Somebody tell me why we need to devote a platform–worth tens of millions of dollars–to “collapse the battlefield” for the hapless new Mayor of Marjah?
Zahir arrived in Marjah aboard a U.S. Marine MV-22 Osprey helicopter with a contingent of Marine officers and a small retinue of tribal elders who have been living in other parts of Helmand province. He stayed in Marjah for onl
y about two hours, not venturing more than 100 yards from where his aircraft landed.
Aren’t we trying to wage a COIN fight? Good grief. This guy ain’t exactly a “profile in courage”. How is he going to be able to even spend the night in the city he, um, “leads”?
Anyway, this VIP transit will go down in the books as another completed mission in a successful deployment, I suppose. But geez. Just as we’ve gotta stop using multi-billion dollar DDG-51s to do piracy controls, we’ve gotta, well…put him on a Blackhawk or something.
Or, better yet, find a guy who doesn’t need transport in and out of the community he’s supposed to lead.
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While $20 Million Helicopters are doing ACTUAL military work in Afghanistan, this seems to be what the $140 Million V-22s are used for.
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