The Military We Have Vs. The Military We Need

Wow. I cannot believe the NDU leadership allowed this tripe to get published. The author makes a number of claims against the 2018 National Defense Strategy but does not support the claims with facts or offer a comprehensive "Better" strategy. The closest he comes to a strategy is, essentially, disarmament: "To reach such an idealized – many would say unrealistic and unrealizable – end-state, arguably will require as preconditions the attainment of denuclearization, delethalization, and ultimately demilitarization. Demilitarization can be brought about only by the military: not a militaristic military committed to the supernal mission of warfighting, but a military organized, equipped, trained, and deployed in dramatically new ways that redefine what militaries properly do." The US has other departments to lead the non-lethal levers of national power...diplomacy, trade, economic policy, information control, social and soft power. The military is unique because it represents the back-stop; the final resort, the ultimate deterrant to war, and the only way to win a war. The author has been too long in his ivory castle in DC.