Update on CNN Story on US Special Forces

[rogwar]

Just wanted to thank CNN for help with psyops in the beginning and by maintainining security by not directly reporting the performance of such forces afterwards.

Enough of being a cynic...

I'll be interested in reading or seeing on the History channel some of the events, the ones that become declassified. I would bet that operation anaconda and others were certainly memorable for those involved.




My post last year after the 11th...

CNN story on US Special Forces
I watched a CNN story this weekend on US Special Forces. You know when you are very knowledgable about a subject, the media's slant affect really hits one hard. Sometimes I wonder where the enemy is located.

Here is a summary of the story:

- failed resuce mission in Iran
- failed mission to capture Warlord in Somalia
- dead Seals in Grenada
- dead Seals in Panama
- SFs known as "cowboys" in Vietnam (shows someone shooting an M60 from the hip that I wish I could have recorded and studied because I don't even think it was a SF soldier)
- ended with SF soldiers in training with final clip of exhausted trainee not making up a rope on a course, and sort of falling back down to the ground.

END OF STORY

Why do they do this? What do they hope to accomplish? They made spec war look like a bunch of bumbling idiots in this piece. It was like a deliberate attack.

There are a lot of successes, some of which are public.

- SEALS unplanned initial rescue and evacuation of embassy in Somolia
- SEALS disabled Noriega's boat
- SEALS still took the Panama airfield even though that was not their thing and with limitations not to damage property. 6 man team could have disabled the planes from 500 meters with a Barret and suffered no loses. Political involvement (as in Iran).
- Successful Special Forces ops behind lines in Gulf war
- Delta force rescues American prisoners in Panama jail at the start of Just Cause.
- SEALS protect the governor on Grenada against overwhelming ods
- SEALS fake out Iraqis in Kuwait by making them think a landing is underway
- SEALS took down x number of armed Iraqi oil platforms in the gulf
- SEALS blew up a chitload of sea mines in the gulf
- Delta trained and "helped" Peru in retaking Japan embassy

There is a lot more public and quite a few still classified. It is accepted and desired in the business that most of the successful missions are never heard about.

However, this type of slant is, for lack of a better word, unamerican. On the whole I'd rather them not say anything at all regarding spec war, good or bad.

Rogue out...

[Animal]

I couldnt agree more.
Its very obvious when the media is used for someone's agenda.
Clearly the show was made by some who dislike SpecOps, and there are MANY (including Schwarzkopf and other old school generals)

Special forces are one of the most effective tools in the US goverment. They save lives by quietly doing a job that would take many rangers or marines to accomplish. They are VERY cost effective.

Some people just dont like the idea of superior, specialized soldiers, because it makes them feel like wimps compared.

[Hortlund]

Why did you mention the two SAS operations in that post discussing US Special Forces?

No offence here, but the SAS has got nothing to do with the US Special forces, the SEALs, the DELTAs or whathaveyou (except the fact that the SAS trains most of them/they use SAS training).

The SAS are the best there is. They are also British.

[rogwar]

Originally posted by Hortlund
Why did you mention the two SAS operations in that post discussing US Special Forces?

No offence here, but the SAS has got nothing to do with the US Special forces, the SEALs, the DELTAs or whathaveyou (except the fact that the SAS trains most of them/they use SAS training).

The SAS are the best there is. They are also British.

Your are certainly correct, SAS is British. That makes such entirely in conflict with the title or subject of my posting. CNN was taking a shot at special forces in general so I suppose I got a little carried away at the end in mentioning successes. Hence, I have edited my post to remove any mention of the SAS.

Not just Delta, but US Special Forces use a lot of doctrine developed by the SAS, particularly in counter terrorism and desert warfare. SAS and US Specwar may share certain information, offer specialty schools, and run joint training excercises, but the SAS does not train US soldiers.

I would imagine SAS did some very nice work in Afghanistan as well, although we won't know any specifics for some time, if ever.

SAS are the best special forces group in the world? They are among an elite group for sure and they do have certain specialties that make them the leader in specific areas. Other nation's have similar forces as well that are the leaders in certain areas. These specialties have been brought about by specific needs throughout a country's history, most of it by blood, sweat, and tears....learning the hard way. Here are two examples:

1. US Navy Seals in riverine warfare in the Rung Sat Special Zone in Vietnam.
2. SAS in WWII in North Africa desert warefare (some great reading material available on those campaigns).

[miko2d]

One of the definitions of a succesfull Special Forces operation is that no one ever learns about it.

 One of the definitions of a success in news reporting is that everybody knows about it.

 Because of their mindset, journalists are the worst people on the planet to make evaluate the performance of special forces. Most of them are not capable of comprehending situations where success and secrecy are one and the same and is never advertised - not just SF ops but proprietary securities speculation, etc.

 miko

[midnight Target]

However, this type of slant is, for lack of a better word, unamerican.

While I applaude the various Special Forces and the incredibly difficult jobs that they do, this statement is ...well..... just the opposite of true.
Funny thing about the freedoms those Spec. guys fight and die for, sometimes they can really piss you off. Freedom to say, write, publish AND CRITICIZE is as American as you can get.

[rogwar]

Originally posted by midnight Target


While I applaude the various Special Forces and the incredibly difficult jobs that they do, this statement is ...well..... just the opposite of true.
Funny thing about the freedoms those Spec. guys fight and die for, sometimes they can really piss you off. Freedom to say, write, publish AND CRITICIZE is as American as you can get.

I agree the first amendment is very important. Like you say those soldiers fight and kill enemy (like that much better than die). You have to look at the context and timing of the original message. It was immediately post 9/11 and I was rather emotional.

I believed (knew) CNN was not reporting. They were trying to deliberatelty slant a news story to portray a negative image of specwar. I did not like this at all and was angered. For me, that was the last straw with CNN. I avoid watching them anymore and do not consider them a worthy news service. That's how I dealt with my personal issues regarding this matter.

It is like a bad restaurant. I won't go back and I'll tell most I know that the quality of the food is very poor.

[Sikboy]

Originally posted by midnight Target


While I applaude the various Special Forces and the incredibly difficult jobs that they do, this statement is ...well..... just the opposite of true.
Funny thing about the freedoms those Spec. guys fight and die for, sometimes they can really piss you off. Freedom to say, write, publish AND CRITICIZE is as American as you can get.

While this is very true in concept, it becomes a little fuzzy if the media source portrays itself as being objective. Anyone recall the hubub about certain members of the US media and "Objectivity" back in October? Or the ABC news folks being told not to wear Ribbons, or flags? This was all done in the name of "Objectivity" which is funny to me, because both sides of the political spectrum have their own media outlets. My advice: enjoy the one you agree with, and watch the one you don't. But try not to confuse the two.

-Sikboy

[funkedup]

SAS are great but if you listen to what some of the former SAS say they have some real issues with equipment and training.

I don't think Delta or Team 6 or any of the elite US SF units have such issues.

If I were a betting man I'd take Delta in a straight fight.

But I don't think any of us pukes are in a position to judge who's better.

[funkedup]

BTW Rogwar I noticed you listed a lot of Seal accomplishments there.  Delta has a similar list, but most of the stuff they do, they never get credit for due to secrecy.  E.g. killing Pablo Escobar of the Cali cartel.  

[easymo]

Its like expecting Tinker Bell to understand what the 8th Air Force was doing, in WW2.