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US Marine captain writes stinging op-ed: 'We lost the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan'
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:52 pm
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:52 pm
An active-duty US Marine captain wrote a stinging op-ed for the Marine Corps Gazette, going through all the problems he sees with the Department of Defense and the Marine Corps in addition to recent failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The biggest problem, according to Capt. Joshua Waddell, is "self-delusion."
"Let us first begin with the fundamental underpinnings of this delusion: our measures of performance and effectiveness in recent wars," he wrote. "It is time that we, as professional military officers, accept the fact that we lost the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The active-duty infantry officer, who served with and lost Marines under his command with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, in Afghanistan, didn't come to this conclusion lightly. He said it took several years for him to accept that, with the goal of improving the system.
A case in point, he says, is a comparison of the US military with other adversaries.
The Pentagon's budget dwarfs the combined defense spending of the next 10 countries. The Army and Marine Corps are arguably the best-trained fighting forces in the world. The Air Force has the most high-tech aircraft and weaponry, while the Navy maintains nearly 20 aircraft carriers — far more than adversaries like Russia and China that have only one each.
These stats should mean the US military is unstoppable, but the budget, talk of being the best in the world, and other claims it makes don't square with measures of effectiveness, Waddell writes.
"How, then, have we been bested by malnourished and undereducated men with antiquated and improvised weaponry whilst spending trillions of dollars in national treasure and costing the lives of thousands of servicemen and hundreds of thousands of civilians?" he wrote.
Waddell continues:
"For example, a multibillion-dollar aircraft carrier that can be bested by a few million dollars in the form of a swarming missile barrage or a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capable of rendering its flight deck unusable does not retain its dollar value in real terms. Neither does the M1A1 tank, which is defeated by $20 worth of household items and scrap metal rendered into an explosively-formed projectile.
"The Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Organization has a library full of examples like these, and that is without touching the weaponized return on investment in terms of industrial output and capability development currently being employed by our conventional adversaries."
His article isn't just a critique; Waddell offers several solutions to get the military out of the "business-as-usual" mindset that looks good in PowerPoint briefs but doesn't translate to success on the ground.
While military leaders typically complain to Congress that constrained budgets have a "crippling" effect on the military, Waddell says the military should work more efficiently with the money it has. He gives an example of a nation already doing this: Russia."
LINK
Ouch. More at the link.
No one should have any illusions -- our military basically sucks. It's purpose is not to win wars. It's purpose is to waste money.
The biggest problem, according to Capt. Joshua Waddell, is "self-delusion."
"Let us first begin with the fundamental underpinnings of this delusion: our measures of performance and effectiveness in recent wars," he wrote. "It is time that we, as professional military officers, accept the fact that we lost the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The active-duty infantry officer, who served with and lost Marines under his command with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, in Afghanistan, didn't come to this conclusion lightly. He said it took several years for him to accept that, with the goal of improving the system.
A case in point, he says, is a comparison of the US military with other adversaries.
The Pentagon's budget dwarfs the combined defense spending of the next 10 countries. The Army and Marine Corps are arguably the best-trained fighting forces in the world. The Air Force has the most high-tech aircraft and weaponry, while the Navy maintains nearly 20 aircraft carriers — far more than adversaries like Russia and China that have only one each.
These stats should mean the US military is unstoppable, but the budget, talk of being the best in the world, and other claims it makes don't square with measures of effectiveness, Waddell writes.
"How, then, have we been bested by malnourished and undereducated men with antiquated and improvised weaponry whilst spending trillions of dollars in national treasure and costing the lives of thousands of servicemen and hundreds of thousands of civilians?" he wrote.
Waddell continues:
"For example, a multibillion-dollar aircraft carrier that can be bested by a few million dollars in the form of a swarming missile barrage or a small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capable of rendering its flight deck unusable does not retain its dollar value in real terms. Neither does the M1A1 tank, which is defeated by $20 worth of household items and scrap metal rendered into an explosively-formed projectile.
"The Joint Improvised Threat Defeat Organization has a library full of examples like these, and that is without touching the weaponized return on investment in terms of industrial output and capability development currently being employed by our conventional adversaries."
His article isn't just a critique; Waddell offers several solutions to get the military out of the "business-as-usual" mindset that looks good in PowerPoint briefs but doesn't translate to success on the ground.
While military leaders typically complain to Congress that constrained budgets have a "crippling" effect on the military, Waddell says the military should work more efficiently with the money it has. He gives an example of a nation already doing this: Russia."
LINK
Ouch. More at the link.
No one should have any illusions -- our military basically sucks. It's purpose is not to win wars. It's purpose is to waste money.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:54 pm to WhiskeyPapa
quote:
while the Navy maintains nearly 20 aircraft carriers
Lost me here.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:56 pm to okietiger13
quote:
while the Navy maintains nearly 20 aircraft carriers
Lost me here.
I guess they are counting the LHA's. I think we have 10 super carriers right now.
This post was edited on 4/13/17 at 12:59 pm
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:57 pm to PoundFoolish
quote:
Your threads suck.
The strong do what they will; the weak suffer what they must. --Thucydides
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:58 pm to WhiskeyPapa
Loosen the ROE. Do not deploy unless willing to kill. End story.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 12:59 pm to WhiskeyPapa
That dude is a war criminal....amirite????
This post was edited on 4/13/17 at 1:00 pm
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:00 pm to WhiskeyPapa
Ya, because a fricking O-3 has the experience and visibility at the strategic level to be an authority on whether we won the war or not.
GTFO of here. And I say that as an O-3.
GTFO of here. And I say that as an O-3.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:00 pm to BigEdLSU
Our politicians think you can fight a politically correct, or clean war. No such animal exists.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:01 pm to WhiskeyPapa
It seems like we won the wars just fine.
The nation building part bit us in the arse.
The nation building part bit us in the arse.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:02 pm to WhiskeyPapa
Just so I understand, we're accepting defeat without placing any blame on our politicians sending us to war and not allowing us to fight a war with limited ROE?
It was solely on the amount of money we wasted!
Hold one. I'm calling my battle buddies to let them know the good news.
It was solely on the amount of money we wasted!
Hold one. I'm calling my battle buddies to let them know the good news.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:05 pm to Centinel
quote:
Ya, because a fricking O-3 has the experience and visibility at the strategic level to be an authority on whether we won the war or not.
We did lose both wars. No point in deluding ourselves.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:05 pm to WhiskeyPapa
Define victory.
/thread
(And I agree with the young Captain)
/thread
(And I agree with the young Captain)
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:06 pm to okietiger13
quote:Some tallies count our Amphibs.
Lost me here
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:07 pm to Wolfhound45
quote:Achievement of defined political objectives.
Define victory.
quote:He's unassailably right.
And I agree with the young Captain
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:07 pm to Centinel
quote:Hes got more visibility than our generals. Most of our generals have no idea how to fight.
Ya, because a fricking O-3 has the experience and visibility at the strategic level to be an authority on whether we won the war or not
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:10 pm to Navytiger74
quote:There are none. Just do today what you did yesterday. And then one day we will get tired of playing around, declare victory and go home and leave them worse than we found them.
political objectives
We should just PCS people there and stop pretending we have a grand strategy.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:12 pm to Wolfhound45
Some countries in the ME are a PCS now.
Posted on 4/13/17 at 1:17 pm to WhiskeyPapa
quote:I disagree completely. And I disagree with the OP.
our military basically sucks.
Our military is the greatest in the history of man. It's doing exactly what it was intended to do - save the establishment's arse with regime change in the Middle East without tipping off the sheople that this isn't some kind of freedom fight against terrorists.
This is all going according to the agenda: "multiple simultaneous wars" in the Middle East...AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
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