Missionaries, NOT SOLDIERS, Win Hearts and Minds!
Soldiers Kill People and Break Things!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
I am sick and tired of hearing the BS from Washington and the Pentagon about “winning hearts and minds” in Iraq and in Afghanistan. It is pure Bovine Scatology! Nothing more and certainly nothing less!
Look: Winning hearts and minds is a job for missionaries. The soldier’s job is to kill people and break things -- and do so in as efficient a manner as possible until the opponent’s will to fight is crushed… obliterated!
You would have thought the US had learned its lesson in Vietnam. It did not. We are now in two prolonged wars in the Middle East that could have been over in weeks. That’s right, I said weeks… not months -- and certainly not years.
Winning hearts and minds in a war zone is some sort of liberal babble that springs from an infantile mind not yet fully developed into that of an adult.
In a military contest you get your opponent by the cajones and you can take him anywhere you wish. It is fast, it is dirty, it is quick, it is effective as all get-out, and pretty soon – it is OVER! Fewer lives are lost; fewer resources are used, and much less of the nation’s treasure is spent. All in all, it is the only way to fight a war… if, of course, you want to win.
I REALLY hate to say this, but the US is playing at war in the Middle East today. We are pussyfooting around with both Iraq and Afghanistan. The Iraqis and the Afghans are laughing at us behind their hands. Understand me now – I do not mean to denigrate the performance of our troops. They are following orders as they are supposed to do. It is their leadership I question. I want to be very clear on that point.
A corrupt regime in Afghanistan is raking in dough right under the noses of our military. They are colluding and consorting with Iran while taking “bags of cash” from the Iranian government, with one hand, and truckloads of American taxpayer’s money with the other. It is reminiscent of the ties between the mobsters and politicians in the US during the prohibition period. If it were not so serious, and if Americans were not being killed, it would be funny.
It has been a while since I have seen incompetence in the US Military at the level I see it today. The leadership in the Pentagon, and in the theatres of war, gives the impression they have more brass than balls. Brass doesn’t win wars! Testosterone DOES!
But what can an American expect from the US military when there are military lawyers in the command posts and/or in the planning and strategy sessions?
We have all heard the story of how we missed killing Bin Laden because a lawyer told the brass not to fire the missiles that would have blown up the vehicle in which we KNEW he was riding because of the possibility of collateral damage.
There is a sad thing about war: People get killed. Women and children and old people get killed.
We again missed Bin Laden, in Tora Bora, because we hesitated. Which cave was he hiding in? Who the heck cared? We should have hit Tora Bora with tactical nukes and taken out all the caves, at once, and been done with Bin Laden. Alas, we did not do it -- and more innocent people have since died as a result.
Coddling the enemy does not gain respect from him. It breeds contempt. They recognize strength and they recognize the will to use that strength against them. They also know when the will to win is NOT THERE.
Why did we not take the opportunity, just a few days ago, to answer North Korea’s unprovoked artillery attack against South Korea by sending a few cruise missiles over to knock out North Korea’s nuclear facilities? Were we afraid we might make that wacky little tin pot dictator angry? That’s the way it looked -- and THAT’S the way the North Koreans read it!
The point is—our enemies don’t fear us! But then, who can blame them? When our dauntless Commander-in-Chief has so little knowledge of the military that he pronounces “corps” as “corpse” -- well, you just have to wonder.
I have something of a reputation within my family and close circle of people I call friends, of not giving a hoot what people think of me. And it is true. I have earned that reputation. Oh, being “liked” is nice, but -- it is not necessary -- especially when it gets in the way of getting things done – like winning a war.
I tell you today: There is something fundamentally wrong with the US Military today and it begins in the office of the Commander–in-Chief and it stretches all the way to the Pentagon and on to the commanders in charge of the theatres of war.
There is a lack of “The Will To Win” in the US Military today. I don’t know what the hell we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we sure as heck are not winning! As evidence: If we were beating the snot out of the Taliban, the leftists in America and around the world would be rioting in the streets! But they are quite content, thank you. That, alone, speaks volumes.
I am now questioning our reasons for remaining in Afghanistan any longer. If we were there to win a war -- that would be one thing – and it would be worthy of my continued support. But sending American troops into harm’s way -- just to win hearts and minds is utterly foolish, utterly senseless, and, frankly, embarrassing to America’s REAL warriors!
Once “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed, the effectiveness of the US Military will be so degraded that we may be forced to hire out America’s defense to the various private military companies such as “XE Services, LLC.” (Formerly known as “Blackwater”).
If I sound frustrated—it is because I am. It is painful to watch a nation of warriors being insulted by the limp-wristed approach to fighting a war employed by the high command of the US Military in the Middle East today. America’s troops deserve better than this. America deserves better than this. Heck, even OUR ENEMIES deserve better than this!
J. D. Longstreet
Soldiers Kill People and Break Things!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
I am sick and tired of hearing the BS from Washington and the Pentagon about “winning hearts and minds” in Iraq and in Afghanistan. It is pure Bovine Scatology! Nothing more and certainly nothing less!
Look: Winning hearts and minds is a job for missionaries. The soldier’s job is to kill people and break things -- and do so in as efficient a manner as possible until the opponent’s will to fight is crushed… obliterated!
You would have thought the US had learned its lesson in Vietnam. It did not. We are now in two prolonged wars in the Middle East that could have been over in weeks. That’s right, I said weeks… not months -- and certainly not years.
Winning hearts and minds in a war zone is some sort of liberal babble that springs from an infantile mind not yet fully developed into that of an adult.
In a military contest you get your opponent by the cajones and you can take him anywhere you wish. It is fast, it is dirty, it is quick, it is effective as all get-out, and pretty soon – it is OVER! Fewer lives are lost; fewer resources are used, and much less of the nation’s treasure is spent. All in all, it is the only way to fight a war… if, of course, you want to win.
I REALLY hate to say this, but the US is playing at war in the Middle East today. We are pussyfooting around with both Iraq and Afghanistan. The Iraqis and the Afghans are laughing at us behind their hands. Understand me now – I do not mean to denigrate the performance of our troops. They are following orders as they are supposed to do. It is their leadership I question. I want to be very clear on that point.
A corrupt regime in Afghanistan is raking in dough right under the noses of our military. They are colluding and consorting with Iran while taking “bags of cash” from the Iranian government, with one hand, and truckloads of American taxpayer’s money with the other. It is reminiscent of the ties between the mobsters and politicians in the US during the prohibition period. If it were not so serious, and if Americans were not being killed, it would be funny.
It has been a while since I have seen incompetence in the US Military at the level I see it today. The leadership in the Pentagon, and in the theatres of war, gives the impression they have more brass than balls. Brass doesn’t win wars! Testosterone DOES!
But what can an American expect from the US military when there are military lawyers in the command posts and/or in the planning and strategy sessions?
We have all heard the story of how we missed killing Bin Laden because a lawyer told the brass not to fire the missiles that would have blown up the vehicle in which we KNEW he was riding because of the possibility of collateral damage.
There is a sad thing about war: People get killed. Women and children and old people get killed.
We again missed Bin Laden, in Tora Bora, because we hesitated. Which cave was he hiding in? Who the heck cared? We should have hit Tora Bora with tactical nukes and taken out all the caves, at once, and been done with Bin Laden. Alas, we did not do it -- and more innocent people have since died as a result.
Coddling the enemy does not gain respect from him. It breeds contempt. They recognize strength and they recognize the will to use that strength against them. They also know when the will to win is NOT THERE.
Why did we not take the opportunity, just a few days ago, to answer North Korea’s unprovoked artillery attack against South Korea by sending a few cruise missiles over to knock out North Korea’s nuclear facilities? Were we afraid we might make that wacky little tin pot dictator angry? That’s the way it looked -- and THAT’S the way the North Koreans read it!
The point is—our enemies don’t fear us! But then, who can blame them? When our dauntless Commander-in-Chief has so little knowledge of the military that he pronounces “corps” as “corpse” -- well, you just have to wonder.
I have something of a reputation within my family and close circle of people I call friends, of not giving a hoot what people think of me. And it is true. I have earned that reputation. Oh, being “liked” is nice, but -- it is not necessary -- especially when it gets in the way of getting things done – like winning a war.
I tell you today: There is something fundamentally wrong with the US Military today and it begins in the office of the Commander–in-Chief and it stretches all the way to the Pentagon and on to the commanders in charge of the theatres of war.
There is a lack of “The Will To Win” in the US Military today. I don’t know what the hell we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we sure as heck are not winning! As evidence: If we were beating the snot out of the Taliban, the leftists in America and around the world would be rioting in the streets! But they are quite content, thank you. That, alone, speaks volumes.
I am now questioning our reasons for remaining in Afghanistan any longer. If we were there to win a war -- that would be one thing – and it would be worthy of my continued support. But sending American troops into harm’s way -- just to win hearts and minds is utterly foolish, utterly senseless, and, frankly, embarrassing to America’s REAL warriors!
Once “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed, the effectiveness of the US Military will be so degraded that we may be forced to hire out America’s defense to the various private military companies such as “XE Services, LLC.” (Formerly known as “Blackwater”).
If I sound frustrated—it is because I am. It is painful to watch a nation of warriors being insulted by the limp-wristed approach to fighting a war employed by the high command of the US Military in the Middle East today. America’s troops deserve better than this. America deserves better than this. Heck, even OUR ENEMIES deserve better than this!
J. D. Longstreet
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