With American servicemen continuing to battle Iraqi insurgents, a military prison abuse scandal still unfolding, the June 30 deadline for transferring power to a native government looming and Congress contemplating more funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials at the Defense Department are engaged in a delicate balancing act.
In a world full of uncertainty, one variable remains constant: change. Similar to the adapting species of Darwin’s evolutionary environments, we can be sure that change is always around the corner and our ability to adapt, and most importantly keep ahead of coming changes in the war on terror, will once again be tested. From a Western point of view, our response to terrorism has been predictable. We went on the offensive, striking militarily and largely dismantling Al Qaeda bases and training facilities in Afghanistan. We fostered alliances with Pakistan and other “moderate” Arab states, built an international coalition of 31 countries, widened our search for terrorist support groups — such as Saddam Hussein’s Baathist party — and made gallant attempts to further involve the United Nations in the war on terror.
The recent revelations of detainee abuse at the hands of U.S. servicemen and women at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq have shocked the world. Now, additional reports coming to light indicate the problem of detainee abuse was not just isolated to the prison at Abu Ghraib. The Army has reported a number of questionable deaths and instances of abuse in other areas of Iraq and Afghanistan and has launched investigations into their causes.
As the commander of the Allied forces in World War II, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower once said, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
I was at a breakfast meeting not long ago where I asked a former commander of U.S. Strategic Command how he found being required to report to Congress. His reply: He dreaded it but found it helpful. Unfortunately, the current House of Representatives fails to conduct serious oversight of the war in Iraq and other defense activities.
We all remember when on Feb. 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew were lost during re-entry. In the intervening year, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board, under the outstanding leadership of retired Adm. Hal Gehman, discovered the root causes of the accident — technical and otherwise. One of the major findings was the lack of a unifying, overarching goal for space exploration and research. The CAIB recommendation was something a lot of us in the space arena have desired — a national long-term set of objectives articulated by President Bush. On Jan. 14, 2004, the president did just that — he boldly pronounced a long-
term, sustainable, affordable and achievable vision for our nation’s space program.
On Jan. 14, President Bush announced his intention to commit the nation to a new exploration initiative. Like the plan announced by his father 15 years earlier, President Bush’s initiative envisions American astronauts returning to the moon by 2020 and eventually undertaking missions to Mars. Since I have long believed that the nation’s human space flight program needs long-term goals beyond the space station, I welcomed the president’s announcement.
The United States Navy will not, over the long term, be able to maintain superiority in seapower given current and projected defense spending.
