The Definition of Dumb
from the Washington Post a lesson in how not to fight a war, courtesy of the Taliban:
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35722-2002Feb19.html"; target="_blank">In War, Mud Huts And Hard Calls</a>
As U.S. Teams Guided Pilots' Attacks, Civilian Presence Made Task Tougher
By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 20, 2002; Page A01
[quote]When the soldiers of U.S. Army Special Forces Team 555 went to work in Afghanistan, they found no shortage of targets for U.S. warplanes to strike: mud huts where Taliban soldiers slept, rusted jeeps they drove, shacks with suspicious antennas pointing toward the sky.
But to Navy and Air Force pilots flying thousands of feet above, they didn't look like military targets, and in the initial days of the war, the fliers were reluctant to attack...
Team 555's Air Force representative, a Special Operations combat controller from the 720th Special Tactics Group, taught the team how to call in close air support using binoculars, a laser target designator, Global Positioning System devices and other equipment. But with a 15,000-foot minimum altitude imposed on pilots for their safety, it was sometimes impossible for pilots in the cockpits to see what the team saw from the ground. Some would fly near the target, use their own binoculars to peer down, and talk about what they saw with the Special Forces team members.
"The general lay of the land, it's brown and dusty mud," said J.T. "So a lot of the lower fighting positions, they really couldn't see. It's really hard to pick up the contrast, or the lack of it. They'd say, 'I see a city. I see a town.' I would say, well no, you see a cluster of five buildings. In one of these buildings you'll see a cluster of vehicles. While they may look like Toyota Land Cruisers, they are used to move troops and ammunition. This area here is all bad guys."
Some pilots refused to drop munitions if they weren't convinced. But, Rosenbarger said, his Air Force colleagues adapted quickly, especially after he sneaked them copies of initial bomb damage assessment reports showing ample amounts of military equipment destroyed in "villages" occupied by Taliban forces.
Sometimes, the nature of the war made targeting easier. Many Afghan Taliban and Northern Alliance soldiers were friends who had found themselves drafted into opposing armies. They would communicate over rudimentary radios, sometimes taunting each other in the heat of battle.
"Your bomb missed us," one would say, recalled members of Team 555.
"Where did it land?" a Northern Alliance officer would respond with some coaching from the Americans.
Five hundred meters to the north, would come the answer. Or 1,000 meters to the south. The combat controller would immediately recalculate the coordinates and pass them to the nearest aircraft, which could restrike the target within minutes. Team 555 members said that in a week, they killed many Taliban commanders this way and destroyed much of their communications network.
Military planners at the U.S. Central Command in Tampa had calculated that it would take five months before conditions would be ripe to begin an offensive against Kabul. After the airstrikes directed by Team 555, Northern Alliance forces began their march on the capital in 20 days, and it took them less than 24 hours to take the city.<hr></blockquote>
[ 02-23-2002: Message edited by: roger_ramjet ]</p>
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35722-2002Feb19.html"; target="_blank">In War, Mud Huts And Hard Calls</a>
As U.S. Teams Guided Pilots' Attacks, Civilian Presence Made Task Tougher
By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 20, 2002; Page A01
[quote]When the soldiers of U.S. Army Special Forces Team 555 went to work in Afghanistan, they found no shortage of targets for U.S. warplanes to strike: mud huts where Taliban soldiers slept, rusted jeeps they drove, shacks with suspicious antennas pointing toward the sky.
But to Navy and Air Force pilots flying thousands of feet above, they didn't look like military targets, and in the initial days of the war, the fliers were reluctant to attack...
Team 555's Air Force representative, a Special Operations combat controller from the 720th Special Tactics Group, taught the team how to call in close air support using binoculars, a laser target designator, Global Positioning System devices and other equipment. But with a 15,000-foot minimum altitude imposed on pilots for their safety, it was sometimes impossible for pilots in the cockpits to see what the team saw from the ground. Some would fly near the target, use their own binoculars to peer down, and talk about what they saw with the Special Forces team members.
"The general lay of the land, it's brown and dusty mud," said J.T. "So a lot of the lower fighting positions, they really couldn't see. It's really hard to pick up the contrast, or the lack of it. They'd say, 'I see a city. I see a town.' I would say, well no, you see a cluster of five buildings. In one of these buildings you'll see a cluster of vehicles. While they may look like Toyota Land Cruisers, they are used to move troops and ammunition. This area here is all bad guys."
Some pilots refused to drop munitions if they weren't convinced. But, Rosenbarger said, his Air Force colleagues adapted quickly, especially after he sneaked them copies of initial bomb damage assessment reports showing ample amounts of military equipment destroyed in "villages" occupied by Taliban forces.
Sometimes, the nature of the war made targeting easier. Many Afghan Taliban and Northern Alliance soldiers were friends who had found themselves drafted into opposing armies. They would communicate over rudimentary radios, sometimes taunting each other in the heat of battle.
"Your bomb missed us," one would say, recalled members of Team 555.
"Where did it land?" a Northern Alliance officer would respond with some coaching from the Americans.
Five hundred meters to the north, would come the answer. Or 1,000 meters to the south. The combat controller would immediately recalculate the coordinates and pass them to the nearest aircraft, which could restrike the target within minutes. Team 555 members said that in a week, they killed many Taliban commanders this way and destroyed much of their communications network.
Military planners at the U.S. Central Command in Tampa had calculated that it would take five months before conditions would be ripe to begin an offensive against Kabul. After the airstrikes directed by Team 555, Northern Alliance forces began their march on the capital in 20 days, and it took them less than 24 hours to take the city.<hr></blockquote>
[ 02-23-2002: Message edited by: roger_ramjet ]</p>
Comments
The Germans and Italians were at war and 2 troops had met each other and were exchanging gunfire.
The Germans were getting beat when they decided to try a new tactic.
One german soldier would shout out an italian name and when the italian soldiers would stand up to answer, they would shoot them.
So one of the german soldiers started:
German: "Hey Luigi!"
Luigi: "Yeah?"
*Bang*
German: "Yo Tony!"
Tony: "What?"
*Bang*
Well the italians were beginning to catch on so they decided to turn it around:
Italian :"Hey Hans!"
Hans: "Is that you Mario?"
Mario: "Yeah!"
*Bang*
I have a friend who's been taking one class per semester at our local community college for literally 9 years. He's a great friend, loyal, etc. but doesn't have a brain in his head.
Anyway, he's always sending e-mails where he's misspelled words and picked wrong corrections. I.E. "We should be there at four at the tastiest" instead of latest.
Today I get a message that he's "Dropping his creative riding class for it is hard. Instead I'm taking Advanced Combination next semester."
Funny on so many levels!!!
<img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
Anyway, back to the thread at hand...
Jeff
Jeff