Years ago...
Books no longer in circulation were on the reading list at JFK Special Warfare Center when I was a student there many years ago I was preparing for my second tour in southeast Asia. Che' biography was on the list of reading as was Mao's work on guerrilla warfare. Che was a trainer who actually made house calls to make sure your people were schooled properly. Eventually cost him his hands and his life. Mao wrote well sound tactics that are still used by insurgents today. Interesting is how how the Brits with the SAS dealt with the communist guerrilla in Malaysia. Tactics were evolving and we were having successes because we had folks that could think like the guerrilla and anticipate his next move. Those folks have given us the benefit of their experiences and we now have a lot of old reference stuff out there on how to deal with their tactics. Unfortunately we don't have anyone that can think like the guerrilla or we would not have lost the Rangers in Somalia and we would be having more successes in both Iraq and Afghan. Does anyone remember how Colby achieved success in 1968 in Phu Cuong? No, it was not all operation Phoenix but a combination of actions that allowed for that area to be greatly pacified given that the Great TET offensive had happened just months before. Before that year ended the roads could actually be traveled at night. Earlier today the head of Homeland said he had a "gut feeling" that we were going to get smacked...hard and over the summer. Canada is having sympathy pains and now feels it too is overdue for a dirty bomb and here we are wasting our time trying to deport a bunch of Mexicans who just want to do your laundry, cut you grass and wash you car at the local car wash. Gut feeling is we are so caught up with crap the media is shoving down our throats and we will be so busy yelling at each other on street corners that we will never see it coming. I am concerned about my country and the safety of our people. It is the responsibility of the leadership to lead this country around the hazards that threaten the safety of the nation. Time and again I will say don't expect it form the current leadership. GW and company have lost control of the situation and it is doubtful they can get it back under control. From here out expect to see acts of desperation and forget looking for a plan that will bring both our foreign and domestic emergencies under control. A strong capable leader would stand before the American public and lay out a credible, doable plan and America would rally behind this leader. Not going to happen--at least not in the time the current administration has remaining. The big question is how do we hold on. It is by the grace of God that we have escaped further disaster. Maybe we should listen to what the leaders in Iraq told their people and arm ourselves and stock pile provisions. We have the greatest fighting force in modern times but GW has them so spread out they can't hold the line. Too much is going on and it is obvious more and more people are getting concerned. Is this going to be a long hot summer? Probably.