devry his415 week 4 discussions

Week 4 discnn

Limited war as an ideology depended on a number of assumptions that limited what results could be achieved at the practical level.

The standing rules of engagement (ROE) were the practical expression of limited war ideology at the battlefield command and execution level. Think expansively and generatively about the impact of limited war ideology and then discuss these questions with other students:

• Within the concept of limited war, what would constitute the "winning" of the Vietnam War?

• What sort of successful outcomes would measure the win?

• How would we ever know if we had won it?

And then, what was the glue that held the lmited war concept together with all its difficulties of thought and application?

The Vietnam War was often described as a "formless war" and a "frontless war." It resembled no other war in history as seen by military theorists and historians.

Thinking expansively, what sorts of assumptions needed to be made and what sorts of values had to be honored in order to make such a formless and frontless war even possible – let alone sustainable? Discuss that issue within our classroom to understand the impact of that situation fully before we discuss what sort of tactics could be effective there.

Be thinking ahead a few days as this discussion evolves; be clear in your mind what sort of activities are described by words such as "strategy," "tactics," "logistics," and “attrition."