Austin Bay on Increasing Troop End Strength
Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit points to a post by Austin Bay Blog » On expanding the US Army — GEN Schoomaker’s testimony.
In the midst of a well-thought out and well- supported essay, Mr. Bay adds,
However, the issue isn’t merely military power or “how much” military power. We do a terrible job of “unified action” — uniting our diplomatic, information/intelligence, military, and economic elements of power (DIME is the acronym). Some background on this critical point. The military cannot “win” a global war for modernity; the military is merely part of a winning combination. Winning takes all elements of power applied and applied in a sustained, focused (yet flexible) manner. Victory in the Global War on Terror is an incremental process. Fact is, this is a Millennium War. (From January 2005).This is a sad fact that our enemies, both foreign and domestic, have learned about us. Their version of asymmetric war incorporates the propaganda campaign (the press), and the diplomatic campaign. They know these two aspects of our foreign policy are quite weak and uncontrolled by our Executive branch.
One could argue that the press SHOULD be free of administration control, but that ignores the willful misuse of propaganda by the press to undercut our war efforts.
The diplomatic “front” is the one that needs most to be fixed if we’re to win. Too many of the Foggy Bottom types think they’re more nuanced that those knuckle-draggers from Arlington. They need to decide whose side they’re on as well.
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