Fighting with one hand tied behind your back — 9 Comments
Why would anyone surprised by this turn of events with the Imam-in-chief dictating policy? Stomach turning
I don’t know that this is just a PC thing. I think it’s a strategy of trying to wean uneducated tribesman from the Taliban, as was done in Anbar.
Sadly the US has been moving in this senseless direction since the Korean war in the early 1950s. Sherman was right when he said that “war is hell”. If your enemy, who is dedicated to killing you, chooses to hide behind innocent non-combatants it is truly unfortunate. However, to prevail we cannot choose to engage in limited conflict. That only prolongs the agony for everyone.
Also, we cannot allow seditious mayhem to be endorsed inside our borders even in the name of religious freedom, or freedom of speech. We cannot excuse those who condone, harbor, or support radical islamists. The time for kind heartedness and rebuilding is after the foe is completely vanquished.
Military technology and geopolitics have changed radically since WWII.
Afghanistan is a fourth-generation war where the enemy is so mobile and technologically empowered with cheap, portable explosives and small arms, he needn’t defend territory. And if he doesn’t need to defend territory, how can he be defeated?
The answer is as obvious as it is difficult to implement. The battle is for the hearts and minds, not for physical territory. So it’s a war that cannot be won by killing civilians, period.
Moderate Islamist,
You done broke the code.
COIN is very much different than the wars of my youth. (WWII, Korea, and even Vietnam,) Maximum firepower and maximum destruction do not defeat an enemy that can fade away from one place to another and has no allegiance to any sovereign power.
Unfortunately, it is a slow, bloody process that can tax the will of a democracy. The primary thing our leaders need to do is show citizens why the fight is necessary and why it will take so long. Otherwise support will be lost and then victory is impossible.
Fighting with one hand tied behind your back
I believe that only one hand is needed to operate those drones. Key-in the co-ordinates, track the targets on the screen, then sit-back and choose the moment when to drop your finger onto the ‘confirm’ key. Even with one arm behind your back, you still have the advantage over the Afghans, as many of them have to run carrying children in both arms.
So, don’t fret, you still have the edge when it comes to ‘arms.’
“We must remember that in time of war what is said on the enemy’s side of the front is always propaganda, and what is said on our side of the front is truth and righteousness, the cause of humanity and a crusade for peace.”
Walter Lippmann
”Naturally the common people don’t want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. … Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
Herman Goering
Rules of engagement that prevent indiscriminate slaughter of everything in sight have been with us since ancient times. Even during the total war of WWII, MacArthur banned the use of artillery and air power during the Manila liberation. While it would be nice to just say “kill everyone and let God sort them out”, that really is not the way to go about winning a war.
This harkens back to the days when we went nuts with the rules in Vietnam, but I do find these two wars to be massively different from each other. For one thing, our troops are much more hardened against the enemy and can withstand a great deal more risk. But the enemy is not as elusive as they were in the thick forests and jungle of Vietnam, either.
The rules of engagement are drawn up by the military, work for a specific purpose and have safeguards built in to them to prevent the rules from becoming a noose. I will place my trust in McChrystal to do the right thing for the soldiers we’ve placed in his care.
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Why would anyone surprised by this turn of events with the Imam-in-chief dictating policy? Stomach turning
I don’t know that this is just a PC thing. I think it’s a strategy of trying to wean uneducated tribesman from the Taliban, as was done in Anbar.
Sadly the US has been moving in this senseless direction since the Korean war in the early 1950s. Sherman was right when he said that “war is hell”. If your enemy, who is dedicated to killing you, chooses to hide behind innocent non-combatants it is truly unfortunate. However, to prevail we cannot choose to engage in limited conflict. That only prolongs the agony for everyone.
Also, we cannot allow seditious mayhem to be endorsed inside our borders even in the name of religious freedom, or freedom of speech. We cannot excuse those who condone, harbor, or support radical islamists. The time for kind heartedness and rebuilding is after the foe is completely vanquished.
Military technology and geopolitics have changed radically since WWII.
Afghanistan is a fourth-generation war where the enemy is so mobile and technologically empowered with cheap, portable explosives and small arms, he needn’t defend territory. And if he doesn’t need to defend territory, how can he be defeated?
The answer is as obvious as it is difficult to implement. The battle is for the hearts and minds, not for physical territory. So it’s a war that cannot be won by killing civilians, period.
Moderate Islamist,
You done broke the code.
COIN is very much different than the wars of my youth. (WWII, Korea, and even Vietnam,) Maximum firepower and maximum destruction do not defeat an enemy that can fade away from one place to another and has no allegiance to any sovereign power.
Unfortunately, it is a slow, bloody process that can tax the will of a democracy. The primary thing our leaders need to do is show citizens why the fight is necessary and why it will take so long. Otherwise support will be lost and then victory is impossible.
Fighting with one hand tied behind your back
I believe that only one hand is needed to operate those drones. Key-in the co-ordinates, track the targets on the screen, then sit-back and choose the moment when to drop your finger onto the ‘confirm’ key. Even with one arm behind your back, you still have the advantage over the Afghans, as many of them have to run carrying children in both arms.
So, don’t fret, you still have the edge when it comes to ‘arms.’
“We must remember that in time of war what is said on the enemy’s side of the front is always propaganda, and what is said on our side of the front is truth and righteousness, the cause of humanity and a crusade for peace.”
Walter Lippmann
”Naturally the common people don’t want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. … Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
Herman Goering
Rules of engagement that prevent indiscriminate slaughter of everything in sight have been with us since ancient times. Even during the total war of WWII, MacArthur banned the use of artillery and air power during the Manila liberation. While it would be nice to just say “kill everyone and let God sort them out”, that really is not the way to go about winning a war.
This harkens back to the days when we went nuts with the rules in Vietnam, but I do find these two wars to be massively different from each other. For one thing, our troops are much more hardened against the enemy and can withstand a great deal more risk. But the enemy is not as elusive as they were in the thick forests and jungle of Vietnam, either.
The rules of engagement are drawn up by the military, work for a specific purpose and have safeguards built in to them to prevent the rules from becoming a noose. I will place my trust in McChrystal to do the right thing for the soldiers we’ve placed in his care.