Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Yahoo.com
April 21, 2008 WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US Defense Secretary Robert Gates revived an old military axiom Monday as a cautionary guide for West Point cadets on the use of military force.
"Never fight unless you have to. Never fight alone. And never fight for long," Gates said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Corps of Cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York.
The guidelines were those of Fox Conner, an early 20th century mentor to World War II generals Dwight Eisenhower and George Marshall, Gates said in the text of the speech, which was released by the Pentagon.
But they reflect current constraints on a US military strained by six and half years of war, and they stand in sharp contrast with the theories of preventive war that lay behind the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
"Conner's axiom -- never fight unless you have to -- looms over policy discussions today on rogue nations like Iran that support terrorism, that is a destabilizing force throughout the Middle East and Southwest Asia, and in my judgement, is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons," Gates said.
"Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels," he said.
"But the military option must be kept on the table given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat -- either directly or through proliferations," he said.
Gates acknowledged that Conner's axioms, while straightforward, provide no easy answers for the complex situation facing the United States.
"A drawdown of US force levels in Iraq is inevitable over time -- the debate you hear in Washington is largely about pacing. But the kind of enemy we face today -- violent jihadist networks -- will not allow us to remain at peace," he said.
"This generational challenge cannot be wished away or put on a timetable. There are no exit strategies. To paraphrase the Bolshevik Leon Trotsky, we may not be interested in the long war, but the long war is interested in us," he said.
Gates also used the speech to encourage cadets at the army's premier military school to provide "blunt, candid advice, always" but to keep dissent private.
He said the military's credibility was key to maintaining the public's support for a trying war.
"Candor and credibility remain indispensable because we will see yet more irregular and difficult conflicts of varying types in the years ahead," he said.
"Conflicts where the traditional duties of an officer are accompanied by real dilemmas -- dilemmas posed by a non-linear environment made up of civilians, detainees, contractors, embedded media, and an adversary that does not wear uniforms or obey the laws of war," he said.
Earlier Monday, Gates sounded similar themes at the air force's Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama where he complained that the military is "stuck in old ways" and not moving aggressively to meet battlefield needs.
April 21, 2008 WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US Defense Secretary Robert Gates revived an old military axiom Monday as a cautionary guide for West Point cadets on the use of military force.
"Never fight unless you have to. Never fight alone. And never fight for long," Gates said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Corps of Cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York.
The guidelines were those of Fox Conner, an early 20th century mentor to World War II generals Dwight Eisenhower and George Marshall, Gates said in the text of the speech, which was released by the Pentagon.
But they reflect current constraints on a US military strained by six and half years of war, and they stand in sharp contrast with the theories of preventive war that lay behind the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
"Conner's axiom -- never fight unless you have to -- looms over policy discussions today on rogue nations like Iran that support terrorism, that is a destabilizing force throughout the Middle East and Southwest Asia, and in my judgement, is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons," Gates said.
"Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels," he said.
"But the military option must be kept on the table given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat -- either directly or through proliferations," he said.
Gates acknowledged that Conner's axioms, while straightforward, provide no easy answers for the complex situation facing the United States.
"A drawdown of US force levels in Iraq is inevitable over time -- the debate you hear in Washington is largely about pacing. But the kind of enemy we face today -- violent jihadist networks -- will not allow us to remain at peace," he said.
"This generational challenge cannot be wished away or put on a timetable. There are no exit strategies. To paraphrase the Bolshevik Leon Trotsky, we may not be interested in the long war, but the long war is interested in us," he said.
Gates also used the speech to encourage cadets at the army's premier military school to provide "blunt, candid advice, always" but to keep dissent private.
He said the military's credibility was key to maintaining the public's support for a trying war.
"Candor and credibility remain indispensable because we will see yet more irregular and difficult conflicts of varying types in the years ahead," he said.
"Conflicts where the traditional duties of an officer are accompanied by real dilemmas -- dilemmas posed by a non-linear environment made up of civilians, detainees, contractors, embedded media, and an adversary that does not wear uniforms or obey the laws of war," he said.
Earlier Monday, Gates sounded similar themes at the air force's Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama where he complained that the military is "stuck in old ways" and not moving aggressively to meet battlefield needs.