MG Paul E. Vallely has It Right

I recently read a very compelling piece by Major General Paul E. Vallely (U.S. Army, Ret.) titled “Is Afghanistan Becoming a Charade?” To give you an idea of the statements he made that I strongly agree with, I present his following quotes:

• The pretense that this [Afghanistan] war must continue under the current strategy and that we are achieving results…the facts appear each day to refute that
• A self-destructive and self-defeating strategy of “counter-insurgency” (COIN) doctrine and nation building
• The COIN principle is not based on winning; it is based on political whims and is not a true tenet of warfare
• Warfare is, and always should be, about WINNING or do not go to War
• There is no reason to order massive armies that require large and extensive bases and massive logistical support to fight them on their home turf
• Protect and secure our American troops before we continue sparing the lives of the Taliban and civilians with bizarre, restrictive rules of engagement (ROE)
• Where are the common sense and rational senior General and Admiral Strategists that we have trained and schooled to be innovative, aggressive and win our nation’s wars quickly and decisively?
• “Victory” in war appears lost in the world of political correctness and appeasement
• The vast majority of goals can be accomplished through quick, decisive joint strike military operations from selected “Lily Pad” friendly bases
• This is the driving point: why are we so worried about what others think?
• The U.S. must adopt a national military strategy that heavily leverages the core capability to break enemy states, target and destroy the enemy’s capability to bring harm to America
• Achieve the success that is necessary; wiping out and neutralizing radical Islamism and nation states that support it
• The American experience in Iraq and Afghanistan…calls into question the ability of occupying forces to root out terror networks without hitting the sources and sanctuaries that supply them like Iran
• The only way to stop that threat is to give them what they respect; pure force of arms and will
• We must stop thinking like westerners and understand the way our enemy thinks

Now, Paul Vallely is a military genius who is equivalent to Sun Tzu, Karl von Clausewitz, and George S. Patton, Jr.—all military geniuses of their time. Paul Vallely is a military genius for today’s asymmetrical wars. President Barack Hussein Obama would be wise to listen to what Paul Vallely says. Obama is fighting a no-win war in Afghanistan.

The COIN doctrine or principle may have been effective in Iraq, but it is not appropriate for Afghanistan. The Afghanistan war is much different from the Iraq war. Hence, Obama would be wise to discard the COIN doctrine and change it to one of “winning” quickly and decisively by discarding political correctness and forgetting what others think. We must use quick, decisive joint strike military operations to wipe out and neutralize radical Islamism and their state sponsors like Iran. As Sun Tzu said, “Know your enemy.” We must know that radical Islam only understands and respects pure force of arms.

I wrote and published a book in 2007 titled Principles of Asymmetrical Warfare: How to Beat Islamo-fascists at Their Own Game. I list some of the things I wrote, which will give you an idea as to why I agree with what Maj. Gen. Vallely believes:

• Rules of Engagement. In real asymmetrical warfare, there is no such thing as rules of engagement. Asymmetrical warfare is “free-for-all” warfare. Islamo-fascist terrorists are unhampered by morals, ethics, and legalities. Islamo-fascists are amoral. If we are to prevail against them, we must do likewise. We must be unshackled and unhampered by conventional warfare rules of engagement. To triumph over the Isfasts [short for Islamo-fascists], we must use every possible unconventional warfare strategy, tactic, means, technology, weaponry, tools, techniques, and methods.
• Political Correctness. The only language that Isfasts understand pertains to words such as force, power, kill, control, decapitate, humiliate, and pain. Hence, we should apply everything within our power and means to use these tools on them. When we inflict these tools on them, they understand when we have the upper hand. When we apply the “political correctness” tools on them, they see us as weak. Hence, they become emboldened to keep pursuing their main goal in life, which is to achieve world domination and their idea of utopia.
• Fight Fire with Fire. We should use the language they understand. The only language the Isfasts understand is what they do. We need to do the same things that they do. If they kill, we need to kill. If they bomb us, we need to bomb them. We must fight fire with fire. Let us not kid ourselves. They are out to eradicate democracy, freedom, liberty, and the free-enterprise system. It is them or us. It is better to be them.
• Never Negotiate with Terrorists. If they kill a hostage, we go after them with vengeance and wipe them off the map without delay. Teach them lessons they will never forget. That is the only language they understand. Send them to their twisted concept of heaven where they will live with 72 virgins. I am sorry, but that belief will never come to pass.
• Kill or Be Killed? It is either kill or be killed. If given that choice, I would rather kill first than be killed first. Wouldn’t you? General George S. Patton said, “May God have mercy upon my enemies because I won’t.” We must do as General Patton said, “We as attackers have the initiative; we must retain this tremendous advantage by always attacking rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, and without rest.” If we want to survive, that is what we must do! We must listen to the good general’s words and put it into practice. I am sure that General Patton had read Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu said, “Therefore, the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.”
• All Bets are Off! If the terrorists (i.e., al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, and other Isfasts) will bomb and wantonly kill innocent civilian men, women, children, the aged, the infirm, reporters, UN personnel, and Red Cross personnel, then all of their similar people are fair game for us. “The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs” (Deut. 32:25). All bets are off! What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Thus, we will let the world know that we will not fight with one hand tied behind our backs any longer. We shall fight ruthlessness with ruthlessness. We shall fight fire with fire…only two orders of magnitude more.
• A Tit-for-Tat War. If the terrorists will not adhere to any rules of engagement, then we too will not adhere to any rules of engagement. If the terrorists do not recognize and adhere to the tenets of the Geneva Convention, then we are not bound by the tenets of the Geneva Convention. We will fight a tit-for-tat war. Whatever the terrorists dish out, we will dish back to them an order-of-magnitude greater (even two orders of magnitude greater) retaliatory force and firepower.
• No Such Thing as Collateral Damage. If the Isfasts poison our water supplies, we poison their water supplies. If the Isfasts use germ warfare (anthrax or whatever) on our people, we use germ warfare on their people. If the Isfasts use poison gas, we use poison gas. If the Isfasts blow up our power stations, we retaliate by blowing up their entire infrastructure of power stations, utilities, dams, bridges, highways, farms, airports, military bases, government buildings, and other infrastructure. Forget about collateral damage! There is no such thing as collateral damage when we are fighting for our survival.
• War is not a game. Hence, there is no such thing as “fair play” in war. There is no fairness. There is no “time out.” There are no referees or umpires. You never go into the penalty box. In war, you destroy. You kill. You injure. You maim. You disable. You crush. You annihilate. You wipe out. Those are the rules of the game (if you want to call it a game). Therefore, the Pendleton 8 did nothing wrong as we fight a war against Isfasts. Moreover, remember this: General George S. Patton said, “You’re never beaten until you admit it.” We will never lose because we will never admit it.

We have been fighting the war in Afghanistan for 9 years now. When Obama starts moving our troops out of Afghanistan next July 2011, we will have been fighting for 10 years! The United States involvement in World Wars I and II combined never lasted that long! We are wasting money, equipment, and lives needlessly in Afghanistan. Why are we doing that? Why are we fighting these wars like pansies? We could end the war in one year if we adopted the above strategies by General Vallely and me. When you fight a war, you fight to win or get out of there!

Reference

Uda, R. T. (2007). Principles of Asymmetrical Warfare: How to Beat Islamo-fascists at Their Own Game. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.

Vallely, P. E. (2010, July 26). Is Afghanistan Becoming a Charade? Stand Up America Website at standupamericaus.com. Retrieved from standupamericaus.com/is-afghanistan-becoming-a-charade:35756.

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“If ever [a] time should come when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” ~ Samuel Adams