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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FaultLine who wrote (11041)	11/21/2001 7:45:19 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

There are a large number of civilians in Kunduz though. I can easily see al-Qa'ida arranging all civilians dying in the battle to the death, just to show the USA and NA are "bad". Just hope for a surrender deal.

To: FaultLine who wrote (11041)	11/22/2001 7:32:55 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

FL, i PMd you that i was going to ft bragg 2 days ago. i was not going to post about bragg...but after speaking with a senior SF friend last night after the SecDef's visit, and reading about W's visit to the 101st Airborne Division, i do have a comment. first, i found base security extraordinary. after showing my military ID, every compartment on my vehicle was searched by a guard carrying a loaded M16. other armed guards surrounded the area. one had an M60 machine gun mounted on a jeep. i was told that for a while SF troops were guarding themselves with each man carrying a double basic load of ammo all day every day. during lunch at the main Officers' club...i did not see a single line officer from the 82nd nor a single SF officer there. many previous presidents and SecDefs have visited bragg in the past...it is always a big deal. the focus was always on the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division. Rumsfeld's visit was extraordinary because he only visited Special Forces and Special Mission units. that little detail did wonders for SF morale...they really feel like they have the support of the entire chain of command. i was told that, to a man, the guys left at bragg are anxious to deploy somewhere, anywhere. every Green Beret wants to help. the deployment of SF A teams to other danger areas in other parts of the world continues too. obviously we are not hearing about it. W's visit was equally important...this white house has a real ability to extract maximum meaning from small gestures. the last was bringing the armed forces' actual battle colors into the national cathedral and ending the memorial service with "The Battle Hymm of The Republic" rather than the more traditional taps. W's was no ordinary visit to see the troops...the battle history of the 101st in WWII was just featured in a 10 part CNN mini-series. this was a visit reminiscent of Ike's visits to the 101st before the combat jumps into France on D-Day and later into Holland. the 101st is no longer a strictly Airborne Division. they have instead concentrated on air mobility with helicopters. they have similar capabilities to those perfected by the 1st Air Cavalry Division in nam. these capabilities would be particularly useful right now. was W's visit, like Ike's, to rally the 101st Airborne Division troops before going into combat? we will know soon enough. the 101st has an amazing battle history...famous for the battle cry of the 502nd Airborne Infantry, "Geronimo" and (then) Colonel McAuliffe's famous reply to the German commander who had him surrounded and asked him to surrender at the battle of the bulge..."NUTS" say how about a gift for all of your efforts...i have ordered a mess of navy blue sweatshirts with an American flag topped with the words "LET'S ROLL". i plan to give them away to friends...may i send you one. unclewest