Capabilities not Intentions: Wake Up America

Some years ago I was reading a discussion of military strategic thinking by Robert Heinlein, the Father of American Science Fiction. Heinlein was a graduate of the Naval Academy and a significant thinker. What he pointed out was that military thinking and strategic planning have to be based on capabilities not on intentions. Intentions can change in a moment. A country that was your friend one day may undergo a sea change and be your enemy tomorrow. If you didn't think militarily in terms of their capabilities and not of their intentions, you may be in very very big trouble.

Newt Gingrich is one of the smartest politicians and strategic thinkers we have today. Whatever you think of his politics, he is worth listening to and pondering what he says. Here he addresses the Heritage Foundation on the topic of military preparedness. We are falling down seriously in our military preparedness and that is likely to be a mistake we can only make once. The problem of civilian leadership is that if they don't understand strategic thinking then they are likely to put us into an untenable position. This is a fifty two minute presentation on meeting threats and not expectations. If we don't continue to do that we are certain, certain to fail when the test comes. An attacker sets the agenda and gets a pass on the first engagement. In today's world if we are behind technologically, even for a short time, it may well be fatal. Gingrich does an excellent job of conceptualizing the issue. We must understand it, or we will fail. We are currently structured to lose and it will be inevitable if we don't recognize the threat and build the capacity to react. CLICK TO SEE THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION ADDRESS