Small Wars Journal

QDR Draft Out of the Closet?

Thu, 01/28/2010 - 2:54pm
Via Abu Muqawama - draft QDR leaked via Inside Defense... Big news in defense policy circles. A draft of the QDR has been leaked to Inside Defense...

Unclassified//Fouo

Comments

Bob's World

Sat, 01/30/2010 - 1:11am

Read page 12 to see that the "Good Cold Warriors" are alive and well in the Pentagon.

I have no real problem with the list of "America's Enduring Interests", other than the one on "values" which essentially says "think like us, or else"; but then it goes on to say we developed a great system for securing these interests over 60 years of Cold War leadership, so that is the model for future succes that we need to protect; and we'll build and employ a military to protect that Cold War model.

News flash to Senior DOD officials: It is our enduring national interests that are important, not the methods we employed to preserve them in an anomalistic era that is long over. Also, US values are just that, US values. It is arrogance in the extreme to assume them to be a global model that we have a duty to impose on others. Principles? Absolutely. But "values" are principles with a judgment applied to them, and nobody likes to be judged.

We have missed an opportunity in QDR to look at HOW we go about doing things; and instead focused on WHAT we need to continue to keep things the way we want them to be, using the techniques that we have employed for 60 years.

Hopefully this document sparks a debate, and that debate is allowed to occur. If instead it is seen as stone tablets carved by the hand of God, we are in for a rough ride.

From speaking to someone today, they stated that the final copy that hits the street on Tues. is somewhat different, esp wrt AFPAK hands. Should be interesting to see the reaction once it is official.