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William D. Randall's Blog (of no particular interest to no one in particular)
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"We Have Just Begun to Fight...." Winston Churchill "Audentes Fortuna Juvat" - "Fortune Favors the Bold"
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Thursday, November 18, 2004
Those Who Ignore History Are Bound to Repeat It The current situation in Iraq has caused me to consider the last 250 years of modern history. While most are concerned about were to buy a new Mustang or party on a Saturday night, I have been concerned about how modern day events are mirroring events that occurred during the creation of the United States. From a band of lowly insurgents fighting a foreign occupying force to ensure their freedom, the insurgents in Faloujah mirror the tactics employed by the Minutemen during the Revolutionary War. During the Revolutionary War, colonial minutemen utilized new tactics to defeat a far superior force. Surprise attacks, and the break from standard military tactics allowed a weaker force to have a jump on the strongest army in the world at the time. Today in Iraq, Muslim fundamentalists are using surprise attacks, improvised explosive devices, and a superior knowledge of their local surroundings to put American forces into a weaker position. While the military forces in Iraq are supposed to represent a coalition of the willing, roughly 90% of the costs and casualties have been borne by the US, demonstrating the inability of a stronger, larger force to adapt to the terrain. Recently, I was pointed to the United States Army Counter Insurgency Manual, available through the Federation of American Scientists. In the introduction, the manual points out how the military has focused on using conventional warfare, where "shock and awe" has become the operating mantra of the modern military. Secretary Rumsfield has proposed that the military shift to a faster, lighter and more responsive force, unfortunately this transition is occurring in the midst of a war. Stryker vehicles have been developed and deployed, but the boots on the ground are consigned to using Humvees with the floorboards covered with sandbags. In this case, the U.S. has to adapt to the tactics of the insurgents, in an almost Darwinian game of "only the strongest surviving." Marine units in Falujah have had to level entire buildings, only leading to a further increase of war costs. The current election also shares a similarity to the debate over slavery. Northern abolitionist states had to make concessions with their southern neighbors to ensure the ratification of the Constitution. As the nation expanded westward, other concessions were made, such as the Missouri Compromise. The South refused to grant more concessions and nation was plunged into war. Today the "red states," who continue to receive more from the Federal Government then what they put in, have decided to succeed politically from the Union. While the Northern and Western "blue states" continue to excel academically and economically, the "red states" refuse to make compromises to an ever-changing society. The "blue states" are the mature grown ups in the front seat of the global community car, realizing that cooperation equals survival, while the "red states," are the rowdy teenagers in the backseat constantly grabbing for the steering wheel. European unification created a stronger, more agile, economic force with the ability to counter the U.S. in every category. Those in America who are able to adapt to changing global circumstances, by realizing that not everybody speaks the same language, practices the same religion, or even cares what America thinks, will benefit by learning more about the world they live in. This, in turn, will help America navigate the 21st century and break the cycle of history we are in. Just a thought, or two, or three, or four, ........WDR
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