The American Military's Real Problem: Shooting 'Ants' With 'Elephant Guns'
By Tyler Durden
Created 11/19/2016 - 20:35
Tyler Durden's picture [1]
by Tyler Durden [1]
Nov 19, 2016 8:35 PM
[2] [3]
Submitted by Tobias Burgers via Strategic-Culture.org, [4]
In combating asymmetric threats, we have to ask ourselves, on which side of the asymmetry do we sit? Typically and almost in a cliché manner, we depict our side as superior – we have the technology, we have the equipment, we have the on-going development capabilities. But do we really have the money for such high-end, extended, near-endless military campaigns?
Consider the defensive action by USS [5]Mason [5] in the Red Sea [5] in October 2016. Its response to a rebel attack compels us to rethink the cost factor involved in defensive measures, and how we popularly interpret the costs of war and national security. A few short seconds of fending off a Yemeni rebel attack cost the United States NAVY (USN) an unsettling $8 million. Cost of the rebel attack: $500,000 or less than 10 percent of USS Mason’s reaction.
In this article, we advocate a realignment of security and defense debates to position them in the context of what it means to wage high-tech war in the twenty-first century. The asymmetry of warfare has never been more evident than in the material costs of warfighting.
Source URL:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-19/american-militarys-real-problem-shooting-ants-elephant-guns
