tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post5086778873342878332..comments2023-10-30T06:31:05.501-07:00Comments on MilPub: March disorderFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-35947473099438731032017-02-14T12:42:49.374-08:002017-02-14T12:42:49.374-08:00The other problem, FE, is that the U.S. has seldom...The other problem, FE, is that the U.S. has seldom been the Arsenal of Democracy we like to pretend we are, but we're very reluctant to admit that. That's been the bog-standard since 1781, and I have no idea how you change that; my guess is that if somehow a news source started reporting our imperial expeditions as such you'd discover at least half the U.S. public would openly celebrate imperialism...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-24505654577948091782017-02-14T12:37:13.940-08:002017-02-14T12:37:13.940-08:00Good point; the Gulf Arab sheikdoms are fairly not...Good point; the Gulf Arab sheikdoms are fairly notorious for the lack of local enthusiasm for martial glory. My understanding is that even the Saudi regular army (as opposed to the Bedouin "national guard") is a pretty worthless melange of foreign hires led by minor Saud nobility. So very likely the "emiratis" were anything from local Yemeni hires to ex-gurkhas...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-89402694556808159832017-02-14T12:27:47.759-08:002017-02-14T12:27:47.759-08:00I'm always a little amazed at the way bureaucr...I'm always a little amazed at the way bureaucrats find ways to fight over the fiscal spoils even as the house burns around them. It'd be funny if it weren't so infuriating.<br /><br />The larger problem I see is that I don't know how you stop this farkling about in Middle Eastern problems. Between the U.S.' link w Israel and the ill-will generated over the past 15 years even if every U.S. troop was pulled back to Texas and every dollar diverted to infrastructure the enmity we've built up will pursue us for another two generations...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-73843553954858812082017-02-12T21:06:32.745-08:002017-02-12T21:06:32.745-08:00SVEN -
Or Columbian perhaps?SVEN -<br /><br />Or Columbian perhaps?mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-77213519798498507552017-02-12T08:00:35.842-08:002017-02-12T08:00:35.842-08:00According to what I know about the UAE it's al...According to what I know about the UAE it's almost impossible that those "Emiratis" were actually citizens/subjects from the UAE.<br />More likely they were Pakistani mercs.S Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03359796414832859686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-85896888376251564582017-02-10T00:58:24.709-08:002017-02-10T00:58:24.709-08:00IMO. This is what happened to the raid (latter par...IMO. This is what happened to the raid (latter part of the article). CIA/Saudis vs Pentagon/UAE is the name of the game, Same Same Syria. The general reporting on Yemen in the rest of the article will make you hurl major league chunks about the shitty on the hill of democracy and liberty and freedumb. Enjoy!<br />http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/02/its-foreign-greed-and-delusion-that-kills-yemeni-children-.html#moreFasteddiezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10431990022248470187noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-11182128963348055272017-02-09T08:35:44.016-08:002017-02-09T08:35:44.016-08:00Great. That's just what the Middle East needs...Great. That's just what the Middle East needs; more undisciplined fuckups with twitchy trigger fingers.<br /><br />Christ, but these idiot Trumpeters are making Bush's CPA regime in Iraq look like a monument to competence and I can't imagine how that could be possible...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-11356193177689799122017-02-08T15:41:55.730-08:002017-02-08T15:41:55.730-08:00Looks like Erik Prince has been deeply involved wi...Looks like Erik Prince has been deeply involved with Abu Dhabi according to this article from the Times. He has been involved in setting up shell companies to send mercs to train up Emiratis in the finer points of fighting terrorism. I have to wonder if those bozos he helped train were part of the Yemen raid? Or maybe the Columbian mercs that are mentioned in the article were the ones that did the ride-along with the SEALs? <br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/world/middleeast/15prince.html#addenda" rel="nofollow">Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater’s Founder</a><br />mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-48001942967483081812017-02-08T11:06:53.790-08:002017-02-08T11:06:53.790-08:00Marcinko. It was for kickbacks. But he cashed it...Marcinko. It was for kickbacks. But he cashed it in with a best selling autobiography. And then later with a series of motivational books for business and corporate leaders. WTF? Was he teaching them how not to get caught?mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-41729284789838249812017-02-08T10:59:29.198-08:002017-02-08T10:59:29.198-08:00I seem to recall several minor scandals in the SOF...I seem to recall several minor scandals in the SOF community over abuse of the TDY system including stuff like travel pay. Didn't that asshole who called himself something like the "Rogue Warrior" get nailed for having some sort of slush fund culled out of special pay and allowances? Anyway, no surprise this Zinke gomer did something similar.<br /><br />My guess is that the high-end special ops outfits - ST6, SFOD-Delta - tend to be inflexible tactically because 1) their operations tend to depend on lots of interlocking tasks going right on a rigid schedule and 2) that often happens per plan.<br /><br />A regular infantry mission - let's pick a generic combat patrol - is fundamentally similar...but the concept of opns is more flexible and the consequences of failure less punitive. The grunts walk into an ambush...bigtime suck...but with luck and some fire support work out of the kill zone, regroup, try again later or try something else.<br /><br />When the special ops mission goes to hell, tho...usually in worse conditions and further from support. Chance of catastrophic failure much higher.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-41405821384795317042017-02-08T09:42:43.233-08:002017-02-08T09:42:43.233-08:00jim -
You are right on about the contradictory go...jim -<br /><br />You are right on about the contradictory goals,mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-51013875169748647412017-02-08T09:41:04.844-08:002017-02-08T09:41:04.844-08:00FDChief -
Regarding SEALs and Delta Force "t...FDChief -<br /><br />Regarding SEALs and Delta Force <i>"tactical decision-making issues"</i>:<br /><br />My guess is that too many of them turned to the big bucks in the contracting world - or hollywood or the publishing world. Or even politics, Ryan Zinke the valentine of the pipeline pushers and the Malheur Morons is now in line to be Secretary of the Interior. <br /><br />Zinke is a former SEAL, but has some blots on his record book: <br /><br /><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/us/politics/ryan-zinke-navy-seal.html" rel="nofollow">Interior Nominee Promotes Navy SEAL Career, While Playing Down ‘Bad Judgment’</a><br /><br />Roy Boehm must be spinning in his grave.<br /><br />I would bet Delta Force has the same issues.mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-369988541579467852017-02-08T08:04:26.237-08:002017-02-08T08:04:26.237-08:00Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that th...Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that the USN shouldn't venture over the shore. My quibble is with the SEALs as apparently constituted. They seem to have tactical decision-making issues.<br /><br />And fuck, yes, so does "Delta". I've had problems with them ever since Beckwith decided that the SF needed to be more like the SAS. That was idiotic and still is, and you won't find me defending them.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-84938662954121331702017-02-08T07:59:31.958-08:002017-02-08T07:59:31.958-08:00My thought is even worse, Jim; that IMO it's e...My thought is even worse, Jim; that IMO it's entirely likely that the stated objectives are some air castle like "Eliminate AQAP from the South Arabian peninsula and region."<br /><br />Which, since the AQ "brand" is like "Trump"; something you can stick on anything - shit vodka, ten goatherders - means you're gonna spend forever chasing ten goatherders.<br /><br />I think it's entirely likely that, like the Bushies "plan" for the Middle East in 2003, the whole business in Yemen and elsewhere is just throwing shit at the wall in hopes something will stick.<br /><br />In one of my old infantry outfits we had a CPT like that. We called what he did "Substituting motion for direction."FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-27664692241949357662017-02-08T07:52:07.622-08:002017-02-08T07:52:07.622-08:00I stand corrected. Yes, my snark was that we'...I stand corrected. Yes, my snark was that we'd funded people who ended up going to AQ. But that's different than knowingly backing AQ, and that's how I wrote that comment. My bad.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-6859238600455675392017-02-08T07:40:59.878-08:002017-02-08T07:40:59.878-08:00mike and Chief,
have you considered that the whole...mike and Chief,<br />have you considered that the whole problem in theater is that the CIA/DIA, (DOD)/DOS goals and objectives are contradictory?<br /><br />mike ,<br />we can fall back on the old cover all and call them=MILITANTS.<br />jim hruskarangeragainstwarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02126542922536584950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-28482918390116587912017-02-08T07:20:40.645-08:002017-02-08T07:20:40.645-08:00I hope so too. Unfortunately it fits his MO and h...I hope so too. Unfortunately it fits his MO and his personality extremely well.mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-68796183658823960302017-02-08T07:14:23.403-08:002017-02-08T07:14:23.403-08:00FDChief -
Yes, some of our best and brightest at ...FDChief -<br /><br />Yes, some of our best and brightest at the CIA funded shady anti-Assad groups. "Vetting" - what is that? Or in some cases they may have vetted and passed your four guys and a sea bag, who as soon as they got in-country were given the choice of <i>join us or get beheaded</i>. Guess which option they took.<br /><br />My quibble was with your statement about training AQ.mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-48532712341445801382017-02-08T07:03:10.983-08:002017-02-08T07:03:10.983-08:00FWIW, I've been steadfast on not slagging off ...FWIW, I've been steadfast on not slagging off His Fraudulency for problems that troubled this raid. But...I'm on my phone so I can't link to it AND it's a single unsourced story in the UK "Independent"...IF that story is correct and the Tangerine Toddler was buffaloed into greenlighting this by taunts that, neener-neener, Obama wouldn't have had the sack, well...<br /><br />We know the current commander-in-chief is a dimwitted, poorly-educated, impulsive narcissist. That sucks but the republic has survived other Presidential hairbags. What I don't want to think is that this hairbag can be played by a third-grade dare. It's never good for someone with the power of the U.S. military to be making decisions out of rage, or fear. But to be making them out of...well, toddler-like egotism?<br /><br />That's...very-not-good. I hope this story is incorrect.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-44991587602862061912017-02-08T06:36:40.867-08:002017-02-08T06:36:40.867-08:00My understandingwas, Mike, that this wasn't so...My understandingwas, Mike, that this wasn't so much a deliberate policy but more of there not being much alternative, that if you take out the outfits that have connections to the takifiris - so either AQ or AQ-curious you're left with about four guys and a duffelbag. My lack of skepticism largely comes from our eagerness to shove cash at any semi-plausible gomer (see "Achmed Chalabi").<br /><br />I'm happy to be wrong.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-82314919153267053122017-02-07T20:30:33.439-08:002017-02-07T20:30:33.439-08:00Eddie -
Yah, we have Shawn Spicer's solemn w...Eddie - <br /><br />Yah, we have Shawn Spicer's solemn word for that. Later reports by people in Obama's NSC said it was never approved.<br /><br />Some other news reports are saying Trump approved the mission after being told "Obama was not BOLD enough to approve the mission. Smells like Bannon or mad Mike to me.mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-11872140650500061842017-02-07T19:24:09.161-08:002017-02-07T19:24:09.161-08:00Seems to me Delta Force has also had their shit bl...Seems to me Delta Force has also had their shit blown away a LOT. I am shocked, shocked I say, to hear you former Army guys run down the Navy - snark alert!! ;)<br /><br />Or are you just stumped as to why Sailors are now fighting badasses ashore in addition to at sea? If so, I need to remind you that this is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on as a US Naval tradition for over 200 years. Sailors went ashore in Tripoli with cutlasses and tomahawks. Before that in the Continental Navy, Sailors raided Whitehaven in England, St Mary's Isle in Scotland, Carrickfergus in Ireland, and raided several places in Nova Scotia. (Sorry AEL, hopefully they were not going after our good Canadian friends, just the American Tory support networks and recruiting centers for King's Rangers and other Tory units fighting in the lower 13). Sailors also went ashore with the Marines in the raid on New Providence in the Bahamas to recapture stores of rebel powder and arms.<br /><br />It has been going on ever since in just about every war or quasi-war we have been involved in. Get over it.<br />mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-50591253348813888742017-02-07T18:14:13.025-08:002017-02-07T18:14:13.025-08:00Are you believing Assad/Russian propaganda now FDC...Are you believing Assad/Russian propaganda now FDChief? Drinking the kool-aid? We have been fighting against AQ in Syria as well as Daesh. <br /><br />Yes, our allies the Saudis, the other Gilfies, and the Turks may probably be funding and otherwise supporting them. Or if not those governments then at least some of their rich and pious citizens are. But we are not.mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09123137206598163451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-38794863108653774142017-02-07T17:52:47.137-08:002017-02-07T17:52:47.137-08:00So we're training AQ in Syria because their fi...So we're training AQ in Syria because their fighting the government that the Saudis are hating on and killing them in Yemen where they're fighting WITH the government and the Saudis against the Houthi Shia.<br /><br />Ummm. Yeah. That makes fuckin' sense.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-48397368859619736932017-02-07T17:50:25.429-08:002017-02-07T17:50:25.429-08:00Jim: good point. Since they had air on-call, why ...Jim: good point. Since they had air on-call, why not recon the ville for a couple of days and mark out the routes the locals used to move in and out - maybe even run a couple of dummy airstrikes to make them use their exfil routes - then set up ambushes on them and call in the tacair?<br /><br />I think the main reason that they ran this op the way they did was 1) poor local intel, and 2) overconfidence. They thought that they we so slick that they could sneak up on these muj and, if they couldn't, would just kick their ass in a stand-up fight because OMFG SPECIAL OPERATIONS SO AWESOME! Well, they found out the hard way that any dope can figure out which end of the AK the bullet comes out of...<br /><br />Like I've been saying, too, the thing I've noticed about the SEALs in particular is that they tend to be WAY more direct and cocky than even the USSF door-kickers. They walked into a trap in Grenada and again in Panama, in A'stan they lost three of four in the Mike Murphy fuckup in Kunar in 2005 with eight more (and 8 SF guys) blown out of the sky with the Hook sent to relieve the fireteam and 15 MORE guys in the shootdown in Wardak in 2011 (tho that might have been on the Army Hook pilots...).<br /><br />Basically I'm saying that for their numbers and the percentage of missions they get tasked with it seems like SEALs get their shit blown away a LOT, and this missions seems to run along the same troubled lines. Lots of assumptions that proved wrong and that got our people killed...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.com