Mustang Rambles

Have we ever been spoiled! 800 dead in a war is a pretty small total killed. Especially in 8 years. In Viet Nam we averaged 5800 killed every year. Of course, that war was more like a real war. We killed and burned, defoliated, and interdicted supply routes whenever we could. We also bombed the source of the problem. We also failed at winning the hearts and minds of the people.

In Afghanistan, today we have to selectively send out patrols, watch every vehicle and every road, drive through villages that supply and hide the Taliban. We are wimpy in strategy and tactics. Has anyone thought about rounding up the population and putting them in strategic villages where we can feed, educate, protect, and medicate them? Have we thought about destroying crops and villages where the Taliban get their support? How about the good old Free Fire Zone? And have we seriously gone to the safe havens in Pakistan? That wonderful country where only $500 million of the $6 billion in military aid actually went to the military?

When are we going to really fight this war? In the wilds of the mountains it is not the man on the ground that will win (the Russians proved that), it is the eyes and weapons in the skies, the predators and manned bombers and helicopters that will win. It is the cool, steady hand in Nevada that releases the missiles with the complete assurance from political and military leaders that his action will not be second-guessed by a bunch of secular humanists.

“War is Hell” to quote a famous general. When will we realize that? Another famous general realized that the faster you moved and the faster you ran the enemy down, the quicker the war was over and the fewer losses you had. Doesn’t anyone in Congress or the administration have military background? Or at least, attendance at the Command and General Staff Colleges?

When are we going to fight like we mean it?

And if not, why the hell are we there?