Military Commanders

Paper Summary:

This paper, using as a guide Bob Woodward's book "The Commander's," analyzes the actions of the President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and several federal agencies responsible for managing National Security during the escalation towards hostilities in Panama and Southwest Asia. It includes an analysis of how effective the decision-makers were during the planning, execution and oversight periods of these operations and discusses whether they communicated visions, involved all available experts for consultation and whether they offered several options to aid in their critical decision making.

From the Paper:

"Before any public statement or initiative by the President, General Colin Powell asked General Norman Schwarzkopf, the Commander of Central Command, to draft a two-tiered plan for possible U.S. responses to any Iraqi move against Kuwait. The first tier was what U.S Forces could do to immediately retaliate against Iraq; the second was what the United States might do defensively to stop any further Iraqi movement. Simultaneously, coordination at the JCS-CINC level had already began while CENTCOM initiated the formal Crisis Planning process. As the diplomatic chess game ensued, the practical aspects of what was needed began to surface presenting the leadership with several challenges and decisions to make. For example, General Schwarzkopf said it would take 17 weeks to get the full deterrence piece of Plan 90-1002- totaling some 200,000 to 250,000 Army, Navy, Airforce, and Marines-into the region."

More papers on Military Commanders:

• Essay # 73174 : "The Evolution Of U.S. Military Communications"
• Book Review # 68997 : "The Commanders"
• Analytical Essay # 141428 : "Evolution of The Canadian Military"

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