Talk:John Spencer (military officer)

Critical evaluation
Critical evaluation of John Spencer's views absolutely belongs on this article. We can talk about wording this differently. Also IP's should not be editing content that falls under WP:PIA.VR (Please ping on reply) 01:34, 1 June 2024 (UTC)


 * but those removed items were not critiques of John Spencer. As I noted, they were just comments, and indeed from minor players with no standing or indeed competence - they don't warrant Wikipedia entries, and they have no direct experience of the conflict they are commenting on - John Spencer has been there twice during the conflict. They were merely opinions that did not mention John Spencer. The fact that they did not align with John Spencer does not make them a critique of John Spencer in any way. 2A00:23EE:13A0:53AC:D454:F39D:8ADB:94D (talk) 03:45, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
 * The fact that someone doesn't have a Wikipedia article doesn't mean their comments automatically aren't relevant. Using only John Spencer as a source on himself, and arguing that he is more relevant because of his combat experience in Gaza, is both a bad use of WP:ABOUTSELF/WP:PRIMARY and a hefty bit of WP:OR. On the other hand, you make a good point that the other sources don't mention him directly, so including them as commentary is a bit dubious. Chaotic Enby   (talk · contribs) 20:55, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
 * John Spencer is a thinker. As such criticism of thinkers often involves criticism of their works and their opinions (not necessary criticism of them as a person). In this case, Lewis is absolutely criticizing Spencer's arguments. Both sources mention Spencer:
 * "For example, John Spencer, an expert on urban warfare, has claimed...". "Spencer, who is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute, makes three specific points to support his “gold standard” claim." etc.
 * "a prominent defense analyst from the U.S. Military Academy irresponsibly insisted that the IDF strike campaign has been “proportional, very discriminate, very precise.” I can state, without reservation, that it simply has not shown any of these qualities." He then links directly to John Spencer's twitter. Is there any doubt that Spencer said that?
 * Both Lewis and Bryant have some expertise in the field and both are widely cited by other RS in the case of the 2023 Israeli invasion of Gaza.VR (Please ping on reply) 13:09, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Here is Phil Klay, writing in The Atlantic, also criticizing John Spencer's "gold standard" idea.VR (Please ping on reply) 15:23, 14 June 2024 (UTC)