The Case For Putting Boots On The Ground – Buz Blog

“No boots on the ground” is a mantra, not a strategy.” – Article in AUSA, August 15, 2014 by General Gordon R Sullivan, USA, ret. And General James Dubik, US Army ret.

The United States has not really won a war since WWII. We fought to a stalemate truce in Korea. We lost the war in Vietnam, thanks in part to a Democrat congress pulling military funding from the South Vietnamese. We negotiated a stalemate in the first Iraq war, before kicking Saddam Hussein out of Baghdad. In the second Iraq war, our attempts at nation building failed.

The war in Iran, while we have demolished most of the Iranian military, they are still able to hold most of the Strait of Hormuz hostage. As much as most Americans admire President Trump’s ability to make deals, it doesn’t seem at all possible to negotiate any reasonable solution without putting “boots on the ground”. It is not possible to negotiate with theocratic thugs that believe that Allah is on their side, and that killing or subjugating everyone who doesn’t follow their faith, is Allah’s will.

President Trump has demonstrated that he is reluctant to put our troops in harms way for any frivolous military or political gain. That is good. It is obvious that he deeply feels sorrow at the deaths and injuries to the men and women in our military. It must be a burden that weighs on him heavily. He has put our military in combat situations, previously in Venezuela and Iran. In Iran, Trump’s war policy is predicated on the fact that an Iran with nuclear weapons is an existential threat to our allies, and ultimately to us. While nation building has explicitly been ruled out for any future Iran, the Trump administration would like to see Iran return to their former status as the most open and advanced country in the Middle East. We should all be praying that Trump’s economic sanctions will bring Iran to its knees, but they don’t seem to react to anything but brute force.

It is hard to see how Iran can achieve their prior prominence without putting at least some or our troops into that country. They would have to eliminate or greatly impair Iran’s interior forces, (Republican Guard, Islamic militias and Sharia police), from crushing the vast majority of the Iranian people from protesting and overthrowing their repressive, tyrannical, theocratic government. Almost certainly, putting some of our military on the ground in Iraq would result in casualties we Americans do not want, but it is a decision that is almost required if winning the war is the desired outcome. Doing this now would save untold thousands of lives in the future. It would also tell any other foreign enemies that we no longer fight to a stalemate, but will only enter conflicts we intend to win.

Our military surely has plans that would minimize casualties, while maximizing the destruction of the Islamic Republic. Whether it is the introduction of small special forces teams at key sites to eliminate Republican Guard units, leaders or logistic areas, or another well planned strategy, something must be done to ensure a lasting victory.  Working with the Israeli military and the Intelligence operative they surely have imbedded in Iran, our joint forces could work to maximum efficiency.

In World War II, our government and military’s plan of action was that we would negotiate only for our enemies “unconditional surrender”. That should be our policy now, and in all future wars. This would be an unmistakable message to any potential enemies that if they start a war with us, (by themselves or through proxies) they will lose.

There might be those who would suggest that this is an easy idea for me to promote, since I have nothing to lose. That is not true. My son, Richard, volunteered and joined the Marines in 2003. He was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and was seriously injured in Falugia. I have 3 grandsons who are approaching military age and a great niece in the Naval Academy. I do not want to see them injured or killed in any military action, but if the nation needs military personnel, they may be subject to or volunteer for a combat role. If Iran, the main instigator of world wide terrorism, can be neutralized and Iran returned to a peaceful, prosperous country, future American military and civilian lives and those of other countries will not have to face this evil, deadly regime again.