Implications of the March 4th Disaster in Afghanistan

The March 18, 2001 Air Force Times contains a report about what happened to the troops who were shot down in Afghanistan on March 4th. Of the 28 troops on the ground, seven were killed and ten wounded.

A casualty rate this high - sixty-one percent - is almost unknown among American troops. In World War II, the willingness to accept a casualty rate of ten percent among bomber crews was considered a sign of extreme desperation.

In the American armed forces, long tradition holds that when troops are in serious danger of being overrun, all available resources are sent, nothing is held back. Always use however much treasure it takes to save blood.

Air Force Times says jet fighters and AC-130s arrived "within minutes," yet the troops remained pinned down 14 hours, gradually being picked off. This was a repeat of the horrific Somalia disaster shown so accurately in the movie Black Hawk Down.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that the number of jet fighters and AC-130s was woefully inadequate.

Also, the rescue force sent in to help the downed troops was only "about two dozen rangers," against hundreds of enemy, reports Air Force Times.

This incident is another dramatic piece of evidence that Washington is in over its head. The U.S. armed forces are spread way too thin, they are a mile wide and an inch deep. The war cannot be continued much longer without a massive military buildup.

My guess about the upshot of this incident is that now there are continual emergency meetings in the Pentagon and White House. I think officials are trying to decide how to break the news to the American people that military spending must be boosted by at least $100 billion per year.

If I am right, this is great news for owners of defense stocks.

Editor, Early Warning Report

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