When Reason Fails: Portraits of Armies at War: America, Britain, Israel, and the Future (Studies in Military History and International Affairs)

232 Pages·2001·0.86 MB·English

by  Michael Goodspeed

WHEN REASON FAILS:
Portraits of Armies at
War: America, Britain,
Israel, and the Future
Michael Goodspeed
PRAEGER
WHEN REASON FAILS

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Portraits of Armies at War:
America, Britain, Israel,
and the Future
Michael Goodspeed
Studies in Military History and International Affairs
Jeremy Black, Series Editor
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Goodspeed,Michael.
Whenreasonfails:portraitsofarmiesatwar:America,Britain,Israel,andthefuture/
MichaelGoodspeed.
p.cm.—(Studiesinmilitaryhistoryandinternationalaffairs)
ISBN0–275–97378–6(alk.paper)
1.Militaryartandscience—History—20thcentury.2.UnitedStates.
Army—History—VietnameseConflict,1961–1975.3.Israel.Tsevahaganah
le-Yiâra®’l—History—Arab-Israeliconflict.4.GreatBritain.Army—History—20th
century.5.NorthernIreland—History—1969–1994.6.VietnameseConflict,1961–1975.7.
Arab-Israeliconflict. I.Title.II.Series.
U42.G662002
355'.009'04—dc21
2001034616
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable.
Copyright©2002byMichaelGoodspeed
Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe
reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe
expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2001034616
ISBN:0–275–97378–6
Firstpublishedin2002
PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881
AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc.
www.praeger.com
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe
PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational
InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48–1984).
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Acknowledgments and Dedication vii
Introduction ix
Chapter 1—The American Army in Vietnam 1
The American Phase of the Vietnam War 3
Strategic Factors 4
Geographic Factors 7
The Communist Soldier 8
The American Soldier 11
The Nature of Military Service in Vietnam 12
The Reserves and National Will 12
The NCO Corps 13
The Officer Corps 14
Drugs 20
A War With No Front Line 21
The Media 23
Firepower 24
Tactics 27
Big Battles 34
The American Army and Its Vietnamese Allies 36
Conclusion 39
Chapter 2—The British Army in Northern Ireland 43
Background to the Troubles 43
The Characters of the Combatants 62
TheBritishArmyinUlster 62
TheRepublicans 72
TheLoyalists 82
Chapter 3—The Israeli Army in the Middle East 89
People, Geography and Background 89
The Origins of Conflict 94
The First War and the Emergence of the Israeli Army 99
Traditional Israeli Strategic Considerations 103
Geography 103
Population 104
TimeandSpace 104
CivilMilitaryIntegration 105
The War in 1956 106
The Six-Day War 109
Israeli Morale 112
Israeli Equipment 113
vi Contents
The Arab Armies in 1967 114
Israeli Attitudes to the IDFand the Arabs 1967–1973 114
Israeli Leadership 117
Israeli Discipline 118
The Israeli Reserve System 118
Women in the Israeli Army 119
The IDF’s Personnel System 119
The October War 121
Israeli Intelligence 125
The Invasion of Lebanon 130
The Intifadah 137
Conclusion 141
Chapter 4—The Future of Armies 143
Leadership—The Human Dimension 145
PoliticalLeadershipofArmies 145
MilitaryLeadershipinPostmodernSociety 148
Leadership—TheOfficerCorps 149
Professionalism,SocietyandtheSoldier 151
TheSoldier,EfficiencyandTraditions 153
ArmiesandModernValues 154
Discipline,theIndividualandtheGroup 156
Technology 158
Firepower 158
Mobility 162
Communications 164
NewTacticalConcepts 167
Technology,Mass,TimeandSpace 168
TechnologyandTraining 171
Organizations 174
SpecialForces 175
Intelligence 180
AdministrativeOrganizations 182
CustomizationoftheAdministrativeSystem 184
Civil-MilitaryAffairs 185
LegalismandWarfare 187
ArmiesandtheConflictSpectrum 187
ArmiesandNationalTemperament 190
Notes 195
Select Bibliography 203
Index 211
About the Author 219
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InwritingthisbookIwouldberemissnottoacknowledgethehelpanddirec-
tion of numerous people. Among those who provided sound advice during its
preparationIwouldparticularlyliketothankthestaffsofTheUnitedStatesArmy
Military History Institute and the The Marine Corps Historical Center. Addi-
tionally,valuableadviceontheVietnamchapterwasprovidedbyLTCRIMiller
(U.S.ArmyRetired)andMajorGeoffChamberlain(U.S.ArmyRetired).Inthe
preparation of the Northern Ireland Chapter I would like to thank both Major
Harry Emck of the Royal Green Jackets and Mr. Seamus Lyons (retired, Royal
GreenJackets)whobothfreelygavemecriticalinsightsonserviceinUlster.Iwas
greatlyassistedinmyunderstandingoftheIsraeliArmyanditscircumstancesby
theunstintinghelpoftwoIsraeliveterans,Dr.YahimShimoniandBenKauffman.
Despitetheknowledgeandexperienceofallofthesepeople,anyshortcomingsor
inaccuraciesinthisbookmustrightfullybeattributedtomealone.
This book is gratefully and respectfully dedicated to my parents Edith and
DonaldGoodspeedwhohaveprovidedmealifetime’sguidanceandgoodcounsel.
MichaelGoodspeed

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Inaknowledgeofthehumanheartmustbesoughtthesecretsofthe
successandfailureofarmies.
—MarshalldeSaxe
MadameMontholon,havinginquiredwhattroopsNapoleonconsid-
eredthebest,“Thosewhicharevictorious,Madame”repliedtheEm-
peror.
—LouisAntoineFauveletdeBourrienne,
SecretarytoNapoleon
Armies are among the most important institutions on the globe. Their tempera-
mentandemploymentexertaprofoundinfluenceontheworld’spopulationbe-
cause,ultimately,globalfreedom,securityandprosperityarerootedandsustained
bytheworld’sarmies.Allorganizationshavetheirowndistinctcharacters.Thisis
especiallytrueofarmieswhomorethanotherinstitutions,reflectnotonlytheirna-
tionalcharacterbutalsotheirowndistinguishingidiosyncrasies.Attheoutsetof
thetwenty-firstcenturytheworld’sarmiesarescatteredacrossthemilitaryspec-
truminaqualitativejumblewithatleastasmanyorganizationallydistinctarmies
as there are nations. Sadly, as institutions, the world’s armies have historically
never experienced an employment shortage. That may be changing. Not with-
standingtheterroristatrocitiesofSeptember11,2001,warsmayhavebecomea
lessfrequentscourgeinthiscenturythantheywereinthelast.Accordingtothe
StockholmPeaceResearchInstitutetherewereinthefirstyearofthenewmillen-
nium35warsragingintheworld.IfthestatisticssincetheendoftheColdWar
constituteanykindofatrend,thenumberofmajorconflictsintheworldisslowly
butsteadilyshrinking.Butinspiteofthis,itisdoubtfulthatweshalllivetoseewar
eradicatedinthesamemannerthatsmallpoxwaseliminatedearlierinthetwenti-
ethcentury.Nonetheless,forreasonsexaminedinthefinalchapterofthisbook,
thereisadistantpossibilitythatwarmaybecontainedanditseffectsgreatlydi-
minished.Butifthisistohappen,theworldmustunderstandthenatureofitsar-
miesaswellastheircurrentsocial,technologicalandpoliticalcontext.
Today’sarmiesrunthegamutinsophisticationandsize.Atoneextremeof
theorganizationalbandarearmiessuchasthosefoundintheCongo,littlemore
than primitive local militia forces protecting their tribal fields and villages with
spearsandmachetes.FurtheroutinthespectruminplacessuchastheSouthern
SudanilliteratebutenthusiasticpeasantvolunteerswithsurplusSovietequipment
wageamercilessandunyieldingwaragainsttheirNortherncounterparts.Inthe
jungles of Colombia well-equipped criminal paramilitary organizations stand
guard over the wilderness empires of drug dealers. From secret urban enclaves,