U.S. Army Capt. Tyler Vest, center, speaks with an Afghan soldier while U.S. Army Spc. Andrew Noonan looks on as they finish a combined patrol clearing operation in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, April 30, 2012. Vest and Noonan are assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod
The Next War -- Douglas A. Ollivant and Radha Iyengar, Foreign Policy
Americans are fooling themselves if they think the era of adventures abroad is over. In fact, another big international intervention is just around the corner. And we're not nearly ready for it.
U.S. President Barack Obama's recent speech during his surprise visit to Afghanistan on May 1 said it all: "Our goal is not to build a country in America's image or to eradicate every vestige of the Taliban. These objectives would require many more years, many more dollars, and most importantly, many more American lives." This extraordinary statement is one that those involved in U.S. foreign policy have heard many times before: The era of big interventions is over. It's a tried-and-true narrative, and today, the argument goes something like this: The combination of significant war fatigue and coming defense cuts makes it unlikely that the United States will muster the political will or economic resources to sustain another large-scale military effort. The invasion, occupation, and reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan will almost certainly be seen as aberrations permitted by the post-9/11 environment, or so the thinking goes.
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My Comment: America is definitely not ready for the next war .... more to the point .... the political will and public support is definitely not there. Short of another 9/11 event, I have doubts that the U.S. will undergo a major military operation in the foreseeable future .... even to prevent genocide and/or bring stability to a country that is facing famine from war or a similar disaster.
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