Ant Middleton Quotes

But clearly, this is what this is about. It's about pushing the security bubble out. It's about rooting out every last guy, so that there's not even somebody who can fire a single, solitary RPG round from some little qalat out here.

I've always been fascinated with Navy SEALs in general and their role in Afghanistan in particular.

Seal Team Six is a different unit than the rest of the SEAL teams inasmuch as they concentrate primarily on one thing, counter-terrorism, hostage rescue.

In the public's mind, Special Forces are often confused with the 'door kickers' of Special Operations Forces - such as SEAL Team 6 and Delta Force - who are the United States' elite counterterrorism operators.

On military battlefields, we have defeated radical Islamic forces every time we have seriously gone after them, from Iraq to Afghanistan.

No trooper, no special forces operative wants to sit behind a desk. We joined up to kick some doors down.

People want to hear what I do with Special Forces, as a ranger, as a sniper. And I'm like 'What does that have to do with fighting?' Let's talk about fighting. They couldn't be more different; there's nothing similar about them.

You bomb ISIL. You're not trying to bomb innocent people. And that requires intelligence and confidence in our military to be able to develop the kinds of targets that we need. We're already doing Special Forces, who are going to help us gather that intelligence and help advise and assist and train local forces so that they can go after ISIL in areas like Raqqah and Mosul.

As in the war of 1941-45, our victory and our survival depend on how and where we attack.

Killing terrorists is cheaper than capturing them.

In other words, for every 10 enemy you kill you bring on 20 new recruits to their anti-coalition cause then essentially you are working against yourself.

Osama Bin Laden is dead. Killed not by a massive troop deployment but by a commando raid carried out by a few dozen highly trained men and helicopters.

In a military operation, the command and control elements are a legitimate target.

We used to fight the LRA with only one dimensional force that only walks on foot, but now, we have got multiple forces to fight the rebels.

You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation.

The SAS is the most elite of the special forces in the world. They are not people who go out and advertise; they keep it inside. They don't want anybody to know about them.

When you go to war, it’s very important to kill the right people

An insurgency is the most difficult to fight of all military activities.

From a military point of view it was a complete success

I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way, being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal. I cannot support that anymore. I believe we need to figure out how to fight the war on terror and to do it right. So either we clear and hold and build, or let's go home.

Please provide continuous Predator coverage over anti-government militants.

Received phone call from Tom Donilon who stated that the President made a decision with regard to AC1 [Abbottabad Compound 1]. The decision is to proceed with the assault....The direction is to go in and get Bin Ladin and if he is not there, to get out. Those instructions were conveyed to Admiral McCraven at approximately 10:45 AM.

Maybe it's the spy novelist in me looking for a future plot, but I hope the U.S. and its allies are thinking how to operate 'unconventionally' in Iraq and Syria in ways that undermine the Islamic State.

As combat infantrymen and special operators, we received thousands of hours of firearms training.

We need a military strategy to defeat terrorists on the ground.