I Give Him A Week - Max!

[AAAintheBeltway]

If for no other reason, he should be fired for poor judgment in talking freely in front of a reporter. Did he just ride in on a turnip truck?

This guy McCrystal symbolizes this huge ego problem these generals have. They get their asses kissed all day long and begin to believe they are some sort of philospher/kings who should be making policy, without the nuisance of standing for elective office. The fact that they all are sent off at taxpayer expense to get advanced degrees in areas having little or nothing to do with war fighting doesn't help.

McCrystal has had some good ideas, but he has had a lot of bad ones, chiefly getting his troopers killed because of overly restrictive rules of engagement. He strikes me as the very worst kind of combat commander, one who willing puts his troops at risk so he looks good. You can say Patton did the same thing, but Patton was doing it to kick Nazi butt, not pursue some foolhardy scheme to win the "hearts and minds" of stone age afghan villagers.

Basically, we should no longer get ourselves involved in this type of war. We are not prepared to do what is necessary to win, and under existing rules, press coverage and international law, I'm not sure we ever could. The Taliban deals with villagers who help us by coming back in the night and cutting their heads off. Simple and highly effective. Our troops are not even allowed to enter an aghan house without afghan security force assistance.

 

[indahook]

Quote from Gabfly1:

No doubt. He acted out of line and may have ventured into court martial territory. No matter what, you simply do not speak out or ridicule the CIC or the VP. Period

 

[Ricter]

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

...Basically, we should no longer get ourselves involved in this type of war. We are not prepared to do what is necessary to win, and under existing rules, press coverage and international law, I'm not sure we ever could. The Taliban deals with villagers who help us by coming back in the night and cutting their heads off. Simple and highly effective. Our troops are not even allowed to enter an aghan house without afghan security force assistance.

You are correct, hence the old, "an army can defeat an army but an army cannot defeat a people."

Sadly, this is a lesson every new generation seems to need to learn.

On the other hand, bringing home all those young men and women to an economy that basically does not need them might not turn out so well either.

 

[Ivanovich]

Quote from Ricter:


On the other hand, bringing home all those young men and women to an economy that basically does not need them might not turn out so well either.

I am hoping you're being cheeky here. You cannot possibly think that is the reason to keep them over there.

 

[omegapoint]

Quote from Ivanovich:

I am hoping you're being cheeky here. You cannot possibly think that is the reason to keep them over there.

No, thats not the only reason, theres Lockheed's share price too.
What is Skunkworks going to do w/o a war?

 

[TraderZero]

Quote from Ricter:

You are correct, hence the old, "an army can defeat an army but an army cannot defeat a people."

I disagree, an Army most certainly can defeat a People.

But there's a huge caveat to that, the Army has to be willing to kill civilians and destroy both military and civilian infrastructure indiscriminately, and continue doing so until the People either surrender unconditionally or are all dead. Very simple.

We are, however, not at all willing to fight that kind of war any longer.

 

[Ricter]

Quote from Ivanovich:

I am hoping you're being cheeky here. You cannot possibly think that is the reason to keep them over there.

Somewhat, but it is a sociological truth that every society needs to figure out what to do with its testosterone fueled young men. I'm not making that up.

 

[Ricter]

Quote from TraderZero:

I disagree, an Army most certainly can defeat a People.

But there's a huge caveat to that, the Army has to be willing to kill civilians and destroy both military and civilian infrastructure indiscriminately, and continue doing so until the People either surrender unconditionally or are all dead. Very simple.

We are, however, not at all willing to fight that kind of war any longer.

That just creates resistance elsewhere. Attempts at it have never worked for long, even for those "willing to fight that kind of war". We have a kind of nonsense optimism that says if we simply try hard enough we can't lose. Guess what? the other guy might have that optimism, too. How many nations through history, at their zenith, figured they were unbeatable?

 

[Ivanovich]

Quote from Ricter:

Somewhat, but it is a sociological truth that every society needs to figure out what to do with its testosterone fueled young men. I'm not making that up.

I would argue that the trained "testosterone fueled young men" in the army aren't nearly the threat as the untrained same running all over the south and in urban centers around the country.

 

[Ricter]

Quote from Ivanovich:

I would argue that the trained "testosterone fueled young men" in the army aren't nearly the threat as the untrained same running all over the south and in urban centers around the country.

And I would agree with you, but also point out that they are trained because they were military and deployed. Either way, it's important for a society to have its young men busy at something.