Re: Warning: Idiots at Work

[Guest guest]

The problem is that Pakistan's Intelligence Service is full of Taliban/Al Queada sympathizers.

During the Vietnam War, the politicians demanded that all strikes in South Vietnam be approved by multiple layers of local officials. This often ranged from the highest level of government to the villager elder, sometimes as many as 20 people or more to get approval from. This was a very time consuming process and it was not uncommon for targets of opportunity to be long gone by the time approval came through. Likewise it was not uncommon for Vietnamese officials to pass warning to the VC and NVA that attacks were coming and to clear out, or set ambushes. Many times the officials refused to give permission for a target to be hit, and all it took was one anywhere along the chain to say "no" and the mission was off.

The same sort of situation exists in Afghanistan now, though not quite as bad. It isn't so bad in Afghanistan because many of the tribes don't get along. That hampers cooperation between tribes but at the same time has them trying to use the Americans against the other tribes by giving bad information. Individuals have also used the system to hurt enemies by falsely informing on them. Al Qeada has also milked the system by giving false information so that we would bomb weddings, funerals, etc.

A large part of the problem in Afghanistan is that the CIA is paying huge amounts of money to these people, both individuals for information, usually when the info is given and without verifying it, but also the local leaders. Vast sums of money are doled out and for some reason they think that the local's loyalty has been bought, in spite of lots of evidence to the contrary. I wonder how much all that money helped the drug people to expand their businesses.

For real idiocy, study the Battle of Tora Bora. We backed local forces in the attack with air strikes and special ops guys. Air strikes weren't particularly effective for a while because certain elements couldn't read the maps right and would drop bombs in the wrong places. The special ops guys weren't allowed to range freely. The idea was that the locals had to beat the Taliban and Al Qeada so they could claim the victory and it would boost their little egos. Theory was that if we did all the work, they would resent us. Funny that since they didn't like us to begin with. Personally, I would have used special ops to cut the trails into Pakistan and call in air supports, then sent the Ranger Battalion and some other forces up into the mountains and wiped the bad guys out. If that had been done, we probably would have had Bin Laudin right then.

If Obama begins consulting more with Pakistan and the locals, we will be right back at the Vietnam situation all over again. The fighting troops need flexibility and to be able to act quickly and with surprise. Take that away, as it largely has been, and it is all over. For the most part we can't even set ambushes to IED teams nor to interdict groups moving around at night. True we can do that with Aerial Drones, but using grounds troops would have frightened the enemy even more.

In a message dated 3/29/2009 3:17:16 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

As we all know, the Bush administration quit consulting with Pakistan before making military strikes because during the rare times Pakistan allowed the strikes, its corrupt officials would warn anyone in the area, including the Taliban, to vacate before the missile strike. This resulted in the US throwing $i million dollar smart bombs at targets with no people or equipment in them. Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.

[Guest guest]

" If Obama begins consulting more with Pakistan and the locals, we will be right

back at the Vietnam situation all over again. "

Raven talked to an army ranger during our most recent trip. He says he and his

army buddies (now out of the service) are scared for the folks they left behind.

They believe the war in Afghanistan can only succeed under the current plan if

there is a draft.

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