Special forces vet sees U.S. - Soviet parallels

Washington Times ^ | 11/03/01 | Timothy Gusinov, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

[kattracks]

When I read in the newspapers that U.S. special forces units are on the ground in Afghanistan, I can't help but have this deja-vu feeling of "been there, done that."

And it all comes back to me: Dark nights in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, the angry roar of helicopter engines in thin air, deafening bursts of automatic fire and hand-grenade explosions in narrow canyons and among packed mud walls of Afghan villages, the exhausting dash back toward the pickup area

[kim r.]

damn good article. especially the "hide your used toilet paper" tip.

[Travis McGee]

Good ideas in here. I like the "truck in a truck" covert insertion for leaving a surveilled base undetected.

[RLK]

This dude is a cool head.

[SLB]

Let's hope our mission planners are not only good planners, but good listeners. Experience is always one of the best teachers.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Thus, with due respect to the feelings of special forces personnel, it must be said that while operating on enemy territory, it doesn't matter who detects you — a child, a shepherd, a woman, an old man — the first thing they will do is report you to the enemy. This has to be kept in mind, and an appropriate decision must be taken.

I've tried every way in the world to get my fellow Americans to understand the implication of the above statement, but to no avail. You simply HAVE to kill them. Part of the price of war is not the death you might suffer, but having to live wishing you were dead because of the things you had to do. Part of the price of freedom from terrorism.

[Travis McGee]

Not to mention that if captured, our troops face a multi day torture extravaganza which will begin with blinding and cutting the achilles tendons, and proceed from there for the sick pleasure of the Talibans and Arabs.

One typical trick is to carefully gut the prisoner alive so that he dies in screaming agony of sepsis. Another is skinning alive.

[B4Ranch]

The unit commanders were probably worried that they would have to answer to "unarmed civilian killed" report on the CNN channels in the US.

These times require that we kill anyone who is a potential hazard to the mission or the safety of the men if they cannot be taken prisoner. Killing unarmed kids is what our soldiers are trained to do that makes it harder for us. Just remember the babies and kids who died on 9/11. Never forget or forgive

___________________________________________________________________________________

Someone doesn't like me repeating Never forget or forgive. I have been getting Trojan Virus attacks from 217.165.144.43 like they were candy.

[wardaddy]

amen....better theirs than ours....again.

I'm constantly amazed at our reticence when placed in a historical perspective. Can you imagine Britain's wrath had say some Indian independence zealots killed 6000 Londoners? This type of war against folks willing to do anything in their cause should be even less political than conventional wars. Just my opinion. I'm no Clauswitz...I readily admit. But it would appear that we got a lot of momentum at least for a while from that "carpet bombing" north of Kabul Thursday. I think I remember that same type of conduct brought the NVA back to the Paris tables in 1972 as well. Big sticks work well at times.

[harpseal]

There are some exellent ideas here. I note that in Laos and Cambodia it was not unheard of for multiple landings to be made just to distract from the team that was going to be on the ground for a while. Toe popers were used to slow down those who are trackung the team on the ground and a lot of very brave AF pioots to pick up the guys who were doing the work on the ground.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[Travis McGee]

This article (along with others) should be printed, put in a binder, and distributed at the teams and all other special units.