The war brow beating continues…….
Inkwell Institute
Subject: Armed Conflict/Military Action
A lovely word….”symmetry”….it means to be pleasingly equal…..but this is not about architecture or paintings or some math equation….nope….this paper will focus on armed conflict….war if you will…..
Since antiquity there has been a belief that an army must equal or have an advantage over the opponent…..during the Cold War it was painfully obvious of this belief…..we called it the Arms Race…..where the US and the USSR spent billions upon billions to keep step with each other in the weapons department….with the fall of the Soviet Union that tactic was NO longer needed for the US was the dominant power in the world and we could relax the race for bigger and better weapons of destruction….since they would NO longer be needed as a deterrent to the Soviets…..
The days of a D-Day style invasion and the Blitzkrieg are gone…..history has shown us that an invasion is two things…..lots of destruction and allows extremists to gain a much needed foothold.
Recently “asymmetrical” warfare has a new name….”Hybrid Warfare”…..I guess it is easier to remember than the “A” word.
I also read an excellent piece written on the site “War On The Rocks”…….
In trying to separate hybrid warfare from the classical bins of conventional or irregular war, I prefer to use Frank Hoffman’s definition, “a tailored mix of conventional weapons, irregular tactics, terrorism, and criminal behavior in the same time and battlespace to obtain [a group’s] political objectives.” There are other definitions out there, but you will find they are not being applied correctly to analysis of Russian tactics. Unfortunately, what Russian hybrid warfare is, and how it works, varies dramatically depending on what article, report, or PowerPoint brief you are reading. The more we have talked about it, the less we understand it as a useful concept or framework for looking at Russian actions.
Source: Russian Hybrid Warfare and Other Dark Arts
The days of massive assaults like Normandy are long gone…..time for the military to consider a new way of fighting, if fight they must, their numerous wars……so far all their efforts are dismal failure…..and a colossal waste of time, resources and cash.
War is changing…..either adapt or die!
To me, this sounds as if someone finally read The Art of War. Sun Tzu said it first, and best, when he said, “All war is deception.” Symmetry doesn’t play a part in that concept; asymmetric thinking has always worked best in war. Sun Tzu maintained the most powerful soldier was the spy, for they could cause kingdoms to fall without a battle, much like on buzzing bee can kill a car full of humans, by flitting around the cabin while going down the road at 65 mph.
The correct, and most efficient application of force is not an equal one, but, when it doesn’t have to be used at all…. Any good martial artist can testify to the value of that concept…. One blow, correctly placed, is much better than a prolonged battle….
Too bad; armies are easier to deal with than spies….
gigoid, the dubious
One blow, correctly placed, is much better than a prolonged battle….
True, when moved to I aim for the achilles heel…..grin
Very rarely…
The art?
Knowing someones vulnerability.
Ask any husband and wife relationship…….
Look what Bill did to Killary…..and worse she appears to be a Scorpio..
grin
Do not think that she has forgotten……?
Armies are easier to deal with than spies….True….shape shifters gigoid the dubious
Back to reality…
Hillary Clinton & the Gender Card! http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/18/hillary-clinton-and-the-gender-card/ … ( ignore the religious aspects)
I listened to Seymour Hersh being interviewed on Channel 4 last night…only for 8 mins
He thought the Iran deal was positive…..he thought Sanders positive…..he also said, that USA F.Policy towards Syria was negative….he said that the USA does not know what to do with the mess they created…he is definitely not optimistic about the future of USA F.Policy…..
Best to be ‘shape shifting’ under the circumstance……armies,civilians are so disposable.
Full moon Friday…
😉
THe US we study great military minds but seldom Sun Tzu…..they prefer to use his thoughts for business not war…..chuq
Very True chuq
and…
Top o’ the mornin’ to ya….
I’m off to wet the tea…..
Ahhh,the Irish…
😉
And a good day to you….I am off to mainline caffeine…
p.s
If I hear anything more about Islam,Christianity,Judaism…or any other ‘ism’
I will get a bad attack of the runs….grin
LOL