The United States Win Wars, but Can They Win Peace?

[unhappycamper]

The United States Win Wars, but Can They Win Peace?
Le Monde, France
By Claude Vicaire, Army Corps General
Translated By Derek Minty
28 September 2010
Edited by Andysheh Dadsetan

Strengthened by the force of its arms, the supremacy of its technology, and the richness of its strategic and doctrinal thinking, the American army occupies a predominant place among Western forces. It would, therefore, be fair to suppose that the combination of these three factors; giving the United States an incontestable supremacy through their total control of tactical, operational and strategic environments would also allow them to easily win hearts.

And yet, despite General Petraeus' undeniable successes in Iraq, the experience drawn from the recent conflicts tends to show that the ability to win wars and conquer territories doesn't necessarily result in winning peace. Among all the possible reasons likely to be put forward to explain the U.S.’ difficulty to rally the affected peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan to their cause, at least two are worthy of mention as they seem so relevant, even unavoidable — because American efforts are rooted in American culture and history.

~snip~

Two consequences result from this. Firstly, for the American forces: indeed, obsessed by the “dogma of zero casualties,” “set” by their own cultural standards, and prisoners of their siege mentality — which could only have led them to follies such as those of Abu Ghraib — they run the risk of becoming withdrawn to the point of cutting themselves off from precisely those they came to help, appearing distant to them and sometimes disdainful.

Secondly, for the native populations: subjugated on their own soil by rules of engagement which are difficult to accept because they alienate them, and are at times the cause of collateral damage, they are all the more likely to consider the stranger who has come to defend them as an invader. Thus, the combination of these two factors, historical and cultural, constitutes a potent obstacle to the capability of the American army to “win hearts and minds.”

Hereafter, a risk to our own forces could ensue from this. Engaged alongside their powerful ally they could, in fact, be inclined to neglect their traditions and decorum inherited from General Lyautey and forget that "every battle won without regard for dignity is, sooner or later, a battle lost."

[hobbit709]

1. "Every military is fully prepared to fight the previous war"

Unfortunately, in every new war some factor in the equation has changed.