tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post7619399283352459516..comments2024-03-28T13:21:22.211-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: Why have US-trained forces in Iraq and Afghanistan failed so badly?Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-81673126638316593092015-11-25T14:14:39.193-06:002015-11-25T14:14:39.193-06:00Central Asian and Western civilizations differ by ...Central Asian and Western civilizations differ by a thousand years. Civilizing the Middle East will take a thousand years. Unfortunately at that point they will still be a thousand years behind us. Unless we collapse.Chuck Pergielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14473338620167201696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-707317586917787452015-11-25T08:41:17.506-06:002015-11-25T08:41:17.506-06:00The thing is most Middle Eastern military units ar...The thing is most Middle Eastern military units are not culturally inclined to fight a stand up fight or Western military dogma. Since the time of the Crusades they retreat from large set piece battles, fight hit and run raids and only press on when the odds are overwhelmingly in their favor. They trade large areas of useless land because it hold little or no strategic value. The horse riding Native Americans fought the same way. TE Lawrence understood the limitations of his forces and used them accordingly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-69664526599934988432015-11-24T22:53:26.642-06:002015-11-24T22:53:26.642-06:00George Carlin even had something to say about this...George Carlin even had something to say about this:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZsDUkPCbKYShermhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07098953206824247173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-78628447646293713072015-11-24T22:34:58.387-06:002015-11-24T22:34:58.387-06:00We've had this problem since at least, oh, say...We've had this problem since at least, oh, say... Vietnam. The ARVN had moments of glory, but they were widely and justly denigrated as being ineffective, especially when compared to the VC and NVA.<br /><br />Why were they like that? What made the difference between the highly effective and motivated Montagnard and Hmong forces we raised in the Highlands vs. the rest of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam? By and large... It was this: Vietnam was a significantly dysfunctional country, a "failed state", if you will. The indigenous forces that were administered by the corrupt South Vietnamese government were poorly trained, poorly equipped, and poorly led. By contrast, the ethnic forces of the mountains were largely trained by Americans, administered by Americans, and paid by Americans. They fought, and fought hard. Why the difference? Read this paragraph, again, and you'll see it.<br /><br />You can't form a successful army and give it to an essentially corrupt government. When dealing with countries like Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, you're a hell of a lot better off if you take their troops, train them, lead them, pay them, and foster a military culture without corruption. It can be done, and has been done--But, it takes a long time, generations, even. Look at the difference between the Jordanian Legion and other Arab forces. The British took the time to develop that force, over the course of decades. When it was turned out to its own devices, many of the successful British cultural traits had "taken", and the Jordanian Legion managed to be a lot more successful than many other home-grown Arab forces.<br /><br />We want the quick solution, the "shake-and-bake" army. There isn't one, especially when dealing with these failed nations. You want a successful state? You need to plan on a decades-long project, and the security forces are a huge component. We should have formed up Afghan units where the troops were recruited from the street, to be administered and led by Americans. Such units would not be ready to be "let go" from American leadership until an entire generation had made its way through the pipeline, and their own indigenous leadership free from corruption had worked its way up the pipeline from recruit/lieutenant up to sergeant major and battalion commander.<br /><br />We didn't do things that way, and as a result, the Iraqi Army fell apart as soon as we left and the politicians started playing their old Arab games with things like pay and supplies. Same thing in Afghanistan--You can't grow an Army in a few short years. The amount of time it takes is measured in decades and generations.<br /><br />How long did it take to foster and grow formations like von Lettow's African Askaris, some of whom still remembered their drill decades later, when it came time for the FRG to pay out some of their pensions? Did the Germans manage that in a year or two? How about the various formations of the Empire, whether speaking of the King's African Rifles, or the many Indian Army units? You don't manage that sort of thing overnight, especially in areas of the world that aren't really modern nation-states in the first damn place.<br /><br />We tried fixing Iraq and Afghanistan in a hurry and on the cheap. We shouldn't be surprised that the armies we "built" are falling apart. You have to spend the time to fully inculcate and form the culture, and that's simply not an overnight task. Particularly when you're fighting a culture that's already highly corrupt...takirkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01228716337489374348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-85529710979090040082015-11-24T21:17:16.414-06:002015-11-24T21:17:16.414-06:00Whenever I've seen photographs of western-trai...Whenever I've seen photographs of western-trained Arab soldiers, they look grumpy, they are ill at ease in their uniforms, they don't look like they want to be there at all.<br /><br />By contrast, I have watched many videos of young studs in the Islamic State, riding captured APCs or Toyotas; attentively listening to instructions from their commanders; laughing their silly heads off as they discuss how they will rape and murder their next victims. They seem totally at ease, like people who have found their true calling... they have "come home" to who they really are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com