The term used to be called “gone Asiatic”. Its when old China hands, Marines or Soldiers stayed too long and began to identify too much with the foreign culture to the detriment of their own Americanism.
It came to be a synonym for insane.
Most of our military leaders have gone Asiatic. They are unreliable for anything more that battlefield tactical goals. They should NEVER be listened to when the government is forming national policy.
You can ask them to go sink the North Korean navy. Or what to expect in a war with them. That’s fine. But you should never ask these bozos IF the US should declare war on them.
It’s an important difference.
“gone Asiatic”?
In SE Asia it was also called “gone native”.
I’ve heard about the effect. Never seen it first hand.
Well, when a Warrior sees people who have a vested interest in their autonomy and freedom/future willing to fight and create their own liberty, even to the death ( sounds kinda like a few of our founding fathers), then those Warriors tend to support those folks wholeheartedly.
Having been involved in both IRQ and AFG internal force development operations, I saw men who only wanted a paycheck-then they would slip away often back to the other de, now with new talents and skill and intel. All too often, our forces would find themselves either rescuing cowardly indigenous forces in contact or abandoned by the same. ( with exceptions of course, a Spartan is a Spartan regales of when and were, even if far and few between).
The Kurds want in genral a nation of their own as they do not identify cultureally, ethnically or even socially with either the powers that be ( TUR and IRQ/IRN)
The end of WWII created the problem when the allies drew lones int eh samd w/o regard to these factors, and now there is a nationless population straddling three or even four “nation” ( that BTW cannot even find their proverbial a** with both hands and a mirror.
All said, would a free Kurdistan be as inclusive as one would like regarding faiths/ethnicity and such? Maybe, Maybe not. But they want freedom, they have assets (oil, minerals, ag, even manufacturing capability) in their territory to become financially stable, they seem to be much more civilized than the nations they find themselves occupied by/occupying, depending on how you look at them.
The idea that our SF Warriors are going native is rather silly. They see a light in the distance- they see those they work with wanting to run to the guns to obtain that light. Are they the same as we are? No, certainly not. BUt In my limited experience with tem, they are the most likely to succeed in forming a viable nation, unlike IRQ; Turkey, well that is disaster once again. .
Of course, IRQ, IRN and TUR will never cede geography to them- at least they have a good bit of autonomy in IRQ.
In the end, these Kurds will be left hanging in the breeze once the political winds shift. ANd they will find little solace in the fact that our SF Warriors on the ground thought they were worthy of dedicated support.
Our tactical/operational SF folks are not policy makers by any means, they are executing policy as they are directed. When it time to depart, they will.
Reminds me of an indigenous warrior people in SE Asia 50 years ago, now virtually wiped out by the “winners”.
Regarding trusting our military and naval leaders in advising whether to go to war or not, yo don’t ask a general if we should, you ask him how to do it. The civil authority always has the burden of decision in our framework, to suggest other wise is simply not the way it is.