Shock and Awe — Achieving Rapid DominanceUllman, Harlan
History
Shock and Awe — Achieving Rapid Dominance
Ullman, Harlan
Rapid dominance (Military science)
We should also learn from other states who have demonstrated effective
application of the characteristics of Rapid Dominance. Israel's rout
of Syria's air force and missile defenses in Lebanon's Baaka Valley
shows how dramatic success can have political spillover. On the other
hand, Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor produced the reverse
effects of Shock and Awe and had the unintended consequence of
galvanizing the U.S. into action.
Even without a Rapid Dominance capability or when facing a more
technologically dependent opponent, it is clear from these examples
and many others in recent U.S. experiences that certain improvements
in capabilities would provide us with greater flexibility in the
future. This is especially true in OOTW situations, which require a
multiplicity of effective instruments at our disposal. It is also true
that certain operations such as peacekeeping tend to be manpower
intensive.
If we are to stay ahead of an adversary and deny things of value to
that adversary, dynamic, accurate, and integrated intelligence is
essential. Intelligence needs to move to levels unprecedented in
scope, timeliness, accuracy, and availability in real time. The Gulf
War, despite its success, showed classic limitations in intelligence.
Even though we had nearly every intelligence asset designed to deal
with the USSR available for use, we were unable to detect the full
extent of Iraq's WMD capability; unable to find mobile missile
launchers even with a major expenditure of on-scene assets; in some
cases, we could only "see" kilometers in front of our advancing
forces; and we mistakenly attacked targets we thought were legitimate
but had civilians inside. In some instances, only reliable human
intelligence may provide the necessary information (for example, in
order to understand what is happening in deep underground facilities).
Another important capability we should try to achieve in the future is
the ability to intimidate, capture, convince, or significantly
influence the perceptions and understanding of individual
troublemakers. This need has been demonstrated repeatedly in recent
years (e.g., Gadhafi in Libya, Aideed in Somalia, Saddam Hussein in
Iraq, Noreiga in Panama). Such a perception is particularly relevant
when the problem appears not to be caused by a unified population but
by the ambitions of individual leaders who have intimidated or killed
off any likely internal opposition. Such a capability requires
effective real-time intelligence and a variety of methods for
accomplishing the task (from exceptionally precise weapons to
effective "snatch" operations).
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