General Explains Decision to Refrain From Targeting Taliban Funeral

American Forces Press Service ^ | John D. Banusiewicz

[southland]

The idiots who run our mlitary need the gonads of George Patton.

[Axhandle]

That requires a little planning and lead time. You don't have jets circling around prepared for precision strikes of this type - not enough jets for all of the possibilities and 24/7 coverage.

[Doe Eyes]

So was it the State Department, or Clinton's rules of engagement?

[Pyro7480]

You said they were "fair game." I got the impression from that that you meant we could butcher them indiscriminately, even if there weren't terrorists hiding among them. That's what I was objecting to.

[Clara Lou]

Let the general explain it to everyone, Afghani/American/other, who will die or be mauled because he let these murderers live. Let him explain it to the children who will lose a parent. It's wrong.

[rollo tomasi]

The media/pols have a lot to do with our path for defeat but this constant battle between military bureaucrats is disastrous more ways than one.

Fear and overwhelming force is the only means to victory against these types of people. Just like the Japanese in WWII, Muslims are brainwashed by their ideology.

Anyone from a General nice and snug in an air conditioned office with a bunch of salad dressing worrying about his or her career to a "keyboard general nice and snug in the states" would know what to do. Unfortunately those in charge lack the will.

[phoenix0468]

I disagree laweeks, this is not a PC question but a simple Moral decision. Our societies moral imperatives stand in stark contrast to those of Islamofacism. We are taught that just because they act in an immoral way, we should not lest we lose our own moral dignity.

Therefore, what the General did is not only correct but bolsters our position among those Afghanis who can recognize morality and the Taliban's lack thereof.

[CWOJackson]

"Anyone from a General nice and snug in an air conditioned office with a bunch of salad dressing worrying about his or her career to a "keyboard general nice and snug in the states" would know what to do. Unfortunately those in charge lack the will."

LOL! I'm simply amazed at how out-of-touch so many people are with today's military.

[Enterprise]

What really fries my bacon is that these fine gentlemen may have already taken part in any number of atrocities against their own people. They may have participated in attacks against American or Allied forces before the funeral, and after the funeral. How do you explain to a family that lost their father that the man who killed their military family member was spared because the General was worried that there might be non combatants in the area? Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

[laweeks]

We're going to "moral" ourselves into an early grave. The enemy is laughing at us and our "correct" behavior. It's clear that we don't have the guts to give them exactly what their giving us.

[ArtyFO]

I guess the next question to ask is why don't we target their mosques when they gather for prayer.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

We're gonna' lose this war and lose big. PC will destroy us.

No, we won't lose, but we are going to suffer a great number of mindless losses and setbacks that could be avoided by a little less cowardice.

If we're too gutless to kill the enemy when we can find them gathered together in the open, it's not going to get any easier to kill them when they are in hiding.

[cripplecreek]

Proportional war will only lead to protracted conflicts and lots of dead soldiers. Not to mention the enemy notices and uses it against us.

[hemogoblin]

Sounds like this would have been a good occasion to use an SSM.
(Slightly Smaller Missile)

[Axhandle]

My concern here is the rationale that the General gave: “So that commander made a decision, based upon our values as a people, based upon our values as a nation, that he would not strike,” Eikenberry said.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems to assume that wars are something other than endeavors that result in collateral damage (people, infrastructure, etc). That has never been an assumption in war and until we have weaponry that operates on wishful thinking spurred by perfect knowledge, it will never be the case. We're not really in a position to second-guess the General without knowing all of the information that he knew at the time. I hope that this explanation was more of a PR move than the actual reasoning that he used.

That said, I also take issue with what you say: "... those in charge lack the will."

Are you basing this on the fact that the General acted in a way that you disagree with - specifically acting in accordance with the reality that the media/pols have effectively reshaped the way that wars are won and lost? I think that we are all frustrated at the media's ability and tendency to undermine our military efforts. But to decry it and then continue plowing ahead without appropriately changing the way we fight to account for this new challenge is not prudent. We can fight this war the way that we want to fight it - and lose. Or we can fight it the way that takes the difficulties of reality into account - and hopefully win.

[Roccus]

It is also the kind of thinking that separates the victorious from the defeated!

[CWOJackson]

LOL! Not very likely with today's military.

[FreedomCalls]

"Are you aware it is private property? Why you'll be asking be to bomb Essen next."

— British Secretary of State for Air Sir Kingsley Wood, regards plans to bomb the Black forest, 30 September 1939.

"Strategic air assault is wasted if it is dissipated piecemeal in sporadic attacks between which the enemy has an opportunity to readjust defenses or recuperate."

— General H. H. 'Hap' Arnold, USAAF.

"From now on we shall bomb Germany on an ever-increasing scale, month by month, year by year, until the Nazi regime has either been exterminated by us or — better still — torn to pieces by the German people themselves."

— Prime Minster Winston Churchill, 14 July 1941.

"We are going to scourge the Third Reich from end to end. We are bombing Germany city by city and ever more terribly in order to make it impossible for her to go in with the war. That is our object, and we shall pursue it relentlessly."

— Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris

"The Air Force comes in every morning and says, 'Bomb, bomb, bomb.' And then the State Department comes in and says, 'Not now, or not there, or too much, or not at all.'"

— President Lyndon B. Johnson

[CWOJackson]

Does anyone here have the same real time, on the ground and in theater knowledge that the commander does?

Does anyone here have the direct knowledge of his available assests and their time on target at the time this target was identified?

Does anyone here have the same knowledge of the current operations on going in theater at the time?

[Axhandle]

Those are prudent questions for those who declare that the guy who made the call should be relieved, his head should roll, etc. Some of us are simply concerned at this whopper: “So that commander made a decision, based upon our values as a people, based upon our values as a nation, that he would not strike,” Eikenberry said.

See post 55.