Top 100 Rules of the New American Way of War

Top 100 Rules of the New American Way of War

Think tanks and scholars drive how our country thinks and acts now and into the future, here are some excerpts from one such 'interesting' paper presented by Dr. Thomas P. M. Barnett and Dr. Henry H. Gaffney Jr. entitled "The Top 100 Rules of the New American Way of War". (Bold and underline my emphasis...)

Dug up this document from the internet ether recently...
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THE PATHS TO WAR

The United States Stands Ready for Any Type of War

1. The U.S. military stays ready because it understands that while the world is full of ongoing
situations in which it remains involved, it must be prepared for any acts of war against the
United States that come "out of the blue."

5. The United States wages war on states or nonstate actors that attack U.S. military
forces or other instruments of the government; because the United States is the de facto
global cop, any such attack is perceived as an attack on global stability itself.

6. If all other measures fail, the United States reserves the right to bring war preemptively
to states or nonstate actors that actively seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction
for use against the United States or any of its allies.

8. Maintaining a commitment to global stability, the United States wages war on states or
nonstate actors that threaten or launch wars against our key allies, including other North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states,
Israel, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and others.

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11. The United States is ready to wage war in Southwest Asia, particularly in the Persian
Gulf region, where it is the only power capable of stabilizing the area—thus ensuring the
continuing flow of energy out of the region.

12. In strong alliance with Japan, the United States is prepared to deter or defeat a
Chinese invasion of Taiwan and a North Korean attack on South Korea.

15. Other than in response to direct attacks on the United States, there currently are five
situations where the United States reflexively would engage in war:

· If Iraq were to attack Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, or Israel
· If China were to attack Taiwan
· If North Korea were to attack South Korea
· If Iran or Iraq were to attempt to close the Persian Gulf to oil traffic
· If al Qaeda or any successor terrorist group attacks U.S. citizens, forces, or
property anywhere in the world.

16. Outside of those circumstances, any overt U.S. war effort will follow an extensive
debate within the U.S. and international political system, with the critical questions
being:

· How much congressional and public debate?
· How much U.N. consultation/approval?
· What level of allied consultation and contributions?

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HOW THE UNITED STATES FIGHTS

47. The underlying principle for employing regular forces is the United States’ desire to
keep the conflict "over there" as much as possible; retaliation against terrorist attacks on
the U.S. homeland is an "away game." ((an 'away' game??))

Dr. Barnett, a Naval War College professor, currently serves as the assistant for strategic futures, Office of Force Transformation, Office of the Secretary of Defense. Dr. Gaffney is a research manager at The CNA Corporation, serving as team leader in the Center for Strategic Studies. The authors thank Vice Admiral Arthur K. Cebrowski, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Professor Bradd Hayes, and Professor Hank Kamradt for their advice on the list.

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[edit on 27-3-2008 by battlestargalactica]