Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2277-1001287281-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Sun, 23 Sep 2001 16:23:13 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 6624 invoked by uid 510); 23 Sep 2001 23:22:27 -0000 Received: from n25.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.75) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 23 Sep 2001 23:22:27 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2277-1001287281-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.1.224] by mv.egroups.com with NNFMP; 23 Sep 2001 23:22:04 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2_2); 23 Sep 2001 23:21:21 -0000 Received: (qmail 49918 invoked from network); 23 Sep 2001 23:21:21 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by 10.1.1.224 with QMQP; 23 Sep 2001 23:21:21 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta1 with SMTP; 23 Sep 2001 23:22:03 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id QAA16537 for iwar@onelist.com; Sun, 23 Sep 2001 16:22:03 -0700 Message-Id: <200109232322.QAA16537@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 16:22:03 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:To.Defeat.Terror,.Send.In.the.Dirty.Dozen] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To Defeat Terror, Send In the Dirty Dozen George C. Wilson, National Journal To win the war against terrorism, what America really needs are Dirty Dozen-type commando teams under direct White House control that can secretly infiltrate Afghanistan and, for at least the next two years, burrow in to learn the terrorists' routines. Then, at the right moment, the commandos can call in U.S. bombers and ground forces to swoop in and crush the fanatics. This is the novel idea of a retired two-star general who formerly ran the Army's John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and commanded the Green Berets. Maj. Gen. James Guest, an unconventional warfare expert, also told National Journal that President Bush should, at the same time, hide other specially trained anti-terrorist teams within U.S. Coast Guard outfits operating in global hot spots in the Pacific and elsewhere. Guest said it would take someone bold and cool, such as Vice President Dick Cheney, to leap over today's hidebound military establishment and organize and run the anti-terrorist teams. There is not enough time, Guest contended, to break the mind-set of today's conventionally trained military leaders, who shrink from the dirty tactics required to win this new no-holds-barred war against terrorists. "When they see a Special Forces fellow like me," Guest said of the generals and admirals who now run the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, "they see a tamed terrorist." They are repulsed by the philosophy and tactics he developed for unconventional warfare, even though the United States is up against fanatics who, in Afghanistan, skinned their Russian captives alive and sent video cassettes of this torture home to the victims' families, according to the general. "If we lose this war," Guest said in calling for action repugnant to the typical American military officer, "it will be worse than losing World War II. The terrorists don't think they can occupy the United States. What they think they can do is intimidate us until we get out of the ball game. What they really want to show the American people is that you can't beat us, so you're going to have to come to terms that we dictate. And our terms are, you've got to get out of the Middle East." It would be disastrous for the United States to withdraw from the rest of the world, he said. Asked what specific steps he would take if put in charge of America's anti-terrorist efforts, Guest said he would go ahead with the Pentagon's plans to deploy conventional forces to the edge of Afghanistan with the idea of taking on Taliban forces on the country's periphery. But these visible operations by the 82nd Airborne, 10th Mountain divisions, and others would actually be cover for the more important, stealthy missions being conducted inside Afghanistan. To provide additional cover, Guest would have the Joint Special Operations Command-which includes the Delta strike force; Rangers; Army Task Force 160 Night Stalkers helicopter unit; and Air Force AC-130 gunships and helicopters- unleash attacks against terrorist groups and "let them think we thought this was a great success. But it would only be a cover" for the secretive commando teams. The hand-picked commando teams would be run from the White House by a civilian steeped in unconventional operations. The civilian would report to Cheney, not the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the Defense Secretary. The secret fighters would know the language, customs, and terrain of Afghanistan, and would possess quiet killing skills. "I think you could find volunteers within the Muslim community in the United States and among Muslim resistance groups in Afghanistan," Guest said. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps all have Muslims with the required backgrounds and skills. The CIA might also find and hire team members from other countries, he added. To get the right operatives, Guest said, he wouldn't hesitate to borrow a page from the script of The Dirty Dozen and use men who had criminal backgrounds. Team members would infiltrate Afghanistan carrying no identification, but they would not be on suicide missions. If done right, the former Green Beret contended, casualties on the team could be kept to 20 percent and hopefully even 10 percent. "My main thing would be scouting out the ground in Afghanistan until I could say: 'I know all the trails. I know the stops along the way. I know where the caves are. I know how they're using them. I know who is supporting them. I know it, and they don't know that I know it.' " The teams would scatter sensors disguised as rocks along the roads and trails used by terrorists. Warplanes could hone in on them when the time was right for an all-out strike. Although conventional forces and special operations units "could shoot up terrorists on the periphery" of Afghanistan and other countries, "this is not going to win the war against the terrorists. We've got to take their sanctuary away from them. And the main sanctuary right now is Afghanistan. And we might find out that parts of Pakistan were sanctuaries as well. But we've got to find out. I would never announce what we were doing." After the stealth teams had spent the next two or three years piecing together the locations and movements of terrorists inside Afghanistan, "the real killing of terrorists would start" with conventional forces hitting them with deadly accuracy. Said Guest: "It would rip their heart out." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get your FREE VeriSign guide to security solutions for your web site: encrypting transactions, securing intranets, and more! http://us.click.yahoo.com/XrFcOC/m5_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-09-29 21:08:48 PDT