Phantoms of the Mountains (Aussie SAS in Afganistan)

Time ^ | 6 June 2005 | RORY CALLINAN

[Born Conservative]

bttt

[TomasUSMC]

Need mo of dat!

[dinok]

Hell, who needs high tech...

A few Aussies and a couple of cases of Fosters and the war is over...

No offense, but this sounds allot like a bar war story.

[The Last Rebel]

Special forces purposes and capabilities are regularly misunderstood.


TLR

[Treader]

Career politics over mission. Sadly, this is not a new phenomenon, whether between competing joint forces or allied units. By the by, I have also been treated to the wankers salute, long ago & far away.

[SandRat]

The SAS, be it British, Australian, Canadian, or New Zealand; are a hard fighting, tough lot and you don't want to mess with them - period. What's in the story is no Bar-"Now this ain't no sh** War Story." If anything, there's a whole lot more that's not being told.

[ProudVet77]

The SAS and SBS are fantastic warriors. It's been known for a long time here in the states. But I doubt it was a lack of appreciation for their skills that made this happen.
Odds are the US commander did not want to put troops other than his own in risk. I have no doubt the Aussies would have done an equal if not better job than our guys, but it is hard to send another countries troops into battle. If things turn out well, it's great, if they turn out bad it could be a finger pointing excercise. If you use your own troops the fingerpointing is limited.

[SandRat]

Yep that's always a consideration. There's another lot from the Crown that you don't want to cross either - Ghurkas. Those are some - hard, mean, warriors.

[kennyboy509]

Time is trying to drive a wedge.

The Aussies have always proven them selves.

AND taught us many things.

Especially in Viet Nam.

This is just propaganda.

[Red Sea Swimmer]

Well Done Aussies !

[Eagles6]

Agree. This is just anti-American, anti-military "time" trying to give the US military a black eye.

[AmericanArchConservative]

Moderately well-written short article about the Aussie SAS. Thought you might be interested

Cheers and Warm weekend FReegards,

Andrew

[Fred Nerks]

thanks for the ping, fellow internet warrior!

[HardStarboard]

>>> There's another lot from the Crown that you don't want to cross either - Ghurkas. Those are some - hard, mean, warriors. <<<

Damn, like minds and all that. I was listening to a Iraq story on talk radio earlier today (maybe yesterday) and my mind said what we need is about 50 to 75 Ghurka teams like there were in in Korea and Nam.......

Three months of Ghurka "nighttime tactics" and the Saudi, Iranian, and Syrian jihadists would be immigrating back to their home territories, post haste.

There is something about waking up and finding the guy in the bed or foxhole next to you with his throat slit that will take the fight out even the most dedicated believer in jihad and Islam's eventual supremacy.

[SandRat]

were in in Korea ? They were the CINC UNC Headquarters Honor Guard when I was there in the mid '80s and not even the Korean, infamous or famous depending on which side you were on in Nam, White Horse Division Honor Guards would mess with them

immigrating back? Try setting new Olympic marathon records getting out of there.

[Al Simmons]

Wrong. We had UK SAS forces in Bosnia in 1996, and they were pretty frustrated at the way that the local US Colonel to whom they nominally reported was using them - as errand boys. Used to berate them once in a while, too. Once the UK 3-star in Sarajevo, who was over our Army 2-star in Tuzla within the NATO chain, got wind of it, the American Colonel got so badly chewed out by our CG that he came back from the relevant Sarajevo meeting looking like the life had been sucked out of him by a Poltergeist.

The *sshole now has 3 stars and is in command of a major post in the U.S.

Every time I think of 'Colonel Hank' now being over thousands of men it makes me want to PUKE.

Don't knock the UK/Aussie SAS forces or Royal Marines. They usually have a lot better knowledge of these third world holes than we do (after all they inhabited most of them not too long ago), and they are among the toughest, no-nonsense bunch.

Make no mistake - what they might lack in tech they more than make up for with their grit and experience.

The US military, being as large as it is, is far more bureaucratic and territorial - and that's just within the services, and even more so when you're talking about other nation's forces.

A lot of ignorant rubes in the US military, like 'Colonel Hank' have no clue what talent they have on their hands when they get one of these units.

Had I been there and in charge, and these guys arrived, I would have a)Got a 'Hard On' for them (a technical military term little known on the outside:-) and b) Immediately chosen the toughest mission and told them to go get it done.

I have no trouble believing that these men were misused because I saw it happening in Bosnia too.

My father spent 3 years behind enemy lines in WWII with Sir Fitzroy MacLean, who, along with another member of the force, Sir Randolph Churchill, founded the SAS in WW II. Go find MacLean's memoir "Eastern Approaches" and you'll get a flavor of what these fellows are capable of.

[Treader]

So, what's your measure on this thread, ya posted?

[ekidsohbelaas]

Huh?

[Treader]

Alright, then- what is your opinion on this article you posted?