Standard Warfare May Be Eclipsed By Nation-Building

[IDemo]

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 5, 2008; Page A16

The Army on Monday will unveil an unprecedented doctrine that declares nation-building missions will probably become more important than conventional warfare and defines "fragile states" that breed crime, terrorism and religious and ethnic strife as the greatest threat to U.S. national security.

The doctrine, which has generated intense debate in the U.S. military establishment and government, holds that in coming years, American troops are not likely to engage in major ground combat against hostile states as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan, but instead will frequently be called upon to operate in lawless areas to safeguard populations and rebuild countries.

Such "stability operations" will last longer and ultimately contribute more to the military's success than "traditional combat operations," according to the Army's new Stability Operations Field Manual, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.

"This is the document that bridges from conflict to peace," said Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, commander of the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where the manual was drafted over the past 10 months. The U.S. military "will never secure the peace until we can conduct stability operations* in a collaborative manner" with civilian government and private entities at home and abroad, he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/04/AR200810

* :eyes:

[HeresyLives]

1. This is UN Peacekeeping.

Make the peace, keep the peace, observe the peace, leave.

[IDemo]

2. Kicking this, because it's a topic that should concern all Americans

Because the last couple of full scale wars launched by this nation haven't gone so well, surge "success" or otherwise, it may be that the military believes it needs to change its business plan. And face it, with the trillions to be made in warfaring, "business plan" describes exactly what determines where and how US military force is deployed. That should be reason one for our concern.

Reason two, for me anyway, comes from what might have been missed by many in this quote: The U.S. military "will never secure the peace until we can conduct stability operations in a collaborative manner with civilian government and private entities at home and abroad". So, according to Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, part of the US miltary's mission is to conduct "stability operations" at home. At home? Could that be what this operation is pointing us towards? I know we could use a bit of nation building at this time, but I was kind of counting on the leadership we will have in place after the election to steer us in the right direction. You know, without using pain compliance weaponry.

edit - the link to the original story in the Washington Post doesn't work. Try this one