Comments on: The Petraeus Effect http://rightvoices.com/2008/04/08/the-petraeus-effect/ in all matter of opinion, our adversaries are insane. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:05:09 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: FrmrArtyOffcr http://rightvoices.com/2008/04/08/the-petraeus-effect/comment-page-1/#comment-719455 FrmrArtyOffcr Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:52:32 +0000 http://rightvoices.com/2008/04/08/the-petraeus-effect/#comment-719455 There is a reprint of an excellent article from Major General (retired) James Guest Sr. in this month's edition of Soldier of Fortune magazine. I went to basic training with his son James Jr., so I can tell you a few things about General Guest. When it comes to special operations and counterinsurgency operations, the man knows his stuff. He was the Commander of the 5th SF group at Ft Bragg in 1983. He was later one of the first commanders of US Socom. He has expressed grave concerns about the ongoing diminution of the role of US Army Special Forces in USSOCOM policies and operational plans. For those who are not aware of the primary function of the Green Berets, this is probably going to be a shock. Even though the Green Berets are certainly capable of taking the fight to the enemy, that is NOT their primary mission. Their primary mission in a counterinsurgency/ unconventional Warfare environment is to TRAIN indigenous personnel in the skills necessary to defeat the enemy in combat. Much of the fighting in Afghanistan was done by Afghanis with US assistance. That's one reason why the US casualties were so low. I've always been of the opinion that we screwed up in NOT trying to befriend Muqtada Al Sadr in the beginning. He was the BIG DOG on the block and having him use his Mahdi Army to provide internal security in Baghdad simply made more sense to me than fighting him. However that's not how it played out. Hopefully someone will learn that lesson when this whole thing winds down. Al Sadr had no love for the Hussein regime, having him help bring it down would've simply been smart. In fact, I'm of the opinion that had we not turned our backs when Hussein used helicopter gunships to suppress a Shiite uprising, (an uprising we had encouraged) we might not have had to go into Iraq at all. Had we supported the uprising with training and material, we might have had a solid ally in the middle east rather than the current situation. That lack of willingness to assist the Shia against our common enemy Saddam, was what lead to the current anti American sentiment. Al Sadr's father was killed by the Hussein regime. I believe he was murdered for supporting the uprising. There is a reprint of an excellent article from Major General (retired) James Guest Sr. in this month’s edition of Soldier of Fortune magazine. I went to basic training with his son James Jr., so I can tell you a few things about General Guest. When it comes to special operations and counterinsurgency operations, the man knows his stuff. He was the Commander of the 5th SF group at Ft Bragg in 1983. He was later one of the first commanders of US Socom. He has expressed grave concerns about the ongoing diminution of the role of US Army Special Forces in USSOCOM policies and operational plans.

For those who are not aware of the primary function of the Green Berets, this is probably going to be a shock. Even though the Green Berets are certainly capable of taking the fight to the enemy, that is NOT their primary mission. Their primary mission in a counterinsurgency/ unconventional Warfare environment is to TRAIN indigenous personnel in the skills necessary to defeat the enemy in combat. Much of the fighting in Afghanistan was done by Afghanis with US assistance. That’s one reason why the US casualties were so low.

I’ve always been of the opinion that we screwed up in NOT trying to befriend Muqtada Al Sadr in the beginning. He was the BIG DOG on the block and having him use his Mahdi Army to provide internal security in Baghdad simply made more sense to me than fighting him. However that’s not how it played out. Hopefully someone will learn that lesson when this whole thing winds down. Al Sadr had no love for the Hussein regime, having him help bring it down would’ve simply been smart. In fact, I’m of the opinion that had we not turned our backs when Hussein used helicopter gunships to suppress a Shiite uprising, (an uprising we had encouraged) we might not have had to go into Iraq at all. Had we supported the uprising with training and material, we might have had a solid ally in the middle east rather than the current situation. That lack of willingness to assist the Shia against our common enemy Saddam, was what lead to the current anti American sentiment. Al Sadr’s father was killed by the Hussein regime. I believe he was murdered for supporting the uprising.

]]> By: Robert http://rightvoices.com/2008/04/08/the-petraeus-effect/comment-page-1/#comment-719319 Robert Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:40:48 +0000 http://rightvoices.com/2008/04/08/the-petraeus-effect/#comment-719319 I said in 2004 we needed to kill Mookie Sadr. Sure it would have pissed off his groupies but they were pissed off anyway. Now they have to deal with him the hard way. Kind of like those anti-war babbling idiots who picked up and endlessly regurgitated the talking point about how we incited the terrorists to even more violence by attacking them. Yeah, like they only hated us and wanted to kill us before, but now they're REALLY mad! Petraeus for President. We'll hold the White House job open until he finishes his work in Iraq. I said in 2004 we needed to kill Mookie Sadr. Sure it would have pissed off his groupies but they were pissed off anyway. Now they have to deal with him the hard way.

Kind of like those anti-war babbling idiots who picked up and endlessly regurgitated the talking point about how we incited the terrorists to even more violence by attacking them. Yeah, like they only hated us and wanted to kill us before, but now they’re REALLY mad!

Petraeus for President. We’ll hold the White House job open until he finishes his work in Iraq.

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