Post by Daniel on Nov 3, 2015 10:55:44 GMT -5
Strategy is Too Little & Way Too Late
By Skip Ash 21 hrs. ago
President Obama has promised the American people since 2013 that he would not introduce U.S. ground forces into Syria. This past week, he broke that promise. The President announced that he has decided to send “less than 50” Special Operations personnel to Syria. To quote the late great American philosopher, Yogi Berra, this seems like “déjà vu all over again.” History does indeed appear to repeat itself. An American President is once again personally directing defense policy in a way that appears destined to fail.
During the Vietnam War, for example, President Lyndon Johnson famously boasted that U.S. forces “can’t even bomb an outhouse without my approval.” LBJ was referring to the fact that he had retained and exercised from the White House absolute authority to approve all bombing targets in North Vietnam.
True, as Commander-in-Chief, LBJ possessed the constitutional authority to do as he did, but, given what actually transpired in the Vietnam War, it appears that LBJ’s policy was not a wise policy. First, LBJ was not a military expert; despite his remarkable political skills, he was a rank amateur in military matters. Second, he failed to recognize that one simply cannot make meaningful targeting decisions when one is located thousands and thousands of miles away from an active battlefield in a distant time zone.
Military professionals on the ground in the area of conflict are in the best position to make such decisions. Situations change rapidly on the battlefield. Targets of opportunity come and go quickly. That’s why we maintain a well-trained, well-educated professional military force. That’s why we establish military headquarters in the region where the fighting takes place. That’s also why Presidents of the United States do not don military uniforms and head to the battlefield to take command each time American forces are sent into harm’s way—even though they have the legal right to do so.
Following the Vietnam debacle, where political neophytes frequently overruled the reasoned judgments of professional military leaders, up-and-coming military leaders like Colin Powell developed a series of principles, now commonly referred to as the “Powell Doctrine,” to be considered before U.S. forces should be sent into harm’s way. These common-sense principles should be understood by every American, but especially by the political leaders of our Nation who bear the heavy responsibility of sending members of our Armed Forces into life and death situations.
continue reading
aclj.org/middle-east/president-obamas-isis-strategy-too-little-and-way-too-late
By Skip Ash 21 hrs. ago
President Obama has promised the American people since 2013 that he would not introduce U.S. ground forces into Syria. This past week, he broke that promise. The President announced that he has decided to send “less than 50” Special Operations personnel to Syria. To quote the late great American philosopher, Yogi Berra, this seems like “déjà vu all over again.” History does indeed appear to repeat itself. An American President is once again personally directing defense policy in a way that appears destined to fail.
During the Vietnam War, for example, President Lyndon Johnson famously boasted that U.S. forces “can’t even bomb an outhouse without my approval.” LBJ was referring to the fact that he had retained and exercised from the White House absolute authority to approve all bombing targets in North Vietnam.
True, as Commander-in-Chief, LBJ possessed the constitutional authority to do as he did, but, given what actually transpired in the Vietnam War, it appears that LBJ’s policy was not a wise policy. First, LBJ was not a military expert; despite his remarkable political skills, he was a rank amateur in military matters. Second, he failed to recognize that one simply cannot make meaningful targeting decisions when one is located thousands and thousands of miles away from an active battlefield in a distant time zone.
Military professionals on the ground in the area of conflict are in the best position to make such decisions. Situations change rapidly on the battlefield. Targets of opportunity come and go quickly. That’s why we maintain a well-trained, well-educated professional military force. That’s why we establish military headquarters in the region where the fighting takes place. That’s also why Presidents of the United States do not don military uniforms and head to the battlefield to take command each time American forces are sent into harm’s way—even though they have the legal right to do so.
Following the Vietnam debacle, where political neophytes frequently overruled the reasoned judgments of professional military leaders, up-and-coming military leaders like Colin Powell developed a series of principles, now commonly referred to as the “Powell Doctrine,” to be considered before U.S. forces should be sent into harm’s way. These common-sense principles should be understood by every American, but especially by the political leaders of our Nation who bear the heavy responsibility of sending members of our Armed Forces into life and death situations.
continue reading
aclj.org/middle-east/president-obamas-isis-strategy-too-little-and-way-too-late
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