The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century (Zenith Military Classics)

col. Hammes Discusses How The Ongoing Events In Iraq Show How Difficult It Is For The World's Only Remaining Superpower To Impose Its Will Upon Other Peoples, And Cites Other Recent Incidents Of Powerful Military Forces Being Tied Up By Seemingly Weaker Opponents. library Journal retired Marine Colonel Hammes Maintains That Modern Warfare Has Evolved In Four Generations, Moving From The Massed Citizen Armies Of Napoleonic Warfare To The Apogee Of Firepower In World War I To The Triumph Of Maneuver Warfare In World War Ii. Finally, Hammes Brings Us Up To Fourth-generation Warfare, Or 4gw, From Mao To Vietnam, From The Sandinistas To The Present. These Conflicts Show That Superior Political Will Can Wear Down A Militarily Superior Adversary. A 4gw Opponent Fights Across Political, Economic, Social, And Military Spectrums To Sap An Adversary's Will To Continue Fighting. Despite The Emergence Of Transnational 4gw Opponents Like Al Qaeda, The Absence Of A Credible Conventional Threat, And Past 4gw Experiences In Vietnam, Somalia, And Now Iraq, The U.s. Defense Establishment Remains Fixated On Defeating A 3gw Enemy. Instead Of Expensive Weapons, We Must, According To Hammes, Invest In Human Capital, Developing Expertise In An Adversary's Language, Culture, And History. Hammes Offers A Compellingly Reasoned And Supported Argument That We Need To Reconsider How To Defeat Nonconventional Threats To Our National Security. Recommended For Military History And National Security Collections.-edward J. Metz, Usacgsc Combined Arms Research Lib., Ft. Leavenworth, Ks Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. David's sling-and-stone fight against Goliath isn't that far from Iraqi insurgents fighting against coalition forces. While the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to build a high-tech American military to win wars against other, albeit second-tier, Goliaths, insurgents have adopted and are practicing sling-and-stone, low-tech, fourth generation warfare (4GW). These 4GW warriors rely on networks of people over networks of state-of-the-art, high-tech weapons. Colonel Thomas X. Hammes, USMC, explores the evolution and current practice of 4GW. "DOD's focus on high-tech drives its doctrine, organization, training, and education to teach people to take advantage of technology - not to think about, fight, and win wars," says Hammes. Just as the world has evolved from an industrial society to an information-based society, so has warfare. Information collection against today's threats requires a greater investment in human skills. Technology by itself is not the answer. The U.S. defense establishment's failure to address the importance of human knowledge over that of technology leaves us unprepared to deal with the kind of wars we are fighting today and those we are most likely to face in the future - fourth generation wars.The Sling and the Stone explains why 4GW does not attempt to win by defeating the enemy's military forces. As we've seen in Iraq, "servicing targets" with firepower isn't the answer. Fourth generation warfare is insurgency rooted in the fundamental precept that superior political will, when properly employed, can defeat greater economic and military power. It uses all available networks - political, economic, social, and military - to convince the enemy's political decision makers that their strategic goals are either unachievable or too costly for the perceived benefit. Via its networks, it directly attacks the minds of enemy decision makers to destroy the enemy's political will. Not only is 4GW the only kind of war America has ever lost, we have done so three times: Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia. It has also defeated the Soviet Union (Afghanistan and Chechnya) and the French (Vietnam and Algeria). Arguably, 4GW has been the most successful form of war for the last 50 years. First defined by Mao, 4GW has evolved as each practitioner learned from his predecessors or co-combatants and refined its techniques.Faced with enemies they could not beat using conventional war, 4GW warriors sought a different path. The anti-coalition forces in Iraq, the Chechans and the al-Qaeda network are simply the latest to use the tactics and techniques that have been developing for decades. "War has entered a new phase," says Hammes. "The fact that only unconventional or 4GW has succeeded against superpowers should be a key element in discussing the evolution of war. Unfortunately, it has been largely absent from the debate within the U.S. Department of Defense." Answers to the "hows" of 4GW along with recommendations for corrective actions are found in this insightful study of the strengths and weaknesses of conventional military power. Sure to be controversial, The Sling and the Stone should help stir the debate at the Defense Department and throughout the national security community about what kind of military our country needs and what kind of combat America's armed forces should be prepared to fight. Ongoing events in Iraq show how difficult it is for the world's only remaining superpower to impose its will upon other peoples. From Vietnam, French and US, to Afghanistan, Russian and US, to Israel and the Palestinians, to Somalia and Kosovo, recent history is replete with powerful military forces being tied up by seemingly weaker opponents. This is Fourth Generation War (4GW), and Colonel Thomas Hammes, United States Marine Corps, tells you all about it. The author explains asymetrical warfare (4GW) as the means by which Davids can defeat Goliaths. Answers to the "hows" of this along with recommendations for prescriptive actions are found in Thomas Hammes insightful book on the strengths and weaknesses of conventional military power. Hammes, a full colonel on active duty in the Marine Corps is an expert at asymetrical warfare, perhaps better known as fourth generation warfare (4GW). This is the means by which Davids can defeat Goliaths. Colonel Hammes is well placed to write this study. As a career-Marine he has trained 4GW warriors in some places and fought against them in others. He has also made a lifelong study of military history which helps him illuminate the previous three generations of armed conflict and define and detail the newest, fourth generation of war. An insider's look at the military dilemma now facing U.S. forces worldwide. Gives historical examples to support the ideas behind the transformation of warfare in the 21st century. A handbook to understanding asymetrical warfare"Colonel Hammes cuts to the quick in defining the conundrum of dealing with twenty-first century warfare, the competing concepts of its nature and its management. His is a controversial analysis which is bound to raise the hackles of today's techno warriors." Bernard Trainor, Lieutenant General, USMC (Ret.), NBC News military analyst, co-author of The General's, Based in History and Current Events, Tom Hammes explains the nasty, long-term, broad-spectrum wars we have fought 4GW (Fourth Generation Warfare) is the only kind of war America has ever lost. And we have done so three times – in Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia. This form of warfare has also defeated the French in Vietnam and Algeria, and the USSR in Afghanistan...As the only Goliath left in the world, we should be worried that the world's Davids have found a sling and stone that work." – Chapter 1, The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century. The War in Iraq. The War on Terror. These types of "asymmetrical" warfare are the conflicts of the 21st century – and show how difficult it is for the world's remaining superpower to battle insurgents and terrorists who will fight unconventionally in the face of superior military power. This change in military conflict may seem sudden. 4GW (Fourth Generation Warfare) is the only kind of war America has ever lost. And we have done so three times – in Vietnam, Lebanon, and Somalia. This form of warfare has also defeated the French in Vietnam and Algeria, and the USSR in Afghanistan As the only Goliath left in the world, we should be worried that the world’s Davids have found a sling and stone that work." – Chapter 1, The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century. The War in Iraq. The War on Terror. These types of "asymmetrical" warfare are the conflicts of the 21st century – and show how difficult it is for the world's remaining superpower to battle insurgents and terrorists who will fight unconventionally in the face of superior military power. This change in military conflict may seem sudden. Recent history is replete with powerful military forces being tied up by seemingly weaker opponents. Recommendations for prescriptive answers are found in Thomas Hammes' insightful book on the strengths and weaknesses of conventional military power in which he describes fourth generation warfare, the means by which Davids can beat Goliaths