A Mean, Green Machine (David Hackworth Suddenly Changes His Tune)

SFTT.Org ^ | April 8, 2003 | David H. Hackworth

[PJ-Comix]

Audie Murphy would be proud. He fought with the U.S. Army’s “Rock of the Marne” 3rd Infantry Division from Africa to Sicily to Italy, and during that hard slug across France to Czechoslovakia, where finally, along with millions of other folks, he celebrated V-E Day.

By May 8, 1945, the mighty 3rd had chalked up more combat days on the front line – and sadly more casualties – than any other U.S. division during World War II. Along the way, Audie was awarded more medals than he had places to hang them.

Now the Medal of Honor recipient's outfit has broken another war record. In just more than two weeks it has roared from Kuwait to the center of Baghdad, brushing aside Iraqi defenders and following the doctrine of the master of World War II tank warfare and bold and deep penetration, Gen. George “Bypass and Haul Ass” Patton.

Hard-hitting naval, Air Force and Army aircraft attacks that sliced and diced the Iraqi Republican Guard allowed the 3rd to penetrate reputedly formidable positions with the speed of a red-hot bayonet through Army shoe polish. After a breakneck 300-mile race to the outskirts of Baghdad, the studs of the 3rd then seized that capital's airport with shock action and incredible firepower and mobility. And even before the airport was fully secured, they dispatched a strong armored reconnaissance-in-force operation into downtown Baghdad to let the Ba’ath Party know they could come-a-callin’ any time they wanted. Now they are taking and holding positions in downtown Baghdad.

The 3rd often outran its supply system, which had been repeatedly cut by serious guerrilla hit-and-run attacks deep to the rear. But it kept pushing toward the prime objective of the war – Baghdad – backed up within days by old buddies from “The Big War,” the 101st Air-Assault Division and the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne, who quickly scratched their vertical insertion missions to rush to the rescue. Dropping in behind the 3rd, these elite troops began mopping up the Fedayeen Saddam, and soon enough the beans and bullets and fuel were once more flowing up to the forward edge.

An Army sergeant in Iraq says of the brave truck drivers who ran the guerrilla-ridden gauntlets, “I haven't seen one supply truck that didn't have at least one bullet hole.”

The outcome of this war was never in doubt. Picture Paul Bunyan going after an anthill with a 16-pound sledge. The ants – like the Iraqi army – wouldn't have a prayer. At the start of the conflict, I estimated on “Larry King Live” that it would be “a four-week war” to take down Saddam. I also said I thought it was reckless of SecDef Donald Rumsfeld to have the 3rd penetrate so deeply without the powerful 4th Mechanized Division on its flank.

But probably because soldiers who've met the elephant a whole bunch of times tend to safe-side the risks to our soldiers, I was off on the initial number of combat ground forces required. For sure I also didn't fully figure on the amazing boldness, fighting spirit and hard-hitting professionalism of the 3rd.

The media have covered the 3rd Infantry Division's brilliant maneuver in spectacular detail. Like many Americans, I've tuned in to these TV snapshots almost 19 hours a day, long enough to note with surprise that even at times when water wasn't plentiful, these warriors were shaved, their gear soldierly perfect and their tactical deployments parade-ground precise. There are no disheveled Rambos in the all-volunteer Army's “Rock of the Marne.”

This war still has a way to go – taking down Baghdad and Tikrit and cleaning up the thousands of guerrillas cut off and stretched out from Basra to Baghdad. But these splendid soldiers are more than up for the tough job ahead.

Especially with the support of smart, pinpoint weapons and the continuing heroism and skill of Marines, airmen, sailors and Special Operations warriors. And the synergy between the services – the unparalleled cooperation – seems to have rendered the inter-service rivalry that was once the name of the snafu game dead on arrival.

Over the past three weeks, we've witnessed a transformation of warfare.

And my battered steel pot is off to the proud 3rd Division, which so far has written Operation Iraqi Freedom's most compelling chapter.

[Howlin]

Bump!

[NorCoGOP]

Gen. George “Bypass and Haul Ass” Patton

Considering the source, this was the only part worth reading.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

I wouldn't necessarily say that his credibility is destroyed. Remember that he is bitterly opposed to perfumed princes and to those leaders who are always planning to fight the last war over again. He probably made the assumption (quite reasonable from his experience) that the perfumed princes were still running the show and that they were planning to fight in the traditional manner all over again. When he saw that he was wrong, he had the grace to admit as much. My hat is off to him for that. That said, he really should have kept his mouth shut for a few days longer. Even I, during the brief pause in action during the sandstorm, could see that the doom and gloom naysayers were fair and far off the mark.

[chilepepper]

This man and those Generals put their lives on the line and fought for us in the past. So, I say, give them a pass.

I'm sorry but i cannot agree. Hackworth flirts a bit too much with the US socialist press, along with McCaffrey and Clark.

I will never pay attention to them anymore. There are plenty of other soldiers, sailors and airmen who have REMAINED PATRIOTIC.

Hackworth is guilty of "piling on" against Rumsfeld and the war effort so his motives are highly suspect. This happening when the coordinated attacks were at a fever pitch. Hackworth is a fifth columnist if you will forgive my pun.

He has been turned by the dark side and is trying to sneak back into our camp.

[Tribune7]

Hackworth was pretty tough on Clinton.

[Non-Sequitur]

I got news for you, they called up the reserves from all branches like crazy for the first Gulf War. I wound up spending 11 months on active duty myself. The Army can't fight without the reseves providing the support and it's been that way since before Clinton was in office.

[B4Ranch]

I'm aware of that. I just think 18 months is too long for a Reservist unless we are being attacked. Thanks for your service.

[PJ-Comix]

The ones I didn't like were the ones who second-guessed "The Plan."

I kept thinking of Tattoo from Fantasy Island.

"De PLAN, boss, DE PLAN!"

[Non-Sequitur]

I would agree with you that 18 months is too long but there is more than enough blame to go around. President Bush has been in office for two years and he has done nothing to improve the situation. He has ended none of the commitments Clinton got us into but had instead added more. He has not increased the size of the military or increased the size of the reserves to spread out the workload. Until he does then reserve duty will be a full-time part-time job.

[shotgun]

Altough I respect and thank Mr Hackworth for his service and dedication to this country and the troops, I am afraid that he is just looking for more face time on TV. IMHO

[B4Ranch]

. He has ended none of the commitments Clinton got us into but had instead added more.

This is just him falling in line with the New World Order Plan.

[NYCVirago]

Hackworth should be posting to stfu.org!

[r9etb]

It's nice that Hackworth has changed his tune from his previous ARTICLE but his credibility is still pretty well destroyed as a result of it.

This just proves he's a hack playing to his base. Prior to the fighting his biggest fans were predicting (even hoping) for a bloodbath. Now that it's not happened, he pretty much has to jump on the bandwagon.

It's all a matter of market share.

[vollmond]

"When I was in, ships were made of wood and men of steel".

Did they have rum, sodomy and the lash, too? Just kidding. By the time I got in the Navy, rum and the lash were gone.

[No Truce With Kings]

"Hack was wrong, but he's still a great American, motivated only by his concern for young men in harm's way and cynical of politicos - even the good ones."

Both Aaron Burr and Benedict Arnold were (at one time) American military heroes. In fact, without Arnold, the United States would not exist. His contributions to the Continental cause in 1775-77 kept the United States in the Revolution. Yet their shortcomings should not be ignored because they served their country honorably in wartime.

Similarly while I honor Hack's contributions to this country *while* he was wearing a uniform, I cannot but reflect that his military judgement from 1989 to the present has been as flawed as . . . oh, Peter Jennings or Peter Arnett. Certainly he has underestimated the military as frequently as those two.

Why should that be surprising? Hack is the product of the post WWII-Vietnam era constript military. If you looked at the 20th century military, with the *possible* exception of the period prior to the US's entry into WWI this period was probably the most underperforming time for the US Army in that century. A soft, flabby army that did not believe in the importance of the infantryman marked the beginning of the period (1946-50) and an unimaginative yes-man culture (1963-1972) ended it.

Today's army is all volunteer, highly skilled, and highly motivated. There are no Cat IVs. The unwilling Beetle Bailey conscripts are gone. It is an army driven by technology, teamwork, and maneuver.

Hack's army is gone. Hack's opinions are as valid to today's army as a Spanish-American War cavalry officer's opinions would be at the beginning of WWII.

I would still buy the Colonel a drink for his service in Vietnam and Korea, but that does not mean I buy his opinions.

[rockfish59]

lol!

'The Skyhawk'

[Brooklyn_Park_MD]

The war according to David Hackworth By Jonathan Franklin http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/08/04/hackworth/index.html The war according to David Hackworth The retired colonel calls Donald Rumsfeld an "asshole" whose bad planning mired U.S. troops in an ugly guerrilla conflict in Iraq. His sources? Defiant soldiers sending dispatches from the front. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Jonathan Franklin Aug. 4, 2003 | Retired U.S. Army Col. David Hackworth is a cocky American military commander who for half a century was at the front lines of the Army's most important battles. Most recently, though, Hackworth has been at the frontlines of a domestic war: the debate over U.S. military strategy in Iraq, and whether the Bush administration planned well enough to achieve a decisive military victory, and to keep the postwar peace. Hackworth was everywhere on cable television during the first days of the war, when early military setbacks convinced him and other retired military leaders that the administration, whose backers sold the conflict as a "cakewalk," hadn't sent enough troops to quell Iraqi resistance. He wrote a widely quoted column headlined "Stuck in the quicksand" in early April -- just as the tide seemed to turn and the pace of victory picked up again. Though he is a colonel by rank, Hackworth was counted among the so-called "television generals" the administration blasted after Baghdad fell, and many conservative admirers turned against him. But now, with American soldiers still dying almost daily in Iraq, the tide of opinion may be turning again, in favor of Hackworth's argument that the administration was unprepared for what's turning out to be a long-term guerrilla resistance in Iraq. Today the primary front of Hackworth's war of opinion isn't cable television, but a pair of Web sites -- Soldiers for the Truth and his own site, Hackworth.com -- where he's campaigning to document the dire fate of U.S. troops in Iraq. The sites have quickly become a repository for the gripes and fears of America's beleaguered combat troops. - - - - - - - - - - - -