Fighting with one hand tied: constraints on force in the Post Cold War era.

There has been much debate in recent years over constraints on military force in wartime. American civil-military relations are based on civilian control of the military. Concerns over how that control is exercised, however, fuel the debate. Concerns center around fears that political factors will interfere with how the military prosecutes the war. The genesis of these fears lies in the perceptions that political constraints tied the military's hands unnecessarily in Vietnam, contributing to the loss of the war. This monograph examines the role of the Vietnam War in shaping how policy makers and the military view the military use of force and the relationship between military force and the policy it supports. The Gulf War and the U.S. intervention in Somalia offer perspectives from both ends of the limited war spectrum on how political factors impact on military operations in the post-Cold War era. The paper concludes that military force is not likely to be constrained significantly by political considerations when combat is expected. A more significant impact occurs when military operations other than war escalate into combat operations. In general, however, events since the Vietnam War have built a greater degree of cooperation and trust between the military and its civilian leadership. A careful analysis and understanding of national security objectives allows the military to plan and execute missions within self-imposed limits on force, preempting policy constraints and their impact on military operations.