The Pentagon's Wars: The Military's Undeclared War Against America's Presidents Hardcover – October 24, 2017

Thought provoking. Highly recommended.

A new perspective on national decision making.

Anyone who pays attention to military affairs will be aware of the tensions that exist not only between military leaders and their civilian overseers, but also between the Pentagon and the functioning military. This book is less concerned with field action than military advocacy and (lack of) visionary leadership, focused as it is on the interactions and conflicts between our presidents and the Pentagon.These figures are often people one's never heard of -- but they profoundly effect American history. Perry's book is dense with detail, observation and insight. It's impossible to read this and not look at the civilian-military relationship anew. Part biography, part history, Perry discusses the impact of policy and legislation as well as personality; we get to know the men who have shaped our conflicts, both internal and external, military, political, strategic and philosophical.The prologue focuses on two impactful policy shifts: the Revolution in Military Affairs of the 1970s and the Goldwater-Nichols reorganization of 1986 -- and the man who would preside over the implementation of both, William Crowe, who would later express concern over the US's role as the world's only superpower. He worried that the military would not find (or heed) visionary leaders and that the US would overreach, attempting to shape the world in ways it deemed advantageous or desirable, i.e. nation building. Crowe felt the ultimate victory was one in which there was no actual fighting.Unfortunately Crowe's warnings went unheeded. The Pentagon's Wars is Perry's attempt to determine why, instead, the US has entered into a string of interventions, actions and wars that often worked against our national strategic interests, and he does so by examining the conflicts and tensions between military and civilian leaders, beginning with Crowe's retirement and Operation Desert Storm, and ending with the conclusion of Obama's second term. (The epilogue does briefly discuss the Trump administration's reliance on generals in key positions.)The personalities involved are fascinating and, in light of current events, the chapter on James Mattis is especially interesting.The epilogue observes that the US is currently engaged in "more wars in more countries, and with less success, than at any time since WW2", and the author names as the 'original sin' the decision, under GHW Bush, to stand down as Saddam Hussein's military slaughtered the people of southern Iraq. Also problematic is America's ill-defined 'war on terrorism' and our recent determination to engage in nation building.Perry notes that in the last election military leaders tended to endorse Clinton while the rank-and-file, disenchanted with nation building and leary of Hillary's liberal interventionism, voted overwhelmingly for Trump. Perhaps more important, both candidates inserted the military into their campaigns and conventions. This politicization of the military does not bode well for the US.While outside the focus of this book a companion guide to the *business* and profitability of war is also essential to our understanding of how we got where we are -- and how to escape this cycle of endless intervention and the determined and persistent squandering of our blood and treasure. It would also be complemented by a volume on the history of diplomacy covering the same time period.This is a rich, fascinating account of the politics of war and the relations between the military and its civilian leaders. I highly recommend it, particularly in light of the key positions currently held by generals Mattis as secretary of defense, McMaster as national security advisor, Dunford as JCS chair and Kelly, originally as secretary of homeland security and now White House chief of staff -- none of whom, despite their virtues, seem to adhere to William Crowe's philosophy of restraint in leadership.

“The Pentagon’s Wars” by Mark Perry offers a highly-informed perspective on America’s floundering national security state. Mr. Perry is a well-connected Washington insider who has written 30 years about the Pentagon. This incredibly perceptive, authoritative and astute book will enlighten nearly everyone seeking greater insight into the past thirty years of America’s ill-advised military adventures.To be clear, Mr. Perry’s focus is on specific points of friction between American politics and the Pentagon. This means that Colin Powell’s pushback against president Clinton on the issue of gays in the military is discussed; whereas Powell’s infamous presentation at the United Nations in support of president George H. W. Bush’s war on Iraq is not.In fact, Powell comes off very badly. Mr. Perry documents a military establishment that was out-of-step with the times when Clinton became commander in chief. Powell’s decision to resist a more inclusive rank and file definitively casts him on the wrong side of history. Meanwhile, Clinton’s focus on the well-being of the troops, a more calibrated use of the military to solve problems in a complex world, and a focus on counterterrorism might have been a template for future success if the presidency didn’t subsequently fall into such incapable hands.Mr. Perry writes about the Pentagon’s misgivings about Bush’s calamitous decision to attack Iraq in the wake of 9/11. It was well-known that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with terrorism but the debate was confined within the Pentagon. The military establishment failed to forcefully speak truth to power, choosing instead to follow orders and walk America into disaster. On that point, we learn how Donald Rumsfeld bullied dissenters and forced the under-manned war to proceed with no exit strategy.In the chapters that follow, the author goes on to intelligently discuss the Obama presidency, the so-called ‘surge’ in Iraq, influential leaders such as David Petraeus, the Syrian conflict, and more; concluding with the election of Donald Trump.Mr. Perry concludes that America’s so-called war on terror has created more problems than it has solved. Going forward, the author hopes that Pentagon leaders will find the courage to speak up when lives are put in harm’s way for ill-defined purposes. However, given the evidence provided by this exceptionally well-documented book, such hopes may be misplaced.I have one criticism. Mr. Perry opens the book with the claim that the extraordinary arms buildup of the 1980s was never really meant to be used: it was only meant to intimidate the Soviet Union. Perhaps, but this badly misses the reality that military hardware purchases are an institutionalized form of corporate welfare that will inevitably be pressed into service for empire. To be blunt, Mr. Perry is not Noam Chomsky. American hegemony depends on the frequent demonstration of power, and the fact of 11 foreign interventions in twenty years irrefutably proves the point.So, although I am certain the author intended otherwise, what this book proves is that the American military doesn’t just need better leadership. The military simply needs to be drastically downsized. The temptation to use such extraordinary power must be put out of reach. We cannot afford to squander the nation’s wealth on militant misadventures when we need to repair a badly stressed society, economy and environment - but that’s a discussion for another book, of course.I highly recommend this important book to everyone.