Dave Kilcullen’s Self-Reflection

Call me a kiss-up, particularly after this, but when was the last time you saw an author publicly admit to coming off like a jerk in his book?

Mr Nordlinger also criticizes me (again fairly, I think, on reflection) for portraying myself as more culturally adept than others I worked with in the field, writing “the author likes to paint himself as the one native-knower—the Malinowski of the warrior class—amid oa?sh and insensitive palefaces. This, too, is unbecoming (even if occasionally—occasionally—true).” He has a point – I was abashed to read this in his review, went back and looked at the book, and realized that he is quite correct. I do often seem to suggest that I knew better than the others around me. It was indeed unbecoming of me, and I apologize unreservedly for giving that impression.