re: "The United States should breathe new life into the Atlantic community"

Joerg Wolf at the Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs") commented on an essay by Prof. Charles Kupchan of Georgetown U.


Money quote(s):


"Europe welcomed the election of President Obama. America is much more popular than before, but European policies have not changed that much. The US is not getting that much more support from Europe. When Obama surged in Afghanistan for instance, Europe has also increased troops, but not at a level to justify the term "surge". I think Democrats had illusions regarding support from Europe before Obama's election, but now they don't have them anymore."


Nothing to add to that.


"I thought the term "progressives" referred to only the very left wing of the Democrats, but this seems to have changed as Kupchan seems to adress the party mainstream."


I laugh every time I read that sentence. The former parts of the Democratic Party which are not "progressives" (i.e., what used to be "the very left wing") are primarily two: the so-called "Reagan Democrats," many of whom are still members of the party, but not comprising many of its party or elected officialdom; and those known as neo-conservatives. That is, once the party moved too far left, they found themselves to be conservatives-by-default.


The "progressives" are like Europe's 68-ers, except that since the Soviet Union was safely and so far away they never had to grow up.


"(I)t seems to me that Kupchan is trying to convince the Democrats that Europe and NATO are important, while acknowledging that conservatives already recognize this."


Just so.



1/2

re: "Our Wars of Choice Harm our Interests"

Joerg Wolf at Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs") noted some opining at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Atlantic Council.

Money quote(s):

"Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, calls for a doctrine of restoration that "would help the U.S. shore up the economic foundations of its power." He is basically urging more limited foreign policy engagements, which would mean that the US should act more like the European countries."

"(M)ore limited foreign policy engagements"? Like putting an expiration date on our engagement with NATO, the UN, &tc.?

(I begin to suspect that, despite the big brains that the CFR is able to finagle articles for their periodical, Foreign Affairs, the CFR may not require so much brain-wattage in its officers.)

"An interesting additional argument against wars of choice is the message that the Libya war sends to Iran, North Korea and other rogue regimes who contemplate getting nuclear weapons: "An unnoted consequence of the NATO military effort to topple the Gaddafi regime may be any hope of eventual denuclearization of North Korea or Iran," writes Banning Garrett, director of the Atlantic Council's Strategic Foresight Project"

Garrett hit this right on the head.

7/23

re: "Europe Does Not Need American Protection Anymore"

Joerg Wolf at Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs") summarized like nobody's business.

Money quote(s):

"Secretary Gates' words have fallen on deaf ears in Europe, because we don't see a particularly productive use for our militaries. America has global aspirations and has the Pacific to worry about, whereas Europeans are just concerned about their neighborhood and don't feel the need to maintain strong militaries. This trends towards demilitarization is probably dangerous, but it is not a sign of decadence or free-riding. We don't want to be on the "ride" that has taken us into Iraq and Afghanistan."

6/28

re: "Understanding Germany"

Joerg Wolf at Atlantic Review ("strives to be the center for news analysis and thoughtful online discussions on contemporary transatlantic relations issues ranging from defense to economics and culture") examined a Wall Street Journal piece on Germany.

Money quote(s):

"(M)ost Germans are not convinced that America's current wars are advancing our security significantly. We are war-weary rather than pacifist. To understand why most Germans do not want to send troops, I would add to the above reading recommendations the movie Das Boot, which is based on the book by Lothar-Günther Buchheim. The battle of Stalingrad is still very strong in the collective memory and informs many Germans' positions on contemporary wars IMHO, but I don't know if any movie or book is responsible for it."

If the U.S. was only sixty years (two generations) past the last time the U.S. had been on the losing side of a major land war, we might have a similar stance. That we didn't, historically, is probably due to our being both sides of the American Civil War.

6/27

re: " "German Soldiers Can't Shoot" "

Joerg Wolf at Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs") considered how the Bundeswehr must transform.

Money quote(s):

"We constantly hear about the Bundeswehr's huge transformations since unification in 1990, but I am beginning to wonder how much of that was rhetoric. I am not underestimating how much the world has changed since the Cold War and how difficult it to transform military institutions and doctrine, but the fall of the Berlin Wall was more than 20 years ago. Two decades is a long time for Christ's sake. Soon we will mark the ten's anniversary of 9/11. I am getting tired of German pundit's talking about the post-Cold War world or even the post-9/11 world."

Most of the Bundeswehr's "transformation since absorbing the East German Volksarmee has been to downsize. When I was briefed a few years ago on just how far that had progressed, I was (as a former NATO inhabitant) truly shocked.

"1 percent of GDP is still a lot of money. We have to change faster, more creative, pool resources with allies to develop military capabilities more efficiently.

There was not enough pressure to reform the Bundeswehr in the past. One of the reasons for the lack of urgency was (and still is) the popular perception that a) finally we don't have enemies, but are surrounded by friends, b) we cannot increase our security with military means at the moment, and c) US led wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya are not enhancing Germany's security, thus we do not need to contribute much. Very shortsighted indeed."


(6/27)

re: "Tom Ricks Mistrusts Germany"

Joerg Wolf at Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs") exposes a puzzling mindset.

Money quote(s):

"(M)ost US experts -- with the notable exception of Tom Ricks -- do not worry about a war with Germany or a return of militarism and Nazi ideology in Berlin. Instead they are concerned that Germany (and many other European countries) demilitarize so much that we are not of use to the US anymore."

SecDef Gates recent speech to this effect has been much remarked-upon.

"Tom Ricks, however, has a totally different view of Germany. Mr. Ricks worries about "Germany's resurgence" "

Yeah, that Kaiser could just be waiting around until our suspicions are lulled.

Seriously, any Mr. Ricks looked at Germany's current military strength. Has he missed to demographic meltdown that most Western European nations, including Germany, are undergoing? Ralph Peters thinks the Germans still have it in them (along with other Europeans) to put the boot to the colonizing underclass that's already within their borders, but Mark Steyn and Tom Kratman are less "optimistic" (for values of "optimism").

"It seems that Tom Ricks is of the opinion that Germany (or the German people, culture etc) have not substantially changed since 1945 and is still a threat."

By all accounts, Mr. Ricks is a very bright guy. His recent SF-1001 form was absolutely brilliant, parodying not only the American military's mania for checklists, the bureaucratic impulse to require a written form, and the demonstrated strategic ignorance of Washington policy and decision makers.

"There are still quite a few Germans, who use our violent history and crimes against humanity as an excuse for the lack of burden sharing in NATO missions. Tom Ricks' blog posts support their claim that our allies still don't really trust us and that we should therefore not support their military missions... "

Last Week's Links

Joerg Wolf at Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs") in "The U.S. is increasingly looking to new partners."

Money quote(s):

"For the European Union stating the obvious is already progress."

So it is.

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Lex at Neptunus Lex ("The unbearable lightness of Lex. Enjoy!") in "Now Comes the Purge."

Money quote(s):

"(A)ll work is easy if somebody else has to do it."

If at first you don't succeed, don't worry about it: someone else will do it for you.

"(O)ne of the joys of punditry: One need only have a strongly held opinion, not any subject matter expertise."

CAA really tries, you understand, to opine on those subjects he actually knows something about.

"The general is targeted because he gave his soundest military advice, based upon decades of personal experience, to the National Command Authority, as he was duty bound to do."

So are we all, by our oaths of office, duty bound to give the best professional opinions we can provide, not merely parrot whatever the popular party line or flavor of the month might be.

&

"It is not enough for Mr. Cohen to win the policy fight. Those who opposed him cannot have done so from any principled standpoint, and they are therefor unfit to serve. The ranks must be purged."

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Lt.Col P at OPFOR ("Fair Specimens of Citizen Soldiers") at "Marine Corps Commandant Has To Stay."

Money quote(s):

"I detect also a note of good-war-ism; you know, those old WWII movies were great because WWII was the last good war, not what we have today with these awful provincial people and their tacky state university degrees who beat up on various Third Worlders and refuse to love gays."

WWII was also the last good war, in certain circles, because the socialists (at least of the non-NDSAP variety) were on the same side as the U.S., (at least once the national socialists in Germany launched their attack on the soviet socialists in Russia and her near-abroad).

(Until they did that, at least once Stalin and Hitler had made their mutual non-aggression pact, WWII wasn't a "good" war at all.)

(History matters. Especially the inconvenient kind.)

"(T)hose of us who have served know that Hollywood can't match reality, and that the real soldiers and Marines in the platoons aren't simply pets or mascots for the chattering classes."

Remind me to discuss the whole "hero" phenomenon sometime.

"When he writes "education and training" what he really means is "re-education and indoctrination." Those who lived through the purge-trial aftermath of Tailhook will know what I mean."

Active duty personnel can look forward to eve more hours and hours of mandatory "homosexual awareness" training. Yes, that's what it's actually called and has been going on since Pres. Clinton signed DADT into law way back when.

Good thing nobody needed any of those training hours to prepare them to fight a war or anything.

"The Commandant is stating his considered professional opinion that repeal of this law will have a detrimental effect on the combat readiness of his service, and furthermore that doing so during active overseas operations is a particularly ill-conceived course of action. Remember how long this man has been in uniform, and the positions he has held. He understands his Corps, and what makes it tick, and he has been entrusted with shepherding it through the next four years of war."

&

"Unit cohesion keeps the force together when things aren't going well. Unit cohesion is born of hundreds of Americans dedicated to a single cause, welded together into a fighting instrument by hard realists who do sometimes hold contrary opinions. But what has no place in the realm of unit cohesion, or of any aspect of combat readiness, is compulsory acceptance of behaviors that most find distracting at best and deviant at worst. The gay soldier or Marine who subordinates his behavior for the greater good of his unit gets treated like a soldier or Marine, like one of the family."

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Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive in "Concealed carry is counterterrorism."

Money quote(s):

"We simply do not have the resources to expect that we will have police wherever the terrorists decide to attack us. They have obviously figured out that our soft underbelly is nationwide. What is going to happen when the jihadi maroons stop failing at bomb-building and decide to succeed at firing a gun into a crowd? Ignorant as these goat-raping clowns are, they can pull that off. At that point any who is not armed is a victim in waiting. But if the swine happen to hit a food court at the Mall where I am having a snack, it will turn out quite differently.

At the risk of revealing my true arrogance, I do not recognize the right of any individual or group to disarm me. So regardless of what rules petty bureaucrats may enact, I will retain my right to self defense."

Which is why the terrorists will lose against us in the end. Badly.

"This type of response is most likely to happen in red state areas and if the jihadis had any intellectual firepower they would concentrate their efforts in Chicago, NYC and DC where the government has disarmed the populace."

&

"The bottom line is that when seconds count the police are minutes away. Yet the unorganized militia is all around, kinda like the Founders figgered."

Personally, I prefer the formulation "Militia of One."

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Bing West at the Small Wars Journal blog ("facilitates the exchange of information among practitioners, thought leaders, and students of Small Wars, in order to advance knowledge and capabilities in the field") in "Bigotry as Opportunism."

Money quote(s):

"Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen wrote that the Commandant of the Marine Corps “is one step short of being a bigot.” Cohen, who strongly supports homosexuals in the military, insisted that the Commandant be fired because he held a different view. According to the dictionary, ‘a bigot is one who is strongly attached to his view of politics and intolerant of those who differ.’ It is Cohen, not the Commandant of Marines, who defines the word bigot."

"His column is a clarion call to incite the very divisiveness the legislation was intended to expunge."

&

"The best way to treat a bigot is to ignore his opportunistic self-promotion. Let the Washington Post correspondents who risk their lives alongside Marines deal with Cohen and his warped journalistic ethics."

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Lex at Neptunus Lex ("The unbearable lightness of Lex. Enjoy!") in "Green Light."

Money quote(s):

"Ivy League schools provided the services with gifted officers for the front lines, many of whom served heroically in combat before coming home, tempered by both experiences, to build a great nation. It also provided undergraduate students who lacked the money and connections a fully-funded opportunity for a first rate education at our country’s flagship universities. All of that ended at certain Ivies during the culture turmoils of the late 1960s."

The Ivies have a golden opportunity to make themselves relevant again to the nation beyond the academic ghettos and law firms of the Boston-New York-Philadelphia-Washington corridor. Or they can simply beclown themselves in an orgy of self-parody. I expect a mixed set of results, with perhaps a third of them taking the opportunity to redeem themselves.

"Now that the dreadful discrimination of DADT has been swept into the ash bin of history, the rationale for the prohibition against on-campus ROTC has lost whatever veneer of plausibility it once held."

And a thin veneer that was, a mere vapor of substance.

&

"(I)t is not just the military who have shifted south (and west). The country is doing so, or at least those who can afford to; those who are not immobilized by joblessness or the paucity of after-tax income traceable to Ivy League social and economic theories. Both the working and entreprenurial classes have seen what modern day political liberalism has to offer and are voting with their feet. The heart of America is shifting south, and it does not much surprise that the military is moving with them.

As for the Ivies, it appears the rest of us have decided that, when it comes to building and defending our nation, we might just have to do it without them."

Relevance, to coin a phrase, matters.

re: "Wikileaks Hyperventilation or "Transatlantic Brainwashing""

Joerg Wolf at Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs") gives us a German perspective.

Money quote(s):

"According to Spiegel, Wikileaks reveals that US diplomats consider Foreign Minister Westerwelle to be incompetent and Chancellor Merkel to be risk averse. So what? Most Germans think the same. Of course, US diplomats are more candid in secret cables than in public statements. Everybody is."

re: "Defense Policy-Making Suffers from a Lack of Citizen-Soldiers"

Donald Stadler guest-posts at Atlantic Review ("A Press Digest for Transatlantic Affairs").

Money quote(s):

"The US has tended to become the career military within the alliance, while much of the alliance has trended toward the opposite. This will not do - not only for reasons of fairness, but far more importantly because you are unlikely to fully understand what you don't have experience doing. In this case, fighting. Attempting to make policy for what you don't fundamentally understand simply doesn't work, as we have seen."