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American Military Might is on the Decline.
The aftermath of the war in Iraq is proving that U.S. military dominance of the world is on the wane. The United States possesses the preeminent military in world history but is finding that it has no real use for it.
Troop withdrawl from military bases around the world is another example of the American army losing its relevance. The United States is losing its relevance as a super power. Beyond defense, it's army has very little role. Economically, it will soon be displaced by the European Union as the preeminant economy. The global transfer of money and jobs is just now beginning. The American education system does not rank in the top ten. It's religious-based culture is anti-science and its laws permit multinational corporations to improve their profits at the expense of their host.
As the images of Iraqi prison abuse turn the U.S. public away from support for the war the U.S. military finds it has very little role in the world. It did everything it was supposed to do in Iraq and still it is gradually turning into a debacle.
The Pentagon believed it had learned its lesson from Vietnam. During the eight "official" years of engagement they never established a strategy for winning the war. The objective was merely to prevent the "communists" from occupying the entire country. Their only real strategy for accomplishing this objective was to kill as many of the opposition as possible. Territory was not an objective. Body count was how they measured progress. The failure of this strategy became obvious in 1968 with the Tet Offensive. Tet demonstrated the main failure of the U.S. policy. They could never kill enough of the enemy to make them cry "uncle."
Two important lessons were learned from Vietnam. The first was that a direct military objective is required for all future foreign wars. The military would no longer allow its troops to fight without a specific objective and they would also make sure that the political leadership understood this fact. The second lesson is that the United States cannot fight a prolonged war with cameras rolling. The longer a war stretches out the less the public will support it. These lessons have been employed in all subsequent U.S. military engagements (with the possible exception of Somalia). Every military action would be a big stick brought down quickly on the opponent. No longer would they progressively engage as they did in Vietnam; gradually increasing their military strength over a period of years. The new strategy was to strike fast with enough force to end the war quickly.
Unfortunately, these lessons were not the ones the United States should have taken from Vietnam. The most important lesson should have been an answer to the hypothetical question of what the United States would have done had they won in Vietnam. If they occupied Vietnam, how long would the occupation last? How many more soldiers would have been killed in just the type of ambushes that are now plaguing the troops in Iraq? What would happen when the U.S. ended its occupation and turned over the country to the South Vietnamese government?
The answer to all of these questions was clear to many scholars in the 1970s and is now being born out it Iraq. The occupation can not last for long because hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. soldiers die in ambushes. Unless the United States plans to annex the conquered country, it has to turn over administration to the locals and pull its troops out. Once out, the likelihood of all objectives being lost is great. The United States tried this strategy in Vietnam with the "Vietnamization" strategy; gradually turning over control to the South Vietnamese authorities. Once the United States disengaged, U.S. taught military and civilian leadership crumbled.
The current U.S. exit strategy has a very similar tone to "Vietnamization." It is now called "Iraqi Self Rule." It is now looking very likely that the United States will pull out of Iraq in mid summer to avoid the political repercussions during an election year. When the "new" Iraq ends up looking a lot like the old Iraq minus Saddam, the point of this excursion loses its significance. Everywhere but in American, United States soldiers are not viewed as liberators. The 1940s do not exist any longer.
It is clear that the American public cannot stomach the consequences of war. That abuse of indigenous Iraqis could, and has occurred should be no surprise to anyone. Every war ever fought has produced such actions. "All powerful" conquerors and a defenseless citizenry has resulted in abuse 100 percent of the time. The best the military can hope for is to suppress the evidence of abuse as much as possible. If it is shown on television, as the killing of a North Vietnamese prisoner was, the American public support for war will wane. Now the military is finding it impossible to suppress everything and the painful lesson is learned. The U.S. military cannot lose a war and the U.S. military cannot win a war either. Until China threatens American dominance, the Pentagon has very little role left to play in the world.
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