War

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War And the American Military
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Assumptions About War

• We will have wars in the future
• Worst possible TIME
• Worst possible PLACE
• Worst possible ENEMY

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YOUR PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

• Learn HOW to wage war
• In ALL of its forms
• Against ALL of our enemies
• Regardless of your job!

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Objective Samples of Behavior

• Objective
• Know the basic characteristics of war
• Samples of Behavior
• Define war according to Clausewitz
• List the elements of war
• State the three enduring truths that describe the
  fundamental nature of war

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Overview

• Definitions
• Basic Themes
• Elements
• Enduring Truths

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War

• Theres NO glamour!
• A nasty, ugly, bloody, and expensive business!
• Takes its toll in blood and treasure

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Definition
1. War is an act of violence to compel our enemy
to do our will 2. War is a continuation of
political activity by other means
Carl von Clausewitz, 1831
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War is an instrument of national policy
To achieve political objectives
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WARBASIC THEMES
POLICY
VIOLENCE

• The POLITICAL side

The MILITARY side
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Political Side

• War is the LAST RESORT of policy
• War is the FAILURE of policy
• Objective of War
• Overcome the enemys hostile will and ability
• Achieve a better state of peace

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• War is a complex and chaotic human endeavor

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Military Side

• War is a human enterprise
• Fierce emotions involved
• 3 Factors dominating war (Clausewitz)
• FOG
• FRICTION
• CHANCE

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ELEMENTS OF WAR

• MOTIVES
• OBJECTIVES
• PARTICIPANTS
• MEANS USED
• LEVEL OF VIOLENCE
• SCOPE OF WAR
• ASYMMETRY

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Motives

• Secular ideology
• Ethnic/tribal hatred
• Religion
• Territory

• Economic gain
• Revenge
• Fear
• Mixture

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Objectives

• TOTAL
• Political overthrow/extermination
• LIMITED
• Concessions

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• War is a clash of opposing wills

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Participants

• State vs. State
• Groups within a state
• Civil War
• Non-State entities
• PLO, IRA, KLA, al Qaeda

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Means Used

• Weapons of mass destruction
• Nuclear, Biological, Chemical
• Conventional
• Tactics
• Guerrilla
• Terrorism

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Levels of Violence

• Total war
• Destroy the enemy
• Limited
• Restrain forces being used

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Scope of War

• Global
• The Great War
• WW II
• Regional
• India-Pakistan
• China-Taiwan
• Local
• Kosovo, Bosnia, Somalia

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Asymmetry

• Adversaries NOT fighting the SAME war
• Vietnam
• Objectives (Limited vs. Unlimited)
• Motives (different from enemy motives)
• Means (Limited vs. Unlimited)

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3 Enduring Truths of War

• War is
• an instrument of national policy
• a complex chaotic human endeavor
• a clash of opposing wills
• Unpredictable

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Summary

• Definitions
• Basic Themes
• Elements
• Enduring Truths

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Next Lesson

• The Department of Defense
• Read T408
• Talking Paper Due 28 Sep 04
• Mid-Term Exam 5 Oct 04