Top Green Beret Discusses Implications of Modern American Way of War

From Civilian Casualties Minimized by Overwhelming Force, Information Dominance (2003) :

 

Today, Lambert declared, with the threat from the Soviet Union removed, compounded by the mounting reliance on information dominance and an increasingly proactive American foreign policy (most recently demonstrated in the preemptive attack on Iraq), the United States is not only changing the way it conducts war but also how it plans war. During the Cold War, U.S. strategic doctrine viewed war in terms of national survival. As such, war planners emphasized winning a war with the Soviet bloc by any means necessary leaving few resources devoted to planning for the post war environment.

The advent of American military supremacy, however, allows today's war planner to shape military campaigns to achieve a predetermined and preferable post war environment. Indeed, unlike the days of the Cold War, there is little question as to whether the United States is capable of defeating likely adversaries. As a result, wars are increasingly being planned backwards to forwards and provide U.S. military capabilities with different "options" for achieving success. Such luxuries also enable the U.S. more than ever before to prevent armed conflict in the first place and stabilize regional instabilities before they can escalate into major crises.

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Information has also benefited psychological operations (PSYOP). While PSYOP methodology remains relatively unchanged, operations now are surgical as well as strategic, operational and tactical. PSYOPS can now target specific military and political commanders via personal cell phones, faxes, or email accounts. According to Lambert, preliminary results from Operation Iraqi Freedom have proven the increase in effectiveness of psychological operations.

In a world where achieving military victories is no longer a question for the United States military, humanitarian relief and the minimization of civilian casualties can now be placed at the forefront. Such capabilities fortuitously arrive at a time of a decrease in the public's tolerance for collateral damage and civilian suffering. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld referred to this when he discussed "compassion" as a key ingredient to the most recent campaign in Iraq along with power, precision, speed and flexibility.