Posted on 05/04/2007 7:30:22 AM PDT by shrinkermd
If things are going as good as this fellow implies, by the time the new crowd takes over here the debate may change entirely.
The U.S. military has never been very good at half-@ssed warfare, which is exactly what’s being done there now. Using U.S. Marines as a well-armed Peace Corps is a disgrace.
Actually we’ve been (and are) pretty good at this sort of thing
The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Wars-Peace-Small-American/dp/046500721X/ref=sr_1_2/104-6805483-7224733?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178292552&sr=1-2
Product Description
Reviewed and debated everywhere, this book has become a key volume in the case for a new policy of interventionism.
America’s “small wars,” “imperial wars,” or, as the Pentagon now terms them, “low-intensity conflicts,” have played an essential but little-appreciated role in its growth as a world power. Beginning with Jefferson’s expedition against the Barbary Pirates, Max Boot tells the exciting stories of our sometimes minor but often bloody landings in Samoa, the Philippines, China, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Mexico, Russia, and elsewhere. Along the way he sketches colorful portraits of little-known military heroes such as Stephen Decatur, “Fighting Fred” Funston, and Smedley Butler.
From 1800 to the present day, such undeclared wars have made up the vast majority of our military engagements. Yet the military has often resisted preparing itself for small wars, preferring instead to train for big conflicts that seldom come. Boot re-examines the tragedy of Vietnam through a “small war” prism. He concludes with a devastating critique of the Powell Doctrine and a convincing argument that the armed forces must reorient themselves to better handle small-war missions, because such clashes are an inevitable result of America’s far-flung imperial responsibilities.
Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground (Hardcover)
by Robert D. Kaplan (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Grunts-American-Military-Ground/dp/1400061326
Product Description
In this landmark book, Robert D. Kaplan, veteran correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and author of Balkan Ghosts, shows how American imperialism and the Global War on Terrorism are implemented on the ground, mission by mission, in the most exotic landscapes around the world.
Given unprecedented access, Kaplan takes us from the jungles of the southern Philippines to the glacial dust bowls of Mongolia, from the forts of Afghanistan to the forests of South Americanot to mention Iraqto show us Army Special Forces, Marines, and other uniformed Americans carrying out the many facets of U.S. foreign policy: negotiating with tribal factions, storming terrorist redoubts, performing humanitarian missions and training foreign soldiers.
In Imperial Grunts, Kaplan provides an unforgettable insiders account not only of our current involvement in world affairs, but also of where America, including the culture of its officers and enlisted men, is headed. This is the rare book that has the potential to change the way readers view the men and women of the military, war, and the global reach of American imperialism today.
As Kaplan writes, the only way to understand Americas military is on foot, or in a Humvee, with the troops themselves, for even as elites in New York and Washington debated imperialism in grand, historical terms, individual marines, soldiers, airmen, and sailorsall the cultural repositories of Americas unique experience with freedomwere interpreting policy on their own, on the ground, in dozens upon dozens of countries every week, oblivious to such faraway discussions. . . . It was their stories I wanted to tell: from the ground up, at the point of contact.
Never before has Americas overarching military strategy been parsed so incisively and evocatively. Kaplan introduces us to lone American servicemen whose presence in obscure countries is largely unknown, and concludes with a heart-stopping portrait of marines in the first battle in Fallujah. Extraordinary in its scope, beautifully written, Imperial Grunts, the first of two volumes, combines first-rate reporting with the sensitivity and insights of an acclaimed writer steeped in history, literature, and philosophy, to deliver a masterly account of Americas global role in the twenty-first century.
Imperial Grunts paints a vivid picture of how defense policy is implemented at the grassroots level.
Kaplan travels throughout the world where U.S. forces are located. This is not just a book about Iraq or Afghanistan.
Rather than debate imperialism, Kaplan relies on a keen understanding of history, philosophy, and in-the-field reporting to show how it actually works on the ground.
Imperial Grunts escapes Washington and shows us what its like to live with the grunts day to day.
__________________________________
The thing is too many (fine) folks he don’t really understand that this is a counter-insurgecy war (on a global scale)
So yes U.S. Marines are going to be used as a well-armed Peace Corps. As they have been for most of our history.
And what in the heck do you think we have been doing? The Iraqi government has allowed one weapon per household now. And it has taken time to build an Army from scratch. The thing that bothers me is the huge portion of Americans just don't understand how hard it is to build an Iraqi army and at the same time trying to enforce security. It is darn near impossible to stop well armed death squads.
My point is that we are not doing it alone or instead of the Iraqis. We are assisting the 317,000 military and police we have trained. Our present role is not a permanent one. We have been gradually transferring security responsibilities to the Iraqis for more than a year. Maliliki wants to take over complete security responsibilities by the end of the year. We shall see.
Carolyn
Are you a military strategist or did you just spend a night at a Holiday Inn?
ping
BTTT
Carolyn
Here is another one to go along with that.
carolyn
This is my plan for Darfur. I say we let all these hollywood pay for the shipping of several million AK’s and TONS of ammo. Lets see how tough the “Devils on Horseback” are when face with a village full of women ,tired of being raped just for being black and needing some fire wood, turn and start spraying them down with lead! The horse meat would be a welcome addition to their diet I’m sure.
Excellent Graphic....
In this war it’s hard to get a “single” snapshot type message to capture what these “demonicrats” (nice tagline) are really doing to our country. If the American public buys in to their line of crapola we will lose the war. We must stop them dead in their tracks before they get traction on thier treasonous statements.
Al Qaeda No. 2 Mocks Iraq Pullout Bill [Wants 200,000 to 300,000 Americans killed ]
I posted this....lots of embedded links:
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