In the end strategy matters more than firepower

All-American bushwhacker

From the comments section of a blog post at The Small Wars Journal in re General William Westmoreland's Viet Nam strategy:

"[General Vo Nguyen] Giap ... saw the strategically ridiculous position in which the American military had been placed by President Johnson. Giap's military strategy was simple. He knew the US forces could tactically defeat his forces in head to head battles every day of the year due to the overwhelming fire power we could bring to bear, so he predicated his strategy on fighting battles, causing casualties among our troops and air crews, loosing the battle, accepting his losses large or small, and sending replacements into the South to repeat the process over and over again. As he said, we would run out of patience for that war long before he ran out of men." [emphasis added]

Looks like the Taliban are following the same course.

Things wot I learned on the Internet today

* Even terrorist's websites get hacked sometimes. Tough luck Tali-gangsters.

* Ann Arbor should stop trying to be  hipster heaven and just stay a nice place to live in the Midwest.

* It's not a good idea to have first cousins marrying each other.

* Detroit is not going to be "ready" for a white mayor  any time soon.

How to defeat America on the battefield

A pair of retired generals Robert H. Scales and Paul van Riper have written a really good op-ed in the Washington Post in re the awarding of the CMH to an Army NCO who actually lived to receive it. Along the way they make the point that the strategy to defeat America on the battlefield has already been written. And our enemies have read it and are using it at this very moment. 

First, make the Americans fight on your terms at a place and time of your choosing.

"...no small unit in such peril should ever cede the high ground to the enemy, particularly when unmanned vehicles are capable of monitoring constantly overhead and transmitting clear pictures of the surrounding terrain."

Second, spend all your money on whiz-bang wonder weapons, shady civilian war contractors, and corrupt indigenous governments rather than basic issue combat kit (e.g., the issue infantry rifle, state-of-the-art body armor, etc.).

"Army and Marine Corps infantry squads were outgunned at the tactical level in Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army's superior AK-47 assault rifles. We would like a Beltway guru to explain why Sgt. Giunta had to fight with the same rifle we used so long ago."

Third, kill as many Americans as possible. People back home don't like their men coming home disfigured or dead from overseas battlefields in places they don't especially care about. 

Fourth, read the writings of PAVN General Vo Nguyen Giap. He explains it all in detail. To wit: With a correct strategy you may lose battles but you will win the war. Following an incorrect strategy you may win battles but you will ultimately lose the war.

Taliban facing its own "uprising"

In areas of Afghanistan that the Taliban control the local non-Talib tribes are ginning up their own anti-government uprising. What makes this an interesting occurrence is that where this is happening the Taliban is the government. So says the NY Times so these reports are somewhat suspect barring independent confirmation and it may just be the usual tit_for_tat kinda stuff that tribal cultures are  known for. But it's a development worth keeping an eye on. (Long War Journal, NY Times)