Mr. Smith Speaks...

 At Larry's blog:

The primary purpose of war is the destruction of the enemy’s ability to resist. That is a long process – weapons and ammunition destroyed, supply routes blocked, war production stopped, political will broken. And it’s a bloody process – the enemy’s soldiers must be killed or maimed. Clausewitz –

Fighting is the central military act… The object of fighting is the destruction or defeat of the enemy… Direct annihilation of the enemy’s forces must always be the dominant consideration.

Why “dominant consideration”? Simple – once you have destroyed the enemy’s power, you can do anything you want. Take territory without destroying power? Not so good. One may wonder whether this is understood at West Point given the number of TV generals who say Russia is losing because it’s given up territory and was “defeated” in Kiev. Don’t they remember that the US took Kabul and Baghdad quite early? That didn’t end either of those wars, did it?

Yes, this fabled Clausewitzian "compelling the enemy to do our will"(c). Or, as Generalissimo Stalin stated:"If the enemy doesn't surrender--it is annihilated", quoting Maxim Gorky from his 1930 article in Izvestia about class struggle. Stalin used this quote in February 23, 1942 Order #55 for Red Army. Very appropriate and very... Clausewitz. Read the whole thing at Larry's blog, including his excellent review of the "Dirty Dozen" concept:

Count me amused by the Westerners voicing shock and outrage over the fact that Russia is using a group of former convicts to help fight the new Nazis in Ukraine. This was not Putin’s unique idea. He obviously is a Lee Marvin fan:

In relation to Mozart Group, however, it has to be understood that they can teach very little to VSU since it is absolutely unique truly modern continental war and it is beyond the experiences of the American military. I want to stress--I am not talking about some tweaking of the Field Manuals, I am talking about a completely new approach to the opponent which in some crucial types of weaponry--Air Defense, Stand Off Weapons and EW is simply better, sometimes much better that the US military itself. Per Rogozin's wound--I hope he learned his lesson of not celebrating his birthday in the front-line city filled with Kiev's regime sympathizers and intel assets. He can "congratulate" himself now with the fact that, while he was lightly wounded, a few people, including his security guard, got killed. This IS the difference between military and intel professionals and, however smart, civilian leadership. Professionals would never do what Rogozin did, because they are honed and "endeared" to the idea that their professions are ones of the closest to death and probability of being killed, especially in operational and combat zones is very high. Now he learned, I hope.