Remember that wars are always fought using the next war's technology and the last war's strategy. WWI was particularly devastating because it was fought with WWII technology using American Civil War strategy. Some of the WWI tech was so effective (gas against trenches) that it remains banned. Accurate rifles, machine guns, accurate big bore artillery, fought with Civil War mass troop command and control is a deadly mix.
Similarly, today, we're seeing drone and cyber tech used in wars fought with Gulf War fire and maneuver, combined arms combat tactics, and of course, the Russians still hew to WWII mass troop strategies. It results in the kind of devastation we saw in WWI. Cities ground to dust.
Know this: the next war, should there be a global conflict, will be more horrible than we can imagine. It will not be like the Gulf War where we watched it on TV. It will be fought in our homes, in our iPhones, in our minds, in our daily lives, and more effective than any bombers or strategic missiles could produce on America. If we lose, it's not because we can't fight, it's because we fought wrong.
So true. The Ukraine military has demonstrated that inexpensive technology can defeat ground troops, even in tanks. They have also used drones to destroy infrastructure and unmanned crafts to inflict tremendous damage on the Russian navy.
Your last sentence echos a quote by a retired senior officer I read a few months ago. He said ultimate victory comes when the enemy population is thoroughly demoralized. It might be that the safest and most comfortable place to be in the next big war is in the military.
Remember that wars are always fought using the next war's technology and the last war's strategy. WWI was particularly devastating because it was fought with WWII technology using American Civil War strategy. Some of the WWI tech was so effective (gas against trenches) that it remains banned. Accurate rifles, machine guns, accurate big bore artillery, fought with Civil War mass troop command and control is a deadly mix.
Similarly, today, we're seeing drone and cyber tech used in wars fought with Gulf War fire and maneuver, combined arms combat tactics, and of course, the Russians still hew to WWII mass troop strategies. It results in the kind of devastation we saw in WWI. Cities ground to dust.
Know this: the next war, should there be a global conflict, will be more horrible than we can imagine. It will not be like the Gulf War where we watched it on TV. It will be fought in our homes, in our iPhones, in our minds, in our daily lives, and more effective than any bombers or strategic missiles could produce on America. If we lose, it's not because we can't fight, it's because we fought wrong.
So true. The Ukraine military has demonstrated that inexpensive technology can defeat ground troops, even in tanks. They have also used drones to destroy infrastructure and unmanned crafts to inflict tremendous damage on the Russian navy.
Your last sentence echos a quote by a retired senior officer I read a few months ago. He said ultimate victory comes when the enemy population is thoroughly demoralized. It might be that the safest and most comfortable place to be in the next big war is in the military.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- John McCrae, 1915
Indeed