A Letter from the Field...

Abstract

This personal letter from a senior U.S. officer to his wife was discovered on a battlefield in the Ukraine on 16 May 2007. It was found in the divisional command post of the 1st Armored Division (U.S.) that had been overrun by Russian and Ukrainian forces during a counteroffensive against NATO forces and subsequently recaptured by U.S. troops. After U.S. forces recaptured the command post, one of the surviving soldiers from the 1st Armored Division described the final moments before the Russian attack. The headquarters was hit with an artillery barrage and the Commanding General was killed. The General's final premonition in his letter came to fruition as the Russians employed tactical nuclear weapons in the attack that saw a 25% casualty rate for the division -- over 3,500 soldiers perished. The letter remains as it was found -- incomplete, unsigned, and a lasting legacy to the careless and ill-conceived policies of the United States in the post-Cold War era. According to the author of this essay, the "General's letter" describes a scenario set in 2007 in which U.S. and Russian forces are in conflict. The seeds of this conflict are not set in 2007, but rather eight years before during a "post" post-Cold War period. According to the author, the nation has an unprecedented opportunity at this time (1999) to build a better world for future generations, but it is at a pivotal point. If the United States is not careful, it will sow the seeds for this fictitious conflict. Some have argued that the Weinberger-Powell doctrine is overly restrictive and that it reflects Cold War thinking. Perhaps, but the ultra-internationalism embodied in the Clinton-Albright doctrine is problematic as well. Could it be the time to develop a realistic doctrine for U.S. foreign policy that captures the idealist spirit on which this country was founded?

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1999
Accession Number
ADA444202

Entities

People

  • Daniel M. Gerstein

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Casualties
  • Cold War
  • Deployment
  • Doctrine
  • Foreign Policy
  • Human Rights
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Organizations
  • Military Strategy
  • National Security
  • Nato Forces
  • New York
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • International Relations and Conflict Resolution
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies