Publication

This paper offers a soldier's perspective on the implications of instant access to the battlefield by civilian, political leaders and steps for constructive collaboration between the US military and civil authorities. It looks at the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis, and discusses the differences in the role of war and military operations from the point of view of politicians and soldiers. The author shows that from the political leader's point of view, war is a forum for politics, whereby the impulse of civilian officials to intervene in military operations impedes a soldier's ability to successfully conduct war.