The proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget raises concerns about whether greater spending can produce durable strategic results. The U.S. military is described as unmatched in training and equipment, yet recent conflicts have not delivered lasting strategic wins. Afghanistan ended with government collapse and U.S. withdrawal. Iraq required years, thousands of U.S. lives, many more Iraqi lives, and billions of dollars to produce a fragile, sectarian, corrupt democracy. The Iran war is described as likely ending without removing the Iranian regime, eliminating highly enriched uranium, or preventing Iran from threatening the Strait of Hormuz. The outcomes may also reinforce the belief that nuclear weapons are the only reliable deterrent. A formal effort is urged to identify why tactical excellence has not translated into strategic success, including political and strategic questions for the Iran war.
"While Congress considers authorizing and appropriating the largest defense budget since World War II, they should undertake a formal, concerted effort to understand why this disconnect exists. In the case of Afghanistan, such an effort is well underway with the Afghanistan War Commission. But a myriad of questions, ranging from the purely tactical to the political and strategic, need to be answered in the case of the Iran War."
Read at The Cipher Brief
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