I hereby take the pledge to never again (not that I’ve been in the habit of it) modify the phrase “Republican Guard” with the adjective “elite.” I wish that the rest of the media would stop doing so. It’s either redundant, or pointless, because the only sense in which they are “elite” is in relation to half-starving conscripts with guns in their back. Our non-coms are more elite than their officers, in terms of weaponry, motivation and fighting ability.