https://sputnikglobe.com/20230406/scott-ritter-us-full-spectrum-dominance-military-doctrine-based-on-hubris-and-arrogance-1109208808.html
Scott Ritter: US 'Full Spectrum Dominance' Doctrine Based on 'Hubris and Arrogance'
Scott Ritter: US 'Full Spectrum Dominance' Doctrine Based on 'Hubris and Arrogance'
Sputnik International
US military doctrine since 1997 has dictated that Washington should not tolerate any nation rivalling its military might. Scott Ritter, a former UN chemical weapons inspector, argues that the Pentagon has already lost that war.
2023-04-06T18:15+0000
2023-04-06T18:15+0000
2023-09-25T15:09+0000
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The US military doctrine of "Full-Spectrum Dominance" is a delusion based on arrogant assumptions, said a leading defense analyst.A recent article on website Consortium News argued that the Pentagon's overarching strategy since 1997 demands that the rest of the world bows down to US 'leadership'.Scott Ritter told Sputnik that this idea was looking increasingly tenuous following the US defeat in Afghanistan and Russia taking on Western proxy forces in Ukraine.The implication of the doctrine is that the US cannot live in peace with other nations or even treat them with respect, he argued."We don't want to get along with people. We want to control people. We want to impose our will on people around the world. No exceptions. That's what full spectrum means," Ritter said. "The United States is not a friend of nations when you behave in this manner. We are your masters. And so I think you're doomed to fail when you set off on that foot."The former US marine agreed that the doctrine led not only to the decades-long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, but also the unconstitutional attacks on US citizen's rights."19 hijackers with four airplanes took us down as a nation, crashed our economy, and basically got inside our decision making cycle, compelling us to react to their actions in a way that manifested itself with policy that destroyed the credibility of the United States," Ritter recalled. "We sought to link Iraq to 9/11. We couldn't. We sought to manufacture a case against Iraq about weapons of mass destruction that ultimately failed. We went to war and violation of international law. And we lost that conflict. How is that for full spectrum dominance?"In Afghanistan, the US "spent 20 years trying to implement full spectrum dominance, but we lost. We didn't dominate anything," he added. "And now what we're seeing in Ukraine, when we come back to what's supposed to be our bread and butter, large-scale ground combat, we can't dominate. We are being ground down to nothing in Ukraine." Those "self-inflicted wounds are often the by-product of the arrogance," he said, citing "our taking down of the Constitution." "Those who seek full spectrum dominance understand what they're saying, because it's not just about applying that to the international community," Ritter warned. "It's about applying that to the American community in rampant violation of our First Amendment rights of free speech, our Fourth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizures."This week saw the Russian flag raised over the centre of the key Donetsk city of Artemovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine — while suspected Ukrainian agents assassinated Donbass war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky in a terrorist bombing in St. Petersburg as a diversion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously insisted the city's loss would force him to compromise with Moscow to end the conflict. "The interesting thing is Zelensky was in Poland recently," the expert noted, where he speculated the Ukrainian leader was "seeking to reach an agreement with Poland that would make a union with Poland.""He knows he can't be a member of NATO. He knows he can't be a member of the European Union. And he knows now that Bakhmut has fallen, that he has lost this war," Ritter said. "So one last act of desperation: he's seeking a political union with Poland. He's talking about erasing the border so that they become one. And somehow this will strengthen his position at the negotiating table."But he doubted that the US, NATO and European Union would support that gambit. "This is the irresponsible expansion of the conflict that could bring NATO into direct contact with Russian troops. That's World War Three.""Ukraine is losing this war," the pundit stated. "People have been talking about the spring offensive that's supposed to occur," but "there's growing acknowledgment that it will never happen", because Kiev no longer has enough forces for such an operation.For more cutting-edge analysis of current affairs, check out our radio show The Critical Hour.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230329/top-us-military-officer-warns-very-difficult-to-fight-great-power-war-with-china-russia-combined-1108932860.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230310/ex-pentagon-officer-us-still-playing-catchup-with-hypersonics-after-underestimating-china-russia-1108276015.html
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Scott Ritter: US 'Full Spectrum Dominance' Doctrine Based on 'Hubris and Arrogance'
18:15 GMT 06.04.2023 (Updated: 15:09 GMT 25.09.2023) US military doctrine since 1997 has dictated that Washington should not tolerate any nation rivaling its military might. Scott Ritter, a former US marine and UN chemical weapons inspector in Iraq, argues that the Pentagon has already lost that competition.
The US military doctrine of "Full-Spectrum Dominance" is a delusion based on arrogant assumptions, said a leading defense analyst.
A recent article on website
Consortium News argued that the Pentagon's overarching strategy since 1997 demands that the rest of the world bows down to US 'leadership'.
Scott Ritter told
Sputnik that this idea was looking increasingly tenuous following the US defeat in Afghanistan and Russia taking on Western proxy forces in Ukraine.
"Full spectrum dominance is something that developed in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War, where the United States emerged as the sole remaining superpower," Ritter explained. "It literally is an expression of national hubris and arrogance, its ignorance. It implies that the United States is not only the exceptional nation, but it is dominatingly exceptional."
The implication of the doctrine is that the US cannot live in peace with other nations or even treat them with respect, he argued.
"We don't want to get along with people. We want to control people. We want to impose our will on people around the world. No exceptions. That's what full spectrum means," Ritter said. "The United States is not a friend of nations when you behave in this manner. We are your masters. And so I think you're doomed to fail when you set off on that foot."
The former US marine agreed that the doctrine led not only to the decades-long wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, but also the unconstitutional attacks on US citizen's rights.
"19 hijackers with four airplanes took us down as a nation, crashed our economy, and basically got inside our decision making cycle, compelling us to react to their actions in a way that manifested itself with policy that destroyed the credibility of the United States," Ritter recalled. "We sought to link Iraq to 9/11. We couldn't. We sought to manufacture a case against Iraq about weapons of mass destruction that ultimately failed. We went to war and violation of international law. And we lost that conflict. How is that for full spectrum dominance?"
In Afghanistan, the US "spent 20 years trying to implement full spectrum dominance, but we lost. We didn't dominate anything," he added. "And now what we're seeing in Ukraine, when we come back to what's supposed to be our bread and butter, large-scale ground combat, we can't dominate. We are being ground down to nothing in Ukraine."
Those "self-inflicted wounds are often the by-product of the arrogance," he said, citing "our taking down of the Constitution."
"Those who seek full spectrum dominance understand what they're saying, because it's not just about applying that to the international community," Ritter warned. "It's about applying that to the American community in rampant violation of our First Amendment rights of free speech, our Fourth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizures."
This week saw the Russian flag raised over the centre of the key Donetsk city of Artemovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine — while
suspected Ukrainian agents assassinated Donbass war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky in a terrorist bombing in St. Petersburg as a diversion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously insisted the city's loss would force him to compromise with Moscow to end the conflict.
"The interesting thing is Zelensky was in Poland recently," the expert noted, where he speculated the Ukrainian leader was "seeking to reach an agreement with Poland that would make a union with Poland."
"He knows he can't be a member of NATO. He knows he can't be a member of the European Union. And he knows now that Bakhmut has fallen, that he has lost this war," Ritter said. "So one last act of desperation: he's seeking a political union with Poland. He's talking about erasing the border so that they become one. And somehow this will strengthen his position at the negotiating table."
But he doubted that the US,
NATO and European Union would support that gambit. "This is the irresponsible expansion of the conflict that could bring NATO into direct contact with Russian troops. That's World War Three."
"Ukraine is losing this war," the pundit stated. "People have been talking about the spring offensive that's supposed to occur," but "there's growing acknowledgment that it will never happen", because Kiev no longer has enough forces for such an operation.
"The Russians will destroy any counterattacking force," Ritter predicted, "and then with the bulk of their force still intact, launch a devastating counterattack of their own one way or the other. Russia's moving further west and Ukraine is literally stuck between a rock and a hard place."
For more cutting-edge analysis of current affairs, check out our radio show The Critical Hour. 
