As Chaos Mounts In Iraq, U.S. Army Rethinks Its Future

[RamboLiberal]

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB110246829907493919-Ihje4NplaN3o5uqbICGaK2Jm5,00.html

Shortly after the U.S. deposed Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003, the Army kicked off its annual "war game," a mock battle in which U.S. forces set out to topple another Middle Eastern regime.

Set 10 years in the future, the game featured a force built around a light, fast, armored vehicle that the Army planned to start producing in 2010. The Army attacked from seven dizzying directions and, when the game ended, appeared on the verge of shattering the enemy force.

"We walked out and patted ourselves on the back and said 'marvelous job,' " says retired Lt. Gen. William Carter, who commanded U.S. forces in the game. "We didn't understand that what we were seeing in those games wasn't victory."

Today, the exercise stands as a stark example of how senior Army leaders and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the years leading up to the Iraq invasion were guided by a flawed understanding of how future enemies would fight.

[NEOBuckeye]

1. Dumbasses. They still think every battle is soldier vs. soldier like WWII.

I expect this level of stupidity coming from that bastard Rumsfeld, but top military brass ought to know better. They're thinking like the British Red Coats who lined up in formation to fight, while the American rebels picked them off from behind trees, bushes, and anywhere else they could hide, just as Iraqis are doing to our troops today. What did the generals think? That the Iraqis were going to line up with units and tanks and fight it out, army vs. army?

Idiots. Don't these guys even study military history these days? If China or Russia invaded our cities, and we couldn't match them in strength, why would we fight them head on in the streets when we could attack from alleys, the woods, under bridges and other places that would work to our advantage?

[bemildred]

2. Second that, Buckeye.

:thumbsup:

[RamboLiberal]

3. Maybe we should send them that crappy movie Red Dawn

the one where the Soviets/Cubans invaded US and our youth led by a young Patrick Swayze leads the rebellion.

Some cable channel was playing the hell out of it recently.