1
0

The American Military Uncontained - Out Everywhere and Winning Nowhere


 invite response                
2017 Sep 14, 2:10am   2,290 views  7 comments

by null   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

When it comes to the “world’s greatest military,” the news has been shocking. Two fast U.S. Navy ships colliding with slow-moving commercial vessels with tragic loss of life. An Air Force that has been in the air continuously for years and yet doesn’t have enough pilots to fly its combat jets. Ground troops who find themselves fighting “rebels” in Syria previously armed and trained by the CIA. Already overstretched Special Operations forces facing growing demands as their rates of mental distress and suicide rise. Proxy armies in Iraq and Afghanistan that are unreliable, often delivering American-provided weaponry to black markets and into the hands of various enemies. All of this and more coming at a time when defense spending is once again soaring and the national security state is awash in funds to the tune of nearly a trillion dollars a year.

What gives? Why are highly maneuverable and sophisticated naval ships colliding with lumbering cargo vessels? Why is an Air Force that exists to fly and fight short 1,200 pilots? Why are U.S. Special Operations forces deployed everywhere and winning nowhere? Why, in short, is the U.S. military fighting itself -- and losing?

It’s the Ops Tempo, Stupid - After 16 years of a never-ending, ever-spreading global war on terror, alarms are going off in Asia from the Koreas and Afghanistan to the Philippines, while across the Greater Middle East and Africa the globe’s “last superpower” is in a never-ending set of conflicts with a range of minor enemies few can even keep straight. As a result, America’s can-do military, committed piecemeal to a bewildering array of missions, has increasingly become a can’t-do one.

Hammering a Cloud of Gnats - Erik Prince’s mercenaries will, however, have to bide their time as the military high command continues to launch kinetic strikes against elusive foes around the globe. By its own admission, the force recent U.S. presidents have touted as the “finest” in history faces remarkably “asymmetrical” and protean enemies, including the roughly 20 terrorist organizations in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater of operations. In striking at such relatively puny foes, the U.S. reminds me of the mighty Thor of superhero fame swinging his hammer violently against a cloud of gnats. In the process, some of those gnats will naturally die, but the result will still be an exhausted superhero and ever more gnats attracted by the heat and commotion of battle.

The Greatest Self-Defeating Force in History? - Incessant warfare represents the end of democracy. I didn’t say that, James Madison did.

A friend of mine, a captain in the Air Force, once quipped to me: you study long, you study wrong. It’s a sentiment that’s especially cutting when applied to war: you wage war long, you wage it wrong. Yet as debilitating as they may be to militaries, long wars are even more devastating to democracies. The longer our military wages war, the more our country is militarized, shedding its democratic values and ideals.

A new strategy for America should involve getting out of those shadowy regions of no-win war. Instead, an expanding U.S. military establishment continues to compound the strategic mistakes of the last 16 years.

Full Article: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176325/tomgram%3A_william_astore%2C_the_superpower_that_fought_itself_--_and_lost/#more
#WinlessWars #Military #WTFarewedoing

Comments 1 - 7 of 7        Search these comments

1   Dan8267   2017 Sep 14, 10:47am  

The entire purpose of the U.S. military today is to garner U.S. taxpayer dollars. It's a for-profit industry that produces zero wealth, and in fact destroys wealth.
2   Dan8267   2017 Sep 14, 10:49am  

Not a true story, but simply a story that sounds true...
www.youtube.com/embed/KvRYd8U7qGY?showinfo=false
4   Strategist   2017 Sep 14, 12:18pm  

anonymous says
The American Military Uncontained - Out Everywhere and Winning Nowhere


That's because we don't fight wars the old fashioned way. We are too concerned about hurting innocent people. What will CNN say? What will the liberals say? How will our allies react? What if the Chinese and Russians oppose us?
Either fight a war like a war, or just stay put.
5   WatermelonUniversity   2017 Sep 14, 10:17pm  

if the Art of War, is so great, why did China lose so many wars, even against much, much smaller countries.

#TheFartOfWar
6   RWSGFY   2017 Sep 15, 10:27am  

anonymous says
So have other small countries been successful against larger countries


Finland managed to beat back the Russian beast in 39-40 "Winter War".
7   Ernie   2017 Sep 15, 12:47pm  

SpecialSnowflake says
Finland managed to beat back the Russian beast in 39-40 "Winter War".


Please register to comment:

api   best comments   contact   latest images   memes   one year ago   random   suggestions