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In April 1967, Johnson had dispatched General Creighton Abrams to Vietnam as Westy's deputy. Abrams, a famous tank commander in World War II, had more combat experience than any other officer in the upper ranks of the US military, and some saw his appointment as a hint that LBJ was not entirely satisfied with Westy's progress.
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Mark Bowden |
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Osama bin Laden's ideas were neither new nor compelling outside his relatively small circle of followers. They belonged to an ugly cul-de-sac of history, an era where witches and heretics were burned in town squares. They were adolescent ideas, in that they remained willfully ignorant of all that had come before. There are many who choose to believe that certain ancient texts are literally the word of one God or the other, but not many who ..
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Mark Bowden |
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remember the two signatures of modern war: (1) You never win, exactly; you claim victory. (2) Perception is paramount.
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Mark Bowden |
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The upbeat DHS report was some kind of high-water mark for government gall--a tough record to beat. After sitting back and watching the Cabal do all the work, and nearly succeed, Uncle Sam finally found a role for himself: proclaim victory and then stick a flag in it!
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Mark Bowden |
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McRaven's thesis, which would become part of the curriculum at the Naval Postgraduate School, set out the core concept of special ops: that a small, well-trained force can deliver a decisive blow against a much larger, well-defended one. He defined such a mission as one "conducted by forces specially trained, equipped, and supported for a specific target whose destruction, elimination, or rescue (in the case of hostages), is a political or ..
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Mark Bowden |