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Department of Defense changes its mission statement

jimmyjazz

By jimmyjazz
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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45884

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So, nothing to see here, or maybe it should give one pause?  The Department of Defense has altered its mission statement, which had remained unchanged for over 2 decades during the Presidencies of Clinton, Bush and Obama.  There was no announcement; apparently, it happened right after the New Year.

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Old Mission Statement:  "The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. "

New Mission Statement:  "The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide a lethal Joint Force to defend the security of our country and sustain American influence abroad."

 

Note the explicit mention of lethality along with the addition of the phrase "(to) sustain American influence abroad", and more tellingly, the elimination of the phrase "to deter war".  One could argue that it's unnecessary to add the word "lethal", but doing so hardly represents a change in policy.  All military forces strive to be lethal.  The emphasis on sustaining American influence abroad seems a bit more ominous.  Still, the United States has always meddled in everyone's business, so this just confirms that we will continue to do so, and perhaps with more force than wordplay.  But for me, the elimination of "to deter war" as a specific charge to the DoD is chilling.  It should be for everyone.

Carry on, it's just another day in the Newer World Order.

Task & Purpose

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bad_teammate

bad_teammate 13188

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12 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

Seems to me it’s just making explicit what has always been true. It’s only chilling if you believed the old mission statement wasn’t illusory.

Aspiring to be your best self dulls edges and has small, positive influences.

Defining yourself by your worst elements has the opposite effect.

This is one not-good thing in an ocean of not-good things, but just because we're being inundated with shit we shouldn't start pretending shit isn't shit.

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45884

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17 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

Seems to me it’s just making explicit what has always been true. It’s only chilling if you believed the old mission statement wasn’t illusory.

The DoD's mission was stated in part to deter war.  This removes that charge.  If that's "making explicit what has always been true" then you're essentially saying the old statement was not factual.  I don't buy that.

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formermav43

formermav43 4606

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11 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

The DoD's mission was stated in part to deter war.  This removes that charge.  If that's "making explicit what has always been true" then you're essentially saying the old statement was not factual.  I don't buy that.

For people who supposedly tried to deter war, we sure got in an awful lot of them. 

Edited by formermav43
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77horn

77horn 216

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Generally speaking, I think too much is made of mission statements.  But that being said....

I suspect the old "deter war" was a residual of MAD and the end of the cold war.  And was sort of an intent to the "meanest son of a bitch in the valley" that no one would fuck with.

I think the new statement is more of a recognition of new types of warfare, such as cyber and possibly other non-Army/Navy/Airforce types.  I suspect "lethal" was a more generic version of "military".  "Sustain American influence abroad" sounds like mealy mouthed stuff a committee would want.

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Considering we called it the Department of War for a century, this isn't a big deal.  shit, I think we tossed around the idea of "Department of Rape, Pillage, & Plunder" for a few years under JQA

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45884

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1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

All that and no mention of enriching and protecting the vested interests of the military industrial complex and the American-based international arms industry?

I know, right?  Opportunity wasted!

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RandomIdoit

RandomIdoit 655

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8 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I have no idea what those last 2 posts are referring to.

They eliminated the deter war part. I don't think that was ever the mission at all. At least now they are being honest about wanting to be in everyone's affairs.

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 45884

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11 minutes ago, RandomIdoit said:

They eliminated the deter war part. I don't think that was ever the mission at all. At least now they are being honest about wanting to be in everyone's affairs.

You do realize I started the thread, right?

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RandomIdoit

RandomIdoit 655

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32 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

You do realize I started the thread, right?

Yes. I was responding to ChiTownDoc's post. If anyone thought we wanted to deter war, it was because they were in denial, not because the mission statement said it. 

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