Maj David H Hackworth e-letter

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Unk's Wild Wild West : One Thread

hackworth.com

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 07, 2001

Answers

The Principles of War

The Principles of War are frequently mentioned as a valuable, ingrained, check list toward achieving success.

I. Objective - Every military operation should be directed towards a clearly defined, decisive and attainable objective.

II. Offense - Seize, retain and exploit the initiative.

III. Mass - Concentrate combat power at the decisive place and time.

IV. Economy of Force - Allocate minimum essential combat power to secondary efforts.

V. Maneuver - Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the flexible application of combat power.

VI. Unity of Command - For every objective, there should be unity of effort under one responsible commander.

VII. Security - Never permit the enemy to acquire an unexpected advantage.

VIII. Surprise - Strike the enemy at a time and/or place and in a manner for which he is unprepared.

IX. Simplicity - Prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and clear, concise orders to insure thorough understanding.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 07, 2001.


Lars:

Hackworth is a leader in the lunatic fringe, IMHO. He is with the militia groups. I tend to ignore anything he says. This is just my opinion and not a statement of fact.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), October 07, 2001.


Z--

I don't know from the lunatic fringe.

Hackworth does have extensive combat experience. I don't. I doubt that you do either. Let's let "Zzzzzzz" critique Hackworth's military op[inions.

This is from Hackwoth's bio. Do you disagree with it?

In 1971, as the Army's youngest colonel he spoke out on national television saying, "This is a bad war ... it can't be won we need to get out." In that interview, he also said that the North Vietnamese flag would fly over Saigon in four years -- a prediction that turned out to be right on target. He was the only senior officer to sound off about the insanity of the war. Understandably, Nixon and the Army weren't real happy with his shooting off his mouth.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 07, 2001.


David Hackworth is hardly lunatic fringe. He has ALWAYS been concerned about the welfare of the guy in the trenches, and has been very outspoken about multi-billion dollar high-tech toys that the Pentagon covets at the expense of the regular Joe's salary package. It is my understanding that Colonel Hackworth is America's highest decorated living soldier.

I think that says a lot about him.

Perhaps Z has confused "Hack" with Bo Gritz, another former soldier, who is in fact "fringe lunatic".

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), October 07, 2001.


I had the occasion to meet Gritz about 5 years ago in Las Vegas. A very interesting and complex individual who apparently is now ‘for hire’ to certain ideological movements. His military background could fill volumes and he has become somewhat of a cult figure. Highly educated and speaks many languages, he is also an accomplished pilot and actually lives at his own airstrip outside of Vegas (or used to). Shortly after I met him, he supposedly attempted suicide while in Montana. Guess I made quite the impression on him.

-- So (cr@t.es), October 07, 2001.


Perhaps you should tell CNN they hired a wacko.

-- (kreiger9@hotmail.com), October 08, 2001.

MY amazement is at the number of people here who have utterly NO concept of what "war" is and how it's supposed to be fought. Of COURSE this sounds strange to them, because they haven't the foggiest notion of how military action is SUPPOSED to be taken.

(You can general spot these people in a crowd because they'll let slip that soldiers should function as "policemen," rather than as trained warriors who break things and kill people.)

Hackworth could have been quoting Clausewitz or Sun Tzu almost verbatim. ANYONE who questions what he said here, and tries to act like it's some spurious viewpoint, is revealing THEIR ignorance, not Hackworth's "extremism."

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), October 08, 2001.


(By the way, you can ALSO sort these people out by dropping Clausewitz' name on them. If they respond, "who's he?" just nod knowingly and walk away.[g])

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), October 08, 2001.

Oh but Stephen, don't you know that we are "not at war"?

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 08, 2001.

I am quoting generically. I have seen Zzzzz and others make such a point.

And I am revolted that there has not been a formal declaration of war (on "terrorists and those that harbor them"). Yeah, it would be nice if they had the balls to fly a flag. The fact that they do not, does not mean that someone is not waging "war" against us.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 08, 2001.



Clausewitz...yeah, he's the guy who invented those extra crispy pickles in the refridgerated section. Yeah, that's him.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), October 08, 2001.

Down by the Riverside

Gonna lay down my sword and shield

Down by the riverside

Down by the riverside

Down by the riverside

Gonna lay down my sword and shield

Down by the riverside

Ain't gonna study war no more.

refrain

I ain't gonna study war no more,

I ain't gonna study war no more,

Study war no more.

I ain't gonna study war no more,

I ain't gonna study war no more,

Study war no more.

-- (Osama@rathole.com), October 08, 2001.


LOL!, Unk.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), October 08, 2001.

Good point, but I stand with what I know to be true. You go with your opinions. :)

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), October 08, 2001.


Deedah,

I am surprised at your ignorance.

HE'S the guy who does the SAUERKRAUT. :)

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), October 08, 2001.



Z--

I don't know if your last post was intended for me. Do you know that there is now a poster that calls himself "Zzzzz"? That is who I was talking to.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 08, 2001.


Z, I think you're confusing Col. Hackworth with Gritz, who does have militia connections. Hackworth has *never* been associated with militia groups, to my knowledge. He occasionally writes columns for Newsweek magazine and had, perhaps still has, a syndicated column that was carried in quite a few mainstream newspapers.

-- Cash (Cash@andcarry.com), October 09, 2001.

By the way, for those who are interested: Clausewitz' entire classic, Vom Kriege (On War) is available online at Bibliomania.com.

Here's what the little rascal looked like (image from :

Clausewitz is quoted and referred to so commonly in US military materials that you'd almost think he was George Washington! :)

-- Stephen M. Poole (
smpoole7@bellsouth.net), October 09, 2001.


Hate it when that happens. Here's the link one more time: Clausewitz.com.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), October 09, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ