Ok, so let’s see, the best equipped, best trained most ferociously powerful army ever fielded in the history of the world seeks to subdue a medieval country equipped with nothing better than WW I equipment, and virtually no formal military training….sounds like the makings of a rout, eh?
But sometimes, hollywood fantasies turn out to be more accurate predictors of the future than the Pentagon’s macho-man plans. Indeed, it looks like the greatest army is tucking tail and slinking back to base after getting its ass kicked by third world (barely) villagers.
The abovelinked NYT article ends with this:
Looking back, soldiers say the effort shows how choices made from a lack of understanding or consultation with local people can drive them into the arms of the insurgents.
“We had the best intentions, but when you don’t fully understand the culture” it is impossible to make the right choices, said Major Fussell.
Gee, ya think?
For a little insider perspective, consider this: back when I was in the Green Machine (mid-late 80s), I was constantly derided by my fellow officers for doing wacky — and extremely un-manly — things like learning the language of the place we were stationed or training in (fluent in Italian, pretty good with German, and even picked up a little Turkish). Actually engaging the locals — which I had a very bad habit of doing — was particularly horrifying for them. I was obviously not destined to last long in that environment. But at least I was able to inflict maximum irritation upon the manly-men while serving. (Can you tell I’m a Holden Caulfield fan?!)
I’d like to think that maybe they will learn a lesson from their travails in Iraq & Afghanistan, but I doubt it. I’ve talked with enough of those who stayed in. They don’t get it. My generation of officers came up in the shadows of Viet Nam. Our training, by officers who had served there, was meant to help us avoid the mistakes of that war. The manly-men who got promoted from my generation are the ones in charge now, making the exact same mistakes as their predecessors in Viet Nam.
They really don’t get it.
But it isn’t their job to get it, really. They are trained to do what they do and that’s it. A big part of what they do is taking orders from civilians in charge. That’s us. We appoint, through a vote, the people who give them their marching orders.
So as you recoil in horror to the latest gruesome videotaped slaughter, keep in mind, the dogs of war have been loosed for one and only one reason: to satisfy gluttonous, deathmobiling lifestyle Americans insist on maintaining. Lust for the Unobtainium-based lifestyle as it were. Expect more slaughter of the Na’avi in the pursuit of it. But remember the karmic ending.