"The problem about future warfare against the United States of America is that no one ever again is going to wear a uniform -- ever," journalist, author and former marine Bing West told a UCF audience Tuesday.
In his lecture, "Lessons From Iraq: Flawed Execution or is America Unwilling to Fight?," sponsored by the UCF Global Perspectives Office, West explained that the United States military personnel have become so accurate that opposing forces have abandoned traditional fighting methods when up against this nation.
West said that many of the things that he had endured as a journalist were easier for him, as a combat veteran in Vietnam, because of his background, than it might have been for others.
He is the author of six books and was recognized by the Los Angeles Times as one of the top 10 journalists in Iraq. During the Reagan administration, West served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.
Speaking to a crowd of more than 50 students and faculty in the Student Union, West captured the audience's attention early with clever jokes. He told war stories from his time reporting in Iraq and Afghanistan, explaining that only an Afghani could bring peace to Afghanistan.
Unlike in Iraq where a man named Sheikh Sattar united the tribes and, in West's opinion, ended the war in that country, there appears to be no one to unify the Afghani tribes.
This allowed the Taliban forces to gain control of the insular tribes and gain access to the Pakistan border, which they cross for refuge at anytime from United States military knowing good and well that the U.S. forces cannot follow them.
West told the story of the bravest American he has ever met, Dakota Meyer, who five times in the course of a gun battle manned the .50 caliber machine gun on the top of his Humvee while it was driven on a dirt road through the village of Ganjgal.
Meyer rescued 23 Afghan troops and killed at least eight insurgents, according to an article published by the Associated Press. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on that day.
Josh Browning, UCF student and former U.S. marine was in the audience during West's presentation. Browning took advantage of the question and answer time to ask West if he has talked to any military or government officials in Washington who may have read his books on the strategies used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Most generals are pretty miffed at me," West replied. "They feel that I am on the team, but I'm not on the team. They know they can't criticize me about not being out there and seeing it. But they kind of wish in their hearts that I would give them more credit, but in my judgment… if you screwed up, you screwed up."
Having seen firsthand the technological and physical dominance that the United States military has, West said he believes that vice president Joe Biden was correct when he said we could have fought these wars with fewer troops.
The lecture spanned two of Global Perspectives' 2011-2012 themes, "People Power, Politics and Global Change" and "Covering Crises from the Frontlines."
Following the question and answer segment, and a standing ovation, West signed books out front of the lecture hall.
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