Defense secretary warns against fighting more ground wars

[Jetboogieman]

Washington (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in what he said is his final address to the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, warned Friday against the United States getting involved in another major land battle.

He told the cadets that wars like Afghanistan are not likely, and in fact he would advise against it.

"In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as Gen. MacArthur so delicately put it," Gates said.

Gates remarks contrasted with some in America who are pushing for the U.S. military to take a more active role in other places like Libya, where huge groups of protesters are trying to overthrow the government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

The defense secretary told cadets they'll be leading a force that has drastically changed how it fights.

Gates, who has previously announced he intends to retire this year, said it's impossible to know what the next war, that these cadets will be part of, will look like.

"When it comes to predicting the nature and location of our next military engagements, since Vietnam, our record has been perfect," he said. "We have never once gotten it right, from the Mayaguez to Grenada, Panama, Somalia, the Balkans, Haiti, Kuwait, Iraq and more -- we had no idea a year before any of these missions that we would be so engaged."

But he said he is confident that future engagements involving the Army will less likely include head-on clashes of large mechanized armies.

"In the competition for tight defense dollars within and between the services, the Army also must confront the reality that the most plausible, high-end scenarios for the U.S. military are primarily naval and air engagements," he said.

Defense secretary warns against fighting more ground wars - CNN.com

The underlined gave me a chuckle...

 

[UtahBill]

Hindsight is all he has, I guess. A truly intelligent person would have discovered that based on our results in Korea and Vietnam, and not repeated the same mistake in the middle east.

 

[Jetboogieman]

Hindsight is all he has, I guess. A truly intelligent person would have discovered that based on our results in Korea and Vietnam, and not repeated the same mistake in the middle east.

The comparisons need to be a little more specific.

Middle east vs Asian wars you're talking about 2 completely different terrain, weather and cultures.

One thing I will say, is that if you gave me a choice to serve in Vietnam or iraq... Id serve in Iraq.

 

[UtahBill]

The comparisons need to be a little more specific.

Middle east vs Asian wars you're talking about 2 completely different terrain, weather and cultures.

One thing I will say, is that if you gave me a choice to serve in Vietnam or iraq... Id serve in Iraq.

It isn't their culture that is the problem, but ours....we are arrogant to think that we understand them.
But yes, open country is a lot better than the swamps and jungles of Vietnam. Been there....