Clausewitz and the Gulf War

The U.S. victory in the Gulf War was extraordinary. Armed forces have rarely achieved such a great victory at such low costs. How did the United States achieve such a low-cost victory? One reason for the victory lies in the United States' tremendous technological advantages, which allowed it to destroy what it wanted when it wanted. Another reason was that Saddam inexplicably waited for the United States to take action -- the United States had the initiative. These are important reasons for the victory, but the author believes that one of the principal reasons the United States won was its ability to think about war better than the Iraqis. Without good thinking, the best technology and the most capable men are useless -- perfunctory cogs in the machine of wartime violence. Theory provides a conceptual framework and an intellectual path for thinking about politics and war. One theorist in particular had a significant influence on the use of the military instrument in the Persian Gulf War: Clausewitz. U.S. military strategists adapted some of Clausewitz's important theories to the modern age and used them to plan political and military activities in the Gulf War.