The "military industrial complex" - pouring our hard cash into the Pentagon's black hole.
An enlightening forward from a reader where Editor Tom Engelhardt fin
ds our Orwellian Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, quoting Leon Trotsky at West Point concerning a "long war" strategy. [excerpt] "... If you thought for a moment that in the next presidency some portion of those many billions of dollars now being sucked into the black holes of Iraq and Afghanistan was about to go into rebuilding American infrastructure or some other frivolous task, think again. Just read between the lines of that new national defense strategy document where funding for future conventional wars against "rising powers" is to be maintained, while funding for "irregular warfare" is to rise. The Pentagonization of the U.S., in other words, shows no sign of slowing down. ..." [end excerpt]
Then follow through at this same post and examine the distinguished military writer Andrew Bacevich's (who lost his son in the phony 'Long War') ripping on the arrogance of Max Boot in praising US military doctrine. [excerpt] "... Boot dubbed this the Doctrine of the Big Enchilada. Within a year, after U.S. troops had occupied Baghdad, he went further: America's army even outclassed Germany's Wehrmacht. The mastery displayed in knocking off Saddam, Boot gushed, made "fabled generals such as Erwin Rommel and Heinz Guderian seem positively inc
ompetent by comparison."
All of this turned out to be hot air. If the global war on terror has produced one undeniable conclusion, it is this: Estimates of U.S. military capabilities have turned out to be wildly overstated. The Bush administration's misplaced confidence in the efficacy of American arms represents a strategic misjudgment that has cost the country dearly. Even in an age of stealth, precision weapons, and instant communications, armed force is not a panacea. Even in a supposedly unipolar era, American military power turns out to be quite limited. ..." [end excerpt]
Image tip to the late Stanley Kubrick ... we surely must still love Dr. Strangelove and his bombs.
Read more of The American Military Crisis at Tom's Dispatch.
An enlightening forward from a reader where Editor Tom Engelhardt fin
ds our Orwellian Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, quoting Leon Trotsky at West Point concerning a "long war" strategy. [excerpt] "... If you thought for a moment that in the next presidency some portion of those many billions of dollars now being sucked into the black holes of Iraq and Afghanistan was about to go into rebuilding American infrastructure or some other frivolous task, think again. Just read between the lines of that new national defense strategy document where funding for future conventional wars against "rising powers" is to be maintained, while funding for "irregular warfare" is to rise. The Pentagonization of the U.S., in other words, shows no sign of slowing down. ..." [end excerpt] Then follow through at this same post and examine the distinguished military writer Andrew Bacevich's (who lost his son in the phony 'Long War') ripping on the arrogance of Max Boot in praising US military doctrine. [excerpt] "... Boot dubbed this the Doctrine of the Big Enchilada. Within a year, after U.S. troops had occupied Baghdad, he went further: America's army even outclassed Germany's Wehrmacht. The mastery displayed in knocking off Saddam, Boot gushed, made "fabled generals such as Erwin Rommel and Heinz Guderian seem positively inc
ompetent by comparison."All of this turned out to be hot air. If the global war on terror has produced one undeniable conclusion, it is this: Estimates of U.S. military capabilities have turned out to be wildly overstated. The Bush administration's misplaced confidence in the efficacy of American arms represents a strategic misjudgment that has cost the country dearly. Even in an age of stealth, precision weapons, and instant communications, armed force is not a panacea. Even in a supposedly unipolar era, American military power turns out to be quite limited. ..." [end excerpt]
Image tip to the late Stanley Kubrick ... we surely must still love Dr. Strangelove and his bombs.
Read more of The American Military Crisis at Tom's Dispatch.
No comments:
Post a Comment