US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates opposes US involvement in new wars
In late February 2011, speaking to cadets and students at the US Army Military Academy at West Point, the head of the defense department and Dr. historical Dr. Robert Gates made quite a few reasonable proposals.
R. Gates said that the United States should stop getting involved in major conflicts outside its territory. He spoke out against Washington's new wars in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Apparently, the fact that he is retiring this year "loosened his tongue."
Armed forces in future wars
Successes
- In his opinion, over the past ten years the ground forces have been organized, trained and equipped in such a way as to be able to decisively defeat any other modern army in a large-scale war.
- In 2007, the US Armed Forces managed to keep Iraq from slipping into chaos.
- In Afghanistan, the Armed Forces managed to destroy most of the Taliban’s military structure and knock out most of the militants into Pakistan.
Gates called on the country's leadership and the military bureaucracy to reflect on the future look of the army: “I believe that it is necessary to think about what the army should look like and what it will be capable of after the major military formations in Afghanistan were significantly reduced, as well as what such transformations will mean for young commanders joining the troops ”.
The main challenges of the United States in the future, he sees terrorism and an attempt by armed militias who profess a radical Islamic ideology to seize weapons mass destruction. In addition, the threat comes from the nuclear programs of the DPRK and Iran, the modernization of the armed forces of the PRC and Russia, from the decaying and disintegrating states, from the revolution in the Middle East, from the proliferation of crimes in cyberspace, the growth of natural disasters and so on. P.
He is against turning the US Army into a police force that will be used inside the US and used to persecute militants.
Offers
- Due to the reduced likelihood of large-scale military conflicts, he is confident that large mechanized units of the American Armed Forces, equipped with heavy tanks and large-caliber artillery, are practically useless in combat with lightly armed mobile forces of militants, members of armed formations of other types in asymmetric wars, especially those that are currently going on in Iraq and Afghanistan. Therefore, the number and strength of large formations of the US Armed Forces and the costs of their maintenance must be brought into full compliance with the modern situation.
- The US should focus on the development of the Air Force and Navy: “In the fight for every dollar from the defense budget between and within the types of the Armed Forces and the armed forces, the Armed Forces should recognize that the most likely form of use in military interventions of the U.S. Armed Forces will be Air Force.
- Gates stated quite clearly that the United States should refuse to participate in major conflicts: “I believe that any future Secretary of Defense who will advise the president once again to send significant military contingents of the American army to Asia, the Middle East or Africa, should “Turn to a psychiatrist,” as General MacArthur once delicately said.
- The leadership of the Armed Forces should resolve the issue of defining new forms and methods of training the command personnel of military contingents and retaining in the army professionally trained officers who have many-sided experience in troop control and are capable of simultaneously solving a wide range of tasks in unusual conditions of asymmetrical combat operations.
- The military leadership must tolerate the scientific and cultural aspirations of military personnel, and after the end of their service and resignation fully encourage the promotion of soldiers and officers of their education, their participation in various research and federal structures, as well as mastering foreign languages and the study of the cultural heritage of other nations.
- An important task is to retain, after the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers and officers who have served in the army for 5 to 10 years, who have been tested in battle and have accumulated extensive professional experience.
- The need to increase the number of middle officers in order to increase the quality of command and control of troops.
- The US Army needs fundamental reforms: reducing the number of generals and admirals, reducing the number of large headquarters and the number of their personnel; a broader transfer to the lower and middle levels of command and control functions will allow the US Army to meet the requirements of the time to the maximum extent.
Information