Word: clearing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Nonetheless, it is becoming increasingly clear that U.S. power has distinct limits, which must be better recognized than in the past. That power, often with absurd reliance on technology, is badly suited to guerrilla warfare, as in Viet Nam. It cannot be used to keep balky allies in line, as Russia did in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, because American values and politics would not permit it. It is unsuitable for ready use against mischiefmakers, whether in North Korea or Peru, because heavy ripostes to such irritations usually entail intolerable military or political risks...
Certainly neither the U.S. military nor U.S. militarism could be blamed for Korea, which was a clear case of Communist attack. The Truman Administration had been in the process of reducing military forces before the war started. After Korea, most high-ranking U.S. officers, including Douglas Mac-Arthur, opposed any future involvement in an Asian land war. The philosophy of the "Never Again Club" dominated planning through the Kennedy years...
What the military needs most of all is clear guidance from civilian supervisors?both on Capitol Hill and in the White House?as to its role in the '70s. It has not always been forthcoming. If there is uncertainty about U.S. interests and intentions in Asia or Europe or the Middle East, if there is coasting on old assumptions that may no longer be valid, the military could occupy the vacuum by fashioning its own, probably parochial policy. Ironically, a retreat from its world responsibilities could be as dangerous for American society as an excess of interventionist zeal...
...nations' security affairs." The result, Wheeler believes, is that "Americans feel like saying 'Let everyone take care of themselves. We have done it long enough for them.' " Another cause of disquiet, he concedes, is the fact that "Viet Nam has gone on so long" with no clear-cut outcome. "This frustration is why people are hitting out at the nearest hitching post, much as the students strike at the universities when that is really not what they're mad at." The staggering cost of modern armament is a further cause of discontent, Wheeler says. "An ICBM...
...gray-haired old soldier, rejected the ultimatum as an "unacceptable threat." But Dubček, the unhappy compromiser, sensed the gravity of the crisis and gave the Soviets his pledge. Said one Czechoslovak who attended the meeting: "It was a cold, tough session, with the Russians making it clear that they would not tolerate any squirming out of their demands...