Free Republic

A different fate? e can never know what frantic thoughts raced through George Armstrong Custer’s mind in the last hour of his life. But surely, as ever-growing numbers of angry, well-armed Plains Indians closed in on his 210 troopers of the 7th Cavalry, he must have realized that he had fatally misjudged the size of the hostile force now surrounding him. His plan to subdue a large Indian village had completely broken down. He had been warned repeatedly by his scouts that his target, an Indian encampment on Montana’s Little Bighorn River, was far larger than he had imagined. Now,...

Following are extracts from a letter to TAE's editor from a young West Point-educated Army officer who has been at the center of intelligence operations connected to two of the trickiest and most successful combat actions carried out by the U.S. military in the last half century--August 2004's Battle of Najaf and November's Battle of Fallujah. He provides details on the Fallujah fight, including the previously unreported revelation that Muslim holy warriors traffic in illicit drugs. On November 7, Prime Minister Allawi gave the green light to the American and Iraqi military. All day long, Air Force and Marine Corps...

<p>CENTRAL IRAQ — For a few long, terrifying minutes, Pfc. Adam Small faced every armor soldier’s nightmare: the prospect of burning to death while trapped in his own disabled tank.</p> <p>He was saved, like so many soldiers before him, by a couple of squared-away, quick-thinking NCOs.</p>

Early reports indicated that Iraqi forces had destroyed some pieces of U.S. ground equipment, but there were no immediate reports of any U.S. casualties. Pentagon officials said, however, that early indications suggested U.S. forces had killed 300 to 500 Iraqis in the battle. Further details were not available.