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On War #119
June 1, 2005
Wreck it and Run
By William S. Lind
[The views expressed in this article are those of
Mr. Lind, writing in his personal capacity. They do not reflect
the opinions or policy positions of the Free Congress Foundation,
its officers, board or employees, or those of Kettle Creek Corporation.]
Among the many unhappy developments in American
industry in recent decades has been the advent of “wreck it and run”
management. A small coterie of senior managers takes over a company
and makes a brilliant show of short-term profits while actually driving
the business into the ground. They bail out just before it crashes,
cashing in their stock options as they go, and leave the employees,
ordinary stockholders and customers holding an empty bag.
It is increasingly clear that under Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,
the U.S. armed forces have also been taken over by “wreck it and run”
management. When Rumsfeld leaves office, what will his successor inherit?
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A volunteer military without volunteers. The
Army missed its active-duty recruiting goal in April by almost half.
Guard and Reserve recruiting are collapsing. Retention will do the
same as “stop loss” orders are lifted. The reason, obviously, is
the war in Iraq. Parents don’t want to be the first one on their
block to have their kid come home in a box.
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The world’s largest pile of wrecked and worn-out
military equipment (maybe second-largest if we remember the old
Soviet Navy). I’m talking about basic stuff here: trucks, Humvees,
personnel carriers, crew-served weapons, etc. This is gear the Rumsfeld
Pentagon hates to spend money on, because it does not represent
“transformation” to the hi-tech, video-game warfare it wrongly sees
as the future. So far, deploying units have made up their deficiencies
by robbing units that are not deploying, often National Guard outfits.
But that stock has about run out, and some of the stripped units
are now facing deployment themselves, minus their gear.
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A military tied down in a strategically meaningless
backwater, Iraq, to the point where it can’t do much else. A perceptive
reader of these columns recently wrote to me that “China has the
luxury of the U.S. inflicting grievous wounds, economic and military,
on itself from our commitment to spread ‘democracy’ . . . Although
the Iraqi insurgents may have the limited purpose of ending an occupation,
other global actors can sit back and watch us bleed ourselves slowly
to, at least, a weakened state. From that point of view, the last
thing these other actors wish to see is either a victory or a quick
defeat. Instead, events are proceeding nicely as they are.” Exactly
correct, and those other actors include al Qaeda.
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Commitments to hundreds of billions of dollars
worth of future weapons programs that are militarily as useful as
Zeppelins but less fun to watch. If the Army had its Future Combat
System, a semi-portable Maginot Line that will cost more than any
Navy or Air Force program of equal uselessness, in Iraq or Afghanistan
today, would it make any difference? No. Maybe FCS really stands
for Funnels Cash System.
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A world wary of U.S. intentions and skeptical
of any American claims about anything. In business, good will is
considered a tangible asset. In true “wreck it and run” fashion,
Rumsfeld & Co. have reduced the value of that asset to near zero.
A recent survey of the German public found Russia was considered
a better friend than the United States.
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Finally, the equivalent of an unfavorable ruling
by a bankruptcy judge in the form of a lost war. We will be lucky
if we can get out of Iraq with anything less than a total loss.
Earlier today, I attended the funeral and burial
of one of America’s real military heroes at Arlington cemetery. Colonel
David Hackworth would not have sat silent, as our current senior military
leadership sits, while “wreck it and run” civilian management drove
America’s armed forces into the ground. Rumsfeld & Co. will bear primary
responsibility for the disaster, which will no doubt disturb them greatly
as they enjoy their luxurious retirements. But our senior generals and
admirals are the equivalent of the board of directors, and they would
have some difficulty convincing Hack that they were just the piano players
in the whorehouse. It would not surprise me if when the current crowd
finds itself approaching the Pearly Gates, Hack has a few claymores
waiting for them.
William S. Lind, expressing his own personal opinion,
is Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism for the Free Congress
Foundation
Word document available upon request.
To interview Mr. Lind, please contact:
Phyllis Hughes (pehughes@freecongress.org)
Free Congress Foundation
717 Second St., N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20002
Phone 202-543-8474
The Free Congress Foundation, is a 28-year-old Washington,
DC-based conservative educational foundation (think tank) that teaches
people how to be effective in the political process, advocates judicial
reform, promotes cultural conservatism, and works against the government
encroachment of individual liberties.
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