{"id":87134,"date":"2020-08-31T20:12:51","date_gmt":"2020-08-31T20:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/31\/close-the-pentagon-its-too-big-of-a-target\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:19:12","slug":"close-the-pentagon-its-too-big-of-a-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2020\/08\/31\/close-the-pentagon-its-too-big-of-a-target\/","title":{"rendered":"Close the Pentagon \u2014 it\u2019s too big of a target"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1991, Gen. Chuck Horner showed video footage of the bombing of \u201cthe headquarters of my counterpart,\u201d the commander of the Iraqi Air Force. Though American forces have sometimes proved less adept at destroying mobile targets, their fixed targets do not last long. This can go badly when targeteers misidentify a building, as during the 1999 Kosovo War, but the building is still destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2001, an attack against one of the five sides of the Pentagon killed 125 and forced a partial evacuation. The Defense Department showed impressive resilience: Even as one side of the building collapsed, its command center kept functioning. Conflict yet continues, in part because al-Qaida has few fixed targets to destroy. <\/b>Thus for three decades, America\u2019s wars have seemed either drive-by shootings or questionable quagmires. The next war that matters may be neither.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highly precise, long-range weapons are also available to America\u2019s more capable enemies. In 2001, finding the Pentagon at 500 knots may have been challenging for the suicide pilot, but not today for a cruise missile. In 2019, half of Saudi Arabia\u2019s oil refining was temporarily incapacitated by a barrage of just two dozen Iranian missiles. More ominous was the total failure of the kingdom\u2019s air defenses to defend against or even detect the attack before the first impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In early 2020, the present pandemic forced a more thorough evacuation. The Pentagon\u2019s command center has functioned<\/a>, but most other activities have moved offsite, and substantially to private homes. Around the military and its contractors, remote work has expanded<\/a> tenfold, to about 1 million people. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has expressed surprise at how well the arrangement has been working. Peter Ranks, his deputy chief information officer, says that productivity has not suffered.<\/p>\n\n\n\t