Posted on 10/20/2009 9:54:11 AM PDT by neverdem
But there is no appetite in America for such a commitment.
People simply do not care.
And one glaring omission in Yon’s analysis: unless we come to terms with Pakistan’s support for the jihadis there is no solution.
Even now, Pakistan’s offensive in Waziristan is against the Mehsud anti Pakistan Talibs, while leaving untouched the Anti American Talibs.
>>Cultural things like that are easy to miss.
Yes, like how for years, officers, NCO’s and other military personnel paraded around Iraq with those damn sunglasses attempting to achieve some empathy and contact with the locals.
Dumb.
They can be a tool of intimidation and how would you trust a man or woman whose eyes you cannot see, never mind the prevalent difficulties of communication and language.
Or the whole thing about dogs. Read Marcus Luttrell’s “Lone Survivor” to see how critical it is that troops attempt to “get” the local culture.
BTTT
..my pastor’s son is over there with the 82nd—God be with them all...
I’ve vacillated about reading that one because I know parts of it would get me very PO’ed. Saw him on a TV interview.
But either Bing West’s The Strongest Tribe, or Thomas Ricks’ The Gamble, or Colonel Peter Mansoor’s book, Baghdad at Sunrise IIRC, mentioned the issue of sunglasses.
Yon did a book, based on his blogs, called “Moment of Truth in Iraq.” Not great, but good, and he makes a LOT of good points. This is a guy who goes into the buildings with the soldiers usually holding a camera, but who isn’t afraid to pick up a weapon and fire if his peeps are in trouble. My kind of “war correspondent.” None of this Dan Rather crap.
Him, and also Bill Roggio for superb reporting. And even Dexter Filkins of NYT, his book The Forever War is decent, as was Anthony Shadid’s Night Draws Near and Rajiv Chandrashekaran’s Emerald City (IIRC) about the Green Zone.
And Michael Ware plays a crucial role in helping Sgt David Bellavia’s squad in his superb House to House; he briefed Bellavia accurately when all the good sgt was getting was gobbledygook and mishmash for Army intel in Iraq before the Battle of Falluja.
Another worthy mention for a journalist is Syed Shahzad of Atimes.com.
I’ll wait for the brickbats for some of these names!
I love Yon, but I don’t know about “adopting” Afghanistan.
The war in Vietnam was won— and then the Democrat Party decided to lose it, helped logistically by a number of our “allies.”
God Bless the 82nd, and your pastor’s son.
It was my son’s also. The very best!
Just perfect...pure Yon.
Thank you for the ping Squantos.
Thank you Michael Yon, and God bless you!
Michael Yon is recommending nation-building. He must be a neo-con RINO loser (/keyboard kommando).
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