Editorial: A different kind of power

[unhappycamper]

Editorial: A different kind of power

After six years of conflict in what the administration bills as a generational struggle against Islamist extremism, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has it right: Military power, even purchased at a rate of three-quarters of a trillion dollars per year, isn’t enough to win the war.

In a seminal Nov. 26 speech that underscores his reputation for pragmatism, Gates advocated more “soft power” and less “guns and steel” in U.S. security policy.

Cynics say Gates is trying to offload problems created by his department when it fended off other government branches in planning its Iraq war.

But even if Gates is trying to “shake the goo from his shoe,” as one analyst put it, he seems to get what so many in the Bush administration don’t: Power derives from all facets of a nation’s capacities: economic, diplomatic, intellectual, scientific, demographic — and military.

Military capabilities, while key, are only part of the equation — and relying solely on the military lever, as this nation has done for the past few years, has pushed our magnificent volunteer force to the breaking point.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/community/opinion/army_editorial_winthewar_071217/