The crucible: how the Iraq disaster is making the U.S. Army stronger.
Washington Monthly › Vol. 36 Nbr. 7-8, July 2004
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The crucible: how the Iraq disaster is making the U.S. Army stronger.
In late 1862, as he watched thousands of Union soldiers die during the bloody battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee said grimly: "It is well that war is so terrible--we should grow too fond of it." The war American forces are embroiled in today is perhaps less terrible, but in some ways it has cost us just as dearly.
Since September 11, the U.S. military has expended an enormous amount of spirit, blood, and treasure on battlefields halfway around the world. In Iraq and Afghanistan, 979 of our soldiers have been killed; and another 5,600 wounded. More than a quarter of a million young men and women have been exposed to the horrors of combat. The abuses at Abu Ghraib have damaged America's moral credibility, and that of our armed forces, around the world, hampering" our ability to win hearts and minds in the war on terrorism. The Bush administration's foreign policy decisions have been expensive both in dollars--$149 billion in taxpayer money to date, with bib lions more yet to be spent--and in material, having all but depleted the Pentagon's stocks of pre-positioned vehicles, equipment, and ordinance. Our enormous commitment of resources to Iraq has emboldened our enemies, including North Korea, and has forced us to neglect other crisis spots such as Haiti and the Sudan. And it has pushed American soldiers to the breaking point. Even when our commitment in Iraq ends, it will be several years before our forces have recovered enough to take on a military venture of similar size. But the stresses of war--and in particular the aftermath of defeat or failure have historically spurred the most profound and lasting revolutions in military affairs. During World War II, Gen. George Patton used the Army's trouncing at the Kasserine P...See the full content of this document
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