"Therefore, the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him." — Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"
"War - an act of violence whose object is to constrain the enemy, to accomplish our will." — George Washington, General of the Continental Army
First, I want to say, Honor Memorial Day to everyone. This is not a day of happiness, but a day to reflect upon the sacrifices of those who made the "last full measure of devotion" for our nation.
I came on active duty as a U.S. Army Field Artillery Second Lieutenant on 1 November 1983. I arrived at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, for my Field Artillery Officers Basic Course on 30 October. That was one week after the 23 October Beirut barracks bombing, which killed 241 Marines, Sailors, and a Soldier. The Islamic terrorist attack was executed via a truck bomb by Hezbollah, the proxy terrorist army of the Islamic Republic of Iran. While attending the University of Tennessee, I became very aware of Iran due to the Islamic revolution, which ushered in the tyrannical regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini, and the seizing of our U.S. Embassy and taking American hostages for over 400 days. For those who would quip that we have embarked upon a "war of choice," that is an absurd assertion. Iran has been at war with the United States since our Bicentennial in 1976, for almost 50 years. And the recent battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in thousands of American troops being killed and maimed by Iranian-made explosive force penetrators (EFPs), a very lethal IED (improvised explosive device). If there was any justification for entering into combat operations, Iran has provided plenty.
However, in prosecuting this combat operation, we have failed to comprehend the premise of Sun Tzu, the imposition of our will. The "Art of War" was mandatory reading for us new Lieutenants, and we had to submit a report on it as one of our graduation requirements. One does not make deals with a maniacal, tyrannical theocratic enemy. You simply overwhelm them with focused combat power and leverage the other elements of national power (the D-I-M-E theory): diplomatic, informational, military, and economic.
Wars are fought at three levels: strategic, operational, and tactical, with each having its respective tasks and purposes. The key element is that there must be mutual support, which we call in the military "nesting" of these objectives with each other. The strategic level would assess what the global goals, objectives, and tasks would be. When it comes to Iran, it is imperative to undermine the regime leadership by way of kinetic action, but also delegitimization, along with targeted economic actions. Also, from the strategic level, how can Iran be isolated from external support? This is what I call the 21st-century axis of evil: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Islamic jihadists, and transnational narco-criminal terrorist organizations (TNCOs). I would refer to this as peeling back the layers of the onion, a major strategic task. We have started against the TNCOs and Venezuela, having success, and it would appear that Cuba is teetering as they have lost vital support. Iran is another layer of that axis that we can affect.
At the operational level, which is the theater of operations, the Middle East, we must endeavor to neutralize and eventually eliminate the means by which Iran holds the region hostage. A key part of this is to negate any Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz. Back in the late 90s, I was the 18th Field Artillery Brigade (Airborne) operations officer. It was the largest and most diverse artillery unit in the Army. We supported the XVIIIth Airborne Corps, but we were given a mission to support the 82d Airborne Division in a contingency operation simulation exercise to seize the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, at the Strait of Hormuz. LTG(R) Keith Kellogg was the Commanding General of the 82d Abn Div at that time. He would be a great advisor on this critical operational mission. Allowing Iran to hold the region, as well as the world, hostage by way of the flow of energy resources is unacceptable. A critical operational objective would be U.S. control of the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent islands, such as Qeshm, and also seizing Kharg Island to separate Iran from its major source of revenue. And, we should isolate Iran from external arms support, such as the rail line enabling such from China.
Then, the tasks and objectives at the tactical level are clear: destroy Iran's military capability and capacity, and support the strategic and operational goals. One thing that is vital at the tactical level is what we call OPTEMPO, meaning operational tempo, momentum. Unfortunately, with all the so-called negotiations and deal-making exploits, we risk losing such. Tactically, to impose your will upon the enemy means you stay on offense, strike him incessantly, and be relentless, giving them no breathing space or opportunity to rearm and refit. If you do not believe in the importance of such, read the maneuvers of Gen. George Patton in World War II. There was a reason why the Germans feared him.
Combat operations are conducted in phases with respect to the varying levels: strategic, operational, and tactical. Each phase has its tasks and purpose, with a designated end state. The end state is determined by what is called MOE, measures of effectiveness. For example, the operation planners are constantly reviewing and assessing the phase objectives, and when a certain level is met, let's say 85 percent, then they can recommend a transition to the next phase. Right now, we are clearly operating under a "fog of war," being told the war is over, it is not over, we are waiting for a deal, or we are one hour from restarting combat operations. There has to be clarity, and my assessment is that it is missing.
Another key aspect of prosecuting a combat operation at the various levels of warfare is to understand the enemy's center of gravity. It is that which, if effectively engaged, will cause their defeat. The mad mullahs, crazed clerics, and delusional tyrants, in uniform and out, in Iran, do not care about their people. Therefore, threats against their bridges and power plants mean little. But if we start cutting them off from their source of revenue and freezing their personal international accounts, along with those of their relatives residing outside of Iran, that is a critical center of gravity. As well, we have to enable the Iranian people to rise up. Sadly, we see what happens when a populace is disarmed, similar to the desire of the American Marxist left. From the standpoint of informational warfare, we should seek to create a divide between the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), their version of the Roman Praetorian Guard, and the regular Army. I would like to see us go back to the old-school leaflet drops, after all, we do have aerial dominance over Iran.
Prussian General and military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, whose book On War was another mandatory read, spoke of the paradoxical trinity: the tendencies of the people, the commander and his army, and the government. He advocated that a successful war or combat operation cannot be accomplished without the alignment of the three. I would offer that we do not have that alignment, and it comes back to effective messaging, strategic, operational, and tactical synchronization, and clarity of mission. And please, enough about the War Powers Act. Barack Obama outsourced our military to Islamic jihadists for seven months in Libya.
We must defeat Iran. It is the next layer in defeating the 21st-century axis of evil. But, we cannot do so, thinking that military policy is done by social media. We must have an effective plan and stick to it in order to impose our will on the Islamic regime of Iran. This ain't about making a deal. Deals are transactional.
War is hell, and it is about fighting, and fighting does mean killing. Two opposing generals from the Civil War gave us those maxims.
Steadfast and Loyal.