MG(R) Scales, a former Commandant of the Army War College, is nothing if not a controversial character. I don't necessarily disagree with his assertion, but I have a couple of practical questions:
- Where are we going to get adequate numbers of personnel of the quality required to implement the McChrystal method on the scale proposed by MG(R) Scales?
- If the McChrystal-method units suck up the quality people they will need, what will be left to execute other special operations requirement?
The only way to defeat the Islamic State – The Washington Post
ROBERT STEELE: I am a huge admirer of General Scales, former Commandant of the US Army War College and a warrior-intellectual. His book Firepower in Limited War remains a standard for the simple reason t hat it documents how the $100 billion a year US secret intelligence community still cannot find targets for artillery and aviation with any degree of timeliness and precision. General Scales also made a huge contribution in documenting that 4% of the force — the infantry — takes 80% of the casualties — while costing the taxpayer 1% of the total Pentagon budget. Secretary Hagel is being very badly served at a time when he desperately needs achievalbe intelligence to cut 30% in waste while building a 450 ship Navy, a long-haul Air Force, and an air-mobile Army.
In my view, there are not enough weapons or soldiers capable of defeating ISIS. What we are seeing in ISIS is the direect result of the 935 documented lies that Dick Cheney and Colin Powell and others told, with the deliberate complicity of George Tenet, then Director of Central Intelligence. Dick Cheney “liberated” the Shi'ites of Iraq, something Iran could never have done on its own. Dick Cheney and his allies who persist in positions of power in the US Government continue to create a swath of destruction that runs from Central Asia and the Ukraine down to Niger and Nigeria. Combined with Vampire Capitalism and mis-governance by autocratic rulers out of touch with the pain of their larger publics, and you have a region ripe for a French Revolution. Law enforcement only works when a minority is in violation. When the majority are in rebellion, particularly across multiple borders and with the windfall of $500 million from Mosul, this is a challenge that Sun Tzu would say demands BOTH self-examination for improved internal governance AND very intelligent counter-intelligence including dark web and social media intelligence. The second alone will not be sufficient. IMHO.
See Also:
BOOK: Global Warrior: Averting WWIII
Democracy on ice: a post-mortem of the Icelandic constitution
Graphic: Preconditions of Revolution in the USA Today
