The Generals
I've finished Thomas Hicks' majestic study of American army command from the 1940s to the present, The Generals. It has given me a lot to think about. The army no longer cashiers incompetent generals, and civilian leaders rarely do, with the result that the army is badly led. Hicks' gold standard is George Marshall, chief of staff during the second world war, who did not hesitate to relieve officers who couldn't do the job.
The one grave weakness in the study is the lack of a deep analysis of just what current civilian leaders expect of the military. We go to war these days not to fight enemies who imperil our national security, but to impose our democratic values-- at gun point-- on deeply traditional, tribal, theological countries. It doesn't work and it is sheer hubris on the part of our leaders to assume we can change foreign nations with our bayonets, or that we should be doing so, at great cost. The army is stuck with a mission it cannot fulfill, and a lot of inept generals as well as some good ones have paid the price.
Hicks' book is one of the most important I've ever read.
The one grave weakness in the study is the lack of a deep analysis of just what current civilian leaders expect of the military. We go to war these days not to fight enemies who imperil our national security, but to impose our democratic values-- at gun point-- on deeply traditional, tribal, theological countries. It doesn't work and it is sheer hubris on the part of our leaders to assume we can change foreign nations with our bayonets, or that we should be doing so, at great cost. The army is stuck with a mission it cannot fulfill, and a lot of inept generals as well as some good ones have paid the price.
Hicks' book is one of the most important I've ever read.
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