Hoping for peace is not a defense plan
Our buddy, Rowan Scarborough at the Washington Times writes today that “Obama’s war plan pins hopes on peace“. Yeah, but peace never happens when you need it most. Scarborough quotes my old brigade commander from the 3rd Infantry Division, “Jungle” George Joulwan;
Retired Army Gen. George A. Joulwan, who was supreme allied commander in Europe from 1993 to 1997, told The Times that new military strategies have a poor record of predictions.
“We’ve been through all this before,” he said. “This is about the fourth time that we have downsized and reorganized our military forces. Unfortunately, it never is predictive of what’s going to happen.”
For example, when Gen. Joulwan took NATO command in 1993, national security officials said the Clinton administration planned to focus forces on Asia. Ground forces were reduced significantly, and the emphasis was on massive air and naval power.
A short time later, Gen. Joulwan was sending 60,000 troops, 20,000 of them American, into the Balkans in Operation Joint Endeavor to stop Serbian atrocities in Bosnia.
“What I argued for [while on active duty] is the capability to conduct five simultaneous, regional contingencies because I think that’s the strategic environment we’re in. And I do see an enlarged role for special forces and CIA-type operatives. But we do need to be able to deter conflict as well as to fight and win. And that’s the challenge for the new national security strategy.”
Yeah, look around. Iran is conducting operations in the Persian Gulf, an exercise on it’s Afghan border while Ahmadinejad is visiting Venezuela. North Korea is bound to flex some muscle soon to prove they’re still a hermit kingdom. Putin has problems in his fiefdom. Pakistan is facing internal disorder. The African National Congress is losing it’s grip in South Africa. China says it’s no threat, so you know that means they’re a threat.
But I’m sure that Hope and Change bullshit will work much better on the world stage than it did on our economy.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Military issues
I think that President Present is beyond “Hope and Change”. I wonder if he’s looking at internal polling and doesn’t like what he sees? So, now’s the time to”Fundamentally Change” America, before he gets booted.
After all, look at the power grab with the recent “recess appointments” that weren’t recess appointments. He’s pretty sure there is not anyone with the cojones to question him about this, and McConnell and Boehner have proven him right.
As has been said on other threads, the equipment that isn’t worn out, soon will be, and there aren’t any plans, that I can see, to replace any of it. F-15’s come apart in the air, how old of a design is the M1A1-2, and Bradley, not to mention the M-16/M-4? We’re buying moth-balled Harriers from the Brits for parts? I don’t see any replacements anywhere, except maybe on the drawing boards.
“Si vis pacem, para bellum.”
Unless you’re Obama or Paul, in which case it’s pull your head out of your ass, stick it in the sand, and sing a few choruses of Kum-Bah-Ya.