"This Is A New Kind of War" is President Bush's Get Out of Jail Free Card

Vanity (Better than most 'snooze' articles) | 10-27-01 | S.Fleming

[mercy]

Schwartzkopf told us that 'Snake Eaters' don't win wars. I've brought this up a few times here on the forum for discussion since the world was turned upside down on 9/11. Despite all you great ret. Spec. Ops. guys who have tried to say Schwartzkopf was 'yesterday's army' I respectfully disagree.

Like Ike warning about the Military-Industrial complex .... General S. was telling us the plain truth. Perhaps this new kind of war will prove to be successful once we establish massive forward bases in Afghanistan and from there, strike out ACROSS and THROUGHOUT the Middle East with terrible and sure .... Swift Death.

Perhaps we SHALL see (someday) Gratifying headlines from all points announcing the mysterious cropping up of groups of very dead terr cells even through Europe. Thus signaling the re-emergence of a brighter day, finally, for the Western World.

But it is absolutely imperitive that we take first things first. We are not going to take even a corner of Afgahanistan for establisment of a massive, massive forward base of operations going at this as we now are. A real war on terrorism cannot be fought unless we have total control of some forward base of operations some where near the M.E. If not Afgahanistan then perhaps half the coast of Pakistan. Regardless, in order to insure this we must have a REAL war Against the Taliban and other, new fighters now coming from far and wide. IF not to establish a base then merely because destroying the Taliban is what we said we were going to do. The US must start sticking to it's word as a FIRST step toward defeating Islamist world wide.

Unless we can get Schwartzkopf to come out of retirement or 'miracle of miracles' there's another Schwartzkopf hiding just under the joint chiefs level ...to fight an actual war with hundreds of thousands of infantry and thousands of tanks, Bush will continue to lose this war.

I doubt that there ARE any new Schwartzkopfs. Clintoon decimated the General Staff. Thus the laying of the 'Get Out of Jail Free Card'. The excuse to prosecute a Viet Nam style police action and keep the news cameras completely out of it. Thus never allowing proof of the ineffectiveness of such a losing propositonal excuse for a war.

It won't work. This policy, already plainly evident in this so called war, will strenghthen and embolden the Islamist terrs world wide and we are guaranteed massive Islamist strikes here at home. If the American people are not moral enough to insist on a real war when nothing else will do .... the Islamists will do it for us. And then we'll really be playing 'catch-up'. Same ole same ole.

[mercy]

Flame away. I could very likely be 50% off in my assesment. Even given I'm HALF a$$ed ... we are f---ed.

[JoeSchem]

Carpet bombing civilians and staging hundred-man commando raids are unlikely to beat the Taliban. We need to commit ground forces in large numbers.

[mercy]

Ahhhh, a customer. Yeah that's what I said. Did you read the artilce or just the key words?

[Hugin]

There are some very good generals, including Tommy Franks, the theater commander. It's not the generals that worry me, but the politicians and the State Department professional diplomats. I tend to agree with you partly. We need a forward base in country. Mazar-e Sharif is the logical first choice, due to modern Russian built highway connecting it to Uzbekistan. There is also a huge Russian built airbase at Baghram that would make a fine forward ops base. I don't think it's coincedence that those two places are where we are concentrating our attacks now. But we will need more than a portion of the 10th Mountain Div to hold them. If we see the 101st and/or 82nd Airborne go over there you will know we are setting up for some major long-term ground ops.

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[A Navy Vet]

How many of these *we've-already-lost-the-war-even-though-we're-only-weeks-into-the-campaign* loser threads are you folks going to post? Below is my rebuttal:

1. It has been reported that terrorist operatives exist in almost 60 countries;
2. The enemy is elusive and therefore difficult to fight, especially in light of our weak human intel;
3. Bush & Co. have repeatedly stated that we will target Al Queda initially and then proceed to the next;
4. Bush & Co. have also stated that behind scenes victories can't be publicized due to covert necessity;
5. This NEW type of warfare is being fought on many fronts, some not militarily;
6. Since Afganistan is land-locked we need the surrounding nations' support to execute our plans; Unfortunately, this means considering the *sensitivities* and political concerns of those nations (much to our dismay);
7. Since you nor I don't receive Top Secret cabinet level briefings, there is no way that we know what's actually going on. Neither does much of the media;
8. Be patient. We'll be at this for years...but we WILL prevail.

[mercy]

Ummmm. Good Info. You pletty Smaht ferra. Agreed.

[EggsAckley]

I wouldn't think of flaming you. I agree that our involvement is looking so light-weight that we are sending a very bad message to the Middle East. All of that waiting around while building a "coalition" lost us precious time, in my opinion. By the way, just who IS the General running this "war?" I do miss a Schwarzkopf type giving us updates.

[EggsAckley]

and when the flaming begins, y'all remember who your friends are, now. ;o)

[mercy]

Thank you. I do not totally disagree with you. I do hope in fact that you are right. But I just do not see it going our way at all.

Just doing my LITTLE part to keep the home fires burning ....UNDER THEIR SNEAKY POL ASSES.

[mercy]

Thanks, I try. YOU I remember cause you snagged one of the all time best handles. And you are SOOOOOOOOO intelligent.

[First_Salute]

We need massive aerial support, but instead witness the aircaft and airline industrial withering.

We need tens of thousands of personnel in the training pipeline, but have only a few hundred.

We need to make all airline personnel aware of their pending transition to military status as members of the U.S. armed forces material air transport command.

We need all recent aircraft manufacturing employees from the last two decades, to report into their last such place of employment, as a reserve pool of skilled workers.

And that's not all.

Also skipping, for now, the list of ground and sea support logistics requirements which Bush is letting languish as he continues to try and run the Clinton Administration Part III.

[kayak]

Thank you! Excellent assessment, IMO!

[EggsAckley]

Thanks, I try. YOU I remember cause you snagged one of the all time best handles. And you are SOOOOOOOOO intelligent.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!
EggsAckley has an egg for you!

[mercy]

Oh Lord.....Please don't let it be this bad? PLEASE!

But it is isn't it?

[Loopy]

ALL your points may be summed up in one phrase: "Have blind faith in your government."

I do not. This "New War" is a blank check and the method by which it is being supposedly fought is a sick joke on the American People.

Do you have the ability to engage in critical thought?

[Jaidyn]

Good post! I prefer they get the obstacles out of the way before sending in ground troops. I know these people aren't eager to see our men die, but there would be a lot more casualties if they went in now. I am putting my faith in the military because Bush promised to do everything in his power to stop the terrorism. We know it will take time and there are probably thousands here in the US to be contended with; people who might just like us, a nice neighbor, perhaps. Except for a few, we aren't sure who all the enemy are. We can't just go bombing everywhere on a whim or shreds of evidence. We are better than they are. We will win and will win faster if the media and pessimists and armchair quarterbacks let the military do the advising.

[mercy]

I really do pray you are both right. Right here right now I PRAY. The evidence is not good however. The moral is drooping. The taliban are getting better press. The taliban are having military successes. Those ragged vermin should not be able to fart successfully at this time. We are failing on several fronts.

[Loopy]

Yes. What you wrote is exactly how one would fight a war one expects to win. But for A Navy Vet the gov't word is good enough.

[Renegade]

I am fed up with all the pussy footin about winning this WAR. I have been paying big bucks in tax dollars to develop tactical nuclear weapons to be used in a case such of this. We should flex our muscles and turn part of the desert into glass. Maybe then they will get the message DO NOT MESS WITH US ANYMORE!!! In my logic---Biological weapons is to the Taliban as Nuclear waepons are to the United States . Give them something to think about .. if we didn't use atomics in WW II, I probably wouldn't be writing this note. My dad was in training for the invasion of Japan. Save American lives with the technology we have developed . I also DON'T GIVE A DAMN OF ANY FREEPERS WHO DISAGREE WITH ME!! Also,Who is going to do anything about it ??? Biden ??