by Barry Hastings
It’s all well and good the Pres
ident has killed some 3100 ISIL, al-Quaeda, Boko Haram, and other terrorist leaders by hounding them from above with manned aircraft and drones, killing them with Hellfire missiles. Our real problem (as has been expounded relentlessly in what I’ve written and what I speak) lies in the laps of GOP liars and procrastinators in House of Representatives, Senate; and was clearly exposed in daily sessions of the Republican dog and pony show through the first four days of the week just passed.
Not a day (and hardly an hour) passes in which my thoughts don’t settle on these endless wars {this war) we’ve fallen into a habit of fighting… and losing. Haven’t won a one of them since 1945. Our soldiers win the scraps, fire-fights, and battles; our politicians piss away their sacrifices and victories.
To beat a determined foe, history conclusively teaches us, it’s absolutely necessary to demoralize and dislocate him, both physically and psychologically. Physical or moral dislocation lies at the very heart of every successful major military campaign — in history. You find evidence of the fact in military scribbling from the Chinese General Sun Tsu in 500 B.C., to J.F.C. Fuller and Basil Liddell Hart in modern times. General W.T. Sherman’s march through Georgia and the Carolinas, in 1864-65, is a textbook example of a General’s successful efforts to keep his opponent off balance, at odds with himself, indecisive, defeated.
Already the President has the enemy’s leadership frightened and on the run. Not a single one of them dares spend consecutive nights in the same rabbit-warren. The guts of an army, however, is motivation of fighting cadres. The terrorists, burning people in steel cages, carrying-out mass beheadings — not with axe or sword, but hacking off heads with knives, are motivated by cruelty, much akin to the whole German nation as mass murder became a national drive to erase a whole people, 1933-45. “Participate…, or die – horribly,” is their only mantra.
I believe Hillary Clinton will quickly, and in consultation with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, begin a major change in strategy against our enemies, and in the tactics through which it is implemented. Remember Bosnia-Hertzogovina? You should, it’s about the only real military success for America in a long, long time. Clinton found the general who pulled it off – relatively bloodlessly, and in a very, very complicated political situation. (And wouldn’t ya’ know it, General Wes Clark was a Democrat, as well.)
At any rate, this precious gift of thoughtful innovation, deception, secrecy {especially secrecy) and surprise, is frightfully missing from the ranks in this age of the ‘technocrat’ soldier. They’ve taken over as the modern-times bean-counters. They believe you can “quantify” anything, and should quantify everything. Innovative field officers retire as Majors, Lt. Colonels, sometimes with a brass hat. The technocrats rise through the higher echelons currying friendship and favor with “titans” of ‘the military/intel/industrial complex’ (the outfit good ol’ Ike tried to warn us of), and on retiring, join firms who pay them huge salaries to influence decisions of their former ‘brothers-in-arms.’
Here comes the truly stark picture of our military today, after six years of GOP control of Congress, and following “Sequestration.” They talk a tough war, but are risking the nation’s safety, just beyond your view. If you doubt it, check the following figures, pretty much in real time. The U.S. Army, under sequestration, is planning on a troop reduction to 460 thousand soldiers by the end of 2016, and another to 420 thousand by 2019. This, over a period of several years while our military demands and commitments have rapidly increased — by very nearly 25 percent, from most accounts. More than 30% of the Army’s procurement budget for modernization of forces has dried up. So, is our military, in this case, the Army, really the best equipped, combat-ready force in the world? Very doubtful. And remember, this is only a (small) part of th
e Army budget, and takes no account regarding cost of our current conflicts.
Our Navy is in really deep trouble, what with Congress building ships the admirals neither want or need, ignoring both real need and commitments. Navy Requirements for “attack” submarines currently stands at 86 operating units. But the fleet has only 52. Their requirement for amphibious operations world-wide stands at 54 units, they have but 30. They require 77 Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capable vessels, and have fewer than half the number, 33. Their program to build advanced BMD ships is nearly stalled — the program calls for 40 such ships, but only four exist. Military officials, according pentagon spokesmen, rate the Navy as, “wholly unequipped for ‘sea control’ (read ‘war’) operations.”
The Air Force is also not up to snuff. They have one helluva fighter (tho’ its had some development problems, costs an arm, a leg, and the soul of an Air Force General to buy one) in the F-22; and a great weapon in the Stealth F-35. Trouble is, the rest of their physical plant is decrepit, should have been replaced some time (10 years, or so) ago. Bringing the Air Force back (to where we must bring it) will be very, very expensive. Quadrillions. The F-22 and F-35 have been produced in far fewer numbers than planned, and we currently have about 200 F-22s, about one-fifth the earlier projected production. About 100 F-35s haves been built, of a planned 250. The Air Force keeps refurbishing F-15 and F-16 fighters, tho’ neither could survive the first day of modern air combat vs. China or Russia. They do make workmanlike bombers, but fighters?
It answers the questions of why the President has avoided confrontation with Russian fighters over Syria and Iraq. Marine Corps air power is, basically, in the same sad condition, short of F/A-18 fighters (by nearly 200), and doing without more than 100 CH53E helicopters.
Our soldiers, sailors, airmen have ever (since the Civil War) had the comfort of going into combat armed and protected by, and with the best money can buy. That practice kinda slipped during the Bush War, when security services of Blackwater, Halliburton, Kellogg, Root, & Brown (or was it Kellogg, Brown, & Root?) provided far better (in every way) body armor to their operatives, than we gave our soldiers. More of it, as well — recall how families here were sending body armor there? It happened in ‘Nam as well, when the military (Army) was too quick to provide M-16 rifles, before they were truly combat proven. Many American soldiers died through that FUBAR.
Those days are gone — the battlefield, today, is pretty much an even field. In some areas, we’ve fallen behind. And believe me, it’s not a matter we can afford to sluff off. Defense officials acknowledge the Russians have the battle-field in electronic warfare and long-range precision fire. The Chinese have a big jump on us in counter-stealth technology, and in hypersonics. The Iranians are much better computer system hackers, despite the fantastic arrays laid out at Fort Meade (and many other sites) by NSA, and our 17 (or so) other spy agencies.
Surrounded by enemies, the whole damn world in flames, we just spent a week watching a clown convention… and playing some silly, new Pokemon game. Your grandparents are puking, while they roll over in their graves.
