Quote Originally Posted by JMA View Post
Ever wondered why and how a small group of under equiped (in terms the US would understand) men could wrap up situations in Africa which no one else could? Like the Russians and Cubans in Angola for instance? Also Sierra Leone.

Have any of the 'smart guys' analysed what these guys did and what worked as opposed to how the US, Russians, Brits and French would approach it?

Doubt it...
They operated without the constraint of domestic politics. That is not replicable by the forces of a Western democracy, because in a Western democracy domestic politics are ever-present and inescapable.

That constraint has to be factored into decision making from the start, and if you know that it will pose untenable limits on an intervention, it's better not to go there in the first place.