U.S. Catches 4 Suspected Iraqi Insurgents

Reckon we have all heard the old saying which instructs us that "the best defense is a good offense". It looks as though US forces in Iraq are back on the offense, becoming the hunters instead of the hunted. Bravissimo! I'm reminded of something G. Gordon Liddy wrote in his book Will: "I refuse to worry abut my enemies, preferring instead to have them worry about me." Well, something like that anyway.

The lesson (in my opinion) in warfare that cost the United States 55,000 lives in Vietnam to learn is that the only way you defeat guerillas in war is with better guerillas. It is possible that Special Forces have been behind the scenes in every conflict since their founding, and we just didn't hear much, but it seems to me that our merciless murderous savages are kicking the shit out of their opponents in Afghanistan and Iraq, moreso than in previous wars. In Somalia, they were handcuffed, largely avoiding conflict and taking a defensive stance. Not this time.

I recall hearing an ex-Special Forces guy being interviewed by Don Imus about eight months ago. He said a couple days after 9/11, his and other units were briefed and told by their superiors: "We don't have time to put a grand plan together. We don't have time to deploy aircraft carriers. We don't have time to call up reserves and deploy a hundred thousand guys. We will, soon, but for now, we're sticking you in. Here's a map of Tora Bora. Here's where we think they are. Go do damage. Any questions?"

And the American guerillas landed in Afghanistan a couple days later and there was no debate and there was no UN council meeting and there was no press conference - there was just a few hundred highly-trained, highly-motivated, well-led, and well-equipped American soldiers in bands of a hundred or so just traipsing through the mountains blowing people away.

For all the technology and equipment we have, the basic principles of warfare have scarcely changed since Howe routed Washington at Brandywine.

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