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Narratives on the technological level requesting more performance are apparent in statements
made by high-ranking US defense officials. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said,
“there are lots of lessons that we've learned in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are a lot of ways we
can be more efficient” (Rumsfeld 2003.) The US Department of Defense (DoD) is looking for
ways to transform how the DoD and the Armed Services wage war and fight based on lessons
from the experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gerry Gilmore wrote after the President an-
nounced, “major combat operations are over” in Iraq that
Rumsfeld noted, speed and agility displayed by US and coalition forces in Operation Iraqi
Freedom prevented Saddam's troops from putting up "a coherent defense," thus shortening
the war’s duration and reducing casualties. Another important lesson learned in Iraq was
the ability to quickly act upon fresh intelligence, as shown by the surprise March 19 air
strike on Hussein's suspected headquarters in Baghdad. (Gilmore 2003)
General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was asked a question about com-
bat air patrols over the skies of the US as the US Air Force complained F-15 about overflights to
secure air space, being tough on personnel and equipment. Myers answered, “The one thing
we want to make sure is that we provide the security. The second thing is that we do it in an
efficient manner that's efficient for our forces and for the taxpayer.” (Myers 2002)
The US Armed Forces have been on their way to transforming the military’s force structures,
planes etc. To put it simply, the transformation of US military has focused on the idea of having
“more with less.” This means that the size of the armed forces is becoming smaller but fire-
power is becoming greater and more lethal. It also means that the armed forces are developing
and using more non-lethal weapons. Overall, US forces have been heading towards a more
“network-centric” approach with the help of information technology and are more effective than
ever before to fight the “terror war” or “asymmetric war.” Is this “transformation” is evolutionary
or revolutionary? Roger Normand and Jan Goodwin have claimed that Americans are in the
midst of a new American Revolution because “the task at hand according to the Pentagon’s
own official documents, is nothing less than establishing “full spectrum dominance” in a “unipo-
lar world.”” (Normand & Goodwin 2003)
About one month after his inaugural address President Bush announced his plans to break with
Pentagon orthodoxy and create “a new architecture for the defence of America and our allies,”
by investing in new technologies and weapons systems rather than making “marginal improve-
ments for systems in which America’s arms industry has invested billions of dollars.” David
Sanger is clearly sceptical about Bush’s intention to create “accurate” and deadly forces with
the help of information technology.
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Convention