Small Wars in the "new" cash strapped Western economy
The predicted, if not actual "crunch" on public spending in the West has appeared in other threads, but SWC have IIRC not considered what the possible impact will be on Small Wars.
An occasional SWC reader posed these questions:
Quote:
I was talking this morning to someone about the future of countering extremism world wide considering we are broke. More information operations? Retrenchment? Let the Chinese "carry the can"?
Abu M has touched upon this question IMHO in this:http://www.cnas.org/blogs/abumuqawam....html#comments
I hate scenarios normally as being too hypothetical and need a PPT. So imagination on for a moment please.
The 9/11 attack happens today, would the USA and allies embark on the follow-on Afghan campaign? I think not. Imagination off.
Is there such a concept and practice of cheap Small Wars? British Imperial history IMHO offers some examples, air power in Iraq between the wars and limited punitive campaigns in the NWFP / FATA up to 1947.
Not a disagreement, Wilf, merely a point:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
William F. Owen
..."Own KIA" is the most powerful policy driver I know of. That was why the US left Vietnam, the Lebanon, and Mogadishu...
True but all those departures were due to an (IMO) unreasoned -- and in hindsight, unnecessary -- fear of domestic political defeat by policy makers. That does not negate your point, it amplifies it and allows me to point out that domestic politics in all nations drive international actions.
That seemingly obvious point is important for strategic and operational planners who often either forget that factor or overemphasize it without attempting to counter and obviate it and thus provide policy advice or plans that are flawed...