US Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, is divided up into the following. I will talk about each individual unit listed.

• Army: 75th Ranger Regiment, Special Forces (Green Berets), 160th SOAR (Night Stalkers)
  
• Navy: SEALs, and SWCCs (Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen)
• Air Force: Pararescuemen (PJs), Combat Controllers (CCTs)
• Marine Corps: Marine Force Recon
• Joint: Delta Force, DEVGRU, 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Intelligence Support Activity

For more information, read:
US Special Forces by Samuel Southworth
Chosen Soldier by Dick Couch
That Others May Live by Jack Brehm
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Audible (visit audiblepodcast.com/militaryhistory for a free audiobook download)

This episode answers four basic questions:

• Why were both North and South so unprepared for war?
• Which side had the initial advantage?
• Did the South have to secede?  Did the North have to respond with military force?
• Was Northern victory inevitable?

For information on sources, email me.

Vicksburg was a Confederate fortress guarding the Mississippi River during the American Civil War.  It was the only thing stopping the Union from taking control of the all-powerful Mississippi waterway.  Although the Vicksburg Campaign is most famously associated with General Ulysses Grant (whose capture of the fortress is considered a major turning point in the war), there were many earlier Union campaigns to take control of Vicksburg.  One of these campaigns, led by Navy Admiral David Farragut, is the focus of this episode.

The script for this episode was written by Jacob Bains from Texas.  If you would like to submit your own script, please send it to militaryhistorypodcast@gmail.com

Why has democracy failed in Iraq?  Here are some potential theories, with their originators in parentheses:

• Modernization (Rostow, Lipset): Iraq is not wealthy, urban, modern, or secular enough to support democracy.  It has not followed the same path to development that Western democracies have set out, and thus, it is not yet ready.
• Cultural (Huntington, Weber): Iraqis are not inherently suitable for democracy, simply because their culture favors an authoritarian style of government.
• Marxist (Moore, Marx): Iraq still has a strong landed elite and a weak bourgeoisie, meaning that it is not ripe for class conflict and thus, it is not ripe for social and political development
• Voluntarist (Di Palma): Iraq lacks the strong leadership needed to usher the country into a democratic phase.

Each of these theories has its flaws and counterexamples, which will be discussed in this episode.  This is not meant to define one theory as better than the rest...it is simply meant to put all ideas on the table.

For more information, read:
Huntington's Third Wave
Di Palma's To Craft Democracies
Bellin's Authoritarianism in the Middle East
Colton's Putin and Democratization
Johnson's Political Institutions and Economic Performance
Lipset's Political Man
Marx's Communist Manifesto
Moore's Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
Rostow's Stages of Economic Growth
Selbin's Revolution in the Real World
Skocpol's Social Revolutions in the Modern World
Varshney's India Defies the Odds
Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

This episode focuses on the decision-making strategies that President Bush used in December of 2006 before choosing to commit the troop surge.  Things discussed include: the release of the Iraq Study Group Report, the 2006 midterm elections, Bush's meeting with Generals Keane and Downing, and Bush's relationship with General Petraeus and Secretary Gates.  At the end of the episode is a recap on the success of the troop surge, as well as an analysis of President Bush's leadership during December 2006 and January 2007.

For more background information on Iraq, listen to: Iraq Study Group Report Assessment, Iraq Study Group Report Recommendations, Invading Iraq, Occupying Iraq, Iraq's Environment, and Medal of Honor in Iraq.

Whether they are seen as acts of God, or as simple climate-related occurrences, natural events have always had a sizeable impact on military operations. At the small end of the scale are the little changes in terrain or weather that may affect a battle or a small war. For example, many armies have postponed their campaigns due to inclement weather conditions, and many militaries have suffered from rampant disease. On the other end of the scale are the times when nature has so much of an impact that the fate of an entire nation or civilization is decided upon it. In the words of Charles Darwin, these are times when “the war of nature” results in the downfall of one party and the rise of another.

• Colonization Smallpox: Rampant disease severely weakened the Aztecs and Incas, allowing small bands of Spanish conquistadors (led by Cortez and Pizarro, respectively) to easily overthrow two great empires.
• Revolutionary Wind and Fog: Heavy winds subsided after the Battle of Long Island, allowing American troops to evacuate and fight another day.  Their retreat was concealed by a dense fog.  Later, just before the Battle of Trenton, a heavy fog concealed the Americans long enough to conduct a surprise attack which greatly boosted the morale of the Continental Army.
• Russian Winter: Cold temperatures forced Napoleon to retreat after he failed to conquer Russia and find accommodations in Moscow.  The lack of grass and unfrozen roads resulted in the destruction of up to 75% of Napoleon's Army as it marched back to France.

For more information, read:
Hopkins' The Great Killer
Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel
McCullough's 1776
Burton's Napoleon's Invasion of Russia
Tolstoy's War and Peace
George's Napoleon's Invasion of Russia

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

Whether they are seen as acts of God, or as simple climate-related occurrences, natural events have always had a sizeable impact on military operations.  At the small end of the scale are the little changes in terrain or weather that may affect a battle or a small war.  For example, many armies have postponed their campaigns due to inclement weather conditions, and many militaries have suffered from rampant disease.  On the other end of the scale are the times when nature has so much of an impact that the fate of an entire nation or civilization is decided upon it.  In the words of Charles Darwin, these are times when “the war of nature? results in the downfall of one party and the rise of another.

• Thales' Eclipse: Halted the epic Battle of Halys River, thereby saving one or both of the participants (Lydia and Media) from destruction.
• Kamikaze (Divine Wind): Created a storm that destroying the invading Mongol fleets, thereby saving Japan from foreign conquest.
• Athenian Typhoid: Wreaked havoc throughout Athens, contributing to its downfall in the Peloponnesian War.
• Bering Land Bridge: Facilitated the "invasion" of North America.
• Clouds over Kokura: Obscured the primary target for the "Fat Man" atomic bomb, thereby saving Kokura but resulting in the destruction of Nagasaki.
• Legend of Quetzacoatl: Convinced the Aztecs that Cortez was the reincarnation of Quetzacoatl, thereby facilitating the Spanish conquest of Latin America.

For more information, read:
Darwin's Origin of Species
Herodotus' Histories
Mitchell's Eclipses of the Sun
Lamont-Brown's Kamikaze
Daniels' Almanac of World History

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

This episode covers the period between Bush's declaration of "Mission Accomplished" and the change in coalition leadership (from General Casey to General Petraeus).  The following major events and topics are discussed:

• 2003: Deaths of Saddam's two sons (Qusay and Uday), capture of Saddam, Baathist Purge, National Museum looting, and Bremer's disbanding of the Iraqi Army.
• 2004: Sectarian violence and displacement, Operation Vigiliant Resolve (1st Fallujah), Battle of Ramadi, Battle of Husaybah, Battle of Mosul, Operation Phanton Fury (2nd Fallujah), Blackwater USA, medals of honor.
• 2005: January and December Legislative Elections, Battle of Haditha, Abu Ghraib.
• 2006: Handing three provinces to Iraqi authority, death of Zarqawi, execution of Saddam, Al-Askari mosque bombing, Operation Together Forward (Baghdad), Battle of Ramadi.
• 2007: Battle of Haifa Street (Baghdad), creation of the new Counterinsurgency Field Manual (3-24).

For more information, read:
Iraq Study Group Report
Counterinsurgency Field Manual 3-24
No End in Sight (film)
http://iraq.liveleak.com/
www.iraqstatusreport.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFijzDyJnVE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epfmuHr4_b8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGQaPYzFZ8o

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

According to Lawrence Keeley, "90-95% of known societies engage in war". Why? What compels homo sapiens to kill each other? Why do we fight? Part one will describe two hypotheses.

War is Necessary:
Aristotle says in Nicomachean Ethics that "we fight war so that we may live in peace". This notion is echoed by many other famous thinkers including Marx (an advocate of a final proletarian revolution in order to establish a worker's paradise) and Zoroaster (the first monotheist to discuss the final battle of judgment between good and evil).

War is Logical:
Using Darwin's logic, mankind continues to fight wars because it is the means through which our species survives. Thomas Malthus adapted this into a population argument, stating that humans fight wars in order to keep populations small and manageable. Samuel Huntington took this one step further by saying that war negates massive youth bulges. Lastly, John Nash (the economist) proved, through game theory, that war is a more logical choice than peace.

War is Accidental:
AJP Taylor argued that all wars are unintended and unhappy escalations of smaller conflicts. Warmongering is neither inherent nor unavoidable. Taylor's ideas link closely to the pacifistic ideas of Tolstoy and Gandhi.

For more information, read:
Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
Communist Manifesto by Marx
Holy Avesta, Holy Bible, Holy Qur'an
Origin of Species by Darwin
An Essay on the Principle of Population by Malthus
Environmental Science by Richard Wright
Clash of Civilizations by Samuel Huntington

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine

According to Lawrence Keeley, "90-95% of known societies engage in war". Why? What compels homo sapiens to kill each other? Why do we fight? Part one will describe two hypotheses.

War is Rational:
Sun Tzu argued that political struggles would eventually lead to armed conflict. Clausewitz took this one step further by saying that "war is a mere continuation of policy by other means". Machiavelli completed this entire line of thought by saying that war was the most efficient means of attaining any political goal.

War is Inevitable:
Hobbes argued that humans are inherently violent. Raymond Dart and Robert Ardrey found a scientific basis for this by claiming that homo sapiens became the dominant humanoid through their martial prowess (and we have kept this prowess ever since). Another group of philosophers believe that war can be attributed to the reckless aggression caused by testosterone in males.

For more information, read:
Sun Tzu's Art of War
Clausewitz's On War
Machiavelli's The Prince
Mao's Quotations
Hobbes' Leviathan

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine