President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visit Fort Stewart. (White House photo)
Paul D. Shinkman, US News and World Report: Why Obama’s Army Isn’t Defeating Russia, China, ISIS
The re-emergence of longtime adversaries with conventional armies derailed the administration’s plans for a smaller, nimbler fighting force
President Barack Obama once ridiculed a political opponent for suggesting the military should look to its past to determine how it should fight today.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney based his 2012 White House bid in part on strengthening some basic elements of the military, including building more ships. During the last debate of the campaign that October, the Republican repeated his criticism that the Navy was smaller than it was in 1916, setting up for his opponent what would become a notorious shut-down line.
“Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military has changed,” the incumbent retorted, explaining how the military’s shrinking size was offset by increased lethality through modern inventions like aircraft carriers and submarines. “The question is not a game of battleship, where we’re counting ships. It’s ‘What are our capabilities?’”
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WNU Editor: A sobering analysis on why focusing on the insurgency wars has harmed U.S. capabilities to face-up to the armies of Russia and China. The Pentagon is now reversing course .... making this my must read post for today.