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By Root 1785 0

say this with no regard for an insurgent who probably deserves this form of summary justice. I’m far more concerned about the American soldier, special operator or otherwise, who pulls the trigger. I care deeply for our soldiers and marines, and I want them to leave their field with honor; I want them mentally and morally intact when they return home. This, more than any other reason, is why we need to get this matter into the hands of the Iraqis and Afghans. Let them decide the fate of some Syrian or Saudi dirtbag insurgent who has come to their country to kill their citizens, or a member of their community or family.

There is a final issue, and it has nothing to do with rules of engagement or conventional-force application versus special operations—it’s an in-house SOF issue. This is the emphasis within the special operations community regarding unilateral, direct-action operations as opposed to a commitment to train the locals. In a broad sense, both can be seen as counterinsurgency measures. The SOF proponents of direct action feel that if you find and kill enough senior-level insurgents, then the insurgent gears will grind to a halt and buy us the time to win local hearts and minds. They’re trying to cut the head off the snake, and they did with the targeting and elimination of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Those who practice foreign internal defense advocate a by, with, and through approach—that the training of local soldiers and policemen should be a priority. The locals, once trained and fielded, are a whole lot better at the job than we are. Having done the former, albeit a long time ago, and seen the latter, I’m inclined to believe that training the locals to do the job is better—way better. It’s a matter of preventive medicine or surgery. And while developing the language and cross-cultural skills is more difficult and more time consuming than purely tactical, behind-the-gun skills, it’s what really sets the special operator apart from his conventional counterpart. What I’m saying here is that within special operations, we need more focus on foreign internal defense and counterinsurgency—these are the essential skills.

This applies not just to Special Forces, but to our Rangers and SEALs as well. This in-house attention and concentration is important now, as we deal with this insurgency, and as we prepare for the next one. It’s the way our enemies will fight.

There’s an old military adage that we usually fight the current war with the tactics of the last war. This is because wars supposedly change, and the military force that once proved effective is out of date—obsolete. We came into this war woefully unprepared to deal with an insurgent enemy; we simply lacked counterinsurgency capability in our force structure. In that regard, we learned little from Vietnam. I predict that the next war, or, better said, the next campaign in this one—the Regional War Against Islamic Extremists—will look a whole lot like this one. To be as unprepared as we were, especially with the decision to go into Iraq, was unfortunate. To be unprepared the next time, in the context of those we send into harm’s way, will be criminal.

GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS AND MILITARY NOMENCLATURE

1st SWTG

1st Special Warfare Training Group

18 Series military occupational specialties (MOS):

18 Alpha (18A)

Detachment commander

180 Alpha (180A)

Assistant detachment commander

18 Bravo (18B)

Weapons sergeant

18 Charlie (18C)

Engineering sergeant

18 Delta (18D)

Medical sergeant/combat medic

18 Echo (18E)

Communications sergeant

18 Foxtrot (18F)

Intelligence sergeant/18 Fox

18 Zulu (18Z)

Team sergeant/operations sergeant

APFT

Army Physical Fitness Test

ATL

Adaptive Thinking and Leadership

BDU

Battle dress utility (camouflage uniform)

BNCOC

Basic Non-Commissioned Officers Course

COIN

Counterinsurgency

DA

Direct action

DZ

Drop zone

EPW

Enemy prisoner of war

FID

Foreign internal defense

FOB

Forward operating base

Gs

Guerrillas

GPS

Global Positioning System

HALO

High-altitude