Originally Posted by ijusluvit

Obviously the military experts could go on ad nausiam about the the wars in history and our current world, but the intent of this thread was to suggest only that conventional warfare is now obsolete as a US national defense strategy.

Because of geography and wealth, we have the early warning and defensive systems to ward off wholesale attacks from other nations. When and where there might be incursions, my point is that we can far more effectively address them through good intelligence and targeted assaults, rather than large air and ground invasions.

The tragic failure to recognize this shift is the cause of our dilemmas in Iraq and Afghanistan. The strategy now employed by the Obama administration, while drawing down those two massive efforts, it less costly in every respect, and, in my opinion, in almost every case, the only justifiable aggressive strategy we should employ. If we are to commit to this course for the near future, while maintaining a strong back up armed forces, we will be able to effectively defend ourselves with a significantly smaller defense budget and sharp reduction in the loss of life and injury to our troops.