David Ignatius, in today’s Washington Post, describes the new tactics, combining Special Forces and soft power of the reconstruction teams. This is counterinsurgency as it is supposed to be done. I have previously written about Robert Kaplan’s book, Imperial Grunts, where he describes how Special Forces are fighting the Islamic jihadis all over the world with almost no publicity. The problems with the Big Army are displayed in this paragraph from a review on Amazon:Most important in this book is Kaplan’s documentation of the fact that transformation of the U.S. military is NOT taking place–Washington is still enamored of multiple layers of rank heavy bureaucracy, the insertion of very large cumbersome task forces in to every clime and place; an over-emphasis on technology; and a lack of appreciation for the urgency of providing security, food, water, and electricity IMMEDIATELY so as to start the cycle of counter-insurgency information collection from volunteers. The author is brutal in his indictment of the bureaucracy for failing to provide the linguistic skills, four years after 9/11, that are far more important to transformation than any weapons system. He is also brutal on the delays in approving operations in the field that are associated with layered bureaucracies that come with joint task forces, and completely detrimental to fast moving tactical success at the A Team level. This story is repeated in many of the books I have read, especially about Afghanistan. Maybe the Ignatious story means that someone is finally getting it. Not, though, his complaint that we don’t have enough Special Forces troops to meet the need. That was a decision made after Vietnam when the Big Army decided to go back to the war plans for fighting the Russians in the Fulda Gap. Maybe they have finally learned the lesson they ignored from the British experience in Malaya, the experience described in recently retired LT Colonel Nagl’s book, Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife. Nagl has now retired a LT Colonel showing how much the Big Army values his advice.
>>>>Washington is still enamored of multiple layers of rank heavy bureaucracy…
It was a signal moment in my life when I realized some people like big, faceless bureaucracies, even if they are less-than-competent. I think for some people it harks back to childhood when they had an all-powerful parent(s) to mediate their life.