Washington Rules: America's Path To Permanent War
Written by a former Army Colonel, Washington rules: America's path to permanent war (Bacevich, 2010) is a striking analysis of America's pro-military psyche and determination to "to lead, save, liberate, and ultimately transform the world" (Bacevich, 2010, p. 12) through worldwide militarism. Commencing post-World War II, the global military presence that has become a fact of American life has been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike, though it has significantly drained our resources. While some critics and this reader take issue with some aspects of Bacevich's book, in many respects it provides a voice of sanity in the face of the U.S.'s now-unbearable global pro-war stance.
Critique
Contents
Bacevich's book is anything but the compliment, "Washington Rules!" Washington rules: America's path to permanent war (Bacevich, 2010) relates his own educational journey from a pro-military conservative soldier to a questioner who attacks the American consensus about America's global rights and responsibilities. Bacevich states that since World War II, two components have dominated the American consciousness regarding our military presence on the globe. The first element is a "credo" that "summons the United States -- and the United States alone -- to lead, save, liberate, and ultimately transform the world" (Bacevich, 2010, p. 12). The second element is a "sacred trinity" of continual consensus, no matter which political party controls the White House or Congress: "an abiding conviction that the minimum essentials of international peace and order require the United States to maintain a global military presence, to configure its forces for global power projection, and to counter existing or anticipated threats by relying on a policy of global interventionism" (Bacevich, 2010, p. 14). "Global military presence" means that the United States maintains military personnel and weapons around the world. "Global Power Projection" means that the United States positions, arms and plans its forces to strike anywhere in the World, at least theoretically "immediately." "Global Intervention" means that the United States has the right and duty to essentially police the World, intervening in any threatening situation.
Based on these two elements of credo and trinity, the United States has spread its military might around the globe in a so-called "flexible response" (Bacevich, 2010, p. 60) that keeps us in a constant state of pre-war or war, believing that we have the right, duty and capability of policing the entire world. Though this stance has been couched in the term "flexible response" since the Truman and Eisenhower administrations, the global aggression is unmistakable. Bacevich maintains that those two elements have "propelled the United States into a condition approximating perpetual war" (Bacevich, 2010, p. 16). Consequently, in times of international crisis, such as 09/11, America is not disposed to reevaluate its foreign policy; rather, America's response is uniformly and expensively military. That condition seemed workable at one point but is no longer viable for the United States: "The Washington rules were forged at a moment when American influence and power were approaching their acme. That moment has now passed" (Bacevich, 2010, p. 16). Bacevich maintains that the U.S. has used up and/or lost the authority, good will and respect it had in 1945, and "no longer possesses sufficient wherewithal" to sustain its credo and trinity (Bacevich, 2010, p. 16).
While explaining our aggressive credo and trinity, Bacevich remains an equal-opportunity accuser. Rather than pointing the finger at a single presidential administration, Congress or political party, Bacevich traces the birth, growth and abiding history of our global militarism through every decade, starting with the presidential administration of Harry S. Truman and continuing through at least the first administration of Barack Obama (Bacevich, 2010, p. 20). In fact, Bacevich lays much of the abiding blame on persons other than any given president, who is actually "Pretending to the role of Decider" (Bacevich, 2010, p. 31). In Bacevich's estimation, presidents are largely controlled by the structures built by someone else, such as Allen W. Dulles, the CIA director from 1953 -- 1961 and major developer of the CIA in the 1950's (Bacevich, 2010, pp. 37-8) and Curtis E. LeMay, who built up the Strategic Air Command, starting in 1948, to become a major instrument for nuclear war (Bacevich, 2010, pp. 35, 45). Bacevich believes the CIA and SAC were significantly instrumental in building a Washington consensus of global military domination: "Important in their own right, these institutions wielded influence well beyond their formal mandate. The CIA and SAC promulgated a set of precepts that left a deep and lasting imprint on the entire National Security State" (Bacevich, 2010, p. 34). Though Bacevich specifically speaks of Dulles and...
post war policies that the U.S. And the world have adopted towards Iraq. It has 8 sources. The war in Iraq and the protests of people around the world has given a clear signal to the American government and policy makers that the world has become a different place. That every attempt of American expansionism and corporate imperialism will be opposed, the unilateral policies of United States has to change
The administration's disregard for international norms led to the excesses at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, and attempts to circumvent congressional oversight over the activities of the Administration backfired. Faced with increasing criticism at home and the inability to stabilize Iraq, the Bush Administration began to temper its approach with realism. The Administration agreed to a bipartisan Iraq Study Group, led by former Secretary of State James Baker and
Social Impact of Cold War & Terrorism The Cold War is often associated with the idea of making great and physical divides between the good and the bad of the world. It was a symbolic representation that extended for about 30 years on the expectation that the greatest powers of the world could, under the right circumstances, impose a sort of benign order on the planet by isolating the evil empires
Post War Iraq: A Paradox in the Making: Legitimacy vs. legality The regulations pertaining to the application of force in International Law has transformed greatly from the culmination of the Second World War, and again in the new circumstances confronting the world in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War. Novel establishments have been formed, old ones have withered away and an equally enormous quantity of intellectual writing has
As a matter of fact, by the end of 1980s, Soviet Union ran on these very principles. Kennan criticized the possibilities that Soviets may be involved in invading the pro-Soviet countries with their mind sets and weaken them even if they do not form a higher level of apprehension for them. Pro-Russian countries will be weakened through a designed framework to tackle the mindsets of the people following western ideologies. Fights will be
Nursing & Women's Roles Pre-and-Post Civil War The student focusing on 19th century history in the United States in most cases studies the Civil War and the causes that led to the war. But there are a number of very important aspects to 19th century American history that relate to women's roles, including nursing and volunteering to help the war wounded and others in need of care. This paper delves into
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now