Re: [OT] Vietnam and modern combat

On Mon, 3 May 2004 10:39:27 -0700 (PDT) John Atkinson
<johnmatkinson@yahoo.com> writes:
<snip burning powder keg>
>To yank it FIRMLY back on-topic:
>
>Assuming no FTL communications (or relatively slow FTL
>communications) what are the implications for
>political oversight of military operations?  I believe
>the sort of oversight exercised today where e-mail,
>phonecalls, videoconferences, etc are routine between
>leadership at the highest level and the political
>leadership will be more or less impossible.  Media
>will loose the immediacy and therefore exaggerated
>impact it has on operations conducted under the camera
>today.
>

Local representatives will increase in their interference...
micro-management... supervision of local events.  Human Nature will not
change.  The amount of 'supervision' will vary mostly based on
personality.  IMO.

>How the various powers will resolve that will be
>interesting to note.
>

In other words - IJO - In John's Opinion <grin> you posit:

>"EuroSocialists United" will likely give wide
>discretionary powers to the commisars to alter ROE,
>and even mission orders.  Either that, or it will
>attempt to issue detailed complex mission orders to
>cover every possible contingency and expect the
>mission commander to follow it even if it does not
>conform to reality.
>

Or Both.  When Communists can be capitalists anything is possible. 
Remember that not 'Being active' could get you as court-martial'ed (is
that a verb?) as 'irresponsible adventurism' - and just as dead.

>The NSL have always permitted a certain amount of
>lattitude in field commanders and so will likely by
>most comfortable with this situation of loose control.
>

Comfortable?  I doubt it.  But realistic, yes.

>The "French, Spanish, Etc". . . I don't know.	What
>sort of discretionary power did local commanders have
>in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries when
>communications was slow and unreliable?
>

Quite well, despite their best efforts.  After a lot of misguided
efforts
(Columbus in the Caribbean, Pizzaro and 'friends', French Fur
Traders/missionaries) to control the matter the crowns involved
established priorities (although with some Monarchs it changed more then
necessary) and expected those would be met unless you had a "...really,
really, REALLY good reason..." 

I think the fine gradation between NSL and FSE is pragmatically minute
and more a game device.

>"Not American Completely" responses will be all over
>the map, in my opinion.  Depending on the political
>leanings of the party currently in power and the
>personalities involved it could be any extreme. 
>However, the determining factor (IMHO) would likely be
>sucess.  If a commander does his own thing and gets
>back and the public approves of his actions the
>government calls it "taking appropriate initiative." 
>If a disaster results, then he's an "irresponsible
>undisciplined cowboy" and gets arrested.
>

Given the unlikely fact of this happening, I fall back onto the doggerel
that Democracies and Democratic Republics frequently fail to follow
through in the short term for consistency but geo-political realities
will eventually either be worked through or the loss of the 'outpost'
will be inevitable.

>Unless of course there are Canadians involved in the
>process in which case any deviation from UN-mandated
>rules, even deviations which prevent a unit from being
>overrun like the Van Doos got later, result in the
>commander being arrested and thrown out of the
>military.
>

One man's opinion, John.  Remember that the NAC is fantasy at best. 
IMNSHO.

But then the 1,000 nations and the Native Peoples' Circle are...
extrapolations.  Yeah, that's my story and I am going to stick with that
one.

>The UNorganized, of course, being a beauracracy
>unhampered by any accountability, will insist on local
>commanders following rules invented in New York by
>swivel-chair legal experts who could not load a plasma
>gun much less fire on at a target.
>

And maybe not.	The UNSC may descend (ascend?) into factionalized
leadership not unlike the Cold War Soviet empire... Union.

>Any other comments?
>

Well, it's interesting having you back on list.

>Like my alternate acronyms?
>

There are lots of possibilities, these certainly are some of them.

>John
>

Gracias,
Glenn

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