The Schizophrenia and Cost of Combat Withdrawal

BLUF: Last month we hated forever wars, this week we’re mad that we’re out of Syria.

Forever wars that lack end-states are folly. Since the US military is not institutionally capable of achieving our desired end-states in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc., it’s fair to ask, “Why are we there?”

In Sept 2019, the Democratic Presidential candidates agreed with me.

Lethality vs Facilitator

The Orientation Problem — It’s not that our forces are incapable of winning. It’s our preparation and ethos that prevent us from linking our theory to our tactics in modern war. If a force is going to be primarily a lethal will-crushing collection of units, then we shouldn’t send these units to state-build.

An infantry battalion is supposed to close with and destroy the enemy. We can train them to do other things, but their ethos remains. They must prepare for battle and never allow complacency to creep into their mindset.

Check out the Break It Down Show episode related to this topic

Partnering Pitfalls

If instead, units are going to partner, create host-nation capacity and ideally foster stability…