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  • Petraeus and his options

    Given that the Obama Administration has essentially derailed any chance we might have of nurturing COIN operations by publicly announcing a commence-withdrawal date of July 2011, what now are the General's options? Petraeus knows that opposition to the war will eventually erode the Administration's committment. He must know he probably won't get the time he needs to complete the transition of Afghan army, security and police units into effective stand-alone forces. And he must also know how his enemies will use that withdrawal date as, a.) a powerful incentive to keep up the pressure and, b.) a propaganda nuke that convinces the populace--more than anything else we might say or do to the contrary--that any collaboration with US/NATO/ISAF is temporary and dangerous.

    How does Petraeus approach this? What are his options? More surge? Mount offensives? Pump steroids into COIN? Focus on stabilizing? Ramp up/speed up/increase Afghan participation? All of the above?
    Last edited by Red Seven; 24 Jul 10,, 13:43.

  • #2
    One tribe at a time.A 4-6 men SOF team in every friendly village or group of nearby villages.Enough cash to pay whatever needs to be payed,guns and ammo to arm and train the villagers at discretion.If there are not enough USSF,hire contractors with all the risks associated.Integrate the contractors into the chain of command.There is plenty of experience in the NATO SOF community or regular armies that could be used that way.Actually for the task of training and leading a couple hundreds tribesmen in battle you don't need crack commandos.A gift for languages,local culture and small unit leadership is enough.Have a few B1's and B52's nearby if the situation gets sh!tty.Screw Karzai and GIROA.Tell the press the situation on the ground is to dangerous.If a journalist gets there,shoot the fvucker(I'm only half joking).Easy(in theory)
    Those who know don't speak
    He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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    • #3
      Mihais Reply

      Can you resurrect Colonel Kurtz from whatever grave Captain Willard dropped him into?

      "I remember when I was with Special Forces... seems a thousand centuries ago. We went into a camp to inoculate some children. We left the camp after we had inoculated the children for polio, and this old man came running after us and he was crying. He couldn't see. We went back there, and they had come and hacked off every inoculated arm. There they were in a pile. A pile of little arms. And I remember... I... I... I cried, I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out; I didn't know what I wanted to do! And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it... I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought, my God... the genius of that! The genius! The will to do that! Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we, because they could stand that these were not monsters, these were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men, our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment! Because it's judgment that defeats us."
      "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
      "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

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      • #4
        Sir,I think I may look a bit like a caricature.I prefer to consider myself just old fashioned.''War is simple and ruthless;it takes a simple and ruthless man to wage it'' said one of your nation's most sophisticated general.

        In fact what I say and what you propose don't complement each other.You can have your TF anchored in the IO ready to strike.But you still need someone to direct the fire.And with the village militias you get your proxies.Expert and eager killers that can beat the Taliban in guerilla warfare.
        Moral people that are at the same time able to use the primordial instincts are a rare breed.We'll have to do the job mostly with the psychos.What sane man would learn a rare language,go to a place with no toillet paper for years,eat whatever crap the natives eat,abstain from alcohol,abstain from getting involved with local womenfolk,march around the hills day and night?All these while getting shot at day by day.Ahh,let's not forget the risk of villagers changing sides.In that case our hero would meet a nasty end,with the world watching online his torture and demise.
        Those who know don't speak
        He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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        • #5
          Mihais Reply

          "Sir,I think I may look a bit like a caricature."

          Not in my eyes.

          The idea has been kicked around a lot. There's inadequate commitment to it from the powers-on-high. You really can't be a career soldier while checking out of the system for the interminably long time it would take to save Afghanistan one village at a time. There needs to be another vehicle that identifies and puts to use men willing to forego the usual career progression.

          You have to "go native" to defeat the natives. Doing so doesn't include six week de-compression leaves to Dubai.
          "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
          "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

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          • #6
            Sir,I remember we talked a bit about the pros and cons .You brought to attention the half-hearted attempt by the Pentagon to create a corp of about 500 experts(woefully inadequate number even if there were enough volunteers,which weren't,anyway).First of all the human resources needed must be assesed.I've no real idea how many men would be needed.5-6000 probably.If there are more they're no longer only experts,they turn into an army,if they are fewer they won't be able to cover enough population.

            The point is that quite a few of these would need indeed to turn native.They won't be all soldiers since it's obviously impossible to muster enough.The financial incentive would probably be the object of envy for many.However this will be a US-Western presence on the ground.Otherwise whatever US and the rest of the bunch did there will turn to dust.It will anyway(since Afghanistan cannot be changed in a few years)but at a slower rate.If we simply turn and run(BHO's idea)we'll be the laughing stock of every scumbag on the planet.
            Those who know don't speak
            He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Mihais View Post
              What sane man would learn a rare language,go to a place with no toillet paper for years,eat whatever crap the natives eat,abstain from alcohol,abstain from getting involved with local womenfolk,march around the hills day and night?All these while getting shot at day by day.
              ;) Romantics...like many of us.

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