NewsTrust - Most Recent Stories

The other enemy

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Armed Forces Journal - By Ralph Peters - May. 16 (Opinion) - A fourth aspect of the problem is that our political class either makes promises impossible to keep (the creation of an ideal model democracy in Iraq, for example) or, if in opposition, continues to add new, ever-higher metrics for success. One has the sense that, no matter how much the local people achieve with our support, some factions within our political system will insist that each military engagement has been a failure.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Protecting the chief

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 17:19:59 -0700

Armed Forces Journal - By Keeping Pace was not an option in war-wary Washington - Jul. 19 (News Analysis) - President Bush pulled the plug on Gen. Peter Pace to avoid what Defense Secretary Robert Gates described as a "quite contentious" renomination hearing. That was an understatement. The bid to have Pace named to a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would have been an unrestrained political spectacle, former Pentagon official Ray DuBois said.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Dream warriors: Our enemies fight for fantasies, not freedom

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 18:04:54 -0700

Armed Forces Journal - By Ralph Peters - Jun. 28 (Opinion) - Until we are willing to confront the mentality -- the soul -- of our enemies honestly, we can't and won't defeat them. We seek a logical understanding of mass violence, but war and civil strife rarely explode because of rational grievances. Complaints about oppression, poverty or injustice may serve as superficial catalysts, but few wars can be traced to objective decision-making by the dispassionate leaders of cool-headed populations. War is an act of passion, not of policy -- Clausewitz wrote

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average - 6 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

A failure in generalship

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Armed Forces Journal - By Lt. Col. Paul Yingling - Apr. 27 (Opinion) - 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.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.7 average - 17 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Power struggle

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 03:31:00 -0700

Armed Forces Journal - By William Matthews - Apr. 27 (News Analysis) - So, who's right? More important in Washington, who's going to win? Rep. Joseph Sestak, D-Pa., is reluctant to predict the outcome, but as a freshman Democrat, a retired three-star admiral and a Harvard Ph.D. in political economy and government, he views the struggle between Congress and the president through an unusual prism. When it comes to war, the Constitution actually assigns more responsibility to Congress than it does to the president, Sestak said. While the Constitution names the president as commander in chief, that's about all it says about him, he said. "The preponderance of responsibility" for the military is actually placed on Congress.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer