In a spot recorded before the war and recently replayed on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh claims that the purpose of our military is, "to maim, to kill people, and to destroy things."
Rush could hardly be more wrong.
In my dog-eared copy of the Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication "Warfighting", there is one sentence that stands out: The object in war is to impose our will on our enemy.
That simple fact is often misunderstood. The purpose of the military is simply the "organized application or threat of violence" in order to make the enemy conform to our will. All the "maiming, killing, and destroying" will be futile unless we are able to do that. On the other hand, all it takes is for us to lose our nerve in order for the enemy to impose their will upon us.
The military and intelligence communities understand the role that the media can play in insurgent operations. For example, in a tactical manual on guerrilla warfare, the CIA outlined for the Central American Contras the means to conduct "psychological operations":
"In effect, the human being should be considered the priority objective in a political war. And conceived as the military target of guerrilla war, the human being has his most critical point in his mind. Once his mind has been reached, the "political animal" has been defeated, without necessarily receiving bullets.
Guerrilla warfare is born and grows in the political environment; in the constant combat to dominate that area of political mentality that is inherent to all human beings and which collectively constitutes the "environment" in which guerrilla warfare move s, and which is where precisely its victory or failure is defined.
This conception of guerrilla warfare as political war turns Psychological Operations into the decisive factor of the results. The target, then, is the minds of the population, all the population: our troops, the enemy troops and the civilian population."
The will of the American people is, for better or for worse, influenced by our free press. The Iraqi resistance knows this and acknowledges that they cannot win without the help of the American media. Unfortunately, the media elite appear all to willing to play the unwitting accomplice.
(See also: WWJD: What Would Jenning's Do (The Media & Iraq (Pt. 1))
1
I could be wrong, but I believe that what Rush actually said was that the "object of war" was to kill people and break things. This is not the same as saying it is the purpose of the military.
On another note, the way you impose your will is usually to kill more people and to break more things than your opponent, or at the least, to make them believe you will.
posted on 11.03.2003 8:35 PM2
***...the way you impose your will is usually to kill more people and to break more things than your opponent, or at the least, to make them believe you will.***
No doubt. But it's always best, whenever possible, to break the will of your enemy before resorting to violence. I think that was the main purpose of the "Shock & Awe" campaign, to scare the Iraqis into giving up. (I found it rather amusing when the American press fell for it and were disappointed that it wasn't more impressive.)
3
The 12 years of sanctions were intended to break their will, but all that did was enable the leadership to get fat while the people got skinny.
Great point abaout the press being willing and ignorant combatants in the latest phase of the war.
posted on 11.04.2003 12:54 PM