisive battle by threatening the island of Midway 1,300 miles northwest of Hawaii.  The United States Navy took the bait.  It took the bait armed with intelligence of the Japanese plan.  Mark Stille tells the story of what happened when the two fleets clashed in “Midway: The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle”.

This Pulitzer Prize winning book traces the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) involvement in Afghanistan.  Starting in 1979, it explains how the CIA funneled arms to the Afghan mujahideen through Pakistan’s intelligence service in conjunction with money from Saudi Arabia.  Next, it provides the details and complexities of how the CIA subsequently attempted to confront the rise in radical Islamic militancy, Osama bin Laden and Al-Queda, and the Taliban.  Steve Coll tells the story in “Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden”.

The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979.  It was supposed to be a swift operation to install a loyal communist government.  The Soviets were initially successful in gaining control of the cities and major infrastructure but became bogged down and flummoxed fighting against mujahideen guerillas in Afghanistan’s rugged mountains.  The Soviet – Afghan War went on for ten years and cost the Soviet army an estimated 15,000 dead.  After the Soviets withdrew, the government they were backing in Kabul collapsed three years later.  The former British ambassador to Moscow, Rodric Braithwaite, tells the Soviet side of the story in, “Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89”. 

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nassar announced Egypt was taking control of the British and French owned Suez Canal Company in July 1956.  He took this action to fund the Aswan Dam he wanted built.  In response to Nassar seizing the canal, Britain, France, and Israel secretly planned a joint invasion.  Israel would advance towards the canal through the Sinai Peninsula while Britain and France would intervene and regain control of the canal under the guise of being peacekeepers.  Barry Turner explains why the plan did not work in, “Suez 1956: The Inside Story of the First Oil War.” 

Bill Richardson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and enlisted in the Army in 1945.  He deployed to Korea when war broke out in 1950 and fought northward up the length of the Korean peninsula as part of the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division.  On November 5th, 1950, Richardson was captured by the Chinese during the Battle of Unsan.  He spent roughly the next three years enduring brutal captivity.  So brutal 38% of American prisoners died.  Somehow Richardson survived with his spirit unbroken.  After being freed and returning to the United States, he served the rest of his 40 years in Army service.  He tells the story in “Valleys of Death.”

Among other things, Thomas Edward Lawrence was an author, archeologist, and British Army officer.  During the First World War, he served as a liaison between the British and the Arab tribes fighting Ottoman rule in the western Arabian desert.  Lawrence spent approximately two years and covered hundreds of miles by camel in this role.  His campaign was successful in toppling Ottoman rule yet failed to fully meet the Arab tribes’ aspirations for self-rule.  Lawrence tells the story in “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”.

Within a few short years, drones went from being a niche capability reserved for technically advanced militaries to something ubiquitous on the modern battlefield.  According to the Atlantic Council, Ukraine was producing 200,000 first person view drones per month by early 2025.  The Ukrainians used those drones to inflict up to 80% of Russian battlefield casualties.  That conflict continues and so does its use of drones.  Meanwhile, Hamas used drones to as part of the October 7th attacks.  The Houthis have used drones to attack US Navy ships in the Red Sea and drones are being extensively used by Iran in the ongoing conflict.  Drones are a rapidly changing and rapidly proliferating capability.  In this book, engineer and historian Lars Celander gives an overview of how drones are designed and used – How they fight.