The Troops Need You, America: Six Ways to Help them Win From Your Living Room

I met Maj. Egland personally last weekend at the Gathering of Eagles counter-protest aside the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC. He has gotten many online articles and interviews because what he says is worth doing. I also believe he testified before Congress on his ideas. He knows what it takes to win and writes from his great commitment.

Maj. Egland is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and an intelligence officer who served on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan. He offers a number of great suggestions on supporting the local community in notifying US Forces about roadside bombs. For example, now the military "rewards" such tips with script that has to be redeemed at a base, exposing the tipster to retalliation. Maj. Egland knows many officers use their own $20 bills for bomb tip rewards and suggests the distribution of cell phones (Cingulars work in Iraq) so that people can phone in anonymous bomb tips. He also says the current use of regular road patrols, while a good tactic in Bosnia to "show the flag," is only an invitation to bombers who see the regularly scheduled patrols as an opportunity to do harm. There are many other ideas, from having central databases for donations to the troops to databases of terrorist information. This book is a real eye opener on how to fight a 21st century war against a 21st century opponent equipped with everything you can buy online from Radio Shack or its European counterpart.

 

Jack