Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “How to Blight a War”

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March 23, 2011

How to Blight a War

Hatched by Dafydd

First off, I must point out that I am not a military expert; this isn't a MilBlog; I don't have any experience commanding troops in battle; I was never Secretary of the Navy; I never taught at Annapolis, VMI, or even Wellesley.

Still, I think I'm on pretty safe ground in saying that an American military establishment that allows itself to be dragged willy-nilly into a war in North Africa; rushes to obtain United Nations support but pointedly refuses to ask Congress for authorization; loudly announces it won't use ground forces under any circumstances; makes conflicting and incomprehensible pronouncements of victory conditions; admits it has no idea how long it will take to win -- or even what "winning" means; pushes itself into control of the air strikes, drops a bunch of bombs in seemingly random locations, and then announces after a few scant days that it has become bored and restless and wants to cede control of the entire operation to some other country and just MoveOn... I think it safe to conclude that said military establishment is in total collapse.

Have I exaggerated Barack and Billery's Wacky Adventure? Have I misstated the sequence of events? I stand willing to be instructed in what really happened -- which must surely be less insane than it looks to us, the observing, here in Sector 001.

Here is the always reassuring Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense to presidents, prime ministers, and the crowned heads of Europe:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged Wednesday that there is no clear end to the international military enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya, and says no one was ever under any illusion that the assault would last just two or three weeks.

He added that the U.S. could turn over control of the operation as soon as Saturday, but could not say how the coalition operation might be resolved.

I feel better already. I'll have that drink now, if you please.

I have read that it's the soaring gasoline prices that may well drag Barack H. Obama to defeat in 2012; yet I cannot help but suspect that this Libyan lunacy, as it shreds whatever credibility remains of the President's national-security strategy after two long years of imperialist Obamunism (seems like twenty), will be even more devastating to his diminishing reelectoral chances. Is there anybody left in the country (besides Garth Brooks) who doesn't look upon our Island King of the Peacock Throne, and laugh, laugh -- until he cries, cries?

America is going to be a long time living down the national, self-inflicted humiliation of November 4th, 2008.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, March 23, 2011, at the time of 3:19 PM

Comments

The following hissed in response by: kentuckydan

I agree with everything except

military establishment

Be better to have said "administration"

Our military establishment would not and does not make decisions like that

The above hissed in response by: kentuckydan at March 24, 2011 5:20 AM

The following hissed in response by: kentuckydan

I agree with everything except

military establishment

Be better to have said "administration"

Our military establishment would not and does not make decisions like that

The above hissed in response by: kentuckydan at March 24, 2011 5:21 AM

The following hissed in response by: Texas Jack

Dan is right. Please do not blame any of this on any part of the military. The jackasses who are doing this have never worn a uniform, never put their lives on the line for this country.

The above hissed in response by: Texas Jack at March 24, 2011 9:05 AM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

KY and TX:

It's a comforting thought; but the reality is that like it or not, the "military establishment" includes the civilian employees and paid analysts of the armed forces, the intelligence agencies of the armed forces, and the civilian commanders, including service secretaries, the Secretary of Defense, and the Commander in Chief.

Also, I highly doubt that the president would have made his decision completely in the face of recommendations from Robert Gates -- who himself would not have made this decision if the top brass in the Pentagon were all saying No.

There's no blinking it: The upper ranks of each service branch are intensely political, and the odds are very high that they signed off on the Libyan war and its strategy.

Alas, you cannot give the military itself a "get out of jail free" card; they're in this right up to their scrambled eggs and epaulets. If they were uniformly opposed, believe me, we would have heard.

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at March 24, 2011 12:10 PM

The following hissed in response by: Neo

There was a game for the PlayStation called “Lunatic Dawn Odyssey” … coincidence or subversion by military brass (now suffering from the uncontrollable giggles) ??

The above hissed in response by: Neo at March 24, 2011 5:04 PM

The following hissed in response by: Apps 55753818692 82000510 22a0d9717adec9dca173791c

I would not be surprised to learn that the US Air Force was in favor of the No-Fly Zone, knowing that they'd be the lead service on the action, and probably feeling left out of events in Afghanistan and Iraq, where C-17s and C-130s are in higher demand than F-16s or F-15Es. I mean, we even committed B-2 Stealth Bombers to attack Libya! There's a platform which probably hadn't dropped a bomb in anger since 2003. Got to get those combat performance evaluations somehow, and it might be a way for the Air Force to prevent its slice of the military budget from shrinking further than it has been.

The above hissed in response by: Apps 55753818692 82000510 22a0d9717adec9dca173791c at March 24, 2011 7:02 PM

The following hissed in response by: kentuckydan

I suppose I look at these things differently than Dafydd
My Dad was Career Navy retired as CWO I recall when I was just a toddler my concept of the Universal Order was

Navy/Marines
Army
Airforce

Snakes Spiders Creepy Crawly Things

and

WAY down at the bottom was
Something called CIVILIANS
Now at that early age I really did not know what a Civilian WAS

But I knew it was really REALLY

BAD!

Just what I picked up crawling around at the feet of my elders ;-)

The above hissed in response by: kentuckydan at March 25, 2011 9:55 PM

The following hissed in response by: Da Coyote

I have taught at one of our Academies - albeit at a technical level. However, as a retired fighter and trainer type, and knowing the folks who still teach there...you can rest assured that Obama is held in the same respect as a local child molester.

However, they are professionals, and obey orders.

For this alone, one must give them strong respect.

The above hissed in response by: Da Coyote at March 27, 2011 2:46 PM