Thread: Winning Battles, Losing Wars

The Clausewitz Delusion: How the American Army Screwed Up the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Winning Battles, Losing Wars

By Alan Caruba
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

My late Father was too young to serve in World War One and too old to serve in World War Two, but he sent two sons to serve in the U.S. Army, one during the Korean conflict in Tokyo’s command headquarters and myself during early 1960s peacetime at Fort Benning, Georgia.

The closest I ever came to seeing combat was during the Cuban Missile crisis. It extended my active duty by a couple of months while Krushchev and Kennedy considered the consequences and then, as Dean Rusk, Kennedy’s Secretary of State said of Krushchev, “He blinked.â€

I feel so sorry for our soldiers and their familes.

It is his contention that the U.S. Army and other branches by extension, forgot how to how to occupy and govern in the wake of victory. The best historical examples are Germany and Japan, two despotisms that were first destroyed and then revived as democratic nations. America used to be good at that sort of thing.

In those days we had statesmen and true military leaders. Credit Gen George C. Marshall and the Marshall Plan for not only reviving Germany, but all of Europe. Credit Gen Douglas MacArthur for reviving Japan with a plan similar to Marshall's but tailored to the Japanese culture. Credit President Truman for not only being a statesman, but a pragmatist who recognized the wisdom of these two generals in this regard and fully supported their plans.

Imagine if Obama were president then. With Gen Casey on his right hand and Adm Mullen on his left. I'll say no more, except each to his own nightmares.