ping
Man... hold on.
Who here on this site wasn’t against the whole going into Somalia in the first place? I was 7 so i don’t count. Lots of people were against this, including George “No nation building” W Bush.
I’m not supporting McCain here I’m just saying for the sake of this forum : Stick to logical arguments or just admit you all just hate everyone who isn’t Reagan.
This needs a closer look.
It was a mistake to send the troops there in the first place, for a so-called “humanitarian mission.” The liberals twisted Bush I’s arm until he agreed to do it.
Then when clinton came in he expanded the mission but refused to supply the armor needed to protect our troops. The result was a disastrous humiliation.
If McCain said we should withdraw THEN, he was wrong. We were wrong to go there, but we were also wrong to pull out like defeated cowards. Famously, that inspired Osama bin Ladin to think that America was weak, thus leading to 9/11.
McCain wants to pull our troops out of Somalia?
Good for him.
Even a blind pig will root up an acorn now and then.
Pull them out now.
Let’s say we want to commit forces in some place or places, but we don’t want to use our military, for various reasons.
Why doesn’t the US create, or at least subcontract, a mercenary army to do these dirty jobs? Here’s the logic.
Either creating some force like the French Foreign Legion, or keeping a company like Blackwater on retainer, in either case, quartered outside of the United States, most likely on a Caribbean or Aleutian island, or both, for hot and cold weather operations. Here are the advantages:
1) Controlled by the US, or its subcontractor. Perhaps staffed with US military Officers, like the FFL, or prior service US NCOs and Officers.
2) Its enlisted personnel do not have to be US citizens. We can recruit the best and the brightest, such as Ghurkas, Sihks, Samoans, and others. US citizenship is not an issue.
3) Such a light infantry brigade would be for two primary purposes: extended humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. It can go places where our military cannot, and be under UN leadership if needed, without being a problem. If the UN misuses them, they end their contract and leave.
4) This would cost just a fraction of a US military unit, yet be transportable and supported by the US military, being given whatever equipment they needed only when they needed it.
5) Command, Control, and Communications would be selectively integrated with US military standards, so the US military could direct and coordinate with the mercenaries, but they could not tap into US military communications uninvited.
If we had such an organization available, right now, it could replace much of our forces in Bosnia, it could have been used in Darfur, it might be part of the peacekeeping force in Lebanon, or available for any humanitarian relief operation that the US was willing to pay to involve itself in.
One other possibility. Given the tremendous amount of training and experience they have, such a mercenary army could be formed in *Iraq*, from Iraqis, specifically for intervention in Muslim nations. It could even be divided into a Sunni unit and a Shiite unit.
Strangely enough, it could recruit heavily vetted foreign Muslims, who had already trained with US forces, from Egypt and Turkey, and possibly one or two other nations, to provide a Muslim intervention force for the entire Muslim world.
Such an organization could have marked advantages. For example, its Sunni unit could be a major barrier between Hezbollah and Israel. It could also be used as a peacekeeping force *inside* Gaza or the West Bank, disarming and keeping the peace, as well as stopping attacks against Israel.
Unlike Iraq’s Army, its purpose would be to project force and order to other countries. (Quite possibly under US CCC, I might add.)
Bump for later.
My initial thought was this is not going to go good.
the mistakes were compounded when Clinton refused to send the equipment necessary to win the war.....denying the troops via phone call while getting a hummer from monica.
All that led to Black Hawk Down....a cascade of mistakes across two administrations culminating in what I consider criminal inaction by clinton in denying resources.
For years now 'conservatives' (I use the term lightly) have excoriated Clinton for precipitously leaving Somalia. They constantly bring up the fact that Osama bin Laden specifically referred to the pullout from Somalia and said "that's when I knew America had no stomach for a fight" to show Clinton's folly and weakness.
Now that their favorite RINO is exposed as cut from the same foreign policy cloth as Slick they want to rewrite history. That pig won't fly.
Thank you, pissant.