RE: Afghanistani Warfare.

["Neal Hyde" <nhyde@xxxxxxxxx>]

This war will be a war where both sides use onconventional means to attack
and defend.  It truly is a war of the Internet age where holding territory
is irrelevent, but individuals with knowledge and skills are the assets.
The massed armies of the world will likely take a pass on this one, except
to support the twilight warriors.

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Benson [mailto:e_r_benson@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 2:05 PM
To: millenniums-end-l@firedrake.org
Subject: Re: Afghanistani Warfare.




>Only if you believe we will respond to this with the same lackluster,
>weeble-wooble attitude that plagued us concerning our involvement there.

Sorry, while I'm patriotic, I'm not blind.  We had a lackluster,
weeble-wooble attitude towards the USS Cole.  The US has a proven ability to
micromanage any crisis.  Since our last experience in micromanagement
(Vietnam), we have made the media into an irresponsible branch of the
government.  The media is helping now, but I don't expect the media's fit
with responsibility to carry through an entire conflict.

>Hint: A half-assed policing action in a country carried out by small
>fraction of non-elite military troops isn't the same as dropping the >
>101st Airborne, the Marine Corps, and several carrier groups onto enemy
>territory, pissed as hell, and with a solid plan of attack.

Uh, minor problem.  We don't have a target.  I'm not sure that we have a
solid plan of attack, either, for that matter.  If you do have information
on them, I'd be curious to hear them.

We will be operating at the end of a long supply line, a supply line that is
vulnerable to attack.  We did not adequetely upgrade our sea lift capability
post-Desert Storm.  Desert Storm stressed our airlift capability in a
situation where we had cooperative bases at each end and inbetween.  Will we
have reliable bases at the other end?  TBA.

This isn't a conventional war with nicely drawn battle lines like Desert
Storm.  We have a moving target in a country that is cooperating with him.
At any point, he can cross international boundaries faster than we can pay
tolls on the George Washington Bridge.

-Eric

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