Wednesday, May 10, 2006
(11:43 AM) | Adam Kotsko:
The US and War
It's indisputable that the US has superior firepower and has for quite a long time -- in fact, although I'm willing to be corrected here, I seem to remember that the US was basically always ahead of the USSR in the arms race. That factor aside, however, is there any evidence that the US has ever actually been good at war on a technical level? Are there any of these moments of strategic brilliance where an amazing victory was pulled off on a shoestring? I know that the US has had successful generals, but have we had talented generals, the kind who will go down in the history of military strategy?Put differently: Can we say that the US wins wars where overwhelming force is sufficient, and loses those where it is not? Is the Powell Doctrine ultimately more descriptive than prescriptive?
