How NOT to use military force

The New York Times reprinted an essay by Colin Powell entitled "How to use military force."  It was written on October 8, 1992.  Today, it seems so quaint, so deeply out of touch with reality, so, shall we say, delusional?  Powell seems to think that he can point to military successes to defend our use of force.  But he fails to recognize that many of our military interventions have, and continue to involve conflict that we created! What is sold as a humanitarian effort is none other than an attempt to gain control of key resources in a land of desperation and despair. Powell was either naive, in denial, or dictated by a dictator. Or perhaps all three. It is a dangerous mind, seduced by confabulation, self-deception, and brain washing. The sciences have explained how our minds fall prey to these processes. We owe it to the public to  explain these failings of the mind in order to enable every individual to cut through the grease of deception that our government representatives layer on top of reality.

Read for yourself, and recall that the smoke screen conveyed in 1992 has been puffed into the minds of Americans by every government since, continuing today......

Oct. 8, 1992: How to Use Military Force

By COLIN POWELL

There has been a spate of commentary over the use of American military force to deal with the vexing problems of an untidy post-cold-war world. Let me respond by reviewing recent history.

During the last three years United States armed forces have been used repeatedly to defend our interests and achieve our political objectives. In December 1989, a dictator was removed from power in Panama. In that same month, when a coup threatened to topple democracy in the Philippines, a limited use of force helped prevent it.

In January 1991, a daring night raid rescued our embassy personnel in Somalia. That same month, we rescued stranded foreigners and protected our embassy in Liberia. We waged a major war in the Persian Gulf to liberate Kuwait. Moreover, we have used our forces for humanitarian relief operations in Iraq, Somalia, Bangladesh, Russia and Bosnia.

All of these operations had one thing in common: they were successful. There have been no Bay of Pigs, failed desert raids, Beirut bombings or Vietnams.

Unwilling to use the armed forces? Tell that to our troops who are being deployed to accomplish these missions. Americans know they are getting a hell of a return on their defense investment, even as the critics shout for reductions that would gut the armed forces.

The reason for our success is that in every instance we have carefully matched the use of military force to our political objectives. President Bush understands the proper use of military force. In every instance, he has made sure that the objective was clear and that we knew what we were getting into. We have learned the proper lessons of history, even if some journalists have not.

COLIN POWELL was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993 and secretary of state from 2001 to 2005.

The preceding was excerpted and adapted from a previously published Op-Ed article, for inclusion in a 40th-anniversary issue.