Abracadabrah

I create as I speak

The American Army

An interesting evaluation of the American army in Iraq, from a British senior officer recently stationed there:

An interesting conversation with a senior army officer who recently left after serving in Iraq. He strongly dissents from the prevailing view that the Americans are crude and stupid and the British know how to do everything. The American army, he says, "is the best in the whole history of the world." It is true that the British have deeper experience of counter-insurgency, but he thinks we are forgetting that when we conducted our most successful operations against insurgents - as in Malaya - we combined friendliness toward the general population with killing thousands of rebels. The Americans, he says, are now learning more of our subtleties, without compromising their quality, essential in any army, of sheer aggression. In Basra, the British tactic of being nice has failed.

Hmm. The link at the moment is not working, though it worked yesterday. Today it is demanding subscription, yesterday it gave itself for free.

posted by Alcibiades @ 12:46 AM