opinionWar

Dont Bring Back the Powell Doctrine

If you ever served in the military or elsewhere in America’s security establishment, you will, like me, have experienced many of the same conversations on foreign or military affairs as if they are running in a time loop. They are often variations on themes.

“Thanks for your service,” an elder male says to me after our brief introduction. “I never served, but today, in today’s world, I tell you, Colin Powell had it right. We need to go in with overwhelming force and end this now and forever.”

“You mean nukes?” I ask. He swirls the remaining wine in his glass and I do the same. This time it happens to be in a wine bar in downtown Truckee, California.

“Not nukes,” he fires back. We disengage and float away—sailing around the room.

 

The Real Powell Doctrine

The Powell Doctrine is continuously suggested to me by nonmilitary types as a solution to many of America’s national security problems. Usually these people are just angry and often non-militarist. I believe their support or belief in the rectitude of the full application of America’s war machine to the latest conflict, no matter how small or large would surely wane if it ever became more than just idle talk in a bar. They believe in an imagined Powell Doctrine.

In brief, the Powell Doctrine calls for:

  1. Clear political objectives;
  2. no mission creep;
  3. the use of force as a last resort;
  4. the employment of overwhelming military force only to secure vital interests;
  5. no restraint on military operations by political leadership;
  6. establishment of political support prior to military intervention;
  7. immediate withdrawal after victory in accordance with a pre-designed exit strategy, and;
  8. building broad support by the American people.

Unfortunately, the imagined Powell Doctrine often is parsed down by people talking in bars to only two points, namely overwhelming military force and freedom from civilian political control. This leaves out the majority of what the doctrine calls for—and also the parts that were left out when considering going to war in Iraq in 2003. That did not turn out well.

The Powell Doctrine is a pair of zip-lock handcuffs when it comes to dealing with threats such as terrorism. It sets us up to be either “all in or all out.” It holds that we must either commit the full of our national might and energies to war or do nothing at all.

The problem is that the Powell Doctrine is a pair of zip-lock handcuffs when it comes to dealing with threats such as terrorism and insurgencies today. It sets us up to be either “all in or all out.” We must either commit the full of our national might and energies to a war or we should do nothing at all. When going down the doctrine’s checklist, it is quite difficult to see how America could ever prosecute a “War on Terror” or fully engage groups such as ISIS. The conditions that would have to be satisfied to justify war are too high. Some would consider such high barriers to military action desirable; others see it as foolish.

Conflict in today’s world largely consists of angry individuals, such as Ottawa attacker Michael Zihaf-Bibeau; ideologically dedicated fighters in small cells or forces, such as the Kouachi-Coulibaly group in Paris, and; continuous conflict with transnational non-state actors, such as al Qaeda and ISIS. The massive, superior, and violent nature of the U.S. military and America’s preponderance of force means that any state, organization, or small group must adopt asymmetric strategies and tactics because facing America head on is not an option.

The kind of war that the Powell Doctrine was envisioned to justify or limit America to are not the kind that America’s foes are willing or able to fight. If America followed the Powell Doctrine, no war fought today would be justified. For some, keeping the U.S. from going to war by erecting high barriers is what they want. Others recognize that the world is still a dangerous place and while peace is always preferable to war, threats must be confronted and peace should not come at any cost. You do not always get to pick what kind of war you fight.

The Powell Doctrine, promoted by some as Clausewitzian, is in fact anti-Clausewitzian. It provides a rigid doctrine which goes against the Claus