McMaster on war (merged thread)

[Cavguy]

I brought this over from the Blog -

On War: Lessons to be Learned by Colonel H.R. McMaster

Money Quotes:

"During the decade prior to the terrorist attacks against the United States in September 2001, thinking about defence was driven by a fantastical theory about the character of future war rather than by clear visions of emerging threats to national security in the context of history and contemporary conflict. Proponents of what became known as military transformation argued for a ‘capabilities based’ method of thinking about future war. In practice, however, capabilities-based analysis focused narrowly on how the United States would like to fight and then assumed that the preference was relevant."

And

"So-called capabilities-based approaches to force development and constructive simulations that validate those approaches ought to be abandoned in favour of clear-headed thinking about contemporary and future conflict. Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon reveal the need for balanced joint capabilities and additional capacity in other agencies to assist in postconflict stability and counter-insurgency operations. At the operational level, forces must be capable of conducting counter-insurgency, stability or state-building operations. At the tactical level, forces must be able to fight under conditions of uncertainty and be employed in sufficient force and in the right combination to establish security and overwhelm the enemy in their area of operations."

A stinging and on target commentary. Doubt it will help him on the third look to BG.