Quote Originally Posted by Brandon Friedman View Post
I made a comment that compared today's seemingly heavy-handed tactics in two Afghan villages with the known heavy-handed tactics of a man whose "leadership" not only tarnished the reputation of the unit with which I served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, but also set back efforts in working with the Iraqi populace. If you think that's presumptive of me, that's fine. Just explain why. . .instead of making three comments to suggest what I should or shouldn't be talking about.
I can only speak for myself, but that does not seem like a wise comparison at this time. We simply don't know the rationale behind this decision. When this episode is over and we have more information available, then we can determine whether or not this was too heavy-handed. "Heavy" is relative to the situation. I have endured the snail-like pace of developing PSYOP products. Most requests, in my experience, were turned down or were so watered down as to be pointless because of some overly cautious TA analysis.

Drawing a comparison to Steele is to suggest recklessness or incompetence. It surprises me that products like this were fielded. But having some familiarity with how the development process works, I am very hesitant to assume that this was just some reckless or poorly thought-out decision. Of course, this is the Army, so there is always the possibility that your hunch is correct. But it seems a bit early and information a bit scarce to start making such comparisons.

But aside from that narrow point, discussion is good. I concur with david - it's already in the public domain.