Comments on: IDF Not Big On Nation Building

By: barry 0351

barry 0351 — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:53:54 +0000

Nation building? Are you nuts? How the hell do you rebuild a society that’s stated goal is the complete annililation of your entire religion and race?
Nation building is for super powers with way to much money and liberal policies to play with.
War has never been about nation building, it’s been about killing and always will be for those who face reality.
“Nation building, what a load of bullshit.”

By: 3 War LTC

3 War LTC — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:18:27 +0000

The good LTC is 50% correct. Without Civil Affairs and PSYOP you cannot win any battle. Does the good AC LTC what GEN [Ret] Strum Thurmond did in June 1944? I am sure he either doesnt know or doesn’t care. Any way LTC Gentile the answer is combat ops Civil Affairs. It wasn’t “nation building” but getting a French village operating on its own freed up U.S. and Allied troops for going further east to drive back the Germans. That was their real job. So, LTC Gentile we must have a robust capability to do CA on all types of battle fields in all spectrums of military conflict. For a recent article on repositioning CA, PSYOP and allied and related specialities on an OSS model log on to the Journal of Small Wars. The article was co-authored by CPT Luis Montalvan, LTC Michael Sternfeld and Ms. Myrtle Vacirca-Quinn an OSS vet of the Italian Theater of Operations.

By: Sea King Jehovah

Sea King Jehovah — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:44:34 +0000

Israel does quite well for being the outcast hated and constantly oppressed country that they are. We could learn a lot about war from the history of Israel in the Bible. Israel has made it quite clear in modern times that if there is no Bang Bang there will be no Boom Boom. In spite of this fact Muslim countries continue to attack them. I don’t think Israel should have to put themselves out at all given the circumstances as it resembles casting pearls before swine if I may say so.

By: MtnCat

MtnCat — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:22:22 +0000

You absolutely must win the battle first and provide security before any COIN “nation-building”, otherwise “they” just blow up the schools and kill those left, such as NGO reps, stability operators and soldiers left unprotected. Nevertheless, our soldiers and airmen must be trained in both combatives, languages, and cultural sensitivity, in addition to nation-building skills, in order to have any chance of succeeding. The F-22 and other big-ticket hardware is also needed to keep the “hordes” around the Caspian Sea at bay as well. You win the battle in Afghanistan by understanding the tribal cultural history and working within it, disregarding the historical hatred, and building new relationships through methods such as aikido, instead of wasting your time in building a western-style democracy which has no chance in the Stan. You buy the opium and use it to alleviate the physical pain that many people suffer with throughout the world to remove the corrupting influence of illegal drugs. Use the money for the Afghan people and stability ops. You build wells and houses, but first secure the country! The IDF needs to do the same.

By: tipover

tipover — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:47:17 +0000

LTC Gentile “Gets It”. You must win the battle before you can “nation build”. Just as you must control the airspace before the “low and slow” Close Air Support aircraft can do their jobs. Before all else you must WIN the battle.