Posted on 09/24/2001 2:32:56 PM PDT by Fury
Who do you think gave the Somalis the ideas to do that in Mogadishu?
Certainly there will be losses on their side, but step on the wrong toes and the whole country will be waiting for us to come in on the ground, even if they have to fight with land mines and knives.
It's easy to defeat the country militarily. Any problems that will arise, will be from attempting to occupy it. But if you don't occupy it, the people will go about their lives like they are right now.
And if the rate of climb isn't great enough, what do you think happens to them when guerillas who are close enough spot it?
They kill guerillas.
If the guerillas don't run.
The endless stockpiles of Stinger missiles the Taliban will need to kill Apaches exists only in your fevered imagination. They will have shot off the few they have left at pilotless drones long before American ground troops are committed.
And of course the guerillas stand out in the open, with big targets painted on their backs, waving their arms and yelling "Hey! Over here! Shoot me!"
And the thought that guerillas will go into well-stocked caves, many of which they blasted themselves from solid rock, just wouldn't be fair.
But even if they do those magic helicopters have x-ray eyes and x-ray bullets which can go right through granite.
No, but they have Willy Pete and napalm. Hard to breath CO2, even if the heat doesn't cook ya.
What's the matter -- you afraid we are going to win?
Forgot to mention. They do stand there with big targets painted on their backs -- if the Apaches and Warthogs have thermal sights and we are talking about Afghan mountains in the winter.
Russian Afghan Vets Say "Don't Go There"
The stories Russian veterans tell about chasing Afghan fighters almost always follow a similar scenario: Having suffered daily attacks and major losses, Soviet forces would finally trap a group of fighters in a mountain village -- or a gorge, or a ravine. "We would bomb them for a day," said Safin, who served two tours for a total of three years in Afghanistan. "But when we would enter the village, it would be empty. They would just seep out through cracks in the walls." When and if U.S. troops attack Afghanistan, the veterans say, they may find themselves killing innocent civilians instead of Islamic militants, just like the Soviets did 20 years ago. Soviet ground troops would often move into a village just in time to see a fire left by vanished Afghan fighters die out, Safin said. And sometimes there would be dead bodies -- mostly civilians unable to remove themselves from harm's way. "American firepower will in effect strike at civilians," said Gen. Ruslan Aushev, leader of Russia's Caucasian republic of Ingushetia and a former hero of the Afghan war,"while bin Laden and the Taliban conceal themselves in the mountains where no U.S. troops can reach them."But Russian veterans say even well-trained U.S. troops can do very little to harm the guerrillas of the Taliban militia, who know the difficult mountain terrain better than any outsider ever could. These fighters are highly mobile, well-armed and ready to die for their cause, the Russians say. They know how to find water and where to hide in caves.
These are helicopter pilots talking about bombing people for a day. Now tell me how we're badder than the Soviets.
Yeah, an Afghan guerilla in the middle of winter has nothing better to do than to stand out in the middle of the snow. Taking shelter in a cave or in or under a building? No way! And the magic helicopters can tell there's guerillas in those buildings even if they do see thermal images. Not women, kids, and local goat herders and farmers.
Did you know your magic helicopters get grounded in inclement weather?
Well, hoss, why don't we check back in about twelve months and see whether your maunderings or my predictions are more accurate.
This may be even harder for you to comprehend -- I never said they were.
You know, if all you have left is straw men to throw at an argument, maybe its time you took your toys and go home. Such tactics are certainly indicative of the intellectual bankruptcy of the "America Cannot Win" crowd.
They have a better track record than the Arabs the US fought in the Gulf War, which is why the burden of proof is on you, not me. Any conflicts will be with them, not with people who have one opinion or another about what it will take.
I hope we can snuff out these bastards with both tact and class. Not necessarily a public display of revenge, even though it may make us feel good. But a dreadfully effective concoction of diplomacy and force that does us proud as a people who wish to peacefully enjoy the short time we have been given in this world.
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