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When you're wounded and left,
On Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out,
To cut up your remains,
Just roll on your rifle,
And blow out your brains,
And go to your Gawd,
Like a soldier.
Rudyard Kipling
I was going to write this month's article on stereotyping, particularly of women, in Hollywood's portrayal of the military. I am saving that article for another time. This month's article has to do with recent events and those things telling upon us. One of the major elements being discussed regarding the recent terrorist attacks is the involvement of Osama bin Laden and the Afghani Taliban government. Historically and militarily, Afghanistan has always been a tough nut to crack. Likely, it will remain so. In a recent CNN interview, Leo Korolkov, a Russian veteran who trained Soviet SPETNAZ stated: "Modern weapons, rockets, laser-guided missiles -- they're useless against these mountains. I feel sorry for the people who are going to be thrown into those deserted mountainous, regions where the enemy knows every single rock, every cave. No maps, no computer training can prepare you for it." No truer words have been spoken about war against the Afghanis. In their protracted war with the Mujahadeen, the Soviet forces faced guerrilla tactics, including ambushes and suicide attacks. Korolkov continued by stating that he saw critically wounded Afghan fighters still clutching their weapons and firing until their last breath. Many of them, he says, used drugs before launching operations. He says they were the most effective force he has ever faced, honed on 20 years of continual war. Alexander the Great, Jingis Khan, the British, and ultimately the Soviet Union tried to subdue Afghanistan at various times and for various reasons. All we defeated. Soviet forces fought a war against the Mujahadeen that lasted over 10 years in terrain which rendered the inhospitable country a virtual fortress. That war cost nearly a million Afghan lives and 15,000 Russian troops. I can only hope that whatever response that our Government decides is focused and direct. Seeing U. S. troops coming out of Afghanistan as the British did in 1842 and the Soviets in 1988, would not be a good ending to a bad beginning. Indeed, some of the problems related to the unsuccessful Soviet invasion can be put to the indigenous diseases and vectors associated with infection. Please read LTC Grau's article on this issue in Military Review (http://www-cgsc.army.mil/milrev/english/... While the American experience in Operation Desert Storm can provide good guidance in the conduct of field sanitation and field craft, our knowledge of the Soviet experience can provide a good insight into the conduct of any future war in Afghanistan.
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