Background – Intelligence – An interesting look at how hard it is to report on intelligence matters, in this case the intelligence of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Gives perspective to the difficulty of reporting intelligence issues in the press.

• New York Times: The Times and Iraq
• New York Review of Books: ‘Iraq: Now They Tell Us’: An Exchange

Background – History – The big-gun battleships softened the German defenses and made for dramatic newsreel footage 60 years ago. But the spunky destroyers in the Normandy Invasion came within less than 1,000 yards from the shore, providing direct gunfire support for troops on the beach.

• Naval History: The Gallant Destroyers of D-Day

Background – History – The Navy had an obvious role in the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings 60 years ago in Normandy, France, by performing the pre-invasion shore bombardment, follow-on gunfire support, plus transporting and landing many of the Army troops who stormed ashore. Less known are the heroics of Navy Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs) that preceded the invasion force to disable obstacles planted along the French coastline.

• Sea Power: Navy Combat Demolition Units Prepared the Way for D-Day

US Navy – Newly available Russian sources suggest that the superpower naval confrontation during and immediately after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War was more dangerous than has been generally appreciated, and that the Soviet Navy had made remarkable progress in correcting the deficiencies revealed in the Cuban missile crisis only a decade before. The episode is a cautionary case study for the U.S. Navy, which today has another ìupstartî navy to consider.

• US Naval War College Review: A Tale of Two Fleets – A Russian Perspective on the 1973 Naval Standoff in the Mediterranean

NOSI will next be updated on Tuesday June 1. See you then!