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William Sturgiss Lind,
Director of the Center for Cultural Conservatism
at the Free Congress Foundation, is a native
of Cleveland, Ohio, born July 9, 1947. He
graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
from Dartmouth College in 1969 and received
a Master's Degree in History from Princeton
University in 1971. He worked as a legislative
aide for armed services for Senator Robert
Taft, Jr., of Ohio from 1973 through 1976
and held a similar position with Senator Gary
Hart of Colorado from 1977 through 1986. He
joined Free Congress Foundation in 1987.
Mr. Lind is author of the Maneuver Warfare
Handbook (Westview Press, 1985); co-author,
with Gary Hart, of America Can Win: The Case
for Military Reform (Adler & Adler, 1986);
and co-author, with William H. Marshner, of
Cultural Conservatism: Toward a New National
Agenda (Free Congress Foundation, 1987). He
has written extensively for both popular media,
including The Washington Post, The New York
Times, and Harper's, and professional military
journals, including The Marine Corps Gazette,
U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings and Military
Review.
Mr. Lind co-authored the prescient article,
"The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth
Generation," which was published in The Marine
Corps Gazette in October, 1989 and which first
propounded the concept of "Fourth Generation
War." Mr. Lind and his co-authors predicted
that states would increasingly face threats
not from other states, but from non-state
forces whose primary allegiance was to their
religion, ethnic group or ideology. Following
the events of September 11, 2001, the article
has been credited for its foresight by The
New York Times Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly.
Mr. Lind is co-author with Paul M. Weyrich
of the monograph: "Why Islam is a Threat to
America and The West." He is the author of
"George W. Bush's `War on Terrorism': Faulty
Strategy and Bad Tactics?" Both were published
in 2002 by the Free Congress Foundation.
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January 5, 2005
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As OHL regulations require, on New Year's Day I picked up my 1918 telephone and called my reporting senior, Kaiser Wilhelm II. Of course, he already knows what's going on down here - he's seen it before - but he usually shares a bit of the view from Potsdam with me, and that can be interesting.
"So, how's the new Liman von Sanders doing?" His Majesty enquired, referring to my position as Royal Prussian Military Advisor to the U.S. Marine Corps.
"I feel like a Jesuit among the Iroquois, Majestaet," I replied. "If the ideal army has German generals, Turkish infantry and American logistics, what I've got to work with has American infantry, German logistics and Turkish generals. Liman von Sanders at least got an occasional Zeppelin to support him. All I can look forward to is the V-22 'Albatross', which will be easier to shoot down than any Zeppelin."
"Well, things are better up here," the Kaiser replied. "I'm just about to commission our latest Mackensen-class battlecruiser. What a splendid ship!"
"So there are battlecruisers in Heaven?" I asked.
"How could it be Heaven without battlecruisers?" His Majesty replied.
"Good point. If I may be so bold, what does Your Majesty foresee for the Americans in Iraq in 2005?"
"Jena."
"That bad?" I asked. Jena was the battle where Napoleon beat the pants off the Prussian Army in 1806.
"That bad," His Majesty confirmed. "You know, we didn't lose at Jena because we were no longer the army of Frederick the Great. We lost because we were still the army of Frederick the Great, but war had changed. The Americans in Iraq have the same problem. They seem unable to adapt to a new kind of war."
"Majestaet, Jena was not merely a defeat, it was a rout. Are you saying the Americans risk a rout in Iraq? If so, I have to tell you that no one in Washington can foresee such a possibility."
"No one in Berlin could imagine my fleet would mutiny in 1918, but it happened. Unless the American government pulls out, a rout is in the cards. The Americans don't know how to fight the kind of war they now find themselves in, so the situation won't get better. The present mess can't sustain itself. So there is only one way for the war to go, and that is for the American position to get worse. And it will get worse at an accelerating pace. Where do you think that leads?"
"To a rout where the Americans have to fight their way out, if they can."
"Exactly. And I will tell you that is coming sooner than any of your Turkish generals can imagine."
"Majestaet, Prussia's defeat at Jena led to real military reform. Does the prospect of an American rout in Iraq have a similar silver lining? Will it finally force the American military to move from Second Generation war to the Third Generation, with at least a serious attempt to come to grips with the Fourth?"
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"Well, we're not supposed to give away too much, you know," His Majesty replied. "But you are aware that the American Military Reform Movement of the late 1970s and 1980s was a response to the defeat in Vietnam. I think it is safe to say that the defeat in Iraq will create a new movement for military reform in America. Whether that will succeed or not, I will have to leave for time to unveil. Let me just say that the more dramatic the American defeat is, the stronger the demand will be for genuine reform."
"And routs tend to be dramatic," I added.
"Indeed. And now I must excuse myself, as my train for Wilhelmshaven is about to depart. Wait until you see the Mackensens yourself! Come Der Tag, they'll give those old Queen Elizabeth's a drubbing they won't forget!"
"Even though the Queens have fifteen-inch guns and the Mackensens have only 13.5 inch?" I asked the Kaiser.
"Machts nichts," His Majesty replied. "You see, the British still leave the anti-flash doors to their magazines open. Closing them would interfere with tea time."
"There will always be an England, Majestaet."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," the Kaiser replied as he hung up.
If only we could fight the Iraqi insurgents in battlecruisers in the Persian Gulf, I thought, how much simpler it would be. That's the problem when you invade someone; you end up having to fight on their turf.
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© 2005 William S. Lind. William S. Lind
is Director for the Center for Cultural Conservatism for the Free
Congress Foundation. All opinions expressed in this article are
the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
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