[Always A Marine]

Hackworth also needs to remember that the era of bayonet charges is over. The outstanding performance of our special forces troops is a credit to their training, and to the foresight of military leaders...

Hack praises the performance of well-trained, well-led SF forces. It's the regulars, specifically 10th Mountain Division units which he accuses of screwing the pooch. And as for your assertion that "the era of bayonet charges is over," take it from one who knows: when the fighting gets close and desperate, you are back in the Stone Age. Bayonets, knives, fists and thumbs might be all you have, so you damned well better have the guts and skill to use them.

As this war continues, the perfumed princes... will fall to the wayside, replaced by true leaders and warriors. Just like they always have at the start of every one of our major conflicts.

I agree with you on this point. However, as you state, this painful process only plays out in major and protracted conflicts. The lambs can hide out while the lions fight the short wars. And they get a lot of people killed at the start...

[Rokke]

Well, I'm not an infantry soldier, but in my line of work if you close with an aware enemy to engage in "hand-to-hand" combat, you've screwed up. Is there ever a time in ground combat, where a bayonet charge is the best option? We have the technology and means to kill people at range. What we don't have, is the political strength to use all the weapons at our disposal to do it.