Richardcyoung.com

The Online Home of Author and Investor, Dick Young

  • Home
  • Debbie Young
  • Jimmy Buffett
  • Key West
  • Your Survival Guy
  • How We Are Different
  • Paris
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • The Great Reset
  • The Swiss Way
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • Dick Young
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool
  • Anti-Gun Control
  • Anti-Digital Currency
  • Joel Salatin and Alfie Oakes
  • World Gold Mine Production
  • Fidelity and Vanguard Since 1971

Boots on the Ground?

September 30, 2014 By Richard C. Young

How did this strategy play out in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan?

Here, Seth Cropsey writes that military commanders doubt the U.S. can successfully defeat ISIS any other way.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 16 that if necessary he would recommend that the president order U.S. military advisers to “accompany Iraq troops on attacks” against Islamic State, also known as ISIS. A day later Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said that “you’ve got to have ground forces that are capable of going in and rooting [ISIS] out.” Gen. Odierno did not specify that the ground forces needed to be American, but he said an air campaign alone cannot defeat the jihadists occupying large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Retired senior officers speak with greater candor. James Mattis, the retired Marine general and former commander of the U.S. Central Command, told the House Intelligence Committee on Sept. 18 that it would be a mistake to rule out U.S. ground forces against ISIS. A couple of days earlier, retired Army Gen. Dan McNeill, who commanded coalition forces in Afghanistan, said in a TV interview that ground troops will be needed to defeat ISIS. If the jihadists’ threat “is as serious as some people say,” the general asked, “then why aren’t we applying all elements of American power to it?”

Then there is Gen. Lloyd Austin, who leads Central Command and is thus the senior commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East. Gen. Dempsey told Congress in his Sept. 16 testimony that Gen. Austin recommended committing U.S. special-operations forces to the fight against ISIS. Special-operations forces could reconnoiter and identify targets, assist aircraft that deliver ordnance on targets, kill enemy commanders and, most important, by their very presence stiffen the spine of coalition partners who might agree to send ground forces. President Obama rejected this recommendation.

It is clear that these active and retired senior officers are as doubtful about the U.S.’s ability to achieve its war aims from the air as they are convinced that ground forces—and if necessary, U.S. ground forces—will be needed either to spearhead or assume major responsibility for defeating ISIS.

 

If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for my free weekly email.

Related Posts

  • Boots Back on the Ground
  • Iraq Christians Fleeing
  • VIDEO: Boots on the Ground?
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Richard C. Young
Richard C. Young
Richard C. Young is the editor of Young's World Money Forecast, and a contributing editor to both Richardcyoung.com and Youngresearch.com.
Richard C. Young
Latest posts by Richard C. Young (see all)
  • The Single Worst Market Timing Event in History - September 25, 2023
  • “But What Happened to Eggs?” - September 25, 2023
  • The Breakfast of Champions - September 25, 2023

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • Your Sheriff Can Thwart Federal Gun Control Efforts
  • America’s Number One Patriot: Naples Florida’s Alfie Oakes
  • ACTRESS: “Liberal Politicians Are Ruining Cities”
  • A Cashless Society Is A Debacle for Americans
  • Your Survival Guy at Fidelity and Your RMD Compliance
  • U.S. Survival AR-7
  • Concentrate on Dividend Record and Compounding
  • My Battle-Hardened Stock Market Strategy for the Worst of Times
  • Your Odds with Statins: 500 to 1?
  • Joel Salatin and Alfie Oakes, America’s Food Kings

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • “You Didn’t Eat That Again, Did You?”
  • Your Survival Guy Fishing with Dolphins
  • The Single Worst Market Timing Event in History
  • Government Intervention Begets More Intervention
  • Wellington and Wellesley Funds Not Managed by Vanguard
  • Inflation Could Kill Social Security
  • Will the Fed Hold Up Its End of the Bargain?
  • Should America Move Closer to the Saudis, or Push them Away?
  • Don’t Ask Me When to Haul Your Boat
  • Robot Warehouses Need Better Internet

RSS Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • “You Didn’t Eat That Again, Did You?”
  • Is McCarthy Up to the Task?
  • Rising Costs Are Hammering Commercial Real Estate
  • Your Survival Guy Fishing with Dolphins
  • Judge Shatters California High Capacity Magazine Ban
  • Is Your Water Safe to Drink? NOLA Residents Aren’t Sure
  • Wellington and Wellesley Funds Not Managed by Vanguard
  • Remembering Jimmy Buffett: The Oldest Surfer on the Beach
  • The Folly of Windmills from Nowhere USA
  • NYC Rolling Out the Robocops

US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool

Five Year Treasury Yield

Fighting Russian Power with a Hill of Crosses

“You Didn’t Eat That Again, Did You?”

Does Donald Trump Need the Pro-Life Vote?

What’s Happening with Iran?

Copyright © 2023 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives