Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Military Revolutions and the Iraq Wars
- 2 From Vietnam to Iraq – The Rebirth of American Military Power and the Origins of an RMA
- 3 The First Iraq War, 1991 – A Revolution Dawns?
- 4 The Iraqi Interregnum, 1991–2000
- 5 Afghanistan and the Second Iraq War, 2001–2003 – A Revolution Confirmed?
- 6 The Third Iraq War, 2003–? – A Revolution Denied?
- Conclusion: The Future of America's Military Revolution
- Index
- References
1 - Military Revolutions and the Iraq Wars
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Military Revolutions and the Iraq Wars
- 2 From Vietnam to Iraq – The Rebirth of American Military Power and the Origins of an RMA
- 3 The First Iraq War, 1991 – A Revolution Dawns?
- 4 The Iraqi Interregnum, 1991–2000
- 5 Afghanistan and the Second Iraq War, 2001–2003 – A Revolution Confirmed?
- 6 The Third Iraq War, 2003–? – A Revolution Denied?
- Conclusion: The Future of America's Military Revolution
- Index
- References
Summary
1991, A New Kind of War?
The conduct and outcome of the first Iraq War in 1991 came as something of a revelation to the majority of Americans who had little reason to follow the previous decade's advances in military technologies and innovations in war-fighting doctrine. It was, in the words of Colin Gray, “a flash in the sky of strategic consciousness.” The war's conduct was unusual in that weeks of relentless bombing preceded engagement with Iraqi ground forces, leaving many wondering when the real war would begin. In the absence of actual ground combat by the coalition, pressure mounted to let the American people know exactly how Kuwait was going to be liberated. Generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf agreed on the need to provide more information about the war's progress and the plan for victory. At a news conference a week into the war, they explained the coalition's actions and strategy. Powell described the plan to defeat the Iraqi army in vivid terms: “Our strategy to go after the enemy is very, very simple. First we're going to cut it off and then we are going to kill it.” Powell and Schwarzkopf arrived at the press conference armed with visual aids. After showing footage of a lone car crossing a bridge through crosshairs, Schwarzkopf declared the driver the “luckiest person in Iraq” as a guided bomb raced toward the bridge, hitting it dead-on just as the car appeared to reach safety on the other side.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Iraq Wars and America's Military Revolution , pp. 1 - 25Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
References
, “Comparing the Nuclear and Information RMAs,” Strategic Insight Vol. 2, No. 4 (April 4, 2003)Google Scholar
, Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas That Revolutionized War from Kitty Hawk to Iraq (New York: Penguin, 2004), p. 423Google Scholar
, Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2004), p. 290Google Scholar
, Combined Arms Warfare in the Twentieth Century (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2001), p. 269Google Scholar
and , The Future of War: Power, Technology and American Dominance in the 21st Century (New York: Crown, 1996), p. 269Google Scholar
, War Made New: Technology, Warfare and the Course of History, 1500 to Today (New York: Gotham Books, 2006), pp. 321 and 322Google Scholar
, States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia and China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979), p. 4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Revolutions in Warfare: Theoretical Paradigms and Historical Evidence – the Napoleonic and First World War Revolutions,” The Journal of Military History Vol. 70 (April 2006), p. 370CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, Six Decades of Guided Munitions and Battle Networks: Progress and Prospects (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 2007), pp. 65 and 258Google Scholar
, ed., The Military Revolution Debate: Readings on the Military Transformation of Early Modern Europe (Westview: Boulder, CO, 1995)
, The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988)Google Scholar
, The Military Revolution and Political Change: The Origins of Democracy and Autocracy in Early Modern Europe (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992)Google Scholar
's classic The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society Since 1000 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982)Google Scholar
, “The Gunpowder Revolution,” in , ed., Warfare: The Triumph of the West (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 106–19Google Scholar
, War and the Rise of the State: The Military Foundations of Modern Politics (New York: Free Press, 1994), pp. 31–2, 37, 53, 65Google Scholar
, “The Labor of Sisyphus: Forecasting the Revolution in Military Affairs During Russia's Time of Crisis,” in and , eds., Toward a Revolution in Military Affairs? Defense and Security at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), pp. 87–93
and , “Thinking about Revolutions in Warfare,” in and , eds., The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300–2050 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 2–4Google Scholar
, Roots of Blitzkrieg: Hand Von Seekt and German Military Reform (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1994)Google Scholar
, The Path to Blitzkrieg: Doctrine and Training in the German Army, 1920–1939 (Boulder, CO; Lynne Rienner, 1999)Google Scholar
, The Quest for Decisive Victory: From Stalemate to Blitzkrieg in Europe, 1899–1940 (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2002)Google Scholar
, “May 1940: Contingency and Frailty of the German RMA,” in and , eds., The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300–2050 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), pp. 154–74CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and , A War to Be Won: Fighting the Second World War (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001)Google Scholar
, “‘Military Revolutions’ and ‘Revolutions in Military Affairs’: A Historian's Perspective,” in and , eds., Toward a Revolution in Military Affairs? (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), p. 22Google Scholar
, “Cavalry to Computer: The Pattern of Military Revolutions,” The National Interest (Fall 1994), p. 30Google Scholar
and , eds., Toward a Revolution in Military Affairs? Defense and Security Policy at the Dawn of the 21st Century (New York: Greenwood Press, 2000), p. 1
, “Thinking about Revolutions in Military Affairs,” Joint Force Quarterly (Summer 1997), pp. 69–76Google Scholar
and , War and Anti-War: Survival at the Dawn of the 21st Century (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 1993), especially pp. 64–81Google Scholar
, “Another View of the Revolution in Military Affairs,” in and , eds., In Athena's Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1997), pp. 112–13Google Scholar
, “Discriminating Tastes: ‘Smart’ Bombs, Non-Combatants, and Notions of Legitimacy in Warfare,” Security Dialogue Vol. 34, No. 4 (December 2003), p. 413CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “The Impact of the Revolution in Military Affairs,” The Journal of Strategic Studies Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2000), p. 141CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, The Transformation of American Air Power (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000), p. 297Google Scholar
, Storm Over Iraq: Air Power and the Gulf War (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1997), p. 254Google Scholar
, “Change and Transformation in Military Affairs,” Journal of Strategic Studies, Vol. 27, No. 3 (September 2004), p. 407CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Emerging Technologies and Military Affairs,” in and , eds., Toward a Revolution in Military Affairs? Defense and Security at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), p. 61
, “Does the Iraq War Reflect a Phase Change in Warfare?” Defense & Security Analysis, Vol. 21, No. 2 (June 2005), p. 121CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), p. 28Google Scholar
, “Coup-Proofing: Its Practice and Consequences in the Middle East,” International Security Vol. 24, No. 2 (Fall 1999), pp. 131–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Past as Prologue: Assessing Theories of Future War,” Security Studies Vol. 8 (Autumn 1998), pp. 32–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and , “Evolution or Revolution,” The Journal of Strategic Studies Vol. 28, No. 3 (June 2005), pp. 441–2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, “Biddle on Military Power,” The Journal of Strategic Studies Vol. 28, No. 3 (June 2005), p. 414CrossRefGoogle Scholar
's Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare: The Evolution of British and American Ideas about Strategic Bombing, 1914–1945 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004)Google Scholar
, Bombs, Cities and Civilians: American Airpower Strategy in World War II (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1993)Google Scholar
, The Fire: The Bombing of Germany, 1940–45 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006)Google Scholar
, Technology and War: From 2000 b.c. to Present (New York: Free Press, 1989), pp. 101–4Google Scholar
, “War-Mart: Revolution in Warfare Slouches Toward Baghdad – It's All in the Network,” San Francisco Chronicle (March 9, 2003), p. D1Google Scholar
, Bittersweet Destiny: The Stormy Evolution of Human Behavior (Edison, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1996), p. 388Google Scholar
, “Technology and Warfare,” in , , , and , eds., Strategy in the Contemporary World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 148Google Scholar
, “The New American Way of War,” The New York Review of Books Vol. 27, No. 12 (July 20, 2000), p. 14Google Scholar
, “An Information-Based Revolution in Military Affairs,” Strategic Review (Winter 1996), p. 85Google Scholar
, “The Changing Character of War,” in , , and , eds., The Globalization of World Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 218Google Scholar
Accessibility standard: Unknown
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this chapter is currently unknown
and may be updated in the future.