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US army’s kill-kill ethos under fire
Sarah Baxter, Sunday Times Online (UK), 24 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2372122,00.html
The US Army should scrap the Warrior Ethos, a martial creed that urges soldiers to demonstrate their fighting spirit by destroying the enemies of the US at close quarter rather than winning the trust of local populations, according to senior American officers and counter-insurgency experts.
Soldiers are instructed to live by the creed, which evokes the warrior spirit of the modern US Army. It begins with the stirring vow, "I am an American soldier," and goes on to affirm that "I will never accept defeat. I will never quit ... I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat."
Admirable though this may be in the heat of battle, the Warrior Ethos's emphasis on annihilating the enemy is inimical to the type of patient, confidence-building counter-insurgency warfare in which the US is engaged in the Middle East, according to Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, former director of operations to the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon.
"The future crises that relate to Iraq and Afghanistan will be a struggle for hearts and minds," he said. "We're in a different environment now and that requires different techniques and ways of operating." . . . .
US Army Warrior Ethos Web Page
http://www.army.mil/warriorethos/
Sarah Baxter, Sunday Times Online (UK), 24 Sept 06
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2372122,00.html
The US Army should scrap the Warrior Ethos, a martial creed that urges soldiers to demonstrate their fighting spirit by destroying the enemies of the US at close quarter rather than winning the trust of local populations, according to senior American officers and counter-insurgency experts.
Soldiers are instructed to live by the creed, which evokes the warrior spirit of the modern US Army. It begins with the stirring vow, "I am an American soldier," and goes on to affirm that "I will never accept defeat. I will never quit ... I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat."
Admirable though this may be in the heat of battle, the Warrior Ethos's emphasis on annihilating the enemy is inimical to the type of patient, confidence-building counter-insurgency warfare in which the US is engaged in the Middle East, according to Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, former director of operations to the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon.
"The future crises that relate to Iraq and Afghanistan will be a struggle for hearts and minds," he said. "We're in a different environment now and that requires different techniques and ways of operating." . . . .
US Army Warrior Ethos Web Page
http://www.army.mil/warriorethos/