{"id":74335,"date":"2022-08-08T06:00:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T20:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=74335"},"modified":"2022-08-07T21:46:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-07T11:46:23","slug":"ten-rules-of-the-australian-way-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ten-rules-of-the-australian-way-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten rules of the Australian way of war"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

\u2018For a century, Australian leaders have been engaged in the war game. And just as a game has rules, there are rules for effectively playing the war leadership game.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2014 David Horner, The war game: Australian war leadership from Gallipoli to Iraq<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Examining how Australia decided to go to war nine times<\/a> in a span of nearly 90 years\u2014from 1914 to 2003\u2014the military historian David Horner distils 10 rules.<\/p>\n

The rules are short and sharp.<\/p>\n

Yet like the Bible\u2019s Ten Commandments, Horner\u2019s rules are simple only in their expression. What is asked for is the ultimate test of leaders and it\u2019s devilish in what it demands of the nation. Failure in this game is deadly.<\/p>\n

Embracing the \u2018cautious recommendations\u2019 of Horner\u2019s The war game<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>the former Labor leader and defence minister Kim Beazley observes: \u2018This is a book of lessons for Australian political leaders on managing wars. An analysis of actual performance against those lessons is humbling.\u2019<\/p>\n

After analysing Australian war leadership in the wars from Gallipoli to Iraq, Horner offers these rules.<\/p>\n

1. The war leader\u2019s most important decision is whether to commit the nation to war. <\/strong>In the First and Second World Wars, Horner writes, \u2018this decision was taken out of the hands of the Australian government\u2019. But in all the wars that followed, from Korea to Iraq, the decision to commit forces \u2018became increasingly controversial, raising questions about the process, and whether legislation should be introduced to ensure these decisions are taken by the parliament rather than the executive government\u2019.<\/p>\n

In an ASPI interview (audio below), Horner judges:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that perhaps there should be some limit on the power of the prime minister and the government to make these decisions. Because, as I said, these are the most important decisions. They result in deaths to Australians. Tragedy for the families. The financial cost to Australia. The cost to Australia\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n

If there was an emergency, the government has to have the capacity to react, straight away. But for so many of the commitments that we have made since the Second World War, it was not absolutely vital that we go into operations straight away, tomorrow. No. There was always a period of time. Maybe there\u2019s a political imperative with our allies to make an announcement. On the other hand, if we had delayed in so many of those commitments, would it have made the difference?<\/p>\n

That leads to the consideration, with these decisions being extremely important and far-reaching, whether there should be some mechanism by which the government has to put the decision to the people of Australia through the parliament.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2. War leaders determine the level and nature of the commitment.<\/strong> In the First World War, Horner writes, the decision was taken before the formal outbreak of the war. Robert Menzies\u2019s government was more cautious about this in 1939, while the decisions in Vietnam were incremental. During all the wars from Korea to Iraq, Horner observes, Australia has \u2018tried to keep the commitment as small as possible\u2019 while reaping the alliance benefits.<\/p>\n

3. The prime minister is not the source of all wisdom. <\/strong>\u2018Obviously, expert military advice is important, but so too is the advice of senior ministers with their specific responsibilities.\u2019<\/p>\n

4. The government must have confidence in its military commanders.<\/strong> In a democracy, Horner writes, \u2018war leadership involves the interaction between the political leaders and their top military advisers\u2019. And, he judges, there\u2019s \u2018no perfect model for the civil\u2013military relationship\u2019. The outstanding war leader Winston Churchill \u2018drove his military advisers to distraction, but in the end was loath to overrule them\u2019.<\/p>\n

5. Ensure that operations are conducted in accordance with government policy. <\/strong>\u2018A fundamental of effective war leadership is to ensure that the government\u2019s wishes are followed on the battlefield.\u2019<\/p>\n

6. Get access to allied strategic decision-making.<\/strong> \u2018Menzies and [John] Curtin struggled with this issue in the Second World War, and it persisted in the later wars. In the invasion of Iraq, the Australians detected that the plans for the subsequent post-invasion phase were deficient, but were unable to change them. The lesson for Australia is to remain constantly vigilant, and a prime task for war leaders is to manage Australia\u2019s role in the alliance.\u2019<\/p>\n

7. Australia must gather its own intelligence.<\/strong> Don\u2019t rely on the big alliance partner for all the facts, interpretation and understanding. The message for Australia\u2019s leaders, Horner writes, \u2018is not just the need to have effective diplomatic and intelligence agencies, but also for the government to listen to them\u2019.<\/p>\n

8. Manage the politics. <\/strong>The power of Australia\u2019s prime minister to wage war depends on their power in parliament. Billy Hughes split Labor over conscription in World War I. In World War II, Menzies fell as prime minister because he \u2018failed to manage the politics of his own party in 1941,\u2019 Horner writes. \u2018It is just as important to deal with the politics within the party as to deal with the Opposition. [Bob] Hawke understood this as he sought to deal with his party critics in the Gulf War. [John] Howard managed the Coalition\u2019s politicians superbly and gave the Opposition little capacity to manoeuvre in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq.\u2019<\/p>\n

9. Manage the media. <\/strong>Tough censorship and tight control of newspapers worked during the two world wars. Since then, speaking to the voters depends on versions of media \u2018management\u2019.<\/p>\n

10. War leadership will always take place in an environment of uncertainty.<\/strong> In this game, the other side plays as it wants, and can make its own rules. \u2018Intelligence assessments can usually determine an enemy\u2019s or potential enemy\u2019s capabilities, but they are less certain about actual intentions.\u2019<\/p>\n

The 10 rules of Australia\u2019s way of war act as guide, not law. Here\u2019s my interview with David Horner on the rules.<\/p>\n\nhttps:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Horner-Ten-rules-of-war-FINAL.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018For a century, Australian leaders have been engaged in the war game. And just as a game has rules, there are rules for effectively playing the war leadership game.\u2019 \u2014 David Horner, The war game: …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":74339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,17,66,239],"class_list":["post-74335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-defence-force","tag-australia","tag-history","tag-warfare"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTen rules of the Australian way of war | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/ten-rules-of-the-australian-way-of-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ten rules of the Australian way of war | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018For a century, Australian leaders have been engaged in the war game. 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