It is going to be really interesting to see what this secret killing program was that had such an impact on the war in Iraq:
The dramatic drop in violence in Iraq is due in large part to a secret program the U.S. military has used to kill terrorists, according to a new book by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward.
The program — which Woodward compares to the World War II era Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb — must remain secret for now or it would “get people killed,” Woodward said Monday on CNN’s Larry King Live.
“It is a wonderful example of American ingenuity solving a problem in war, as we often have,” Woodward said.
In “The War Within: Secret White House History 2006-2008,” Woodward disclosed the existence of secret operational capabilities developed by the military to locate, target and kill leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent leaders. [CNN]
If Woodward’s claims are accurate hopefully whatever this killing technology is, hopefully it can be used in Afghanistan as well. Woodward is a smart guy and all but if you really want to know why things turned around in Iraq, you are much better off listening to Bing West instead.
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6:01 am on September 12th, 2008 1
Hmmm…”secret operational capabilities developed by the military to locate, target and kill leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq”…
Let’s see…
UAVs with hellfire missiles???
Special Operations C-130s using infrared sensors and a quick burp of their mini-guns???
Unit level UAVs combined with highly accurate snipers???
or maybe it is called a “soldier”…
7:10 am on September 12th, 2008 2
We will get better hints about it in the next Tom Clancy book.
8:39 am on September 12th, 2008 3
After all of the speculation, and Woodward’s teasing that whatever this program is, it’s a massive paradigm shift, I still won’t be surprised to find out that it was simply good counterinsurgency practice, paired with superior existing technology. I suspect in the end it will turn out to be a vastly improved version of the Phoenix program, just conducted in superior levels of secrecy.
12:02 pm on September 12th, 2008 4
How about some credit to President Bush here for a winning counterinsurgency policy?
1:13 pm on September 12th, 2008 5
So…what is the problem…Woodward? Las time I checked…We were supposed to be killing terrorist…you idiot!
You have been a sniveling little punk every since you got the scoop on Watergate. This one will backfire on you because I am sure that almost every parent who has lost a son or daughter dueto terrorism realy, really wants terrorist dead…Bozo.
2:03 pm on September 12th, 2008 6
#4. Agreed, Election time miracles are wonderous. Expect Osama to be captured right around November.
6:05 pm on September 12th, 2008 7
or maybe it is called a “soldier”…
Ya Think? It sure can’t be done without one, or a few thousand. Good post Mr Kalani.
Veddy interesting. And it should be injested with a smooth coating of maple syrup. Slides better that way and may be less painful.
7:46 pm on September 13th, 2008 8
The secret is…. being allowed to actually pursue the bad guys. I really like what is going on in Pakistan. Isn’t it nice how the Pakistani government is playing the soveriegn nation card so they can continue to harbor Al Queada and their friends. I hope the US doesn’t back off pursuing the dirt bags into Pakistan. But I sense a folding of cheap lawn furniture on the horizon.
10:38 pm on September 13th, 2008 9
Cloying_odor:
You are correct & yes, we will eventually leave w/our tail between our legs.
10:46 pm on September 13th, 2008 10
I’ve always wondered - and maybe this is the place to ask since so many soldiers and former soldiers are readers here —
in relation to comment #2:
How well to Clancy and Griffin get things?
I just finished Griffin’s The Hunters.
(And lastly - what other authors in this genre would you recommend? as ones that keep it as close to real as entertaining fiction can get???)
11:10 pm on September 13th, 2008 11
USinKorea:
I just read recently “Clive Cussler’s ‘Dark Wind’…I think that was the name.
There was an author, can’t remenmber the name, but I think it was “Yankee Something???” back in 1990 that potrayed another option that the North might take also.
Personally..I see the Unconventional warfare route being exploited by the North, as we have been instructed on for decades.
There has been a recent effort to beef up the UW counter response, but I see it as the usual PC effort with politics/contractor influence screwing it up…NOT that I do not think that contractors cannot paly a vital part in defeating any enemy…it is just the MNC (multinational corporations) that screw it up…that is from personal experience.
1:47 pm on September 14th, 2008 12
While I’m thinking about it — maybe some of you could recommend a good novel in this genre that takes place in Afghanistan during the current conflict?