October 11, 2004

Kerry clueless on military transformation

By Bruce Thompson
John Kerry seems to be adopting a consistent theme on our involvement in Iraq. Briefly stated, it is that Iraq is a diversion from our war against al Qaeda. He sometime seems to feel that we should have devoted those resources to Afghanistan. This is nonsense. And it illustrates his complete lack of insight into the challenges of transformation of the military. Al Qaeda descended out of the war between the Afghans and the Soviet Union. This war was lost by the Soviets in large part due the harsh terrain and geographic isolation of the region. The country is surrounded by Iran, Pakistan, China and former Soviet republics of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan & Uzbekistan. It sits in the most mountainous region of the world. This isolation had dramatic consequences when we chose to go to war with al Qaeda and the Taliban. The forces we used there could not include the armored divisions used in Iraq. How would we insert them? Through the Khyber Pass in winter, after transiting Pakistan?...(Read Full Article)