MULLEN VISIT - Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses sailors assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group One in Coronado, Calif., March 4, 2010. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeleyJoint Chiefs Chairman Mullen Outlines A More Restrained Art Of War -- Washington Post
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, outlined a new U.S. approach to war in a series of speeches this week that replaces overwhelming firepower with more restrained use of force to safeguard civilian lives.
The speeches, delivered at Kansas State University and the Army's Fort Leavenworth, amount to a formal effort on the part of the chairman to codify how a decade of combat is changing the military's understanding of its role in battle and, more broadly, its place in U.S. foreign policy.
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My Comment: This "new" policy completely flies in the face of military and war history. Almost all conflicts in the past ended when over whelming force was used by one side over the other .... a concept that the Powell Doctrine took to heart. The Mullen Doctrine is a radical departure from this concept .... and one that I believe will only perpetuate war and conflict.
Case in point, I am an avid reader and student of Sri Lankan history .... in particular I have focused on their civil war that only ended last year. For almost 20 years the Sri Lankan Government pursued a policy that is remarkable similar to what General Mullen is advocating .... the end result was stalemate and continuous war. It was only when a new government decided to pursue an all out war doctrine .... a Colin Powell Doctrine .... that the dynamics on the ground changed completely within two years. There were many casualties from this new policy, but it was successful .... it ended the war.
Our war with the Taliban can only end when we and our allies make a full commitment to seek the leaders and commanders of this movement .... chase them to their sanctuaries .... and either kill or capture them. But since this is not going to be the case .... we neither have the will nor resources on the ground to make a difference .... I will predict that endless war and conflict is going to be the end result.