About the Author William Sturgiss Lind, Director of the Center for Cultural Conservatism at the Free Congress Foundation, is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, born July 9, 1947. He graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1969 and received a Master's Degree in History from Princeton University in 1971. He worked as a legislative aide for armed services for Senator Robert Taft, Jr., of Ohio from 1973 through 1976 and held a similar position with Senator Gary Hart of Colorado from 1977 through 1986. He joined Free Congress Foundation in 1987. Mr. Lind is author of the Maneuver Warfare Handbook (Westview Press, 1985); co-author, with Gary Hart, of America Can Win: The Case for Military Reform (Adler & Adler, 1986); and co-author, with William H. Marshner, of Cultural Conservatism: Toward a New National Agenda (Free Congress Foundation, 1987). He has written extensively for both popular media, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Harper's, and professional military journals, including The Marine Corps Gazette, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings and Military Review. Mr. Lind co-authored the prescient article, "The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation," which was published in The Marine Corps Gazette in October, 1989 and which first propounded the concept of "Fourth Generation War." Mr. Lind and his co-authors predicted that states would increasingly face threats not from other states, but from non-state forces whose primary allegiance was to their religion, ethnic group or ideology. Following the events of September 11, 2001, the article has been credited for its foresight by The New York Times Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly. Mr. Lind is co-author with Paul M. Weyrich of the monograph: "Why Islam is a Threat to America and The West." He is the author of "George W. Bush's `War on Terrorism': Faulty Strategy and Bad Tactics?" Both were published in 2002 by the Free Congress Foundation. Discussion Board Have an opinion on this article? Sound off. Get Breaking Military News Alerts Global Hotspots: Iraq

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September 1, 2005: Wars and Rumors of Wars - "If a strategy initially based on lies must rely on more lies for its continuation, it is probably not pointed toward success."

August 25, 2005: Some Responses - "The larger question still remains: is a militia best-equipped to defend against Fourth Generation threats?"

August 18, 2005: Getting Swept - "If the people of Cleveland and other places like Cleveland ever figure out what's really going on, there's going to be hell to pay."

August 10, 2005: Modern War Symposium, Part II - "If the militia idea is on the right track, it would reinforce rather than undermine the qualities of a true republic."

August 3, 2005: Modern War Symposium - What might a state armed service designed for 4GW look like? Here are some thoughts.

July 27, 2005: The Duke of Alba - "I somehow doubt that history will accept the Bush administration's Newspeak name for the invasion of Iraq, ' Operation Iraqi Freedom.' Might 'Operation Duke of Alba' be a more credible substitute?"

July 21, 2005: The Marx-Mohammed Pact - "In the real world, 'diversity' is a synonym for Fourth Generation war on your own soil."

July 14, 2005: Hunting for Cops - "When it comes to Fourth Generation war, an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of cure."

July 7 , 2005: 4th Generation War Manual - "The Russians have an old saying, 'Best is enemy of good enough.' American Marines and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan need a guide of some sort for the new kind of war they find themselves facing."

June 29, 2005: Doing It Right - "Not wanting to fight is key to success in Fourth Generation war."

June 24, 2005: The Sun Also Rises - "Without American support, any rising of the Japanese sun will quickly prove a mirage made of hot air."

June 21, 2005: The Other War - "We have to accept that the Afghanistan we have is as good as it is going to get."

June 9, 2005: Striking Back at the Empire - "Like the French Bourbons, the Euroelites forget nothing and they learn nothing. The future does not belong to them."

June 2, 2005: Wreck It and Run - "The 'wreck it and run' civilian management drove America's armed forces into the ground."

May 25, 2005: Of Cabbages and Kings - "To bureaucracies what is important is not external reality but covering your own backside politically."

May 18, 2005: War With China? - "I regard a war with China -- hot or cold -- as perhaps the greatest strategic blunder the U.S. could make."

May 11, 2005: The Reality Gap - "When a country adopts a wildly adventuristic military policy, as we have done since the Cold War ended, it gets beaten."

May 5, 2005: Fool's Paradise - "What is going on here? Are we really safer, or is Washington living in a fool's paradise?"

April 28, 2005: More on Gangs & Guerillas vs. the State - "How long will it be before al Qaeda and other Islamic non-state forces make their own alliances with the drug gangs and people smugglers who are experts in getting across America's southern border?"

April 21, 2005: MS-13 vs. Minutemen? - "If MS-13 does not attack the Minutemen, that too may be an act of war, and a highly sophisticated one."

April 15, 2005: On Strategy - "My suggestion to the Marines was that they think about our strategy in Iraq as a real-world problem."

April 7, 2005: Are Iraq's Insurgents Losing? - "How can a state be legitimate when its government is a foreign creation propped up by foreign troops?"

April 1, 2005: Lebanon Baloney - "Why would the neo-cons and the Bush administration they dominate want a renewed Lebanese civil war?"

March 23, 2005: On Killing - "It seems to me that the bottom line [of Fourth Generation war] needs to be, not killing, but winning."

March 16, 2005: Where is Charles Martel? - "Strategically, Islamic immigration is a far greater threat to Europe than Al Qaeda's terrorism."

March 8, 2005: More Newspeak - "The proliferation of militias points to a fact about the war in Iraq: it's increasingly taking on the nature of a civil war."

March 1, 2005: Turkish Delight - "By invading and occupying Iraq, a country that posed no threat to us, ... we have made America into a monster."

February 23, 2005: Opportunity Knocks - "Splitting our opposition and working with as much of it as we can is the only possible light at the end of the Iraqi tunnel."

February 15, 2005: Fin de Siecle - "What small incident will it be this time that causes the house of cards to collapse?"

February 9, 2005: More Election Ju-ju - "An occupying American army can protect an election, but it cannot create a state."

February 1, 2005: Duce? Not to Us - "The danger now facing America is one of the many ills released from that Pandora's Box, the French Revolution: abstract nationalism."

January 25, 2005: FMFM 1-A - "Before you can fight Fourth Generation war successfully, you have to understand it."

January 21, 2005: Coming Unglued - "In Iraq, America has made bad decisions and then not made corrections."

January 13, 2005: The Sorrows of Old Werther - "The rise of 4GW mark the real beginning of the new century, a century that will be defined by people who believe."

January 5, 2005: Jena - "We lost in Jena because we were still the army of Frederick the Great, but war had changed. The Americans in Iraq have the same problem."

December 22, 2004: Little Stalingrad - "Like Stalingrad, Fallujah will mark the point where the war turned against the invader."

December 17, 2004: Election Ju-ju - "What is the chance that Sistani can recreate a real state in Iraq? Unfortunately, not very good."

December 8, 2004: The March of Folly, Continued - "Is there anyone left in Washington who can think strategically? If there is, it seems their voices go unheard."

December 1, 2004: 4GW on the Home Front - "Invasion by immigration easily can be more dangerous than invasion by a foreign army."

November 29, 2004: Last Exit Before Gas - "Like the Syracuse Expedition, a victory in Iraq would have given America little in the war against its real enemies, Islamic non-state forces."

November 17, 2004: Tactics of the Crescent Moon - "Tactics of the Crescent Moon: Militant Muslim Combat Methods should be in the backpack of every American soldier and Marine."

November 10, 2004: Germany's Blunder - "Washington needs a Bismarck, but in the camp of the neo-cons, all it can find are many Holsteins."

November 5, 2004: The Sling and the Stone - "As is so often the case in the Fourth Generation, what seems weak is strong and what seems strong is weak."

October 29, 2004: Election Day - "It is not just time for a new king; it is time for a new dynasty."

October 21, 2004: Fallujah and the Moral Level of War - "The rest of the world can see the hypocrisy, even if what passes for America's 'leaders' cannot."

October 6, 2004: Keeping Our SA Up - "If you allow yourself to focus on just one aspect of the Fourth Generation threat, you're gonna get hosed."

October 1, 2004: The Grand Illusion - "The core problem is ... the 'state' Iraqi security forces are being told to fight for has no legitimacy."

September 24, 2004: Destroying The National Guard - "Versailles on the Potomac does not care about the rest of the country in any respect, so long as the tax dollars keep coming in."

September 14, 2004: Learning Curve - "You can't use yesterday's techniques that are always done the same way, the new priority becomes adapting and inventing techniques."

September 10, 2004: Stage Three - "The war in the Sunni triangle is shifting its base from the Baath Party, which still operates within the framework of the state, to religious elements which do not."

September 2, 2004: Greater Denmark, The Neo-barbs And The War With Sweden - "Once again, in a time of national peril, our democratic system has brought forth a candidate of genuine conviction, moral courage and unwavering principle."

August 27, 2004: The Desert Fox - "From al-Sadr's perspective, the fact that he suffered a defeat is far less important than the fact he fought the Americans."

August 11, 2004: Seeing Through The Other Side's Eyes - "The story is a blow-by-blow, hour-by-hour tale of the Khobar raid."

August 5, 2004: Corruption In The Corps? - "Are defense contractors flying Marines to Vegas for free weekends of poker, booze and floozies?"

July 28, 2004: Reorganization, Not Reform - "Intelligence agencies want to offer policy-makers a single, agreed option, coupled with the message, 'Everything is fine with us, except we need more money.'"

July 21, 2004: Civil War In Iraq? - "At the moral level, virtually all the other factions have greater legitimacy than the 'government.'"

July 15, 2004: 4GW in the Sudan - "The Fourth Generation marks the end of modern war and the modern age, and nowhere do we see that more clearly than in places like the Sudan."

July 8, 2004: The October Surprise? - "It is a safe bet that Israel is planning a strike on known Iranian nuclear facilities, and that such a strike will take place. The question is when."

July 2, 2004: Spillover - "How are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan going? Perhaps the best way to answer that question is to look at what is happening in Saudi Arabia."

June 25, 2004: The Canon, continued - "Soldiers as well as scholars need a framework if they are to make sense out of the world around them. The canon offers the best framework I know."

June 15, 2004: The Canon - "Here, we pick up with a discussion of 'the canon,' the seven books which, read in the order given, will take the reader from the First Generation through the Second, the Third and on into the Fourth."

June 10, 2004: The Canon and the Four Generations - "In 4GW, differences between cultures, not just states, become paramount, and other cultures will not fight the way we fight."

June 4, 2004: Two Marine Corps - "The Marine Corps has sat down at the highest-stakes poker game in the world, American defense politics, with 25 cents in its pocket."

May 25, 2004: Psyops In Fourth Generation War - "Psyops [in 4GW] are not what you say but what you do."

May 21, 2004: The Power Of Weakness - "The demoralization and disintegration that come to an army of the strong fighting against the weak were evident at Abu Ghraib prison."

May 12, 2004: Work For The Grossgeneralstab - "The growing probability is that we will be driven out of Iraq by a general uprising, an intifada."

May 5, 2004: Iraq's WMD Factory - "The invasion and occupation of Iraq by America have created the greatest recruiting drive in history -- for the other side."

May 5, 2004: Iraq's WMD Factory - "The invasion and occupation of Iraq by America have created the greatest recruiting drive in history -- for the other side."

April 27, 2004: Back From The Brink? - "Last week, the Americans in Iraq stood on the brink of not one but three cliffs. Now, in what appears to be a sudden attack of sanity, they have pulled back from the edge of two."

April 21, 2004: Why We Get It Wrong - "One of the few consistencies of the war in Iraq is America's ability to make the wrong choices."

April 14, 2004: "Your Fish, Sir" - "In the twelve-course meal that is the war in Iraq, America has just been served the first entree."

April 8, 2004: The Fourth Generation Seminar, Continued - "A major challenge to Fourth Generation theory is the conundrum that what works for you at the tactical and physical levels often woks against you at the moral and grand strategic levels."

March 29, 2004: The Battle That Wasn't - "The American generals in command in Afghanistan made the typical German mistake: they sacrificed the strategic situation to benefit their operational plan."

March 22, 2004: The Beginning of Phase Three - "We are forced into a war of attrition against an enemy who outnumbers us and is far better able to take casualties and still continue the fight."

March 17, 2004: Successful Strategic Bombing - "How could a strategic bombing campaign waged with a handful of explosives-filled backpacks attain such dramatic results when strategic by bombing fleets of aircraft has usually failed?"

March 10, 2004: Why They Throw Rocks - "The state's growing inability to maintain order, in Baghdad or in Washington, is a primary cause of its intensifying crisis of legitimacy."

March 3, 2004: Reality 1, Neo-cons 0 - "Perhaps it was America's turn to have its foreign policy captured by a gang of ignorant and reckless adventurers."

February 27, 2004: The Discreet Charm of the (Washington) Bourgeoisie - "There is nothing left of the vaunted Council on Foreign Relations, or of the Establishment it represents, but dead leaves and dry bones."

February 20, 2004: The Withering Away of the State, Continued - "Mercenaries mark the state's loss of its monopoly on war just as surely as do the rise of non-state actors."

February 12, 2004: Fifth Generation Warfare? - "Attempting to visualize a Fifth Generation from where we are now is like trying to see the outlines of the Middle Ages from the vantage point of the late Roman Empire."

February 3, 2004: Fifth Generation Warfare? - "Attempting to visualize a Fifth Generation from where we are now is like trying to see the outlines of the Middle Ages from the vantage point of the late Roman Empire."

January 27, 2004: The Discarded Image - "Not only do virtual realities lead to Hell, they have another drawback, one that a Fourth Generation world will soon bring to the fore: all of them, without exception, eventually collapse."

January 21, 2004: The Army's "Transformation" - "A Third Generation culture will eventually fix a Second Generation force structure, but no force structure can help a Second Generation military culture."

January 16, 2004: More Thoughts from the 4th Generation Seminar - "You are the commander of the Marine Corps unit that will take over Fallujah in March; what will you do?"

January 7, 2004: How 2004 Looks From Potsdam - "At the beginning of a new year, it is traditional for columnists, commentators and other harmless drudges to take a look at their crystal ball and forecast what the year may bring."

December 30, 2003: Marley's List For Santa - "As I sat by my fireside the other evening, ... drinking a bottle of old Port and occasionally kicking the cat, I thought again about my exemplar, Jacob Marley."

December 19, 2003: Understanding Fourth Generation War - "If the U.S. Army used the capture of Saddam to announce the end of tactics that enrage ordinary Iraqis and drive them toward active resistance, it might buy us a bit of de-escalation. But I don't think we'll be that smart."

December 12, 2003: How to Fight Fourth Generation War (continued) - "One key to success in 4GW may be 'losing to win.' Part of the reason the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not succeeding is that our initial invasion destroyed the state, creating a happy hunting ground for Fourth Generation forces."

December 5, 2003: How to Fight Fourth Generation War - "The inability to fight battles of encirclement is what led to the failure of Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan, where al Qaeda stood, fought us, and got away with few casualties."

November 25, 2003: Worse Than Crimes - "It is increasingly evident that U.S. Army commanders in Iraq know nothing about guerilla warfare. Over and over, they are ordering actions that are counterproductive."

November 18, 2003: Post-Machine Gun Tactics - "It is of course inexcusable that most of the schools American privates go through still teach pre-machine gun tactics."

November 4, 2003: Indicators - "This week's tragic shooting down of an Army Chinook helicopter near Fallujah, with the loss of 16 soldiers, may or may not point to a significant new development in the Iraq war."

October 30, 2003: Curiouser and Curiouser - "If there is one thing that all Washington should be able to agree on, it is that the United States does not want to fight another war in Korea."

October 24, 2003: Why They Fight - "A friend of mine recently telephoned to say that he had found the perfect way to win the war in Iraq. 'Just buy every Iraqi family a wide-screen TV and a satellite dish, and they will be hooked. They will all want to become like us instead of fighting us.'"

October 20, 2003: A Shi'ite Hot Idea - "Having pushed Iraq's Sunnis into waging guerrilla war by effectively disenfranchising them when we outlawed the Baath Party, we now seem intent on picking quarrels with Iraq's two other main groups, the Kurds and the Shi'ites."

October 9, 2003: Utopia Means “No Place” - "Chaos is again on the front page. Former soldiers of the Iraqi army are rioting for their back pay."

September 30, 2003: Vive Le Roi! - "I found old Louis on one of Hell’s minor circles, the one reserved for rulers who sacrificed their country to their own egos."

September 23, 2003: How $87 Billion Could Buy Some Real Security - "President Bush’s request for $87 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will do nothing for America’s security."

September 17, 2003: Learning from Uncle Abe - "The one thing worse than an incompetent commander is an incompetent commander who knows how to kiss ass."

September 11, 2003: Some Good News - "Will the institutions ignore the lessons learned in combat by their own men, as they have ignored what history and historians have been telling them for decades?"

September 5, 2003: Straight from the Horse's Mouth - "Prior to and during the first phase of the war with Iraq, some of us warned that overthrowing Saddam would turn Mesopotamia into a happy hunting ground for non-state, Fourth Generation forces, aka "terrorists." According to America's viceroy in Baghdad, Mr. Paul Bremer, we were right."

August 29, 2003: When The Lights Went Out - "With Iraqis still mostly without electric power or a reliable water supply, much of the Islamic world no doubt rejoiced to see 50 million Americans in the same stew, even briefly. And a whole lot of people realized just how vulnerable Americans, and the American power grid, really are."

August 25, 2003: What Is To Be Done? - "A number of readers of this column have said, in effect, 'You are critical of our current policies in Iraq. What would you do instead?' I addressed this in an earlier column, but there are a good number of new readers, so it is probably time to revisit what I said then and perhaps add a few points. "

August 13, 2003: How NOT to Use Light Armored Vehicles - "The magnitude of the idiocy involved in using Light Armored Vehicles in urban fighting, where they are grapes for RPGs, is so vast that analogies are difficult. Maybe one could compare it to planning a fireworks display on board the Hindenburg."

June 25, 2003: A Plague Upon Us - "First we got AIDs, then West Nile, then SARS, now Monkey Pox. What is going on here? And what does it have to do with war?"

June 18, 2003: A Sturgiss Pharmacy Prescription - "Troop morale in Iraq is already reaching late Vietnam War levels. What can be done?"

June 11, 2003: Lies, Damned Lies, and Military Intelligence - "It is now evident that Saddam Hussein's possession of vast quantities of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) is about as likely as Mars having canals, complete with gondolas and singing gondoliers."

June 3, 2003: The Men Who Would Not Be King - "No one seems willing to take the job of Army Chief of Staff."

May 29, 2003: Of Time and the Rivers - "War on "God's time" has already fought us to a stalemate in Afghanistan, with very little fighting."

May 23, 2003: Is Saddam Really Out of the Game? - "The war in Iraq is not over. On the contrary, the real war is just beginning."

May 19, 2003: Don't Take John Boyd's Name in Vain - "Some senior American military officers and a number of military commentators are now saying that America's swift victory in the first phase of the war with Iraq shows that the U.S. armed forces have learned the lessons John Boyd tried to teach them. As someone who knew and worked with John Boyd, I have to say, not so fast."