OT: Diggin' Osama bin Laden Out of His Hidey Hole

[Guest guest]

Butch, I love the way you think... and the way you express it! LOL!

 

-- Sandy (they use their hands?!?!?!)

[Guest guest]

Yo Kathleen,

 

Been talking to my buddies in D.C. You know I'm retired US Army but I

still have my connections. I would " guess " that the aerial bombardment

is gonna slow down real soon. Run out of targets .. the infrastructure

is, as we say in this part of the world, Fini ...

 

> Okay, at the risk of getting it chopped into, I'm going to stick my neck

> out here...

>

> I am NOT a pacifist. Never have been, Never will be. It ain't me.

> However...

>

> I DO have problems with what is going on in Afghanistan right now. Quite

> frankly I don't think it's going to do a whole lot for anyone. OBL and

> his T-buddies are going to dig themselves in and it's going to take a

> LOT of death to get them out.

 

IF that is the case .. and by the way - it is .. ;-p our options are to

say .. well dude .. you whipped our ass again - we gonna go home now.

Or, we root that rat out of his hole. Might cost some blood .. soldiers

do get bloody sometimes .. damn shame but a reality.

 

Howsomeever .. we got Uzbeks and Turcomans and turn-coat Taliban and run

of the mill Afghans who are gonna be looking for OBL cause that boy got

a nice price on his head .. and it looks like the Turks are sending in

one of their special operations teams to work with the Uzbeks and

Turcomans - they will have no communications problems. Yep .. OBL has

to come up for air one day and also, it ain't easy to live in a hole in

the ground when there is no means of resupply. First dude gets caught

carrying goat stew up some path gonna tell a tale.

 

> Don't get me wrong. The Taliban is horrific. I want them out as much as

> anyone else. OBL is worse than scum. He's a murdering coward, and I

> would LOVE to see him fry, slowly, bit by bit, for YEARS. (told you I

> wasn't a pacifist, not even a wiccan) for EACH person whose death he has

> caused.

 

Then you gonna be happy - cause the boy gonna go down fer'shur .. :-)

 

> However, as recent and not so recent history has shown us, Afghanistan

> is going to be REALLY difficult to crack open and get those maggots out.

 

America and England did more to the Taliban in the last 4 days than the

Russians did to the Mujahadeen in years of battle - we are not the same

kind of folks. Don't hang on to old tales - they have no basis in fact

when we try to apply them to current events.

 

> Every single person I've seen/heard, who has any knowledge on the

> subject, has admitted that it's going to take ground forces, and that is

> an entirely nother hell.

 

Ground forces are there now. And it is not all that much a bad thing.

I was ground forces and I think I'd rather play cat and mouse games with

those dudes in their mountains rather than an urban duel in downtown

wherever USA .. we MUST show the A$$holes of the world that we cannot be

terrorized without a terrible price. IF we lose troops we lose troops

... unfortunately, that's the way it is in war sometimes .. but know that

our Special Operations folks are much slicker than the average grunt.

 

> I believe the estimates of the number of Land Mines that the Russians

> left behind is between 2 and 20 million. They kill and maim every day.

> How do you deal with THOSE kinds of numbers.

 

Areas that are mined are normally known and marked - the purpose of

mining is to deny use of ground or to channelize a force .. make them

concentrate if they want to pass here or there. The best way to avoid

the mines is to avoid the mined areas. Folks don't go out in the middle

of noplace and plant a sinlge mine. .. bad use of pyrotechniques ...

odds are that you gonna get a goat of a camel or maybe nothing .. sorta

like the lotto.

 

BUT - if American troops want to clear a strip of mines, our combat

engineers run one'a the Rome Plow type machines over the ground - they

plow up the ground and the mines go off in front of the massive, tall,

thick steel blade in front of the machine .. like taking candy from a

baby it is. Also - understand that these are anti-personnel mines - the

very weakest kind - not anti-tank mines as the Mujahadeen didn't have

enough tanks to make it worthwhile. So they are easy to clear.

 

Anti-personnel mines are not supposed to kill an enemy - supposed to

hurt him badly so you get three folks off the battlefield - the one who

is hurt and two to haul him off. If you kill him, only one person

leaves the battlefield .. just thought I'd throw that trivia on you.

 

> Do I have any answers? NO. But as I mentioned in the beginning, I have

> my doubts that this is the way to go.

 

Believe me .. if the experts .. the fellers who have spent their lives

training for this type of warfare .. believe it was NOT the way to go-

they would go another way.

 

> I keep hearing the term " softening up " ... Russians tried it, it didn't

> work.

 

Russia never once destroyed the military infrastructure of Afghanistan.

We not only gained Air Superiority the second day - but Air Supremacy

the 4th day - Russia NEVER did that - not in all the years they were

there.

 

> Who's getting softened up? OBL? Nah! He's in a cave somewhere? Taliban

> Leadership? Nope. They're in a similar type hidey hole.

 

Hey .. a leader without followers is like a fish without a bicycle ..

;-p

He can't communicate from within his hidey hole - first transmission we

know his coordinates .. true Islamic fundamentalists don't play cards so

about the only thing they can do is read the Koran .. and that takes

some light .. takes batteries .. batteries won't last all that long.

OBL will be glad to come out when he starts getting nutty .. ;-p

Remember, these dudes don't use paper .. they use their hands and then

wash them. Damn it's gonna stink in there after a while.

 

> There have been suggestions that we could use heat seeking devices, only

> problem with that, is they have to be placed in proximity...ground

> forces.

 

Once you get past this fear of using of ground forces, all will go well.

We will use heat and movement detectors everywhere .. we would declare

free fire zones .. tell folks DO NOT go into this area .. signs all over

the place. Sensor picks something up, artillery is already locked in on

the coordinate and they start hollering on the way wait .. ;-)

 

> There were other devices that could be placed to detect deep caves,

> possibly inhabited...Again it will take Ground Forces...

 

Yea .. let's take ground forces and pump persistent CS gas down every

crack and cranny in the mountains - like we used to pour water in the

rat holes outside the barn. Better yet .. stick a bunch'a cobras down

them hidey holes .. or anthrax .. ;-p

 

> Anyway, there's MY stand on it. So heave with the AXE! ;-)

 

Yea .. axes .. that'll help too .. gotta have a lotta axes to enlarge

some'a the entrances so we can get the hoses down in there .. ;-p Hoses

would also be good for pumping all the portable toilets from the camps

down in those holes too ..

 

Kathleen .. several Talaban combat and spiritual leaders have been

killed in the raids .. others have gone over to the Northern Alliance ..

the run of the mill Afghani is not wanting to see the Talaban remain in

power - the Talaban is a minority there now .. my opinion is that US

Special Ops folks, using indiginous troops .. can take care of matters.

That is one of the areas they are trained in.

 

We have no choice but to do this the hard way .. I am happy and proud

that our guys have their crap together and their spirits are high ..

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

> Cheers!

> Kathleen Petrides

> SmeLLeNNiuM: 101 Aromatic Stories

> http://www.101aromas.com