Hi Annie, thanks for bringing it to my attention. You know, it never ceases to amaze me how much of what emanates from government and upper echelon sources often bears little resemblance to reality! One of the most laughable elements of this article is the statement that we are not short of helicopters. People who make such statements should spend a few weeks with the British troops in Afghanistan. I guarantee they would change their tune in no time at all. Can't even call 'em REMFs, just complete tossers. Pity they couldn't be with us on Christmas day, our eighteenth day of fighting Operation Sond Chara around the town of Nad-e-Ali to capture four key Taliban strongholds. Still, I guess they were drinking sherry and telling their gathered audiences how well THEY were doing in Afghanistan. I bet none of them can name any one of the guys we lost over that three weeks, but when it comes to telling others how well equipped we are, they tghink they are experts.
I probably trust Michael Yon more than any reporter regarding Iran/Afghanistan. He and supporters have paid his own way, nearly since the beginning in 2002/3. He is truly the Ernie Pyle of our times.
"Strangely, both the British and American officers give high praise to the French. The French actually will fight like mad dogs, they say...." I didn't know this before, can anyone confirm this and why it was said? For me it just seems that the American military has always been prioritized in the US and in the UK (and many other Nations) it hasn't been for a long while. And BTW: shouldn't this thread be in the "US Military" section of the forum?
I've just been reading through some of his reports and I'm very impressed.I've bookmarked the site and will take great interest in following it.
Of course we're never short of helicopters. Last time I deployed, I touched down in Kuwait in a CH-46 that was as old as I was. It still bore the unit markings from its unit in Vietnam (1stBn 9thMarines). Watch those same politicians go into damage control overdrive though when a couple of them fall out of the sky. They start blaming the service for using antiquated equipment and get the general public riled up and calling for some Marines' heads through the media when the fact is, not providing specific funding for purchase of new equipment is Congress's fault. btw ... Welcome back. Glad to see you had a successful tour.
I find it absolutely astonishing that anyone in Britain could ever believe that the investment in equipment for our troops in the field has been anything other than a national disgrace for many years. Anyone who is likely to come under fire (or who is supporting those coming under fire) should have the very best equipment available, not just in the field but in training as well. I know this is sometimes not possible, but it should be the exception rather than the rule. As with everything, politicians are ready at the drop of a hat to divert funding to a pet project and then to point the finger elsewhere when the chickens come home to roost. It's a fucking scandal, IMO.
What's sad to me is you have all these people whining about where the money is going to come from, when all we need to do is look at our governments. I GUARANTEE that is someone went through them with a broom and started actually making people/agencies account for their expenditures, there's probably enough money to be found to pay off our deficit. Yet we just keep letting out governments get bigger and bigger.
The British politicians know that Afghanistain is a lost cause. They were defeated there before and realise the out come won't be any different this time. Rudyard Kipling's poem reflects this reality: When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Jest roll to your rifle an’ blow out your brains An’ go to your Gawd like a soldier.
