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Re:Notes from a Sun Tzu Skeptic (2019) by jcranmer on Tuesday April 11, 2023 @09:14AM (#35524661)
> It's why I don't understand why in the US, the president is also the top military commander. I'm sure they have good advisors and the good ones have done their homework, but it's not their profession in the end.

War is ultimately a political endeavor; the goal of a war is to compel, by use of military force, some sort of political objective. It only makes sense then that the person in charge of directing when and where that military force is used is also the person who is empowered to carry out the political policy of the entire country.

For people who rise to the top of the military from within, every political problem becomes a nail in want of the military hammer for a solution, and thus the default answer to every crisis tends to become war. The Cuban Missile Crisis was defused without a war because both Kennedy and Khrushchev couldn't bring themselves to push the button marked nuclear war, while virtually the entire military establishment was convinced, and forcefully arguing, that the only way out of the situation was to be the first to push that button.

Re:Notes from a Sun Tzu Skeptic (2019) by runlaszlorun on Tuesday April 11, 2023 @09:24AM (#35524784)
I’m not sure about the “military hammer for a solution”. At least not these days. Sure there are some- Wesley Clark’s push into Kosovo seemed suspect to me at the time. But there are many of the Colin Powell types who resist these unnecessary entanglements.

I wouldn’t be surprised if back in the Grenada/Panama era of the 80’s that there may have been many chomping at the bit. These days, I’m guessing not so much.

Re:Notes from a Sun Tzu Skeptic (2019) by Gud on Tuesday April 11, 2023 @09:43AM (#35525017)
Not sure why you are using Colin Powell as an example. He’s one of the worst stooges, helping both covering up the My Lai massacre and presenting false evidence for the UN regarding the Iraqi WMDs.
Re:Notes from a Sun Tzu Skeptic (2019) by runlaszlorun on Wednesday April 12, 2023 @11:02PM (#35550368)
I’ve never heard about Powell and My Lai. Feel free to point me in the right direction.

As to Iraq and WMDs, you could prob call him a “stooge” if you wanted to. But the little I know from a distance, that was something that racked his conscience for the rest of his life.

Re:Notes from a Sun Tzu Skeptic (2019) by hindsightbias on Tuesday April 11, 2023 @11:55AM (#35526957)
A relative told me in the 70's that I never had to worry about WW III until Yugoslavia disintegrates after Tito dies. He said all the realistic war plans revolved around that, which is why all the NATO cadres were all hysterical in the 90s.

Grenada, they never had time to think about it - it took three days for the most mighty military in the world to secure one of the tiniest nations in the world.

After 9/11, Rumsfeld asked the Army for their plans. They gave him a stack of plans on occupying Afghanistan and requirement for 600K troops (per doctrine) - they had no intention of volunteering. He was furious to be sidelined when the CIA guy convinced W it could all be done with small teams and airpower.

For Iraq, Rumsfeld agreed to all their plans and they saluted happily when he said to not make any occupation plans...