Posted on 10/05/2014 2:50:58 PM PDT by DanMiller
I posted this article from Israel Hayom at Warsclerotic, of which I am an editor. The article argues that to fight the Islamic State we need to change our rules of engagement. The parenthetical comment at the top of the Warsclerotic post is mine and is reproduced below.
(Could the U.S. and her allies put effective boots on the ground, or have the boots and the nation become too multiculturally damaged to do what needs to be done? More than the rules of war needs to change.When the U.S. responded to the Russian supplied, trained and initially led North Korean invasion on June 25, 1950, we had been at peace for only five years. We were tired and wanted peace to continue but war came to us unexpectedly; it should have been expected. Our peacetime boots were badly supplied, trained and, more often than not, led. Some but not enough officers and senior noncoms had experienced war and knew what to do. Very few in the lower enlisted ranks had or did and “bug out” became a much used phrase. The NK troops had been hardened in combat, were adequately supplied, well trained and well led. Those who did not fight were executed. They pushed us back nearly to Pusan. By mid-September, we had more better led and trained troops; they had also become very angry at the NK troops, and intense anger is a powerful force multiplier. The NK tide was reversed, for a couple of years.
Were we now to try to put green boots on the ground to do what is necessary against well trained, led and financed Islamic troops, a majority of the public would oppose it and it would be politically unpopular. Were we to put boots on the ground anyway, they would likely need to undergo lengthy and deadly immersion-style baptism by fire. There would be substantial casualties and the opposition would increase.
Should we do it anyway if only the rules of engagement change? Can we, or is that now a fantasy? — DM)
Can the Obama Nation field a well trained, led and supplied contingent, of adequate size, to defeat the "non-Islamic" Islamic State, its cohorts and friends? Or are we too multicultural and decadent? Is our multicultural focus more on such nonsense as "gender equality" than on winning wars?
I have few if any concerns about real gender equality. Kurdish women fighting against the Islamic State have disabused me of any that I once had. Please watch the video embedded below. One of the commanders was asked why she joked and smiled when around her troops. She answered, "I have to in order to keep their morale high." That is a statement one would expect from a seasoned and competent commander.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lro62AJ6e7M]
However, when politically correct gender "equality" means that military training and other standards are lowered so that young ladies can serve, it becomes gender inequality and diminishes the effectiveness of our military. It would be no less absurd, and no less dangerous, to send such green "boots" on the ground into combat wearing high heel shoes and carrying only their purses.
Compare the Kurdish women fighters to this specimen of our deranged, multicultural and politically correct society:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3jzyKF6M7g]
Back briefly to the Korea "police action:" President Truman had served in World War I as an artillery battery commander and rose to colonel in the reserves. Although a far from perfect Commander in Chief, he knew more about war than Obama could ever learn; Obama has no desire to learn. Truman knew about the need for good military discipline, Obama has very little discipline himself and does not.
We fared poorly during the June 25 - September 15 period in South Korea. Could we now expect green boots on the ground to do even as well if plucked from a peaceful, multicultural environment and sent to fight against the Islamic State, et al, no less brutal than were the North Korean forces? Is there sufficient reason to try, now, even though our "kinetic activity" can not be successful with air power alone? Do we even know the enemy, when we continue to label Islamic terrorism at home as "workplace violence?" It seems unlikely, at best.
Fantasy now trumps reality, and until that changes we should not send green boots into combat; we have few others to send. We. Are. Screwed.
We’ve needed to change the rules of engagement since Nam.
Some thoughts:
1. It is very hard to win a war if the press reports on civilian casualties. There were enormous civilian casualties in Iraq II (upwards of 100K — many of which were no doubt enemy combatants too), but they were not reported on. In contrast, the MSM reports vigorously on casualties in places like Gaza, which raise the profile of the conflict and makes it impossible for Israel to actually win.
2. Pin prick raids are ineffective. You probably need to roll out the B-52s and the AC-130s. But then....see point #1.
3. Women in combat. The first time ISIS captures and executes a woman soldier, all h@ll will break loose. Not sure if that will work for us or against us.
4. The Middle East is such a mess, it is hard to see how this gets resolved without a long term American presence. Either that, or, allow the Turks to rule large swaths of it like they did during the Ottoman Empire. The problem is the current Turkish leadership. Nor do I trust the Saudis. And the Iranians are out of the question. Another option is to build up the Kurds, as they may be the most reliable faction — like the Jews, everyone seems to delight in trying to exterminate them.
In the end, it might be best to carve out well defended, oil rich safe areas and let everything else go to h@ll in a handbasked.
If you haven't already done so, please watch the embedded video about the Kurdish women fighters. They are good. I don't think our gender "equality" women fighters could measure up to them.
They have been changed, and generally not for the better.
You have that right. Petraeus thinks he’s Alexander the Great in the 21st century.
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