Front Line Views on Iraq/Afghanistan War Situation

A Soldier in Afghanistan | 3/12/06 | gleeaikin

[armymarinemom]

They're being more and more effective. They don't bother turning these guys over to us or the Iraqi forces, they just kill them.

Yep. Things are going better than the media tells us. My biggest fear is letting political correctness pressure our politicians into folding.

[McGavin999]

Well it seem like they've weathered the pressure so far, and unless congress pulls the funding I really don't think there's much chance of us leaving before it's time.

Afghanistan is going to get rocky as the terrorists get run out of Iraq, they will head straight for Afghanistan. I hope we've got gunships trained on the borders there.

[gleeaikin]

Quotes identical to leftists. My son is definitely not a lefty. More of a liberterian. He entered JROTC at age 15, got himself up early for drill, went into the military upon graduation, served in Gulf War I, and now in Afghanistan.

As to his strategic vision, I gave him a copy of Machiavelli's "The Prince" when he was 14. He has been reading ever since. I send all his emails to a WWII vet family friend. He was very impressed by the comments. Asked if son has read Sun Szu's "The Art of War". I said yes. Before we attacked Iraq in 2003, I asked him how many troops he thought we needed to do the job right. He said 450,000. This after Shinsecki had batted out for saying 350,000. Now we have Brimmer saying we should have had 500,000. So much for son's lack of vision. Pace has to back up the boss, same as Brimmer when he was there. Who knows what he really thinks. Of course Bush had to start the war when he did, for political strategy. Summer was coming and too hot to fight. Fall of 2003 would have been to close to the election, so he went in only half prepared.

[lonestar67]

I appreciate this info though I completely disagree with it.

It is difficult for me to see the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as anything short of monumental successes.

I actually think the Taliban and Saddam were bad.

I recognize that individuals still sympathize with such views but it seems that conditions favor the US in a massive way.

We have pacified Afghanistan in a way the Soviets never could even after a decade of effort.

Iraq has three elections and a US trained military force larger than our current 140,000 plus ground forces. All of this is done in less than 3 years.

Is there a US war that has been more successful than these two?

I question whether WWII was as successful. Death rates of civilians, combatants, etc. are all positive relative to previous wars and better in terms of pre-post war condition comparisons.

I think it is the nay sayers who live in a bubble.

[bnelson44]

Your son sounds like a great soldier. Bremmer, on the other hand, was an idiot and caused the problems we now have in Iraq, so I don't trust anything he has to say.

[pollyannaish]

Thank you, I thought I was the only one.

I hate jumping to conclusions, and I especially hate it when someone is legit. But, this is a very odd thread, from top to bottom, with a lot of recent sign up dates. And with very different than most we see.

It may be true. This all may be true, but it is certainly a different has some different patterns than we usually see.

[pcottraux]

You reek, and I mean positively reek, of troll.

I'm afraid for the moment, I agree.

[pcottraux]

No, you aren't the only one.

[pcottraux]

But, this is a very odd thread, from top to bottom, with a lot of recent sign up dates. And with very different than most we see.

It is very strange. No link is provided. Where is this info coming from?

The article itself seems suspiciously filled with CLASSIC left-wing socialist anti-war rhetoric. It's making me scratch my head here.

[armymarinemom]

Afghanistan is going to get rocky as the terrorists get run out of Iraq, they will head straight for Afghanistan. I hope we've got gunships trained on the borders there.

Two of my sons served on the border region. They think we will be there a very long time just due to the makeup of the region. It is going to take them a very long time to move into the current century. They are proud of the work they did but they think that most Americans have no idea of just how isolated the people are over there.

[Marine_Uncle]

I would respect the soldiers view points based on their particular set of experiences within the AOR they are involved.
As some have commented, not all soldiers, airmen, aviators, and Marines would take the views presented here. That does not mean this soldier is not right or wrong. Their particular experiences and observations lead them to most likely give as accurate an answer as they could.
One could interview say a Marine in al Anbar region of Iraq and get a totally different opinon on the Iraqi SASO, where high success rates are found in decimating the al Qaeda and local insurents.
Most hear that are following closely the two fronts, using many sources to compare and then make conclusions would have have to differ on the Iraqi, issue, due to the clear after action battle reports we see that show the insurgency is crumbling.
All with a little knowledge can see the Afghanistan and required Pakistan involvement is a different beast at present due to many well defined criteria that differ from the Iraqi front. For one example the geographic land features and mix of cultures. Iraq understands nationalized government, Afganistan does not for the most part as this soldier indicated. Few would argue on that point. The remote/isolated tribal cultures dictact to a high degree in how one must conduct a counter-insurgency war. Many of the examples this soldier provides have been rehashed in frequency at this FR.
As my email to you indicated I am past due for sack time, so I do not feel up to a long disertation into major differences between how we have to fight in Iraq verse Afganistan, and quite frankly could not do any where as well as some other responders.
However. It should be clear to all, that the conditions we have to work with in Afganistan are in many ways different then they are in Iraq. Many of the Afgans (across cultural and religious boundaries) are simply a different mix then found in the much more modernized Iraq. One must deal differently with them. To perhaps a large degree the way some of the really isolated bedeune Arab tribes in the western Syrian desert regions of Al Anbar Iraq, must be treated.
At any rate I gotta hit the sack. Let us hope our brave soldiers and Marines in Afganistan get proper MOs to minimize their casualties, and at the same time continue to be able to take the fight to the jihadist. It will take longer then the Iraqi situation.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Only we here and our people back home are sacrificing in this war. For anyone else, this war is just a story on the evening news."

I would add to that list those who have been there and come back.

The percentage of the general population with any connection to the military or useful knowledge of it is smaller now than it has been in generations. The vast majority have so little clue they are nearly unreachable.

The United States has not mobilized for war. A little less than half the population doesn't even think we should be fighting it. There is no political will to do hard things, like prosecute traitors and compromisers of classified data, invade sanctuaries in "sovereign" states, or assassinate fruit-loop national leaders.

[gleeaikin]

Hussein and Taliban were bad.

I agree entirely. My mother was raving about the evil Baath, and subsequently Hussein 35 years ago. I thought we should have continued GWI for another 24 to 36 hours. Something that no one has mentioned in all that I have read is that Gorbachev was facing a terrible situation with his hard liners. Anyone remember how close it came to him being overthrown. We could not have continued it much longer without giving the hard liners too much ammunition, then I don't know how Russia would have turned out.

What I really thought was unforgiveable was the way Bush Sr. allowed the Iraq planes fly to crush the Shiites in the south after he had specifically encouraged them to revolt. Perhaps his son is trying to expiate some guilt in connection with that shameful episode.

Yes there have been some successes. We will never have Husseins psychopathic and sociopathic sons to deal with. However, the premise was that Iraq's oil wealth would spark the rebuilding of the country. This has not happened, and have you been to the pump lately? The looting should have been stopped hard. A few summary executions in public. Instead we got Rumsfeld's "what are a few pots" crack. Instead of dismissing the upper echalons of the military and the Baath leadership and keeping the troops on payroll, we dismissed them all and as unemployed young men will do, they got restless. So I would say we have had some successes, are muddling through, but there was still a lot of PPPP (Pi.. poor prior planning), SNAFU and FUBAR

[pollyannaish]

Can you tell I got interrupted several times when I was writing that? Sheesh.

I think the perspective is interesting...but like almost everything I read these days it sends up red flags.

You're right. Classic, but woven in with conventional wisdom and things you would expect to see in a thread such as this.

[balch3]

Well his indirect slam of the GOP by equating them with the Democrats surely raises questions about his agenda. The Republican party is the biggest supporter the troops have. There are lots of ways to support the war effort besideds signing up. What this guy is doing is subtly using the old 'chickenhawk' slur. If he really believes this I have to wonder if he really knows what he's talking about or if he's really who he says he is.

[pcottraux]

If you don't have a dog in this fight then you are just on the outside looking in. No politician has a dog in this fight. Honestly, of this is such a noble cause why don't the children of these politicians join the Army? Only we here and our people back home are sacrificing in this war. For anyone else, this war is just a story on the evening news.

This is the statement that bothers me the most. This is not only untrue, it's also classic anti-war propoganda. Michael Moore used this argument as a driving force for "Fahrenheit 9/11." I actually believe there are PLENTY of politicians with family members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[pollyannaish]

I agree.

It seems like an odd thing for a recruit in an all volunteer army to say. Especially since we hear it over and over from real live anit-war activists and leftists.

That said, it isn't like the entire military has one political perspective. Heck, most of us around here can't agree most of the time.

[pcottraux]

Yeah, you're right. The Dubai Ports thing proved that.

Q. What can we at home do to support the troops? A: "How about everyone who "Supports the Troops" volunteer for a nice tax increase to pay for the war? How about a military pay raise? Aren't we worth it? How about some better equipment? How about giving every returning vet a good JOB?"

This statement also bothered me. The suggestion of increasing taxes to pay for the war is classic DNC rhetoric. And as far as the military pay raise, Republicans have voted for tremendous amounts of troop funding while Democrats have blocked said funding (or voting for it before you vote against it).

But, it is entirely possible that the person is serving but not a right-winger.

[pollyannaish]

Yep. Talking points through and through. Well, time will tell, if he is correct.

[Coop]

Idiot

Semper Fi