Posted on 10/10/2012 11:18:31 PM PDT by Neil E. Wright
The letter from Colonel Harry Tunnell is making its rounds around the internet, but here are some choice and relevant excerpts. But first a shot bio of Tunnell.
Tunnell had been gravely wounded in Iraq, where he led a battalion of paratroopers with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. (snip)
SNIP
By the time Tunnell took over the brigade, every other infantry commander preparing to go to Iraq or Afghanistan was using Gen. Petraeus’ COIN manual as his lodestar. But not Tunnell. He told his soldiers that their approach to security operations would be drawn from an Army manual that outlined counterguerrilla operations, which had long been superseded by Petraeus’ playbook. Instead of emphasizing the protection of civilians, it instructed commanders to “give priority to destroying the guerrilla forces.” He called his unit the “Destroyer Brigade” and ordered that its vehicles be painted with the motto SEARCH AND DESTROY.
The Colonel speaks generally on the conflict
“The willingness to combat an enemy cannot be turned on and off like a light switch. Leaders are willing to conduct operations at the tactical and operational levels of war to decisively defeat the enemy or they are not. Soldiers join the military today to protect the United States, yet they are told once in Afghanistan that we are fighting for the Afghan people– this is a rather mercenary outlook and ignores the fact that the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001. If we have an army led by people unwilling to defeat a disorganized illiterate adversary such as we face today, even after a despicable surprise attack on our nation, there is little hope that we can defeat a modern sophisticated enemy that we may face in the future.”
(Excerpt) Read more at frontpagemag.com ...
IF WE'RE NOT IN IT TO WIN IT, BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!!!!
Afghanistan has become hussein's VIETNAM.
"Remember: Evil exists because good men don't kill the government officials committing it." -- Kurt Hofmann.
“Where liberty dwells, there is my country." –Benjamin Franklin
Our troops are SUPPOSED to be lethal to the ENEMY. And make no mistake, Islam IS the ENEMY!!!!
"Remember: Evil exists because good men don't kill the government officials committing it." -- Kurt Hofmann.
“Where liberty dwells, there is my country." –Benjamin Franklin
Finally , a leader with the will to win , and Chutzpah !
He sounds like a fine man.
LIBs have drained the blood of our heroes and prevented America from winning a single war since WWII. Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Iraq I, Iraq II and Afghanistan have all been losses. There was no clear purpose and no absolute victory.
Grenada? Panama?
Colonel Tunnell gives me hope. God bless him.
He will be targeted like LTC. West was.
Daniel Greenfield ping
Contrast this with the drone war which can hardly avoid killing women & children. Gross hypocrisy!
The blame for this falls squarely on George Bush's shoulders. His ludicrous nation & democracy building sowed the seeds of this pacifist war fighting. How dumb do you have to be to try to civilize the most ignorant, uncivilized place on earth - a place of no strategic value, land locked, with almost no infrastructure?
Bush would have had more success trying to teach an alligator to French kiss, & more to gain for the effort.
Even the dumbest Liberal in Washington could predict the outcome of this folly. We on the Right have been predicting failure from the beginning, & warning of the waste of American lives & money.
I can only imagine that GWB, a solid war fighter, was manipulated by foolish politicians (Rove) who felt it was necessary to nation build to appease his political opposition. The inherent hubris of the Presidency likely played a part, too. It was folly, directly leading to failure.
Whatever it is or was, it is KILLING good people for NO GOOD REASON, & a total waste of resources.
I posted this story yesterday from another source, Michael Yon.
FReeper FutureSnakeEater has some excellent comments on this story, from the perspective of someone close to the events, that should be read, here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2942858/posts?page=44#44
My short summary: There is still a lot wrong with what is going on in Afghanistan, and I still very much am for a quick exit and leaving the savages to their rocks, but it’s not perhaps quite as bad as Col Tunnell puts it.
I do not blame Obama for Afghanistan any more than I blame Nixon for Vietnam.
Both men have little to admire, but LBJ lost in Vietnam & Bush lost in Afghanistan, using the same failed strategy of “hearts & minds” plus a reluctance to vigorously pursue the enemy WHEREVER they go (Cambodia,Laos,Pakistan), & failure to use massive firepower to completely demoralize & kill the enemy for fear of hurting “civilians”. Nixon & Obama inherited these failed policies along with Americans tired of unwinnable war based on current strategy.
As much as I blame Obama for ALL of our other woes, Afghanistan is not one of them.
Furthermore, we would double down on failure if Obama tried to turn around the effort in Afghanistan. God forbid that he ever has to make critical war decisions! We have been relatively lucky these last 4 years.
Thanks, Tainan.
Daniel has taken on editing “The Point” on Frontpage.
I’m on the mailing list, but as there are sometimes 1/2 dozen items per day, mostly summaries of previously published, if little known, stories, I don’t ping the list on all of them, but I do read them.
My kinda guy! These filthy barbarians are not worth one drop of American blood or sweat. Get out NOW, then Nuke the whole tribal area, “the only way to be sure”.
This guy should be appointed Chief of Staff of the Army instead of that moron Dempsey.
Dempsey works for the Islamofacist wing in the White House.
But given our current record in Afghanistan for fighting a Politically Correct war and trading our own lives for stupid restrictions on our military,... likely not. Frankly, I think we have forgotten why we are there and how to pursue a winning strategy - which Colonel Tunnell gets but most others have lost sight of.
It is time to either get real or get out. Frankly, given our state of affairs with our politically correct politicians and perfumed prince laden military, I think the answer is "get out", now!!
Why kill and maim our people for no discernible reason other than proving how "nice" we can be? That's the Liberal's Way Of War. Enough, enough of this Dr. Seuss style war!!
11years in Afghanistan. 2000 dead Soldiers.
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