Afghanistan Spin Machine (Updated)

Spin Machine by Major William B. Taylor, Armed Forces Journal. BLUF:

“The coalition is desperate to demonstrate success in any form in order to generate momentum for continued political and economic support for the war. After 10 years of war and little to show for it, the military wants to prove that it can still “win.” Unfortunately, because the military is the junior partner to the civilian leadership in civil-military relations, it has little choice but to approach missions with a can-do attitude and to spin events positively. The alternative of pessimism would be unthinkable.”

Update: Also see Ghost in the Spin Machine by Carl Prine at Line of Departure. BLUF:

… Taylor’s “Spin Machine” wasn’t published in Joint Forces Quarterly or any of the military’s periodicals.  Instead, it appeared in Gannett’s Armed Forces Journal and so far seems to have barely elicited a chirp across the blogosphere.

That’s a shame, because Taylor’s often eloquent argument is equal parts Paul Yingling (another AFJ alum ) , Gian Gentile (ibid ) , H.R. McMaster and Gregory Daddis , part of a crucial and continuing tradition of sharp criticism directed at the highest levels of the Army bureaucracy by its junior intellectuals…