tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post2123863215152164831..comments2024-03-06T06:34:42.881-05:00Comments on EconoSpeak: The Afghanistan WarUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-79202061691866619632019-12-16T22:30:48.981-05:002019-12-16T22:30:48.981-05:00Anonymous,
Obama got sold a bill of goods with P...Anonymous,<br /> Obama got sold a bill of goods with Petraeus' promise to replicate the apparent success of "the Surge" in Iraq. Biden was skeptical. Of course, we now know that the success of "the Surge" in Iraq was largely ephemeral and had very little to do with "the Surge" itself.<br /><br />https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/13/general-david-petraeus-flaw-surge-afghanistan<br /><br />Eventually the US Army Training & Doctrine Command (TRADOC) changed the field manual and got rid of the COIN doctrine.<br /><br />While the idea of a citizen-based army has a lot of civic appeal, the fact is that it's probably not practical. Today's army is not your grandfather's army or even you father's army. Maybe not even your older brother's army. It takes a very long time to train today's soldier. The time when you could crank out 90 day wonders is long gone. Today's army is capital intensive and there is simply no way that the army could use, train or absorb a universal draft army. So that leaves us with a small lottery draft army; i.e., low morale and poorly trained.<br /><br />Finally, I don't think you can lay blame solely on the military. I know very few officers who like the idea of war. They like to train with expensive toys, but they aren't thrilled with having to use them in earnest. It wasn't the generals that pushed for war in Iraq. In fact, back in Oct 2002 there was a "Saturday night massacre" in which seven 3-star and 4-star generals were relieved of command because they disagreed with the way Rumsfeld wanted to prosecute the Iraq war. It was the chicken hawks in suits who pushed for war. We still live in something that at least pretends to be a democracy, so at some point voters have to take responsibility for the actions of their government. A draft army will still give is idiotic policies so long as we have idiotic, nitwit voters. A draft army didn't save us from the folly of Vietnam.2slugbaitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14763897441056512506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-8377404934985561392019-12-16T19:32:13.761-05:002019-12-16T19:32:13.761-05:00a professional army ... from boots to stars ... &q...a professional army ... from boots to stars ... "mantra of the day "we have the world's best military" ... <br /><br />Afghanistan is a political issue a foreign policy issue for the president and his advise and consents senate <br /><br />as obama learned withdrawing from Afghanistan needs political muscle because the "professional army" is the darling of congress ...<br /><br />we need to go back to a draft ... when citizens have skin in the game there is pressure against the generals<br /><br />never has been and never will be reasonable explanation for us to spend blood and treasure in afghanistan<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-79066891748254385642019-12-16T19:31:09.739-05:002019-12-16T19:31:09.739-05:00The initial objectives of the Afghanistan war were...The initial objectives of the Afghanistan war were entirely achievable, but then OBL, A-Q and the Taliban were allowed to escape from Tora Bora in late 2001. And I say "allowed" because the original order to take them out while they were in a highly vulnerable position was countermanded, as we know from Gary Berntsen's first hand account in <i>Jawbreaker</i>. GEN Tommy Franks claims to be the one who countermanded the kill order, but if you believe that then I've got a bridge to sell you. This one had Dick Cheney's fingerprints all over it. Recall that by Dec 2001, when it was clear A-Q and the Taliban were in a trap, there were plenty of hushed whispers and a little handwringing over the possible effect that killing OBL too soon might have on the planned war with Iraq, which was originally scheduled for Nov 2002. OBL was the poster child for the GWOT and Cheney was working overtime to try and connect Saddam with OBL and A-Q. The decision to put Afghanistan on the backburner and Iraq on the front burner was made in late Sep 2001. GEN Franks has admitted that he illegally diverted $500M in FY2002 funds to prepare for the Iraq war, but what has not gotten as much attention is the $200M in Congressionally appropriated FY2001 Defense Emergency Relief Fund (DERF) dollars that were laundered the last week in Sep 2001 to support heavy armor O&MA pipeline requirements. Recall that FY2001 DERF O&MA funds effectively expired on Friday, 28 Sep 2001, so the Bush Administration only had a few days to obligate (i.e., "launder") those funds because Congress didn't appropriate those funds until late Sep 2001.2slugbaitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14763897441056512506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-32503469701259077182019-12-16T17:35:40.908-05:002019-12-16T17:35:40.908-05:00Really well done.Really well done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com