Arabian Gulf Maritime Interception Operations: Balancing the Ends, Ways, Means and Risks.

Abstract

Abstract : Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Central Command (USCINCCENT) is tasked by the National Command Authorities with producing a military condition that will lead to the strategic goal of Iraq complying with U.N. Security Council Resolutions. Through the application of joint doctrine and operational art, USCINCCENT has determined that the military condition that will produce this strategic goal is an effective maritime interception operation in Support of economic sanctions imposed on Iraq by the Security Council. However, USCINCCENT cannot produce this condition because the ends, ways, means, and risks of the operation cannot be balanced. Further, given the prevailing and ever changing political and social environment in Iraq, there is no military condition that can be produced that can effectively enforce economic sanctions designed to compel Iraq to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions. However, the primacy of politics in military operations other than war and the credibility of the U.N. Security Council dictate that the NCA task USCINCCENT to continue sanctions enforcement efforts in spite of the shortcomings. Successful operations are those where the ends, ways, means, and risks of the use of military force can be balanced. The NCA must acknowledge that this balance includes both political and social dimensions, and that military force alone rarely achieves the strategic goal. In all operations, and particularly in military operations other than war, operational commanders must acknowledge the primacy of political objectives at every level of war and the balance between military operations and political objectives. An analysis of Arabian Gulf Maritime Interception Operations demonstrates that unless balance is achieved across the broad spectrum of military, political, and social conditions, the operational commander will not be able to produce a military condition that allows the NCA to achieve its strategic goal.