Boasting in Our Technology
BY Herschel Smith
18 years ago
In Why Rumsfeld Had to Go, we discussed the grand new approach to warfare, enabled and spurred by the use of technology, proxy fighters, political pressure, and financial persuasion. Here is an eerie reminder of the overprediction of the power and usefulness of our technological advantage, from just before the Iraq war:
WASHINGTON — As the nation prepares for war with Iraq, military officials say space-based assets in Earth orbit are ready to give U.S. troops and their allies a significant edge over the enemy.
“Whether it’s Iraq or any other enemy of the United States and its allies, I would tell you that we’re so dominant in space that I would pity a country that would come up against us,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. Franklin J. “Judd” Blaisdell, director of space operations and integration.
“The synergy with air, land and sea forces and our ability to control the battle space and seize the high ground is devastating,” Blaisdell said March 12 during a Pentagon briefing for reporters. “I don’t believe that many of them understand how powerful we are.”
Unfortunately, structures, systems and components in space cannot kill guerrillas. Group-think is a dangerous thing in any profession, but in the superlative degree as it regards war.
On November 13, 2006 at 3:29 pm, Luther McLeod said:
Perhaps we should be less worried about what’s in the sky and more worried about what’s under the surface of the sea. This is troubling news. (Hat tip – Protein Widsom)