Is Obama a modern-day Quintus Fabius Maximus?
President Obama has been repeatedly accused of delay. Critics say he dragged his feet on sending more troops to Afghanistan, on addressing the dangers in Libya, on providing support to Syria's rebels and, most recently, on initiating military action against Islamic State.
But is that necessarily such a bad thing? Calculated delay has a long history as an effective military strategy, dating back at least to the Second Punic War in the 3rd century BC.
At the time, Hannibal's Carthaginian army, including his war elephants, had successfully made its way from North Africa through Spain and across the Alps to invade Italy from the north. There, Hannibal's troops inflicted two stunning defeats on Rome's mighty legions, throwing the country into panic.
During ordinary times, the Roman Republic was governed by a senate and two elected consuls who served together for one-year terms. But in times of national crisis, the senate had the option of appointing a dictator to streamline command. In the face of Hannibal's advance, the senate appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus, who at that point had served two terms as consul.
Everyone expected Fabius Maximus, an admired leader and experienced general, to quickly march on Hannibal's forces, but he did not. Instead, he avoided major battles while harassing Hannibal's army around the edges, preventing the invaders from getting supplies, gradually wearing them down and degrading their capabilities. It was a strategy of containment.
But Romans were not pleased. Avoiding battle was un-Roman, an affront to the greatness of Rome. People called Fabius Maximus the Cuncator the delayer. It was intended to be an insult.
Fabius Maximus was replaced by a Roman consul who was determined to engage Hannibal directly. Under the command of the new consul, eight Roman legions marched off to destroy Hannibal's forces. They met at Cannae, in what turned out to be Rome's greatest military disaster. Between 50,000 and 70,000 Roman soldiers were slain and 10,000 more were taken prisoner.
The disaster at Cannae suddenly made Fabius Maximus look brilliant, and Romans again looked to the delayer to save the republic. Cuncator became a title signifying prudence, wisdom and respect.
Other military commanders have since followed what became known as a Fabian strategy, among them George Washington, who, in the early years of the American war for independence, avoided head-on battles with the British.
The containment strategy of the Cold War was a Fabian approach in the sense that it made the avoidance of nuclear confrontation its primary objective. But it was also based on the message that, if attacked, the United States would retaliate with massive force. And it was understood by all that all-out nuclear war meant the end of the world.
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Is Obama a modern-day Quintus Fabius Maximus?