http://astropolitics.org/blog1/2007/02/06/more-troops-less-support-is-bad-strategy/ Dr Dolman's place in cyberspace Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:31:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 http://astropolitics.org/blog1/2007/02/06/more-troops-less-support-is-bad-strategy/#comment-6 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:52:55 +0000 http://astropolitics.org/blog1/2007/02/06/more-troops-less-support-is-bad-strategy/#comment-6 more of a response to the comment than to the blog because I have not had the chance to read the article it is based on, but to claim that Dolman’s response does not take into account the 4000 years of military history is inaccurate. Think about the relative costs of the the same military units in the middle ages, or the classical age…It has always cost more to build sea units and fleets than it has to create the same number of ground forces. I’m no expert but I can only imagine nations have had this same argument for the length of history. Should I invest in many many cheap weapons (i.e. conscripts, modern infantry) or few expensive ones? (knights, modern airplanes). One could even extend the analogy all the way, stating that the knights were defeated by cheap weapons (bowmen, and infantry), and that our impressive modern weapons largely invulnerable to “real warfare” may be defeated by insurgents, and terrorists, which are cheap and with the proliferation of AK-47s and IEDs still lethal. more of a response to the comment than to the blog because I have not had the chance to read the article it is based on, but to claim that Dolman’s response does not take into account the 4000 years of military history is inaccurate. Think about the relative costs of the the same military units in the middle ages, or the classical age…It has always cost more to build sea units and fleets than it has to create the same number of ground forces. I’m no expert but I can only imagine nations have had this same argument for the length of history. Should I invest in many many cheap weapons (i.e. conscripts, modern infantry) or few expensive ones? (knights, modern airplanes). One could even extend the analogy all the way, stating that the knights were defeated by cheap weapons (bowmen, and infantry), and that our impressive modern weapons largely invulnerable to “real warfare” may be defeated by insurgents, and terrorists, which are cheap and with the proliferation of AK-47s and IEDs still lethal.

]]> http://astropolitics.org/blog1/2007/02/06/more-troops-less-support-is-bad-strategy/#comment-5 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:52:02 +0000 http://astropolitics.org/blog1/2007/02/06/more-troops-less-support-is-bad-strategy/#comment-5 I see this thread as way too presentist. There are 4000 years of military history out there and all you care about is what happened in the last year or two. I see this thread as way too presentist. There are 4000 years of military history out there and all you care about is what happened in the last year or two.

]]>