a mobilized year

During this last year, I have found a new respect for history. I have spent a lot of free time reading history—time well spent I might add.

I am not a history buff, nor have I ever had a desire to become one. But, I have been amazed at what I have learned over this last year. I used to think about history as just the facts and figures, peppered with some interesting stories. But it’s much more than that.

One thing I have gained from history is perspective. In some previous blog posts, I’ve mentioned or alluded to the perspective one gains from history in gauging an appropriate expectation level for today—for example, the time it has taken historically for democracies to be established as compared to our current time expectations in Iraq, which has been driven by our current cultural of immediacy.

I’ve also gained some perspective on sacrifice in my recent readings lately on military leaders of World War I. For example, on one day (July 1, 1916), the British army lost 20 times the number of soldiers, marines, and airmen than we’ve lost since Operation Iraqi Freedom started more than three years ago. That’s in one day. In one battle during World War I, the French lost more men than we currently have on active duty in the U.S. Army. I don’t state these facts to lessen the sacrifices of the soldiers in my unit or other units who we’ve lost or who have been permanently injured and/or disabled during the war over here. But our sacrifices now are not unlike those that have been made for centuries. In fact, our collective sacrifices today pale in comparison to those of previous generations. The sacrifices of the individual, his family and friends, though are often the same and a part of the realities of war, regardless of time.

In addition to perspective, my recent exposure to history has given me guidance. Most people have heard the adage that goes something like, “if you don’t understand history, you’re bound to repeat it.” In other words, it is important to learn from the mistakes of the past. But, the guidance that history has given me is more than that. It has given me the comfort of knowing that most problems and issues we face now (or ones similar) have been addressed in the past. And just as we have learned from the mistakes of the past, we should not take for granted the successes of the past as well.

Our position in the world, whether it be from a military or a freedom and democracy perspective, is far from being a permanent fixture in time. Borrowing again from the first half of the 20th Century, with the successes from a rudimentary form of sonar that was developed in World War I, the British thought they conquered any threat associated with submarines. Because of their early technological successes in defeating submarines, they shifted their attention to other matters (both military and domestic related). Come the advent of World War II, the British were left with a situation of virtual logistic isolation because of the successes of German U-Boat subs. Through tactics and techniques, the Germans were able to overcome a temporary technology advantage of the British. Churchill later said that that the U-Boat threat was the only thing that really scared him during the war.

Applying that lesson, I can see now how we have become very reliant on our technological advantage and our military edge and dominance. In some regards, we’ve repeated a mistake of arrogantly relying on our technological edge/dominance in a war with the Iraqi insurgency. It’s still strange to think how a nation would have any difficulty in a war without losing a single battle or engagement with its enemy at the platoon level or above. The insurgency’s successes have been almost entirely in the media and public affairs. They draw energy and support not in a war of attrition, which they are losing, but from their enemy (us) whose primary source of power is from its people. By having sensational IEDs, kidnappings, scenes of anarchy and bloodshed, etc., the American people’s support for the war has waned and insurgent-friendly groups/nations rally to their cause, both spiritually and financially. In the end though, I am still hopeful that we’ll be successful in turning this around like the British did against the Germans, regardless of whether our solution is a military or political one.