The Ministry of Defence is plunged into a grim process described as a "mini defence review". Teams of service officers and civil servants are exploring every aspect of spending and procurement plans in a desperate effort to save money. Current year sums have been made to add up only by creative accountancy, pushing back some big bills to 2010. Whoever becomes defence secretary after an election that year will face a pile of yellowing, unpaid invoices.
Everybody knows that a major defence programme must be cancelled. The navy's cherished aircraft carriers? These would be the first choices of most soldiers, but because the ships mean jobs in Labour constituencies, they are almost certainly safe.… Seguir leyendo »
Suele decirse que, al proclamarse la Segunda República, esta tenía ante sí cuatro graves problemas: el problema religioso, el problema militar, el problema agrario y el problema regional. ¿Desde cuándo se había convertido en problema el mismo Ejército que había contribuido de forma decisiva a la instauración del régimen liberal en España?
Coinciden muchos historiadores en que solo a partir de 1923 --y con el preludio significativo de las Juntas de Defensa en 1917-- puede hablarse de una asunción del poder por el Ejército, aunque Carlos Seco matiza esta afirmación recordando que el Ejército ya intervino como estamento determinante el 3 de enero de 1874, cuando el general Pavía disolvió por la fuerza el Parlamento y puso así fin a la Primera República, y el 27 de diciembre del mismo año, cuando el general Martínez Campos se pronunció en Sagunto, y proclamó rey a Alfonso XII.… Seguir leyendo »
Hace sólo unas semanas que se presentó el libro 170 españoles opinan sobre sus militares, elaborado por Adalede (Asociación de Diplomados en Altos Estudios sobre la Defensa Nacional) para conmemorar el XXX Aniversario (en 2007) de la creación del Ministerio de Defensa, una decisión con la que se inició de manera decidida la transición en las Fuerzas Armadas y la Guardia Civil. En efecto, durante el régimen anterior siempre hubo tres ministerios diferentes, Ejército, Marina y Aire eran sus denominaciones oficiales, y entre la muerte de Franco y las primeras elecciones de1977 se nombró un vicepresidente para Asuntos de la Defensa que coordinaba a los tres ministerios.… Seguir leyendo »
La participación española en Irak no ha tenido un análisis militar suficiente, quizás debido a que el debate político en torno al tema ha atenuado la verdadera importancia de sus consecuencias militares. Otros países como Francia, sin haber participado, han analizado dicho conflicto para poner a punto su Ejército ante la amenaza asimétrica predominante.
Tampoco se percibe una opinión general sobre lo que allí hizo el Ejército de Tierra español y mucho menos acerca de cuál era su espíritu y sus órdenes al proyectarse a Irak. Estos aspectos, desde el punto de vista militar, merecen ser aclarados para que, sin carga política, acerquen a los analistas la verdad sobre este asunto.… Seguir leyendo »
Al tiempo que la guerra de Iraq entra en su sexto año, una de las repercusiones en que menos se ha reparado es la presión sobre los combatientes estadounidenses que la libran. Las fuerzas armadas estadounidenses hacen actualmente gala de un superdespliegue en el planeta: guerras en Iraq y Afganistán, a la par que otras misiones importantes en la así llamada "guerra larga" o guerra global contra el terrorismo. La guerra de Iraq se lleva la palma en número de bajas. Se ha franqueado el umbral de los 4.000 militares muertos en Iraq y hay 30.000 heridos graves.
Igual importancia reviste el hecho de que la guerra de Iraq ha dejado profundas secuelas psicológicas en numerosos soldados y oficiales.… Seguir leyendo »
El dirigente que suceda a Fidel Castro y las estructuras de gobierno que emerjan tras su retirada deberán cohabitar con una realidad incuestionable: el poder omnímodo de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias cubanas. Las FAR son la institución más poderosa, influyente, prestigiosa y mejor organizada de la isla y, a buen seguro, van a exigir que se cuente con ellas en el nuevo proceso que se avecina tras la renuncia de su hasta ahora comandante en jefe.
Con 50.000 hombres en activo y otros tantos en la reserva de alta disponibilidad, reforzados con los 80.000 miembros del Ejército Juvenil del Trabajo, los 50.000 participantes en las Fuerzas de Protección Civil y los más de un millón que integran las Milicias de Tropas Territoriales, las FAR ya no son ni sombra de la fuerza que un día envidió toda Iberoamérica, pero todavía mantienen una de sus peculiaridades: su fuerte simbiosis con la población.… Seguir leyendo »
The U.S. Army recently announced that it would pay captains up to $35,000 in retention bonuses to stem the tide of junior officers leaving the Army, in part because of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bonuses may temporarily retain a few captains, but the problem will continue well into the future unless policymakers address a more fundamental issue: A military lifestyle makes the pursuit of a career nearly untenable for military wives.
I know the challenges that Army wives face. I've been a lawyer and an Army wife for 10 years. In that period, I've moved seven times. I've taken four different bar exams and held five different jobs.… Seguir leyendo »
Traveling in Iraq and Afghanistan in late January, I kept encountering two themes that cut across the usual U.S. political debate about these conflicts: The hard-nosed operations of U.S. Special Forces are increasingly effective, and so are the soft-power tactics of provincial reconstruction teams.
The debate over troop numbers may be missing the point. What's making the real difference isn't how many Americans are on the ground but how they are being used. That's true at both ends of the spectrum -- hard power and soft. And, as commanders learn to use these tools of counterinsurgency effectively, they may also be able to operate with fewer people and a lighter footprint.… Seguir leyendo »
As you approach the entrance to the Pakistani army's general headquarters here, the dusty roads and traffic jams give way to the order of a military compound. Even the shrubs are manicured into the precise shapes of topiary.
The headquarters are only a 10-minute drive from the park where Benazir Bhutto was murdered in December. But in political terms, that is a world apart.
At its best, the Pakistani army has been a symbol of order and unity for this chaotic country in the 60 years since Pakistan was founded. At its worst, as in recent years when Pervez Musharraf was simultaneously president and army chief of staff, the military has been a politicized force that has added to the country's instability.… Seguir leyendo »
The relative calm that America’s armed forces have imposed on Iraq is certainly grounds for cautious optimism. But it also raises some obvious questions: how was it achieved and what does it mean for future defense planning?
Many analysts understandably attribute the success to our troops’ following the dictums of the Army’s lauded new counterinsurgency manual. While the manual is a vast improvement over its predecessors, it would be a huge mistake to take it as proof — as some in the press, academia and independent policy organizations have — that victory over insurgents is achievable by anything other than traditional military force.… Seguir leyendo »
Tradicionalmente se ha conocido como cuartel el lugar donde se aloja la tropa y realiza su instrucción militar. Lo mandaba un coronel que era el jefe del regimiento, por ser la unidad de encuadramiento y de instrucción por antonomasia en el Ejército español desde el siglo XVIII. Se ubicaba en un inmueble de las capitales de provincia, construido al efecto, o bien aprovechando antiguos conventos desamortizados al clero. Hoy quedan pocos de estos cuarteles, pues las necesidades y funciones del Ejército han evolucionado. La tendencia, sobre todo a partir de mediados de los sesenta, ha sido sacarlos de las ciudades y ocupar grandes extensiones de terreno, que incluyen campos de tiro y de maniobras, albergan unidades superiores al regimiento y reciben el nombre de bases o acuartelamientos.… Seguir leyendo »
Officers studying at the Army War College walk the ground at nearby Gettysburg where Pickett's men walked across an open field under fire. They wonder: How did Confederate officers get men to do that? The lesson: Men can be led to places they cannot be sent.
Today's officers lead an Army that was sent into Iraq in 2003, and by 2004 the operation became, as an officer here says, "a deployment in search of a mission." Since then, missions have multiplied. Today's is to make possible an exit strategy. Gen. David Petraeus's Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual says counterinsurgency's primary objective is to secure the civilian population rather than destroy the enemy.… Seguir leyendo »
General Sir Mike Jackson is a soldier’s soldier. His doctrine, as told to The Daily Telegraph, is that “everything starts and finishes with the soldier”. He adds, ruefully, that he failed to persuade the Ministry of Defence of that doctrine when he was Chief of the General Staff. He has now written his memoirs that put the strategic blame, where it almost certainly belongs, on Donald Rumsfeld for the US failure to follow up their victory in Iraq with a postwar plan. He also recognises the weakness of British defence policy in its failure to match resources to commitments.
It is easy to say, as some have, that the general should have made his criticisms when he was still in office.… Seguir leyendo »
From August 10 the Ministry of Defence imposed a gagging order on the Armed Services. Members of the Forces are no longer allowed to discuss any matters relating to defence through any public means of communication. They cannot speak at public meetings, write letters to the press, write blogs or even take part in surveys. This gagging order applies to men and women of all ranks.
Can I ask two questions: Why now? For whose benefit? The new censorship is a reaction to low morale in the Services, which extends from top to bottom, from general to private. The people protected are the politicians, who are responsible for the crisis in morale.… Seguir leyendo »
The deployment of the first armed battlefield robots in Iraq is the latest step on a dangerous path - we are sleepwalking into a brave new world where robots decide who, where and when to kill. Already, South Korea and Israel are deploying armed robot border guards and China, Singapore and the UK are among those making increasing use of military robots. The biggest player yet is the US: robots are integral to its $230bn future combat systems project, a massive plan to develop unmanned vehicles that can strike from the air, under the sea and on land. Congress has set a goal of having one-third of ground combat vehicles unmanned by 2015.… Seguir leyendo »
Mom, I had another friend die today from a massive ied [improvised explosive device] and many more wounded with shattered bones and scrapes. We used to be in the same platoon. 1st platoon and the same squad when I first arrived at fort hood for a good 7 months or so. He was 17 then and barely a day over 19 now that he has passed away.It's tearing me up so badly inside. I just can't stand it. I can't get rid of the feeling that I probably won't make it home from this war. I have this horrible feeling that his fate will soon become my own.… Seguir leyendo »
Muslims are obliged to make at least one trip to the holy city of Mecca during their lifetime. This pilgrimage is known as the hajj. It is mandatory for men, voluntary but encouraged for women. A basic dress code ensures that there's no visible difference between rich and poor, weak and powerful. This simple requirement unites the faithful.
I started thinking about the hajj in the spring, when my wife and I visited nine American military cemeteries in Europe. With the exception of the Normandy American Cemetery, which attracts thousands, others are virtually devoid of visitors, especially American visitors. I wondered:
What if every American who is able to do so made an effort to visit at least one American military cemetery overseas during his or her lifetime?… Seguir leyendo »
By now, most Americans know the story of Cpl. Pat Tillman. He bravely chose military service rather than the National Football League, and he was killed in Afghanistan in 2004 by fire from his comrades.
My own units in Vietnam were occasionally the victims of errant rifle fire, mortar rounds and bombs — indeed, the very success of an infantry attack is dependent on leaning forward into friendly supporting fires.
But, after the fact, the Tillman death played out differently. His unit reported that he was killed in a ferocious engagement with the enemy, and the truth was hidden by the chain of command until, as is almost always the case, the truth escaped.… Seguir leyendo »
Your article on the escalating mental health problems among frontline veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars raises serious questions about how we repay the people who risk their lives for us (Iraq veterans suffer stress and alcoholism, August 3).You report a new study by the British Medical Journal online. But as long ago as February 2003 our charity warned that soldiers who were then being deployed in Iraq could suffer serious psychological trauma following conflict. We knew that more Falklands veterans had committed suicide than were killed during the conflict. We also knew that almost five times the number of soldiers who lost their lives in the previous Gulf conflict had since committed suicide.… Seguir leyendo »
Britain's armed forces greeted Gordon Brown's arrival in Downing Street with a shiver of apprehension. As chancellor, he displayed relentless scepticism towards defence spending. The army has been obliged to fight Blair's wars with threadbare resources. Treasury parsimony has cost lives. The word from Westminster was that soldiers, sailors and airmen would find no friend in the new prime minister.Yet last week, to the delight of the Royal Navy, Brown announced the government's commitment to the £4bn carrier programme. Following his chilly visit to Washington, there are hints that Britain could soon pull most of its troops out of Iraq. If these prove true, it will be the army's turn to rejoice.… Seguir leyendo »
Utilizamos cookies para el correcto funcionamiento de la página web y analíticas para estadísticas.ACEPTARPolítica de privacidad
