Wednesday, April 08, 2009

On preparing for the last war

Tom Ricks has an interesting report on a 'debate' between Marine General Zinni and Army Colonel Gentile over the future of the US military--an argument that, as I've said below, the advocates of a strong conventional force have already lost.

Since 1945, the US Army has famously prepared to fight the last war. With FM 3-24 and Gates's budget, we are doing it again. If there is one thing I have learned in the three years of studying War in the Modern World (mostly from a British viewpoint, it's true), it's that with the exception of the incredibly stupid Saddam Hussein, the enemy will not play to your strength. An army trained and equipped to fight an industrial war can learn to fight an insurgency, as we did in Iraq. An army trained and equipped to practice COIN can only collapse when faced with even a second-rate force. Are we really willing to bet our futures and our children's futures that such an event will never again arise?

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

1 Comments:

At 4:49 PM, Blogger Daniel Ford said...

Max Boot analyzes Gates's priorities in Commentary. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

 

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