Comments on: Ann Marlowe, Obama, Magic and Counterinsurgency http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/22/ann-marlowe-obama-magic-and-counterinsurgency/ News & Commentary on Warfare, Policy and Counterterrorism Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:27:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: jonesgp1996 http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/22/ann-marlowe-obama-magic-and-counterinsurgency/#comment-26231 jonesgp1996 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:32:31 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1211#comment-26231 I know I sound like a broken record here, but increasing US forces in Afghanistan without making them part of the NATO hierarchy would be a mistake. It is a snub to our allies to be "doing our own thing" outside of the NATO structures in Afghanistan. Furthermore, how can we possibly expect to achieve unity of command, unity of effort, and synchronization if the US is conducting operations separately from the rest of the coalition? It violates the basic principles of warfare to do otherwise. Additionally, we undercut our own legitimacy if we blow off the NATO partners. We can't very well expect Europe to do more for NATO if we ourselves aren't willing to make the alliance work. History is replete with examples of where coalitions achieved success. To name just one, the European powers were separately defeated time and again by Napoleon. By banding together, they were finally able to bring him down. Of course a coalition will not result in the 100% perfect solution as envisioned by each individual member, but the coalition solution is 10 times better than what would happen if each state were acting on its own against the enemy. To act in concert with NATO is to at least guarantee success; otherwise we're putting the whole endeavor at risk. I hope that when GEN Petraeus takes command at CENTCOM that he sees the value of working with the coalition. I know I sound like a broken record here, but increasing US forces in Afghanistan without making them part of the NATO hierarchy would be a mistake. It is a snub to our allies to be “doing our own thing” outside of the NATO structures in Afghanistan. Furthermore, how can we possibly expect to achieve unity of command, unity of effort, and synchronization if the US is conducting operations separately from the rest of the coalition? It violates the basic principles of warfare to do otherwise. Additionally, we undercut our own legitimacy if we blow off the NATO partners. We can’t very well expect Europe to do more for NATO if we ourselves aren’t willing to make the alliance work.

History is replete with examples of where coalitions achieved success. To name just one, the European powers were separately defeated time and again by Napoleon. By banding together, they were finally able to bring him down. Of course a coalition will not result in the 100% perfect solution as envisioned by each individual member, but the coalition solution is 10 times better than what would happen if each state were acting on its own against the enemy.

To act in concert with NATO is to at least guarantee success; otherwise we’re putting the whole endeavor at risk. I hope that when GEN Petraeus takes command at CENTCOM that he sees the value of working with the coalition.

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