LAT: Army gives Rumsfeld doctrine a rewrite

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-doctrine20nov20,0,2021606.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld may be leaving under a cloud of criticism over his handling of the Iraq war, but his invasion plan — emphasizing speed over massive troop numbers — has consistently been held up as a resounding success.

Yet with Iraq near chaos 3 1/2 years later, a key Army manual now is being rewritten in a way that rejects the Rumsfeld doctrine and counsels against using it again.

The draft version of the Army's Full Spectrum Operations field manual argues that in addition to defeating the enemy, military units must focus on providing security for the population — even during major combat.

"The big idea here is that stability tasks have to be a consideration at every level and every operation," said Clinton J. Ancker III, head of the Army's Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate and an author of the guide.

Officers use the field manual, the authoritative guidebook on how to conduct ground operations, to develop tactics for military endeavors including war, counterinsurgency and peacekeeping. When completed, the manual will be taught to officers at all levels.

[salin]

1. and rewritten before the door stops swinging,

after hitting him on the way out. If he were able to feel anything like shame, regret, remorse, I would suggest that this rewrite would be humbling - but ole rummy - he doesn't seem to be wired to feel anything but anger at 'lack of loyalty.'

[Toots]

2. "The big idea here is that stability tasks have to be a consideration

Ya Think?????

[lebkuchen]

3. Rummy starting choking the golden goose as soon as we entered Baghdad

The days of cowboy contractors are nearly over.

[gratuitous]

4. "A resounding success"?

Yeah, in the same way that the German blitzkrieg, using Panzers and modern air cover was a resounding success against a Polish army that was still using mounted cavalry. I would hope to shit and shout that the American wehrmacht, funded to the tune of over a billion dollars a day, would clobber a greatly outnumbered force of Iraqis that didn't have a navy or air force and insufficient arms due to an embargo lasting more than a decade.

The problem was never "can our military defeat their military?" The problem came afterwards, and in that analysis, like everything else this corrupt administration has tried, it resulted in a miserable failure.

[BikeWriter]

5. I thought * said himself it was a catastrophic success?

[Trillo]

6. That's why they needed Powell in Bush's inner circle.

It gave the impression, without the reality, of the Powell doctrine.