Where the Generals Have Failed

From the Armed Forces Journal a piece by Lt. Col. Paul Yingling. Not the most original, but detailed enough to give you some idea of where the US military has been failing in the past few decades.

For the second time in a generation, the United States faces the prospect of defeat at the hands of an insurgency. In April 1975, the U.S. fled the Republic of Vietnam, abandoning our allies to their fate at the hands of North Vietnamese communists. In 2007, Iraq's grave and deteriorating condition offers diminishing hope for an American victory and portends risk of an even wider and more destructive regional war.

These debacles are not attributable to individual failures, but rather to a crisis in an entire institution: America's general officer corps. America's generals have failed to prepare our armed forces for war and advise civilian authorities on the application of force to achieve the aims of policy. The argument that follows consists of three elements. First, generals have a responsibility to society to provide policymakers with a correct estimate of strategic probabilities. Second, America's generals in Vietnam and Iraq failed to perform this responsibility. Third, remedying the crisis in American generalship requires the intervention of Congress.

An interesting read, though restricted just to the topic of the brass. I would like to see some of the topics broadened, since the politics of the whole thing is very important. It also would be important to discuss the effects of the Media and national attitude.

Hammes basically said very similar things in his book and is quoted here. The only difference is that he gives specifics of how to fix things and also manages to give credit where the brass have been successful.