Is Our Leaders Learning

Apparently not.  Retired three-star Hank “The Gunfighter” Emerson:

If our leadership in today’s Army had bothered to learn anything from Lebanon in ‘83 and Saudi Arabia in ‘96 when – in both cases – terrorist bombers killed scores of Americans who were in creature-comfort billets rather than hardened positions, they would know the welfare of the troops isn’t about providing comfy billets, coffee bars and classy chow. It’s about making sure your soldiers survive.

Some other thoughts from three retired Colonels (each from a different branch):

We are addicted to technology and technological solutions [rather than] operational solutions...We have lost sight that people and ideas are the essence of why wars are fought.

All of this is a reminder that we are engaged in a 4GW/moral conflict.  Bush and his cronies keep talking about how this is a "different kind of war", yet they wage it as though we're fighting WWII--that beloved conflagration they always compare their wars to--with precision-guided munitions.  Too bad all the students of history and military science aren't popular with the current administration.

ntodd