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Originally Posted by Botnst
Concerning Rumsfeld, I think he was too timid and risk-averse in prosecuting the war.
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Unfortunately I agree. But I think that's symptomatic of the malaise affecting America in general. America is casualty averse with the result that the necessary overwhelming military force is not used because it looks too much like you are going to get into a real war and the populace doesn't have the courage for that.
So you try to do it with a "small footprint" and that will never work.
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Afghanistan was run beautifully for the most part. It was successful mostly because it was orchestrated by SF & CIA types.
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I wouldn't regard the escape of OBL and the boys at Tora Bora a success. From what I've read the SF's and the like who were involved were hopelessly inadequate in numbers to do the job. But perhaps the reality is that the US itself is simply too weak to do the job. There is no meaningful border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The British, then the Russians, now the US have discovered that. I dont think the US military is anywhere near big enough to seal any foreign border.
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Had the integration been completed in the 1990's (as it should have been, IMO), I think the strategy & tactics of war in Afghanistan and Iraq would have stayed in the SF & CIA mentality.
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I think that's a huge IF Bot. I think all that would have done is make the US even less effective. Small "kampfgruppe" can work fine, sometimes, if you're looking for a specific target in isolation, but when the enemy supply is endless you will eventually simply be swamped.
- Peter.
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