Re special forces some years ago I listened to a podcast interview of a guy who had been a contractor, he compared insurgents to SF, which is to say how they compare ,ie SF learn the language of the region to which they may deploy,learn the culture,the geography and so forth.Insurgents will have lived there their whole lives, one of those two have a natural advantage right out the gate.
A further point that was made concerned smart weapons.In the West we have guided weapons using sat nav and I suppose ai is right around the corner, but what are suicide bombers if not smart weapons?
I now disrember the podcast I listened to, been trying to find it again but no luck yet
“modern post-WWII US special operations forces never do long dwell-time partisan/guerrilla creation and improvement.”
Read William S Lind. Should we be doing this anywhere and everywhere? Do these people share our values? Is it worth teaching them anything? To what end? Can we do this? How many men’s lives is this mission worth? Who benefits? What is the strategic importance of the mission/area? We need to ask some questions first. We are doing this all over the world, albeit 3-12 month rotations. You return to the same mission a year later to the same problems (or worse) as when you left, only to find that you care more about that craphole country than the natives do. Or worse, the corrupt have all been promoted and the virtuous have all been relieved, on both sides.
Re special forces some years ago I listened to a podcast interview of a guy who had been a contractor, he compared insurgents to SF, which is to say how they compare ,ie SF learn the language of the region to which they may deploy,learn the culture,the geography and so forth.Insurgents will have lived there their whole lives, one of those two have a natural advantage right out the gate.
A further point that was made concerned smart weapons.In the West we have guided weapons using sat nav and I suppose ai is right around the corner, but what are suicide bombers if not smart weapons?
I now disrember the podcast I listened to, been trying to find it again but no luck yet
“modern post-WWII US special operations forces never do long dwell-time partisan/guerrilla creation and improvement.”
Read William S Lind. Should we be doing this anywhere and everywhere? Do these people share our values? Is it worth teaching them anything? To what end? Can we do this? How many men’s lives is this mission worth? Who benefits? What is the strategic importance of the mission/area? We need to ask some questions first. We are doing this all over the world, albeit 3-12 month rotations. You return to the same mission a year later to the same problems (or worse) as when you left, only to find that you care more about that craphole country than the natives do. Or worse, the corrupt have all been promoted and the virtuous have all been relieved, on both sides.