The Correct Degree of Aggression

This was posted by Jules Crittenden on his blog. It is a blog I rad daily, and I had to re-post this here. You can visit his blog by clicking here.



All this talk about cranking up the heat in Iraq has me thinking. How many people really understand the mental attitude that is necessary to go into battle, if you hope to prevail?

I'm thinking about my friend, Maj. Philip Wolford. He was a captain commanding a tank company when I knew him in Iraq. His tanks, Assassin Company, usually led the battalion's assaults. Wolford became the butt of ribbing by other officers, because from the commander's hatch of his M1A1 Abrams tank, he was using his 9mm pistol and hand grenades against the enemy as often as he used his 120 mm main gun and his .50 cal. That's because Wolford got in close.

Wolford saved my life and those of the men I was riding with at al-Hindiyah, when our Bradley's guns jammed as an Iraqi recoilless rifle crew was about to open fire on us from our right rear quarter -- a high-velocity armor-piercing round that would have bounced around inside, cuisinarting me and Smitty in the rear compartment. Wolford reached down into his box of grenades, pulled the pin and threw one to take out the recoilless crew, which was too close by the roadside for him to angle his guns down on them.

The day before Hindiyah, this is what Wolford told his platoon leaders, platoon sergeants and tank commanders:

"Once the fighting starts, if there are people in the streets, in civilian or military clothing, they are the enemy and they will die," Wolford said, noting that other units had encountered Iraqi fighters in civilian clothes and civilian vehicles.

"There are some towers and high ground. We will shoot all towers," Wolford said. "They have used car bombs and suicide bombers ... If they don’t stop, fire a burst of .762. If they turn around, then they were probably going to the store to get some Saddam beer. If they don’t stop, kill them."

He talked about the paramilitaries, believed to be civilians who were forced into the fight against the Americans in Nasiriyah and Samiwah when the Saddam Fedayeen took their families hostage.

"I don’t think they are fighting for the regime. I don’t think they are fighting for the freedom of Iraq. But make no mistake about it. They will fight," Wolford said. "Like I told you a thousand times, they put one round on you, you put one thousand rounds on them, until those pajama-wearing motherfuckers stop firing. They put one AT (anti-tank) round on us, you blow the whole block up. There is no collateral damage concern that will stop us carrying our mission out. When we’re done, we’ll rename the place Assassin town, because we’ll own it.

"The brigade commander doesn’t say he wants the enemy captured. He doesn’t say he wants the enemy on the run. He says he wants the enemy destroyed. So kill him."

Turning to the map, Wolford pointed out the road that had been dubbed "Route Bruins."

"My intent is to quickly seize this crossing point at the canal, start a fight with the enemy and fucking kill him," Wolford said. "We’re not going to be jackshitting around. We’re going to be quick."

And that's what he did. I was happy to ride with Wolford and men like Platoon Sgt. Jonathan Lustig. I knew they had their wits about them, and the correct degree of aggression that would keep us alive. I should say that I repeatedly saw these men exercise caution in the midst of fire, endangering themselves by withholding fire to prevent civilian deaths. But when they attacked, and when they met resistance, they were quick and ruthless. As the invasion progressed, I realized I was willing to follow them anywhere, and I did, even on a day when we expected to die. In the company of men like that, it would have been a privilege.

Listening to the debate of the past few weeks, it is apparent to me that the Democratic congressional leadership does not understand the correct degree of aggression that is necessary to prosecute a war. I believe, from everything I'm seeing now, that our commander-in-chief does.