U.S. Military Doctrine Needs Reassessment

Published: Oct. 31, 2008 at 6:08 PM
Courtesy Of United Press International

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. military experience in Iraq and Afghanistan implies a need for a doctrinal shift to an interdepartmental approach to insurgencies, a study says.

A report by the Foreign Policy Research Institute says U.S. military doctrine of the 1990s that saw technological military dominance continuing through 2020 needs reconsideration.

The report, "The Future of War," said military planners never considered prolonged insurgencies or the need for a long-term strategy targeting post-conflict reconstruction.

"Our experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the 2006 Lebanon war, provide strong warnings that we should abandon the orthodoxy of defense transformation and make appropriate adjustments to force structure and development," the report said.

Instead, strategists need a coordinated effort that utilizes civilian expertise with military know-how to tackle nation building, or U.S. forces will continue to be overextended in the world.

By stovepiping the approach to counter-terrorism, military planners are inhibiting their freedom of movement to address the threats posed by the "intersection between hostile states and terrorist organizations," the report says.

The past ideologies, based on a competitive advantage in the technological capacity of the U.S. military, should be set aside.

"New doctrine based on logical projections into the near future should provide the conceptual foundation for joint and service force design," the report suggests.

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