The more things change...
So now B.O. has dispatched troops to Uganda as "advisers".
But isn't that how we initially got into Viet Nam? Yeah, I know we began over there by helping an ally against the perceived threat of Red Chinese intervention and Uganda has no such problem.
But isn't it time to quit the halfhearted measures whenever we send troops anywhere? If we're going to get ourselves involved via the military in any part of the world, let's not do it in a halfassed, slipshod fashion. That's been proven to drain our men and resources until we're so heartily sick of thing we forget why the hell our involvement was justified in the first place. Look at Viet Nam, Afghanistan and Iraq as great examples of that.
As jingoistic as it sounds, whenever our troops go into a new theater of war they should do it completely unleashed and with our full support. The inevitable casualties some of them will suffer require nothing less.
Otherwise we're using our troops as pawns in some sort of game. That is just plain evil.
They deserve better and so do we.
6 comments:
Subvet--I agree that the pricipal of economy of force means "use enough force" as opposed to "be stingy with troops", which is what politicians want it to mean.
But to give the devil his due--Obama sent the right troops--Special Forces are not commandos--the Rangers are the American Commandos. Rather, they are specialists in working with indigenous troops, both organized and irregular, and counter guerrilla operations. A company of SF troops, about 100 men, are capable of training up a and supporting a Regiment--900 to 1200--locals that know the terrain, the politics and the problems of a local. i think he might have sent more SF guys in, but the regulars, whether Army or Marines, could spend a decade tramping around the backwoods and accomplish nothing.
Remember--it took SF less than 18 months to completely remove the VC infrastructure and field units from the Mekong Delta, which the Imperial Japanese Army, the French Regulars, the Foreign Legion, the South Vietnamese Army and the US Army regular forces had been unable to do in two decades!
IR, I'll defer to your knowledge in this area. Maybe B.O. has done exactly what needs doing.
However both he and his predecessor did their best to enforce idiotic "rules of engagement" upon our forces that at best make them look ridiculous and at worst get some good men killed. THAT is what keeps going through my head, along with stories from vets of Nam telling how they needed to get permission to return fire from enemy troops.
If you've any further insight/opinions on this I'd appreciate hearing them. No need for false modesty on my part, I know almost nothing about actual combat in country. Nuke subs that I rode were designed to blow up the entire world if necessary, all from a safe distance.
Subvet--the Lords Resistance Army is an irregular guerrilla force, that subsists by "living off the land"--which in this case means stealing the food from villages. The do not have a popular base of support. The tactic here will be to doseeral things--train up the locals--both regular and militia--to be able to engage the LRA. That means village militia being taught how to fight them off effectivly, and the regulars being trained in tracking and rapid movement, by vehicle or air. It also means that the "linear" tactics, or maneuver tactics used by the conventional forces of the US won't really work--not enough roads, and too long a response time. The SF guys will be there, in small groups of about 12, who will train, advise and sometimes lead locals in their fight. When the LRA is seperated from their food supply, they will have to begin to hunt and forage, which will render them more visible. By having forces in all three affected countries working in some sort of coordinated manner, they will be deprived of any sanctuary. This will not be a quick or simple operation--by it'sntur it will be time consuming and comples--I would say it will take one or two years. It took ten to catch bin laden, because he had suport of people and govmn'ts--Joseph kony and his pals do not. They haven't got an identifiable policy or political agenda. They are in efect a cult devoted to murder, rape, mutilation, kidnapping slavery. Hence, it will be easier to get to them--they have not friends or allies. But the converse is this--estimates of their strength run from 500 to 3000 troops. This will not be simple, and thinking that the LRA might surrender if cut off from food sources or recruits are probably false--most of the troops were recruited as pre pubescent boys, and forced into the life through psychological abuse--they will have to be killed.
Sending in US regulars would make it worse--it would ignite African National feelings and fears of neo colonialism. Using SF keeps the locals in technical command, and empowers them with decent training and expertise--which we will probably pay for, as most African nations cannot afford to pay for decent training.
So let me see if I understand this. As long as no one covertly supports the LRA it'll be almost inevitable that they'll annhilated, living as they do solely for rape, murder, theft and other crimes.
But this will take time so we can anticipate our Special Forces being in the area for at least a few years.
Does that sound about right?
Yeah, that's about right! The lra don't have any real friends--they exist by rapine, and pay for their arms by looting. Non of the other revolutionary or nationalist groups have any use for them. So if we, through the SF guys--can improve the effectivness of the local military, and the local militias, the end is written--if we stick to it. But it will take a couple of years, and just killing Kony won't do it, they have a couple of "seers" or "prophets", so they have to be defeated in detail.
BTW--this is one of those times when I wish we still had segregated units--a detachment made up of all African American troops would be much more effective, because of the history of colonial politics--than a mixed group!
I came to this realization through discussions with an African American SFr!
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