Is a Rational Defense Policy Possible?

Fifty-three American fighter planes were lost in the effort before the Thanh Hoa Bridge in Vietnam was finally destroyed by a guided missile. Complex-weapon enthusiasts readily cite such episodes when pressing Congress and the public for sophisticated hardware. “What they rarely add,” writes James Fallows, “is that this technical achievement could not be converted into a strategic success because there was a ford just up the river.” Such oversights are emblematic of much that is wrong-headed about our plans for and public arguments about defense. Chief among Fallows’s preoccupations in this richly anecdotal and sharply argued study is the burden of subjecting public discussion to the claims of reason. When it comes to arguing about arms, that is no simple matter.

Obstacles to improved public understanding of defense questions are varied, but there are “three realities against which all our military plans should be tested.” According t...