Support the Troops by Listening to the Right People

If you haven't been there, you have a hard time understanding the military and what the troops on the ground are going through.  You need some reliable voices you can depend on to give it to you straight

The pundits and politicians may have the foreign policy cred, but beware someone beating war drums who has never been in a war. 

Generals and high-level government bureaucrats can talk strategy, but how does the average citizen make sense of it all?  And what do the grunts on the ground think?

I've been to all those places you've heard about, survived rocket attacks, and came away with some cool stories, but I was not a combat troop.  I have hung out with a few SF troops and provided support for their missions in far flung places, but I am not one of them. 

BTW, if it begins with "Al" or ends in "stan" you don't want to go there, Alabama excepted.  Also stay away from placed that end in "bad."  Whoever named Islamabad knew what they were doing.         

Forrest Gump-like, I have been on the periphery of many things: 9-11, Panama invasion, South American counter-drug ops, Central America counter-insurgency, but I have never done anything heroic.  That wasn't my job.  I was a support troop.

So I must rely on trusted sources to understand what's really going on. 

Blackfive is one of the best. The bloggers are former or current Special Forces, combat infantry, Marines, and others who routinely put themselves in harms way.  If you want to sort the truth from the BS, check out their site. 

For instance, much has been made of General McChrystal's tactical directives he implemented upon taking command.  Armchair generals back home roundly criticized him for going soft on the enemy, but blackfive defended it and broke it down so the average civilian could understand it.

Other Trusted Sources
Michael Yon and Michael Totten are the two best combat journalist and foreign correspondents we have today.  They embed with the troops, talk to the locals and bring it all home to us.  Finally, Robert Kaplan is an academic who relishes getting his hands dirty.  His books are well-researched and highly readable, and demonstrate his scary ability to predict the future. 

I  am sure there are many other good writers who are there or who have been there, but these are the ones I always seek out to get the straight scoop:

Blackfive
Michael Yon
Michael Totten
Robert Kaplan