Technology Doesn't Win Wars

Last Thursday, during the Thanksgiving broadcast of the Packers-Lions game, John Madden expressed his admiration of and appreciation for those men and women who serve in our armed forces, even saying, “What we’re doing here is a game, what they’re doing there [in Afghanistan] is real.” How right he was.

A few days ago, Marines landed for the first time in Afghanistan, joining special forces units already on the ground and Northern Alliance fighters who have been there, obviously, for years.

Now is when it starts to get dangerous.

But for all the talk about how the American military, and especially the Navy, now has a long arm and can reach anywhere in the world, it still takes people on the ground to win a war. Technology, for all of its destructive power, is still just a tool. People fly planes (and on that note, I still haven’t seen a compelling argument for an all-unmanned air wing), push buttons, drive ships, squeeze triggers, and most importantly, think. No war has ever been won by bombing alone. Not World War II, Vietnam, Desert Storm, or the Balkans, and air power alone won’t win this one.

We began our air campaign with the strength of two carrier air wings (approximately 140 aircraft) and their escort ships, and whatever Army and Air Force units were shipped over. Our air superiority was never really challenged. I doubt that anyone believed it would be. (Another note to those who think big carriers are outdated: it takes aircraft to combat other aircraft with any consistency.)

Since then, we have pounded, blasted, destroyed and otherwise expended tons of ordnance on various bases, compounds, front lines and the occasional radio tower (sorry ‘bout that al-Jazeera, not!). But what did that do? Only what all air operations do. Softened up the enemy… okay… it softened up the enemy a lot.

Once the Northern Alliance felt safe enough, though, it started moving. Sure, we could level every city in Afghanistan, destroy every cave, tent and hovel, but that still wouldn’t do anything to get rid of those people left on the ground that are the targets of these operations. It takes people to push out people. The Northern Alliance was losing the civil war in Afghanistan because it didn’t have enough people, not because it didn’t have airplanes. When we started removing the obstacles preventing them from moving, they started taking territory back, and in the last few days, taking it in large chunks.

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