Congrats Tecumseh, I had one nerve left today and you just got on it.
Ever humped everything you owned for miles and miles ??
How about stepping out into darkness at about 2,000 ft AGL with 70 lbs of gear and your weapon strapped to your ass??
Ever been responsible for completing the mission while jealously guarding the lives of 30-150 of your troops ??
Yeah, I didnt think so.
Ever been to Afghanistan ??
How about Pakistan ?? Specifically the Tribal regions ??
Keep in mind that when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in Dec 1979 it was a 3rd World shithole, and they finally pulled out in Feb 1989 . In the meantime they pretty much killed anyone who had two brains cells to rub together and destroyed most of the infrastructure. Then there were a couple years of civil war which finally left the Taliban in charge and they basically finished what the Soviets started as far as killing smart people and destroying anything more then two mud bricks tall. I remember an Air Force General answering a reporters question shortly after 9/11 as something like Yeah, we can bomb them back to the Stone Age, should take about 10-15 minutes. Its going to take a lot of money and years of work just to bring it up to the level of 3rd World Shithole.
Its not like we can just go cave-to-cave, ring the door bell and say Can Osama come out and play ?? Youre talking a country roughly the size of Manitoba, but instead of being roughly flat glacial plains, its damn near all vertical. Not nice rolling hills, but more a F*@& you, try to climb this vertical. And as a previous poster pointed out, we still havent found DB Cooper and Eric Rudolph ran around the Appalachian mountains for years. Not to mention a bunch of other people who have disappeared. Just from around here near Chicago, we can't find Stacey Peterson, Lisa Stebic, or John Spira.
Do you realize that we have ~23,000 troops in Afghanistan and another 17,000 from NATO?? They are currently working to help the Afghani people and hunt for OBL. Several of them are people who I served with and we still talk. They all pretty much agree that theyd rather be in Iraq then in Afghanistan.
I lost a bud from my Military Police Officer Advanced Course in Iraq in 2003.
So Mr. Internet Commando/Smart Guy, why dont you take off the Ron Paul Wookie costume, get off the computer, wash the Cheetos stains off your fingers, get out of your moms basement and go down to the Army or Marine recruiter and say Id like to pick up a weapon and lead the hunt for OBL, cause I know I can find his ass. In the meantime your little hissy fit falls under the tis a tale told by an idiot; full of sound and fury; signifying nothing.
[RANT MODE = OFF]
To the Mods, I've got my heels locked and at attention awaiting my deserved ass-chewing.