The Era of “Persistent Conflict”

Just what hawks, defense establishment, were looking for and succeeded in creating. One needs to enhance the hatreds to create more and long lasting enemies, the young who grow up within the occupations of death, destruction and terror waged all around them and those living in the regions or related anywhere else by ideological beliefs, heritage or ancestry. They also gave their once good friend exactly what he wanted, or so it was stated by them, to bring down the western nations.

War on Terror Promises Era of Persistent Conflict

The era of “persistent conflict,” as the U.S. Army describes it, may redefine the meaning of “victory” on the battlefield.

The phrase "persistent conflict" has become a subject of speculation in both military and civilian circles, as America's commitment to Iraq winds down, Afghanistan promises to draw down troops in July, and a new combat mission in Libya is under way. (MC2 Edwin L. Wriston/DefenseImagery.mil)

April 29, 2011 - Struggling to wind down the longest war in American history, retiring Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. lobbed a bomb. He described a future rife with “persistent conflict.” The phrase, which was long studied and carefully forged over several years by the Pentagon, has become a subject of speculation in both military and civilian circles, as America’s commitment to Iraq winds down, Afghanistan promises to draw down troops in July, and a new combat mission in Libya is under way, roiling the already tumultuous Middle East.

(Having fulfilled his three-year commitment, Casey stepped down on April 10, 2011, and was replaced by General Martin E. Dempsey, the commanding general at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.)

The term represents a link in a chain of events that began in 1973 with the creation of an all-volunteer military. Less than 20 years later, those volunteers had evolved into a well-oiled professional fighting machine, able to project power anywhere around the globe.

The bloodbath in the Balkans gave rise to a second link, when the U.S. contributed troops and aircraft to separate the warring factions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Large numbers of private contractors were hired to support the military. Those numbers multiplied in Iraq and Afghanistan, as more and more of the military’s capabilities were privatized. Without professionals and privatization, “persistent conflict” would be unlikely.

In hindsight, the nation may have been preparing for a future of “persistent conflict” since Bosnia in 1995. A one-year commitment in the Balkans ended nine years later in 2004, overlapping two other wars.

Casey began talking publicly about “persistent conflict” in an August 2007 speech before the National Press Club in Washington. His new job had begun that April as a presidential campaign ramped up and the situation in Iraq wound down.

During the first month at his desk, Casey saw four bombings in Baghdad kill 198 people. That same April, a suicide bomber entered the Iraqi Parliament building, killing one representative and wounding 22. The attack had taken place “inside the wire,” in the fortress-like Green Zone that held the American embassy, the Iraqi government and all of the major news bureaus. {continued}