The latest round of peace talks, convened in April by John Hamre, the deputy defence secretary, persuaded the guard that the Pentagon's civilian bosses do want a solution.

ECONOMIST: Anything useful to do, besides fighting the army?

CIA. But as John Hamre, the president of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, has argued, more co-ordination is likely to mean fewer opposing views, just when you want to encourage those rare souls who got Iraq right.

ECONOMIST: Intelligence reform: Centralised intelligence? | The

Our current posture as John Hamre mentioned, still reflects in many ways the mentality and reality of the Cold War era, during which US forces deployed forward were defensive, tripwire units that were expected to fight near where they were based.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Transforming the United States Global Defense Post