Of all the principles of war, the one that springs to mind this weekend is the first, Selection and Maintenance of the Aim. Having worked at the military-strategic level, it is the one that causes most friction between senior military commanders and politicians. Perhaps this is the cause of the apparent rift this week between the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US President over Operation Epic Fury.
Is this a case of 19th century gun-boat diplomacy on steroids, or merely a distraction to avoid scrutiny about the American Epstein Scandal and ICE deaths? Whatever it is, I do remember that after 9/11 (the worst terrorist attack on British people) there was a moral debate in England about assassination and regime change, both of which were, under British law, deemed illegal.
Those were the days when the West still advocated a rules-based, international order, in order to preserve Global peace. However, that no longer seems to be the Aim. Instead, we have a wish list of objectives, which appear to be leading to chaos, instability and inevitably a civil-war that will dwarf the recent conflict in Syria. As America found in Iraq and Afghanistan, the challenge is not achieving military victory, but winning the subsequent peace.
Rupert Wieloch 