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Chasing Ghosts: An Irregular Warfare Podcast

Bill Buppert

An unauthorized podcast series peeking behind the curtain at the vast machinery and briar patch politics of fighting terrorism and insurgency and everything in between. I'm a "COINtra" and not a "COINdinista", the latter are the vast army of apparatchiks and apologists who fire the engines of Irregular Warfare (IW) planet-wide. We're the skeptics and doubters of all things IW and special operations. And we are a tiny sliver of the IW community. I have noticed a jarring gap in this part of the discussion and intend on filling the breach.

Substack: Chasing Ghosts: An Irregular Warfare Podcast

Smedley D. Butler Fellow for Military Affairs at the Libertarian Institute

Chasing Ghosts Podcast on YouTube

I am an Amazon Affiliate.

You can contact me at cgpodcast@pm.me

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20 episodes
Avg 54 min
English

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S1 · E86
Monday · 49 min
Ep 086 "Hybrid Warfare in the New Age: Stretching the Envelope (Part One)"
Hybrid warfare Is a can of worms, a fascinating conjoining of kinetic and non-kinetic means of achieving victory or stale between warring nations. This first episode tries to lay the ground work of what it is and in the next two episodes we will examine an historical and a contemporary example of hybrid warfare in meat-space. References: Report to Congress on Russian Hybrid Warfare in Europe 11 August 2026 The Future of Hybrid Warfare Hybrid Warfare: How to Escape the Conceptual Gray-Zone The Evolution of Hybrid Warfare: Implications for Strategy and the Military Profession Richard Feynman Cargo Cult speech at CalTech 1974 RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015. Slaughterbots (2017) Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021) How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare? Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E85
July 6 · 52 min
Ep 085 "Home is the High Ground: Reimagining a New Hermit Kingdom"
I discuss the possibilities of America relinquishing its global ambition to reduce its footprint to a regional hegemon in the Western hemisphere. The new technologies of AI, UAVs and hypersonics rather easily challenge the spending paradigms and mission architecture of the American armed forces. There are no near-peer competitors, every nation on Earth is now a peer to modern western war machines. America boasts a magnificent 20th century war machine is not fit for purpose for 21st century peer warfare. The crossroads is chock-full of landmines. References: Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America Martin van Creveld The Transformation of War: The Most Radical Reinterpretation of Armed Conflict Since Clausewitz Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945 Colin Gray Strategy and History: Essays on Theory and Practice Fighting Talk: Forty Maxims on War, Peace, and Strategy William Lind Maneuver Warfare Handbook John Boyd Patterns of Conflict Michael Weiner Legacy of Ashes: History of the CIA John Prado The Ghosts of Langley: Into the CIA's Heart of DarknessSun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E84
June 7 · 56 min
Ep 084 "Blood in the Water: The US Navy is Sinking"
The US Navy is lost at sea and in the thrall of exquisite platform that be the maritime tombs of tens of thousands of sailors in the coming wars of the 21st century. The acquisition system is broken beyond repair, burn it down. The aircraft carrier has been a signature component of US naval power and prestige for more than a century. The utility has continued to diminish since the end of WWII. The tremendous disadvantage of putting so much manpower and treasure into these single use leviathan systems in the modern world of distributed missile and PGM systems, emerging near-peer & peer adversaries and concentration of power in vulnerable systems is a recipe for future disaster. The US Navy surface fleet is in tatters and shattered by readiness, maintenance and armament issues that are critical indicators of a navy totally unprepared. More on the carrier dilemma in Chasing Ghosts Episode #034, WarNotes #10 and Dispatch #006. Note: This post is published a little early due to my attendance at the Military Operations Research Society Annual Symposium in CO this week. References: The Documents Exist: Nobody Assigned Them As Mandatory Reading. What Would Rickover Do? Jeff Vandenengel National Policy and the Panoceanic Navy James D, Hornfischer Who Can Hold the Sea: The U.S. Navy in the Cold War 1945-1960 Gregory Vistica Fall from Glory: The Men Who Sank the U.S. Navy Michael Junge Crimes of Command: in the United States Navy, 1945-2015 Gerry Doyle Carrier Killer: China's Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles and Theater of Operations in the early 21st Century David Lee Russell Early U.S. Navy Carrier Raids, February-April 1942: Five Operations That Tested a New Dimension of American Air Power Jeff Vandenengel Questioning the Carrier: Opportunities in Fleet Design for the U.S. Navy Jeff Vandenengel interview on Midrats with CDR Salamander Ivan Gogin Fighting ships of the PEOPLE LIBERATION ARMY NAVY 1949 - 2023 Jerry Hendrix Retreat From Range: The Rise and Fall of Carrier Aviation My Substack Write me at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E83
May 25 · 50 min
Ep 083 "Memorial Day Remembrance 2026: Oceans of Blood, Wars of Choice""
I discuss the darker side of celebrating war and the moral injury of wars of choice. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance and an existential wake. This day is about the ashes of victory and blood lakes of defeat. I show how the American way of war is far more brutal and murderous than the usual suspects let on.. ***This episode is not for the squeamish or faint of heart.*** U.S. WAR CRIMES IN THE PHILIPPINES James M. Scott Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila Howard Jones My Lai: Vietnam, 1968, and the Descent into Darkness Karl Marlantes What It Is Like to Go to War Bill Russel Edmonds God is Not Here: A Soldier's Struggle with Torture, Trauma, and the Moral Injuries of War Clark Savage King of All Things: A Guide to Man's Martial Purpose Dick Couch A Tactical Ethic: Moral Conduct in the Insurgent Battlespace Andrew Bacevich Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America's Misguided Wars Shauna Springer WARRIOR: How to Support Those Who Protect Us Jonathan Shay Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character Jonathan Shay Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming Another podcast: Martyrmade: Anything That Moves - The My Lai Massacre (w/History on Fire) Email me at cgpodcast@pm.me My Substack
S1 · E82
May 11 · 35 min
Ep 082 "The CG Mailbag: Question Time"
It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated five questions to address:. What should the USAF do now? Is fraud a form of irregular warfare? What should the DoW do with 1.5 trillion dollars? References: Unauthorized History of the Pacific War Podcast RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015. Slaughterbots (2017) Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021) How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare? Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E81
April 13 · 1 hr 2 min
Ep 081 "Strategic Empathy: Grokking the Pendulum of Indecision"
I examine the strategic deficit disorder that absolutely dominates the US and western military establishments I speak to the tools and critical thinking modalities that could spark and encourage competent martial imagination. Moral courage is necessary to tell the flag officer dullards and their Senior Executive Service (SES) necromancers that the emperor has no clothes. If not, the unblemished record of defeat and stalemate will continue. I describe some of the reasons I do it and the techniques I employ to get the single most accurate picture of what happened then to determine what’s going on now. Note: The list of sources is limited here due to RSS but my Substack is more comprehensive. Recommended Listening: On Strategic Empathy Recommended Reading: Christian Madsbjerg Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm Johnson and Abbe Developing Strategic Empathy and Perspective Taking in Military Zachary Shore A Sense of the Enemy: The High Stakes History of Reading Your Rival's Mind Dave Snowden Cynefin - Weaving Sense-Making into the Fabric of Our World Mortimer Adler How To Read a Book Robert Strassler The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika (Landmark Series) Mike Snook How Can Man Die Better: The Secrets of Isandlwana Revealed Mike Snook Like Wolves on the Fold: The Defence of Rorke’s Drift David Stahel Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East David Hackett Fischer Historians' Fallacies : Toward a Logic of Historical Thought Keith Windschuttle The Killing of History John Burrow A History of Histories: Epics, Chronicles, and Inquiries from Herodotus and Thucydides to the Twentieth Century Harry Elmer Barnes A History of Historical Writing US Army Center of Military History My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E80
March 30 · 57 min
Ep 080 "The Cargo Cult of Martial Belief, Wishcasting and Bloodshed"
Episode 100! Well, when I combine the 20 episodes of WarNotes with the CG podcasts but a chance to pop the bubbly anyway. Today we discuss the critical lack of critical thinking that has led the US into the unenviable position of being an extraordinarily 20th century fighting force nor fit for purpose for 21st century peer combat. It will get worse. I'll offer some more recommendations and a path forward. References: Richard Feynman Cargo Cult speech at CalTech 1974 RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015. Slaughterbots (2017) Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021) How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare? Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E79
March 16 · 43 min
Ep 079 "Iran, Salvo Competition and the Inevitable Stalemate"
I'll discuss Iran and the grunt math of salvo competition. Buppert’s Law of Military Topography: “Mountainous terrain held by riflemen who know what they are about cannot be militarily defeated.” For other insight on Iran, I recommend CG episodes 061 , 067 and 078. References: The Boogeyman of 21st-Century Warfare: Drones Why the US is facing strategic defeat Points of Resistance and Departure: An interview with James C. Scott Lester Grau and Charles J. Bartles Mountain Warfare and Other Lofty Problems: Foreign mountain combat veterans discuss movement and maneuver, training and resupply (Helion Studies in Military History) Lester Grau The Bear Went Over The Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics In Afghanistan [Illustrated Edition] Lester Grau The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War Mark Thompson The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919 James C. Scott The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack: https://t.co/7a8jn2Mmnx Email at cgpodcast@pm.me.
S1 · E78
March 2 · 44 min
Ep 078 "Iran and I Lost: The American Empire Tilts Again"
With Western conflict in Iran escalating and in train, I discuss the vagaries and verities of the nuclear gambit in Iran in the Middle East and what this will mean to the future of warfare for the reminder of this century. I assess how the RMAs rapidly displacing centuries-old conflict norms are going to look for the remainder of the century. Buppert’s Law of Military Topography: “Mountainous terrain held by riflemen who know what they are about cannot be militarily defeated.” For other insight on Iran, I recommend CG episodes 061 and 067. References: Points of Resistance and Departure: An interview with James C. Scott Lester Grau and Charles J. Bartles Mountain Warfare and Other Lofty Problems: Foreign mountain combat veterans discuss movement and maneuver, training and resupply (Helion Studies in Military History) Lester Grau The Bear Went Over The Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics In Afghanistan [Illustrated Edition] Lester Grau The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War Mark Thompson The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919 James C. Scott The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack: https://t.co/7a8jn2Mmnx Email at cgpodcast@pm.me.
S1 · E77
January 6 · 50 min
Ep 077 "The CG Mailbag: Question Time and the Backbenchers Lament 26.1"
It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated five questions to address:. What are your thoughts on the Maduro and VZ kerfuffle? How do you fix the defense acquisition system and fraud? What should the US Navy do in the 21st century? How did GEN Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck do it (preview)? Are American SOF capable of 21st century mission success? References: Soryu (16SS) class Attack Submarine - SSK Robert Gaudi African Kaiser: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 David Smith The East Africa Campaign 1914–18: Von Lettow-Vorbeck’s Masterpiece (Campaign, 379) RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015. Slaughterbots (2017) Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021) How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare? Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E76
Dec 8, 2025 · 1 hr 3 min
Ep 076 "Modern Antifa: Communist Insurgency in the US Part Five (Conclusions)"
I offer my scorched earth solutions to fighting Antifa and communism in the US.. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. Part Four at Episode 075 Part Three at Episode 074 Part Two at Episode 073 Part One at Episode 072. I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math". References: House Un-American Activities Committee records, 1945-1975 How They Hunt Why Schools Don't Educate by John Taylor Gatto F A Hayek The Intellectuals and Socialism Bryan Borrough Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence Andy Ngo Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy AQ Training Manual The IRA Greenbook Hunting the Sleepers An Analysis of Al-Qaida Tradecraft Modeling Terrorist Networks - Complex Systems at the Mid-Range Understanding the Form, Function, and Logic of Clandestine Insurgent and Terrorist Networks: The First Step in Effective Counternetwork Operations Stephen Biddle Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E75
Nov 24, 2025 · 57 min
Ep 075 "Modern Antifa: Communist Insurgency in the US Part Four"
I further examine the educational feeder mechanism for communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this third episode, I examine the pedagogical origins of government supremacist ideology in American schools. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. Part Three at Episode 074 Part Two at Episode 073 Part One at Episode 072. I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math". References: House Un-American Activities Committee records, 1945-1975 How They Hunt Why Schools Don't Educate by John Taylor Gatto *** F A Hayek The Intellectuals and Socialism Bryan Borrough Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence Andy Ngo Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy AQ Training Manual The IRA Greenbook Hunting the Sleepers An Analysis of Al-Qaida Tradecraft Modeling Terrorist Networks - Complex Systems at the Mid-Range Understanding the Form, Function, and Logic of Clandestine Insurgent and Terrorist Networks: The First Step in Effective Counternetwork Operations Stephen Biddle Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E74
Nov 10, 2025 · 57 min
Ep 074 "Modern Antifa: Communist Insurgency in the US Part Three"
I examine the feeder mechanism for communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this third episode, we examine the epistemology that created a rump state of communist resistance in America. now. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. Part Two at Episode 73 Part One at Episode 72. I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math". References: House Un-American Activities Committee records, 1945-1975 How They Hunt *** F A Hayek The Intellectuals and Socialism Bryan Borrough Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence Andy Ngo Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy AQ Training Manual The IRA Greenbook Hunting the Sleepers An Analysis of Al-Qaida Tradecraft Modeling Terrorist Networks - Complex Systems at the Mid-Range Understanding the Form, Function, and Logic of Clandestine Insurgent and Terrorist Networks: The First Step in Effective Counternetwork Operations Stephen Biddle Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E73
Oct 27, 2025 · 54 min
Ep 073 "Modern Antifa: Communist Insurgency in the US Part Two"
I examine the domestic communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-government. In this second episode, we examine the history that brought the US to the brink of civil war it is at now. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. Part One at Episode 72. I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math". References: House Un-American Activities Committee records, 1945-1975 How They Hunt *** Bryan Borrough Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence Andy Ngo Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy AQ Training Manual The IRA Greenbook Hunting the Sleepers An Analysis of Al-Qaida Tradecraft Modeling Terrorist Networks - Complex Systems at the Mid-Range Understanding the Form, Function, and Logic of Clandestine Insurgent and Terrorist Networks: The First Step in Effective Counternetwork Operations HR Kedward In Search of the Maquis: Rural Resistance in Southern France, 1942-1944 George Millar Maquis: An Englishman in the French Resistance Ian Wellsted SAS with the Maquis: In Action with the French Resistance, June–September 1944 Stephen Biddle Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E72
Oct 13, 2025 · 55 min
Ep 072 "Modern Antifa: Communist Insurgency in the US Part One"
I examine the domestic communist and terrorist insurgency that is Antifa and its affiliated organizations both governmental and non-governments;. In this first episode, we shall examine origins, terminology and some expositions on methodology. America is in a Civil War with a major political party and its blacked-shirted paramilitary arm going from cold to hot war. Prepare accordingly. I did a primer on cell organization in Ep 051 "Cellular Ecology: Guerrilla Organizations and Grunt Math". References: House Un-American Activities Committee records, 1945-1975 How They Hunt *** Andy Ngo Unmasked: Inside Antifa's Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy AQ Training Manual The IRA Greenbook Hunting the Sleepers An Analysis of Al-Qaida Tradecraft Modeling Terrorist Networks - Complex Systems at the Mid-Range Understanding the Form, Function, and Logic of Clandestine Insurgent and Terrorist Networks: The First Step in Effective Counternetwork Operations HR Kedward In Search of the Maquis: Rural Resistance in Southern France, 1942-1944 George Millar Maquis: An Englishman in the French Resistance Ian Wellsted SAS with the Maquis: In Action with the French Resistance, June–September 1944 Stephen Biddle Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E71
Sep 22, 2025 · 1 hr
Ep 071 "The Devil's Thermostat: Turning Up the Heat on American Civil War"
This episode examines civil war manifesting itself in the US and the world over the next few years and makes a forecast on how close we are on the doomsday clock of civil war on American soil. The probability and possibility of civil kinetic conflict in the US is closer than in decades.. My Storming America Series covers the gamut of what a spontaneous attack in the US will look like when terror cells launch a simultaneous attack on the US homeland which in my mind is the primary man-made vector for civil war in America. I cover it in Episodes 37, 41-43, 49-50 and 62 of my Chasing Ghosts podcast. References: Video: NCTC Islamist Attacks on US Forecast 2025 Winston Marshall The UNTOLD History of The White Slave Trade & How Islam Conquered 3/4 of The Christian World Andrew Gold CIVIL WAR is Coming - Professor David Betz Books: Stephen Biddle Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias Barbara Walter How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them David Armitage Civil Wars: A History in Ideas William Forstchen Day of Wrath Kurt Schlichter The Attack Karl Dahl Faction Faction: With the Crusaders Matt Bracken: Enemies Foreign and Domestic Foreign Enemies And Traitors Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista The Red Cliffs of Zerhoun Castigo Cay Eric Frank Russell The Wasp Michael Z. Williamson The Weapon (and the entire Freehold series) Ernest R. May Strange Victory: Hitler’s Conquest of France Robert Heinlein The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert Asprey War In The Shadows: The Guerrilla In History Howard Jones My Lai: Vietnam, 1968, and the Descent into Darkness My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E70
Sep 8, 2025 · 1 hr 2 min
Ep 070 "Bolivar's Revenge: The Venezuelan Tar Pit and American Ambition"
We examine the emerging Venezuelan kerfuffle. There are many currents and undercurrents in the latest incipient war debacle in America history. This will be a disaster for America if it clacks off and; expect the American government to make this a preamble to go kinetic on the drug war generally and the following catastrophes. I covered this in detail in both parts of Ep 059 and 059 "The Mexican Cartel Conundrum: War Without End". Gird your loins for the first war in American history that will lead to significant foreign-born bad actors making war on American soil. *** References: US Treasury Sanctions Venezuelan Cartel Headed by Maduro Marie Arana Bolivar: American Liberator Carlos Lizarralde Venezuela's Collapse: The Long Story of How Things Fell Apart Justin Podur Extraordinary Threat: The U.S. Empire, the Media, and Twenty Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela Tom Wainwright Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel Benjamin T. Smith The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade Anabel Hernandez Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords and Their Godfathers Ioan Grillo El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency David F. Marley Mexican Cartels: An Encyclopedia of Mexico's Crime and Drug Wars Carmen Boullosa A Narco History: How the United States and Mexico Jointly Created the “Mexican Drug War” Patrick Winn Narcotopia: In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived the CIA Jesse Fink Pure Narco: One Man's True Story of 25 Years Inside the Cartels My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E69
Aug 4, 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
Ep 069 "The CG Mailbag: Question Time and the Backbenchers Lament 25.1"
It's been quite some time since I have responded to "mail" so I have curated five questions to address:. What are your personal weapons of choice: rifle or pistol? How do you fix the defense acquisition system? Is the American military really in terminal collapse? Storming America; is it still coming to the US? Is America headed to civil war? I'll offer some more recommendations and a path forward. References: RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015. Slaughterbots (2017) Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021) How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare? Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E68
Jul 7, 2025 · 59 min
Ep 068 "The Military Drone Revolution: Make All Flesh Forfeit"
Despite what you are told by the mainstream news sources in the media, the drone war is here to stay and it will be the most significant war modality for the next generation. It has literally exposed all ground troops and the exquisite platforms the West relies upon in war-making for detailed neutralization and destruction. In concert with the democratized distribution of ubiquitous missile technology, it is the end of Western dominance in warfare. Despite what you may think, the US conventional forces are in terminal collapse and completely unprepared for 21st century peer conflict. I'll offer some more recommendations and a path forward. References: RAND wish-casting on drones in 2015. Slaughterbots (2017) Slaughterbots: if human: kill() (2021) How are Drones Changing Modern Warfare? Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack Email at cgpodcast@pm.me
S1 · E67
Jun 23, 2025 · 54 min
Ep 067 "The Mountains of Madness: Military Defeat and Terrain Part II"
This will be the first CG episode to get the complete audio upgrade and revision to achieve the cleanest sound ever for the podcast series. The WarNotes episode catalog has been completely re-fabbed using the new technology at Chris Williams' Podsworth. Let me know what you think. We discuss the latest missteps by the West in Iran. The recent American involvement in direct military intervention in Iran changed the temper and nature of the war inevitably. I assess how the RMAs rapidly displacing centuries-old conflict norms are going to look for the remainder of the century. Buppert’s Law of Military Topography: “Mountainous terrain held by riflemen who know what they are about cannot be militarily defeated.” References: Points of Resistance and Departure: An interview with James C. Scott Lester Grau and Charles J. Bartles Mountain Warfare and Other Lofty Problems: Foreign mountain combat veterans discuss movement and maneuver, training and resupply (Helion Studies in Military History) Lester Grau The Bear Went Over The Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics In Afghanistan [Illustrated Edition] Lester Grau The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War Mark Thompson The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919 James C. Scott The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia Sun Tzu The Art of War Carl von Clausewitz On War Miyamoto Musashi A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy H. John Poole The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO’s Contribution to Warfare Christian Brose The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America My Substack: https://t.co/7a8jn2Mmnx Email at cgpodcast@pm.me.

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