Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy

Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy
Author :
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
Total Pages : 68
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781428910805
ISBN-13 : 1428910808
Rating : 4/5 (808 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy by :

Download or read book Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2002 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The defense debate tends to treat Afghanistan as either a revolution or a fluke: either the "Afghan Model" of special operations forces (SOF) plus precision munitions plus an indigenous ally is a widely applicable template for American defense planning, or it is a nonreplicable product of local idiosyncrasies. In fact, it is neither. The Afghan campaign of last fall and winter was actually much closer to a typical 20th century mid-intensity conflict, albeit one with unusually heavy fire support for one side. And this view has very different implications than either proponents or skeptics of the Afghan Model now claim. Afghan Model skeptics often point to Afghanistan's unusual culture of defection or the Taliban's poor skill or motivation as grounds for doubting the war's relevance to the future. Afghanistan's culture is certainly unusual, and there were many defections. The great bulk, however, occurred after the military tide had turned not before-hand. They were effects, not causes. The Afghan Taliban were surely unskilled and ill-motivated. The non-Afghan al Qaeda, however, have proven resolute and capable fighters. Their host's collapse was not attributable to any al Qaeda shortage of commitment or training. Afghan Model proponents, by contrast, credit precision weapons with annihilating enemies at a distance before they could close with our commandos or indigenous allies. Hence the model's broad utility: with SOF-directed bombs doing the real killing, even ragtag local militias will suffice as allies. All they need do is screen U.S. commandos from the occasional hostile survivor and occupy the abandoned ground thereafter. Yet the actual fighting in Afghanistan involved substantial close combat. Al Qaeda counterattackers closed, unseen, to pointblank range of friendly forces in battles at Highway 4 and Sayed Slim Kalay.

Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy Related Books

Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy
Language: en
Pages: 68
Authors:
Categories:
Type: BOOK - Published: 2002 - Publisher: DIANE Publishing

GET EBOOK

The defense debate tends to treat Afghanistan as either a revolution or a fluke: either the "Afghan Model" of special operations forces (SOF) plus precision mun
Afghanistan and the Troubled Future of Unconventional Warfare
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Hy S. Rothstein
Categories: Afghan War, 2001-.
Type: BOOK - Published: 2006 - Publisher: US Naval Institute Press

GET EBOOK

A Naval Postgraduate School professor and former career Special Forces officer looks at why the U.S. military cannot conduct unconventional warfare despite a si
The Future of Land Warfare
Language: en
Pages: 332
Authors: Michael E. O'Hanlon
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-08-31 - Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

GET EBOOK

What happens if we bet too heavily on unmanned systems, cyber warfare, and special operations in our defense? In today's U.S. defense policy debates, big land w
Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare
Language: en
Pages: 76
Authors: Stephen D. Biddle
Categories: Afghanistan
Type: BOOK - Published: 2002 - Publisher:

GET EBOOK

Understanding War in Afghanistan
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Joseph J. Collins
Categories: Afghan War, 2001-
Type: BOOK - Published: 2011 - Publisher:

GET EBOOK