Posted on 08/07/2011 7:48:15 PM PDT by stolinsky
33 Americans Including 25 SEALs Killed
Every Time History Repeats Itself, the Price Goes Up
David C. Stolinsky
Aug. 8, 2011
Afghan insurgents shoot down Chinook helicopter with rocket-propelled grenade, killing 30 Americans, including 22 SEALS, some of whom were from SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden. Three more SEALs were killed on the ground, for a total of 33 American dead.
− News item
Some time ago, I was driving my old car. As I pulled out of a parking lot, I heard a terrible screeching noise. Looking under the car, I found that the exhaust pipe and muffler had rusted out and were dragging on the street. To free them I had to remove the rubber rings holding up the tail pipe. Unable to do so, I took out my pocket knife and tried to cut the rings.
It was a fine knife with a very sharp edge. But the rubber rings had steel centers, which I discovered only after destroying the blade. Eventually I pried the thing loose with a screwdriver. I learned four lessons that day:
● Things are often a lot harder than they appear on the surface.
● It is easier to ruin a good tool than to obtain a new one of equal quality.
● It is better to use the right tool than to ruin the wrong tool and still not get the job done.
● If you are unsure what to do, ask someone who has experience in the field.
I didn’t think about this incident until I was in a bookstore (remember bookstores?) and saw “Sole Survivor,” the story of Marcus Luttrell, a Navy SEAL who was the only member of his four-man team to survive a fight with a much larger force of Taliban in Afghanistan. Wounded, Luttrell was saved by friendly Afghans and eventually rescued. Sixteen special-operations troops also died in a helicopter crash while attempting to rescue the men, making a total of 19 American deaths.
The team might have succeeded in their mission of capturing or killing a Taliban leader, and all returned alive, had they not made a fateful decision. As they lay concealed, an Afghan goatherd and his two sons blundered onto them. Had they killed the three, things might have gone well. But they decided to let the Afghans go − and probably report their position to the Taliban. \
They made this decision for humanitarian reasons, but also because they were afraid of being prosecuted if they killed the Afghans. SEALS rarely admit to fearing anything. That they feared their own government shows how political correctness has impaired our ability to fight wars.
The book left me filled with admiration for these men’s courage. The team leader, Michael Murphy, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, while Luttrell received the Navy Cross. But I felt irritation as well as admiration. Their training and weapons were far superior to those of their enemies. They were the most highly skilled warriors in history. But low-tech weapons and superior numbers overcame them, and only one of the four lived to see home again.
And now it’s happened again. But as Anonymous taught us, every time history repeats itself, the price goes up.
Now a Chinook helicopter has been shot down by Taliban insurgents, killing all 30 Americans aboard. Among them were 22 Navy SEALS. Eight Afghans also died in the crash. This quick-reaction force was sent to back up a ground unit, but that unit was forced to break contact with the enemy and provide security at the crash site. Three SEALS from the ground unit were also killed, making a total of 33 American deaths.
In short, neither the original mission nor the back-up mission succeeded, and 33 of our elite warriors died. Yes, they died fighting the Taliban, who had harbored and supported the planners of 9/11. But the war in Afghanistan has been going on for almost 10 years. How long can we go on trading our finest Benchmade and Emerson knives for their cheaply made but more numerous hardware-store junk?
Sometimes what is needed is not a fine knife, but an axe.
Sometimes what is needed is not a “light footprint,” but a size 14 boot-stomp. We can’t afford to trade our few highly trained elite for their numerous cannon fodder.
Sometimes what is needed is not a small team of elite troops, but larger numbers of ordinary troops, together with planeloads of daisy-cutter or fuel-air bombs.
And when we talk about the “nuclear option,” instead of referring to judicial nominations, we should be referring to something that causes our enemies to break out in a cold sweat if they even think about another 9/11.
Bin Laden said, “When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse.” If we hope to prevail, we must be the strong horse. Or we can just forget the whole thing and go out to stud − assuming that, unlike Europeans, we still can propagate. Geldings don’t do very well at stud.
Technology is an enormous help to humanity. Medicine has advanced by huge strides. Military technology can save lives − consider bullet-resistant vests. But if we rely on technology too heavily, it will let us down. The M16, and its current incarnation the M4, are finely made weapons. The AK47 and its progeny are crudely made. They are designed to be used by poorly trained troops in dirty or sandy conditions. Most weapons designed in Russia or China are like that.
Years ago, our ROTC instructor taught us how to disassemble the .45 pistol. One of my classmates shook the pistol and complained that it rattled. Our old sergeant smiled and explained that it was not a finely fitted target pistol, which would be more accurate but less reliable. He added that loosely fitted parts allowed the weapon to function when it was dirty. The rattle reassured him it would save his life under combat conditions.
But some people were not lucky enough to have been taught by combat veterans. Some people have excessive faith in technology. Some people are willing to squander elite troops in a primitive environment. Some people never ruined a fine knife by trying to cut material too coarse for it.
Still, we must not fall into the trap of believing that our troops are too well trained, and our weapons are too expensive, ever to use. We must not be like General McClellan, who trained the Union Army so well that he was reluctant to use it. Eventually he was replaced by General Grant, who was not a stickler for drill and whose uniforms were rumpled, but who was willing to fight.
We need to find a balance:
● A balance between common sense and high technology.
● A balance between real-world experience and imaginative theories.
● A balance between superior numbers and superb training.
● A balance between choosing our fights so carelessly that we fight when we shouldn’t, and choosing them so carefully that we don’t fight when we should.
● A balance between being so violent that we win the war but lose the world’s respect, and being so politically correct that we lose the war − and lose the world’s respect as well.
But first we must recognize that we need to find a balance. I don’t think this has happened yet.
Fine knives and fine men should be used carefully, by people who understand their capabilities and their limitations − and most important, who value them as highly as they deserve.
Dr. Stolinsky writes on political and social issues. Contact: dstol@prodigy.net.
Brilliant analysis.
Payback to the Seals that killed OBL ?
If I was POTUS, I would have never said anything about who killed OBL and not only that, I would have delayed the announcement of his death until intel was harvested from his hideout. The only thing mentioned was OBL was killed in Pakistan and that would be it.
Sad day.
Most excellent.
Thank you for this very astute analysis. Much appreciated.
I am very angry!
The Administration has blood on their hands. How dare Obama use the OBL kill as a way to get his polling points up?!
The military usually has soemone from the Pentagon or the Defense secy get up and give a brief —very brief—announcement, that’s it.
this administration is disgusting. This “leak” on the Seals, some of whom feared for their safety here at home and the “prosecution’ of our CIA guys. WTF is going on?
I got so upset all over again I had to get in the car at 11 pm and go out and get a Klondike bar just to calm down. This all gets so darn frustrating.
If you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
And go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Kipling
http://www.daypoems.net/poems/1799.html
The more it changes...
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