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DefenseWatch – Nov. 28, 2001 Soldiers For The Truth (SFTT) Weekly Newsletter When we assumed the Soldier, We did not lay aside the Citizen. General George Washington, to the New York Legislature, 1775 In this week’s Issue of DefenseWatch: Afghanistan Endgame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EDITORIAL and ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed Offley Editor, DefenseWatch Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] J. David Galland Deputy Editor, DefenseWatch Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] David H. Hackworth Senior Military Columnist Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Chris Humphrey SFTT Webmaster Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary: The Deadly and Challenging Endgame in Afghanistan, by Ed Offley Hack’s Target for the Week: The Marines Have Landed – Again Article 01 – A Salute to the Marine Corps, by Paul Connors Article 02 – Terrorist ‘Sleepers’ – An Ancient Threat, by Robert G. Williscroft Article 03 – Balkans Stability Remains an Illusion, by J. David Galland Article 04 – Feedback: Responses to Hack’s Columns Article 05 – Guest Editorial: Shabby Treatment Of Navy Hero Article 06 – Feedback: Let’s Bring Back the Draft Article 07 – Ambush in Afghanistan Medal of Honor: Article 08 – ASHLEY, EUGENE, JR. SFC USA EDITOR'S NOTE: Your Support is Important! EDITOR'S NOTE: Article Submission Procedures/Subject Editors Sought ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary: The Deadly and Challenging Endgame in Afghanistan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By Ed Offley The U.S. war against al Qaeda is entering a new and difficult stage with the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan now controlling all of the country except for the city of Kandahar and the already-infamous Tora Bora cave complex southwest of Jalalabad. Having won all but a handful of pockets of Afghanistan in a stunning orchestration of airpower and Special Operations forces, Gen. Tommy Franks and his operational planners at U.S. Central Command are facing one of the gravest decisions to date in the Afghanistan campaign: whether to besiege and contain the defiant but retreating forces of the Taliban and al Qaeda, or to go in after them in two of the worst battlefield environments on the face of the earth: the claustrophobic alleyways of Kandahar and the deep tunnel complexes at Tora Bora. Unconfirmed accounts in the Western news media this week indicate that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is holed up in Kandahar with as many as 4,000 of his fanatical soldiers, while Osama bin Laden and as many as 2,000 of his non-Afghan fighters have retreated to a complex of underground caves near Tora Bora. The brutal and suicidal resistance of several hundred of these fighters at the prison near With the ongoing deployment of a 1,000-man Marine Air-Ground Task Force to a site near Kandahar and reports of increased air base preparations in countries surrounding Afghanistan, it is clear that the Central Command is preparing for a final hunt for the al Qaeda leadership. Indeed, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard B. Myers said Monday that U.S. aircraft had already struck cave and tunnel complexes within Afghanistan suspected as terrorist hideouts. The as-yet unanswered question is how the U.S. and anti-Taliban Afghan fighters intend to proceed against these heavily defended sites. Close-quarter combat in either location will inevitably result in American combat fatalities (as well as civilian deaths in the city). It is has long been known that the “black” elements of the U.S. Special Operations Command – particularly the Army’s Delta Force and Naval Special Warfare Development Group (formerly SEAL Team 6) – have trained extensively for warfare under the ground, a nightmare scenario of close-quarter combat in darkened tunnels festooned with booby traps, mines and enemy gun positions. Moreover, the U.S. force in Afghanistan is reportedly equipped with a broad array of advanced heat sensors, ground radar and surveillance platforms that will probably make a near-impossible mission merely dangerous and extremely difficult. Those capabilities exist today because many of our potential adversaries have been digging in for the past decade. Throughout the 1990s, countries including North Korea, Libya and Iraq studied the devastating impact of U.S. precision-guided munitions on Iraqi surface targets during Operation Desert Storm, and opted for what experts call the “poor man’s defense.” At the Yongbyon nuclear complex in North Korea, the Tarhuna chemical weapons complex in Libya and a number of sites in Iraq, our adversaries tunneled hundreds – if not thousands – of feet under bedrock to shelter their nuclear, chemical and biological weapons factories from the most advanced U.S. “smart” weapons. And in Afghanistan, the Taliban inherited an ancient labyrinth of caves and tunnels used for countless generations as a redoubt against foreign invaders. It also is no secret that both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have long trained for MOUT – military operations on urban terrain – anticipating that future targets in expeditionary warfare would choose to hide in cities behind a civilian population. The “Battle of the Black Sea” in Mogadishu eight years ago underscored the challenge and steep price to pay in urban combat. The Bush administration and Pentagon have clearly articulated that the ongoing war against terrorism will be protracted, lengthy and will probably lack a decisive battlefield victory. Unlike the Clinton administration before it, which retreated from Somalia after one bloody battle and signaled in advance its fear of committing ground troops to Kosovo, the Bush administration and its military commanders are willing to meet the strategic imperatives of the war with sufficient military force that implicitly recognizes the inevitability of combat deaths. But this is not the same thing as recklessly pursuing a short-term victory high in cost of human life when the strategic goals can be met with less bloodshed. It now appears likely that the U.S. forces – while continuing to exploit the retreat of enemy fighters with air strikes and rapid SOF tactical raids – will opt to draw a ring around Kandahar and the caves of Tora Bora until a sufficient force of Afghan fighters can be assembled to carry out the ground war’s endgame next spring. Franks himself on Tuesday said, “We do not intend to go in and begin to just bomb the city of Kandahar. We will pursue Kandahar militarily, the same way we have pursued the cities in the north …. ” Barring a lucky breakthrough in U.S. intelligence or a blunder by either Mullah Omar or bin Laden, the war in Afghanistan appears to be heading for a winter lull – with the forces of terrorism cowering in their holes and the vast majority of the country around them recovering from years of terror. Ed Offley is Editor of DefenseWatch. Table of Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hack’s Target For The Week: The Marines Have Landed – Again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By David H. Hackworth The first non-Special Ops unit deployed to Afghanistan is the U.S. Marines Corps – no big surprise to this old Army doggie. In World War II's South Pacific, Marines were “the firstus with the mostus” into the Solomons, and they led the way into Vietnam. In Korea, they landed second, but unlike the Army units initially deployed there, Gen. Edward Craig's Marine brigade hit the beach ready to fight. And without their skill, sacrifice and courage, the beleaguered Eighth Army would've been pushed into the sea during the early months of the conflict. A similar scenario occurred during the early stages of Operation Desert Storm, in which Marine units came in ready to fight while the first Army troops – the 82nd Airborne Division, with its insufficient anti-tank capability – were a potential speed bump waiting to be flattened. The Corps, which has never lost sight that its primary mission is to fight, remains superbly trained and disciplined – true to its time-honored slogan “We don't promise a rose garden.” When, under President Clinton, the Army lowered its standards to Boy Scout summer-camp level in order to increase enlistment, the Corps responded by making boot training longer and tougher. Now under Commandant Gen. James Jones, that training has gotten even meaner for the young Marine wannabes waiting in line to join up, as well as for Leathernecks already serving in regular and reserve units. Unlike U.S. Army conventional units – whose new slogan, “An Army of One,” says it all – the U.S. Marine Corps remains a highly mobile, fierce fighting team that has never forgotten: “The more sweat on the training field, the less blood on the battlefield.” The Marines are flexible, agile, ready and deadly, while the Army remains configured to fight the Soviets – who disappeared off the Order of Battle charts a decade ago. For example, right after Sept. 11, the two Army heavy divisions in Germany – with their 68-ton tanks that can crush almost every bridge they cross – deployed to Poland for war games. Hello, is there a brain at the top somewhere beneath that snazzy Black Beret being modeled at most U.S. airports by too many overweight Army National Guard troops? The Army has eight other regular divisions, all designed to fight 20th-century wars. Three are heavy – tank and mech Infantry – and two are light, the storied 82nd Airborne and the elite 101st Airborne (now Air Assault), and then there's the light/heavy 10,000-man 2nd Infantry Division that's in Korea backing up a million-man, superbly fit South Korean Army. Less the light divisions, our Army's not versatile, deployable, swift or sustainable. The heavy units require fleets of ships and planes to move them, and it takes months to get them there – it took Stormin' Norman six months to ready a force for Desert Storm. The 101st – while deadly, as Desert Storm proved – is also a slow mover requiring a huge amount of strategic lift – ships and giant planes – to get to the battlefield, not to mention the massive tax-dollar load to outfit and maintain it. Sadly, today's Army is like a street fighter with brass knuckles too heavy to lift. After the Rangers' disaster in Somalia – where there were no tanks to break through to relieve them – and the embarrassment of not being able to fight in the war in Serbia, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki started forming light brigades strikingly similar to USMC units. When I asked, “Why the copycatting?” an Army officer said: “It was either copy or go out of business. We'd become redundant because of long-term lack of boldness and imagination at the top.” The Army costs about $80 billion a year to run. It's time for Congress to do its duty and stop enjoying the benefits of all the pork this obsolescence and redundancy provides. If the Army can't change with the times – as the powerful horse cavalry generals couldn't just prior to World War II – then it should fold up its tents and turn the ground-fighting mission over to the Marines. The law of nature is simple: survival of the fittest. And in the 21st century, heartbreaking as it is for me to admit, the forward-based and highly deployable U.S. Marine Corps is the fittest. http://www.hackworth.com is the address of David Hackworth's home page. Sign in for the free weekly Defending America column at his Web site. Send mail to P.O. Box 11179, Greenwich, CT 06831. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. 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