Franks went on a fast break, combining a lightening strike toward Baghdad with armor forces combined with air support. Meanwhile special ops were operating all over the country in a silent war, and small paratroopers combined with special ops worked with the indigenous Kurdish fighters in the North. In Afghanistan, special ops rode on horseback as the flyboys used the latest technology to target the Taliban. In Iraq, the old and the new combined in a similar synergistic form.
What was seen is that the present day American military can now fight any style of combat. While one Russian observer stated that Americans were cowards depending sorely on technology and did not like to go street to street, this war proved that the Americans, borrowing from their British allies, learned street fighting. They did the dirty work while losing very few men. Contrast this to the Russians. 50,000 people may have died in the Chechen Republic during the 90’s including 5,000 Russian soldiers in similar urban combat. The British and Americans showed that one could fight in an urban environment without destroying everything and still secure the major centers. As George Patton is supposedly quoted, “You don’t win wars by dying for your country, you win wars by allowing the other poor bastard to die for his country. “ Americans and the British can fight in the urban center, in open ground, and on the sea as well as the air.
Vladimir Dvokin, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s think tank reflected the thinking of many in the Russian military when he said, “The gap between our capabilities and those of the Americans has been revealed, and it is vast. We are very lucky that Russia has no major enemies at the moment, but the future is impossible to predict, and we must be ready.” Mr. Dvorkin lamented that the second Gulf War demonstrated the archaic structure of the Russian military force.
Israeli defense officials expressed similar amazement when they witnessed one of the more powerful Arab countries conquered by what amounted to fewer than three American divisions. Major General Dan Harel told a reporter that he was jealous of the American military. He said, “They have advanced in areas that we were leading in only a few years ago. They have the ability to put everything together in command and control. Our navy and air force have systems. But we have to integrate them.” Israelis were impressed that the Americans lost slightly over 100 men whereas the Israelis lost six times as many in the Six Days War. Both friend and foe will study this war for its appropriate lessons. Even the urban war that has followed has seen Allies casualties less than what they should be while inflicting higher causalities upon the terrorists thugs they are fighting.
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