Thank you, domivanni. Yes I had to look that one up.
Thanks DefCon, I was wondering if anyone would notice.
Sorry I don't buy that, you are implying General Keane is "not a smart man". Dog and pony shows are for politicians, not 4 star generals. What Army were you in? I will check with Admiral Mullen when I see him next month.
I have to take exception to your comment, "First and foremost, it is highly likely that General Keane rode on the traditional military “dog and pony show” while in Afghanistan. This means he was taken around as a prestigious retired military elite and shown how “great” everything is in Afghanistan. He likely spoke with the troops and many of them felt honored having the privilege to meet him."
Do you really believe that anyone in our military are going to present General Keane with a "dog and pony show"? With all due respect that is just ludicrous. No one in our military is going to BS a four star general, retired or not. General Keane may be retired but I can assure you he has hundreds of contacts still on active duty who behind the scenes tell him what is going on in Afghanistan. Bottom line, he knows exactly what is going on and perhaps he meant to fail "to reveal some stark reality."
I proudly served under General Keane when he was a Lt. in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.
As a medic in Vietnam I remember the Medevac choppers coming in with door gunners blazing and on one occasion both of them were wounded. But I don't remember if there were red crosses on those choppers, but I don't think it would have made any difference. I find it a hard stretch to believe that the idiot Taliban would not fire at a chopper because it was not armed. After all they want to be martyrs don't they?
So why isn't the IAEA or anyone else except Iran stating that "they have no intent to produce a nuclear bomb"? You really expect Iran to give the IAEA the truth?
Roger that, the only thing we were concerned about was him getting injured, but he didn't. Apparently he will start his language training next. It's been good conversing with you. Thanks for your service to our country. Watch my brother-in-law on Sunday he is one of the hosts of the Memorial Day Concert in DC it will be televised on PBS. You have probably heard of him Gary Sinise.
Now that you tell me you were an ODA Commander I want to let you know that my son just last week successfully completed SFAS. Also I went through SF medical training back in 66 but was to naive to complete the course and was dropped in my last month of training. They sent me to Vietnam with the 101st as a medic. Getting into SF now is certainly more difficult than it was in 65, all I had to do was raise my hand. I have much respect for anyone who earns their Green Beret now. I just finished reading Chosen Soldier.
True special ops looks for maturity but you can't take the "kid" out of the personality of those who want to be special ops. These are the guys who look forward to conflict that is what they train for, when a mission comes up and gets cancelled they are very disappointed. Yes they are humble and don't brag about who they are. The commander of the Night Stalkers mission to Granada said a prayer just before the mission started, "God don't let us f#@$ up". I believe he was a Major at the time and "mature" but certainly this would be called a "gung ho" prayer. These guys are not like the conventional Army or Navy, in fact Special Forces, and the Night Stalkers were not well liked when they first started. But you probably know that. And you probably also know that the motto of the Night Stalkers is "Death waits in the dark", in Vietnam and still in the 101st Airborne Division units use mottos like "Strike Force Widow Makers". These are only two examples there are many more, and they are approved by the entire chain of command. While some may not like these posters or mottos they are not going away.
There are some who like these posters and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. The facts are that the whole purpose of Special Ops is to subdue our enemies by whatever means necessary, and these posters tell no lies. Guess you didn't much like those "Jodie Calls" in jump school about the "yellow bird" or the "two old ladies laying in bed" either. Get a life, Bud!!
![[Avatar]](/images/avatar26.png){kind=avatar}
Ruckus