Asia Times: The futuristic battlefield

[PhilipShore]

Mar 9, 2007
THE NEXT WAR, AND THE NEXT, Part 1
The futuristic battlefield
By Jack A Smith

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/IC09Aa01.html">Link


"We will export death and violence to the four corners of the Earth in defense of our great nation." - President George W Bush in Bob Woodward's book Plan of Attack

While most Americans are concentrating on extricating the US government from the debacle in Iraq, and most peace activists are simultaneously concerned that the Bush administration will launch a war against Iran, the leaders of the Pentagon are

planning how to win wars 10, 20, and 50 years from now.

The Pentagon's futuristic war plans and the 2008 war budget leave no doubt that the US has discarded president George Washington's warning in 1796 to avoid "overgrown military establishments", or president Dwight D Eisenhower's advice in 1961 to "guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the military-industrial complex".

[lyonn]

1. The definition of war needs to be defined better

We had world wars, then police actions, and the cold war. It looks like what many are saying is we will be in a ME war for a long time. The Middle East has been a problem with their radicals for a long time. Countries must be smarter in dealing with an enemy than the bush, PNAC version of war. They want to take over these countries. In the cold war we were striving for some kind of reconciliation to keep from blowing each other up.

Once we get rid of the neo-cons and PNACers from control hopefully diplomacy not "dead or alive" mentality will take over.

[lyonn]

2. Just read full article and it only emphasizes the bush war plan

No discussion of trying to get along with other countries. Just drop bombs, shoot down satellites, new fancy military technology. Again, no discussion of diplomacy.

Diplomacy is a no brainer.

[Ghost Dog]

4. Diplomacy...

(while I understand your turn of speech (no-brainer)) requires plenty of brains. And study. And heart, I believe.

[nannah]

3. this is a chilling scenario which is already in motion;

there are strands in the language of various pieces of legislation and the presidential signing statements that are weaving together into a cloth of control and containment that can be wrapped ever tighter around americans. it is important to watch how they respond to recent assertions of power by people, legislators and the courts: Consider their response to recent elections, polls, demonstrations, petitions, emails, and other efforts at communication by the American People; how they deal with the congressional hearings into Halliburton, Military Spending, Brewster Jennings exposure, Gonzalez and Prosecutor firings, Iraq Intelligence selection,, the endless ways of spying on americans; and now how will they handle the Libby situation and the Cheney problem.

will they use these efforts to hold them accountable or to gather more power into their hands? which leads to the point made by lyann, "Once we get rid of the neo-cons and PNACers" that is the question isn't it..... based on the fabric of governmental authority painstakingly woven into law over the last 7 years, it seems difficult to imagine they really plan to relinquish control to their opposition.

[stormymonday]

5. We will export death and violence to the four corners of the Earth

No change there then. It is business as usual.