Thread: F**k the Troops

Originally Posted by Laughing Man

Militaries are becoming increasingly costly and ineffective due to the urbanization of the world. Insurgent tactics have continued over from the 20th century and it is phasing out vast military arms.

We are talking about a defensive force here, finance has no effect on that. If you can't afford to maintain a military then you can't afford to survive. The rise of "insurgent" tactics is actually a shift into a paradigm known as "War Amongst the People." It has been around since the Vietnam war and there are instances earlier than that. That doesn't simply mean we are fighting in the cities among the people, though it is usually true, it means that the enemey is often indistinguishable from the ordinary citizen. The enemy is literally "among the people." It means that tactics are changing and super-sized, industrial strength militaries are no longer prudent in our current conflicts. A militia is the opposite extreme of an industrial military, neither are necessarily the answer. An industrial military may be a little overkill, but a militia is like taking a gun to a tank battle, you don't stand a chance. It is important to understand that national defense tactics are much different than offensive tactics, meaning a war against an insurgent group is handled differently than the defense of our country because there are other industrial powers out there that are not friendly with us. Also realize that different countries have different needs. A country that is a major player in the international economy needs a stronger force than a third world nation. A militia may be sufficient for a third world country in Africa, but it is useless to a country like America. Just because you have a large force does not mean you need to employ the full extent of that force in all of your conflicts, but you do need that power on reserve for defensive purposes. What matters is not the size of the force but the employment of the force, unless you are not powerful enough to effectively employ that force.