Culture battle: Selective use of history should not be used to justify the status quo

[marct]

Hi Steve,

I took his reference to the American frontier from a more operational standpoint (in terms of small outposts of troops scattered here and there in attempts to intercept the enemy or raid out into their territory) than I did in geopolitical terms.

I am about 99% sure he meant it that way as well . I do think, however, that the geo-politics becomes crucial when we have such different situations. At the level of immediate operations the analogy is good, but the long term resolution is, however, wildly different.

I tend to (perhaps wrongly) tune out some of the "national interest" white noise in articles like this, because I tend to take their meaning to be (in short) "don't commit troops without public backing and clear goals." In other words, I don't think anyone really knows at the operational level what "national interest" is; it's become something of a political handball or cop-out over the years. A hazy mirage people can conjure up to justify something, or to complain that proper homage wasn't paid to the mirage when things go wrong.

That's a good point, and I suspect that many Americans do the same sort of tuning out - actually, I suspect there is an unconscious substitution of individual ideals of the "national interest" in place of a stated national interest. When there is a clear statement, and OIF is a good example of one - the "democracy rhetoric", it catches with people as a worthy goal.

Just my pre-coffee $.02. It was an interesting article, though. Personally, I'd like to see a return to a regimental system....

I think that would be great - then again, we have one .

Marc