Joe Biden – or whomever is controlling him has had the reigns of power for a short seven months. While his bungling of America’s exit from Central Asia is breathtaking, we can’t blame him for why we lost. Credit for that goes to the thousands of people making tiny decisions over the course of 20 years. Here is what I hope is a concise executive summary.
First Lesson of Why We Lost: Continuity.
Republics should never wage wars overseas. Protracted wars require continuity, and representative republics don’t provide that vital factor. At the top, our nation changes the guard every four or eight years, and with that, changes in policy and methods are inevitable.
This is a lesson from the ancient Roman Republic that we should have internalized. The Roman consuls and pro-consuls served traditionally for a single year and were often expected to lead the Republic’s armies in the field. If a war out-lasted a consul’s term of service, it was not unusual for the out-going consul to sabotage his successor. More common was for a Roman pr0consul’s enemies to undermine him in the Senate. Reflect on the deliberation with which Obama worked to deny George Bush a victory in Iraq. Reflect on Nancy Pelosi cheerleading our nation’s enemies abroad during Bush’s tenure in the Oval Office.
Some Roman statesmen were able to work around this tradition. Marius stood for re-election (in absentia) an unprecedented six times in order to complete Rome’s war in North Africa. The Senate voted to extend Caesar’s deployment in Gaul (modern-day France and Belgium) over a five-year period.
So, continuity. Or the lack thereof. We went through four presidents in the last twenty years. What no one talks about: the number of CENTCOM commanders we went through over the last 20 years. Ten. That’s right. How many generals served over there in the last 20 years? How many Regional commanders? Their deputies? What about Regional Support Commanders, and their deputies (oops, there goes my hand up). How many Brigade Combat Team commanders? I couldn’t tell you. Somewhere in the Pentagon, there’s someone keeping a record. Are they internalizing why we lost? I’m not hopeful.
That’s just the leadership. Rotating every Soldier and Marine out every twelve months (seven months for Air Force personnel), then sending them back in any number of times does not promote continuity.
The Take-away:
The Service drafted my dad right out of high school. He spent the next three years training and then fighting his way through Europe, crossing The Rhine on a captured BMW motorcycle. When was he released from service? When the job was done. Full stop.
Switching out brigade-sized formations for years at a time was and is a losing methodology.
More later in the week. I’ll not just go over why we lost, I’ll reveal how we could have won.
Selah
Brother Phil. I need to thank you for your many years of service to this country and I have been looking forward to this post. I comprehend what you are saying. It is difficult for me to understand why the USA sends troops abroad and in this manner. I was on the “peace” side of the Viet-Nam War and know many who served and were injured and some even lost their lives just so that I could have “3 Days of Peace and Music” at Woodstock. Shame on me. God is good. Today, I have very little interest in how this great country is being run (into the ground) at the present time. The “puppet strings” go far beyond Washington DC. I very rarely watch or follow the NEWS and am shrinking into a man that has almost NO interest at all in what is going on in this world. I only feel badly and pray for those that will remain after I am gone. King Solomon was right-on-target when he wrote about life under the sun. I am referring to Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 and would encourage any reader to look it up in their paper-bound Bible for some good reading. “There is no new thing under the sun.” When I see the current news, I react with a smirky smile knowing that Britney Spears is finally in charge of her life and that we are now down to three names for the NFL Washington Football team. Again, “There is no new thing under the sun.” I look forward to seeing you sometime so that we can share the Love of Christ. In His Grip – Jimmy Pepe
Thank you for your Service. I always new every four or eight years we had a new Commander and Chief along with new forgien polices. I guess I was nieve to the fact that Generals, and other commanders changed as well. Without continuous continuity no war, policy, strategy has time to really take shape. Without constancy and a clear and concise strategy with the stomach and wear with all to do what is necessary we will never win. Most politicians don’t have what it takes!