Burying the Powell Doctrine

There’s been much lament in the media lately of the death of the Powell Doctrine, as if it has always been official US policy when going to war. If it ever was, it was laid to rest on September 11, 2001. The Powell Doctrine, or the use of overwhelming military force, ended almost as soon as it was established. In 1993 Defense Secretary Les Aspin ignored it when troops requested more armored vehicles in Somalia, which later led to our pullout from that beleaguered nation. Consistently through the 1990’s Bill Clinton refused to use land forces in the Balkans, preferring to employ surgical air strikes and cruise missile diplomacy. Even the so called shock and awe, an overwhelming bombing strategy in Iraq never occurred. The Air Force strikes on Baghdad in 2003 were so accurate the lights in most places stayed on.
What is better than overwhelming force is concentration of force, or using the force you have in a more effective way. The Thebans did it in 371 BC at Leuctra, Frederick the Great did so at Leuthen in 1757, and Tommy Franks defeated Saddam Hussein this way in 2003.