1- I would expect Saudi or anybody to tell us no. That is why I would use the military to collect.
2-I think the hard part is thinking about using military force in a non traditional manner to seize economic assets that have political value despite the fact that are enemies do it very well. (Iran)
3- Saudi is the home base of the UBL family business which has and is sponsoring radical ideologies that result in are country being attacked directly or indirectly so If Saudi did not cooperate then they could be the target of a Punitive Operation.
Whose economic assets has Iran seized?2-I think the hard part is thinking about using military force in a non traditional manner to seize economic assets that have political value despite the fact that are enemies do it very well. (Iran)
So to be clear, you are basically arguing for a limited invasion of Saudi Arabia, apparently confined to the oil fields?
1-They seized 15 British sailors and marines which are not strictly economic assets like an oil field but they do have value and they will exploit for a definite gain.
2-No not at this time. We should have threatened to do it if they did cooperate completely in the following investigation!
3-I do think the WTC families should have been allowed to pursue the lawsuit and when they won they should have seized any assets in the US and if that is not enough then go for the oil fields or their banks and cars and anything else until the judgment was settled. Plus the cost of rebuilding New York.
another thought
Do we actually incur a greater potential for future attacks when we attempt to nation-build and fail? In other words, assume for a moment that we do the "peace with honor" thing in Iraq and pull out sometime next year leaving the Shia and Sunni to fight it out. Does this embolden our terrorist enemies? I think so. Osama bin Laden's own words indicate that he learned a valuable lesson from watching US forces pull out of Somalia.
Using punitive ops avoids this since we rely solely on our strength by using overwhelming military force in pursuit of a clearly defined goal. Once this goal is acheived, we leave. Of course, this will invite criticism as well (how can we ever really avoid it), but you hardly have room to honestly complain when the neighbors dog bites you after you've taunted him all day. Besides, as I've said before, I do believe that the criticism over punitive ops would be less than what we see now.
I think much, probably most, of the success to be garnered from such an approach would depend on realistic goal-setting.
From Caldwell's book on Small Wars
But when there is no king to conquer,no capital to seize,no organized army to overthrow, and when there are no celebrated strongholds to capture, and no great centers of population to occupy, the objective is not easy to select. It is then that the regular troops are forced to resort to cattle lifting and village burning and that the war assumes an aspect which my shock the humanitarians. "In planning a war against an uncivilized nation who has, perhaps no capital," says Lord Wolseley,"your first object should be the capture of whatever they prize most, and the destruction or deprivation of which will probably bring the war most rapidly to a conclusion." This is the root of the whole matter. If the enemy cannot be touched in his patriotism or his honor,he can be touched through his pockets.
Sounds like a very good Philosophy for the GWOT.
How do you touch bin Laden's pockets?
The answer may lie in the Fed's relationships with Gulf State bankers, not necessarily in 5.56mm going downrange.
That would be a good place to start.
Callwell's lessons are good only to a point. We cannot fight by burning villages and pursuing a Sherman-esque vision of war. World opinion will simply not allow it. It does no good to win on one front by creating havoc within our enemy's country only to lose on another front by marginalizing the world. Like it or not, globalization requires that we temper our responses because we need other countries (maybe not militarily, but certainly economically).
That being said, we can hurt the Muslim world in the pocket book by aggressively pursuing alternative fuels. I'm certainly not an expert in this area, but from the little I've read, it seems like we could use biofuel topretty much replace our oil consumption and use our own agriculture to do it. In other words, our fuel needs could be meet right here at home. Of course, this will take some time, but movely quickly now could more quickly bring about the day when the Middle East isn't such a strategic consideration.
BUt this is not what the Islamic Terrorist values the most. I think he values his version of Islam most. Now we certainly can't destroy Islam, but we can destroy the radical version of it. This cannot be done by through total war but instead with a hearts and minds campaign akin to how we approached our fight against Communism in the Cold War.
Well said, LawVol
But it is not just the most recent version of globalization that creates these constraints. The French found to their dismay that the same kind of constraints cost them Algeria even after they had won the tactical and operational war.
LawVol I disagree from the standpoint of time. If we had struck back brutally immediately after 911 it would have been accepted without a lot of condemnation of world opinion. But the waiting for a long period after the attack gives the appearance of revenge as opposed to striking back in self defense.
While I have previously cited domestic and international political responses to our efforts in Iraq as support for moving to a punitive operation strategy, perhaps the link below provides another. It would seem that we are not geared to the long war in the procurement arena either. The problems just keep mounting. How can we expect our military to build nations when we improperly prepare and equip it for the mission? I still think a punitive operations strategy would solve alot of issues. I have yet to hear a viable argument against their use, at least in some cases.
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cf...dcn=todaysnews
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks