War on terrorism doomed, US warned (by Army War College professor)

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | January 13, 2004

[dead]

A scathing report published by the Army War College criticises the US's handling of the "war on terrorism", accusing it of taking a detour into an unnecessary war in Iraq and pursuing an unrealistic quest against terrorism that may lead to US wars with nations posing no serious threat.

The report, by Professor Jeffrey Record, of the war college at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, warns that as a result of those mistakes, the US Army is "near breaking point".

The report recommends scaling back the scope of the war on terrorism and instead focusing on the narrower threat posed by the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

"The global war on terrorism as currently defined and waged is dangerously indiscriminate and ambitious, and accordingly . . . its parameters should be readjusted," Professor Record said.

The anti-terrorism campaign was "strategically unfocused, promises more than it can deliver and threatens to dissipate US military resources in an endless and hopeless search for absolute security".

The report was released at a time of heightened criticism and doubt about the war in Iraq.

On Sunday, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said he did not know whether any weapons of mass destruction would ever be found in Iraq.

Mr Blair told BBC television interviewer the weapons had not been at sites where military chiefs expected to find them and they might never be found.

In a book published today, a former US treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, said he never saw any evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

In an interview with Time magazine, Mr O'Neill said: "In the 23 months I was there, I never saw anything that I would characterise as evidence of weapons of mass destruction."

Professor Record is a veteran defence specialist and author of six books on military strategy and related issues.

The director of the war college's Strategic Studies Institute, Colonel Douglas Lovelace, supported the essay. "I think that the substance Jeff brings out in the article really, really needs to be considered," he said.

Professor Race expected the study to be controversial, but a colleague at the war college added: "He considers it to be under the umbrella of academic freedom."

A Pentagon spokesman, Larry DiRita, said he had not read Professor Record's study. He added: "If the conclusion is that we need to be scaling back in the global war on terrorism, it's not likely to be on my reading list anytime soon."

Many of Professor Record's arguments, such as the contention that Iraq was deterred and did not present a threat, have been made before by critics of the Bush Administration. Iraq, he concludes, "was a war-of-choice distraction from the war of necessity against" al-Qaeda.

However, it is unusual to have such views published by the war college, the US Army's premier academic institution.

Professor Record's chief criticism is that the Administration is biting off more than it can chew.

He likened the US's ambitions in the war on terrorism to Hitler's overreach in World War II. "A cardinal rule of strategy is to keep your enemies to a manageable number," he said. "The Germans were defeated in two world wars because their strategic ends outran their available means."

The essay concluded with several recommendations, including one that the US scale back its ambitions in Iraq and be prepared to settle for a "friendly autocracy" there rather than a genuine democracy.

The Washington Post; Reuters; The Telegraph, London

[Peach]

The professor is assuming that Iraq had no links to AQ and didn't support terrorism and terrorists. He also seems to have forgotten the president's mission, widely applauded at the time, to go after countries that support terrorism.

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[Wolverine]

The essay concluded with several recommendations, including one that the US scale back its ambitions in Iraq and be prepared to settle for a "friendly autocracy" there rather than a genuine democracy.

 

The author is obviously a FOC (friend of Clark).

[mhking]

Now of of course, once I sit back and suggest that Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe is a valid flash point for the war on terror, I'll be called a warmongering zealot.

Never mind that Mugabe has no problem with accepting millions of dollars from terrorist organizations to allow them to set up shop there and to turn his head...

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[kegler4]

Straight out of that hotbed of leftists commies -- the Army War College. These guys probably don't know anything about the military or waging war, either.

[ConservativeMan55]

Bwahahahahaha! LOL!

[cyborg]

he's a communist and a communist in a continent where islamofascistas are on the move. He should be watched but I won't hold my breath. There's no oil there.

[thesummerwind]

The global war on terrorism as currently defined and waged is dangerously indiscriminate and ambitious, and accordingly . . . its parameters should be readjusted," Professor Record said.

Anything said on Record (or by Record) is meaningless.

[dead]

A quick look at Google shows that Professor Record appears to be a professional contrarian, which is a good thing for a college to have.

It doesn't make the contrarian correct though.

[snooker]

But most important this esteemed professor must have forgot about the 1998 congressional law/declaration signed by Clinton that removal of Hussein was official US policy.

They obviously count on the general public with their public education to have forgotten.

[Peach]

You are correct; that Iraqi Liberation Act, signed by Clinton, was likely the reason for the continuation of plans by the Bush administration.

The difference is, Bush actually did something about those plans, vs. Clinton who just talked about it.

[HarleyD]

I wondered when the word "Hitler" or "Nazi" would turn up. I'm surprise it was almost at the end of the article.

[Sabatier]

If the US Army is "near the breaking point" it's because 8 years of Clintonism kept the armed services on a shoestring budget holding everything together with scotch tape and ingenuity.
The American public is going to have to decide if they want to roll out the prayer mat and face Mecca six times a day or live as a free people. If you don't pay to take the fight to the enemy's door he will take it to yours.

[cynicom]

"The Germans were defeated in two world wars because their strategic ends outran their available means."

This is a brilliant deduction, one that no one has ever espoused before, the author is pure genius. One thing that seems to escape the man is that there are "evil" empires in this world, always have been and always will be. Freedom has to deal with them under current circumstances.

[witnesstothefall]

A "dangerously indiscriminate and ambitious" war on terror is precisely the kind that will convince state sponsors of terro and wmd proliferators to change their ways.

A narrow effort against al Queda only would do nothing about the roots of terror.

[DooDahhhh]

WEll, Years ago the War College wasn't a bunch of lefties. I find it hard to believe that they are now. Your source??

[XHogPilot]

A scathing report published by the Army War College criticises the US's handling...
The report, by Professor Jeffrey Record, of the war college at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, ...

The US Army War College is at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
The US Air Force's Air War College is at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. A search indicates the pessimistic Prof Record is on the faculty at both.

[cynicom]

When slick Clinton took office, we had 18 army divisions. When he left we had 10.

[kegler4]

Umm, I was being sarcastic. Note that I also said they knew nothing about the military?