An Immolation Tale

clipped from fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com Secretary of Defense Robert Gates tells the Marine Corps association about his most embarrassing moment -- it has to do with Nixon, the Pope and a cigar -- then moves to a more serious topic: what America is doing right and needs to do better, in the War on Terror. First the cigar. For the next 10 minutes or so, I’d like to offer some thoughts on where our military – and our government – must apply the lessons that we’ve learned from the ongoing conflicts to build the capabilities we will need in the future. These points are clear:  Our military must be prepared to undertake the full spectrum of operations including unconventional or irregular campaigns – for the foreseeable future.  The non-military instruments of America’s national power need to be rebuilt, modernized, and committed to the fight. And third, we must think about, envision, and plan for, the world, the future – of 2020 and beyond. All of these points will be familiar to the readers of this site.