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Taliban

Obama Rejects Proposed Strategies for Afghanistan

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Nov 11 has now come and gone, and so have all the proposals for action in Afghanistan. The hand-picked general submitted his assessment, which itself brought a good deal of controversy. However, General McChrystal was put on hold for Olympic bids, for Afghan elections, and even a few rounds of golf.

Now, it was commented in an previous post that if Obama delayed long enough, it would be cause enough to probe for yet another assessment. Well, enough time has passed that Obama is now asking for more information and direction that should be pursued. The absurdity in all of this is that if he knew how to act on pressing issues in a timely manner, this would not be an issue.

He has gone on record to say that this is his war. But there is one problem with that statement. He has continually shown absolutely NO ownership. The only things he’s been consistent on is putting off the direction needed, and that the troops are still in a dangerous way.

After announcing that none of the proposals would be chosen, instead he has embarked on a trip to Asia that will postpone the decision even longer if not until after Thanksgiving. The time has certainly come that something come to be in the way of a decision. The troops are waiting. The American people are waiting. The Afghan people are waiting.

For more commentary:

The Tragedy at Ft. Hood on More Than One Front

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There is no denying that what happened the other day at Ft. Hood was a tragedy. However, it is the underlying issues that face this a tragedy on more than one front.

Ask anyone and they will tell you that their thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost a loved one and also with those who were injured by this act of terrorism. But most people, especially those in the media, will say that is where this ends. But it doesn’t.

As said before, this is a multi-faced tragedy. The media is trying to portray Nidal Malik Hasan as the enraged victim. The only way he is the victim is that he was shot in order to stop the assault. Now he is laying in intensive care, probably against his jihadist wishes, hooked to a life-saving ventilator.

You see, that is where the line gets fuzzy with many people. That being referring to Hasan as what he really is, a radical Muslim extremist. To deny that fact would be to deny that those 13 people didn’t die by gun shot.

Fox News – Witnesses to Fort Hood Shootings Tell Tales of Horror, Heroism

As a psychiatrist, Hasan, 39, had listened to soldiers’ tales of horror. Now, the American-born Muslim was facing imminent deployment to Afghanistan. In recent days, Hasan had been saying goodbye to friends. He had given away many of his possessions, including copies of the Holy Koran.

At 2:37 a.m. Thursday and again around 5, Hasan called neighbor Willie Bell. Bell could normally hear Hasan’s morning prayers through the thin apartment walls, but Hasan skipped the ritual Thursday.

Bell didn’t pick up either time, but Hasan left a message.

“Nice knowing you, old friend,” Hasan said. “I’m going to miss you.”

About an hour later, surveillance cameras at a 7-Eleven across from the base captured images of a smiling Hasan, dressed in a long white garment and white kufi prayer cap, buying his usual breakfast — coffee and a hash brown.

At the processing center on the southern edge of the 100,000-acre base, soldiers returning from overseas mingled with colleagues filling out forms and undergoing medical tests in preparation for deployment.

Around 1:30 p.m., witnesses say a man later identified as Hasan jumped up on a desk and shouted the words “Allahu Akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great!” He was armed with two pistols, one a semiautomatic capable of firing up to 20 rounds without reloading.

So how does one go about making the claim of calling Hasan a Muslim extremist? Simple. Take a look again at the facts. He had obviously planned this attack, all be it small or large. He planned an attack. He was giving away his possessions. He was passing out copies of the Koran. Phone calls to some of those whom he felt most closest to at abnormal times in the middle of the night. Only a radical idealist would do this.

He is a devout and heavily practicing Muslim. That in itself is not extreme. The beauty of being an American is that you can freely practice whatever religion you want to. Same with Hasan. He freely studied being Muslim. What is extreme is climbing on a desk, guns in hands, and shouting “Allahu Akbar!” Granted, God is great, but radical Muslim extremists shout out “Allahu Akbar” when they begin their assault. Same as Hasan. He is a radical Muslim extremist.

Another front of this tradgety is that this attack happened on U.S. soil, on a military installation (Ft. Hood), by a U.S. soldier. Now the threat has been introduced to within the ranks of the U.S. military.

The Hill – Top GOP recruit says Ft. Hood shooting shows ‘enemy is infiltrating our military’

A top Republican congressional recruit said on Friday that the shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas yesterday by a solider allegedly sympathetic to suicide bombers shows that the “enemy is infiltrating our military.”

Allen West (R-Fla.), a retired military colonel who served as a commander at the Texas base, said in a release that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s attack may indicate a broader effort by Islamic extremists to recruit downtrodden members of the military.

“This enemy preys on downtrodden soldiers and teaches them extremism will lift them up,” West said in a statement. “Our soldiers are being brainwashed.”

The release added that West claims “the horrible tragedy at Fort Hood is proof the enemy is infiltrating our military.”

In Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, he says: “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. . . Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”

How true those ancient words are still relevant today. When near, seem far way; when unprepared, appear unexpected. To echo Mr. Allen West, this “is proof the enemy is infultrating our military.” Reguardless if Hasan was being teased about being Muslim, it is his being Muslim that opened him to the extreme “teachings” and “brainwashing” of our enemies. This does not give anyone the right to go on a murderous spree killing 13 fellow soldiers and wounding 30 more.

Even if Hasan was not contacted to act in this manner, it does not cancel the idea that he was acting on behalf of the extremist ideology. He had been red-flagged by the military for over six months. Also, in that same period of time, he was making comments on blog posts in a manner that showed his support for terrorism and the ideology that followed.

Another front of this tradgety is people again painting him the victim saying that he was suffering from Post Tramatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) because he had been the psychiatrist for many returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. Only one problem with that arguement. He NEVER served a tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, or any place else for that matter. How does one suffer from PTSD without ever serving in combat? Yes, he had heard a lot. Yes, he had seen soldiers in pain. Had he suffered? It is different. He didn’t suffer from PTSD. That sounds like more of a copout than truely addressing the real issue. He is a radical Muslim extremist!

To sum all of this up, he is a radical Muslim extremist. The media is waging a multi-faced front on the issue. Too many people are too concerned about labeling him for what he is. Let the facts speek for themselves. Nidal Malik Hasan: Radical Muslim Extremist!

For more commentary:

The Waiting Game for Afghanistan

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With the announcement of a run-off election for November 7 in Afghanistan, hopes for action by President Obama rise. Without having made one decision about future actions in Afghanistan, it looks as though a decision won’t be made any time soon.

So the question arises: Will Obama have waited too long to make a decision that he will order a new strategy assessment report?

Without pressure from either side, it may be possible. Another possibility would be his hand-picked commander, General McChrystal, to step down or be released from command. Without the support and trust of the President behind him, why wouldn’t he.

The problem Obama is facing is one of popularity. However, popular politics isn’t cutting it with the troops. They are the ones suffering and in need of help. Continuing to put pressure on NATO for support and troops isn’t going to cut it. It is time for Obama and his administration to step it up and decide whether they want to win or lose.

So far, many feel they are on track to lose.

Afghanistan: From Strategy to Comparison

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Among the most heavily debated issues in Washington, none is more prevalent than what the next steps and actions will be in Afghanistan. From an addition of 40.000 troops, to a slow and deliberate pullout of troops in favor of strategic air strikes, President Obama definitely has to make a difficult decision. A decision that many hope will not take too much longer, and one that will receive more attention than what it has in the last few weeks.

Whatever the decision shall be, Obama has another thing weighing down his shoulders with Afghanistan. That would be the parallels between Afghanistan and Vietnam. In commentary at RAND Corporation that originally appeared at The Huffington Post, James Dobbins shares the same concern.

Here are a few things from his commentary that shed some light on this issue:

Beyond that, polls are showing that Americans are increasingly skeptical about this conflict, and citizens of other nations contributing troops, such as Britain, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands, are even more negative.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Now that U.S. involvement in Iraq has finally begun to require fewer resources, Afghanistan is the new focus of American and European anti-war sentiment, and increasingly Obama’s critics are drawing on the analogy of Vietnam. They assert that the United States and its allies are bogged down in a long, inconclusive conflict in support of a corrupt and incompetent government against an elusive, popularly based enemy operating out of an untouchable cross-border sanctuary.

In fact, the two societies, Vietnamese and Afghan, and the two insurgencies, Viet Cong and Taliban, could hardly be more different. Yet the conflicts may, in the end, have a similar impact on American public opinion. And that could have a similar impact on their outcomes. The most decisive battles over Vietnam were fought for the heart and minds of the American people and the most decisive defeat was in the U.S. Congress. The contest for Afghanistan is now being conducted over this same terrain.

For years, the war in Iraq diverted resources from Afghanistan. Obama has characterized Afghanistan as a war of necessity, in contrast to Iraq, a war of choice—and a bad one at that. Yet as controversy over Iraq fades, this comparison, perhaps accurate and certainly powerful in its time, has dwindling impact. In its place is a new controversy, Afghanistan as the new Vietnam.

There’s no debate about how that war turned out, but little agreement on why. The insurgency in South Vietnam had been reduced to manageable proportions by the time American troops departed in 1973. Counterinsurgency thus largely succeeded, yet the war was still lost when North Vietnam launched a conventional invasion in 1975. Vietnam thus offers material for both sides in current debate over troop levels in Afghanistan. Those who argue for a better resourced counterinsurgency campaign can point to the tactical and operations successes in Vietnam. Opponents recall the strategic failure.

To read Mr. Dobbins commentary in its entirety, please visit RAND Corporation.

Direction for Afghanistan Becoming Priority with Obama

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In what President Obama refers to as “his war,” he is definitely taking his time deciding what direction to take the war in Afghanistan. Soon, he will be faced with making a decision that could either be victorious or one of defeat. Either way, one not to be taken lightly.

Someone else not taking the decision lightly is General McChrystal. Hand-picked by Obama, he was asked to deliver an assessment on the situation/progress in Afghanistan. His 66 page assessment was subsequently leaked to the media, and became somewhat of a source of controversy.

The most heat to date would be that didn’t go through the proper chain of command. There are proper measures that are to be taken in military structure. It doesn’t change depending on the amount of stripes you have, or how many stars you have. There is a chain of command that must be followed. However, this argument does nothing on the surface but stall the debate going on behind closed doors.

The debate is whether or not to follow the commanding general on the ground who sees first-hand what is happening, or go with a group of selected Republicans and Democrats who have put their heads together who think they have derived the greatest plan ever. Ask 100 different people on what they would do, and you would likely get 100 different answers. Everything from, “Pave the country” to “Nuke the damn place and show Iran that we mean business” to “Continue this hunt and peck operative that hasn’t proven anything yet.”

More consideration should be shown to Gen. McChrystal and what he proposes. But, Obama doesn’t want to look like the failure. He would rather have McChrystal take the fall. If McChrystal was smart, which he is, he would resign immediately if his demands are not met. Another reason for resignation would be that it would demonstrate Obama’s distrust in anyone, even the person he appointed to be in command.

So, certainly this is a very difficult situation for many. Even the enemy. Either choice would be a victory in their eyes. If troops are decreased, then they will view it as victorious as they did with Russia. If troops are increased, then another victory in that U.S. troops will be stretched so thin they would have a hard time being victorious in any other region if conflict were to escalate. If heavy bombing missions were to take place, then they would see it as a victory because Americans would be killing innocent men, women and children.

Time should be spent dissecting any and every option by the President. However, he should not be out gallivanting around begging for the 2016 Games to be held in Chicago. This, along with other issues plaguing the American people, should be top priority.