The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
China Admires the New American Way of War
by James Dunnigan
September 23, 2006
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
The Chinese recently published a confidential
after-action report on the new American way of war. The Chinese believe
that these new tactics were first manifested in Bosnia, and later in
Kosovo, then during the ouster of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and
currently in Iraq. Although folks back in the US tend to look at the
Bosnia and Kosovo missions as "meals on wheels" operations unworthy of
"real" armed forces, the Chinese think the Americans are on to
something. They called these operations, "non-contact warfare."
In
their view, in both Bosnia and Kosovo, the U.S. leveraged highly
selective use of air power, economic sanctions, and information
operations, to achieve its objectives with virtually no casualties on
either side, and little permanent damage as well. They are even more
interested in operations in Afghanistan. They see the 2001-2002
campaign there as a highly sophisticated operation that simultaneously
blended the selective use of American air and ground forces with local
resistance fighters, information operations, bribery, diplomatic
maneuvering, humanitarian assistance, assassinations, and other
actions, to oust the Taliban, while the opening phase of Operation
Iraqi Freedom demonstrated how effective American troops were in
conducting a highly sophisticated, mobile, and well-coordinated
"conventional" campaign.
They also
believe that operations in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2003 have not
been successful, and that the outcomes there remain "uncertain." To
better understand this Chinese perspective, you have to be familiar
with the ancient Chinese military writer Sun Tzu. This sage was a big
proponent of the indirect approach, and winning wars without fighting.
The Chinese particularly admire the American ability to fight so often,
but suffer such low casualties. Not all of Sun Tzu's advice is still
applicable. For example, he would have handled the stubborn Sunni Arabs
of Iraq, and Taliban of Afghanistan, by killing them all, or driving
them into exile. This approach has been used throughout human history,
and is still being applied today in some parts of the world. But
alternative approaches to such disputes are, especially among Western
cultures, considered preferable. Thus the extended dialog with the
Sunni Arabs, while battling Sunni Arab terrorists. Sun Tzu would
consider this too expensive, and too generous for the stubborn, and
greedy, Sunni Arabs. But this ancient logic is no longer relevant, and
the kinder and gentler modern approach has the advantage of a
democratic form of government that can, eventually, integrate the Sunni
Arabs into a democratic Iraq. Sun Tzu lived 2,500 years a go, in a
world that did not recognize democracy as an practical form of
government. Many in the Middle East still agree with this assessment,
but that's another story.
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