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To: Dayuhan who wrote (21697)	12/27/2003 2:42:21 AM
From: unclewest	Respond to of 793896

I didn't get the impression that there was a whole lot of that. They used horses to get around, but it would have been the local allies doing the charging. Having seen tanks operate in combat I could not imagine attacking an armored force from horseback. Yet it was done repeatedly and successfully. At the 2002 annual SF Convention, I met the team leader and a couple of the NCOs from one of the "A" Teams that accomplished a horseback assault. Their success in the difficult terrain was so great that horse training is now included in Afghanistan pre-mission training for all SF. Horses are still used in the outback areas. "In the booklet on the "United States Special Operations Command History, 15th Anniversary" published in April 2002, it states that, "The SOF UW teams directed critical air strikes in support of friendly Afghan forces, including AC-130 fires. The teams directed the aerial resupply of the Afghans by AFSOC aircraft. The SOF UW teams also provided critical training for friendly Afghan forces and assisted with operational planning. The SOF teams did all this with and amazing variety of equipment: everything from donkeys and horses to computers and satellite communications. They integrated tactics as disparate as cavalry charges and laser-guided bombing." On page 83 is a picture of "Special Forces soldiers conducting UW operations with anti-Taliban forces inside Afghanistan" - and they are all on horseback riding across a wide open area- " uw

To: Dayuhan who wrote (21697)	12/27/2003 10:17:58 AM
From: greenspirit	Respond to of 793896

One of the myths that people have about the sophisticated U.S. military is that they don't take risks and operate as some sort of distant computer clicking warriors. The fact is our military is both sophisticated and tough as nails (especially the SF's). The things Seals do would amaze most people. The resistance in Iraq and in Afghanistan will finally be broken by our warriors going neighborhood to neighborhood, even door to door, to root out terrorist cells, while simultaneously acting as the best Ambassadors the U.S. ever produced. This is the equation missing from much of the analysis regarding prolonged nation building. Those nations will be built by the people living there, once the bandits who despise law and order are rounded up and denounced as nothing more than mole living thugs. A form of terrorists once plagued the American west. They robbed trains, banks, and blew up law enforcement who stood in their way. But they were defeated by the will and desire of free people to live in a just society. The vast majority of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan desire this same future, one day they will have it. Michael p.s. Congratulations on your published article Steven. Your nuanced style of writing is just what FA readers enjoy. :) Now when does the book come out?