I could also add that the top military leaders had two sources of doubt: 1. the high-tech weapons and reliance almost entirely on air power and its ability to drop bombs and missiles
2. the fighting coherence of the all-volunteer 'professional' military It's interesting how point 2 led to Abu Graib's obscene sadism. For any who were shocked at that sort of institutionalized sadism, I would point out that (1) it's found in American schools and prisons, (2) if you ever attended US military basic 'training' in the late 70s early 80s, you will recognize the behaviour all too well. The officers, after Vietnam, were worried about the ability of the career NCOs to control the volunteer enlisted across the lower ranks and throughout the less popular military specialities (combat arms, infantry, armor, artillery). So they re-doubled their efforts at using this sort of sadism to control the force, while at the same time creating a PR rhetoric about how the entire military was the most well-trained, most professional fighting force in the history of mankind. Some of the elite forces actually are, but they are not what everyone thinks of as elite--the elite are the USAF, the naval and marine airwings, the nuclear submarine force. Everything else is more like life at high school. CJ _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
