Warrior Critters
__________________The Special Forces have been labeled as the major cause of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, and this should be no surprise to anyone who understands the topic.
The SF selection process, warrior machismo ethos and now the Ranger bleed-over since the groups' cross-fertilization all conspire to create tabbed-up warrior critters psyched up to kill people, some of whom will be civilians.
The art of discernment is not a Ranger strength. No one should be surprised by this outcome, especially as the entire Phony War on Terror (PWOT ©) is an exercise at cross-purposes to itself.
I remember the days of a much different Special Forces and mourn its passing.
The old rule of thumb was that Rangers would work 15 kliks to the enemy's front lines, and SF would operate in and occupy terrain as far as 450 kliks to the front of FLOT. This concept has obviously been overcome by events since the U.S. military is no longer capable of fighting actual military scenarios.
I continue to emphasize, Rangers ≠ SF and SF ≠ Rangers. When the lines blurred regarding assigned missions, unit focus suffered. SF was always a combat multiplier and Rangers were direct action assault troops, sort of like Marines once they moved inland from the beach head.
Labels: phony war on terror, PWOT, rangers, special forces
posted by rangeragainstwar at 10:00 PM
5 Comments:
i felt many times that the very worst use the brass made of us was to use us as shock troops.
that's why god made rangers and jarheads.
i can understand that sometimes a more lethal per trooper unit can tilt things one way or another. our skills were, i always thought, more along the lines of skulking around, most of the time avoiding contact, and fixing the positions and dispositions of the enemy.
being able to put american eyes on things is about the best intel i can think of.
MB,
Indeed that's why god made Rangers and Marines, since neither critter ever tires of banging their heads against walls. Any wall will do in a pinch.
Maybe the advent of eyes in the sky have atrophied the strategic intell skills of all elite units, but these airborne assets will never be able to do a prisoner snatch.
The tech intell stuff can't describe the state of enemy training/eqt serviceability/morale etc. All they can do is tell where they happen to be at a given time, which does nothing to estimate their future opns. Only prisoners can tell you this stuff-it's all old stuff that has been forgotten by todays leadership.
jim
Yep, and whats worse...using front line veteran combat troops as police units...now that is a firefight looking for a place to happen.
I find it Ironic That Stan McCrystal admits that civilians get killed by mistake and that there is a SOC element accused of killing two pregnant women and then covering it up.
the very same Stan McCrystal who was high up the chain when Pat Tillman was killed by his brother Rangers and participated in the coverup...
This time he does not have a Republican Administration to run interference for him.
My Recovery Sponsor used to say..."You're so crazy you have no idea how crazy you are!" LOL
To me that may go along way towards explaining the mindset of today's Special Operations Forces...I remain hopeful however as "not all of them can be crazy on the same day" (another favorite of my Sponsor) and perhaps those with common sense will prevail.
RangerHazen,
Your sponsor sounds like s smart guy. I dunno why I'm reminded of George Carlin here:
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that"
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