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Commander Harlan K. Ullman,
USN (ret.) “is a political author, commentator, and a retired United States Naval Commander. He is an advisor to government
and the private sector and is active in transformation both of business and the Department of Defense. Ullman is known as
a developer of the doctrine of Shock and Awe."
Commander Harlan K. Ullman is the author of In Harm's Way: American
Seapower and the 21st Century; Finishing Business: 10 Steps to Defeat Global Terror; Owls and Eagles: Ending the Foreign Policy
Flights of Fancy of Hawks, Doves, and Neo-Cons; America's Promise Restored: Preventing Culture, Crusade, and Partisanship
from Wrecking Our Nation; and, In Irons: U.S. Military Might in the New Century. He is also
a co-author of Future Imperative: National Security and the U.S. Navy in the Late 1980s and Shock and Awe: Achieving
Rapid Dominance.
Publisher’s Weekly said of Finishing
Business: 10 Steps to Defeat Global Terror, “A retired naval officer and current Washington Times national
security analyst offers a cogent sequel to his Unfinished Business; where the former dealt with the war in Afghanistan, this
one covers Iraq. Ullman offers a number of specific suggestions for gaining ground, the first of which is to acknowledge that
the war is primarily against Islamist factions, and not against generalized "terror." Doing so requires that the
U.S. take the threatened position of Pakistan more seriously and support its present regime more vigorously, lest it be overthrown
by the "jihadists," who will thereby acquire a substantial nuclear arsenal and a much more developed power base
than Iraq could ever have given them. Thirdly, Ullman suggests a massive international program of economic and political assistance
to Iraq, comparable to the Marshall Plan or, domestically, to the GI Bill. Fourth, Congress is to be held more accountable
for its failures—which does not lead to Ullman's exculpating the executive or judiciary branches from crimes, errors
and misdemeanors. Newt Gingrich's foreword and Wesley Clark's afterword contribute to an atmosphere of collegiality;
Ullman's two cents fall in with others this autumn contributing less partisan perspectives.”
One reader of Finishing
Business: 10 Steps to Defeat Global Terror said, “The theme of the book is far different, far more wide
ranging and comprehensive than most of the writing on the subject, far more than television coverage shows, and infinitely
more than the gibberish that was the election rhetoric.
The book says that the War on Terror,
like our Wars on drugs, poverty, crime and other social ills is so far a war on symptoms, not on a cause. And unless some
dramatic changes in the thought processes of those in charge, is likely to be just as ineffective. Dr. Ullman defines the
danger as Jihadist Extremism, a polititial ideology just as Bolshevism or Nazism, with a thin veneer of religion that is intent
on establishing some form of a fundamentalist state backed by Saudi oil money, with an almost unlimited supply of radical
young men from Africa to Indonesia, and potentially with nuclear weapons from the Pakistani arsenal.
To fight such forces will require a
fundamental change in the way the United States and the rest of the world addresses the problem. To go on further would require
that this review be nearly as long as the book itself. Let me just conclude that this book has the ring of George Kennan,
Paul Nitze, Herman Kahn and Henry Kissinger in their early days of defining the danger of the post World War II Soviet Union.
The country will ignore this book at its peril.”
According to the book description of
Owls and Eagles: Ending the Foreign Policy Flights of Fancy of Hawks, Doves, and Neo-Cons, “Owls
and Eagles is a powerful, brilliant, and insightful collection of columns that casts in the harsh light of reality the challenges,
dangers, mistakes, and opportunities this nation faces regarding the war on terror and what must be done if we are to prevail.
Critical in the sense of making objective analysis and offering alternative policies, Harlan K. Ullman provides a must-read
for any one interested in the future security of the United States.”
According to the book description of
In Irons: U.S. Military Might in the New Century, “This volume addresses the question of "how
much defense is enough", in the post-Cold War world. The end of the Cold War has led to major reductions in the military
might of the former adversaries. For the moment, although the United States is reducing its Cold War active-duty force of
2.2 million to about 1.4 million and yearly defense budget of $300 billion to about $250 billion, the Clinton administration
has pledged that this force will remain "the best-equipped, best-trained, and best-prepared in the world". This
book warns that, unless the United States takes powerful remedial action, or is very lucky, this pledge cannot be met. The
author's concern is that because of domestic, structural and governance issues within the United States, the future could
see a smaller, weaker American military, an overly expensive defense infrastructure, with the possibility of serious consequences
arising from this decline in strength.”
Wade R. Sanders, former Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the Navy said of America's Promise Restored: Preventing Culture, Crusade, and Partisanship from
Wrecking Our Nation, “In Dr. Ullman's view government is broken and, unless it is fixed, we face a
dismal future. While addressing the damage being rendered to our country by extremist partisan politics, Dr. Ullman once again
demonstrates his willingness to enter arenas rife with highly complex and emotional issues and his ability to effectively
address same. While defending the necessity and value of vigorous debate and differing points of view, he adroitly examines
the damage being done to our society when personal agendas trump common sense in matters of profound importance to the survival
of our democracy. He correctly characterizes this steady deterioration of effective governance as a major national security
threat: perhaps the greatest we have faced in our nation's history. While our elected officials bicker and carp, critical
domestic and global issues impacting our daily lives remain unresolved. In essence, Ullman is calling for an energizing of
the electorate through mandatory voting, and for the politicians they elect to put the common good above re-election. No Pollyanna,
he understands that a total reconciliation of the political and personal agendas of our elected and appointed officials is
beyond reality. However, he does provide a path to better government, a government where substance holds sway over venomous
rhetoric.”
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