Category Archives: The War

Combat lesson

Back in Iraq from home leave, Teflon Don counts the ways combat has changed him:

"I own the ground I walk on, and you’ll have to go through me if you want to take it. I’ve made it through nine months in what was once called the ‘triangle of death’; that area of Iraq that last year saw nearly thirty percent of those serving within it earn the Purple Heart. I’ve learned, as I think most combat soldiers do, to truly ‘not sweat the small stuff’. If a situation doesn’t threaten death or injury, I can’t trouble myself to care too much about it."

Tehran burns

Lovely headline. All for a little gas rationing. Probably that was only the spark needed. Wait and see.

Groundpounders

I cringe everytime I hear about another bunch of American soldiers or Marines getting wiped out by an IED exploding near their vehicle on patrol.

"Roadside bombs in Iraq now cause over 70 percent of the U.S. casualties. Moreover, most of the bomb casualties  now are combat troops…"

Why are they driving, I wonder? Have they forgotten how to walk?

Via Instapundit 

Speeding or sitting?

Debka has the USS Enterprise "speeding towards the Persian Gulf." As near as I can tell, it’s still docked in Norfolk, Virginia, unless the Navy is purposely keeping mum about it. That might not be surprising, but it’s managed to leave a virtual ship behind to fool the local news media. They’ve made no mention of "Big E’s" departure.

Counterinsurgency

Here’s an idea many former Army advisors can get behind. In essence, Green Berets on the cheap.

"…just as the new realities of warfare demanded the creation of the Special Forces in the 1960’s, winning the Long War will require that the Army develop a standing Advisor Corps.  It has been informed by the experience of many advisors with service in Iraq and Afghanistan…"

More on the offensive

Big Army offensives, as Robert Kaplan more or less said in his enlightening GWOT book "Imperial Grunts," are the antithesis of good counterinsurgency. So you have to wonder what’s up with "The Battle of Iraq – 2007", as Bill Roggio headlines his command-level updating post on it. Search and destroy was a big waste of time and lives in Vietnam. This one is billed as cleaning out "safe havens."

A Fred to be read

"Realism? Yes. But also idealism, which is what makes us different from our enemies."

Especially when some polls already have him leading Rudy and the rest of the pack.