AMERICAN SOLDIER
by General Tommy Franks, Commander in Chief, United States Central Command
"Operation Desert Storm marked the debut of precision guided munitions (PGM)--the so-called 'Smart bombs' that have revolutionalized modern warfare. But PGM's are clever, not actually smart: A Copperhead round will hit whatever target a laser illuminates, but human minds and hands must be there to lock the laser onto the target.
"'God fights on the side with the best artillery,' Napoleon said. And yet, going into Desert Storm, the Iraqi army had thousands of Soviet-built artillery pieces. They outgunned us by three to two. What doomed them was that they used those guns poorly. When their observation towers were destroyed and they lost their communication nets, they did not improvise and adapt. "
"Some wealthy members of the Saudi royal family funded Islamic schools (
madrasas) world-wide..." (pg. 205)
"We then discussed the United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven small, immensely wealthy Gulf oil states that (along with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) had extended diplomatic recognition and financial aid to the Taliban." (pg. 210)
"I've joked that I shipped out to Vietnam as a rookie of twenty-two and came home twelve months later a fifty-year-old veteran. "
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