Here are some additional suggestions without specific reference to the Syrian angle - this is simply a modern warfare & small unit tactics oriented list:
*= highly recommended
Military Theory
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*Coram, Robert, _Boyd_ (it's John Boyd's biography, but by reading it you'll become familiar with Boyd's work)
Lind, William, _The Maneuver Warfare Handbook_
*Leonhard, Robert, _The Art of Maneuver_
Small Unit Tactics:
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Antal, John F. _Infantry Combat: The Rifle Platoon_
Antal, John F. _Armor Attacks: The Tank Platoon_
Bolger, Daniel, _The Battle for Hunger Hill_ (JRTC AAR)
McDonough, James R., _The Defense of Hill 781_ (NTC AAR)
Schmitt, John, _Mastering Tactics: Tactical Decision Games_
"Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain" (MOUT) aka "Fighting in Built-Up Areas" (FIBUA), aka "Fighting in Someone's House" (FISH)
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*Recent US Army & USMC Field manuals. The old US Army FM was 90-10 as noted above and 90-10-1 (Infantryman's Guide to Urban Combat) - I believe both of these have since been renumbered and re-issued. The current USMC edition is "Marine Corps Warfighting Publication (MCWP) 3-35.3 Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain"
Relevant Military History
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*Ahmad, Ali & Grau, Lester, _Afghan Guerrilla Tactics_
Bolger, Daniel _Death Ground: Today's American Infantry in Battle_
*West, Bing, _No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah_
Koopman, John, _McCoy's Marines: Darkside to Baghdad_
*Naylor, Sean, _Not a Good Day to Die_ [Afghanistan]
Antal, John & Gericke, Bradley Ed.'s, _City Fights: Selected Histories of Urban Combat_
Any history of the battle of Hue, RVN.
4th Generation Warfare
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*Hammes, Thomas X. _The Sling and the Stone_
a Fun Read
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Christie, William, _The Blood We Shed_ - a novel about Marines and some hypothetical action in the Arabian Penninsula shortly after 9/11.
YMMV,
-Nadir
[ October 16, 2005, 07:18 PM: Message edited by: Nadir_E ]