I have criticized both the Bush administration and the military brass for the way they have conducted both the Iraq and Afghan campaigns. My basic problem has been they seemed more attuned to avoiding being criticized by CNN and the international left than in protecting our troops. Numerous unauthorized reports from actual trigger-pullers have said much the same thing. They feel they are held back from responding aggressively, yet they are still put in harm's way, a classic no-win situation that anyone who was around for vietnam well remembers. Just when you think maybe the military has gotten a clue, you read something like this article below. So now our deployments are subject to popularity tests with locals, many of whom are terrorists or support them? And our generals apparently take orders from local politicians, who are probably running drug smuggling operations in their spare time. Bring the troops home. It's criminal to leave them exposed with the incompetent PC leaders they serve under. ************************************** Politics Top general in Afghanistan expels Marines 4 hrs ago Top general in Afghanistan expels Marines The top American general in charge of the forces in Afghanistan expelled a unit for the way the men handled a March 4 ambush. WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The top American general in Afghanistan has expelled a U.S. Marine special operations company for the way the men responded to an ambush March 4, Marine sources said. Maj. Cliff Gilmore, a spokesman for Marine Special Operations Command, confirmed to The Examiner that the company of 120 Marines is redeploying. He said the decision followed an ambush on the company's convoy by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. A second Marine source said the Marines retaliated and some civilians were killed. The action brought an abrupt end to what promised to be a historic deployment. The unit sailed in January from Camp Lejeune, N.C., as the first Marine Corps special operations company sent overseas. The Corps joined U.S. Special Operations Command a year ago. The company is now redeploying to Kuwait after just a few weeks in Afghanistan in what was supposed to be a six-month tour. A Marine officer assigned to special operations said Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the top U.S. commander, took the extraordinary step of expelling the unit after he consulted with Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai. A spokesman for Eikenberry could not be reached today. Gilmore said, "The unit responded to the ambush and the local population perceptions of that response have damaged the relationship between the local population and the Marine special operations company."
While stipulating the the recent phenomenon of the pussification of the Armed Services there's one thing you may or may not be aware of. This is the huge issue of inter-service politics. This apparently was a pussified Army General (whom BTW went to West Point, Harvard and Stanford along the way the to being the total bean- counter, ass-kisser that he appears to be) that whacked this MARSOC unit. The Army gets MASSIVE recourses as their share of DOD budget. IMO, the Army gets WAAAAAAY more of the DOD budget than they deserve for the job they do. There's much waste and bloat in the regular green army. The Marine Corps by comparison get very little of the Dept of Navy budget much less the entire DOD budget. The old saying "that the Marines do more with less and in harder conditions than anyone," is quite true. This new MARSOC unit is only about a year old and in the minds of some it represents a major threat to Army Special Forces in terms of allocation of resources and operational deployment tempo. It's my guess that the army general that made this decision to remove the MARSOC unit did so because he saw his opportunity to try marginalize them...and he took it.
Doc, I'm sure you're right about the Army-Marine aspect of this incident. Army doesn't want the Marines intruding on their turf. Still, it sends a hell of a message to our troops. I have nothing but respect for the guys who put their asses on the line. Frankly, they amaze me, and it just sucks that the media ignore them because a lot of them are huge heroes. But I don't have much time for the brass that are quick to put them in harm's way but then wimp out when the time comes to kick ass.
Great analysis. When I was with ANGLICO we worked exclusively with JSOC forces. And the number of shooters to admin and the like was about 20-1 in SF. In the USMC spec op capable units such as recon bt, force, anglico..etc it is about 3-1 plus the old mantra of "every Marine is a rifleman first" was very much alive. With even the head shed guys attending basic spec schools such as Airborne at Ft Benning. MARSOC is the future of the Corp. MARSOC supporting SEALS would be unbeatable worldwide.