Julius Cavendish, from Kabul, has just reported in "The Independent" how the battle of Nuristan was anything but an area that U.S.-NATO forces withdrew from, and in doing this, Afghani insurgents easily overrun the province and raised their flag of the Islamist movement. Recall several months when Nuristan fell to U.S.-NATO troops, it was dismissed as an unimportant region and a minor skirmish. However, U.S. soldiers who fought in the region now claim a ferocious battle ensued.
According to one account, fighting was so severe that two detachments and a number of helicopters and air-strikes were called in. Another soldier claimed once reinforcements arrived in the landing zone, enemy fire erupted that consisted of all types of weapons: small arms fire, machine gun fire, RPG fire and enemy mortar rounds. Initial assessments, backed by General David Petraeus, announced there were no civilians injured nor was there damage to property. It is now known that civilians and police died during the battle.
This past week in 1918, towards the end of World War One, elements of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division-the Big Red One-launched a surprise attack against what was thought to be a heavily fortified German position. Supported by French tanks and artillery, American infantry swept across no-mans-land and soundly defeated the Germans. In two days of battle, thousands of Germans were captured and 200 square miles were seized by American forces. The American Expeditionary Force suffered minimal casualties.
What was not known, is that the first battle the Americans launched was actually attacking the backs of a tired, overstretched, and retreating army. The Germans had already decided to leave the areas of St. Mihiel and Cantigny when General John J. Pershing ordered the attack. And though it was not a major test of military prowess, Pershing spun the victory as a triumph for his new open warfare strategy versus trench warfare. Still, Pershing propagated the myth that American "troops are the best in Europe and world."
Pershing's elation and trumpeted success of his new battle tactics later came to an end at the Meuse-Argonne. At this battle, the Germans were not retreating. Despite hundreds of thousands of fresh U.S. troops, Americans suffered heavy casualties. Bewildered and disorganized, U.S. forces had confronted the horrendous conditions of warfare that had plagued its allies for four years. It was only when Pershing launched a series of new offensives that the Americans were able to push the Germans back.
Not only did the Argonne offensive turn into a seven long week nightmare, but it discounted Pershing's military tactics. And yet, he was determined to press on, sacrificing countless lives. For all of his talk about how much better prepared American troops were, and for all of his boasting about his new and improved military strategies; Pershing had committed major mistakes at the Meuse-Argonne. Allied commanders felt self-satisfied when criticizing Pershing for his errors, errors which had cost thousands of lives.
When Pershing spoke of high ideals America stands for, those that endure to the ends of the earth, one was not being honest and admitting to mistakes at Meuse-Argonne. Even during wartime, honesty and integrity should be a sought after principle. Exaggerating certain minor victories while concealing the real truth and casualties of major stalemates, or dismissing misguided military strategies, can in the long term kill hundreds of thousands lives. It can also create entrenched war myths that lead to future un-winnable conflicts.
At the same time, what appears to be a commanders strong sense of determination might actually be a weakness, a failure to admit to the realities of war and the inability to assess the facts on the ground. While Pershing was having his triumphant entry, mainly due to the myth of St. Mihiel and Cantigny, Lieutenant-Colonel George C. Marshall, Jr., who would one day become the U.S. Army's chief of staff and eventually Secretary of State, described the actions as a "small incident."
With regards to over a century of perpetual warfare and battles, that is, from General Pershing's war in Europe to Petraeus's wars in Central Asia and Afghanistan, and unlike Marshall and now several U.S. soldiers who were courageous enough to challenge and correct wartime propaganda; it is evident that some of America's military commanders have been unable to acknowledge certain realities. When the fantasies in a commander's head do not match the facts on the ground, who really loses?
Just as tragic and deadly as when facts on the ground do not match fantasies in a commander's head, is when it is applied to presidents and their hollow promises to withdraw troops. Many months after World War One had ended, President Woodrow Wilson kept American troops in northern Russia to battle Bolshevik armies. After sending 30,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, it does very little good for President Barack Obama to announce a 10,000 troop withdraw.
Meanwhile, and from World War One to Afghanistan, armaments and corporate industries continue to make enormous amounts of money. Today in Afghanistan, tens of thousands of corporate security forces are flooding the beleaguered nation. New weapons technologies, like drones, easily replace thousands of soldiers and are much more deadly. It appears the only real victory has always been the ability for generals to spin battles, and presidents to spin troop withdraws.
Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)
(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)
Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2011/06/23/World_War_One_to_Afghanistan_Spinning_Battles_and_Withdraws/
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