Insurgent tactics - Assault on outpost

[SOW_0331]

That was impressive commentary by both of you, very enlightening. While most of what you two stated in on par with the accounts relayed to me, one thing I noticed however that seems a bit different is your overall respect for them as a whole despite their shortcomings.

Honestly I didn't get a lot of that sort of feedback from my group of individuals. There was respect for their bravery to an extent, but frustrations seemed to override in the end. In fact more than one who worked closely with them could care less if they were all wiped from the earth today. One fellow in particular was always delighted to call in air strikes whenever possible hoping for maximum result to all in the area.

You see the more he worked with them the more he enjoyed being able to kill them when possible. Yes they were on the other side but he and others had no respect for the populace in general, friend or foe.

I think it's much more complicated than the surface element would suggest. Like Ogres, onions, or cakes, the Middle Eastern culture and particularly the Afghan culture, has layers. Often, my contribution to these discussions are following a SOAP format. As it seems that many are chomping at the bit to offer the S phase, I skip to the O-Objective. For those without any experience it is important that the facts are relayed to them. So with that in mind..

I can certainly understand the frustration conveyed to you by these SOF personnel. Everyone is different, all walks of life end up in teams everywhere and there's rarely a universal mentality. What makes the men different is their focus on mission at hand, that they can argue over the emotional aspect of morality and such, but all know everyone is dialed in and doing the job when it counts. Yeah, I'll admit watching a Cobra or A-10 drop down for CAS will make anyone's dick move...especially when you're sure you've met your fate. But I draw very few connections to my sentiment towards the enemy and my sentiment towards our strugglingm child-like host military.

Keep in mind too that we are shaped by our experience which can change by something as simple as what side of a river you lived on. My experience in A-Stan was in a large AO in the southeast border area. My brother, the northwest. And colleagues the northeast. What we all saw were cultures that in no way reflected on each other as being unified by any single cause, least of all any unity based on being fellow "countrymen", as very few recognize international boundaries. This was primarily a US failure to begin with and continues to be the quicksand our hard fought efforts sink into. Even if you somehow got the Pashtun in Helmand to agree to abide by a central government, as soon as they saw a Tajik or Hazara in power, they would rebel. With a southern Pashtun as the President (Karzai), it's no wonder the Nuristani tribes are keeping the coals burning hot in the north. And it will always be this way.

As to the things you mentioned that some guys find disgusting, it's hard for me to comment. Again, culture has taught some of these folks that this is acceptable...and in some ways, it works for them. While I'm not a fan of the pedophilic nature, the boys are lining up to volunteer for the job. Like the teenage prostitutes in Thailand, many consider it a fast track to financial and social stability, a right of passage to others. And with tribalism in mind (the baca bahzi is much more rampant in the north, looked down on in the south) the ones doing the kidnapping don't see their victims as anything but subhuman filth to be subjected to their own will. Egg on our face when these police chiefs are put in power by someone in DC who signs off without meeting, who is then turned loose with little accountability.

I don't know though. Right and wrong is in the eye of the beholder and my job had little to do with defending American morals.

[Safetyhit]

Keep in mind too that we are shaped by our experience which can change by something as simple as what side of a river you lived on. My experience in A-Stan was in a large AO in the southeast border area. My brother, the northwest. And colleagues the northeast. What we all saw were cultures that in no way reflected on each other as being unified by any single cause, least of all any unity based on being fellow "countrymen", as very few recognize international boundaries. This was primarily a US failure to begin with and continues to be the quicksand our hard fought efforts sink into.

While the tribalism is well known this is a finely stated assessment that expands on probably one of their most fundamental weaknesses, which is the inability to organize and coordinate on a national scale. Was the same in Iraq but Saddam kept the Shiites in fear enough to make it work as a whole. Even the Kurds complied for the most part because it was that or more gas.

All that said I'd bet 95%+ of us would prefer to see them get their acts together and let us spend our money visiting the ancient wonders of the world without fear of our plane being blown out of the sky or our tour bus attacked before being held for ransom in a basement.

[Eurodriver]

Close. Corporal Jonathan Yale. The other Marine at that checkpoint with LCpl Haerter.

"Sir, in the name of God no sane man would have stood there and done what they did.”

I'll throw this last part of a summary written by LtGen John Kelly, as it shows how quickly these things happen and how little time one might have to prepare...

"The two Marines had about five seconds left to live. It took maybe another two seconds for them to present their weapons, take aim, and open up. By this time the truck was half-way through the barriers and gaining speed the whole time. Here, the recording shows a number of Iraqi police, some of whom had fired their AKs, now scattering like the normal and rational men they were—some running right past the Marines. They had three seconds left to live.

For about two seconds more, the recording shows the Marines’ weapons firing
non-stop…the truck’s windshield exploding into shards of glass as their rounds take it apart and tore in to the body of the son-of-a-bitch who is trying to get past them to kill their brothers—American and Iraqi—bedded down in the barracks totally unaware of the fact that their lives at that moment depended entirely on two Marines standing their ground. If they had been aware, they would have know they were safe…because two Marines stood between them and a crazed suicide bomber.

The recording shows the truck careening to a stop immediately in front of the two Marines. In all of the instantaneous violence Yale and Haerter never hesitated. By all reports and by the recording, they never stepped back. They never even started to step aside. They never even shifted their weight. With their feet spread shoulder width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could work their weapons. They had only one second left to live.

The truck explodes. The camera goes blank. Two young men go to their God.
Six seconds. Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty…into eternity. That is the kind of people who are on watch all over the world tonight—for you."

RIP Brothers, giants among men...12 f*cking 5

It's been 9 years...

[platoonDaddy]

Keane on the future of Afghanistan, North Korea tensions

http://video.foxnews.com/v/540951546...#sp=show-clips