If you want a clear strategy to win the war. Don’t play semantic games using the name of the department responsible for executing the strategy.
Produced by ElevenLabs and News through sound (Noah) Using AI-powered narration, listen to more stories on the Noa app.
Donald’s choice of Pete Hegseth Trump to lead Defense Department It signals the incoming administration’s intent to enact major changes at the Pentagon. Some of what the administration hopes to do appears to be ill-advised. Culture warfare within the US military It is considered an extensive business. Whether it is prosecuted by the left or the right, however, the Trump administration can quickly implement one culture change at the Defense Department that will be a positive. And it sends a powerful signal consistent with the administration’s priorities: Trump may ask Congress to redesignate the Defense Department as the Department of Defense.
The position of Minister of Defense came into existence after World War II. It was part of the enacted National Security Act of 1947. Before that, the country had a War Department, which oversaw the Army. and has a separate Department of the Navy As the Cold War approached The 1947 Act greatly expanded the scope of the national security state to confront threats from the Soviet Union. For example, the U.S. Air Force and the CIA were creators of the act. A 1949 amendment made the military It is under a single civilian leader. and changed the name of the new agency to the Ministry of Defence. By changing the name of the department Congress also endorsed an expanded view of the new department’s mission. For the U.S. military, the 77 years since the passage of the draft have ushered in an unprecedented era of nation-building and humanitarian missions around the world.
The dramatic growth of the Defense Department since 1947 has created the kind of interventionist foreign policy Trump faces. It is also a burden on other agencies and agencies, such as the State Department and USAID, the agencies whose missions are closest to projecting non-military power. There are always insufficient resources available forever. and reduced their role to a secondary role Often the face of US diplomacy wear uniform during the counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan; An under-resourced State Department relies on the military to carry out civic missions that the military is ill-equipped to handle. The result was two more failed wars after 1947.
revolutionary war civil war And World Wars I and II were both fought and won by the Ministry of Defence, prior to 1947 when we had a Ministry of Defence. Americans can boast that they have never lost a war. As the United States fought fewer major wars, its continued victories were a source of national pride. Since the creation of the Department of Defense, the United States has never won a major war. Confusing outcomes such as those in Korea and Iraq are the closest that could be called success.
The defensive philosophy proved ineffective. (if not disastrous) in comparison to a more focused philosophy of war. Perhaps the Ministry of Defense is less likely to fight a war. Because its name makes the department’s objectives harder to sugarcoat and confuse. The War Department talked about victory and defeat. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt never talked about exit strategy. And generals like Ulysses S. Grant, John Pershing, and Dwight D. Eisenhower didn’t squeeze their hand about “Boots on the ground” if you want a clear strategy for winning the war. Don’t play semantic games using the name of the department responsible for executing the strategy. Call them what they are The power of the War Department is in its name.
Today, the power to wage effective war resides in the executive branch of government. Gone are the days when Congress declared total war on America as required by the Constitution. This erosion of Congress’s war-making power goes back at least 100 years to World War I, when President Woodrow Wilson wanted the United States intervention in europe One of his main obstacles was that he could not prepare the army to move without parliamentary authority. By 1916, this restriction had already been circumvented. build Marine reserve, which he could expand under executive authority. Until today The Marine Corps has a motto: “First you must fight,” and although this motto has some martial élan to it, But it exists primarily because the president uses Marines to surveil Congress. This trend only accelerated in the second part of the 20th century, most recently culminating with the authorization for the use of military force after 9/11. The abdication of congressional military authority allows the executive branch of both parties to wage war outside of Congress. In the first quarter of this century
Almost all of America’s extraparliamentary wars are wars of choice. When our enemies do not pose any threat The incoming Trump administration has rightly elevated China to its greatest national security priority. And it is a real thing. War with China will have no limits. It will require a national mobilization unparalleled in our lifetimes. It will demand every resource the United States possesses. Victory will require a war fought with ruthless brutality. Similar to World War II A conflict that our ancestors hoped would never be repeated. The war was so bloody that it created an impetus to change the language we use in warfare.
In 1949, in addition to changing the name The Ministry of Defense also received a new name. elitewhich is a derivative of the great emblem of the United States. On the Great Seal The bald eagle holds a handful of arrows in its left talon and an olive branch on its right. The eagle faces the olive branch because the United States is a country of peace. Legends that often recur But the mistake was during the war. The seal changes until the eagle faces the arrow. Legend has its advantages. When an eagle stares at an arrow It understood the reality of war more clearly. Maybe we’ve overlooked it for too long. Maybe if we look back at the arrow again Our country will be a little more peaceful. And perhaps this small act will better prepare us to fight the next war.
