La révolution pour Moby Dick, selon Ullman

La révolution pour Moby Dick, selon Ullman

L’influent analyste Harlan K. Ullman, proche de l’Atlantic Council et dont on cite régulièrement les commentaires, ajoute ses propres réflexions sur la crise interne (budgétaire notamment) du Pentagone. Il juge cette crise pressante, relayant à cet égard l'avis de l'amiral Mullen, et il estime qu'elle nécessite des révisions absolument radicales.

Le texte est sur UPI, relayé par SpaceWar.com, du 1er septembre 2010. Nous citons la partie comprenant les propositions de Ullman, après qu’il ait détaillé et rappelé les conditions de la situation explosive du Pentagone, dit Moby Dick.

«…However, if we are to keep a modern, well-trained professional military, tough, unpalatable and even Draconian measures are needed.

»“Out-of-the-box,” and even radical, thinking to unearth fresh ideas is essential and probably unlikely. The fact is that budget and economic realities mean that we may have to reduce the size of the Defense Department by one-quarter to one-third or more over the coming years, something that is already happening in the United Kingdom. The political opposition to such steps will be thermonuclear.

»What is needed is a strategy based on a new foundation. The first pillar is maintaining a highly professional yet smaller military. The second is finding a 21st-century equivalent of mobilization.

»Within this smaller active duty force of perhaps 1 million, some part, say around one-quarter to one-third, would be in “cadre” or modified lower condition of readiness “stand down” status with the ability to return to full active service in 6 to 9 months.

»To gain this capacity, exploiting the "knowledge revolution" with distance learning and other techniques is essential to educating and training the total force. We will no doubt buy fewer numbers of very capable and expensive systems (and drive up unit costs dramatically with the attendant political debate). Hence, applying funds selectively for keeping not a “warm” but a “tepid” industrial base may become a necessity.

»The Pentagon arguably faces its most serious post World War II fiscal crisis at a time when our enemies are in some ways more dangerous, clever and less affected by our arms, no matter how brilliantly used. In this environment we must think rather than spend our way clear of danger. Otherwise, the dreaded post-Vietnam “hollow force” could seem favorable in comparison.»

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