Dogs have been fighting alongside U.S. soldiers for more than 100 years, seeing combat in the Civil War and World War I. But their service was informal; only in 1942 were canines officially inducted into the U.S. Army. Today, they’re a central part of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan — as of early 2010 the U.S. Army had 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed (the largest canine contingent in the world). And these numbers will continue to grow as these dogs become an ever-more-vital military asset.
So it should come as no surprise that among the 79 commandos involved in Operation Neptune Spear that resulted in Osama bin Laden’s killing, there was one dog — the elite of the four-legged variety. And though the dog in question remains an enigma — another mysterious detail of the still-unfolding narrative of that historic mission — there should be little reason to speculate about why there was a dog involved: Man’s best friend is a pretty fearsome warrior.
Simply amazing stuff from Foreign Policy Magazine and yes, read it all.
As great as these dogs are, we have barely tapped their potential: look at this picture,
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/04/war_dog?page=0,7
Using the bomb sniffing capabilities of dogs, we could totally replace the TSA circus at airports. When a flight of people assembles at an airport they could be led into a closed room with a couple of these dogs and armed guards. If the dog “outs” you, you are led out and everyone else flies to their destination. As the accuracy of the dogs becomes known, the terrorists aren’t even going to go in that room. Just think, no more having your crotch grouped before flight time. And the dogs don’t care about being unionized.
Lastly, you should fly more peacefully after the dog search than the keystone cops routine at the TSA checkpoint.
Hmm, a dog used against Muslims. Veeerrry insensitive! 🙂
Yeah, probably about as insentive as using hollow-point lead against them too……………..
Capt Deacon, your idea makes too much sense for the Administration to adopt it. Unfortunately.