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Of course the Army and Navy would allow this. And they did. Guided anti-tank missiles often cost as much (or more) than the non-specialized vehicle that carries them (APC, light truck, all terrain...

Not necessarily. Nation building is not expensive if you do it right. Operation Just Cause in Panama is a good example.

Slapout9,

Forgive me, but I will not be fooled by your statement that army operations are some kind of subset to Warden's five-ring/parallel attack strategy.



I disagree with you twice.
...

Get well soon. All the best.

Slapout9,

that is indeed the sentence that closes Warden's circular reasoning. His exact phrasing is:



In summary: airpower is the best way to win a war and if it is not, we should not go...

Still the same circular argument. Circular reasoning seems to be inherent in the defence of airpower. Warden's new article also contains a good example:



The circular reasoning is the...

pvebber,

It is always difficult to argue with a true believer. However, the quote below explains why.



The quote means that Warden and his strategy are right and that the politicians are...

Cliff,

I do not assume anything. I say that ALL power systems have political restraints to worry about. I think that I can state as a fact (not an assumption) that Islamists, like UBL, derive...

http://books.google.be/books?id=uTHj5Svoxx4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=magyar+karl+p&hl=en&ei=e5CHTcH-EIvqOYHmzdYI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA

Warden's original article...

slapout9,

On the contrary. ALL power systems have political restrictions to worry about. Islamists, like UBL, derive their power from the obedience of the faithful. Therefore, UBL's strategies,...

slapout9,

On the contrary. ALL power systems have political restrictions to worry about. Islamists, like UBL, derive their power from the obedience of the faithful. Therefore, UBL's strategies,...

It is not my point that a religion running a welfare system is something new. My point is that strategists have to take political restrictions into account (wether new or age-old). ALL power systems...

pvebber,

Good discussion so far, but both from non-Warden-istas. Like you, I look forward to the first comment by a Warden-ista. To paraphrase Warden:

"If we see the American revolutionaries...

This thread is difficult. the conversation about the validity and applicability of a strategy keeps evolving into a sterile discussion between believers and non-believers. To improve the exchange of...

slapout9,

Mao and Ho Chi Minh did not have big Armies when they started their fight against Tsjang Kai Tsjek's nationalist regime and French colonial rule respectively. They created these army...

Funding and laws can come from a variety of sources. Democracies fund their wars with taxes. Autocracies fund their wars with proceeds from raw materials (oil, gas, copper,...). Non-state actors fund...

Then we come to my original point (and BTW, Warden included it in his original article): "All military operations, including air operations, should be consonant with the prevailing political and...

Ok, if the model works in counter drugs operations, then why are there still drugs in our streets?

I disagree, the 5 (or 6) ring analysis simply is not useful in many cases. It has already been mentioned that the model does not apply to law enforcement, counterinsurgencies and stabilization...

Ken,

True. The propensity to do something is an important cause of the difference between policy and strategy. We will probably see more of that in Libya soon.

Good point, and an important test for every strategy. Hitler's strategy failed in 1942 (Stalingrad and El Alamein), but he needed three more years to understand it. Are we smarter?

Cliff,

Then we know exactly where we disagree. Democratic politicians ARE NOT strategists (maybe they should be, but they are not). I can recommend two books on the subject:

Dick Morris "Power...

I am afraid you put the cart before the horse. It is not the politician's job to deliver the political will needed for the application of a certain strategy. It is the strategist's job to develop a...

Cliff,

There is one more thing missing in Warden's article: the effect of his strategy on OUR OWN leadership. This lacuna is a bit odd, because this effect was at the heart of his original article...